Wood, Stone and Bone

by Ian Rodgers

  ~It would completely overhaul the fields of magical study,~ Tara finished for me. ~This proves that magic can actually become sentient if given enough time, mass, and energy to work with!~

  (Hey, smart-people stuff is nice and all, but maybe you should tell the camp you’re doing OK,) Rosa suggested.

  ‘Yeah, they were pretty worried when I nearly collapsed yesterday,’ I agreed.

  (That, and there are more Oozes surrounding your tent outside and the adventurers aren’t sure if they should interfere or not since they’re acting harmless.)

  I expanded my ‘sight’ beyond the fabric walls of my tent, and I let out a gasp as I saw the colorful hoard arrayed outside in a protective circle. There were additional varieties of Oozes out there! I even saw a Pond Ooze, one of the largest Oozes known to exist on Erafore! It towered above my tent, and was as tall as one of the caravan’s draft horses!

  I hastily shapeshifted into my Gel Doll form and applied my illusions. Since I had fallen asleep in my robes it took a bit to adjust them. With my hat firmly planted on my head I then strode out of the tent.

  “Oh! Thank the gods, they didn’t eat you!” Brent exclaimed as I appeared, and the heads of the other adventurers snapped over in my direction.

  I offered a cautious wave. “Uh, hey. Nothing to worry about, they’re friendly,” I said with a gesture to the Oozes around me.

  Mitch snickered a bit. “I’ll say.”

  He then pointed at my back and everyone started to laugh. I looked behind me and let out a chuckle as well. Some of the Oozes had decided to cling to me even though I had gotten up, and they had adhered themselves to the closest thing to them. Namely, my robe.

  I tried shaking them off my back but the cluster of gummy creatures refused to let go. After a few minutes of futile shaking I gave up and let them hang around.

  “Jellik, why are there so many Oozes around you?” Katherine inquired, an accusatory tone in her voice.

  “Have you ever heard the saying, ‘nature abhors a vacuum?’” I asked after thinking my answer over with Tara.

  By the blank looks on most of their faces I guessed they had not, so I explained.

  “The term ‘nature abhors a vacuum’ is one used in Applied Thaumaturgy, or the advanced study of magic, which claims that magic wants to fill in all the empty spaces it can. It’s why people naturally absorb mana from the atmosphere after casting a spell, and why when a region’s ley lines are disturbed magic tries to return to the way it was before the disruption.”

  “Basically, because I used up so much mana yesterday the local Ambient Mana was disturbed and it was sucked up into me while I slept to help recover my lost energy,” I continued, trying to lay everything out as simply as I could. “And Oozes are very sensitive to disturbances in the local Ambient Mana. As such, they were curious about me, the source of the issue, and came to visit.”

  “And they didn’t try to melt you down and drink you up like soup?” Yorrik queried.

  “No. Most Oozes don’t try to go after prey that’s bigger than them,” I deadpanned. “Even if they’re defenseless.”

  “Good to know,” the Ranger sighed with relief. He then clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.

  “Alright, show’s over! Jellik’s fine, so we need to get ready to move out!”

  The bystanders split up, their curiosity sated, and prepared for another day on the march.

  I managed to shoo off the majority of the Oozes who had stayed around, with only a couple of the tiny slimy beings sticking close by.

  “Come on, shoo! Go back to your home!” I pleaded fruitlessly. They burbled innocently and continued to cling to me.

  I heaved a sigh and resigned myself to being an Ooze carrier for the day.

  We left for the road soon after, and another day of ponderous dreariness started. The sun was out and made everything warmer, though the cool autumn breeze was snapping fiercely and brought with it pre-winter chills.

  “How much further do we have to go?” I asked Yorrik.

  “Arv Prith is only another week and a half or so away if we continue to have good weather,” the Ranger stated.

  Nine days. I could live with that. I sighed heavily and glanced back at the rest of the adventurers. Most of them were still snickering slightly, finding the sight of me carrying a half dozen colorful blobs on my back amusing to no end.

  Only Katherine was glaring at me. She seemed upset, rather than wary of me like her previous times staring at me. What had I done? Was it the Oozes? She looked at me as if I had kicked a puppy in front of her!

  I shook my head. I would never understand females. I guess that firmly cemented my belief I was a male Ooze. In mindset if nothing else.

  Katherine bent down to scoop something up off the ground when I turned away to ignore her glares. Whatever her problem was, I would have to deal with it soon. Letting it fester was doing me no favors.

  .

  ‘What is he? What in the Six Hellish Planes of Pluton is he?!’

  She fumed, ranted, and raged. All in her head, of course. She could not dare to show her true feelings in the open, especially not around people who actually liked the wretched mage!

  Oh, they all thought he was some kind of saint! A hero! The next coming of the Hero-King!

  Despite her immense distrust of the man she couldn’t help but understand why the people of the caravan, merchant or adventurer, thought that way. Gaea had blessed him! Poured divinity atop his head like he was a plant to be watered and nurtured! And he acted as if it was just another day for him! And if that wasn’t enough, his magical ability was far beyond what someone his apparent age could pull off.

  ‘Jellik,’ if that was indeed his real name, was a mystery, and possessed unnatural power. His magic was on par with an A-rank, at least, and though his repertoire of spells was lacking a bit he made up for it with sheer, overwhelming power!

  Everything about the mage screamed ‘wrong’ to her. Mannerisms, the way he moved, his isolationist ways. Not to mention the illusions he was constantly wearing.

  That was one of the first things she noticed about the young man. He was hiding his features, either because he was known to people who might do him harm, or he was a criminal and trying to avoid being recognized by law enforcement.

  Or was it something else? Something more sinister? She had long suspected him, ever since word of a man seeking out the rumored ‘talking slimes’ had appeared in Tywood, asking around for more information.

  Katherine clenched her fists. His fervor, his drive, his desire to find the truth of this rumor was unnatural. Just like everything about him.

  A sudden, terrible thought came to her and she grimaced. What if ‘Jellik’ was actually none other than that bastard who had… who had…

  She cut her thoughts off there. No. He would never show his face in the open, nor would Gaea bless a traitor to her order. This was something else. Someone trained by him, then? Or, gods above and below forbid, made by him, like he had made the one person who made her feel special?

  She suppressed a shiver at that thought. It didn’t matter what or who this ‘Jellik’ was. She would find out the truth and deal with the mage in any way necessary.

  Something caught her eye and Katherine glanced down. There, slightly trampled into the road, was a scale.

  Dark green and covered it dust, it was surprisingly immaculate and intact despite being trod on by a dozen people and horses and wagons.

  She bent down, compelled by her need to collect interesting things, and pocketed the scale.

  It looked draconic in a way. Perhaps a shed scale from a migrating dragon of some kind? Could be worth a few silvers if it was. She grinned as she patted the pouch that now held her newfound treasure. Maybe things would turn out alright after all.

  .

  It paused, a bloody snout lifting up from the carcass it had been feeding upon. It growled and rose, meal forgotten. The scale’s scent had finally returned!

  For days
the beast had chased down the thief who had dared to enter its domain and steal from it, yet the person who smelled like tainted magic had continuously led it on a wild chase, always slipping in and out of reality. It had lost the scent a while back, and flown into a violent rage. So great was its fury that the weather had reflected its mood as its mana raged and caused the world around it to tremble.

  A gnawing hunger forced it to rest after calming down. It was not hard for the beast to find food. After all, everything that dwelt within the forest was mere prey to it. But now that the stolen scale was back, it could hunt down the thief and end them.

  The thief would pay. And it would enjoy feasting on their entrails as they begged for mercy and death.

  A savage grin split the blood drenched muzzle of the beast, and it strode forth through the dense undergrowth of the ancient forest, trees quaking and shaking with its passage. Animals of all sizes fled from its path, unwilling to face the Lord of the Dullwilds when it was in such a foul temper.

  Chapter 14: Discoveries and deceptions

  Our caravan managed to make good time after leaving all the mud and rain behind. The road ahead was clear, and based on Torren’s estimate the convoy might actually reach Arv Prith sooner than anticipated. Apparently, my Mud to Stone marathon had let us push on even further than he’d planned or hoped the other day, and so thanks to me, the group had cut its travel time by about two days.

  Torren was so grateful he almost smiled. Almost. Yorrik whispered to me that this was the happiest he’d seen his uncle in years for a reason that didn’t involve money.

  I then pointed out that delivering supplies and shipments early would be not only be good for his reputation as a businessman, but that he’d get his gold sooner as well.

  The Ranger, realizing I was correct, facepalmed and sulked a bit. I could only laugh at his down trodden expression.

  “Maybe someday he will show affection for something other than profits,” I said, clapping Yorrik on the back.

  “And maybe someone will breed a harmless dragon,” the B-ranker replied with a roll of his eyes.

  “That does sound like an interesting experiment to try,” I mused. Yorrik blanched.

  “Please don’t! The last time a talented mage tried to make a saying truthful, we ended up with actual flying pigs! Now we can’t say ‘when pigs fly!’ ever again!”

  “Ah yes, the Sky Boars,” I said, realizing what he was talking about. “There were a few of them in the Academy’s menagerie. Quite interesting creatures. Though they don’t really fly so much as glide. Their wings aren’t strong enough to lift them.”

  “The point I was trying to make is that if anyone could breed a dragon that’s as dangerous as a cat, it would be you,” Yorrik stated.

  “Don’t know why you think cats aren’t dangerous buggers,” I griped. “Those things are vicious and mean little things! Always trying to use me as a scratching post!”

  The Ranger let out a snort of amusement before glancing at my back.

  “Seems like the Oozes finally left.”

  “Yeah, they clambered off some time after the lunch break. Kinda glad for it too, they were throwing off my balance and making it hard to carry my pack.”

  “They were rather cute, though. I can see why the princess of Varia had one as a pet.” He paused then gave me a strange look.

  “You attended the Royal Varian Mage’s Academy, did you not? Ever meet the princess?”

  “A few times, in passing,” I said evasively. I couldn’t sweat, and my illusion gave nothing away, so Yorrik merely grunted unconvinced before turning back to setting up his tent.

  We’d arrived at the next rest stop, and were preparing our campsite. As usual, my tent was a little bit further from the rest of the group, but this time I put it slightly closer to Katherine’s.

  If I wanted to confront the dwarf maiden, I needed to tempt her into approaching me first. She had obtained that Ward Breaker for a reason, after all.

  So, after setting up my usual number of privacy wards around my tent I settled in to wait for her to come to me.

  I lay back in my sleeping bag, uncomfortable with staying bipedal while lying down. I instinctively wanted to revert to my regular form at all times. Being in my portable bed didn’t help that desire, since the only times I’d been able to be myself this entire trip was at night in my tent.

  Rosa ended up falling asleep while we waited for Katherine to show. I just lay on my ‘back,’ mimicking breathing by taking in air and expelling it from a tiny gap I created in the ‘head’ area of my Del Doll form. My darling Carbuncle liked to refer to it as ‘pretend farting.’ I chose to ignore her with what little dignity I had.

  ~Do you really think she’ll come tonight?~ Tara questioned and I gave the equivalent of a mental shrug back at her.

  ‘I don’t know. But if she wants to do anything to me, she’ll have to do so before we get to Arv Prith if she wants to make it look like an accident.’

  ~How morbid,~ Tara said dryly and I chuckled.

  ‘True. Anyways, on a different topic, do you think I should be worried about Yorrik? It seems like he has puzzled out who I’m working for, if nothing else.’

  ~I see no reason why you should be worried about that. Liliana is a princess. She has status and resources so far beyond him that if he tried to do anything to you she could crush him in an instant in all sorts of different ways. Same goes for Katherine.~

  ‘How very bloodthirsty of you, Tara,’ I said, impressed.

  ~I rather like living inside your head. It’s not as wonderful as true freedom, but without you I’d lose my connection to the outside world and I’d prefer not to go through that.~

  I hummed in agreement before going still and quiet. Something had brushed up against my senses and a secret ward I had set up beforehand.

  This ward was the most basic of common defense spells. Alert was a technique that did nothing but react by sending a tiny flicker of energy towards the caster if something crossed over its invisible boundary. It was the elementary building block for nearly all other wards and barriers, and it was so simple it was almost always overlooked by others when checking for magical defenses.

  I checked the magic signature of the approaching individual and gave a mental smirk. Katherine was right outside and preparing a dagger shaped artifact that practically throbbed with a potent anti-ward enchantment. It was made of high quality steel and had no real decorations on it except a few runes that were clearly the source of its power.

  She also had an enchanted monocle over her left eye. Based on my observations of it, the artifact had a Detect Magic spell built into it so the wearer could see magic. Useful if someone wanted to interact with wards.

  I lay perfectly still and observed her as she stared at the strands of magic in front of her, before plunging the Ward Breaker into the air in front of my tent flaps. I expected a squeal or crack of displaced energy as my defenses shattered, but to my surprise nothing of the sort happened, and she dragged the blade downwards, tearing a hole open in the barriers rather than outright destroying them.

  That made sense, seeing as she was doing this while sneaking around and loud noises were a good way to get detected. It also raised my appraisal of whoever Katherine was working for, because an anti-ward artifact like that would be worth a fortune, and not something any rag-tag group of criminals would possess.

  After ripping apart the wards she slipped inside, crouched low and hidden by a black cloak that looked rather fetching combined with her dark leather armor.

  The dwarf paused at the entrance to my tent and looked around.

  “You know, if you want to pretend to be sleeping, simply lying on your back and pretending to breath softly is not going to cut it. That looks too unnatural.”

  I tensed up at her words and ceased ‘breathing.’ “Fine then.”

  I lashed out with my ‘feet,’ striking her in the shins and causing her to fall forward.

  She used the momentum to try an
d drive her enchanted dagger into my chest but my ‘hands’ snapped out and grabbed onto to her wrists. My ‘legs’ then started to twist and bend unnaturally, wrapping around her waist and pinning her in place.

  She gave me a startled look at the disturbing motions my limbs had gone through. No doubt in her mind she was questioning what the hell kind of spell I had used to make my body do that, or if I was even human at all.

  Katherine’s eyes narrowed and she glared at me. “I knew it! You’re one of his, aren’t you?!”

  I remained silent, suddenly feeling confused and that I was lacking some information.

  “If by his you mean hers, then yes, though as far as I am aware I’m the only one,” I shot back, probing her body with a few Detection spells.

  No other magical items, nor enchantments or effects were upon her. Her mana seemed average, though I had no real idea what was average for a dwarf. For all I knew she was either incredibly potent or abysmally weak. Though based on the handful of other dwarves I’d met so far she seemed on the low end.

  “Don’t lie to me!” Katherine hissed, fighting to bring the knife closer to my ‘neck.’ “Your insane amounts of magic, your stand-offish nature, your illusions... all of it points to you working for that sick bastard!”

  “And even more damning, you’ve been looking for them ever since Tywood! Asking about rumors and sightings while playing it off as a researcher of Oozes! Well, I won’t let you hurt them, or allow you to inform your master of anything else!”

  Now I was very confused, as was Tara. It sounded like Katherine was talking about… but no, that couldn’t be it, surely?

  “Are you referring to the talking Oozes?”

  “Of course I am!” she snarled. “Some friends of mine heard about your less-than-subtle searches, and so I came out to confront you. But you are always so damn paranoid, hiding in your tent with countless wards!”

  “Some would argue that my paranoia is justified considered the situation we find ourselves in,” I said in a snarky tone.