The Burning Blue Mage

12

  The morning came far too quickly for my liking. Yesterday went by in a blur after I gained consciousness. So many people came up to me to ask what happened and if I was okay. It annoyed me that none of them asked about how Sage was doing even though he was the one who got seriously hurt.
     I was absolutely exhausted today, much more than yesterday. I wish I could curl back up into a ball and sleep for the next few days. I was able to sleep in for most of  the afternoon but I still had to wake up as I'm sure my duties were just piling up. If only I wasn't royalty.
     I kept thinking about the incident with Nirvana. It didn't seem real to me. More like a bad dream that seemed to linger. I just stood there and watched. It just didn't seem like I was there.
     I went into the bathroom and splashed water on my face in a desperate attempt to vanquish the images that haunted my mind.
     I dried my face off with a towel. The cold water had woken me up a bit, but I was still a bit sluggish. I hardly got any sleep last night.
     I tiredly walked over to my door and opened it.
     I was startled to see Sage sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, his diary in hand as he wrote in it. Unlike usual he didn't look up when I opened the door, he just kept writing.
     Didn't I have Sage's journal in my room? I looked back over my shoulder. It wasn't on the desk where I was sure I had left it.
     "I grabbed it yesterday while you were out and about. I bet you read it, didn't you?" Sage said.
     I didn't know what to say to that. I did read his journal and I felt my face go flush with embarrassment.
     Sage laughed, something that surprised me. I didn't think I'd hear that light-hearted laugh again. "I knew you did. That's why my entries are so cryptic. I'm glad I didn't write anything about my... Condition. Just finished my latest entry. Here, want to read it?"
     Before I could answer, Sage tossed his journal to me. I caught it and stared at it for a few seconds before I looked up at Sage. He indicated with his head for me to read it.
     I opened the journal and flipped to the last page with writing on it. I started to read it.

     Two years, 13 days, 6 hours, and 17 minutes. The past always catches up to you, I guess. Rook knows about it know. Everything. He's the only one that knows. The only one alive today, anyway. I'm still a bit on edge about it but I guess I knew I wouldn't be able to hide from it forever. He's taken it surprisingly well, much better than I would have if I were him. It's a relief, really. I wasn't sure how I would react if he took it badly. I debated about leaving. I could easily make it to another village or even another kingdom. But I think I'll stay. I couldn't bear going too far away from my old village. And Rook asked me to stay. So I'll stay.

     The entry ended there. Sage definitely was someone who didn't explain things. I guess it makes sense, looking at Sage's scenario. It still didn't seem real to me.
     Sage stood up and walked up to me. I gave the journal back to him. "I don't know why I wanted to show it to you. It's silly, I guess," Sage said with his usual smile. He ran his good hand through his hair. I stared at his limp, broken arm. I always thought mage's could instantly heal themselves but I guess not.
     Sage seemed to notice my stares. "Spiral fracture to the humerus. It wasn't displaced so it's not anything bad. I've healed quickly so I should be able to start using it again in a couple of days. Week tops. And once my stamina recovers I'll be able to use my gift, I believe you called it." Sage smiled shyly, his ears turning a shade redder. "I was lucky my injuries weren't worse."
     So mage's can heal themselves. Yesterday Sage said they needed stamina to do magic. I guess his stamina was still pretty low.
     "How is your stamina?" I asked cautiously. I wasn't sure how magic and stuff worked so I wasn't really sure how stamina worked.
     Sage's eyes quickly darted around the hall to make sure we were alone. "It's better but healing is hard. It can take years to get so good at healing that you can use it with minimal stamina."
     Even that seems so cryptic or vague. I never picked it up before but Sage really never explained things when he talked.
     "Were you hurt?" Sage asked. He sounded guilty which made no sense, seeing that he was the one who got injured.
     I shook my head. "No. She never touched me aside from the weird magic that knocked me out. What was that anyway?"
     Sage shook his head slowly. "I... I'm not sure. I've never seen it before. But she's not a normal mage, I can tell you that. I don't think she's like me but something's off with her magic."
     We were both quiet for a few seconds, Sage's words still lingering in the air. "Oh, I said I'd repay you for helping me in the library, didn't I? I never did cause of what happened. Well, a promise is a promise. I have the perfect idea. Tonight, at about 9 pm, come down to the training grounds."
     I looked at him confused. "Why?"
     Sage grinned. "It's a surprise. I'm making it up to you. I'll go get ready. I'll see you later tonight." Sage ran off to "get ready", whatever that means. I was a bit worried about this surprise but I was mostly just relieved that Sage wasn't crying anymore. Sadness and anger just didn't suit him.
     It was about 1 now so 9 wasn't that long away. I could kill some time doing my duties. My father still wanted me to go talk to him about the incident.
     I threw on my official uniform, ran a comb through my hair so it wasn't just a spiky mess, and headed out of my room and to the throne room. I had my sword on my belt, not having it out of my possession since the incident. I may be weak but I felt stronger with a sword at my reach at all times. I never know when someone could attack me. Nirvana attacked me while I was near the castle. Who says no one else will.
     I approached the throne room in which my father spent 90% of the time occupying. The guards standing at the door let me pass and I pushed open the large doors.
     My father sat in his throne, the only throne in the room. My father removed my mother's throne after she passed. He never built a throne for myself.
     I walked into the middle of the room and kneeled, one hand cupped over my heart. "Your highness. I apologise for not coming sooner."
     My father indicated with his head that I could stand so I did. I stood with all the proper etiquette I was taught. Straight back, head inclined in a composed manner but not one that suggested I thought of myself greater than him. One hand was tucked behind my back while the other hovered near my sword to show I have control or to show that I was ready to protect the king at any given moment. Currently, the latter was true.
     "I would like to hear your recollection of the attack," my father commanded.
     "Sage and I were training and we decided to take a walk in the forest. While we were in the forest, a female mage in her mid twenties attacked us using blue fire which I used to identify her as the burning blue mage. She tried to attack me but Sage intervened and fought her off. We were not doing well in the battle. Sage took the bulk of the attacks as he was the one fighting the mage but we were both attacked by some kind of magic that efficiently knocked us out. It worked quite well but she heard people coming and had to flee before she could do anything more to us," I said.
     I stuck to this story whenever anyone asked what had happened. I tried to keep it as accurate and close to the truth as I could without incriminating Sage of magic. I hadn't really talked to Sage about the cover story but I've heard that his story is consistent with mine.
     "It's a good thing that servant of yours was there," my father said in a voice that sounded like a mix of superiority and disgust or disliking.
     I nodded. "If Sage wasn't there I could have very well lost my life."
     Then again, Nirvana was only there to try and get Sage to join her so if Sage wasn't there I probably wouldn't have gotten attacked. But if Nirvana had targeted me while Sage wasn't there, well, I would be quite dead right now.
     "What did the burning blue mage look like?" My father asked.
     I carefully mulled over every detail of Nirvana. I surprisingly remembered her vividly.
     "Her hair was long, going to her hips, and was wavy. It faded from a deep blue, almost black like, to this pale blue that was like a white that seemed to glow. Her eyes were dragon like, round in shape and pupils as slits. They were a vibrant blue. Her skin was fairly pale and her lips were pinky. She acted childish and didn't worry about the fight at all. She was quite powerful, displaying mastery in multiple types of magic. She's very dangerous and should never be approached alone, not if you want any chance of survival."
     There were no words to describe Nirvana's sadistic nature. The way she smiled as she tortured Sage. The way she talked as if they were old pals, teasing him over every little thing. Talking about the destruction of Lyneria so casually. I could understand why Sage wanted to kill her so much. I wanted to kill her myself and she hadn't even killed anyone close to me.
     "It is my belief that this mage is trying to take over the kingdom and put mages on the throne which is why she attacked me," I added. I wanted my father to truly know what Nirvana wanted and to be prepared for another attack.
     My father nodded slowly before dismissing me with the flick of his hand. It reminded me so much of Nirvana. It's amazing what the flick of the hand could end up doing.
     I turned and left the room, keeping quiet about the memories that troubled me. The only person I could ever talk to about this is Sage.
     I'm not sure how Sage was able to do it. After having his whole village destroyed right in front of him, no survivors, at age 14. He had to move away and find a new life with what little he had left and he couldn't tell anyone about it or he would be executed.
     This world is cruel and twisted.
     The day past quickly. It went a lot like yesterday. Many guards and nobles asked if I was okay and if I was injured. I told all of them that I was fine. I think some of the servants were worried or maybe curious but none of them were brave enough to talk to me.
     Sage seemed to disappear for the entire day. I hope he wasn't causing trouble, for himself or others. It also worried me that he should be resting with all the injuries he has, especially that broken arm.
     I pushed away Nirvana as much as I could from my mind so instead I found myself thinking about Sage's journal entry.
     I originally thought Sage marked his date from the moment he first got to Azmar but I think it's actually from the moment Lyneria was destroyed. No wonder why he always had such accurate dates. There's no way he'd forget how long ago that tragedy happened.
     I thought about what he said about fleeing. It made me curious why he chose to come to Azmar. He said he didn't want to go far from Lyneria but there were plenty of closer villages he could have gone to instead of Azmar. I would have to ask him.
     Then I thought about the last lines of the entry and I found myself smiling. Sage was staying here for me. Because I asked him to.
     I walked into the kitchen, still smiling happily. It was getting late and I assumed Sage wasn't going to grab my dinner for me so I thought I would grab it myself.
     "Sage, you can get into one heck of a lot of trouble, you know?" Mikael said as he heard the door open. His back was to me, along with Kacy's, as they cooked dinner.
     "You're lucky the prince wasn't hurt or you would have been in a lot of trou-" Kacy turned around and saw me, immediately freezing. She stayed like that for a few seconds before she scrambled to bow. "Your highness! I'm so sorry! I mistook you for someone else!"
     Mikael immediately turned around and bowed, hearing what Kacy had said. They stayed like that until I told them they could stand.
     "I just came to see if I could grab a plate of food," I said. I was still too distracted by my emotions of Sage's journal entry to care about proper etiquette.
     "Shouldn't Sage be doing that?" Kacy asked, surprised.
     I let myself smile. "Ya, usually but I guess he's busy today."
     Kacy and Mikael said nothing to that. They placed my dinner on a plate and passed it to me silently. I nodded my respects before slipping out the kitchen.
     "That ignorant fool! Boy is he going to hear it when I see that freckled baboon again!" I heard Kacy shout as soon as I closed the door.
     I couldn't help but laugh. I did not envy Sage right now. Guess Kacy is the one who keeps Sage in line when it comes to etiquette.
     I took the plate of food up to my room. Normally I would eat with Sage in the library or the training grounds but I imagined Sage was still off doing whatever he was doing so I figured I'd just eat in my room.
     I slipped into my room and sat down at my desk. I quickly ate, keeping track of the time. It was 8:45 now so as soon as I finished eating I would head to the training grounds.
     I curiously wondered what Sage could possibly have in store for me. I was just happy that he seemed cheerful again. But I never knew his true emotions. I could never figure them out because he always seemed to be wearing some kind of mask of how he truly felt. But the castle has felt a lot warmer ever since yesterday.
     I've been paying a good amount of attention to the temperature since I found out that Sage makes it cold when he's scared. I've been trying to figure out any other emotions that set off his magic. Clearly fire was anger. That much I got from when Sage said he let his guard slip. Other than that, I had nothing. I wondered if I should ask.
     I finished my dinner and left my plate sitting on my desk. I would take it back to the kitchen later.
     I stood up and made my way out of the room, heading to the training grounds.
     The sky was as dark as it got in Azmar, which was okay. You couldn't see very far but you could see the stuff around you. Colors were a bit mixed but vibrant colors could be discerned. Any bright lights still stood out in the darkness but duller lights could be spotted as well.
     I made it to the training grounds. Sage was standing in the middle of the grassy patch with a wide grin on his face.
     "Hey, you came. Cool. I'm super excited to show you this," Sage said cheerfully.
     "And what exactly are you showing me?" I asked with a mix of skepticism and curiosity.
     Sage's smile widened. He glanced around quickly. "Did anyone see you come here? Followed you?"
     "Not that I know of. Why?" I asked puzzled.
     "In Lyneria I used my magic for one other thing. To learn how to better control my magic and to entertain the villagers, I would put on magic shows. Everyone loved them, both kids and adults. It sorta became tradition for me to put on shows, at least once a week. I made certain routines and the most popular goes along with the song that my village would sing all the time. I sang it once, when I was cleaning your room. It helped me learn main elemental magic- fire, water, earth, and air."
     I stared at Sage. Was he saying what I think he was saying?
     "You asked how magic could be a butter knife. If you stay calm, I can show you," Sage said.
     "If I stay calm?" I asked skeptically. Was there a reason I wouldn't?
     "My magic won't harm you, I promise. And the show is great fun."
     I paused for a second before sighing. "Let's see this dagger turn into a butter knife."
     Sage immediately brightened, as if he wasn't happy enough. But I was happy that he was so cheerful again that I couldn't complain.
     Sage waved his hand. A gale suddenly formed an almost humanoid shape, the winds surprisingly visible in the dark. It looked almost like swirled white claw marks.
     I jumped back in surprise as the winds conjured themselves into existence. Sage paused for a few seconds before continuing.