Read Online The Last War (Book #9 of the Sage Saga) by Julius St. Clair - Free Book Online Page A

manmade—a way for Kyran to reveal that his presence had once been there.
    “No way to talk you out of this?” James asked, scanning the branches. Not even his eidolons were picking anything up.
    “None,” Chloe said. “And by the way, I’m still mad by what you said.”
    “Had to try everything I could think of.”
    Chloe responded with a flash of light, descending down from the heavens above. The pillar of light pierced through the clouds, cut through the tree branches in its way and engulfed Chloe in such a blinding brilliance that Catherine and James had to shield their eyes. Though they had long discovered that it wasn’t necessary to summon the light to transform, Chloe still used it as a way to intimidate her opponents. By blinding them, even if only temporary, she showed them that at least for a moment they had to yield to her might.
    “I’m coming,” she announced before the light had subsided.
    James and Catherine lifted their eidolons, but Chloe had come low. She pressed the blade of her long sword against both of their abdomens and pushed. James and Catherine instinctively leapt back as Chloe completed her swing so they weren’t cut in two, but they had still been cut. A thin line of blood was steadily getting bigger on their Sage robes as they noticed that Chloe had disappeared from their sight.
    “I’m transforming,” James said, sucking his teeth. “I’m not going to let her do this, and I know Kyran’s just waiting for his moment.”
    “James, don’t. You’ll be vulnerable.”
    “It will just take a couple seconds.” As soon as James sheathed his eidolons back into his body and fell down onto all fours, he screamed. Catherine’s head swiveled back to her husband who was now being stabbed in the spine by a stone-faced Kyran. The assassin had one arm wrapped around James’ half-Quietus body while the other arm twisted, trying to paralyze the Sage. Catherine leapt to James’ aid, but Kyran had already let go.
    She ran after him as he glided backwards, as if he was being pulled back against his will. Kyran looked at her expressionless while he sped through the leaves, kicking them up all around her. Catherine put a burst of energy into her legs and leapt forward in a blur. Kyran vanished completely.
    She pivoted in place and headed back to where James was.
    Because he had been hit in the spine, he hadn’t been paralyzed, but he was forced to heal the wound instead of completing the transformation. Chloe was hacking away at him, trying to cut off his arms and legs as he stumbled and scurried backwards, trying to escape. He was only able to dodge a couple blows. Catherine stepped between them and blocked one of Chloe’s swings. Chloe grinned and overpowered Catherine with brute force, swinging so hard that she was knocked back. Catherine maintained her balance as she ducked under another blow and tried to hit Chloe in the side. Chloe kicked her sword away and swung again but Catherine was too quick. She leapt over Chloe’s head and summoned a pillar of light to consume them both. Catherine had done a similar technique against Orchid long ago and it had worked. Chloe hadn’t been there so she hoped that it would work, but Chloe was too resourceful. She summoned her own pillar of light to overlap Catherine’s and the illumination was too much for Catherine’s eyes.
    She found herself being skewered in mid-air. The breath was taken out of her as she slid down Chloe’s blade a little. The pain was so great that she nearly passed out but Chloe wasn’t a cold-hearted killer. She kicked the Sage off of her blade and let her breathe.
    “Catherine, please,” she said. “I don’t want to do this. Not to you.”
    “You should have finished it,” Catherine huffed. She clutched the wound as her head bobbed up and down. She struggled not to go faint.
    “I avoided a killing blow on purpose,” Chloe said. She was about to reach out to Catherine when James tackled her to the ground. Chloe