Meta Gods War

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Meta Gods War Page 25

by B N Miles


  “Easy for you to say,” Key said. “You haven’t known him as long as I have.”

  Miuri laughed and hugged Key tight then kissed her cheek. “Don’t worry, you’ll always be special to me,” Miuri said.

  Key rolled her eyes and squirmed away. “We should start laying the groundwork,” she said. “Get things set up with the Elders and your father, Miuri.”

  “I agree,” Cam sad. “And Key, if anything goes wrong with Felin… I promise, you two are my top priority. Both of you, and our village.”

  “I know,” Key said. “I’m just worried.”

  “Good,” Miuri said. “One of us should be, I suppose. Now, you two go talk to Dagan and I’ll fetch my father. I’m sure he’ll be interested in this little ambush.”

  “It’s a plan then,” Cam said.

  He should have felt relieved, but instead worry gnawed at his chest. He wasn’t sure if he was making the right choice here.

  As Key and Miuri walked back to the camp side by side, Miuri teasing Key about being so closed minded the whole way, Cam lingered behind them. He breathed in deep and tasted the crisp pine smell on the back of his tongue. He’d do anything for Key and Miuri and his people, but the right course of action wasn’t always so obvious.

  Still, this plan was moving forward. He’d keep his promise to Felin and bring her into the village. He was wary, but he was a man of his word.

  And if Felin really was attached to him…

  Well, he didn’t want to think about that.

  Miuri turned around and gestured for him to catch up. He took up his spear and jogged to catch up with the girls. Key leaned against his shoulder, smiled at him, and he suddenly felt like things might work out.

  38

  Cam knelt with his hands on his spear while Theus sat alone in a clearing forty yards away. Miuri and Key were by his side, crouched down behind a large boulder at the top of a small rise overlooking the clearing. Across the field, two Elves hid in trees, their bodies nearly invisible in the half-moon light as their magic allowed them to blend in with their surroundings.

  Theus sat patiently. Cam didn’t know how his friend wasn’t stalking around the space like a wild boar, but he kept himself together and watched the forest without so much as a twitch. If Cam didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought that Theus really was on guard duty.

  But Theus was the bait in their little trap.

  There was a lot of discussion about this plan. Dagan had been against it, but Haesar and Gwedi seemed eager enough, and eventually the Elder gave in when Theus volunteered. That earned him a lot of respect from the Elves and the other Humans, since his job was going to be perilous.

  Cam had argued for more bodies and positions closer to the field, but he had been overruled. As he crouched down behind the boulder, he knew it was the right decision, even if it put him on edge. The wolves were going to come sooner or later that night, and Cam would have at least forty yards to run before he could defend Theus from an attack. The Elves were closer, but Cam didn’t know if he could trust them. Still, they couldn’t risk ruining this one chance because Cam wasn’t able to relinquish some control over the situation.

  The column had stopped for the night just before entering the first of the switchbacks. The path widened into an open, gravel-strewn field. Most people stepped off the path and pitched their tents just inside the sparse tree line where the grass was more comfortable. Cam could see the Human camp, about one hundred yards or so to his left. Some lamps were still burning, though most had gone dark. The carts were circled and more Human warriors were patrolling along the outside, holding their spears against their shoulders.

  Theus was posted further away from the camp, all alone in his clearing. He was the only lone sentry that night, as all other sentries had been posted with a partner, making him the best bait possible. Cam was worried they were being too obvious, but Haesar had pointed out that the wolves had no reason to suspect they’d set a trap. From their perspective, it would make the most sense for the Humans to keep pushing on.

  Of course, Cam hadn’t told them that this little ambush could end their troubles entirely, because that would’ve given away far too much. In the end though, everyone had agreed that ambushing the wolves this night might make them think twice about assaulting the full column as they marched along the switchbacks in the morning.

  Cam looked over at Miuri, who gave him a tight smile and leaned against his shoulder. She wore her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail and her armor was polished and conditioned. They didn’t speak, didn’t want to risk getting caught. If the wolves got any sense that Theus was bait, this whole thing would be for nothing, and their trip up the switchbacks in the morning was going to be a nightmare.

  The night dragged on in agony. Cam felt frustration and anxiety bubbling up inside of him, and he was completely unable to calm his mind. He knew he should be reaching for his magic, preparing it for the fight to come, but he couldn’t seem to reach that calm, centered blackness.

  He kept thinking about his responsibilities, and felt like the whole weight of the village was resting directly on his back. Every person left down there, women and children, mothers and fathers, they were all counting on him to protect them from the wolves that prowled around the woods. He was their shield and their spear, and he knew that if he failed, he would lose everything that he cared about.

  It was heavy, the weight of responsibility. But Cam knew there was nobody else capable of bearing it. Dagan tried and did an admirable job providing some leadership in a difficult time, but Dagan was just a man at the end of the day.

  Cam was the new shaman. He had power beyond what anyone in his village could comprehend. It was up to him to protect his people.

  And if he couldn’t do it, then everyone was doomed.

  He shifted slightly as the moon slowly made its circuit across the sky. Key caught his eye and gave him a tight smile. He could see the tension in her face, but she was trying to keep it together. She touched his elbow as she watched the forest down below them. He appreciated those small gestures more than she knew.

  Down in the clearing, some hours past midnight, when Cam’s body was beginning to get stiff from staying in one position for so long, he thought he saw movement. He reached out and touched Miuri’s shoulder, nodding toward the undergrowth some twenty yards from where Theus sat. Miuri followed his gaze and squinted, her head tilted in concentration.

  “Anything?” he whispered, risking the noise.

  “Yes,” she said, but didn’t elaborate.

  Cam stared into the darkness, squinting to try and see some details, but his eyesight just wasn’t good enough. Theus had a single lamp with him, enough to cast light around his small watch post, but not enough to illuminate the darkness beyond. Cam wanted to get up and run down there, but Theus himself had made them all agree not to move until the wolves were bearing down on him.

  “Two,” Miuri said suddenly, her voice barely a whisper. Cam leaned closer to listen. “No, three. No, goddess, six of them.”

  Cam took a sharp breath. “Coming toward him right now?”

  She nodded. “As wolves. Carrying something in their mouths. But they stopped, just over there near that little copse of trees.”

  Cam frowned but saw nothing, only inky dark and the vague outline of trees growing up from the forest floor. He couldn’t see the motion anymore, and that was making him uncomfortable.

  “Hold on,” she said. “Shifting now… six of them, definitely six.”

  “Are they moving?” he asked. “Did the others spot them yet?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “Keep your voice down.”

  He clenched his jaw and Key gave him a look. She inclined her chin at him, her face serious and drawn, and he took a deep breath to steady his shaking hands.

  That was Theus down in the clearing. He didn’t want his best friend down there, didn’t want anyone he cared about in harm’s way. But he knew it had to be someone, and Theus coul
d handle himself when the time came. He had to believe that if anyone could get out of this alive, it was going to be Theus.

  “Moving again,” she whispered. “All six as Humans. Four men, two women. Holding knives.” She shook her head slowly. “Definitely carried the knives over in their mouths.”

  “We should move,” Cam said.

  “Not yet.” Miuri watched, her face intense, hand on her the hilt of her sword. Cam could see her tension, and for some reason that made him feel a little bit calmer. The others were just as on edge as he felt, and he was going to have to be better for all of their sakes.

  Miuri leaned over the rock, her chin thrust forward as she stared into the darkness below.

  “Getting closer,” she said. “Women moved down to circle around behind him. One man went up toward the top of the clearing. They’re just… they’re getting into position now.”

  Cam could hear his heart hammering in his ears. There was nothing he could do in this moment, couldn’t run down there and scream for his friend to be ready, couldn’t do a damned thing except wait for the animals to attack.

  “Women still moving, but all the men are crouched down near the trees. Theus hasn’t seen them… okay, the women stopped too. They’re just behind him, maybe ten yards. They’re just sitting, not moving.”

  “Did the others spot them yet?” Cam asked.

  “I think so. Wen Bet is closest, and he looks like he’s preparing himself to jump.”

  “Good.” Minor relief hit him, but his body was still shaking from the strain of waiting.

  “Men are moving closer… they’re just at the edge of his light. Goddess, I can’t believe he can’t see them.”

  “Human eyes aren’t good in the dark,” Key said.

  “Worthless Human eyes,” Miuri said. “They’re moving. They’re moving, Cam, they’re moving.”

  Without another word, Miuri leapt up and slipped over the boulder.

  Cam followed, racing around the side. Key went around the other, and they met in the front, barreling down the slope behind Miuri, who seemed to dance over the loose rocks and stones. Cam slid and slipped, nearly losing his footing twice, but he careened downward as fast as he could possibly go without falling on his face, racing along the edge of gravity and balance.

  He heard a shout down in the clearing and a scream of pain, but he didn’t know if that was Theus getting his throat slit, or the Elves descending down on the wolves.

  Cam burst into the clearing just behind Miuri with Key right on his back. Miuri’s sword flashed out as Cam began to get his bearings. Her weapon slashed across the face of a female Were lunging toward Theus. She was naked, with a flat chest, grimy hair, and rage in her eyes as her face split open under the Elven weapon. She toppled over, howling in rage. To the right, the two Elves were busy fighting with a pair of Weres that had shifted back into their wolf forms, while Theus had his back against a tree, two naked men with knives bearing down on him.

  Miuri whirled and sliced at another female Were as she tried to run, catching her lower leg, cutting the Were’s tendons. She screamed in pain and fell in a heap, her naked body bouncing off the underbrush. But before she even came to a stop, she began to shift, her body twisting with a sickening crunch as her bones broke and moved underneath her skin. Her teeth cracked and her jaw elongated as fur sprouted up along her pale Human skin.

  Cam had had enough. The rage hit him again, the rage of battle, the rage of the injustices these wolves had brought onto his people. That rage propelled deep into that black calm, deep into that well of mystery and power. He felt it there, right at his fingertips, and when he reached for it and began to draw it into him, it felt like he was coming home, like he was drinking water after hours of sweating in the sun.

  It washed through him and he let out an animal growl as he formed the only Urspell he knew, the fire that had destroyed so many wolves already. He snapped it into place in his mind. The Urspell gave form and direction to all the crackling power that tore through his body, and blue-orange flame sprouted up in his palms, two dancing, flickering balls of roiling, melting energy.

  He reached out and ashed the Were that was trying to shift, the fire sprouting from his hand in a long column. She was nearly a wolf when the flames washed over her body. It bubbled her skin and she half screamed, half howled in pain, an unnatural, horrible sound that sent a chill down Cam’s spine.

  But he didn’t stop. He reached out with his other hand and sent more fire spiraling forward. It took some effort to keep the magic contained within himself instead of letting it wash outward like an ocean tide. He directed it toward the Weres backing Theus up, his friend swiping at them with his spear. The first Were took the brunt of the fire in the back, the flames leaping up along his skin and curling around his body. He screamed, turned, and slashed as Cam’s fire as it consumed his body and sent sickening black smoke up into the air.

  Miuri shouted something but he couldn’t hear her. He was lost in the power, in the dizzying pleasure of it. He walked toward the other Were, and Cam saw fear in the remaining man’s eyes as Cam met his gaze, and he savored that terror. The Were was frozen in place, staring at the dead body on the ground then back up again. Theus was a couple of feet away, his spear held out. He screamed but Cam didn’t know why and he didn’t care. The Were looked horrified, and Cam loved that fear, loved that horror. It was his power that made the Were afraid for its life, his power that burned them to cinders, to nothing more than smoldering flesh.

  He didn’t hesitate. He called on the fire and used both hands to wash it all around the Were’s naked body, the flames spouting out all around him, boiling his skin and hair and blood and bones. The Were’s scream was brief and muffled by the roaring flames as he fell to his knees, then broke up into ash and drifted away on the breeze.

  Cam turned to destroy the rest of the wolves, flames rolling all around him, but the Elves had already done their work. Two wolf corpses were on the ground, and the Elf blades were slick with gore and blood. He clenched his jaw, and for a moment he contemplated burning everything around him. He wanted to unleash every ounce of power he had stored up inside of him in an inferno of death and cleansing.

  But then he saw Key, standing on the edge of the clearing, her eyes wide. He saw fear in her expression as she stared at him. The Elven warriors looked at him warily, neither of them lowering their weapons.

  Only Miuri approached, her hands out, her sword sheathed. She looked like she was trying to calm a wild dog.

  “Cam,” she said. “The fire. You need to release the fire. You’re hurting him.”

  He looked down at himself and abruptly realized that his hands were still crackling with it. The ground all around him was burned, and a four-foot wide circle of glowing red cinders littered the forest floor. Flames danced up his armor, not burning him, not harming him at all. It felt like cool water, like he had been plunged into a mountain spring. He felt alive, he felt like he could rip the skull from a man or burn the whole mountain down with nothing but a thought.

  And in that moment, he realized what he was doing. He turned and saw Theus backed against the tree, flames licking at his face and chest. Half of his tunic was burned away, and Cam saw red bubbling flush down his best friend’s chest, neck, and face. The power was channeling through him continually, and he was releasing it all, some of it without him realizing. He was burning everything in the clearing, the circle slowly getting wider, and if he didn’t stop he’d kill his friend.

  He forced the power away and the fire stopped expanding then began to fade. After another heartbeat, it dissipated into the wind and left him breathless as the Need slammed into his skull with a force he hadn’t expected. He staggered forward, through the glowing red-hot ground. It was warm under his boots, and he had to stumble faster to get out of it, afraid it would melt the leather from his feet. Theus staggered and fell, and he was distantly aware of the Elves running to support his friend. Theus made some groaning noises, and Cam tried to
step toward him, but the Need made his head spin.

  Then Miuri was there. She grabbed Cam once he was free of the ring of destruction he’d created around himself. She held onto him, small little Miuri, so strong and beautiful. She looked up into his eyes and he saw only worry.

  He’d been terrified he was going to see fear staring back at him. But she didn’t hesitate to help him stand.

  “Are you okay?” she asked. “You channeled a lot of fire. More than you needed.”

  “I don’t… don’t have much control yet,” he said. “Theus. Is Theus alive? How bad did I hurt him?”

  She shook her head, her face grave.

  Key came running over. She hesitated only a moment before throwing herself at Cam. She hugged him tight and he felt the Need scream in his eyes as her body pressed against his.

  “You’re okay,” she said. “When I saw the fire… I thought maybe…” She trailed off as Cam let out a growl. He pulled back and looked into her eyes, and he knew he had to have her, had to taste her. The Need was screaming at him to release more energy, touch the priori again and burn the whole forest to the ground, and he knew he had to quiet that pain.

  So he kissed her. She seemed surprised, but he wasn’t being gentle. He kissed her and tasted her tongue on his lips as he pressed her body tight against his. The kiss broke off and he stared at her with pure lust in his eyes, and she looked back with surprise, her cheeks turning red.

  “Cam,” Miuri said.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Take Key up to where we were hiding,” she said. “You’re not thinking straight. I’ll deal with things down here then join you shortly. I’ll make sure Theus is taken care of.”

  He looked at the beautiful Elven girl and he wanted her just as badly. He wanted them both, both of his beautiful girlfriends, wanted their soft lips wrapped around his cock, their muscular bodies working as he fucked them and filled them with seed and magic. Gods, Urspirit, he wanted them so badly it almost hurt, and the Need wouldn’t let him stop.

 

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