Chapter 16



The momentary pause in action from Sage and Sylvia gave Kento time to armor up, "Armor of Hardrock!"

"Kento no!"

Sylvia whirled from her stunned position, eyes narrowing and flashing with energy, "I warned you!"

"NO!!"

A bolt of black energy hurled itself right at Kento so quickly that he had no time to move away, he yelled instead, his friends joining in on his shriek and there was a flash of bright light it spread across the living room fading after a moment engulfing the dark energy. Mia, and the other Ronnins stood in a daze. Kento sat sprawled, unharmed, on the floor breathing hard he had felt the heat from the black lightning flying at him. He had felt it singe his skin, it had come so close...and then the light... The light protected him.

Sylvia's facial expression could not be determined, she tried again to strike Kento with the black lightning, the light reappearing at each attempt devouring her attacks. She began to breathe hard and back away from the Warriors turning back to Sage who still hoovered near the end of the couch cringing away from her. "Is it you, Sage? Are you what's stopping me? What are you?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"You won't hurt them..." Sage uttered, "I won't let you.."

"What...are...you?" Sylvia hissed again, her anger radiating from her in waves. The furniture was shaking, there were crashes as vases and trinkets fell to the floor and shattered. She stepped closer, "You little parasite answer me!"

Sage blinked and stared at her....Sylvia, his girlfriend, the one he...he loved. He watched the dark energy swirling around her body weaving in out of her finger tips, the black lightning crackled in her hair and the room was growing warm...he felt dizzy, "What have you done?!"

"Get away..." was the only thing he could think to say.

Her demeanor changed suddenly, suddenly she was no longer frightening, she no longer crackled with dark electricity, she was Sylvia...his Sylvia... the light poured from her, "Get away? But Sage...Why? Don't you love me anymore?"

Sage's trembling lips parted as he stared at her, at his Sylvia. "SAGE SHE'S MESSING WITH YOU!"

"Damn it, why can't I move?!!"

"Sage...come to me," Sylvia held out her arms to him...she looked so warm and beautiful, like an angel. She'll save me... Sage let himself move closer to her.

"SAGE NO! SAGE LISTEN TO ME!!"

"I'm the only person in this room that matters to you Sage...and you're the only person that matters to me..." Sylvia's light of innocence faded the instant Sage moved into arms reach. Her face twisted into an ugly malicious expression as she surged forward to grab Sage's shirt collar bringing him forward so she could peer at her mark on his forehead. An eery light began to glow faintly as Sylvia called upon her signature...she gazed and released Sage at once when she saw what was reflected, she looked ill. "Oh Isis...Oh Isis....What have I done? I did it all wrong. Why am I so stupid? Why am I so stupid?!" She rose from the couch in a fury her rage sweeping pictures from the walls, breaking glass from the windows, "AAAAAAHHH!" She screamed the china cabinet slammed face down to the floor. Mia cringed, tears coming to her eyes at all the heirlooms that had probably been lost.

"I'll kill you for this....you freak! I'll kill you!!" she whirled her fury on Sage, the heat of her anger burning his face. Sage crawled away from her shaking his head, "You're a monster, a demon, one of those creatures from outside...I see you now Sylvia, I see you!"

"SHUT UP!" She roared throwing her arms out like a large bird of prey about to take flight.

Mia screamed as she saw the blackness hurtling at Sage. It was a raven comet spiraling at the blond it struck with the force of a truck. Mia was thrown back as were the other warriors. They toppled onto each other in a heap of arms and legs...and an armor. Kento was still decked out in his Hardrock armor. He was shoved off by Ryo who stood and called on his armor, "Armor of Wildfire!"

"Armor of Strata!"

"Armor of Torrent!"

"OH SHIT!"

The light had been blinding it struck them all head on and had them on their knees again. Lightning...silver lightning. They slowly raised their heads to see Sylvia lying in heap on the floor any dark energy around her had faded. They looked to where Sage was, he stood breathing hard, shaking... His eyes roamed the room wildly and fell on his friends, "Sage..." Rowen began.

"No..." it was quiet at first, but as Rowen started towards him, "NO! Keep away from me!!!"

"Sage, buddy calm down..."

"Too much...too much!" Sage was holding his head, pulling at his hair, his eyes ran from her corner of the room over and over again, "NOOO!!" He ran...he darted toward the backdoor.

"Shit," Rowen, Cye, Ryo, and Kento were after him like 4 bullets shot from a gun.

"And in the meanwhile what am I supposed to do with you," Mia asked, watching her heroes disappear, and looking down at the smoking Witch on the floor.



"He's fast as a horse," Kento huffed...they had finally lost sight of the blond through all the trees and had to stop to catch their breaths, "How in the hell did he outrun us?"

Rowen shrugged, "He looked scared to death of us, adrenaline I guess."

"In our armors?" Cye question looking dubious, "You know what I think happened?"

"What?" They all stared at Cye. What he thought happened? Something had happened, but no one had thought about. They didn't have time... What had happened? Sage had gone berserk...Sage may have killed Sylvia... Sage saved them...

"I think the last of his bind came undone," Cye said, "Did you see his eyes in the end....when Sylvia was right over him, and she saw what we saw on Sage's brow?"

"I was too busy watching psycho bitch barbie throw a hissy fit," Kento snorted.

Ryo rolled his eyes at Kento's antics but had to concur with his friend about where his observation of the situation had been focused on. Sylvia was pretty impressive when angry, "That bitch may be evil but she sure did make that school girl sweater look good while doing it," Kento said, eyes glazing over for a bit before he snapped back to attention. Cye and Rowen were scowling at him, "What? Ryo was thinking the same thing...Oh come on Ry, I saw the look in your eyes..."

"Kento! This is about Sage, not hooters!" Cye snapped.

"Hooters..." Rowen chuckled, before clearing his throat, "We'll have to split up and search the area for him. I know he's fast...but he has to have stopped running by now. He's too sick to keep up at that pace."

"He was supposed to be too sick to set that pace in the first place," Kento grumbled, "We need to split up. We'll find him faster that way."

"We can't split up, what if Sylvia comes after us? None of us can take her alone...Shit!"

"What?"

"Mia, we left Mia alone with Sylvia!" Ryo exclaimed hitting himself across the forehead.

"What were we thinking about?!" Cye threw his arms in the air in frustration, "And Gods, what are we going to do with her! We can't just tie her up!"

"Ok, ok...We...Kento, you and me will go home," said Ryo in a forced calm way, "And Cye and Rowen will look for Sage...try his favorite spots."

Cye and Rowen nodded solemnly, "What will you do if Sylvia's awake, or has hurt..Mia?"

Ryo shook his head, "You'll know if we're in trouble... But hopefully we won't be. We're just going to get Mia out of the house and get as far away from there as possible. If you find Sage...when you find Sage... Say does Mia still own that little apartment in town?"

"I don't know Ryo, I think so," Cye scratched his head, "But we wouldn't be able to get in without the key...." he caught the dark look Ryo sent him, "You want us to break in?"

"We have no other choice...Does everyone know where the apartment is?

Grim nods went around the circle.

"Ok, be careful," Ryo said, with that Rowen and Cye took off further into the woods seeking out Sage's favorite spots of refuge.



"You weeeeere wroooong to ignooooore uuuus foooor soooo loooong.... Wrooooong, wrooooong.....Weee knoooow whaat yooou arrrre. Youuur peeeople thiiink theeeey aaare soo muuuuch bettter that uuuuus..."

"One little, two little ,three little Indians..."

"My husband... My husband and my two children..."

"Magic worker...Magic worker I am in need."

"Arrrogance shaaaall beeee your doooown faaaaall..."

"Four little, five little, six little Indians..."

"You must tell them I love them..."

"I can pay you...I have gold..."

"Theeeey wiiiill cooome for yoooou...They wiiiill! For yooou dooo not beeelong..."

Go away....go away...please go away.... He sat in with his knees pulled into his chest rocking back forth. This way his spot, his spot of solitude, but no longer. THEY were here, THEY were back. I wish you'd all go away...I wish you away. Help, help...HELP!!!

"SAGE!"

More noise...more voices....The lights, the lights were blinding. Everything was outlined, everything had a color around it, an aura. But the beings around him, they were silver...silver and solid as anything living. Their words, their words were drenched in silver...he could see the air they breathed, could hear their silvery tones. He put his hands against his eyes...They were silver...He quickly pulled them away and put them under his body...He was silver...he was one of them! He began to laugh hysterically, all that time he spent trying to get away from THEM, and he was one of THEM! He leaned his head back as he laughed harder and harder until the tears came, voices in his mind...whispering, hissing, some angry, some frightened. Touching him, their silver hands were reaching to him, to take him! He kicked out at them, giggling as his feet struck solid matter. He could hurt them. For some reason he found this even more insanely funny than his epiphany! "SAGE! Sage...calm down....Sage... are you with me?"

"Gods, Rowen, he's freezing..."

"Sage...Sage stop laughing, you're scaring me...Sage? Sage open your eyes! It's me Rowen, and Cye's here."

"Sage! Sage, we're going to have to leave. I'm gonna help you up? Can you walk?"

"Sage? Sage...Cye, he's gone insane."

Voices, and touching...voices and touching, he kicked at the offending hands that were trying to move him, trying to take him. "Sage stop it, stop fighting us."

"Sage, please...open eyes, it's us."

Us....Uuuuuuusss...... "Theeeey caaaan nooot saaaave yoooooou frooooom THEEEEM..."

"GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY!!!" Sage screamed and screamed until his throat was raw, he collapsed forward coughing uncontrollably onto a hard-shelled body. Touching...touching....soothing... Soft hands were rubbing his back, "Calm down Sage....just try to breathe. Come on bud, you can do this."

He struggled to breathe, his lungs...they were on fire... "I don't think he can breathe Cye."

"We have to get him out of here..."

The hands were pulling him again, taking him, but he was helpless to stop them. Can't stop coughing, can't breathe...can't... "Yoooou caaaaanooot escaaaaape... Yooou wiiill neeever escape.."

He felt cool air blowing past his face...his legs....he was being carried somewhere. "You must help me! My children!"

"Would you prefer gems over gold?"

"Ten little Indian boys!"

"Ruuun....youuu caaaan ruuun...buuut yoooou can neeever hiiiide. Theeey wiiil cooome fooor yoooou."



"Mia!" Ryo sighed in relief as he and Kento approached the women. They had gone all the way back to the Koji Manor to find Sylvia still unconscious, but no Mia. They'd fled outdoors only to see that her jeep was gone. She had obviously had the sense to leave, but where had she gone? They walked about a mile down the street when they noticed her jeep at the nearest gas station from the house. Shaking their heads they went to the jeep and perched on it until Mia returned. Mia stared at them both, "You know you are out in broad daylight wearing your armors right..in public?"

"We had to find you," Ryo said, "We left you alone with Sylvia."

"I know, figured you weren't thinking about that," Mia said simply, "Thought I would leave before she woke up. Where are the others? Did you get Sage?"

Ryo and Kento looked away, "We couldn't catch up with him. Rowen and Cye are looking for him."

"Good Lord," Mia sighed, "Well, where do we meet up with them if they find him?"

"At your grandfather's old office complex," Ryo said simply.

"Why there? I..I haven't been inside that place since he..."

"I know..." Ryo said softly, "But it's far enough away from the house... It's private, and maybe your grandfather could have stored something in there that could maybe help us."

"I doubt that," Mia sighed, then shrugged, "Well get in, we'll go there and wait for a little while. Hopefully they'll already be there."

Kento and Ryo opened the passenger doors to the jeep and climbed in, "Hopefully."



"We're almost out of the woods," Cye said glancing back at Rowen, who was cradling Sage as he ran. Sage thrashed and struggled weakly in Rowen's arms, he mumbled and moaned, talking to creatures and people who didn't exist...well at least not to Rowen and Cye.

"Good..."

"Rowen, we might have to take him straight to a hospital."

"And tell them what Cye? He's more than just delirious...They'll lock him away..."

"We can't deal with his illness Rowen," Cye said, "He needs medicine."

"And what if he starts levitating more couches while he's in the hospital, Cye?"

Cye was quiet, "We can still take him to his mother..."

"That we can," Rowen said, he bit his lip, "But the others will worry if we don't go to the library. They'll think something happened..."

"Something did happen! He's burning up, he's having trouble breathing..." Cye slacked off on his rapid pace to fall in step with Rowen, "Look at him, he's not even with us anymore.."

Rowen gazed down at his best friend, he was so pale...He shook violently and he whimpered as he tried to free himself from Rowen and failed. He had not once opened his eyes to see who held him, not once. "Sage...please open your eyes..."

Cye shook his head and stroked Sage's hair back from his face, "We have to take him to his mother. He needs medical help."

Rowen nodded, "Ok, we'll change our course."

Cye cried out suddenly and Rowen jumped, "What?"

"Sage...can you hear me?"

Rowen gazed down to see that Sage had finally opened his eyes...The color, his eyes were almost silver, they stared at both Rowen and Cye, their expression unreadable. They scanned the area, then came back to Rowen and Cye, "Sage, are you ok?"

They anxiously awaited an answer, could he hear them? "N..n..no..." Sage said softly, "My head hurts..."

"Thank God, thank God," Cye said in relief, "Sage, what happened back in the woods?"

"Silver..." Sage said softly, "Too much of it... My head hurts..."

Cye wanted to ask another question but thought better of it, "Sage, we're gonna take you to your Mom, is that ok?"

Sage sniffled, "Momma?"

"Yeah," Cye said, "We're gonna take you to her. She'll help you to feel better."

"Good," Sage said, "I feel really bad...and I wanna go home... And...and...I wish they would go away...and stop..and leave me alone..." He leaned his head into Rowen's chest as he began to cry. Rowen sighed and tried his best to rub his friend's back, "I wish we had a car."

"It's getting dark Rowen," Cye said fearfully, he was watching the sky, the setting of the sun just caught his attention, "The Darklings..."

"Maybe they'll find Sylvia first."

"Or maybe they'll find us..."

"I don't think you should be looking for answers of who will find you...Instead you should be looking for the answers of just who exactly you should be looking for."

Rowen and Cye halted in their tracks whipping their heads to and fro, who had spoken? The voice was low and female...It spoke with power and authority. "Who's there?"

"Ah, so now you look..." the voice said sounding amused, "And here is your answer."

From the shadows of the trees the slim figure of a woman began to materialize. She was not tall, and her hair was a cascade of raven down her back. She had to be at least 40 years old, judging from the fines lines in face and the streaks of gray at her temples. She looked elegant and eccentric at the same time in her long dress that touched the floor of the forest. It was decorated with drawings of birds and splashed with dark blues and greens. She stopped a few feet from them, her large black eyes greeting theirs briefly before gazing down at the bundle in Rowen's arms. She put out a hand to touch him, and Rowen, though somewhat wary of the woman, did not flinch. She lie her palm on Sage's forehead, and his silvery eyes opened once again and gawked at the woman before him. He opened his mouth to say something but began to cough instead. The woman frowned and uttered soothing words to him, running her hand along his heaving chest. The fit stopped soon afterward and she took away her hand. She looked back to Cye and Rowen who stared at her...who was this strange woman? And why are we just standing here with her? What was holding them there?

"Who are you?" Rowen finally had the nerve to breathe.

"I am Shivoni, and I have come to help."