* * *
“What happened?” Leah demanded, looking at the handful of soldiers in shock and anger.
“A group of adventurers were coming along the road, so Jacob and Lethe tried to ambush them. Jacob was injured and poisoned, but he’ll probably recover, while Lethe was killed, Sir,” Oliver reported, his expression showing his frustration. “He was conscious long enough to report they were level eleven through fourteen, that there were two humans, an elf, and an apis, and that they were trying to take them hostage. I have two squads after them, but the group is headed west quickly, and I don’t have many reports.”
Leah hissed under her breath, resisting the urge to swear, then shook her head and snapped, “Well, isn’t that just wonderful. Send a squad to block the road and keep them from getting back to Irador.”
“Already done, sir. Fourth squad was dispatched immediately,” Oliver replied, and Leah relaxed at the word that it was her highest-level squad that he’d chosen. “The others are trying to track down the adventurers, and hopefully they can pin them against fourth squad.”
“Excellently done,” Leah said, relaxing as she scowled slightly. “Still, adventurers of that level… damn it, I wish we hadn’t had to spread our sentries so thin. I wasn’t expecting people of that level to show up. They should’ve just let the adventurers past, then gotten the sentries to pin them against the walls. Too late now, though.”
“Agreed. I’ll keep you informed of any additional information, sir,” Oliver said, saluting.
“Excellent. I’ll let Damaris know, and maybe she can get us some additional soldiers,” Leah said, nodding to Oliver, then turned away and studied the wall around Bearton for a moment before snorting softly to herself.
She couldn’t wait to get out of here, but first they needed to accomplish their goal. More personally satisfying would be if she could catch the adventurers that had hurt her people, but Leah wasn’t going to hold her breath on that. It wasn’t as though she could punish them appropriately, after all.
Finally, she headed for the gate, and for the guild house within. Damaris would want to hear about this.
Chapter 24
“Ow!” Joy yelped as the rapier cut through her gauntlet, cutting into her left palm. It hurt, but she didn’t let it distract her as she thrust her rapier into the man in turn. Fortunately, his armor wasn’t much better than hers, and the rapier punched through his shoulder.
“Gah!” the dark-haired man exclaimed, staggering backward, and Joy hastily retreated, looking at the others.
They’d managed to throw off the pursuit for a few minutes, but the enemies had come after them anyway, resulting in the decision to ambush them. Unfortunately, while their ambush hadn’t gone as poorly as the one which had been sprung on them, it hadn’t gone well, either.
As Joy watched, Brianna swung her sword hard, cutting deep into the chest of the human woman she’d been fighting, and sending the woman flying back into a tree. Then her friend snapped off the arrowhead that was sticking through her right arm and pulled out the shaft, hissing as she did so.
“Lightning Blast!” Cora snapped, throwing an orb at the enemy archer again, and Joy shook off her distraction, glancing at the man she’d stabbed, then shrugged and jumped, her wings snapping out to take flight as she flew up and over him, following the orb of lightning. Besides, his face was turning a weird color, which meant that he’d succumbed to her venom, or would soon.
The archer had dodged Cora’s spell, but the woman looked a bit panicked, and her hair was definitely shorter after an earlier fire spell, to Joy’s private amusement. She also looked up just a bit late, and yelped as she saw Joy coming, scrabbling for her sword. She was too late, though, and Joy smiled at her.
“Sorry!” Joy said, and stabbed the woman mercilessly, several times just to be certain. The woman fell after the second stab, but Joy made sure to finish the job.
“Minor Cure.” Stella’s voice was soft, and barely audible, but the sound of it brought Joy’s head up as she looked back, her wings still buzzing.
There’d been four of the enemies, and their opening ambush had allowed them to take down one of them, which meant that all of the enemies were accounted for. At least once Joy looked to be sure the other man hadn’t moved. The foam on his lips was a little gross, she had to admit.
Stella was next to Brianna, with magic dancing from her friend’s fingers and into the injury, so Joy quickly flew back, and settled onto the ground, looking at Brianna in worry as she asked, “Is something wrong? That’s the poison-fixing spell, right?”
“They poisoned their arrows,” Brianna said, almost grinding her teeth as the woman breathed slowly. “Probably wanting to keep anyone from getting away, the bastards.”
“Fortunately, it’s something I can cure. Lower-level adventurers would be in trouble, though,” Stella said, glancing at Joy as she asked, “Did they shoot you?”
“Nope!” Joy replied, relief rushing through her as she raised her hand, which was dripping yellow blood as she added, “I got cut, but nothing from arrows! I feel fine, too.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean you’re alright, but… we don’t really have time or the mana to worry about it,” Stella replied after a moment studying Joy, worry in her gaze as she spoke. “If you start feeling ill, I expect you to tell me immediately, alright? I’ll close our wounds, at least. Minor Healing Aura.”
A burst of green light washed over them, and the minor injuries that everyone had taken closed, including the gash on Joy’s hand. She could still feel the dull ache deeper in her hand, but at least she wasn’t bleeding, so the apis admired her hand, and looked at Stella gratefully.
“Thank you! I’ll tell you if I feel weird, promise,” Joy said, nodding rapidly, then gestured to the south. “Should we keep going? I don’t smell any apis yet.”
“Definitely,” Cora said promptly, looking behind them nervously. “If they sent four, more of them will be along soon. While we’re good, we didn’t get through that unscathed. If a dozen of them catch up, we’ll be in trouble.”
“Which is just another reason to get moving,” Brianna said flatly, nodding to Stella. “Thanks. I’ll thank you properly once we’re somewhere safe, alright?”
“Shush,” Stella replied, shaking her head. “I’m just doing my part, so let’s go.”
Joy giggled, but nodded, this time taking a position in the rear as they rushed southward, leaving behind still more bodies of their attackers.
* * *
“Four adventurers, and one of them an apis?” Damaris demanded, her gaze jerking upward in her shock, and she could see the surprise flicker across Leah’s face, though the woman quickly hid it. Damaris continued quickly. “Were all of them women?”
“Ah, yes, they were, Sir. An elf, two humans, and an apis, from what I heard,” Leah replied promptly, obviously unsure of why Damaris was asking. “I don’t have full details, but it sounded like the apis was more like a Swashbuckler or Rogue, the humans were a Swordswoman and either a Warrior or Acolyte, and the elf was a Mage. Is that important?”
“Possibly,” Damaris said, her lips pressing together as she considered what to say. Leah’s expression helped her decision, though, as she admitted at last, “Lord Alethus was nearly killed by an apis and a group that was similar, as I recall. They also had other companions, but they were part of different adventuring groups.”
“Oh. Oh,” Leah said, her eyes going wide, then her gaze hardened. “Well, in that case I suppose we don’t really need to take them alive, do we?”
“If you can, do it. His Lordship was honestly impressed at how the apis lured him into a trap. She played decoy and walked into the nest of a group of giant minks, which is what injured him. He’s curious about her, and would love to convert her if possible,” Damaris said, shaking her head, her mood turning cold as she continued. “However, that’s merely if possible. If you can’t, don’t bother. They’ve proven themselves dangerous and resourceful if they man
aged to survive encountering Our Lord, so don’t treat them lightly. No matter what, don’t let them get to Irador.”
A flicker of rebelliousness crossed Leah’s face, but the woman quickly suppressed it as she saluted, nodding. “As you wish, sir! Last seen they were heading south, anyway. I’m not sure why, but with your permission I’ll reinforce their pursuit. If they’re as dangerous as you say, the soldiers will need the help.”
“Agreed. While caution is in order, try not to lose them,” Damaris warned, and watched as Leah turned and quickly left the room, tapping the desktop nervously.
For a minute the room was silent, save for the soft sound of the clock in the corner keeping time, and Damaris ran through the current situation internally. It truly wasn’t that bad, she had to admit, but the appearance of the same adventurers who’d injured Lord Alethus set her teeth on edge. She couldn’t be sure it was a coincidence, and that made her nervous. She honestly didn’t believe that the adventurers would be dangerous as long as her soldiers could pin them down, but until that happened, she wasn’t going to take them lightly.
“Sir? Is something wrong?” Velk asked at last, his voice almost causing her to start. “I thought that Shala was close to breaking the code on the records.”
“She is,” Damaris replied, taking a deep breath as she looked over at Velk, then smiled wryly. “She is, which will certainly help. The scouts certainly haven’t found anything, even if they haven’t run into any more ambushes by the apis since then. I hope, anyway.”
“If it was easy to find, we probably wouldn’t have been sent,” Velk said, his tone relatively philosophical, but he was watching her in concern. “I’m just concerned about you, sir.”
“I’m… concerned, I’ll admit. I would be if any adventurers of that level happened across us with the timing this close, but those adventurers in specific?” Damaris said, shaking her head as she considered further, then admitted, “I… well, you know Our Lord’s goal as well. He wants to become the next Dark Lord. If he does, that almost guarantees that there will be a Hero to oppose him. What if there’s a potential hero among the adventurers? Trying to capture them could be a mistake.”
“Umm…” Velk’s eyebrows furrowed at that, his relative complacency replaced by concern as he hesitated, thinking. Eventually he nodded slowly. “I think I get it, sir. That would be bad, but… what are we supposed to do? If he wants us to capture her, we should do it if we can. But like you said to Leah, that’s only if we can. Blood of the gods, even killing her isn’t a solution, anyway, since she’ll probably resurrect! The best way to deal with a captive is to force them to link to a nearby temple and kill them when they come back, but if they’re stubborn enough, it’s not possible.”
“True, true. Worrying about it won’t do any good, either way,” Damaris admitted, shaking her head. “No, I think what I should do is make the rounds to check on our security, then see how Shala is doing. If we run into the apis, I’d like you to make her a priority. I don’t like Our Lord’s interest in her any more than Leah does, but better that she’s in chains than running around in the wild.”
“Yes, sir!” Velk said, giving a large, toothy grin as she saluted, causing Damaris to relax slightly.
He was competent enough that it eased her mind to have him on the job. In the meantime, Damaris picked up her sword belt to go out. If the adventurers decided to break into town, she did not want them getting in easily.
Chapter 25
Their escape had been far, far more hectic than Joy would have preferred, as just when they’d thought they’d lost the trackers at last, a couple of the enemies had started firing at them with their bows. Joy had been hit in the leg, necessitating both a spell to purge poisons and another healing spell, and they’d practically run into the Teeming Jungle, which had a very, very obvious border between it and the forest. Joy wasn’t sure if the wide clearing was natural or not, but it certainly made identifying the jungle easy.
They’d immediately rushed across the clearing and into the trees, then laid an ambush, at which point Joy had seen the trackers stop instead of rushing into it. For the first time she wished she had a bow, since it would be nice to make them have to jump and dodge. Instead, they were just hovering back in the forest, keeping an eye on them. It was quite frustrating.
“We can’t just sit here. Every minute we wait, their allies are going to get closer,” Cora hissed, slowly catching her breath. The mage had a few nicks on her arms and legs, mostly from branches, but one of them had come from a nasty plant which had tried to strangle her when they passed. At least the plant had delayed the attackers once they’d gotten away from it, Joy reflected.
“Really? I’d never have guessed,” Brianna retorted sarcastically. “It’s almost like we’re on the run!”
“Do you really need to bicker at a time like this?” Stella interjected tartly, looking at Joy. “Joy, do you smell any apis around here? It would be nice to have a direction to run.”
“Um, let me see!” Joy said, blinking, then raised her antennae as she took a breath of air, closing her eyes.
The Teeming Jungle was like and unlike the Flower Forest in many ways. For one thing, there had been virtually no trees in the Flower Forest, which made the sight of the immense trees surrounding her oddly alien, as did the canopy which blocked out so much of the light from above. Yet at the same time, the forest was awash with the scent of plants and flowers, many of which smelled like they’d be wonderful to collect nectar from.
Of course, beneath those familiar, pleasant scents were others that weren’t as nice. She smelled spiders, mites, beetles, and wasps as well, each of them sending a tingle of worry through her. And yet… she also smelled something else. Something pleasant, that spoke of home, while at the same time being unfamiliar, and Joy smiled. That was the scent of a queen, and she opened her eyes.
“I smell a queen! The hive is probably that way,” Joy said, pointing deeper into the jungle, and slightly to their east. “I’m not sure how close, though.”
“Then we’d better go,” Cora said, visibly relaxing at the information. “Do you think we’ll run into other apis first?”
“I don’t know. Maybe!” Joy said, and smiled. “I’ll see if I can’t find some!”
“Wait, Joy!” Brianna exclaimed, but it was a little too late, as Joy took flight.
It was darker than she’d like, but she could see reasonably well. Joy definitely wouldn’t want to be out after dark, though. It’d be too dark to see easily. Behind her Brianna cursed, but quickly followed along with the others.
At least the people who’d tracked them were slower to follow, though, which relieved Joy. Taking flight had been a risk, but she thought they’d have had a hard time picking her out of the shadows, with how her armor would blend in. She was happy to have been right, and quickly moved deeper into the jungle to avoid further attacks.
As the forest surrounded her, Joy’s sense of how different the forest was grew even stronger. This wasn’t what she knew, and it was someplace completely different. Much like scouting out a new field of flowers, it was someplace that deserved caution, even if the smell of the hive gave her a direction to go. The problem was that she didn’t have time to move at the slower speed she’d prefer.
While the others followed, using the trees as cover along the way, Joy buzzed between the limbs and leaves, the occasional spots of dappled sunlight shining brightly on the forest floor. She avoided those spots, since they would reveal their passage far more easily.
Minutes passed, then Joy heard the pursuers behind them cursing in the distance, and she smiled. It sounded to her like they hadn’t noticed them leaving, so they’d fallen behind. Hopefully they wouldn’t be able to catch up, but Joy wasn’t going to rely on that.
Slowly the jungle grew quieter, save for the soft sounds of birds and the occasional insect, but that didn’t really make Joy any happier as she led the way. The worst problems came from nowhere, in her experience. Glancing down,
she saw that Stella was lagging behind slightly, and she paused, then descended down to near their level.
“Do we need to stop for a bit?” Joy asked cheerfully, looking at them in concern, but smiling anyway. Brianna looked the best of her friends, but both Cora and Stella were breathing hard. “I can’t hear them anymore, and you look tired.”
Cora was standing up, leaning against a tree with her staff in both hands in front of her, while Stella was leaning over, resting her hands on her knees. Brianna was the only one who looked like she could easily keep going, and sweat was beading on her forehead.
“That… doesn’t mean anything,” Cora said, unknowingly agreeing with what Joy was thinking. “They might just… be quiet.”
“I don’t know. They were rather loud earlier, and if they’re trying to move quietly, they probably fell behind. We probably can take a breather,” Brianna said, wiping her forehead as she nodded to Joy. “What do you think?”
“Um, probably? I don’t know, really. I’m just worried. This is a different place than around the Tulip Hive,” Joy said, looking around curiously. “I don’t know where anything is, so I wish I had more time to look for danger. Do you mind if I, um, scout? While you’re resting?”
Brianna looked at the others, and Cora nodded, while Stella took her hands off her knees, straightening as she spoke. “That… seems like a good idea. We just need a minute… maybe two.”
“Okay! I’ll be back soon,” Joy said, taking flight again, though this time she kept closer to the ground as she started checking the area ahead of them. There were a few rock outcroppings in the area, and the trees made it hard to keep a good watch on everything around her. That was worrying.
Webs & Wards (Beesong Chronicles Book 2) Page 16