Rojuun
Page 41
Chapter 25
Liselle mentally kicked herself for being so caught up in the boy’s activities that she didn’t protect their rear. She jumped to her feet and thrust her arm forward. A stream of blue fire hit the sstejj.
The monster jerked back, releasing the feju before bursting into flames and dying.
Marrraa stared at her mangled arm and fell to her knees, still screaming in pain. Liselle grabbed hold of the injured arm and placed a hand on Marrraa’s cheek. “Shh.”
Marrraa looked into Liselle’s deep, misty-grey eyes and quieted.
“Hush now, you’re going to be just fine.” Liselle used her will to make Marrraa relax.
Looking inside the wound, Liselle saw the bones were broken in numerous places. With another, “Shh,” she magically stopped the bleeding. Then she closed her eyes, asking the plants around her for strength. Energy came rushing in and Liselle turned it into healing power.
It flowed from Liselle’s hands into the mangled arm to knit everything back together. Using the magical vision she had while healing, Liselle was able to watch the bone as it mended. The muscles reattached and the veins, fat cells and flesh reformed. Even the camouflaged leather armor wrapped back around the arm and mended itself just as good as new.
Liselle rubbed the arm with healing energy, flowing strength and health back into it. It was an additional step that would save weeks of recovery. After Liselle was done, she shook off the extra energy. Rather than being exhausted from the spells, she was invigorated from all of the power the plants had sent her.
“You healed my arm completely. That is not a thing any Rojuun can do,” Marrraa admitted in amazement.
“It’s not a big deal.” Liselle didn’t want to talk about it. The plants had given her way more energy than needed and it itched within her veins.
“It is a big deal, Cousin” Tathan said next to her. “Very few people can heal and none so completely as to mend the very garment a person wears. That is an extraordinary talent.”
“It’s not that hard. You just do it.” She shrugged, not knowing how else to explain. The power was bothering her. Liselle hopped up and down while shaking her arms, trying to get rid of it.
“Ahh yes. I’ll have to remember that next time I’m injured,” Tathan said with a roll of his eyes. “Just do it.”
“More sstejj come,” Vevin interjected. “Many more.” He looked in the direction the first pack had come from.
The power in Liselle’s veins was itching even worse than before. She felt an urge to let it loose on something. The plants didn’t like the sstejj. They had been telling her that ever since she had arrived in the tunnels. The sstejj were unnatural and not meant to be in the world.
The plants also told her that something else controlled them, created them, and drove them to a hateful lust for the taste of Rojuun. The plants didn’t care one way or another about the Rojuun, but the fact that the sstejj trampled plants made them mad. Sstejj were not supposed to be in the world.
She felt the plants in her mind saying they would give her all the energy she needed to destroy the sstejj. Liselle took a deep breath and turned toward the approaching sstejj. The men were beginning to move into position, so they didn’t notice that Liselle’s eyes had become pure blue fire.
Marrraa noticed, shrinking back in fear.
The plants told Liselle that a flood of sstejj was coming out of the tunnels to break down the gates and overrun Garrrn Cavern. They didn’t use words or even pictures to communicate this. Liselle simply understood them.
Liselle told them to lessen the energy they were sending. Flowers had taught her since birth how to handle power, but these were going to kill her with their eagerness. They didn’t know how to handle her like the flowers above ground did. The plants eased up, but the power made her veins itch.
She needed to physically see the sstejj to combat them. It was imperative that she release the energy soon. Liselle jumped into the air and floated toward the center of the cavern.
The rest of the party watched in shock as she glided up on blue mists. In a moment, Liselle had a vantage from which to see the sstejj. She tried adjusting her vision to see in the distance as Vevin could. She succeeded, but it required a lot of energy. The horde of the aberrations streaming into the cavern was a terrifying sight.
Liselle was held firm in the air by a web of magic extending from the plants. She would be able to channel as much energy as needed without moving, but her body wouldn’t be able to handle it. The plants offered theirs. Out of necessity, Liselle changed her understanding of magic and learned a new way to cast.
The wind her gathering of energy created was extreme. If the plants hadn’t been holding her steady, she would have been flung into the wall behind her. Liselle felt the blue fire gather around and funneled it back along the strands of magic to the plants in the caverns. Then she paused and told the plants to hold her companions. They did so by casting a net of protection that would shield them from what she was about to do.
Blue fire screamed throughout the cavern. The largest blast came from Liselle while hundreds of smaller flames shot forth from a myriad of plants.
It washed over the sstejj like a wave, instantly incinerating the front lines. From there, fire jumped from sstejj to sstejj, killing each one. Flames coming from the plants lashed out like great whips at the sstejj, killing each one they touched. The screams of dying sstejj echoed through the caverns, hurting the ears of any who listened.
Liselle guided the fires through the hordes until it had killed all in the cavern and many in the tunnels beyond. She felt the rest of the energy leave her body. The last thing Liselle remembered was the plants letting her gently back down to the ground where her cloak was. Then everything went black.