Free The End of the Fantasy (Book #6 of the Sage Saga) by Julius St. Clair Page A

before it could go any further. With a quick swipe of his blade, he sliced off the heads of both the Yama and Sway, sending their bodies down to the ground in a slump. Zhou sighed and turned back to his work, but now he had all sides closing in upon him. He was able to kill a few Yama in the front, but with Sway gone, no one was there to get his back. A Yama leapt onto his back and he stuck his blade through its side. The Yama dropped, but the moment was long enough for the couple of Yama falling from above to land on top of him.
    More Yama jumped on him, and he found himself crushed, his face pressed hard into the dirt and dead leaves. He felt his eidolon leave his grip, and a few seconds later, he felt it shatter. Wincing, he fought against the Yama on top of him, but there were too many. They began stabbing him, biting him, breaking him.
    And the last thing he saw before his eyes closed for good was the pink hat he had left on top of his dresser back in Allay. He wondered if someone would wear it, even though it wasn’t finished. Without the final touches it was an abomination. Simply a blueprint of greatness.
    Why am I thinking of this? He wondered. He felt his eyes go heavy as he thought of one of the guards wearing the hat around the castle. It made him cringe.
    What an ugly hat.
    His body went slack.
     
    *              *              *
     
    “Should we take a break?” Lily asked and Bastion yawned. He shook his head no and looked up to the night sky. How long had they been training? When was the last time he ate or slept?
    “You’re human, after all?” Lily said, stretching out her arms. “You still have to obey the laws given to them. Sleep is necessary.”
    “I’m more hungry than anything,” Bastion said, rubbing his stomach. He sat down on the crater floor and let the dust kick up over him, falling on top of his hair and settling onto his clothes. Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he had showered too. And was he really still wearing the same clothes he had brought from the village?
    He considered just stripping and then activating his Sage robe since it would be “cleaner,” but Lily was close by and also, there was that fact that he wouldn’t be able to maintain the form forever. That would be embarrassing to lose consciousness in a fight and suddenly be butt naked. He giggled at the thought and Lily raised an eyebrow.
    “What’s so funny?” she asked, sitting down beside him. Even with the dirt all over her, she didn’t look dirty. It was like the dirt had merely infused with her clothing and skin and became a part of her, like it was an accessory to her attire.
    “Don’t you need to eat?” he asked her, trying to change the subject.
    “Nah, what we ate a couple days ago was enough,” she muttered. “I get hungry, but once I’m full, I stay that way for a while.”
    “A couple days,” Bastion groaned. “Has that much time passed already?”
    “It’s been five since we ate actually.”
    “I barely noticed,” he muttered.
    “Good. It means you’re really concentrating.”
    “It’s hard to think of food when you’re constantly being ripped apart.”
    “How is that going by the way? Did you feel any pain in any of our sessions?”
    “Sort of. But it’s been distant. Nothing that would make me go over the edge. I think my body has to know that it’s life threatening.”
    “I don’t think we’re going to go that route too often,” she said, folding her knees into her chest. She looked up at the sky and stared at the moon, shining big and bold before them as if it was about to put on a show. The stars around it sat still as if they were the audience on the other side of the stadium. A light breeze nestled against their cold and grimy faces. Lily grinned and Bastion scooted over to be closer to her. He put his arm around her and pulled her close as they stared out over the horizon.
    “We’ll eat tomorrow,” he said. Lily didn’t