by Dawn Chapman
“Are they good eating?” I asked.
“Now you’re learning.”
I pushed the trelks forwards, wanting more blood. As I focussed on them and the bear, something strange happened.
FROLBEAR — HEALTH 17%
We almost had it. Well, the trelks did. Taegen was wrapped up in watching them, and so was I. We never heard or saw anything else. Then the bear’s health dropped some more.
FROLBEAR — HEALTH 2%
The Frolbear cried out and fell over, taking out another couple of my trelks.
Their loss made me feel a twinge. My splotch popped up. I was taking damage. They were fighting for me, but when they died I was also hurt. Damn, that was tough.
Taegen reached out to stop me from falling over. “I think that’s enough for you for a while. They can go back to the forest.”
I only had to think ‘Leave me’ and they did. They vanished, along with their dead friends. The bear’s hide shimmered, and there was a golden haze above it.
I stepped towards it, and noted a message that said,
FROLBEAR KILL — PRIZE AWARDED — 6 GOLD COINS.
That was something else. I really grinned now, I’d my first hit of loot! I pushed closer to the bear and pocketed the coins. If they sat in my inventory with me never having access to them, I wouldn’t care. I was glad of the prize.
Taegen stepped forward. “We need to get it cut up and get back on the road. We need this meat. Jarvin, can you help?”
Jarvin joined him, and I pulled out my knife. It took us a while as its hide was really tough, but the meat inside looked rich. It would keep us going for a few days, even if we didn’t get anything else to go with it.
We packed up and mounted the ebolos, then moved out once more. Soon after, Taegen made us camp for the day, sheltering in a shallow cave system within the mountains we were skirting.
There was a small gully at the back of the cave, which ran fresh water into the mountain. We had enough to drink and to refill our skins. I wandered deeper into the cave system and found an underground river, so I decided to go for a dip. I took off my clothes, neatly placing them in a pile. But the water here wasn’t just cold. As I stuck my foot under, I let out a gasp. It was freezing. I guessed I had to just do it, so I plunged in quickly. The cold took my breath away but it felt so good.
“Dahlia!” Jarvin came bounding after me, and seeing me in the water, he stripped off, right down to his bare skin, and jumped in with a ‘hell yeah.’
I tried not to get embarrassed. I’d taken all my clothes off, too. What shocked me were the number of scars across his thighs and stomach. Long deep gashes. He’d also revealed a little more about his species. There were scales down his legs, in ripples. Not green ones, but toned skin, and brown. Maybe not a lizard, but some kind of snake.
He swam towards me on his back and I laughed, splashing out at him.
“Hey, that’s not nice.” But he carried on laughing, and swam straight at me, reaching to dunk me under the water. I jumped up and spat water back in his face.
Taegen stood at the water’s edge. “Mind if I join you?”
I looked at him and waved him over. There was no worry anymore about my naked body beneath the water. These guys were family.
Chapter 12
I saw the gathering below us as we started our descent from the mountains towards the forest. The closer we got to them the more I realised this wasn’t just a gathering, this really was an army. Their heavy-laden clothes, glinting chain mail and sturdy boots told me that. Their weapons ranged from small to large, bows and arrows, swords, axes, and hammers. I think there was a huge array of everything I could ever think of. There were literally hundreds of people. All races, from the usual fantasy-looking elves, dwarves, and orcs to their creatures: ebolos, horses, wolves of all statures. Large creatures I couldn’t even begin to describe, ugly, then there were cute, round, fluffy-looking ones. When they turned to face us, they had the reddest and most evil split down their bodies, and huge gnashing teeth. I could only think they were all in this together. Either they were sentient creatures or controlled by the mages that Taegen had mentioned.
We edged our way down, careful not to let the ebolos lose their footing.
The sky darkened on our descent and the ebolos became skittish. I struggled to keep mine calm.
“Tromoal!” Jarvin shouted, but they were flying in a totally different direction. I was glad at first, but then I felt guilty. Wherever they were heading, there would be deaths.
My ebolos settled as soon as the sky started to clear.
Finally, we reached the forest and a blackbird fluttered over. It landed on my saddle and stared up at me. “You made great time,” Clax said.
“You’re more than a familiar,” I said, noting for the first time that indeed, he was. He had a tag above his head now.
He lowered his body and fluttered his wings. “I am more than you think, and less, too.”
Taegen waved me on, and I pushed the ebolos towards the larger gathering of people. When I dismounted, I moved to stand beside him. A rather large man and a woman stood before me. She had amazing tanned skin, exposed in all the wrong places. Her figure was to die for. I studied her, my eyes wandering, while she started giggling. “So cute, but so young. Taegen, you shouldn’t go for the undernourished either.”
“Undernourished?” I stared at her. She suddenly wasn’t so beautiful. I took a step back and bumped into Jarvin.
“That’s a succubus,” he said. “Very powerful in the art of seduction. She was just teasing you. By undernourished she means your energy levels for magic, not your actual size.”
“Oh.” I pushed the fact that she thought I was too skinny out my mind. Enough of my peers had thought that over the years. No matter what I ate, it was never enough to put weight on. Lila was the same, though with all her martial arts training, she never ever stopped putting food in her mouth.
Taegen frowned. “Fix, leave her be. She’s a visitor, and a young one, as you can tell.”
Fix’s eyes lit up. She grinned at me as she stepped gracefully over. Her long blond hair cascaded down her figure, and I looked away. Her finger graced my chin and brought my eyes back to hers. “There’s something exciting about being new in Puatera, right?”
I couldn’t help but nod. She was right.
“But there’s something wrong. You’re missing something.”
“My sisters, yes... do you know where they are?” I thought she was psychic for just a moment.
“No. I’m sorry, my dear. I mean inside your system. You’re missing a few pieces, but I think they were taken out for a reason. I don’t know who by. May I try something?”
She held out a hand much like Taegen had done back when I first met him as Tomlinson. I trusted her to do the right thing. After all, Taegen had.
When she touched me, she was almost inside my head. I heard lots of ooh's and aaah’s, and then it was as if she was poking at something.
There was a click and a pull. I felt a slight bit of pain, then there was something else.
MIND CONNECTION TO FIX, SUCCUBUS OF THE FIFTH ORDER AND DAUGHTER TO MILIA AND FOLSTAFF.
FIX HAS FOUND THE BLOCKAGE ON YOUR CODE. SHE IS ATTEMPTING TO RE-ROUTE IT.
DO YOU ACCEPT?
Y/N
I hoped she wouldn’t do more damage than good, and clicked yes. A few more clicks and pops followed.
When I looked at her again, there was something above her head. “Visitor.”
“OMG, you’re a—”
She put a finger to her lips and took a step back.
I wanted to ask her questions about everything, but I could see that now wasn’t the right time. There were too many other things going on.
Taegen turned to the gentleman at his side. “Dahlia, this is my father’s general, Stevol Hart.”
He nodded at me. “If it wasn’t for Clax telling us you were joining us, we’d have left a few days ago. We’re stuck as to what’s actually go
ing on in there. All we know is that people are dying, and animals are running away. However. Clax tells us you’ve had first-hand experience. What is the threat? What are we facing?” He looked straight at me. “He said you’ve seen it all.”
I kind of shook my head, but choked out a ‘sort of.’ Then I tried to explain what I’d witnessed in the misty grey fog. I also described the creatures I’d seen, the effect it had on the elf, and the fact that it didn’t seem to get to me. Maybe I wasn’t there long enough, or maybe I had something to protect me.
General Hart listened carefully and then moved away. He pulled three girls from around the group where Taegen and Jarvin stood. They were of mixed age and wore very different clothes. Maybe they were from different sects or families within the mage guilds. I shivered, nervous to meet these other people.
They returned with the general, and all eyes settled on me.
“We’re to assist you, dear child,” one said.
I wanted to swat the general, but held most of my tongue back. “Less of the child, please.”
He looked a little shocked at my retort, but I was okay with that. The ladies in the group laughed. “It’s good to meet you, Dahlia. If you could attract Clax in the first place, there’s something inside you that’s interesting and strong.”
“She kicked a Frolbear’s ass with her trelks, too,” Jarvin interjected.
The older woman glanced at him and then back to me. “Is this true? You called forth trelks?”
I didn’t want to admit it, in case it was bad, but I liked the tiny tree critters. So I nodded.
“You’re of the dark side?”
Jarvin interjected again. “No way. There isn’t a dark bone in her body.”
“Then I think we’ll be fine in helping her to power her summons for the greater good.”
“We’ll be moving in five,” General Hart announced. The order bounced off his second and to others in command, making its way down the lines of men and creatures.
“You think this whole army is needed?” I asked Taegen.
“I don’t know. I’m worried that when we get in there, we’ll be outnumbered and not know what the hell we’re facing. It’s better to have too many hands and be able to cope than not enough.”
I agreed with that. This was going to be a hell of a fight. Whether they were ready for it, or whether they thought I was ready for it, I was scared.
The groups banded together more, and within those five minutes we were mounted up and making our way back into the forest. The people spread out along the tree line, but I could clearly see them and where they were heading.
“Clax,” I called.
The crow moved fast and landed again on my saddle. “What is it?”
“I need some eyes in the sky. Do you think you can still talk to me from high up?”
He cawed at me, and then took off. “I don’t know my range, but I’ll do my best to keep you informed.”
The tremors from the ground started as slow pulses. Taegen looked at me and I pointed upwards. “Clax, what do you see?”
“I see a lot of grey. There’s almost no colour up ahead.”
I relayed the information. “How far are we from the portal?”
He didn’t reply. At first, I thought he might be out of range, then his voice popped back up. “You’re about an hour at your current pace.”
An hour. Could we last an hour? I looked around. My vision pinged, and I noted that several of the people around me had life bars, tiny ones I could see if I focussed hard enough. They were losing health already.
Chapter 13
“Taegen, they’re taking hits already. Some aren’t going to make it through to the mass.”
He frowned and glanced at the general. “How is it affecting the stronger ones?”
I focussed in and found their health unchanged. I shook my head. It seemed the smaller people were taking it so the larger ones had a better chance of surviving.
That was brutal, but it would give us a better chance.
“Jarvin,” I said, “keep a close eye on the mages. If they need healing, make sure they get it first. They’re going to be supporting everyone else while we’re in there.”
He nodded and started to use what he had. Now my interface was working, seeing this level of energy and focus from him was awesome. He was so powerful, even though he’d never seemed to be. I guess healing Taegen from the poison attack really helped boost him up, that and the fact he’d been learning and practicing many things while with us.
He threw out healing spells, and more than a few. It didn’t seem to cost him a lot of energy, for now, and I felt happy to let him do this.
The closer we got into the forest, the deeper the fog got. The colour drained from everything, and as I watched those with dwindling energy levels, their colour was fading, too. I didn’t like this at all.
A sharp whistle invaded my thoughts. A large group of people on horses were in the woods ahead. They weren’t running away. They were fighting, swords clashing, magic thrown and heals sent from their mages. I could see it all, all the wonderful colours.
Taegen looked as shocked as I was. They were defending as best possible a few others huddled in a wagon.
That’s when I noticed the young woman in the lead — an elf or part-elf, I wasn’t sure. She was shouting out orders and coordinating everyone. A small mage stood at her side, a young woman, and a rather huge demon. I knew this because of the horns sticking out of the side of his head. I struggled to focus, but she turned slightly as she threw magic around. Her skill was intense.
I swallowed. “Jessica!”
She stalled, then she saw me. I’d never felt the need to rush forward like I did then. The ebolos felt my excitement and my nudge to run, but it wouldn’t, so I jumped off its flank and pelted towards the middle of the battle to reach my sister. Some ghoulish-looking creature with wide eyes and sharp claws ran towards me. I screamed and dodged out the way before one of the others tackled it to the ground.
“You can fight, right?” she asked when I reached her. I had so much to ask, but she just hugged me. Then, with a quick tug and spin around, she slashed the face off some other horror. I cringed.
Jessica smiled. “Akillia, we have back-up!” she called. “Come on!”
The mages and others who were with me pulled in behind us, weapons drawn, ready.
“It seems we’ve arrived just in time,” Taegen said as he hopped off his ebolos, striking down a monster before moving to stand with the elf, Akillia, and General Hart.
All around us the fight carried on. I couldn’t hear their conversation, but they were soon rearranging the men and people we had with us. My mage friends stayed with me, as did Jarvin.
“What can you do?” Jessica asked. Her large demon moved in beside her, taking a breather from the battle.
“I’m a Summoner. The mages are with me to help.”
“Good,” the demon said. “This rift is different. We can’t close it. We are however pushing the monsters back. With your forces, and ours, we might stand a chance. What will you call?”
“Trelks,” I said, suddenly feeling inadequate, but the demon raised an eyebrow.
“You’re going to call on the Trelks?”
“Yes.”
He laughed. “Jessica’s proven herself already as being a master of her class. I look forward to seeing her outshined by her younger sister.”
“Marok!” Jessica slapped the demon on the arm and he winced. Well, I thought it was a mock-wince, really.
“We are doing this, now?” Akillia shouted towards Jessica.
“With my sister by my side, we can do anything,” she hurled back.
That was a lot of pressure for me. I stepped up beside her and looked out at the front line.
I’d never seen so much bloodshed. And this was after seeing the destruction from the Tromoal.
I swallowed and looked back at the five mages assigned to me, and to Jarvin. The excitement in his eyes shone somethi
ng wicked; he believed in me. That was all I needed.
Jessica leaned over to me and whispered. “I’m not that big a level. The demon and several others are supplying me and Akillia with energy.”
I nodded. It wasn’t that we weren’t capable then, it was that we were all needed to do this, to win this battle. Together.
I focussed on the lands around me, feeling the creatures that were near, and called forth the trelks.
When the earth started to move around us, the trees closest began to move, to pull their roots out and take shape. These were not just the small dwarf-like trelks that I’d brought forwards to follow me, but full-sized trees, sixty-foot trees. I swallowed and concentrated. They would kill everything in sight if I didn’t make sure they were only to centre on the horrid grey spindly creatures that were part of the mist.
As Jessica grinned at me, I found myself thinking more and more about what else I could do, and then I noted that there were several Frolbear around us. Their red beady eyes looked to me and then out to the grey monsters.
“Launch everything you have! In three, two, one!” Akillia yelled.
The Trelks and the Frolbear launched forwards in a massive attack. There were huge explosions and sparks around us as mages fought with their own energies. They struck out at those who got through our new lines of defence, and they struck with precision.
While I could do nothing but watch the trelks and Frolbear engage, I witnessed several creatures break through and head straight for the leaders of our army, Akillia and General Hart.
Taegen and the demon stood in their path. Both had their swords drawn, and their dance was a myriad of colours to watch. They sliced and diced the creatures desperate to get through and kill, taking us to glory.
That was what I hoped, anyway, what I really hoped.
For the most part, the monsters were being pushed back to the portal. I wanted them to all die. The bloodlust inside me was immense. Was I that cruel?