The Spirit Wilds: Magic of the Green Sage (Fall of the Sages Book 1), стр. 42
“Are we…too late?” Tuni wheezed.
Gayla surveyed the scene for a moment without speaking. Her gaze was blank and she muttered something that Tuni couldn’t make out, but there was a sorrow in her eyes, a deep sadness that always came out when she saw death, from what Tuni had noticed during her brief time with the Girl O’ Green.
Finally, the sage pursed her lips and nodded. “It appears so.” She gripped her staff tighter. “But we can still calm the rock golem so that it doesn’t do this to anyone else.”
She started forward. Tuni hopped after her. “I can’t believe a spirit did this. They never rampage around my home.”
“This is what happens when humans take and take without any regard for the world around them.” It was rare to see, but there was genuine disgust in her voice. Tuni was surprised to see her sneer.
They proceeded through the dead town slowly. Tuni would have been happy to sprint through and be done, but knowing the sage, she wanted to take it all in, take in all the death, remember their faces. Someone had to, didn’t they? She admired her for that. What a burden it must be, to care so much for a world that takes so much.
As the town came to an end and the road sloped up toward what Tuni assumed were mines, they heard the distinct clatter of steel against rock, the ping of hard metal. Then there was an earsplitting roar, deep and ominous and earth-shaking.
Gayla cursed, which was also rare. “Sounds like someone’s fighting the golem. Come, we need to stop them before they get killed. Villagers shouldn’t try to fight a spirit like…like…” She trailed off. Tuni frowned at her.
“Gayla?”
The sage put a finger up to silence her. And then Tuni heard it too—a melodic sound, the sweet symphony of a wind instrument. Judging by the tones, she guessed that it was an ocarina. Tuni used to play one as a kid, but she’d broken it long ago and never got a replacement. She’d still recognize the beauty of one anywhere.
Gayla didn’t see the beauty. In fact, her face contorted in horror. “No. Oh no, no.” She took off at a run.
Tuni yelped and stayed on her heels. “What is it?”
“Those aren’t villagers fighting! It’s the Knights of the Red Flame!”
That made Tuni falter a step. She nearly stumbled but kept her balance. The Knights of the Red Flame. She’d heard of them before, the holy order of knights from Al-Sevara that took it upon themselves to police the wilds and try to rid it of spirits, which was a ridiculous sentiment considering it was the Spirit Wilds. They rarely came far out into the Mushroom Wilds. Hell, they barely came as far as the mountains, but here they were, trying to protect and kill when they weren’t needed.
This would be a fight. Tuni hadn’t been ready to fight people, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to let some pompous knight in glittering armor hurt a spirit or the sage.
She unslung her bow from her shoulder and nocked an arrow, ready for a fight.
The fighting grew louder, yet less so as they climbed up the slope. The golem no longer roared, which wasn’t a good sign, and the sound of swords depleted completely. The only sound was the ocarina’s melody.
Gayla came over the ridge first as the road flattened, Tuni right behind her, and then she ground to a halt.
The rock golem was bigger than she’d ever imagined—as tall as any of the multifloored buildings in the town. A body made of dark rock and soil. Its eyes were closed, and it was on its knees, its arms at its side. It shook, as if it was trying to move but couldn’t. Tuni was confused as to what was happening until she saw the knights.
There were six of them, all roughly around her age, which struck her as odd, but she’d never met a knight so maybe they didn’t grow old fighting spirits. One man crouched over another, giving the unconscious one medical aid, his face bloodied. There were two women, both with bows brandished, but they were too focused on the golem. Then there were two more men, one with a sword and shield, his hair soaked with sweat and plastered to his face. The other wore a long red cape, a sword drawn in his left hand as he played the ocarina in the other.
And he stood over the golem, ready to strike it down.
“No!” Gayla roared. The knights turned to them, shocked, and the sage slammed her staff against the ground. A flash of white sent the knights flying.
Tuni whistled. Wow.
The sage wasted no time. She closed her eyes, dropped to her knees, and started chanting, her staff cradled against her chest.
“Menock, esh cosen, Menock hele os.”
A halo of golden light bloomed around her, brilliant and beautiful. Spirit energy, the raw magic inside of all spirits. It was said that it was in humans too, but Tuni didn’t know if that was true. Soon, the rock golem began to glow, and the rocks that had fallen from it began to fit back into place.
She was healing it. Calming its raged mind.
Things wouldn’t end that simply, however. The ocarina-wielding knight stumbled to his feet, though the others were still slow to do so. His eyes were confused for a moment before they turned to rage. He picked up his sword and the ocarina and started to play it, just as the golem had begun to stir. As soon as the notes hit the air, it wailed with pain and rage.
Tuni yelled, “No, you don’t!” He didn’t hear her, which was well enough. She raised her bow, pulled her arrow back, and let it loose.
It soared through the air, her shot as true as always. It struck the blue ocarina,