The Last of the Sages (Book #1 of the Sage Saga)

Chapter 8 - Haze

"Well, this is boring," one of the recruits sighed as he chopped a swinging branch in half. "And I was so fired up and ready to go too."

"What's your name, again?" Achan inquired.

"London."

"Okay, London. Shut up."

London snapped his head back in surprise and began to say something but decided against it. He fixed his gaze straight ahead and kept walking.

"Why do you think he scolded him?" James whispered to Rahima, a noticeably quiet girl that held the rear of the line. Achan kept telling her to move closer to the front, so that one of the men should keep the rear, but she walked so slowly, she always fell back into place. James reluctantly kept watch with her on Achan's orders, despite wanting to talk with the leader himself.

Rahima barely said a word no matter how much James spoke, and it wasn't long before his mind drifted to Catherine and her playful nature. If she were in the forest with them, the only downside would be that they would probably make too much noise, laughing and carrying on. James chuckled to himself despite Rahima trying to answer his question.

"London was scolded because one person affects the entire group, whether they realize it or not. London's complaining too much. That will start making everyone else irritable, and then no one will be on alert."

"Oh, that makes sense," James said as he leaped over a puke-green puddle that nearly claimed his boots. He immediately realized that he had traded water in his boots for a wet slap to the face from an unseen branch that dangled over the puddle. Rahima shook her head in annoyance. She probably thought he was trying to be cute. James grunted at her response. He hoped she knew that the only reason he was in the back with her was because he had to be, and not because of her charming personality. Tyler—a pale and lanky boy with broad shoulders—kept glancing back at James with suspicious eyes, as if there were something going on between the two of them.

"I'll be right back," he said to Rahima, trying to move forward in the line without raising Achan's awareness. Achan was busy explaining to Aqua the mechanics behind one of the other Kingdoms. James tapped the boy next to Tyler on the shoulder, but he couldn't remember who he was. They had all given their names earlier that morning, but James had only been half-paying attention for his day dreams trying desperately to play up what it meant to be an infantryman. When Achan had spoken earlier, being an infantryman had sounded glorious, but the more James thought about it, he came closer and closer to deciding that what Achan had said was the same as trying to call someone who shoveled manure, a waste sanitation engineer. Of course it sounded prestigious, but at the end of the day, they still shoveled manure.

"Yes?" the boy asked politely as James motioned toward Rahima.

"Do you mind taking over back there? She's driving me nuts."

"Achan wouldn't like you undermining anyone on the team."

"I'm not insulting anyone, I'm just saying that...well, you know how Arimus said the team was forged based on everyone's strengths and weaknesses? Well, I think I found our team's weakness." The boy laughed and scratched the back of his head.

"Alright, well, I guess I'll walk with her."

"I really appreciate it, uh...um...I'm James."

"The name's Chrillian, but thanks for trying to remember. Next time, pay attention, Larry," the boy said as he pulled back to line up with Rahima. James laughed silently.

I wonder when it will hit him that that's not my name.

"Everyone, hold it here," Achan called out. The group came to a halt. James threw up his hands in defeat. Of course the group was going to stop for the night the moment he found a replacement to walk with Rahima.