“You’re right,” Nova acquiesced, then turned to face me. “Um,” she began awkwardly. “I think I can collect the water samples, and then I’ll go somewhere to keep watch while you bathe. Does that sound good?”
“You can keep watch wherever you wish,” I said with a shrug. “I don’t see why I’d be bothered.”
“I just think I should go somewhere with a better view,” she hedged. “I mean—never mind. I’ll just fill up the vials now, so I can go and let you do your thing.”
“That’s fine,” I said, still nonplussed. “I’ll guard you while you get the water.”
Nova brushed a strand of golden hair out of her face and hurried over to the water’s edge, kneeling carefully as she removed the vials. As she scooped them into the water, I looked around, watching the water’s surface in case a giant crocodile or tentacle suddenly reared out and attacked her. But the lake’s surface was perfectly still, and she finished in a matter of moments.
“That’s all the vials she said to collect,” Nova said as she rose, carefully putting the containers back into her satchel. “Don’t take too long, Jas. Remember we still have a lot to do.”
“Understood,” I said as I walked to the water’s edge, slowly sending my outer robes back into my Soulscape, and reflecting that they could use some cleaning as well.
Apparently that wasn’t what Nova meant.
“Jas, I meant for you to wait until I left before you started changing!” she shrieked, watching me with wide eyes.
“It’s just my shirt and jacket, Nova,” I pointed out, a little annoyed with her behavior. “And we practically grew up together, so this isn’t new for you.”
There had been a few times on the streets when it had been very cold and I had shared my shirt or jacket with her, back before my malnourishment had affected my growth and she was much smaller than I had been. She had seen my chest at least twice before, and never had a problem with it.
“Those are definitely new.” Her voice sounded slightly strangled, and I suddenly remembered that my appearance had changed within the last few days. She coughed delicately and flushed. “I mean, you’re right, and this isn’t a big deal, but I’m going to that slope over there, so that I can see better. See danger!” she snapped. “I can see danger better if I go stand over there! For both you and Nestor! Now stop making this awkward!”
Spinning on her heel, she clutched her satchel’s strap and stomped off toward the other side of the lake. I shook my head and began sending the rest of my clothing into my Soulscape, leaving my undershorts on in case my childhood friend glanced my way and suddenly had a massive heart attack.
I reminded myself as I stepped into the water that she had recently expressed feelings for me, and that my new appearance might be affecting her. But I had no idea what to do about it, because we were going to be stuck on a ship together for the rest of the foreseeable future. Not to mention, the only other person on board was a woman who claimed to be another piece of Nova, and, come to think of it, she behaved a little oddly around me as well. Then I shook my head, reflecting that if I really understood the behavior of any woman at all, Nova’s confession would never have taken me by surprise to begin with.
I lowered myself into the water and removed the last of my clothing, rinsing myself off. I felt the liquid’s essence linger against my skin, but it was incapable of augmenting me any more than Lunei’s lake and qi spring already had. I still sent a couple of large mouthfuls into my Soulscape, and the planet spun happily in response. Then I summoned my clothes and did what I could to clean them of all the stains they had acquired. I checked to see if my planet had created a copy of them, but had no such luck. They were also a bit of a tight fit, hard for my Soulscape to both absorb and make room for. Once I had cleaned everything as best as I could, I sent my garments back into my Soulscape to dry and began walking out of the water, stopping to absorb some tiny, curious fish that had swum over to me, along with a bit of algae that their copies would probably need for food.
“Jas, are you done?” Nova called out impatiently, as if she had an upcoming appointment she could miss.
“Yes,” I called out as I waded through the water, hearing her sigh of relief from across the pond. “On my way out now.”
“Blast it, that’s not what I meant and you know it! Hurry up and get dressed!”
“Says the woman who used to take an extra hour to get ready every morning that she had access to a clean washroom,” I grumbled under my breath, summoning my clothing back on as soon as they dried, and sending the last of my Soulscape’s new friends back into their natural habitat.
As I emerged from the pool and summoned my boots, I noticed the distant flock of birds suddenly fly out of the forest.
Nestor, I sent immediately. Are you alright?
Yes-yes, the little mouse sent to me. Strange-smells. Leave-now?
Yes, I told my bonded companion. Come back immediately.
The lifemouse sent me a mental nod. I bent down and saw that Nova had already grabbed the nearby grass samples, so I quickly summoned a few additional small blades and rose immediately, picking up my satchel in the process.
“Nova,” I called out, instantly regretting that I was making so much noise. She was already on her way, scanning the other side of the lake as she moved. I waited until she was close by before speaking again.
“Did you see the birds fly off?” I whispered quietly.
“I did,” she replied, watching the woods and gripping her war-baton. “There could be any reason for that, though.”
“Right.” I nodded. For all we knew, the birds had been spooked by a small cat climbing the tree, assuming this planet had cats to begin with. “But Vessa did say we would probably find predators nearby. We should hurry over to that fruit tree we saw.”
Nova nodded in agreement. I felt for the link to the Soulship, ready to pull on it if needed. Vessa had stressed that she wanted me to start fighting, but I had every reason to be cautious. If something big and scary came our way, I didn’t even want to make the attempt to fight it. Not after my encounter with Koram.
But the walk to the tree at the edge of the forest was uneventful, just like the rest of our trip had been so far. Of course, I told myself, now that I’ve noticed this, we are guaranteed to be attacked by rogue practitioners and zombie dragons. Nestor met us at the edge of the tree, his fur currently the same color as the bark itself.
Heard-things, the little mouse sent to me. Far-off.
That was impressive, because I still hadn’t heard anything myself. In fact, the forest was surprisingly quiet.
“We should hurry,” I told Nova firmly. “Should you go first, since I will take longer?”
She nodded and immediately began plucking the large, fuzzy fruit hanging from the branches, biting into one and tossing the rest into her open satchel, her hand blurring with supernaturally quick motions. She chewed quickly, swallowing loudly as Nestor and I scrutinized the surrounding area. Except for Nova’s munching and the occasional creak and snap of branches, I heard absolutely nothing, and saw no movement whatsoever.
Until Nestor’s ears suddenly twitched.
Heard-things. Two-spots. They-hunt.
To clarify, he sent me an impression of the recent sounds: two distinct shufflings through the underbrush, suggesting that a pack of at least two creatures were trying to hunt us.
“I’m finished,” Nova said, and I turned to see her wipe her face on her sleeve. “I packed all the fruits Vessa asked, so go ahead and eat what you can.”
I nodded and began stripping the fruit from the tree, thankful that the tree had produced so much, and that it all hung in easy reach. Vessa picked this world well, I thought as I bit into a large, furry ball, assuming I didn’t horribly doom us by thinking that.
It probably shouldn’t have surprised me, but the fruit tasted just like a large kiwi with the skin on it. It was sweet, almost overly so, but I had no trouble swallowing it and reaching for the next fruit. T
he second fruit was more difficult, however. Despite all my years of constant hunger, I found I couldn’t eat these fruits as fast as I expected. Vessa’s miraculous food pouches were beginning to spoil me, and by the third super-kiwi, I felt like I had eaten enough sugary foods to last me the rest of my life. But I kept going, because of the handful of essence that entered my body with each fruit.
Foes-near, my little mouse informed me. Eat-quick.
I shrugged as I tossed another fruit to Nestor. If Vessa was sure that we could fight our next battle with full stomachs, I would have to take her word for it. Unless the fight went badly. Then I was going to flee like a coward and give her an earful over it afterwards.
“I think they’re here, Jas,” Nova said as I finished my fourth fruit. Essence surged through my body, augmenting it just a bit. My muscles felt as if they had just healed from a week’s worth of exercise, with just a bit more power trapped inside of them. I stuffed the fifth fruit into my pack for the time being, and squeezed a sixth one so that I could send the pulp and seeds into my Soulscape. Then I wiped my face and stood next to Nova, making sure I wasn’t standing on the same side as her war-baton.
All-done, Nestor squeaked as he ran next to us. I looked down in surprise. The essence kiwi had been as large as he was, but except for some juice he quickly licked off his fur, the little mouse looked no different than he had before. But I couldn’t see any remnants of the fruit, so he must have eaten the whole thing, and managed to do so without swelling up like a balloon.
Three-more, he sent urgently, making me focus on the matter at hand. That-way, he pointed with his tail, behind us.
“They are surrounding us,” I whispered quietly to Nova, as one of my mother’s lessons trickled its way through my memories. “I think we should stand back to back.”
My friend nodded in affirmation, and I turned to face the unseen predators attempting to flank us. I focused, but still couldn’t hear anything, despite my enhanced senses. That changed a moment later, when I heard a loud crack to my right.
I flinched, but caught myself from looking. As quiet as these creatures had been until now, there was no way that sound had been an accident. It’s a trap, I heard my mother say as she admonished me for a blunder I had just made. Don’t just listen, think. If an enemy surrounds you, the first one will try to draw your attention.
I focused, concentrating to listen for more sounds. Vessa had apparently given Nova the same training my mother had given me, because I didn’t feel her turn toward the sound either.
Six-now, Nestor sent to me. Plus-one. Far-off. Big-one.
As he spoke, the animals hunting us finally came into view.
They were half again the size of what my father said an American timber wolf was, nearly coming up to my waist. Their mostly-black fur was intersected with gray stripes, and their long, narrow ears gave them a different appearance than my fuzzy memories of the animal I had seen in pictures.
And as far as I could sense, they were all within the natal stage of essence, anywhere from the first to third substage.
“They’re all on my level,” I whispered to Nova as I watched the animals stalk a slow circle around us. “Which means they’re well below your own. Why would they risk attacking us?”
“They can’t sense my Source energies at all,” Nova whispered back. “Beacons are very good at masking their power. Right now, I seem like a normal human to them. They’re actually more worried about you right now.”
That was news. We would have to find a way to use that to our advantage.
“What about Nestor?” I asked after another moment. The Sourcebeasts continued circling us, with one occasionally snarling to try and draw our attention. We both ignored it as Nova answered.
“I don’t think they’ve even noticed him yet, Jas,” the Beacon replied, and after a quick glance, I realized I couldn’t find the little mouse either.
Change-fur, the lifemouse sent me, nudging my right foot. Hide-scent.
A wolf on my right leaped forward and snapped at me. I turned toward it, and that was the catalyst for the fight.
Two wolves on my left immediately charged toward me. I turned my head again, forgetting my mother’s lessons in the heat of the moment, and the wolf on my right lunged for my ankle, still snapping. Driven by instinct, I kicked out awkwardly, glancing off the Sourcebeast’s jaw. The wolf yelped loudly, in far more pain than I expected it to feel, but it still managed to bite down on my leg and yank backward, pulling me off my feet. Before I even had time to curse myself for my blunder, one of the other two wolves leaped in to savage my flailing left arm.
I’m going to die, I thought as large, fanged animals closed in all around me. I’m going to die, after battling dragons and hybrid bogeymen, to a pack of overgrown dogs, all because I fell for nature’s equivalent of shouting ‘look behind you!’
A moment later, I realized I wasn’t dead yet, and began punching and kicking. To my surprise, that turned out to be all I needed to do. I heard the second wolf’s snout crack as my fist connected, and a kick from my free leg tore the first wolf right off my shin. Both limbs still hurt, but the wolves’ fangs had barely penetrated through my qi shielding and Source-enhanced robes, instead of breaking my bones like I had expected them to.
I’m stronger than they are, I realized as I rolled to my feet. Advancing at least two substages in every Source, combined with absorbing the cage drake’s strength and the restructuring my body had gone through on Lunei’s world, had put me farther above these beasts than I had ever dreamed.
But I had to act on the advantage immediately, before they could either flee or encircle me again. I burned a mote of essence to activate my speed charm and charged the closest Sourcebeast, grabbing the creature by the hindleg and twisting it until I heard a second crack. The monster yelped and turned on me in a snarling rage, giving me the opening I needed to strike it hard in the windpipe with my qi-reinforced fist.
I moved as quickly as I could to deal with the next wolf before my speed charm ran out. Leaping into the air, I landed hard on its back, stomping onto its spine with both feet. As the Sourcebeast broke under my assault, I reached up and caught the third wolf as it lunged desperately for my throat, grabbing it by the head, spinning the thing through the air, and slamming it into the ground. My arms burned from the effort of lifting and swinging such a heavy creature, but its neck snapped as it collided with the earth, so I turned my attention to Nova to see how she had fared with the rest of the pack.
I found her standing over a pile of crushed lupine bodies, the end of her war-baton drenched in blood. She was staring at the lone remaining wolf who had hung back in the very beginning, a large beast that stood head and shoulders above the rest of its pack.
“Be careful, Jas,” the blonde woman told me, holding her weapon out in a defensive position. “This one’s only a step away from the wailing stage.”
“Okay.” I shrugged, pacing to the right. “Is there a reason you haven’t just blown its head off?”
“I don’t want to ruin the meat,” she answered me. “He will be even more beneficial to Vessa than the others. But if I can get one good crack at him, the fight will be over.”
“Why hasn’t it already ran away?” I asked, still watching the creature intently. “It’s clearly overmatched. We’ve killed its entire pack.”
“He used his essence to speak earlier,” Nova said, keeping her focus on the snarling wolf. “He says we’re doomed. The totem of his tribe will raise his pack-mates back, and death will just make them stronger. He says he’ll be rewarded as well, if he can just make one of us bleed. He’s mad, Jasper.”
I scrutinized the wolf’s eyes. I was no canine psychologist, but the creature’s unfocused stare reminded me of the eaterlings I had killed back on Vessa’s ship-body.
“Nova,” I said in a hushed tone. “Should you kill this thing, or should I?”
She gave me a quick, irritated glance.
“Either of us could gain from
killing the thing, but you’d get a much larger benefit than I would. Especially since I’m not planning to focus on Advancing my essence beyond the wailing stage. If it weren’t for the fact that he is much, much stronger than you, Jas, I would have given you the go-ahead. As it is, though, you’re being ridiculous by assuming you can even—”
As she spoke, I reactivated my speed charm with another mote of essence and rushed forward, sticking my arm out as obviously as I could.
The giant, raging wolf took the bait, burning its own loose essence as it rushed toward me, opening its massive maw wide enough to swallow my entire forearm. Nova screamed as she rushed forward herself, but she was a hair too slow. I turned my arm just as the massive Sourcebeast clamped down on it, my hand and elbow bracing its upper and lower jaw respectively. The creature’s mouth immediately pressed upon my limb, locking onto it...
And turning our battle into a grapple, allowing me to activate my new essence charm.
My open palm slammed against the roof of the creature’s mouth with enough strength to lift the beast off the ground. As it did so, I summoned the copied shiv from my Soulscape, shooting the improvised weapon out of my palm as forcefully as I could.
Judging by the speed at which the little knife exited, it would have made a terrible missile weapon. I doubted it would travel even half as far as it would if I just threw the thing; in fact, it probably wouldn’t have gone two meters before losing all its momentum.
But the insane wolf’s brain was only inches away from my palm.
The creature’s jaw jerked awkwardly, and I used the last of my new charm’s power to rip my arm free of its teeth before they could tear into the limb. My entire plan had taken less than three seconds. On the fourth second, Nova had arrived and bashed the beast on top of its head, knocking it to the forest floor and probably ensuring that its lower jaw drove my little knife further into its brain. The creature spasmed for one more moment before it finally went still.
Soul Shelter (Soulship Book 2) Page 6