The Forbidden Sage and the Hero

Libarius sits against the trunk of a tree, Gracia standing over him.

“Just let me help, Libarius!”

“I refuse.”

“We need to get back to the reservoir, so just let me help you!”

“It would hardly make sense for me to accept help from the enemy. I’m no fool, Gracia, I won’t make myself vulnerable so.”

“I won’t do anything, and I’m not your enemy!”

“Any who would block me from my research is the enemy. It’s a simple matter.”

“What does your research matter?! You can’t walk!”

“It will take me only a few moments to collect myself, and I’ll again have the requisite strength.”

“You already said that! And there’s an enemy running around, so we need to be able to move!”

“It’s hardly an enemy. Even were it the real thing you would have no trouble.”

“So you really do know everything already.”

“Of course. A mage ought to know things.”

“So what is it?”

“I won’t tell. I won’t provide information to the enemy.”

“We’re on the same side here.”

“You’re a larger threat than they would be.”

“I’m not a threat!”

“You are.”

“If you thought I was a threat then why did you let me follow you!?” Libarius goes silent, unable to explain.

“You’re a hero. That makes us enemies.”

“I’m not a hero.”

“You stood against me; what else could you be?”

“You’re not a villain, Libarius.”

“Truly you lack belief. Gracia, you are a wonderful mage, there is no reason for you to question your own intuition. It is as you thought. Your suspicions were well founded.”

“So you really did do something?”

“Hardly. But I’m liable to.”

“Libarius, why did you let the spell affect us?”

“What a foolish question.”

“Just answer me!”

“Very well. It’s a spell I’ve never seen.”

“But you already knew what the spell does.”

“Indeed, but simply knowing is hardly enough. As you well know yourself. What is the purpose of these questions?”

“So I can know the truth, with certainty.”

“What truth could you possibly grasp?”

“That my suspicions were wrong.”

“Stop deluding yourself, Gracia. You are far wiser than that. It is all as you said. I’ll use people as I please for the sake of my research. You won’t permit me to do so. What else is there to be said?”

“That you love magic. And that you aren’t a bad person.”

“Such naïveté does not suit you, Gracia. Why must you all give in to it rather than be a hero?”

“Because I’m not a hero.”

“Yet you stand against me regardless.”

“Of course I will. I won’t let you hurt somebody you don’t want to hurt.”

“It matters not. The die is cast. We are enemies, Gracia.”

“We’re not.”

“We’re fated to fight.”

“I don’t want to.”

“And in the end, you will kill me, or I will rule.”

“It won’t end up like that.”

“Don’t doubt my judgement.”

“You’re the one who said I should believe in my intuition.”

“In a battle between mages, only one image remains. I suppose we shall see in the end.”

“I won’t fight, Libarius.”

“And I believe it to be fated.”

“That fate is too cruel. I won’t let it happen, Libarius.”

“And yet you’re not a hero, though even this is a poor showing.” Gracia looks right at Libarius and reaches down to him.

“If you need to be saved, then I’ll be your hero, Libarius. I just don’t want to fight you anymore. I really think that you are good.” Libarius gives a wry smile.

“How foolish. And utterly dull.” Libarius places his gloved hand in hers. “However, I have no intention of letting such a weak mage have the advantage over me once more.”

Libarius tries to pull himself up, but instead he overpowers Gracia and pulls her down. She falls into him, landing on his chest. Pressed up against his shirt, she can feel the bones in Libarius’s ribcage. Again she is reminded of how weak his body seems to be, as though he has no intention of living. And she realizes how close he has brought her.

“L-Libarius, what are you—” Libarius chides her.

“Gracia, I lack the ability to even cast a simple enhancement spell. Don’t let yourself be defeated.”

Gracia pushes him into the tree he leans against as she lifts herself up off of him. She grabs him by the sleeve and tugs him up to standing. Libarius slams his hand into the tree behind him, piercing the bark, holding himself up by his grip. Gracia wraps his arm around her shoulders and lifts him. It’s very easy to.

“Libarius, what are we fighting against?”

“You truly don’t know? My, what a lapse in your preparations.”

“Do you expect people to learn about every other mage just in case they end up fighting? I don’t even want to fight in the first place.”

“It’s hardly ‘just in case,’ Gracia. This is a criminal we’re up against. A wielder of Taboos.”

“Are you really sure we’re enough then? Aren’t these the sorts of missions that take whole units of magic knights?”

“We ought to be enough. We’re up against the one designated ‘Black Marsh,’ one not even strong enough to be called a sage even after a reign of a century. Indeed, they hardly even tap into the power of Taboos. Their most fearsome spell, the one that earned them any renown at all, was the one cast on us. It’s nothing more than harassment. They are a mage that would be irritating to capture, and one who hardly warrants it. However, I imagine it is in truth even less dangerous. Black Marsh is said to rarely if ever leave their domain, to the point where few if any can identify them. To launch a plot against the capital is out of character. As such, I would assume that we are facing an even weaker disciple of Black Marsh. The spells lack any real edge, and it hardly put us in danger, after all. This whole affair was sloppy work.”

As Libarius finishes his explanation, he and Gracia feel the ground begin to turn to mud beneath them.