Sage and the Elaspipus had cleaned up the place, while he'd thought of whether it was a good idea for him to return to his village, when they were probably waiting to kill him for a crime he didn't commit. And even after getting rid of Joe's body and tossing the last fallen tree further in the forest, Sage still hadn't made up his mind, so he'd sat on the grass with his new friend which lay on his chest. Eventually he'd turned back to normal but was surprised the Elaspipus which he'd named Webster, hadn't been bothered at all by his new change, as if even in human form they were still the same. He hadn't really known what to make of that and didn't give it a second thought when Webster abruptly jumped off him and let out an echo in the forest, raising its front legs when it received confirmation of approaching life forms.
Sage immediately picked Webster up and while looking for the intruder he asked his Beast, "What's the matter love, who's out there?" he whispered
The Elaspipus spoke by sending him an echo and Sage felt a jolt surge through him when images appeared in his mind. He saw the dark forms hidden behind the trees but coming their way. And when the vision stopped Sage nearly tumbled back, but he found his footing and released a breath as he said to his Beast, "Woah, warn me next time, okay."
But the Elaspipus didn't hear him, it kept spitting and bearing its teeth at the forms who were approaching them. From Webster's echo vision, Sage knew they were people but the darkness in them meant they were dangerous, so he picked up a branch near his feet and stood ready. He smiled when Webster grew to his size, not strong enough to grow full size again. As both waited, they felt the ground quake under their feet followed by shouting; and when Sage saw the dozens of people in hoodies running like animals towards him, he shrieked, "What the hell?" thinking it'd been his village but the hood and degree of madness didn't match
Whoever the people were, they charged with full speed towards him, but for some reason they kept knocking into trees and tripping over each other. Yet they always got up and continued their chase like they didn't feel the pain at all.
As they continued in that fashion, Sage began to look worried, "Something is terribly wrong here." He couldn't put his finger on it but he could feel a signature on these hooded people. Webster seemed to read his thought, so it spoke to him, causing Sage to repeat in confusion, "They've been marked, by whom?"
But before Webster could reply, two hooded figures jumped on him with pitchforks and knives that Sage managed to kick out their grasp. His Beast then grabbed them with his tail, crying out when they bit his tentacles so it released them and buried them in web, only for 6 more people to fall on it. As for Sage, he was doing his best to fight off the rest but they were too many and just kept jabbing, punching or burning him with their hot iron, even with Web having his back, it couldn't fight them all. Somehow these people managed to escape from Webster's sticky webs and no matter how far they were tossed, they just kept coming back. At some point when Sage was being buried under all their bodies he groaned, "GOOD GRIEF, ARE THEY DEAD OR WHAT!"
Webster and Sage soon were so tired they could barely stand. Sage especially had bruises everywhere, yet he knocked his head with that of the man strangling him and found another branch to hit the hooded people crowding over Webster, whom kept getting smaller and smaller. By now the Webster was the size of a pebble and even after biting its aggressors, injecting poison through their system, they continued to run after it and one woman even caught the Beast and started squeezing it so the Beast screeched.
Meanwhile Sage had been sending blows and jabbing his knee into his attacker's guts but even that didn't faze them, though they remained on the ground for a few seconds so he could fight off the others. But when he felt his ribs break and his breath cut short, he fell to the ground and immediately searched for Webster. He saw a hooded woman squeezing the poor beast in her hands, and yelled in anguish, "NO, LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
Despite his agony he rose up but the hooded guys fell on him again, kicking him and trampling on him. Yet he forced himself to crawl, desperately trying to reach for the Beast echoing out its distress. Sage could feel his own heart slowing down and he knew then his beast was dying, showing their connection went deeper than he'd realized. And yet, no matter how he willed himself to transform so he could save Webster, nothing happened and before long his loss of air forced him to stay down on the ground.
Just when he thought all was over for them both, a gun shot burst through the night air, and the woman who'd been squeezing Webster now dropped dead with a thin trail of smoke coming out the hole in her head. Right then Sage wheezed for breath, letting his lung get as much oxygen as it could under the weight of the people over him, as he tried to break free.
He then howled with relief when Webster jumped from under the ground and despite his state, it made itself grow to one meter which gave him enough strength to shoot a web at Sage's foot so he could yank him from under the oppressing hooded people. Sage slid on the grass and got up, catching Webster when it jumped to him, returning to its tiny size, now that they were together.
Except that their attackers were right on their tail so Sage fled from them. Even if killing them seemed like the only way to save themselves, he preferred to run. But the mad people were closing in on each side making him groan from fatigue and frustration, he really didn't want to pick up a weapon and kill them since he'd never killed anyone before. It was then that he remembered the bullet and wondered, "Webster love, who'd saved you back there?"
Webster only echoed that it did not know. At that moment, just as the hooded people began to toss their stones and boulders at him, from the hills came rushing down a rhinoceros like beast with the thorns of a porcupine and Ostrich legs big enough for its robust build, which Sage knew was a Rhinosaur Beast. It was carrying a short man on its flat, crescent shaped horn. The Beast charged with speed and force through the bodies of people until it stopped right in front of the aghast Sage. He was certain those the beast had run over were all dead, and even if they seemed completely mad, it saddened him to see them die.
Sage only had a short moment to notice the short man also wore a hoodie. He had a blue cape with a magnificent crest, that he was certain he'd read about, but couldn't recall what it was for.
The Short man gave Sage a smug smile as he pulled out two huge rifles from under his cape. Then he made a back flip so that he landed flat on his Beast's back which galloped in a circle formation, allowing its master to shot from both directions while lying down. Sage was beyond impressed at how accurate his aiming was. And at the same time, the Rhinosaur shot its thorns at their attackers too.
When the Hooded people started to disperse and go after the short man, his beast ran in another direction, zig zagging across trees so the careless attackers could knock into them which slowed them down. But those that were careful to avoid the trees, somehow managed to catch up to the beast and even with its master shooting their brains out they just kept coming.
His Beast even started to slow down since it couldn't see where it was going with the hooded fiends climbing over its face. It's why the short man (while finding his balance) started kicking them off, then shooting them, then punching the rest. When his Beast was more or less free from the load of savages, the short man crouched on his knees and while the beast continued to gallop, he made two clicking sounds with his tongue. His Beast understood his signal and came to an abrupt stop before lifting its rear end with such force, Sage's mouth dropped when the short man was hoisted in the air, and while his beast used its horn to hit some of the hooded men in its way, its master continued to shot his targets from way up in the air.
When he began to descend, he dived head first seeming like he'd crash to the ground causing Sage to mutter in confusion, "Good gods, what is he thinking?"
Fortunately, before the man's head even grazed the ground, down soared another beast with huge icy butterfly wings and a transparent body, like that of a jellyfish. Anyone could see its organs which was somewhat disturbing. This land and sea mutation commonly known as Hailstorm, also part of the Blizzard-Beast category; caught its master's legs, it then flew with him while the master continued to fire his rifles, refilling it with ammunitions despite being upside down
Now there were about 7 hooded men left, and seeing as the man with the cape was killing them like bugs, they charged at Sage all together in one final attempt to kill him. Webster got alarmed, it was on Sage's shoulder so it placed its tentacles over his face and the next second they both vanished. The mindless hooded people still jumped where he'd stood but groaned and hissed like savages when they fell on the empty ground.
The man zoomed across the sky and while passing them, he ordered his Beast, "Down.", it obeyed him, flying low before letting him go in such a way he slid on the grass and while doing so, he continued to shoot, killing three more hooded men before his bullets were spent. Therefore he tossed his rifles and took out two jewel crested swords from their scabbard. Once the metal of the blades made contact with air, it lit on fire.
Since he was in a forest it was risky to slide and knock into a tree, just like he was about to do; yet he didn't do anything to help himself. His eyes were dead focused on his remaining targets. Before his back could meet the trunk of the tree, yet another great Beast came rolling like an armadillo, and stood in front of the tree. This white mutation as hairy as a fur ball was called a Mellowtone Beast. It unrolled itself and caught its master in its fluffy arms, making it seem as though he'd been caught by a cloud.
The Short man instantly leaped to his feet and ran as fast as his Rhinosaur, catching up to the two hooded men about to flee. Like a master swordsman he slayed one, then jumped and with his leg in mid air he slapped the other's face with his foot, sending him to the ground, where he pierced through his back, turned the hilt, and set the body ablaze.
When all seemed to be over, there came a high pitched scream, the short man raised his eyes, seeing a girl in a simple brown cloak desperately trying to shove off her attacker, but he wouldn't let go. This brought fury to his eyes and he hissed, "Wrong move bastard."
He broke off into a run. Behind him, his fluffy Beast rolled his way and gave him a shove, lifting him off the ground, in swooped in Hailstorm, which caught him by his arms and flew him to the girl in distress.
He landed right beside her, and pulled her by her arm, bringing her face against his chest. He then kicked the hooded man back, holding the girl tightly to him so she didn't see his Rhinosaur hammer its flat horn so hard on the hooded man's head it cracked and he fell dead. The short man gave a nod of thanks to his beast before announcing in thin air, "Missed one."
The hooded man who remained, ran about looking for Sage who suddenly appeared in front of him and punched him square in the face. But he suddenly let out a, "Oh damn!" and dived for cover, right when the Blizzard Beast swooped down and with a flap of its icy wings, it froze the hooded fiend along with a good portion of the forest.
Upon seeing this, Sage frowned at it and exclaimed, "Say, you nearly froze my foot there love."
As if the winged Beast knew he was a softy, it landed beside him and gave him a lick on the cheek. His anger instantly dissipated and when it batted its long lashes at him so adorably he sighed and grinned, "Oh alright, apology accepted."
But he then roared with laughter, after Webster send warning echoes to him, baring its fangs at Hailstorm, so he told his beast kindly, "You're getting way ahead of yourself my little friend, it was only a lick." But Webster didn't agree, it shot small web cannons at the irritated Hailstorm, which nearly froze it if not for Sage standing in the way, even the Mellowtone and Rhinosaur Beasts had to hold their comrade back while Sage tried to calm down his own Beast.
The man with the cape narrowed his eyes at Sage who tried to break up his beast and the Elaspipus that'd grown taller, and looked eager to claws its icy wings off. Meanwhile the girl he held to him slowly lifted her head, revealing a beautiful freckled face with dazzling blue eyes and rosy lips. The moment the man's calm chocolate brown eyes lowered to hers, she gazed at him fondly and spoke with warmth in her sweet young voice, "Um, thank you, Alexander."
Alexander wasn't the kind to give compliments or even accept them, which was why she wasn't surprised he didn't answer her, and even expected him to walk off like always. But this time he gently adjusted her hood over her head and she felt heat rise in her cheeks when he stared deeply into her eyes, realizing it was the first time he'd held her gaze for so long, or stood so close. Only later did he realize what he was doing so he turned firm, released her hood and walked off, leaving her to sigh at his back.
As he approached Sage who seemed to be speaking with the quarreling beasts, he removed his hood and instantly ordered his Blizzard Beast, "Dimlynn, that's enough of that."
Dimlynn, the Hailstorm beast instantly bowed its head, whimpering in shame before flying off like an unhappy child. And although Webster was pleased to see its enemy so blue, Sage on the other hand was very sensitive to Beasts so he held his hip and pointed out, "That was harsh, considering how Dimlynn helped you back there. And, hold your Horned-Beele… are you A KID?!" gasped Sage, now that the short man had removed his hood, he realized the reason he was short was because he was a kid, probably 13 years old.
Alexander's companion had just joined them when she'd overheard Sage's outburst so she stated, "I would be careful what you say Mister, he's pretty sensitive about his age." Which confirmed that this person who'd taken down all the hooded people was indeed just a boy. This shocked Sage so much he couldn't stop gaping at Alexander, "How on Wilderbeast is a boy capable of doing what you just did?"
Again the girl was about to answer but she instantly shut her mouth when Alexander raised his hand and hissed as he glared at Sage, "Anora, don't you dare answer him. As for you, the real question you should be asking is why you needed someone of my age to save you, despite your beast being able to share its powers with you."
Sage was now doubly surprised, he asked with fascination, "You; how did you…?"
Alexander snapped and cut him short, "…well I'll tell you why. The fact is, I happen to be the youngest member of the Beast Guild, and am known as the prodigy. I acquired the name after taming a beast at the age of five and one year later, I worked for the nobles and even the King of the TriState. Until I realized, royals and their undying greed was a waste of my potential. Therefore, I was invited to the Tower of Knowledge where I'd been teaching aspiring Beast Tamers to be great, even if their goal was to work for those selfish snotty bastard royals who don't give a damn about the people they use or the beasts." he recounted,
He got so close to Sage, the latter even leaned his back, raising his brows when Alexander went on, "…But why am I telling you all this? Because its important you understand that I have accomplished more in my 15 years of existence than you could ever dream of, and will not tolerate to be called boy by anyone; it's either Alexander or the prodigy, get that." He growled through gritted teeth
Sage looked into Alexander's eyes with astonishment and wondered if he'd ever had a childhood at all, despite his size and age, he behaved like an adult and seemed capable of killing anyone who opposed him, it disturbed Sage to see a little boy behave like such a serious grown up, even he wasn't so tense. It's why he turned to Anora and asked her, "Is he always like this."
She replied with an exaggerated sigh, "Oh yes, this is the basic structure of his whole personality I'm afraid." She laughed, swallowing her saliva when Alexander shot her a stare; just as Sage muttered with sarcasm, "How very charming."
Alexander rolled his eyes at him and went over to one of the bodies of the hooded person, with Anora kneeling by his side, after he removed the hood of the dead man, Sage's face paled and he gasped, "By the gods, I know him, he's from my village." He recalled, frowning.
Alexander sighed at Sage's lack of intelligence and shot back, "Of course you do." He turned to Sage as he announced, "All these people are from your village. I thought you knew that which was why you hesitated to kill them." He scoffed
"Oh no, no, no, no." Sage held his head in horror and looked around at all the people lying dead on the ground, feeling like he was living a nightmare. He noticed another dead man without a hood and recognized him as Chief Sadon himself. He shook his head and thought out loud, "But why? Why were they all so desperate to get to me? And, gracious you killed them all!" yelled Sage gravely, crouching on his knees as the weight of the villagers' death dulled on him; even Webster lowered its head as it shared his pain
Alexander stared at Sage and upon seeing how crushed he was, the young man explained, "There was no point in trying to save them. Once a person falls under Mystic's hypnosis they will do everything they are asked, until their last breath."
Upon hearing this Sage inhaled some air, shook his head, and let himself grieve for a few seconds more. Then he stood up and looked in need of answers, he crossed his arms and laid out, "The Beast couldn't have acted alone, so who controlled it, because I doubt this was Jaxon's doing." He said more to himself than the others
"No, it was a Hunter." replied Anora, giving him a sympathetic look
But this confused Sage even more, "Pardon, a Hunter did this? Why?"
Alexander got up, looked him dead in the eyes and answered, "Because of you."
"Because of me?" repeated Sage with disbelief
Alexander rectified himself, "It was your chief's doing mostly, see, the fool actually sent a message to the Tower thinking the Elders were the same as when he was a Tamer back in his day."
Now Sage sounded stupefied, "I'm sorry, Chief Sadon was a tamer?"
Anora nodded, "Indeed. But his title was ripped from him after committing a grave offense against a tamer of a higher rank."
Sage thought back at how Chief Sadon had reacted after the Turtleback Cutter had bitten him, realizing he must've sent a message the moment he'd walked out the door, but how did this bring about the death of the rest of the village?
Turning to Alexander, he demanded, "So Chief Sadon sent a message to the Tower, and then what?" he shrugged
"A few hours ago, he sent his Piveagle to us, requesting that a man by the name of Balk de Biville should bring a team of hunters to take you in for study. He claimed a Turtleback Cutter sensed an anomaly inside you that was worth the Towers' attention. And that you could be the key to a secret project the Elders had worked on 40 years ago." Explained Alexander
"But what is most strange in this story, is the fact that Balk de Biville is a name no one has ever heard of. Alexander even asked the Keeper to check the records, but Balk de Biville doesn't exist and none of the previous Elders still alive knows anything about an ongoing project from 40 years ago." Stated Anora, looking left and right as she spoke with a shaky tone like someone could've heard them
Alexander looked at her with skepticism before taking a more serious tone, "Another odd occurrence, is that after we secured the message and kept the Piveagle with the rest of the Messenger Beasts, one hour later it was discovered dead with its heart ripped out, and the message was gone from our vault." He said grimly, shaking his fist as he reasoned, "No doubt a traitor among us did this, but even with the Verdict Beast, we weren't able to find out who was responsible."
Anora couldn't help adding, "Oh you should've seen Alexander when he'd heard the Piveagle and the letter were lost, he'd nearly killed the two guardians in charge of protecting the Vault and the Messenger Beasts. He nearly hurt me when I tried to stop him." She complained, rubbing her arm where her skin had once been red
Alexander growled at her, "Ratwag Anora, I already apologized a dozen times, what more do you expect from me?"
"Yeah well it still hurts." Pouted Anora like a baby, giving Sage a wink when the grumpy Alexander took her arm and massaged where he'd hurt her, and while he did this he went on, "After this tragic incident, it was agreed that one of the elders should be sent to get you, since we were certain whoever had the message would make a move on you…"
"...Hence why we're here!" Cheered Anora with a beaming smile and an arm raised
Sage couldn't help smiling when Alexander rubbed harshly on her skin to calm down her enthusiasm but she only yanked her arm away, and moved away from him to stand next to Sage instead. Sage watched Anora hold his arm like the infant she was and a thought occurred to him, "So, the both of you are Elders of the Tower? Really?" he asked with an eyebrow raised
Alexander's face grew red, he knew Sage was dubious because they were kids to him and it pissed him off that the fool refused to respect them, so he indexed Sage and bellowed, "Listen here you dimwitted son of a…"
Anora sensing he would explode, jumped to stand in front of him as she beamed, "WHAT... he means to say, is that he is an Elder of the Tower and I am his protector." She said with an assertive nod
Sage looked even more dubious, he exchanged a glance with his equally skeptic Webster before remarking at Anora, "Weren't you hiding behind a tree a moment ago?"
Alexander scoffed at his ignorance but informed him, "It's because she enjoys being rescued by me, and has a slight fear of fresh blood. But piss her off enough to make her forget her fears, and you've got yourself the 6th Legendary Beast from Hell."
Sage once again turned to Anora who was now stroking Webster, he took a look at her petite figure and lean body, then gave Alexander a big sarcastic grin, "Of course she is."
Alexander grew tired of his skepticism, and felt he'd already explained all Sage needed to know so he put his own hood on and took his riffles from the Rhinosaur's horn after it run over to him. He placed it in the pouch under his cape; and once his two other beasts joined him, Alexander went on his way, heading out of EverShade forest.
But Anora yelled then, "Alexander, wait for me." She whined, rushing to follow him but she then reached a hand out to Sage as she ushered, "Well, aren't you coming with us, Mr...?" she inquired with a finger to her delicate chin
Sage replied a little distractively, "It's Sage. And I don't mean to offend you, but why would I follow you kids anywhere?"
As Anora thought of a reply, Alexander answered him, "Because-Sage, if someone sent a Hunter with such a strong beast after you, then you won't be safe anywhere, so wouldn't it be better to die one day, knowing who you are and why you have such a connection with your Beast?"
"Honestly Alexander, he's not going to die." Scolded Anora, she then assured Sage, "He didn't mean that."
"Yes I did!" Called out Alexander, not bothering to slow down and wait for anyone
Sage ignored the unpleasant young man and stated, "Whether I am part of a project or am just gifted with bad luck, I really don't think it concerns you or anyone. So thank you for your help, but I think it's best I remain alone from now on." he said, looking at the dead villagers with anguish
But when Webster poked his cheek with one of its spider leg in objection, he rubbed his cheek as he chuckled, "No need to be so brutal love, of course you're coming with me."
But Alexander, who was known to lose his patience often, now caught his cape and flipped it as he turned to Sage shouting, "Don't you get it, Anora and I are involved in your pretty little mess whether you like it or not. I saved you because I am an Elder of the Tower and as such I will find out who in our organization is the traitor and why because of someone as unimportant as you, a Beast was killed under our supervision. Bottom line, you don't get to choose whether you're coming or not…ANORA, LET'S GO!" he snapped, marching with irritation at an even faster pace
"Good gods, who raised this kid?" Wondered Sage calmly
"The bloody streets did!" Scowled Alexander before bathing Sage in insults.
"And to think he called you a beast..." muttered Sage to Anora, crossing his arms as he shook his head at Alexander, causing Anora to smile uneasily, "Yeah…"
Luckily for Alexander though, Sage wasn't the type to lose his temper so he wasn't angry at the young man, more like curious. He felt certain Alexander's attitude was a sort of armor that hid a lot of anger and frustration and he wondered what caused it. Had his parents also abandoned him or was it the streets that'd made him so bitter?
But he put his thoughts aside after Anora came to him and pleaded, "Please come with us Sage. Alexander is quite fond of Beasts, so he feels guilty for what happened to the Piveagle. He also wants to make sure everyone at the Tower doesn't risk any harm, and somewhere within him he also wishes to help you find the truth. He just doesn't know how to say it." She said with a light smile
Sage leaned his head back and took a breath, brushing his locks as he thought of whether to follow them or not. It was true that Alexander's display of perfect teamwork with his beasts earlier, showed what a great tamer he was, perhaps he could learn from this young Elder, assuming his fancy cape wasn't fake.
Anora then added, "Also, he's right you know. Whoever is behind this probably knows we stopped him from getting to you so we're a target too. But together, we stand a greater chance of, making it alive, finding your truth, and if there's someone who can help you control your abilities, it's Alexander." She promised, before skipping off after her companion, smiling when he pretended not to see her
Sage looked at the villagers lying dead all around him, then looked at the young duo and their beasts and it made him think. Even if the villagers had been mean to him, they had fed and sheltered him, and deserved to be avenged. As for the two kids, they had saved his life and were giving him the chance to understand why he was so different and who was after him. And perhaps he didn't control his abilities but he would learn, so that he could protect people and Beasts alike. It wasn't just about being a Tamer anymore, he knew he was part of something bigger, and even if those kids had amazing skills, they were still kids, and he felt responsible for them now.
He looked at his Elaspipus to see if it was alright with his choice, and the Beast cuddled his neck, sending him an echo that said, "We are the same."
Sage petted his smooth little head and managed to make an echo of his own, "We sure are."
Together, they walked behind the kids and when Anora turned and saw Sage following them, she took Alexander's arm and held it tightly as she squealed, "Oh how marvelous Alexander, I'm so happy he's coming with us!" she skipped with excitement making her hood nearly fall off again
But Alexander hurriedly put her hood back on and reminded her quite sternly, "Anora, you cannot show your hair to anyone remember, and that includes Sage, understood!"
Though Anora looked vexed by his tone of voice, she prompted gently, "Why not? I mean he's lived in a village and has probably never heard of me so…" she began
But Alexander snapped, "NO!" nearly making her jump. She then looked away and held herself, gone was her enthusiasm and smile.
She stood in complete silence and kept avoiding Alexander's gaze, which made him feel remorse for the way he spoke to her, sometimes he wondered why she even tolerated him. It's why he forced himself to speak more gently, though it still came out as a threat, "I will not, let anyone imprison you again Anora, not on my watch."
Anora's heart was instantly moved. She looked at him with her amazing eyes full of life and wonder, then replied sweetly, "I know you won't Alexander."
He gave her a stiff nod, pretending her adorable smile didn't faze him at all but she giggled behind her hand, knowing better.
As Sage followed their secret argument, he couldn't help making a big knowing smile, especially when Anora had gazed so adoringly at Alexander. But he suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned around when his Webster lifted its front legs, telling him it'd also felt someone following them. Unfortunately Webster was too weak to use his echolocation even for just a meter of a distance, so Sage petted his head to tell it, it was okay. He looked about one last time but didn't see even a leaf move out of place, so he rushed to the young duo and started conversing with Anora (Alexander straight up ignored him), wanting to try and protect them incase they were ambushed.
And behind them, just as dawn began to break, there was a woman dressed in an indecent manner, observing them from a top of a tree. She watched the people walking out the forest and despite her calm demeanor, her chest heaved with anticipation and her heart beat with impatience. With the wind blowing her long strands over her colorless eyes she whispered, "At last I found you...Sage."