“My entire body aches,” Evan says as he walks over to me. “It’s like the earth around us is just… dead.”
“I can feel it too,” I say as I look in the direction of the woods.
“I’ve never felt such a thing,” he says as I take his hand and start drawing symbols on it. “I can put a barrier around myself.”
“Not if the land is barren,” I say, and he looks at me in surprise.
“You think it’s barren?” he asks. Druids pull all of their magic from the earth, so if the land is now barren, he couldn’t pull any magic from it. He would be as defenseless as any human.
One time we were working together in a high rise building, and he literally showed up carrying a potted bonsai tree so that he was still connected to the earth. He walked around that entire day carrying it. Even as his arms began to tire, he refused to put it down because he knew I would never let him live it down.
“You forgot your bonsai,” I say.
“No, I didn’t,” he says as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a miniature ficus tree.
“Seriously? If I touch a plant, it just dies and you’re carrying one around in your pocket?”
“Talent,” he says as he whips open his jacket and reveals a necklace made of air plants.
Everyone takes a moment to just stare at Evan. “You’re acting very proud of yourself, but that’s just embarrassing.”
His eyebrows knit, like he’s confused. “Embarrassing? No, no it’s not.”
The consensus seems to be that it is embarrassing. “Eh… um… Sure! Now let’s go.”
I start jogging with the weres next to me. Havoc shifts into a raven and flies above us without getting too far from me. I cast a spell on my eyes so I can see in the dark as if it is still daylight and do the same to Evan.
The woods has been reduced in size over the years, but nothing prepares me for what I come upon. The trees are lifeless, nothing but empty husks. All of the leaves have fallen to the ground or hang lifeless, faded and brown, from the branches. The grass is dead, and the ground is blackened. Miasma creeps up the barks of the trees and is so thick the air feels hard to breathe.
“Gods,” Evan whispers as he walks up to a tree and sets his hand against it. He jerks his hand back like it’s hot and looks pained. “It’s all dead… I can’t feel any plant life for miles. What could have done this?”
“A ritual of some sort,” I guess. “Evan, do you wish to stay behind? You’ll be completely defenseless in here.”
“No, I have my bow and your barrier. I’ll manage.”
“Baron, rush to Evan’s side if his barrier breaks and get him out.”
Baron nods as I take a step into the woods. I feel the forest spirit’s presence in an instant, and Havoc shifts beside me, sword drawn, eyes bloodthirsty.
“He’s coming,” I say, and I see the weres’ bodies tense up.
I take a step forward and see the forest spirit walk out from behind the trees. I have only ever seen him from afar, but he had always seemed tolerant of people in his woods. He has never looked like this. He’s the size of a horse, with the body of a white wolf. Red scales run down from under his chin and over his stomach. He has two tails, and his paws are more like a cat’s than a dog’s. Fangs stretch out over his lips as he bares his teeth at us.
What is strange is that his white coat is covered in darkness, almost as if the tip of his hair is dripping black paint. His eyes are a strange hue of red, and his coat looks dull. He drags his feet like there are weights on them, and I see that, in a way, there are. Shackles of black magic wrap around each paw. His skin is raw around them, blood dripping from the metal. He growls at us as he moves closer.
“Don’t move,” I warn the others.
“What?” Havoc growls.
“We can help you,” I say as I open up my mind to his.
“Kill… kill… kill…” His thoughts whip around in mayhem as I watch him carefully.
“Let me help you,” I say again.
“Kill… kill… pain… kill.”
I assess the situation but I know what I have to do. “I need to touch him without him killing me. I’m going to try to save him.”
Havoc turns to me, apparent concern on his face. “There’s no land left for him though. He’ll go mad from that alone.”
“We’ll take one hurdle at a time,” I say as I calmly walk toward the forest spirit.
Havoc is enraged that I’m putting myself in danger and doesn’t even think about calming down as he watches me.
“Miles, stop this,” Havoc growls.
“Shh,” I whisper as I keep walking.
The beast crouches down as he slinks toward me, eyes locked on me since I’m the closest. Careful to keep my movements slow, I calmly step into him. Suddenly, he rushes me, and I move to the side to avoid him. As he moves past, I press my hand against him, fingers drawing over his fur.
Pain tears through me, and I jerk my hand back. “Fuck,” I hiss.
Havoc rushes in to attack, so I grab him tightly and yank him back before he does something we can’t reverse.
I know he’s worried about what the spirit will do, but I need him to help me. “We’re not going to kill him. New plan. We need to figure out what is causing all of the miasma. I can’t even touch him without the miasma burning me. Spread out and tell me as soon as you find it. I’m figuring it’s a circle of some kind. I’ll keep him preoccupied.”
Havoc stares at me in disbelief. “I’m not leaving you,” he says sternly.
“Go, I can handle it.”
“No.”
He’s angry at me, but I need him to focus. “Havoc, I order you to go,” I snap, forcing him to listen to me.
“Fuck,” he growls. “Quick, everyone now.”
They rush out in different directions, and I’m left with the forest spirit alone.
He’s delirious with pain and anger. I put an illusion of myself on a tree and he fixates on it, rushing at it as I move the illusion around. He gnashes his teeth as he reaches it, lips pulled back as he snarls. He strikes it, his claws tearing through it and I’m very glad it isn’t me standing there. But now he realizes it’s not real and isn’t fooled by a second one. He fixates on me and rushes at me as I quickly throw a barrier up around me. He hits it and snarls as he fights against it.
“I’m pissed,” Havoc says into my mind. He sounds upset and the emotions startle me. He’s left me in danger more than once and not batted an eye.
“I know you are.”
“I’m not even going to care if that thing tears you apart.”
“Alright, but I’ll be okay.”
The forest spirit rushes after me, so I light a row of fire before him, but he runs straight through it like it’s nothing.
Suddenly, I hear the werewolves howling and I know that’s my cue to get the hell away. Quickly, I start running, but I know he’ll reach me before I make it to the others. His four legs are clearly quicker than my two.
“You hear them?”
“Yes. Help me get there,” I say as I jump a fallen tree and keep moving. I look behind me as he blindly slams into a tree with his shoulder. Overcome by rage, he attacks it, tearing it to the ground. It buys me a little time as I turn my attention to staying alive.
I hear another howl as I run, verifying that I am heading in the correct direction.
“I’ll entertain him. You get there,” Havoc says.
Even though I don’t want to put Havoc in danger, I know he’ll be able to handle this situation better than me. “Be safe,” I say. “Stay in that form and out of his reach.”
“Understood.”
I run as quickly as I can to the sound of the werewolves howling. When I reach an opening in the trees, I notice a magic circle right in the middle. The others are already there as I look at them.
“Evan, do you know what the circle is for?” I ask.
He’s standing on the circle, bare feet in the middle as he looks down at it. “I’m try
ing… I think it’s just to kill the land.”
“They wanted to weaken the forest spirit. They may want him for some reason,” I realize. “Protect me. I’m going to be completely vulnerable.”
Baron nods his reply and waits for my signal.
I kneel down and press my hand against it as I allow myself to grasp the magic surrounding the magic circle. With a steady breath, I calm my body so that I can gather all the open threads of magic and demolish them. Beneath my feet, I feel the magic circle hum and then collapse as the magic is cut off, and the circle is closed. When I draw myself away from it, I see that our company is trying his hardest to kill everyone. And everyone is trying their hardest to keep me alive. I also notice that the miasma is not as thick now, and the air feels more breathable. Destroying the circle won’t bring life back to the land, but it will remove the miasma that killed the land.
“Okay, back up,” I say as I turn to the forest spirit.
He rushes at me, and Havoc moves in to protect me.
“Havoc, get back,” I say. “Let me handle this.”
He growls at me but steps back, giving me room to move. I step out of the way of the forest spirit as he lunges for me, teeth gnashing as I feel spittle spray my cheek. Angry he missed, he turns and rushes at me, so I hold my hand up and reach for him with my magic.
“Submit,” I say into his mind.
I need to break the hold the magic has around each of his paws before even trying to reach his mind.
“Kill… ki… kill… ill… kill…”
My magic snakes along the ground like wisps of smoke as it crawls onto the beast’s legs. He slows down as I hold him with my magic. Saliva is running out of his mouth as touches of gold begin to wash away the red of his eyes.
“Submit,” I say as I move toward him.
He growls deeply as I slowly walk up to him. He strikes out with his claws and tosses his head around. He is panting hard as I reach out and touch his forehead, sinking my fingers into his fur. He cringes back and then lunges forward, slamming into me. I fall back, but Havoc catches me before I hit the ground and guides me toward the beast so I can continue breaking the spell. The beast jerks back and starts backing away from me.
“Submit,” I growl, and he drops down to his knees. “Submit.”
He falls onto his side, and I kneel down and press my hand against his forehead, tearing away the binds that keep him suppressed. Finally, I drag away the last of the miasma, freeing him of it.
He looks up at me and then drops his head. “Please kill me,” he says, voice rich but full of pain.
“No, I refuse.”
He’s shaking beneath my hand and I want to comfort him. I can feel his pain as he says, “My land is gone, there’s nothing left. Please, allow death to consume me.”
“Let’s see if we can bring it back before you completely give up.” My fingers sink into his white fur in hopes of encouraging him.
“The forest is dead,” he growls as now golden eyes flash over to me. “I know better than anyone that it is dead.”
“Let’s figure that out for sure first,” I say as I get up. “Come on.”
He hesitates but slowly rises to his feet.
“Evan, come here,” I say, and Evan walks up to us hesitantly. “Do you feel any plant life?”
He takes his shoes off and steps onto the ground. He looks up at me and shakes his head.
The forest spirit growls. “I told you—”
“Wait until I say that I give up before you give up.”
“There’s nothing,” he growls. “If a druid can’t do it, you can’t.”
“Alright, Evan, we’re going to try something. It may not work… it probably won’t work, but it’s worth a try. Come, sit with me.”
He sits down in front of me.
“I’m going to feed you my magic, and you’re going to find even the littlest scrap of a seed and make it grow.”
He raises an eyebrow. “I don’t know if I have the power for that,” he says hesitantly.
He might be right, but I’m still going to give it the best try that I can. “I will create a circuit between us so the magic will flow through us, allowing you to use whatever amount of my magic you need,” I explain as I pull out a marker. I draw matching symbols on our palms and then grab his hands. “Ready?
“Yes,” he says.
I can feel his magic wrapping around me. To my eyes, it almost looks green, like vines. I welcome it and feed my own magic into it as the druid chants something in a language I don’t know. For a long moment, it seems like nothing is going to happen. He might be right and together we’re just not powerful enough. And that’s when I see the black miasma begin to fade away. I can’t help but smile as I watch the earth between us as the ground begins to grow a rich brown. Suddenly, the earth cracks just a sliver, and a small bud of green peeks out before reaching upward a few inches until a single leaf curls out from it.
Evan takes a deep breath. “That’s all I can do… How are you so powerful?” he asks.
I wink at him. “It’s a secret.”
He gives me a half-grin. “I couldn’t even sort through the power you were throwing at me.”
The forest spirit brings his nose down and touches the sapling before lying down and staring at it. “Can you do more?” he pleads.
I’m exhausted just thinking about it. “Not right now. This night has sapped a lot out of all of us, but it proves that you have something to live for. It’ll come back. I promise.”
“I’ll come back every week and help it grow,” Evan promises.
“Are the ones who did this still alive?” the forest spirit asks.
“Yes,” I say. “And I fear you’re not safe here. They needed you for some reason. All of this was to weaken you. I don’t know if it was to kill you or if they wished to control you, but you’re no longer safe here.”
“I will kill them,” he growls, and the hair on the back of his neck stands on end.
“I’m working on it,” I say. “But you’ll be even weaker without the life of your forest. They’ll come back for you, so I ask you to come with me until this is all over.”
He looks down at the sapling and then back at me. “I want to help you to repay you for what you’ve done. But what if they return? This is all I have left.”
“They probably will return,” I say truthfully.
“You could take the sapling with you?” Evan suggests. “That way it’s protected until we know no harm will come again to these woods.”
The large beast turns to me, golden eyes watching me closely. “Will you allow me to serve you in order to repay you?”
“You don’t need to repay me, and I don’t want your service. But if you wish to assist me, then I’ll gratefully accept.”
“May I ask your name?” he asks.
“Milliant, but you can call me Miles.”
He stares at me for a moment as he thinks. “That name sounds familiar. Have we met before?”
“In passing. Your name?”
“Badrick,” he says. “I apologize to all of you whom I’ve caused harm.”
“We’re all okay,” I say.
“I am thankful for that,” Badrick says.
“Alright, now let us get you home,” I say.
Evan digs up the sapling since he could basically step on the thing, rip it apart, and forget to water it, and it would still grow. I glance at a plant and it gives up on life.
We walk back to the vehicles and only then do I realize that I have a dilemma.
“I don’t suppose you’ll ride on the roof of the car?” I ask.
The forest spirit looks over at me and cocks his head.
“Right. Evan, do you mind dropping our new friend off at my house?” I ask.
Badrick eyes the vehicles before cocking his head. “You wish me to ride in the back of a truck?”
“Yes,” I say.
He stares at me, then the truck, but he seems to remember that the reason we are cover
ed in dirt and bruises is because of him and climbs into the bed of the truck. He sits down and Evan gives me a look, but I just smile at him.
“See you at home,” I say with a wink.
“Uh huh… great.”
Chapter Eight
I watch as Havoc wanders around the café, pestering everyone he can. Surprisingly, or maybe not, everyone seems to love it. They laugh and lean into him, like they’re eager to hear what he has to say next.
I sigh and head up the stairs since I really should be doing something for work instead of staring at Havoc and trying to figure him out. Seems to be a weird pastime.
“What are you doing?” Havoc asks, making me jump.
“You scared me! Where did you come from?”
He cackles, clearly impressed with himself. “Heaven probably.”
I snort. “Yeah… yeah… that’s not likely.”
His smile falls. “What’s that mean?”
I shake my head as I try to fight the grin. “No idea.”
“What’s been up with you?”
“With?”
“Miles… I know you way too well. Like sickeningly well. It’s almost creepy how well I know you. I know something’s up. Are you going to talk to me? You’re allowed to give everyone else the silent treatment, not me. Because I’m special.”
I can’t hold back the grin any longer. “You’re definitely that. I don’t know… just been thinking about everything. About us.”
“Like us or us.”
“I’m not sure there’s a difference.”
“I know. I’m amazing in both instances. Is it because of the hot and sweaty sex?”
I hesitate, unsure whether to voice my concerns. Despite all the amazing sex we’ve had, we really haven’t discussed what it means to us, to our friendship, and it’s started to eat away at me, apparently to the point that even Havoc has noticed something off. I decide to take the plunge and just say it. “Maybe. It’s kind of… you’re the person I care most about in my life. I would be so lost without you. I know we butt heads, but I can’t imagine two people who’ve been together for hundreds of years not butting heads. But I don’t want to lose you or our relationship because I don’t know where our relationship is going.”
Happy Endings Page 10