SAGE (under edit)

Chapter Thirty One - Facing the Fallout

That night, Sage hadn't been able to sleep, and when she stood up from where she slept on the ground Raidan roused beside her.

'Sage,' he said in question, his voice just above a whisper.

'I'm restless, I just need to walk for a bit,' she told him just as quietly, glancing to the sleeping silhouettes of Nox and Toren around the crackling fire. 'I'll be back.'

'Don't wander far,' Raidan warned her.

She smiled at him, endeared by his sleepiness. Raidan didn't seem at all uncomfortable at being this close to Lion Crest, but then again he had more experience as a criminal than she did.

'Of course,' she whispered.

Dante was on watch for the night, despite the dangers being limited this close to the city. Sage found him perched up high in a tree, his silhouette mottled beneath the moonlight and the shadows the leaves cast over him.

Sage was careful where she walked, knowing that the Crest Soldiers were standing guard less than a mile from where she and the Shadow Soldiers were camping. With such a clear night, the entire forest was visible beneath the pale moonlight and Sage felt a certain calm settle inside her as she moved effortlessly between the trees.

The forests surrounding Lion Crest City had always seemed peaceful to her, even as a child. The redwood trees were tall and wide, looming like pillars and some so large the roots were bulging from the earth and as thick as the branches that seemed to grow like the sconces on chandeliers. She paused beneath a column of moonlight and looked up, peering through a gap between the canopies to see the moon and the bright star that sat within its ambience. Dean's star.

But Sage felt a ripple against her sixth sense, like something had disturbed the still surface of a lake. She turned just as she saw movement from the corner of her eye and found a Crest Soldier stepping out from behind one of the surrounding redwoods; a Sai-Soldier, given his uniform.

'I hope you're not heading for the city, Lycrart,' the Crest Soldier said, his hand resting on the handle of a hunting knife at his hip.

'You should brush up on your directions. The city is that way,' Sage reminded him, gesturing flippantly over her shoulder. 'I think you should also brush up on your orders. The Renark gave you an order not to engage us.'

'She gave us an order not to engage the Shadow Soldiers,' the Crest Soldier said. 'She didn't specifically mention the treacherous bitch who tags along with them.'

'More insults,' said Sage. She turned away from the Crest Soldier with a sigh and added, 'If you're only here to insult me, I think I'll go back to sleep.'

'We don't just have insults for you.'

She looked back over her shoulder, finding four more Crest Soldiers slipping out from the darkness into the moonlight. Sage's eyes narrowed.

'And look, you're unarmed,' the Crest Soldier said cheerfully.

'Actually,' said Sage, lifting her empty hands into the air, 'I'm not.'

And her hands were suddenly on fire, the flames appearing so quickly that she saw all five Crest Soldiers flinch. The fire, however, wasn't of flame.

What encompassed her hands was a burning violet, made entirely of Kyra. The Kyra lapped at each hand like hungry flames before it seemed to solidify, losing its fire-like quality to become as strong and as smooth as tempered steel.

She positioned her hands as if she wielded knives, one foot pushing back through the earth as she found her stance. 'Still think I'm unarmed?'

The Crest Soldiers were dumbfounded for a moment, their faces now doused by the purple glow of her Kyra-blades. They exchanged glances with each other before the same Crest Soldier said, 'Consider this a warning shot, Lycrart.'