He felt ten more people as he got within his normal range, and slowed further. He wished he could see, but it was pitch dark, the moon was behind the clouds, and he could only make out a few small patches of stars.
Cynthia said softly, in his mind, “There are eleven people, a woman facing off against ten men. The men have shields of some kind.”
After he got over the shock that she could talk in his mind, he tried to figure out what that meant, and completely failed. By now though, he was backed by forty-three zombies, plus Cynthia who was probably powerful enough now to tear up those other forty-three without getting out of breath.
The woman growled, “Leave me be, I didn’t do anything.”
One of the men said, “You’re a witch, that’s enough.”
His mind… skipped. Witch?
He frowned, “Excuse me, a witch?” his curiosity overcoming his wariness. He hadn’t met anyone else that could do… extra things like he could do.
The woman said in a bleak voice, “I’m no witch, I’m a sorceress. It be the power of Earth after the realms were reunited, I bid you again to leave in peace.”
Suddenly the area lit up, and he saw he was only about fifteen paces behind the woman, the men were farther way. What had him fascinated, was the light source, a ball of fire sitting in the woman’s palm.
He cleared his throat, “That’s impressive”
One of the men barked, “Who do you think you are to involve yourself here, this is none of your fucking business.”
He shook his head as his zombies fanned out and surrounded the men. Now that he could see, they had some kind of armor on, along with shields and swords. The swords and shields were a darker color than the armor, and it took him a moment to recognize they were made of iron, not steel. That must be… incredibly heavy.
More importantly though, the fascinating woman with the fire had long light blonde hair, a curvy waist, and a nice bubble ass. She was wearing a blue sundress with white designs on it, and a pair of sandals with three inch heels. How the hell did she run in those things?
He shrugged, “I live here, you’re in my yard, so it’s my business. Besides, I don’t see any pointed hats,” he quipped.
The woman turned her head for a moment and looked at him. He could make out her deep blue eyes, and beautiful heart shaped face. She didn’t look for long, but it was long enough to know she was only about twenty-two, give or take a year, and also very nervous.
He added, “Unless she’s been going around killing people, you have no business here. I’d be happy to lend my protection, and those of my men, to the young lady.”
She muttered, “Cassie. Cassie Erwin. And why would you care, isn’t the fireball freaking you out?”
He shrugged, “Nope, I’m fairly odd myself, and all my men, and Cynthia here share my point of view on the matter. So what do you say guys, go home, or… face the fearsome witch and the strange guy with forty-four henchmen.”
He felt like a bit of a geek, but he’d been saving that line. Henchmen.
The field was kind of tense, but he felt… relaxed and in control. Unless she threw that fire at him, and he didn’t think she would, matters were well in hand. He walked up slowly and deliberately so as not to startle Cassie, and stood next to her. Cynthia moved up as well, and stood on the other side. Cassie tensed for a moment, but when she saw all of our attention was on the men playing knights, she relaxed slightly.
It had been a gamble; she could have freaked. It would have been a shame to drain her if she’d set him on fire, but he’d been fairly sure…
One of them growled, “We have armor, swords, and iron shields against her magic.”
He frowned, “Is that true, does iron block your magic?”
She snickered, “Yes, but the fire will still make a nice splash.”
He shrugged at the guy who spoke, “We have over four times your number, all carrying machetes, bows, and baseball bats. You might stab one or two, but I guarantee that won’t be much compensation to your corpses.”
There was a tense silence, and he sighed, “Really guys, either go or attack. I have this thing about self-defense, but I want to get back to sleep sometime tonight.”
Cassie turned to him with a shocked look, and he just winked.
“We’ll be back, we won’t suffer a witch to live, or those that help her.”
Cassie stiffened, but he just said, “Good, make sure you bring all the dumb asses at once, the world will be a better place without you, and I don’t like long drawn out feuds.”
Cassie giggled in disbelief, but the men turned and left.
She asked, “Are you crazy?”
He shook his head, “Quite possibly. I’ve certainly had my own doubts Cassie. You’re welcome to stay, but would you do me a favor. I don’t mean to insult you, but we have over fifty people in there to protect. Can I touch you, I’ll be able to read your intentions?”
Actually it was much more than that, but he didn’t think she’d agree to him sucking out her whole life story. He’d discovered it on accident, because most of the women avoided him. But one of the new families, the husband had shaken his hand. He realized that he got his targets memory by taking their life force from a distance a while back, but if he touched them, he could read their life force without taking it from their body at all. He felt a little guilty about the half-truth, but if this woman was really a… sorceress, she could do a lot of damage before he took her down.
She sighed, “I’ve never heard of that, where do you have touch me.”
He frowned and joked, “The hand will do, but only because you wouldn’t believe me if I named a more fun place.”
She snorted in humor, rolling her eyes, but smiling when she held out her hand. He shook it and flashed on her life.
She was… far from a good girl, but she wasn’t evil or a killer. She’d had to defend her life from those assholes twice now, but he didn’t count self-defense. After all, if he did, he’d be a killer too.
He nodded, “You’re more than welcome to stay if you wish, we could use another talented person around here. I’m sure you can take care of yourself, but it doesn’t hurt to have someone at your back.”
She sighed, and looked him up and down, “And what will it cost me?” she asked, in a loaded tone.
He snorted, “I wouldn’t say no if you offered, I’m sure you know your very attractive, but I’m not like that either. You just have to contribute. If you don’t want to do so with your magic there’s plenty to be done. Teaching, babysitting, farming, thinking up ways to improve the place, pumping water into our new cistern on the roof, hell, whatever interests you. In short, as long as you don’t sit on your ass all day, you’re golden and get three meals, a mattress, and safety.”
She asked skeptically, “Are you really running a women’s shelter?”
“Sort of, but not really. We started out with over twenty women that were being held by a rape gang at Walmart, we found this place after going for their kids. Since then we’ve added a lot of families, and security. All these men around you are kind of… zombies. That’s why your fire didn’t freak me out, because I kill murdering and raping assholes and then put them to work. One of the new people said I was a necromancer, but I don’t know if that’s true, it’s just a label.”
She gaped at his little speech, but recovered quickly, “Alright, thanks. I’ll try it. If these people can live with zombies, I suppose they might not try to burn me at the stake.”
He shook his head, “They’d surely regret trying. I don’t allow violence, although I haven’t had to kick anyone out yet. Only murderers and rapists get the death penalty around here. I decided thieves and violent personalities could simply be… banished.”
He made a face, “I hate using that word, because I know this isn’t a kingdom, but we are a community.”
He almost jumped when she took his arm, as they started walking back. He wasn’t surprised when Cynthia did the same on the other side, and all the z
ombie men got back to guard duty. He felt a little guilty, as he was getting a running monologue from her mind, trying to decide what she should do. She was also considering hitting on him, simply because she was randy after the adrenaline rush, and he believed it also had to be partly about saving her even if she wasn’t thinking that, and her running for her life the last few weeks. He knew he was over ten years older than she was, and not really all that handsome. He was well endowed, and knew how to use it, but very few women went far enough with him to find that out.
Yet, he supposed he did rescue the maiden. Who was he to turn down such a reward?
Either way, he’d let her settle down tonight, he was sure he could get some if he played on the emotional high of tonight, but he really wasn’t that much of an asshole. At least he didn’t think he was. He wasn’t lying earlier, he sure as hell wouldn’t say no if she’d asked him.
The woman had power, and she was kind of hot. But he’d see how she felt later, for tonight, he just got her a place to sleep, in the room with the other single women without kids, and took Cynthia back to their room. They got naked, back on their mattress, and eventually even back to sleep. One of these days they’d have to get bedframes…
Chapter 11 – Kurien
Kurien wasn’t happy. Mostly because Arielle wasn’t. They knew a lot more now, than when they’d left their forest, and very little of it was good, most of it much worse than they’d expected. At first he’d thought Arielle was too young to go with them for silly reasons, now he worried she would break under it. She had a gentle soul, and the death and cruelties they had witnessed, plus the reports they’d gotten on the new bearer’s progress, who apparently was named Katie, just added to it.
He wasn’t thrilled about much of it either, but he was a bit more pragmatic about it. During their travels, they’d seen a lot of gangs of looters, cruelty, rape, murder, and destruction. There was a balance though, they’d also seen people join together, and they’d passed a number of communities that had pulled together for mutual defense, planting new fields for the future, and acts of kindness.
In short, they’d witnessed both the best and worst humanity had to offer.
They’d known enough to return now for a week based on their original mission, Katie was on her way and moving in their direction, and they knew plenty now about what had happened. They even knew why Merlin had returned them to this plane, when the world wasn’t ready. It had been a desperate attempt to save it from an invasion from another world, and while that had succeeded it also left them in a difficult spot, which was hard to wrap his head around. Still, they were asked to continue on by the council instead of returning, and link up with Katie to offer their support.
He was also a little frustrated personally, and felt selfish for feeling so. The more Arielle saw of their original world, the more she closed off and her countenance turned grim. He hadn’t seen her smile in days, yet every day he felt more attracted to her. He thought it was ironic that he had worried about her chasing him, and here he was now mooning after her instead. He should have taken Bria’s advice on their second day, it seemed to him it would be in bad taste to approach her romantically now, when she was so obviously struggling with things.
What made it harder was they continued to share a tent, and he continued to comfort her when she cried at night, not very romantic, and utterly frustrating when he held her light supple body in his arms. He smiled a little bitterly as they came around the bend on the stone road, and saw more smoke rising in the distance. Humans really liked burning things it seemed.
And as ridiculous as it was, he was angry at the whole damn race for upsetting Arielle.
Arielle pulled up her reigns and sighed in sadness, and he stopped next to her. Bria was… off hunting, she needed to transform and eat at least once a week. She’d gotten unusually short tempered this morning and flew off. Dragons didn’t like empty stomachs.
Arielle sighed again and said plaintively, “Can’t we do anything? I think it would help if we could do something. I just… feel so helpless.”
He frowned, “Like what?”
Arielle looked at him strangely, as if he were dense, “Katie has been cleansing farms every third day, and telling folks where to go to help, and have food in the winter. Creating more communities like the ones we passed. With our power, we could be doing the same. I know the goddess could cleanse the land through me, and you could…”
He shook his head, “Our mission was to…”
Arielle interrupted him in return and her voice was both passionate and persuasive, “Our original mission is over. Our new mission is to join and assist Katie as an ally, do we really have to wait to join her before we start assisting her people? I grow tired of watching them kill each other for scraps that will soon run out. We can’t hide from the humans forever because we are back on this world for good. Wouldn’t it be better if it were known we assisted, rather than watched them starve and struggle their first few years?”
He knew she was right, but it would also be a huge risk. The humans could decide they were demons, or hell, maybe they’d think they were the aliens. A human showing up with magic to another human was one thing, two completely new races they thought of as nothing but legend would… the truth was he just didn’t want to risk Arielle. Once he realized that, he knew he’d have to, or she’d never forgive him. Still, it wasn’t up to him to dictate that policy, only lead within the orders given.
“Can you speak to Trielle?” he asked, “Your idea has merit, but also dangers. The humans could easily turn on us, they’re scared. Fear can make people do foolish things. Let’s make sure the council agrees with your interpretation of orders.”
She frowned, but nodded reluctantly, “Okay.”
He waited while she did that, she’d need to use her magic and commune with Trielle through their goddess. In the meantime, he tried to make out some clue what the smoke was about. It was past the next rise however and he couldn’t see. He could get the eagle to pass simple messages, like human, or even hunting human, or in this case, fire. He couldn’t get a whole lot of details though, as the bird’s mind just wasn’t capable of complicated thought.
He felt the horses freeze in fear, and sent out soothing magic to calm them down. The source of their fear was obvious, when the house sized silver dragon landed in the road fifty feet away.
Bria was beautiful in that form as well. Her silver scales gleamed in the sun almost blindingly, and the yellow orbs of her eyes looked like a firestorm. Her snout was elongated, and her neck alone was twice his height. Her body was thin and sleek, like a reptile, but curvy along the sides like a graceful animal, such as a hunting cat. He’d guess she was close to a hundred feet long including the tail, twenty feet wide, with four large claws the size of the metal boxes abandoned on this strange road. Her wingspan was equal to her length, making them about ninety feet long on each side. She was… majestic. Of course, he didn’t want her to know that, so instead of gaping, he acted almost bored about it.
Dragons were arrogant enough after all.
He idly wondered what it would be like to fly with her, but no dragon would allow an elf or human on his or her back. She shimmered, shrunk, and changed into her human form. She was beautiful in that form as well. Sexy, and alluring, and he didn’t turn his eyes away as she walked toward the horses completely unclad. She looked at him and rolled her eyes but had a smirk on her face as she walked gracefully, her hips swaying seductively. Nudity didn’t faze dragons at all, and of course, they loved flattering attention.
Still, he didn’t turn his head as she walked past either, affording her some small bit of privacy as she got to her horse and got dressed.
“Much better, I found some nice deer.” she said in a soft voice.
He knew that was as close to an apology as he’d get, for her short temper earlier.
“Glad to hear it, and it’s always a pleasure to see you that way.”
She laughed and asked archly, “As a drag
on, or naked?”
He replied fervently, in all seriousness, “Yes.”
He turned and saw her actually blush, well that was interesting. Dragon and Elf romances weren’t unknown, but they were rare, because they never resulted in children. Those couples weren’t exactly ostracized, but it was hard enough for dragons and Elves to reproduce that it wasn’t very common. Of course, short affairs and curiosity in the young was an entirely different matter.
He’d have been tempted to explore that response, if it wasn’t for the ash-blonde beauty beside him, that had painfully wormed her way into his heart the last week and more.
“The fire?”
She shook her head and looked at him innocently, “Wasn’t me.”
He snorted.
She sighed, “Just some human buildings in the next town. So far it hasn’t reached the forest, hopefully it will just burn out.”
He nodded, “If Arielle gets a positive answer from the council about… helping the humans. Could you put it out?”
She looked surprised for a moment, but nodded.
He’d expected as much; dragons could manipulate the raw elements as easily as an elf could bloom a flower.
She asked, “Do you think they will?”
He shrugged, “I don’t know. My grandmother would’ve said no. My mother might say yes. Back when we were here the first time, we went our own way, and dealt with humans only when absolutely necessary. I know we’ve had quite a few conversations about that, maybe if they understood us, knew us, it wouldn’t have gotten so bad. On the other hand, they destroy each other all the time so… there are risks and rewards to both ways I think, so we’ll see.”
Bria nodded and said thoughtfully, “I wouldn’t be opposed to it, but if they threaten us I won’t show mercy either.”
Emergence: Return of Magic book 1 Page 7