He groaned and helped me to my feet slowly.
“She fucking rolled him!” Bokaj shouted.
“She what?” Jaken hollered. He was a good sixty feet away from us, kneeling over Muu’s prone form, and Zhavron stood guard behind him with his longsword drawn and a dirk in his left hand.
“She cast some kind of spell on him that made him do some shit he wouldn’t normally do. She told me about it. I think she called it Bend Will?” He threw an arrow that he had had in hand. “Can make people do some nasty shit.”
“Dude, do you remember what happened?” James asked. He was limping slightly.
I thought for a moment. “I remember her saying… the people coming at us were assassins. They were going to kill us? That’s all.”
“Nothing else?” Yohsuke tested. “You don’t remember coming at me with your axe? Setting Kayda free and telling her to ‘get us?’ Casting Lightning Bolt at Muu?”
“Why would I ever do any of that?!” I challenged him. “You guys are my fucking family! I would never hurt any of you. Where’s Kayda?”
I heard a shuffle from behind me and turned to see my familiar. Her chest feathers were burned, and I could feel her pain now that I was aware of her presence.
What the hell had happened? “You all okay?”
“Check on the fucking bird,” Yoh growled as he shoved me roughly toward her. “We can chat after.”
“Baby, what happened?” I rushed over to her and cast Regrowth. I could put my own humiliation and shame aside for the moment. The others were okay for now, I think, but she needed me.
She opened our link wide and showed me as best she could from where she had come in. The series of images, sounds, and Kayda’s emotions played in my mind.
I saw myself from her eyes, emotionless and spoke in a monotone, “Kayda, get them.”
Me walking toward Yohsuke and James with Storm Caller in hand. Muu jumping in front of me, then flying away after a shock of electricity.
Father? Father sick? I heard her cry. She knew I would never hurt my friends. She tried desperately to plead with me, but it was like our connection had been gone.
Even though she knew I wasn't myself, she didn’t want to hurt me. She wouldn’t, but just because she wouldn’t hurt me didn’t mean that she didn’t want to help my friends.
Zhavron shouted for me to snap out of it. James hit me hard enough to drive me to a knee, then tried to shake me out of it. I used his distraction to drive my diamond-like claws into the flesh above his knee and throw him away from me. Jaken cast a heal at him, and the vision shifted to a view from above us.
Kayda watched in horror as I threw my weapon as hard as I could at Jaken, it traveled so fast and knocked him back near Muu, who was starting to stand. She watched me raise my hand toward them, and she dove.
As the pain and confusion cleared my mind, I hugged her.
I looked at my friends, my brothers, and I tried to bring the words racing through my mind to bare. I wanted to shout that I hadn’t been myself. That it wasn’t me in control, but they didn’t seem to care right now.
“I’m sorry,” I groaned to them. Then to Kayda, I whispered, “I’m so sorry. That wasn’t me. Kayda, I’m so sorry.”
Better now? Not mad? She sent me images of me smiling and happy with my friends.
“No, baby.” I cast Regrowth on her again. “I’m not mad. I’m all better.” I looked at my friends. “Where is she?!”
“Don’t you fucking yell at us,” Muu groaned.
“She’s gone, man.” Bokaj sighed. “Sometime during the fighting, she mounted up and split. I could try and track her down, but conveniently enough, her spectral mount doesn’t leave tracks.”
“Fuck!” I yelled as loudly as I could. The red that signaled the beginnings of my curse began to ring my vision, and I had to focus on my breathing to keep from transforming.
She hurt my friends, and she used me to do it. I wanted blood. I would make what I did to Asshole look like a children’s cartoon when I got my claws on her.
As I seethed in impotent rage and despair, the others were moving.
“Bokaj.” Yohsuke waved him over to the rest of party, all of them having gathered around Muu who was still sitting on the ground.
I stayed near Kayda’s side as they spoke for a few minutes quietly. It was hard to resist the urge to walk over, but after I had been used as a pawn like that—I couldn’t blame them for being distrustful of me right now.
Finally, Zhavron came over and shooed me over to the group, staying with Kayda.
“Look,” I began, “I don’t know what the hell happened, but I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten affected that easy, man. I fucked up. If you’re mad, I get it. I could have killed you all.” I looked straight at Muu. “Fuck, I almost did kill you.”
“Would you shut up, you sappy bitch?” Yohsuke grinned. “We believe you. Bokaj explained it all to us. Even proved it with his charm spell. Did you know that Muu–”
“OKAY!” Muu shouted. “Okay. He gets it. Got it? Cool. Shut the fuck up there, loose lips. Shit.”
I wanted to know, but I could respect his privacy for now. Maybe I could tempt him with another item later? For now, I would take solace in my frie– family being okay.
We all laughed a little bit. I cast Mass Regrowth on everyone. It felt better.
“Get that damn bird over here.” Muu grunted as he stood. “I got some shit to say.”
I cocked my head but sent a mental call to her as requested. She hopped over happily enough. I guess that Zhavron had been feeding her bits of meat because she was content now.
Muu pushed through the others the stand in front of her, and she looked at him oddly.
“Zeke, you translate,” Muu ordered.
“She speaks English, asshat.” I rolled my eyes.
“Translate for her.” He flipped me the bird and then went back to looking at my familiar. “You remember what you did?”
She ruffled her feathers and popped her head down, then back up in a nod.
“Yeah, well so do I.” He stepped forward and threw his arms around her in a hug. “You saved me.”
Uncle Goblin. She looked at me and cocked her head to the right. Safe? Better? She sent me images that she had shared through my memories. Seeing him hit so hard by the burden of those deaths.
“She wants to know if her Uncle Goblin is better now,” I translated. He looked at me oddly, so I explained. “She sees my memories and mind. We share them every time she comes out of the collar. She knew you were hurting. Hell, she probably knew before I did.”
He looked her fully in the face. “I’m okay now, tweetie. Thank you.”
She pressed her forehead to the side of his face lovingly.
“Can’t believe you let her call you Goblin.” Yohsuke laughed.
“She can call me sprinklenuts for all I care,” Muu retorted. “She saved me from having to go home to a shitty bed and back to work. I may not like birds, but she’s cool by me now.”
“Hey!” I blurted. “Don’t teach her that!”
Kayda looked to me, and she shared an image of the top of Muu’s head and the word, Sprinkled..uts?
“You motherfuckers!” I groaned. “No, baby. He’s Uncle Goblin. You can only call him that.”
Why? she chirruped curiously as she looked to the rest of the smiling people around us.
“Because it’s weird and not his name, love,” I stated firmly. I looked to the others. “We cool?”
“Yeah, man,” James said, “but if you ever do some Bourne shit like that again, I won’t go easy on you.”
I nodded and looked to Jaken who shrugged before responding, “You know me, man. I can’t do with the whole grudge shit on family. You know I got your back. That wasn’t you.”
Muu just flipped me off playfully and patted me on the shoulder. “We’re good.”
Yohsuke pulled me off to the side. “Look, man, I’m sorry about thinking you would ever do some shit like that
on your own.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it.” I looked at him, his features drawn tight. “If I had to take a wild guess—you were the one who brought me down, right?”
Now, if I had to pick anyone to bring me down, it was Yoh. Dude knew me better than almost anyone, and he was one of the better gamers I had ever known in my life. It would really chafe my ass if it was someone else.
“No.” Yohsuke shook his head. “Zhavron clobbered you over the head before I could get to you. Which saved me from having to do something I’m sure I would probably hate myself for.”
Well. Here comes the fucking baby powder. Goddamnit.
“Look, Yoh.” I grabbed his shoulder and looked him in the eye. “I know you were thinking about going home.” He eyed me a little more seriously. “Don’t you fucking look at me like that, dick. I know you miss your wife. Wanting to be sure the party was cool. I understand. I’m not mad, and I don’t blame you.”
“Good. Because I can’t do that until I make sure that traitorous bitch pays for almost costing me my brother.”
I nodded. “Let’s see what we can find on those guards. Maybe they have orders.”
We took the time to relieve the singed dead of their belongings. We found a few gold between them, some travel rations, and water. There was a wanted photo of Pharazulla, an accurate drawing of her with a reward of one thousand gold for her return alive for crimes against the Governess of Lindyburg smoldering in a pocket that we found.
I reached out and willed Storm Caller to return to my hand; the bolt of lightning landed in my palm, and I put the weapon away. It was time for us to continue moving toward our objective.
We could try to find that wanted criminal when we were at full strength. Maybe between generals, but not right now. My revenge could wait. We would continue moving forward and try to get ready for the Hells and getting Balmur back. She would get hers.
Chapter Eight
After traveling for a couple more days at a decent pace, snow began to fall in truth. The wind and the plains gave way to snow banks and freezing sleet, and as the third day in this environment began to wind down, I could see the others beginning to slow down.
Our cold weather gear kept us warm for the most part. Those of us with reptilian blood were more affected. If this kept up, I was going to have to create… Fuck.
“Stop!” I shouted. “Let’s camp here for the night guys.”
“What are you talking about, man?” Jaken asked. “We still have at least two more hours of bright day. We can easily make camp then.”
“Look at Muu and James!” Both figures looked like they were going to fall out of their saddles. They seemed stiff and lethargic—as if they were under the effects of some kind of slow spell. “We need to set them to rights before we can even think of moving on.”
Jaken smacked his forehead with his palm. “I should’ve thought about that.”
“We all should have,” Bokaj grunted at us.
We stopped moving and began to clear the snow out of the way, so our presence wouldn’t melt the snow and ruin things. We got a fire going, and I pulled out two of the un-enchanted rings and began to engrave them with a symbol of a hearth, a blanket, and the outline of the sun in quick succession.
I focused my intent on a warm, sunny day, the heat of a warm hearth, and the toasty feeling of spending a cold night under a thick blanket. With those thoughts firmly in place, I fed mana into the items.
Two hundred mana total later, I had two new and useful items.
Ring of Delightful Warmth
Wearer no longer feels the bite of the cold.
With this ring, it feels as if the wearer is near a warm fire. It keeps you comfy, but a blizzard would be enough to freeze you solid—so be careful!
Ring created by Journeyman Jeweler Similian and enchanted by Journeyman Enchanter Zekiel Erebos.
I walked over to the two of our cold-blooded friends and slipped one of them on to James’ finger. The effect was immediate. James looked around, then down at the ring and then smiled.
“Thanks, man.” He bumped my fist with his in gratitude.
I turned to Muu, who sat on the ground that we had just cleared and knelt in front of him.
“Here you go, bud.” I placed the ring on his left hand’s index finger, and as I prepared to stand, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Muu looking at me sadly.
“If that’s how you’re gonna propose to me,” he smiled softly, “my answer is no. I’m a classy broad, and I deserve to be dazzled. You gotta at least buy me dinner first.” He then winked at me, then whispered, “I expect fireworks.”
I laughed hard enough that I fell on my ass and just stayed there laughing for a minute.
“You love me, bitch,” Muu teased as he stood and began to move about the camp, seeing where he could help.
“Sorry, guys,” I looked at the two of them. “I thought that you might be able to get through the cold because of not being truly fully reptilian. I thought that the coats would be enough. My bad.”
Muu shrugged, and James waved it away. “I thought so too, but it’s not just on you man. All together on this shit.”
Just to check our route, I held my hand up. The last few days, the heat had risen in intensity the further we traveled north. Now, it was northwest of our position, and my hand felt like I had thrown it on to a hot skillet. I hissed in pain and pulled my hand close.
“I have good news, guys,” I spoke out loud. “I think we’re close to where we need to go, but getting there at night may not be a good idea.”
“Good!” James groaned as he shook his joints loose. “Fuck this place.”
Muu grinned and said, “I wonder what we’re looking for!”
“If you got time to wonder about meaningless things like that.” Zhavron popped up from behind him as if from nowhere. “You’ve got time to practice your technique.”
“AHHH!” Muu shrieked in surprise. “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
“Get to it, two hundred thrusts,” Zhavron ordered mercilessly. “Zeke, you too. Get over here and do two hundred chops.”
I groaned. Since my being used as a distraction had almost killed everyone, part of showing my sincerity in being sorry was training alongside Muu. And Zhavron was a cruel taskmaster.
“We stop early, we train harder,” Zhavron growled. “And no using that weapon lightening ability either. If you do, you do twice as many.”
Feather Axe allowed me to lighten the weight of my axe so that it weighed next to nothing. I made the stupid mistake of doing it the day previously. I had ended up having to run and do every maneuver more than two hundred times. I was still sore from it.
I brought Storm Caller to my hands and began my training. I focused on precision and continual motion rather than going quickly.
Remembering what my drill instructors used to tell me, “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Perfect practice makes perfect action.”
All the bastard needed was Smokey Bear, and he’d remind me of some of my own drill instructors. I shivered at the thought.
“So,” I began as I continued my repetitions, “I’m fairly certain this is a group we’re going up against. These guys want to move in on the Fire Prime’s domain for some reason, and if they think they can handle moving in on a primal force of nature like that—they have to have some serious magic in their corner.”
“You said that shit, man.” Yohsuke waved it away. “We haven’t had to deal with casters before—other than you—so we may be walking into some shit here.”
“That’s why I said something,” I shot back. “We need to prepare.”
Zhavron nodded his head. “You do.” He stepped up beside me. “Too low. Bring your axe up two inches. You’re leaving yourself dangerously open to attack. What you need is a Mage killer.”
Jaken looked over at him from where he was setting up a tent. “A what?”
“Mage killer,” Zhavron reiterated. He smacked Muu when his shield arm
got lazy. “A Fighter designed specifically to combat Mages.”
Bokaj sidled closer. “Go on.”
“They typically get into close range and make it harder for them to cast their spells. They have skills and abilities that allow them to null magic of those they attack.” Zhavron closed his eyes and concentrated. “They are rare, but it isn’t impossible to learn how to do it.”
Zhavron was instantly next to me and swung his meaty fist into my rib cage on my right side. As I coughed and fell to a knee, he grabbed my shoulder. “What did I tell you about leaving an opening?”
“Fucking asshole,” I growled.
“You’re paying me for this.” He grinned, his tusks showed a little more. “Do not forget that.”
“Oh, I won’t.” I groaned and took to my feet again. “You know where we can find someone to teach one of us?”
“Not up north.” He shrugged. “Magic is much more prevalent up here because of the High Elves and their experiments. Those who excel at combating magic are run out of town or worse. Though, one of you may be more apt for it already.”
James raised his hand. “I take it that means me?”
“Quite possibly.” Zhavron smiled. “You can use your ki in some pretty interesting ways. It wouldn’t be too hard to see you using it to move through a Mage’s shields or get out of spell effect ranges quickly. It just takes practice from what I understand.”
Zhavron looked at me, then James. “Cast Snare on James.”
I flinched, then did as I was told. Roots and vines with thorns grew beneath James’s legs and latched on to him. He grunted in pain and looked to Zhavron.
“Get out,” The Orc said simply with a gesture.
James began to grab at the vines holding him, and his arms became stuck. “Fuck!”
“You aren’t using your greatest weapon, James,” Zhavron chided.
“Yeah, but if I use the Bladed Limb ability I have, it takes a lot of my ki and doesn’t last that long,” James grunted with the vines moving further up.
I ended the spell, and he fell to his ass.
Zhavron hit me in the ribs again. “You will listen to my commands, and you will only do as I say. I did not tell you to end your spell. James,” he looked over at James, “stand and think of what you can do. Zekiel, cast it again.”
Into the Dragon's Den (Axe Druid Book 2) Page 23