SafeHaven

by Xander Jade

  When her husband left, Fira knew she needed to be strong for her family and friends. Deciding on her path, she waited for Julie to get her breakfast before cleaning up.

  “Julie, clean yourself up and get dressed. We need to go visit the other women to make sure no one is in need of anything.”

  “Why, Momma? What’s going on?”

  “More soldiers showed up this morning. I’m not sure what’s happening, but we need to be prepared if any fighting starts. Also, our inventory needs to be checked just in case.”

  “Okay.”

  Both got ready and went to their neighbors and friends to check on them. Most didn’t need anything, but some needed some extra food. Fira had Julie go see if Olivia and Wade were available. They came back with Julie and Fira had the three grab vegetables out of her garden to help those in need.

  News spread and others got involved. The butcher gave out meat, and the owners of the general goods store handed out what they could. Frank gathered fresh bread, and the grain store helped as well. All deliveries went to Fira’s house. She had Olivia and Julie ask the women of the town to come help.

  The women came together as a group and brought their children who weren’t working. The assembled started making deliveries to the families of BlackCrest that couldn’t make it. After, they delivered food to each of their homes.

  The day was long, but as the community came together, there were smiles all around.

  Jonathan met up with Frank, Bert, and Ernie.

  “Fira did a great thing today,” Ernie said.

  “Yeah, we’ve been so busy with all the excitement around here that we forgot that the forest has been off limits,” Bert agreed.

  “I’m very proud of her and everyone that joined in. It also helped that everyone pitched in that could,” Jonathan stated as he looked around the town.

  “Has Theodore said anything regarding the soldiers?”

  “Not yet. Though he probably won’t say anything to us directly,” Frank replied.

  “I do know that they are installing checkpoints around the town to make sure we have some kind of warning if the fighting starts,” Bert said.

  “That’s good. Hopefully, seeing the soldiers will deter the evil bastards,” Ernie commented.

  The other three shook their heads, knowing that wasn’t going to happen, but didn’t say anything and went their separate ways.

  ***

  I opened my eyes, trying to figure out what was happening. I looked around and recognized my room. I sat up, pushing ice off of myself, wondering what the hell was going on. I put my feet on the ground and looked around to see I was lying on a bed of ice, then figured out that I’d been fully encased in it. What the fuck? I moved my neck around trying to get the kinks out. Finally able to stand up, I moved quietly through the cabin, and into the kitchen to get some water. After quenching my thirst, I headed outside to find Reap and Herc, but before making it to the door, I came across some guards. Not wanting to talk at the moment, I went out through a window, and headed to where my bonds were. I didn’t have to go far, because they ended up tracking me down and we walked into the woods for some privacy.

  ‘Max, it’s good to see you,’ Reap said.

  ‘Yes, how do you feel?’ Herc asked.

  ‘I have no idea what’s going on. The last thing I can remember was sparring with the girls. Can you catch me up?’

  They nodded and started explaining the past week’s events.

  ‘So, my guardian arrived. A demon prince is trying to take over our world. I’ve been unconscious for a week, and to top that off, half of that time I was covered in motherfuckin ice.’

  I grumbled sitting down on the ground and holding my head in my hands.

  ‘Damn, my body has taken a beating the last few weeks. Sig? Nespea? You guys there?’

  No response. Huh, wonder what that’s about? I heard sounds nearby. My hearing was sharper, and I could tell where those noises were coming from. I also noticed I could see in the dark better and an eerie feeling went down my spine. I supposed the healing that was done on me fixed my pathways. I wondered if my magic would work better now, so I decided to play around.

  ‘Guys, something changed in me. I can hear and see way better than before, even in darkness.’

  ‘Hmm…You also look different,’ Herc replied.

  ‘Yes, his eyes changed again. Damn, that is freaky.’ Reap chuckled.

  ‘HAHAHAHA…You’re right. His mates are going to flip.’ Herc laughed

  ‘What? My eyes changed again?’

  ‘Yes, and let me say this, they look fuckin badass,’ Herc replied, still laughing.

  ‘Your eyes are very distinct. I can’t tell what color they truly are in the darkness, but they are glowing white at the moment, and looks to me like lightning is moving through them,’ Reap advised.

  ‘This is—. I can’t even—. I need to run some adrenaline off and test my magic to see if it comes easier. You guys up for a little midnight hunt?’

  ‘Hell yeah!!’ they both said in unison.

  We took off at a sprint and I felt I was faster than I had been. My eyesight was amazing. I ran around trees, sidestepped stumps, and jumped over fallen logs. After some time, I figured out that we were on the outskirts of our forest when I noticed things moving ahead of me. Heat signatures, I realized, and slowed down a couple hundred yards out to investigate. I recognized some of the images as animals, but most of them were walking on two feet. I turned to Reap and Herc.

  ‘Guys, do you see those things ahead of us?’

  ‘Umm…I don’t see anything, but hear something up ahead,’ Reap said.

  ‘You can see up ahead? How far?’ Herc asked.

  ‘Hmm…about a couple hundred yards.’

  ‘Fuck, really? That’s badass,’ Reap responded.

  ‘Yeah, it is. I count forty but can’t tell what they are.’

  ‘Stealth it is then. Let’s go,’ Herc replied.

  We silently came up to the creatures ahead of us. I was right, about forty in total. It was a mixture of ghouls, goblins, and some kind of fuckin undead creatures with armor falling off their bodies. As if Herc was reading my mind, he said, ‘Draugrs.’

  ‘Shit, this is bad. Fucking ghouls and goblins in the same area,’ Reap hissed in disdain.

  ‘Well, I guess it’s time to hunt.’

  They both grunted their agreement.

  ‘I’ll walk into the camp and see if I can get some intel.’

  I moved into the clearing and they followed behind at a distance.

  “Ho the camp! I am in need of directions, please,” I shouted, and the fuckers ran around like their heads were cut off. I managed not to laugh and saw a group coming out to greet me.

  “It’s only a human. No threat,” the dickhead yelled over his shoulder. It was one of those draugr things and he turned back to me. “What are you doing here, human?”

  “I told you. I need directions to the next town.”

  “Don’t know, don’t care. Run along before you anger me,” the draugr replied.

  “Okay, but why are you out here in the woods?”

  One of the goblins answered, “We’re looking for some fools that took the master’s property. They collapsed a mine not too far from here and took his slaves. We’re here to end their miserable existence.”

  “Yeah, we’re going to rough them up good and take their riches,” another goblin gleefully answered.

  “Who is it you’re looking for? Maybe I know them and can help?”

  “We’re not sure, our master advised that they ended up somewhere within this forest. When we find them, the master will be so pleased with us that he might let us ransack a town,” the first goblin replied.

  “Oh, that would be splendid. Maybe we can help with Oakenshore or that little town BlackCrest. The loot will be amazing!” The second goblin gleefully cackled.

  These goblins aren’t very discreet, letting me know their plans. “You guys are about to raid those to
wns?” I asked calmly but my blood was boiling, and my anger was about to erupt.

  The two goblins laughed and one of them replied, “Yeah, our brothers will pillage, plunder, and some of the other darks will despoil them. They’ll take slaves while others will rape their women in front of them.”

  These motherfuckers need to die quickly so we can warn those in charge.

  “Oakenshore is a fortified city. How can you raid a city like that?”

  “Oh, we’ll have some ogres, orcs, and trolls with us. They are bringing siege machines and weapons to bring the walls down,” goblin number two replied.

  I had all the answers that I needed. It was time to whip some ass.

  “Silence!” the draugr roared. “You imbeciles, now we have to kill him. We can’t let him go with that knowledge. Sorry human, no offense, it’s just business. I hope you understand. And I was in a good mood, too.”

  ‘Guys, you heard that, right?’

  ‘Loud and clear. We need to end this quickly,’ Herc replied.

  ‘The draugrs will need to be beheaded to kill them. The ghouls the same, except they need to burn to ash too,’ Reap advised.

  ‘Okay, let’s do it.’

  “I don’t mind, and I agree, business is business. Although, I will have to defend myself, and it won’t be an easy task for you.”

  The draugr laughed and bellowed, “You? A human can’t defeat us. In any case, you’ll be overwhelmed. Look how many of us there are. I’ll take my chances with these odds.”

  I noticed the rest of the camp was focused on me. They were ready to fight, though they would probably change their minds when they realized I’d brought backup.

  I smiled to myself, thinking of the fun we were going to have.

  ‘Guys, let em know you’ve arrived.’

  They walked out from behind me and roared. It was glorious. The fuckers just stood there with their mouths open.

  ‘Max, you need to shift, it will be easier since you don’t have any weapons with you,’ Herc said.

  I nodded and shifted. The shift was quicker than usual, but I didn’t turn into my normal beast. I turned into my wolf. I felt something inside me wanting out and suddenly lightning crackled all over my body. I just went with my gut and concentrated on what my body wanted. I felt my body shift again and again, and when I looked up, nine others, which I guessed were my clones, were staring back. Holy shit! That’s something you don’t see every day. The world slowed to a crawl, then I felt something in my head, like another bond had formed, and a voice entered my mind.

  ‘Hello, Chosen.’

  ‘Umm… hello. Who are you?’ I scanned the area but couldn’t see anyone other than the dark ones. ‘Where are you?’

  ‘My name is Nicas. I’m invisible at the moment and will stay that way unless I need to take over at some point but will only do so if you’re in dire need. Now, I’m going to guide you through this battle. You have much to learn and little time to do it in.’

  ‘Ooookay. We can’t just brawl it out?’

  ‘I have no problem with that. It is why there are ten of you. We are using your bond with Sigmus to accomplish this. I know that you will have questions, but for now, I need you to “go with the flow”, as others would say.’

  He continued, ‘In your regular form brawling it out you could only be in one place at a time. Now you can be in ten places and still be aware of your surroundings. It will be somewhat bothersome the first couple of times, but once you master it, the dark ones won’t know how to deal with you.’

  ‘Awesome, so I can multiply myself now?’

  Yes, my dumbass self, asked this stupid and obvious question.

  ‘That’s correct.’

  Smiling, I asked, ‘Will I be wounded like the others if they get hit?’

  ‘No, but if the others die, then there will be repercussions. The pain may be minimal, but until it happens you won’t know what it’s like and can’t prepare for it.’

  ‘Okaaay. That doesn’t sound problematic at all,’ I said, rolling my eyes, then continued, ‘Is there anything else I need to know about right now or can I get started?’

  ‘Your body is still getting used to the massive mana pool that you have at your disposal. Your speed, agility, and awareness have increased. Just let your instincts guide you and all will be as it should be. We’ll discuss more when this hindrance is taken care of.’

  What the hell? Is this guy a philosopher? I mean, seriously, ‘all will be as it should be’. What kind of shit is that? Oh well, I need to get my head back into the fight.

  As I scanned around, the world started flowing by again, and I saw the guys only just now moving towards our enemy. Damn, the guardian must be powerful to stop time like that. Shaking my head from those thoughts, I reared my head back and let loose. I roared, not howled, roared, and my clones joined in. The noise very clearly announced that predators were here and if you didn’t want to die, then you had better run away.

  I took off in ten different directions, which was tough to get used to. It was like my mind was thinking ten different actions at once and if I didn’t get things straight, I would get wounded really easy.

  I went through the enemy’s ranks and decimated them. Bodies were flung everywhere. The goblins were easy to take care of, but the ghouls were a bit tougher to deal with. My mini-mes and I ripped the heads off of the ghouls around us, then went after the draugrs. They ended up being the toughest to kill, due to the shields they carried, but in the end, the clearing was strewn with corpses. We went over to Reap and Herc.

  ‘Guys, everything okay?’

  ‘Yep, those shithead ghouls just wouldn’t die,’ Reap replied.

  ‘Those draugrs weren’t a piece of cake either,’ Herc added.

  ‘Well, let’s get them into a pile so I can burn them.’

  ‘Hold on, we want to know how the hell there are ten of you,’ Reap retorted.

  ‘Umm…I had a little help. He had me use my bond with Sig to achieve that.’

  ‘Help? From who? I don’t see anyone,’ Herc said as they looked around the meadow.

  ‘It’s because I don’t want you to see me,’ Nicas said.

  Reap and Herc jumped when he spoke to them.

  ‘Don’t do that shit! You’ll give us a heart attack,’ Reap bellowed.

  ‘My apologies, gentlemen. I wasn’t trying to sneak up on you.’ Nicas laughed softly. ‘All right Max, let’s start your training. I want you to pull your clones back into you. Each one is just a piece of you and connected to your mind. A link is established when you mimic yourself, so just move your thoughts to those links and tell them to return.’

  It took a couple of minutes to find the links, but when I did, I grabbed onto them mentally and told them to return. I watched the clones tense suddenly, then they started to walk towards me and disappeared. I felt my mana surge a little when the links broke, and a bit of nausea hit me when the shift was complete. I shook my head to get the cobwebs out.

  ‘Good, now, the reason I wanted you to call them back is because the magic is distributed through your mimics. If you try to use magic while your mimics are summoned, the power is spread to them, and the spells won’t be as potent as when you are whole. Understand?’

  I nodded and he continued, ‘Your mana pool was blocked and hindering your body. That’s why magic was hard for you to achieve. Since the flow is fixed let’s try using chantless magic. Instead of using words of power, use your mind to drag those corpses over here. I want you to focus and make them levitate into a pile,’ Nicas instructed.

  I concentrated and willed my mind to start moving the corpses. Nothing happened at first but after a few moments, bodies started to move towards me. One, then two, then ten started dropping in a big pile in front of us. After the last body was in place, I waited for Nicas for further instruction.

  ‘Good. Now, let’s take care of this mess and then retire to your abode. I know you released lightning while fighting a few minutes ago, but it was from i
nstinct. That power comes from Cassie. You’re bonded with her, so find that link and summon lightning to destroy these bodies. Since you haven’t done this before, it may take a few minutes to find her link.'

  I went through my mind trying to track down Cass’s link to me. I could feel my various links, there were numerous. Each had different sensations attached to them. Weird. I located the correct link, held on to it, and concentrated on what I wanted done. Nothing happened, but I kept myself focused, gazing at the sky. Finally, I felt a strong breeze pick up through the woods. The wind blew hard as it picked up debris. I looked up into the sky to find black clouds forming quickly, and suddenly, thunder was heard right over our heads. Bright flashes lit up the sky, the wind blew faster, and a loud clap let us know something was about to happen. We backed away from the pile of bodies, not wanting to get hit by any debris or lightning. At that moment, the largest and thickest bolt of lightning I have ever seen hit the ground, and it felt like a mana bomb went off. There was a sonic boom, then a shockwave sent us sailing through the air end over end into some trees. Not going to lie, it fuckin hurt. I groaned when finally picking myself up off the ground.

  Scanning the area around us, I was shocked to see the carnage. Trees were just gone. The field was charred and burning. The shockwave was so powerful the area around us was completely flat land, no trees, no foliage. Damn, I’ll have to get some of the mages up here to fix this.

  Reap grumbled, ‘How about some warning next time?’

  Herc agreed, ‘Damn, Max, a little heads up would be nice.’

  ‘What the fuck are you talking about? I didn’t know that would happen. That was the first time I’ve summoned lightning, and maybe the last, if it’s that powerful. I’m still seeing bright flashes.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Chosen, that was my fault. I should’ve advised you to try and summon a minor bolt, instead of what you did. If you focus on it longer then you will make it more powerful, especially with your powers.’

  I groaned and went to look over where the bodies were supposed to be, but the only indications that anything had been there was a charred spot on the ground in a ten-foot crater. I checked the area and found some small fires were still active, so I just imagined them being put out and suddenly the earth took the fires beneath it. Wow that’s new. Must be from Nespea’s bond.