eldritch files 07 - elemental blood

by weldon, phaedra

  Tas stared at him. "Why? What for? Why do this? I thought she was in hiding."

  "Apparently, she's not. At least, not anymore. And I'm sure she did it to get my attention. She knows I can't stomach this kind of thing, especially done to innocents. But if it is her, that would mean…"

  Then it hit him, hard, and he staggered back. Sam filled his thoughts, his senses, and his body. She was everywhere around him in that instant. He could smell her perfume, feel her skin against his, and see himself reflected in her beautiful blue eyes. His heart leapt with joy that his mate was near!

  "Crwys?"

  Sam was near? What did that mean? He looked around the golf course, garnering the odd look from Levi and Prescott to their left. He didn't see Sam anywhere, nor did he sense her physical presence in the park. Now that she was in New Orleans, their link had re-established.

  His joy and apprehension dissolved into panic. But it wasn't his panic. It was Sam's. He felt overwhelming fear. Not the kind she experienced when she fought, the kind that fueled her passion, but the kind he'd sensed in her nightmares. It was a base fear of old haunts.

  Sam was in trouble, and she was afraid.

  Very afraid.

  He took off past Levi and Prescott toward his Mustang, the fiery red color visible in the green foliage of the golf course. Flying to her would be faster, but there were too many witnesses. He wasn't about to expose himself, just in case there really was a Quest running, especially one that needed a Dragon's heart.

  Levi and Tas reached the car as he got in and started the engine. Levi jumped in front, while Tas climbed in the back.

  "What're you two doing?"

  "Following you," Levi said. "Something just set you on fire…no pun intended."

  Crwys made a face at him.

  "What's happening?" Tas asked as Crwys gunned the motor and tore out of the golf course as fast as he could—without breaking rules as much as possible.

  "It's Sam," Crwys said as he dodged through traffic. He was tuned in on her with his heart. "She's back. And she's in trouble."

  "Lethe?" Tas said.

  "Lethe?" Levi said, looking between the two of them. "Oh man…I was hoping Sam would kill that bitch."

  "So was I," Crwys said. His phone rang and Crwys fished it out of his jeans while driving one-handed and looked at the face. It was Kyle. He answered it. "You feel her too?"

  "Yeah, but there's more. Jack got a call in the link from Bastien. He's with her, and they're in trouble. Jack's already gone, I couldn't stop him."

  "Where is he going?"

  "The cabin at Gypsy Gardens. Arden's already called. Her coven can't get through the forest. Apparently…she said it's fighting her?"

  “What’s fighting her?”

  “The forest.”

  Oh. Wonderful. "Grab Papa Dumaine and meet us there. Where's Ivan and Dharma?"

  "With me." He hung up.

  "What's going on?" Levi said.

  "Something's happening at Gypsy Gardens." He tossed the phone to the floorboard. "Kyle and the others are on their way. And so are the Aces."

  "Uh oh."

  Crwys nodded to his partner. Yeah…uh oh.

  TEN

  I sort of lost myself in the beginning of the fight. My mind filled with silent communications with my Elementals as the trees, bushes, grass, rocks, and even Mississippi mud attacked us. I'd never felt so vulnerable in a fight before. Not because I was overpowered, but because my mind couldn't wrap itself around the fact I was fighting the very Earth my mother had taught me to respect and to love. If she were here—

  And that was a sobering thought. If she were here.

  But she wasn't. And I was holding my own as I worked spells to defend and heal the Wolves as they warred on the trees. My Elementals fanned out as scouts to run through the melee and report back to me on who was in the most trouble. I pulled power from the ground at my feet, having kicked off my boots so I could stand barefoot on the grass and hope it didn't sprout eyes and teeth and attack me too. My memories of that fight in the cemetery in Savannah returned, and I thought of how Dags had stopped the fighting plants. The form the Fae had taken against us.

  I told Belenos to burn the trees as much as he could. But as one tree would light up, the water in the land would sprout below it and cool the flames. Coventina, my Gnome, chopped at trees and brought them down, but another tree would replace the fallen one. Zephyros, my Air Elemental, pulled the air around him and ripped bushes and plants from their roots, flinging them miles away. And again, more would replace them, making a never-ending spring of flora.

  Sionna, my Water Elemental, was in her own battle with whatever that mud creature was. It lunged at her, and she moved what water she could pull from the air as her weapon. But even that wasn't going well. We were outmatched and outnumbered, and too many of the Aces were tiring and wounded. I cast spell after spell at each of them, healing not just the Wolves but giving what I had to my Elementals as well.

  Coventina pushed roots to grow around the cabin, encasing it in a strong, heavy cage of wood and foliage. It didn't look like a cabin anymore, but like a huge ball of wooden twine, with me guarding the entrance against anything getting through.

  Fatigue pressed down on my shoulders. I wasn't ready for this kind of battle, and without my Arcane…I felt humbled. Less than what I was as my healing ability faltered. One of the Aces in wolf form pulled a smaller tree up by its roots, but it reached down with branches and thrust the sharper ones through the wolf's neck. Blood sprayed the already muddy ground, and I screamed out as the wolf's soul passed by me.

  I was too late.

  They were dying now.

  Someone touched my arm, and I made a loud noise when I turned to see Kyle standing beside me. His hands glowed with power, and he was ready, his bag at his side. Papa Dumaine came charging from behind the cabin, his arms out, as trees were uprooted as if by an invisible bulldozer.

  Dharma rounded the cabin's edge as a tidal wave of water followed her, creating a river that split the distance between the Cairn and the cabin. It flowed past and away from the house, sweeping the falling trees with it. Arden had to be close. She would have had to have given Dharma permission to use the waters of Gypsy Garden.

  "How…" was about all I could get out.

  "Jack's here. He's in that mess." I could hear the panic and worry in Kyle's voice. “Solomon got us through the forest, but Arden's still barricaded on the other side. She's working with the land…but it seems the Jötunn are revolting."

  Of course! These were Nisse, the Jötunn spirits. Lords and Ladies of the forest. Nature.

  But…why were they attacking us?

  "SAM!"

  Every muscle in my body reacted to that voice. All at once I was filled with joy and happiness, bliss and love. Oh Goddess Divine…how had I ever run away from this feeling? Had I been so blind to it, clouded by rage and the need to seek revenge?

  Was this what Arcana had been trying to tell me? Because with that feeling came a resurgence of power. I dug my feet into the ground as Kyle and I stood side by side in front of that cabin and worked our spells. He took over the healing as I fed power to my Elementals. All the while my feels were searching the forest and the crazy action for where Crwys could be.

  "SAM!" came his voice again, but closer this time.

  "CRWYS!" I cried out as I boosted a lunging axe move by Coventina. "I'm here!"

  "I see you!"

  I looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of him.

  And I did.

  The world around me fell away as Crwys's light filled everything. I watched as he cast fire in his wake, setting the grass, bushes, plants, and trees on fire. But not just any fire. This was Dragon Fire. He walked through them, casting them aside if a stray bush or weed tried to jump on him. One weed tried wrapping its vines around his ankles and was instantly vaporized.

  He came around the other side of the cabin, beautiful in his tight t-shirt and oh-my-Goddess jeans. His hair
was a bit shorter on the sides and back, but the longer shock of it obscured half his face, making his angular features more menacing.

  I loved him.

  I would always love him.

  A roar sounded inside the wood and everyone paused. Literally, the ruckus paused as the ground shook around us. I saw the shorter trees part to the right as something very large mowed them down on its way through.

  "Arden says we got a monster heading our way," Kyle yelled out.

  "A what?" I yelled back, but I couldn't take my eyes off the creature that emerged from the trees in front of us. Even the remaining Jötunn scattered.

  It was big, standing as tall as the trees around it. It had a massive head, formed by intertwining roots. And set in that head were three glowing eyes that flashed the primary colors. Red, green, blue, and yellow. The bulk of it looked like hacked up trees, like the roots I'd seen in fields after they were cleared. They were pushed together by other vines, especially a very thick vine with thorns as big as my head on it. Two thick tree trunks made up its legs, and it made indentations in the soft ground as it walked.

  I let out a strangled cry as someone grabbed me from the side. Crwys's arms wrapped around me, held me, comforted me, and warmed me. He was hot to the touch and smelled of brimstone and ash. I couldn't remember ever smelling anything sexier. He held me so tight I thought I was going to break and my feet came off the ground.

  "Crwys," I choked out.

  "What?" His voice was muffled where he'd buried his face in my neck.

  "Monster."

  "Oh, right." He let go and stood back, but remained at my side.

  I felt a boost of confidence with him there, a resurgence of energy once again as we faced…whatever the hell that was.

  "It's a Purs!" Tas said as she came up to my left, her gun drawn. I noticed a few bits of plant life moving away from her, and I realized she was holding cold iron.

  Were the Nisse as allergic to cold iron as the Faerie?

  I pointed to the gun. "Will that hurt it?"

  "It might." She gave me a half smile. "Or it will piss it off. What's going on? Why are there Jötunn and a Purs fighting you?"

  "Something about protecting the blood." I shrugged. "I don't know. Bastien and I just got here through a Pathfinder's gate—"

  She grabbed my arm. "A Pathfinder?"

  I blinked. "You know about them?"

  "Where is he?"

  "He's in the cabin."

  Tas turned and fired at the roots barricading the door. They popped and snapped away as the door flow open and Brahms stumbled out. Oh crap…had he been trying to get out all this time?

  His long white-silvery hair fell over his shoulders and back as he blinked at few times and then his jaw dropped. "Who summoned a Purs?"

  "Do you know how to kill it?" Levi said as he sidled up, his gun drawn and picking off the occasional brave plant. Each one he hit with a bullet actually turned black before it melted. I watched him reload another magazine into the gun.

  The Wolves had regrouped and now moved their remaining numbers around the cabin, putting themselves between the forest and us. I recognized Bastien's big red wolf and Jack's black wolf beside him. They had blood on their coats, but appeared okay. Or I hoped so. I didn’t think the Jötunn bled.

  The Purs started moving again, coming right for us. "YOU ATTACKED BLOOOOOOOOOD!" it shouted in a very loud and very deep voice. My eardrums vibrated, and I could have sworn they were bleeding.

  Crwys, Levi and Tas raised their guns to fire. I figured…cold iron. Let's see. But I also summoned a spell of Fire, just in case, and my own Elementals rallied amongst the Wolves.

  "No!" Solomon Dumaine shouted as he and Kyle arrived around the side of the cabin.

  I yelled after him, but he was already sprinting toward the line of Wolves. And to my surprise, he leapt over them.

  "Shit," I muttered as I ran after him, and Bastien broke off ranks and followed. The three of us stopped in the Purs's path. I readied my Fire, with Belenos hovering above me. Crwys joined us as well, his hands ablaze, and Bastien growled.

  "Please, everyone stop now," Solomon said as he held out his hand. He jogged even closer as the Purs neared and shouted, "Wiccé Sidhe mech do'in loch!"

  Those of us behind him glanced at each other. No one knew what he said.

  The Purs stopped in its tracks. It bore down its triple gaze on the very small conjurer, and then to our surprise, one of the trees it used for legs snapped in two. I thought someone had chopped at it and looked around for Coventina. But that wasn't it at all. The vine of thorns snaked down and wrapped itself around the broken tree trunk, encasing it. Then the trunk bent in half where it broke, and it looked like the Purs was going down on one knee!

  "Huh," I said aloud as I dismissed the spell. I watched as that big old tree monster bowed to Solomon. It even lowered its head.

  Solomon spoke something else to it, then made a strange gesture in the air and the thing just…vanished. Went all green and sparkly, and poof.

  The woods grew quiet for a few seconds before the shushing and swishing of rustling leaves filled the space. Walking trees disappeared or went silent and still where they were. Eventually, nothing else moved in the area in front of the cabin but the Wolves and us. I dismissed my Elementals with thanks and gave Solomon a hard look when he turned to face us.

  He shrugged. "That is a very serious look, Miss Hawthorne. Welcome home."

  "What did you just do?" I approached him. In the woods, he looked regal, even in his suit and tie.

  He gave me a weak smile. "As for what I did, I averted a disaster. I don't know who summoned a Purs, but if it'd run loose here, it would have turned everything to stone. That's what they do."

  "You said turn everything to stone?" Crwys said as he approached.

  “That is what they do,” Brahms said as he came closer from the porch.

  "Brahms, this is Crwys Holliard. He's a detective."

  Brahms gave him a courtly bow. "I am Brahms Bounderfoot. I am the Risi King's Chevalier."

  Everyone gave introductions at that point, but I kept my eyes on Crwys, and his locked on mine. Blushing with embarrassment and a pretty large amount of worry, I looked around for Bastien and noticed the Wolves were gone. Kyle stood with Dharma and Ivan by the cabin. Dharma was on the phone. I looked back to Crwys. "You already know about the missing Nissah Rissy king?"

  Crwys rubbed his face before he walked up to me and then thumped me on the back of the head.

  "Ow!" I rubbed the spot.

  He had his finger in my face. "Don't you ever leave me like that again. Got it? I won't be so forgiving next time. And yes. We know about the missing king. We had a visit from his first in command. A mouthy lady named Yolyn."

  "Yolyn?" A base played dun, dun, duuuuun in my head when I looked at Brahms. "Yolyn was the one who attacked you, right?

  “Yes.” Brahms looked at each of them. "Yolyn led the charge against our retinue. She was the one that wounded Satar."

  "Really now…" Crwys said as he narrowed his eyes. “Funny how she failed to mention that.”

  "The King," I piped up. "But you saved him. You put him through a gate to safety right?" I looked at the odd looks on Tas’s, Levi's and Crwys's faces. "What?"

  "Babe…" Crwys put his hand on my shoulder. "There's something at the shop you need to see…"

  ELEVEN

  I stood in front of the wall where my basement used to be and scratched my head. "I got nothing."

  "So"—Kyle stood to my right—"you didn't do this."

  "No."

  Ivan leaned against said wall on my left. "You're sure it wasn't something…subliminal?"

  I shifted my gaze from the wall to his adorable face. "Yes."

  Dharma stepped up with three mugs of tea. Ivan took one, then me, then Kyle. "I think you all should start looking at another possibility?"

  We pinned her with our stares. "What?" Ivan said.

  "That maybe the King did it
himself?"

  Brahms, who'd been standing off to my right with a strange, distant look on his face, blinked abruptly and stepped forward. "I believe the Water Witch is right."

  My gaze shifted to him. I arched my brow at him when he looked at me.

  "As the Chevalier, I was raised since birth to be attuned with the King. I know his mannerisms, habits, and I can taste his magical signature."

  Kyle blinked. "Taste?"

  "Magic has a sense to it. Sometimes it's a smell, and other times it's a taste, or even a noise."

  I could relate to the sensory thing. In the beginning when I was infected with Arcane, it smelled like rotting chicken and looked like squirming red worms. Then later, as it fused itself to me, the worms turned into sparkles, all red and flash, and the smell faded away. Now it was something more akin to baked cinnamon. "So you sense Satar's magic?"

  "Yes. And I can see it. It's covering this wall. It could be possible the King's protecting himself."

  "So leaving him here wasn't a bad idea?" Arden said on approach. She'd been talking with Crwys, Tas and Levi in my office. About what? Who knew? And who cared? I wanted my basement back. It took a lot of power and a lot of long nights to carve that basement out of…well…it's hard to explain.

  "I don't think it would have mattered where you left him," Kyle said. "He would have figured out a way to protect himself."

  "If he sensed Yolyn nearby, it is possible he did this in order to hide himself," Brahms said.

  "Can you break it?" Kyle said. "Contact him?"

  "I've tried. Nothing."

  I picked up on something there. "But he's alive."

  "I don't know. I think so."

  Crwys, Tas and Levi walked up at that moment. "Then the Quest really is a lie," Crwys said.

  "Or it's a false positive," Tas said. When everyone, including me, stared at her, she smiled. "I can see where old magics could have been tripped. But what makes even that impossible is the timeline, given what Brahms has told us."