The swordsman had a little more luck and was able to slice a clean wound into its chest. Before he could drive his blade in, however, the alpha swatted him away with the back of its arm. The blow thankfully didn’t cut into him, but the strength of the beast was enough to hurl him into the ceiling. He plummeted when gravity kicked in and it looked like he would fall into a sinkhole the creature had created, but Asla had recovered enough to quickly bound across and push him out of the way. They tumbled together and rolled out of range.
The beast finally freed itself from the ice. Jazai tried to counter with another cantrip but the flayer looked at him and uttered a high-pitched screech that forced him to cover his ears lest his eardrums burst. It swung both cutters down onto the magi, who extended his arms and called his shield. A large barrier appeared a second later and the alpha’s arms struck it forcibly. The boy watched in shock as the shield only slowed the limbs and didn’t stop them. He gaped as the boney blades of the flayer slid into and down the barrier. In a moment, though, he regained his senses and blinked to where Devol stood as the shield was destroyed.
He helped the swordsman up. “We’re gonna need to try something different,” he said bluntly as the flayer sharpened its blades with a determination that was somewhat disconcerting. “Or find a way to inflict real injury. Flayers are known for their ambush and speedy tactics, but this one fights like a likan.”
“Both Asla and I were able to inflict some injury,” Devol muttered and shouldered his sword while he observed the wound in its chest beginning to heal. “But it regenerates so fast. How is it able to shrug blows from majestics off?”
“Like I said, I assume it consumed a magi with an anima,” Jazai reminded him. “From what I can see, it doesn’t have an anima like we do, though. It’s more like a magical coat around its carapace so it can take far more abuse and deliver it in equal measure, even against cantrips and majestics.”
“It looks like Asla might have the right idea.” The swordsman gestured to where the wildkin was able to dart between the legs of the creature and slash at its ankles. “It looks like she’s trying to topple it.”
“That will at least give us an edge,” the other boy agreed and held a hand out as his mana flared. “You guys will have to force it down. I’ll distract it.”
Devol nodded and tightened his grasp on his sword in readiness. “Got it.” He raced forward to join Asla while Jazai fired several missiles at the flayer, all focused on the arms and eyes. The creature began to thrash wildly. Asla rolled under the blows and Devol either leapt away or countered them. Although they were able to inflict numerous wounds on its feet and legs, they began to heal almost immediately. Both fighters eventually gave in to their frustration and used more mana than they normally would to each slice into the ankle of a leg and sever the feet.
The flayer fell and a burst of yellow blood spewed from the stumps. It thrust its blades down to steady itself as it peered at them and uttered another deafening cry.
“Would you shut up?” Jazai growled and waved a hand. “Pulse!” He blasted a wave of magical force that hurtled into the flayer’s head and shut its jaw. His companions both lunged at its head to finish it, but the alpha spun with surprising deftness, swung its bleeding legs into them, and flung them away before it began to burrow into the ground.
“Dammit!” Devol cursed as he forced himself to stand as their quarry disappeared rapidly. He sighed. “We need to get out of the den before it comes back for us.”
“Agreed,” Asla said as she rubbed the bump on her head. “We’ll have more space outside.”
“To the hells with it,” Jazai said in disgust as he marched past them. “I’ll burn this den to ashes.”
The young swordsman raised an eyebrow as the diviner blinked away. “It’s honestly not a bad idea,” he admitted to Asla as they raced forward. He took the rear and kept a watchful eye on the area behind them. They soon approached the entrance, where Jazai waited to set it alight, but the well-packed surface rumbled ominously beneath them.
“The flayer!” the girl shouted. Devol turned as something protruded from the soil and extended to reveal one of the alpha’s blades. The beast seemed to slice through the earth toward them and the ground became unstable.
He managed to stop himself from sliding and held his sword out to prevent the creature’s advance, but the blade simply sank into the soil without achieving anything. The flayer made no effort to engage him and the wild contortions of the dirt as it powered toward the entrance passed him without allowing him the opportunity to try to stop it.
“Jazai! It’s coming for you!”
The diviner grimaced and jumped away a second before the flayer broke through the surface and the long limb carved at the air. The immolation cantrip he had prepared to burn the den was redirected toward the alpha instead. It defended itself with a deft spin on the now healed stumps and the fire struck the shell on its back. The creature made an odd keening sound and swung at Jazai, who leaned back as he blinked away, but the blade sliced into his chest before he disappeared. He appeared next to a tree, holding his bleeding wound.
“Damn it!” He grimaced in pain and leaned against the trunk as his mana snaked around him and began to close the wound.
Asla darted out of the mouth of the cave as Devol caught up. The tiger-like shadow of mana formed around her as she attempted a killing strike. Rather than move to dodge or block it as she’d expected, it spat at her and covered her in some of the sticky liquid that dotted the cavern. The glob struck with sufficient force to hurl her into a tree. In seconds, it had attached her to the trunk. She immediately began to fight to cut herself free, but that left only the swordsman to distract their adversary.
Even without its feet, the flayer had adapted quickly. It used its arms to fling itself at him as he sprinted out of the den and barreled its entire weight toward him. He held his weapon up and was able to deflect a blow from the alpha, but the impact dislodged the blade from his hand. With a desperate twist, he ducked under the beast and out of the den, but the creature plunged one of its blades into the ground and spun it to launch itself toward him and drive him off his feet.
“Devol!” both Jazai and Asla cried as the creature reared to kill the young swordsman. Even with death so close, however, Devol saw an opportunity. He held one of his arms up, seemingly to stop or slow the blow that arced toward him but instead, a flash of light emitted from his hand and the flayer’s attack was stopped.
His teammates gaped at his blade that now protruded from the neck of the monster, having teleported back into his hand in time to deliver the blow. He tightened his hold on his sword grip and used vis to sear into the neck of the beast. It uttered one last, muffled shriek as he sliced through its neck and released a spray of blood from the staggering creature before it had a chance to behead him.
The flayer gurgled and its eyes narrowed as it began to twitch from the strike. Even with its enhanced regeneration ability, the wound was too deep to recover quickly. Jazai hurried forward and used a pulse to push it off Devol.
Asla managed to cut herself out of the goop the flayer had surrounded her with a second later. She vaulted onto the back of the beast, her claws raised. They shone with orange light and she swung them decisively to finish what Devol had started and sever the alpha’s head in one swift motion. The creature’s body immediately collapsed and she bounded off it as Jazai pulled Devol away before it could fall on top of them.
The three friends, ragged and with various wounds, looked at the corpse with disdain before the realization of their accomplishment dawned on them.
They had finally felled the alpha despite its enhanced capabilities.
Chapter Five
As reality began to sink in and the adrenaline started to wind down, Devol collapsed onto his back with a contented sigh. “Man. It’s a good thing I knew about the weak point around the throat, huh?”
Jazai moved to examine a piece of the flayer that had been cut off during the atta
ck. “I think you’ll find that the throat is a weak point for most living things.” He picked up a shell-like piece and studied it closely. “And it is more likely that you were able to fell the alpha thanks to your sword itself rather than swordsmanship.”
He rolled his head to look at his friend. “What do you mean? The teleporting trick I did?”
The diviner shook his head and tossed him the piece he had been focused on. “That was neat but think about who you are talking to.”
Devol caught it, removed his glove, ran his hand over the shell, and realized that it was a hardened piece of the carapace. “Is this from its back?”
“Nope. I saw it come loose when you cut into its throat. This was protecting the trachea,” the scholar stated and knelt beside him. “Your majestic is a powerful sword, far beyond an ordinary magic sword. Do you think you would have had the power to cut through that on your own from your prone position?”
Asla knelt on the other side and poked the shell. “The skin on the back of its neck was tougher but it did not have this shielding,” she told them and tapped it thoughtfully. “I would think you would have to break it open with a blunt weapon first. Blades would only scratch it.”
Devol looked from the shell to his majestic. “So you think this was due to the power of my majestic?”
The other boy nodded. “If it helps your ego, I’m sure it helped that you had the strength and intelligence to swing the blade in the right direction.”
He frowned at his friend’s sarcastic comment before he scrambled to his feet and threw the shell to one side. “Okay, I can’t be too mad. It was certainly helpful to learn something new about the sword.” He held the blade up for a moment and focused on the dancing light within it. “I guess it didn’t register since it didn’t brighten all that much.”
“Well, you were preoccupied at the time,” Jazai reminded him as he retrieved a small towel from his pouch and handed it to Asla. She accepted it gratefully when she realized she was still covered in some of the flayer’s spit.
Devol nodded, sheathed his sword, and sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “I suppose it is simply another thing to ask them about when I see them again.”
“Who is them?” Asla asked curiously as she rubbed the towel along her arms.
“My parents,” he told her as he walked away and pulled a brown sack from his pack. “But that is something for later. We should bag these heads quickly so we can start heading back.”
Jazai nodded in agreement and fumbled in his coat for a bag before he glowered at the alpha’s head. “I don’t think any of us has a bag to fit that. Does anyone want to shove it into their backpack?”
Asla unclasped her cloak, shook it out, and handed it to him. “I believe we can bundle it in this.”
“Are you sure, Asla?” the diviner asked as he took it tentatively. “I doubt that what will be left on it will wash out.”
“I don’t think any of this will,” she remarked and gestured at her clothes and the grime and spittle still covering it. “I am likely to simply burn it all.”
Jazai looked at the sticky yellowish liquid and made a slightly disgusted face. “That’s probably the right choice,” he conceded as he spread the cloak gingerly on the ground.
“I’m not sure if the two we burnt will count,” Devol called as he used a large knife to sever their heads. “I suppose they are in one piece, though, albeit charred and crumbling a little.”
“It’s fine. We only need proof,” Jazai responded as he and Asla lifted the alpha’s head and placed it on the cloak. “Do you need another bag?”
“Yeah, throw it to me,” the swordsman instructed. “Showoff,” he muttered when his friend took one out and blinked it to him. He chuckled as he snatched it out of the air and placed the final burnt head inside it. As he checked to make sure the four bags were secured, he paused and frowned when a rustling from above caught his attention. He looked up quickly and moved one hand to his sword while the other held his dagger. It was unlikely that the noise had been an animal as they hadn’t seen a single one other than the flayers since they entered the forest.
A moment later, a thought occurred to him and his caution turned to annoyance as he sheathed the dagger and shook his head, “Mr. Lebatt!” he shouted into the trees.
“Vaust?” Asla questioned as she tied the cloak over the alpha’s head. “Is he here?” She stepped beside Devol as Jazai opened his tome.
“I heard something,” the swordsman stated gruffly and his gaze scanned the trees. “I thought it was too good to be true that they would leave us to deal with this alone.”
Asla sniffed the air. “That flayer’s miserable stench is still obscuring my sense of smell, but I have not detected any familiar scents since we began our journey.”
“It isn’t surprising,” the diviner said as he strolled up behind the two, his gaze focused on his tome. “It stands to reason that anyone who has been training with you has a very good idea how to get around your senses. But this one, in particular, would be an expert at it.”
“So someone is here?” Devol grumbled and earned a nod from the scholar.
“Yep, and he is super proud that his pup is becoming such a fine warrior,” Jazai said teasingly and looked at Asla.
“Pup?” she demanded before her eyes narrowed and her hair stood on end. “Freki! Get out here!” she yelled.
Another rustle issued from behind a tree across from them. The three looked in that direction as the wolf wildkin strolled casually from behind it. He smiled and waved sheepishly. Devol and Asla snorted annoyance and Jazai merely chuckled and shut his tome.
“Haven’t I apologized enough, Asla?” Freki asked with a whine as his apprentice continued to give him the silent treatment. The group now walked along the path toward the anchor point that would return them to the Templar hall.
“Yeah, keep crying Freki,” Jazai muttered and adjusted the large bundle on his back that wrapped the alpha’s head. “I’m sure that will make her come around.”
“It wasn’t my decision. I trusted you and your partners completely,” the wildkin Templar explained with a touch of desperation. “I was told by the grand mistress to accompany you.”
“And as no one thinks to gainsay her, the excuse works well,” Jazai remarked with a snicker.
“Why do they keep sending you guys to shadow us?” Devol asked with a glance at Freki, “I suppose I can understand the first mission as it was our first time together and we did not know what could happen. But we’ve trained and have run smaller quests on our lonesome. There should be some trust now shouldn’t there?”
Freki sighed and when Asla continued to ignore him, he turned his attention to the young swordmaster. “There is. That’s why I did not intervene, although I was about to when that monster had you pinned.”
“I…appreciate the thought,” he responded dubiously. “So you were merely on standby?”
“I was to be an observer,” the wildkin said and folded his arms.
“Observer? What were you watching us for?” Jazai questioned with a baleful glance at the hunter.
“I cannot say,” he stated, which of course earned him another look of ire from his ward.
“You should answer. I am curious as well,” she said, albeit quietly and in a monotone that suggested she wasn’t as curious as she was annoyed.
“Asla!” Freki exclaimed, thrilled that she’d broken her frosty silence, but she turned away and resumed her sulk. “I truly can’t. The grand mistress asked me not to. I have probably already said too much but I’m sure she plans to tell you once we return.”
“I’m beginning to sense that Miss Nauru is more mysterious than she lets on,” Devol commented as they walked up a hill to a large tree stump.
“It comes with the title, I guess,” Jazai said as he shrugged his bundle off and walked to the stump. He began to extend his hand but paused and looked at Devol. “Hey, do you wanna give it a try?”
The swordsman nodded, “S
ure. I have it down now, I think.” He placed the four bags on the grass and approached the stump, rested his hand on the top, and released a thread of mana. Several runes appeared on the wood and he immediately pointed to the one that would provide access to the Templar Order hall. He connected his mana to the rune and let it coat the symbol. As soon as he filled it, a small portal appeared and he continued to let his mana seep into the rune so the portal grew wider. He began to raise his hand slowly but maintained the connection so the portal would remain.
“Not bad,” Jazai conceded with a pat on his shoulder. “At least you don’t have to use your sword anymore.”
“It was awkward using it as a giant key,” he admitted as he picked the four bags up—a little tricky given that he still had to control the gateway, and the group hurried through. It shut as soon as he walked through and left no traces of the magi as the fields fell silent once again.
Chapter Six
“Hey, guys, welcome back!” a joyful voice called as Devol exited the portal. He looked up and waved at Acha, a reptilian squama Templar he had gotten to know in his few months at the order. Alongside him was a human woman known as Reina—not all that talkative but a skilled swordswoman—and a dwarf by the name of Pete. The three stopped in front of the group and they all exchanged greetings.
“Hey, Acha. Are you guys heading out?” Devol asked.
The squama nodded and patted the daggers on his waist. “Yeah. We accepted a retrieval mission in the Osira kingdom.”
Asla looked at him with concern. “Will you be all right in such a dry place?”
“He’ll be fine,” Pete said with a smirk and thumped a hand into the small of his teammate’s back. “We made sure to pack extra water for that scaley skin of his.”
Bloodflowers Bloom (The Astral Wanderer Book 2) Page 3