Slowly, he pulled her along and his confidence lowered her fear. Brooke tried walking initially and found her fear needless. As her confidence grew she began to emulate her love. While he helped get Brooke accustomed to the movement Cage noticed Megdline to be a fast learner as she quickly adapted her usual method of gliding. Megdline commented that his way is more effective, but Frill had her translate that he would stick to his usual way.
After a half hour of more practice Brooke said “I’m comfortable now. Can we proceed out of here?”
“Certainly.” Megdline said. “This is my first time in Frozen Forest, but I’ve read articles and reports on what dangers to avoid. Am I to assume we are headed northeast?”
“Yes.” Cage said and looked down at the floating feline. “Frill, if Megdline and I take the lead to detect danger, can I have you stay near Brooke?”
Frill nodded and moved to sit on a cushion of air beside Brooke. Brooke looked down before saying “Megdline, do you have any rope I may tether myself and my mate with. It has saved us before, but we no longer have any.” She brushed her black hair back and showed the wooden ice axe dangling from either wrist. She practiced earlier how to flip her wrist to grab the handle with minimal effort.
“Indeed I do.” Megdline dug in a pocket and began pulling out a medium thickness rope. “How much length will you require?”
“Forty feet will be plenty.” She replied.
Megdline estimated the length and with a thought, cleanly cut the rope.
As Cage and Brooke began linking to each other, Brooke asked “If Cage falls, is there a way to stop your spell so I may dig my feet in the ground? I will be dragged in quickly otherwise. And what about you? Do you want to tie yourself to us?”
“That will be quite alright. I have a ward that will link me to Frill if I fall too fast. His ability to increase his weight and strength will stop me. If he stays back to accompany you, I will have no concerns being separated.” Then Megdline focused and eventually said. “I just altered the spell so if we must stop hovering, simply place your hands on the ground and say ‘release.’” Brooke did just that and her feet dropped suddenly to the ground. Satisfied, she allowed the spell to be reapplied.
Using the spell proved much more efficient. With Cage and Megdline in the lead they glided quickly through the trees. Cage moved slowly so he didn’t drag Brooke and the other two moved with little concern though their eyes remained scanning for danger. The wind felt colder with the increased movement, but if that was the price for safely passing over a pitfall twice within an hour, he’d endure the chill every time. Little was said except when Megdline gave a warning. But after four hours Cage asked “Granny, this spell allows us to float. Is there one that can make us fly?”
“Of course there is. It consumes quite a bit of mana, but it is the second fastest way to reach a destination. The fastest is Jumping from one location to another. I would like to fly us out of here, but there is a spell here that will kill any who fly beyond a certain speed. I’ve even read that dragons must do as we are when near this place. It will be one of the spells I have planned for you.”
“Hold up.” He said and slid to a stop as they came around the corner of a steep hill and found a large flat area with green blades of grass sticking out of the snow all over the vast area. The field of vision was perfect and undisturbed, but clouds remain forever the shield from the sun. Almost no wind or sound came from ahead. Quiet, too quiet for what he expected from Frozen Forest. “Granny, something doesn’t feel right.”
Megdline and the others stopped as well and looked over the large area. She looked over her shoulder to ask “Do you recall anything referring to something like this? It isn’t a lake trap.”
“Raw-o” Frill yowled.
“Me neither. Cage, I told you this land is ever changing, but neither of us know anything referring to a trap on this kind of landscape. I do not feel anything. The constant flow of magic is undisturbed. What is it?”
“I’m not sure, but my gut is telling me we cannot avoid it. Let’s go back and take that other pass.” Cage put out while he looked for what made him so uneasy.
“The one from a half hour ago?” Brooke asked with concern. “But, we have come so far already. I see nothing and Megdline cannot sense anything. We should keep going. We’ll stick to the edge like we do to the lakes.”
“I’m in agreement with Brooke.” Megdline said. “If it will make you feel better then we will go more slowly.”
“Alright, but the first trail we find, I’m taking it.” Cage allowed.
“Fair enough.” Megdline replied.
They moved a little faster than walking speed along the outskirts of the immensely desolate area. Nearly an hour passed before a space in the tree line opened up and he took it as promised, not saying anything. He didn’t feel any relief in taking it, but didn’t say anything. The queasiness remained.
“What the hell?” Cage said as not ten minutes passed and the open landscape returned. It was exactly as he saw it the first time.
“So your feeling was right.” Megdline admitted with a touch of concern.
“I don’t understand.” Brooke said as she came up to her lover, realizing immediately what happened.
“I have a suspicion that we entered a spell that will be our undoing. I fear we have been trapped in a space looping void.” Megdline grumbled.
Cage came closer to ask “Do you mean that if we try to leave, it will throw us back in for all eternity? It has no end or beginning? It has isolated us from the usual laws of physics?” Megdline nodded and he cursed “Damn it all!”
“Will someone tell me what is going on?!” Brooke yelled worriedly.
Instead Cage began untying his rope to put his hands on the ground and say “Release.” Megdline’s spell disengaged. Throughout the day he secretly experimented and learned just how Megdline’s spell for gliding works. It was much like comparing it to inline skates. He focused and felt the spell insert itself just beneath his feet and the drain wasn’t very much. He turned around and quickly said “All of you say right here. I’m going to make a circuit. Don’t move.” And he turned around, dropped his pack and fur bedding before picking up speed, so much so that they couldn’t hope to catch up. He pushed his legs hard and skated on a cushion of magic, sticking close to the tree line.
At the speed he traveled, it took ten minutes to see two tall figures and a small brown ball of fur in the distance. A minute later he skated right into their midst and Brooke surprised him with a right hook that made him grin. He easily caught her fist and kissed the knuckles. She was livid. “Where did you go!? Megdline didn’t tell me anything and when I tried going after you she spelled me so I couldn’t go anywhere! Why did you do that?! Why did you leave me?”
So that is why you are so upset. I suppose separation issues would frighten. Cage thought quickly, but didn’t mention the observation. “Did you see how I came from the other way? I couldn’t find a single place to safely exit. When I tried pushing through the forest, a hundred feet later I reentered this place and found a mark I purposely left to show I started from that spot.”
This information cooled Brooke’s temper. It also made her shiver.
“Frill went back down the trail and returned to confirm my fears.” Megdline spoke in a subdued tone. “I also shot a pebble with magic, only to have it returned. I did not even find any animal tracks while we waited for your return. Did you?”
“No, I didn’t. How can that be? We’ve seen a few critters all around, but not in here…”
“But none were currently using magic either.” Megdline pointed out. “This kind of isolating spell scares the life out of me. I’ve only been in one once before, but only as an experiment. The outer walls throw everything back at you and won’t weaken because it manipulates space. It can be sustained forever with enough mana and won’t draw more than it needs to erect the barrier. It seems that unavoidable feeling you had was spot on.” Megdline explained to Cage.
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Brooke asked “Is there any way to break such a magic?”
“Probably… because whoever set the trap would need an escape route if he accidently trapped himself. The issue we face is where it is located and what trap guards the exit.” Megdline spoke. “Cage, I believe it will be up to you. You sensed something none of us did. What would you have us do?”
He thought about it in silence for a few minutes before saying “If magic got us in here, we should stop using so much.” He relaxed his focus and dropped two inches onto the cold, snowy ground. Megdline did likewise for herself and the others. “My unease is warning me to avoid the center of the land… so that is where we’ll need to go. We’ll need to stay together.”
“That’s a given.” Brooke stated and gave him the end of rope he removed.
“Be ready for anything.” He warned as he coiled the slack of the rope around his shoulder. Brooke gripped her tomahawks after hooking her ice axes to a bag and stood just beyond strike range of everyone while Megdline and Frill stood to either side of Cage.
Reluctantly, Cage led the way towards the center of the looping trap spell and his grin grew in anticipation of a fight. Megdline found it nearly as frightening as the situation and Frill just smirked. Snow crunched loudly under their feet. Mostly it remained slow moving. Any tiny sound made them stop and make a threat assessment before they eventually moved ahead.
A few minutes later, the wind began to pick up and Cage stopped everyone. Someone asked “What is it?” but he went “Shhh…” and closed his eyes. Faintly, and with great difficulty he heard on the wind “…odies …ive …e …ow…” Cage remained focused and began to feel a soul deep chill that had nothing to do with the temperature. It was a malevolent feeling in the sound that made him believe a battle advanced upon them.
Then the wind went from a strong breeze and altered drastically into a tempest that formed upon the explosive rise in the tingle of magic. Before he could give any warning, Cage was buffeted down to the ground with Brooke, but somehow Megdline and Frill’s screams were drowned out in the roaring wind and were ripped skyward. Out of reflex, Cage erected a strong barrier around himself and Brooke with such force that all exterior sounds and wind died down to nothing. It was by far the strongest barrier he ever made and the two of them scrambled to stand. The barrier blocked the worst conjured storm he ever could imagine. A flash of yellow in the tornado caught his eye as he looked upon a writhing funnel cloud. Without thinking, Cage threw out his hand and a tendril of black colored magic shot from it like a bullet and wasn’t affected by the tempest of wind and ice. The long rope altered and went to latch onto the yellow blur. He could feel the end of the magic zooming straight for the target like a heat-seeking missile. The head of the black rope began to swell like a beach ball as it closed in. Right when it came within range it opened widely and captured Megdline from around her established barrier. Before he could be jerked from the ground, his other hand angled downwards and fired a black spike deeply into the ground. Cage cried out as his shoulders were nearly pulled from their sockets when the line snapped tightly. When they remained put, Cage began drawing the magic rope back into his hand. The line pulled slowly back at first, fighting against Megdline’s body trying to be sucked into the tornado. Soon, the strength of wind on her released and he jerked her back. Cage opened a portion of his barrier to allow Megdline to drop in. He immediately closed the large hole and stopped holding focus on the leash and anchor.
Megdline’s barrier dropped as she retched from being spun and turned so violently that if it weren’t for her barrier, it would have ripped her apart. Brooke went to her and tried to offer help, but Megdline had lost all focus and internal stability from the problematic vortex.
Though the barrier protected from the wind and snow, Cage heard the voice more clearly. “Bodies! Give me a body!” The hollow voice howled in agony. “Die so I can take your body!”
It was at that moment Cage understood the situation, for the voice was disjointed and nothing alive beside’s grass had been found within the territory. Cage sent his power out and could feel how the magic had been wrapped to create, maintain and guide the tornado, that began speeding its way towards them. Immediately, he began tearing apart the strands of magic and the effect was noticeable almost instantly. The winds died down until it was as if nothing had happened. Several hundred feet away Frill dropped like a stone. And he made a crater on impact as his weight was great.
Without the horrendous tornado, Cage looked upon a swirling green mist. The voice began screaming for their bodies and Megdline gained enough control to warn between gagging fits “Ghost!”
The agony Cage heard in that voice made some deep, long forgotten part of him come alive. In a strange, booming and otherworldly voice, Cage commanded “Silence!” The disembodied voice ceased its voice and the incoherent, sickly green form slowed. He stopped the massively consuming barrier and said “What has been done to you?”
The voice spoke slowly, but the pain and agony it endured filled in the words with sorrow. “I am to be forced to stay until I can get a body! It has been a thousand years and you are the first to enter my domain. Give me your body!”
“Enough, I will end your suffering!” Cage said and some instinctive part with him guided his thoughts and actions. He remained in full control, but did as he felt right. His hands raised towards the green swirl and the magic flowed like a tidal wave in the direction of the twisted ghost. A black mist sprayed from his outstretched palms and began to bond to the ghost’s very essence. Then his instinct began to guide his magic and Cage felt the gruesome wounds inflicted on the spirit and began to heal what had been done. A piercing wail hurt the ears as the process began, but he did not stop. The green began to change colors and paled while he reestablished the form. The scream grew painful. Then Cage began seeing spots as so much flowed out and knew he wasn’t near completion. The spots grew until he remembered his diamonds and began drawing from them. His focus cleared and the power being released doubled. Several more seconds passed before he felt every last drop of his mana get returned. Still, the color of the specter brightened in the gathering black and white form. Spots reappeared more quickly and Cage knew the procedure was almost finished and sent one final burst, with everything he had left, towards the small, human form.
Brooke watched as Cage’s arms sagged and he crumpled. She yelled and rushed to his unconscious side.
Megdline had regained some equilibrium and watched as when Cage collapsed, so did whatever he just did to the human shaped ghost. In its place stood a little girl’s spirit. The girl’s screams stopped as she looked over her true form. “The pain …is gone?” The little girl asked herself. “I’m whole…”
Brooke looked to Megdline to demand in terror. “What is going on? I hear a spirit. Is it over?”
Megdline relied heavily on her staff to wobbly stand. She felt almost in a dream. “Cage just turned a ghost back into a spirit…” She said in distant awe. She didn’t know what to do next.
Brooke did though. She looked in the general direction Cage focused on earlier to ask “Spirit? Are you good now?”
“Yes.” The child answered with a relieved smile and floated over beside Cage. “This one returned me to my true form. I am myself again.”
“Then, Good Spirit, do you know a way I can get my mate out of this spell?”
“Yes.” Then the child turned as Frill erupted from the ground with a violence few ever witnessed and he hissed as he charged the spirit. His form passed through the child without resistance. He went for her again till he came to realize what he stared at. His tail flicked quickly, but in confusion. The spirit then found Megdline staring at her to smile with so much happiness that the old sorceress had never witnessed. “To break the spell, reach the exact center of this horrible place where you’ll find a disk of glass. Shatter it with physical force and you’ll be free. I have been watching all of you and though you took my path, there are no more traps in the direct
ion you travel for three more days. It would be best if you go through the night. You should reach the edge of this land by morning. If you do not heed my warning, and be near on the third day, you will face the deadliest trap the forest has. None who have ever been caught in it have survived.” She smiled again and looked up. “I’m coming, Mother!” The child spirit raised her little arms up and vanished like mist.
Megdline moved as if in a trance over to the unconscious warlock and laid a hand on his back to see if he is real and found herself realizing it all actually happened. She helped Brooke roll him on his back to find him unresponsive. Megdline noticed Frill limping and she asked “It is hard to think, but what happened to you?” She listened. “You broke a foreleg… Let me fix it.” Beneath his fur showed a blue light and a popping sound to repair the injury.
Everyone remained in a silent state of shock from all that transpired. Several minutes passed before Cage stirred. Megdline began fumbling in her pockets and pulled out a bar of food. Before he could ask anything, she shoved a bite in his mouth. “Eat. It is good for you. It is a food bar made with oats, nuts, grain and held together with honey and molasses. It will help.”
Familiar's Ancient Throne (Book 2 of the Death Incarnate Saga) Page 28