Most of the fake Jezes and Osmunds also fought back to back. Surprisingly, when their blades hit the snakes, the creatures hissed in pain. Jez hadn’t realized she could do that. A good illusionist could create a tactile illusion, making sensations that felt just as real as if they were actually being experienced. Sharim had done that to him once, and he winced at the memory. The blades did no real harm though, and even an illusionist of Lina’s caliber could only maintain so many illusions at once.
“We need to go on the offensive,” Osmund said.
“Hold them off me,” Jez said. “I have an idea, but I need a few seconds.”
Osmund slashed at one before spinning around so he was facing the same direction as Jez. He threw one hand forward and a blast of wind shot out driving the snake men back. Then, he turned just in time to catch a snake man who nearly sank its teeth into his arm.
The momentary reprieve was all Jez needed. The thick humidity in the air had made Jez feel like he was being suffocated ever since he entered into the jungle, but he used that now as he drew the moisture out of the air. Water swirled around him in a whirlwind. One of the snakes got close, but a miniature geyser shot out from the ground at Jez’s feet and struck it in the face so hard it fell to the ground, unconscious.
Jez spread his arms and the whirlwind grew wider, knocking out snake men as it slammed into them. Illusions flickered as the water touched them, and the real Lina cried out and reappeared. She glared at him, completely soaked, but Jez stayed focused on his working. The water spread out thirty feet before splashing to the ground. Jez fell to his knees, breathing heavily. The world was spinning before him. The air was so dry, it burned his throat, but it didn’t take long for humidity to return. Galine went to him and shook himself in the same way a dog might. Finally, Jez was able to stand.
“That was unpleasant,” Galine said. “Cleverly done, but unpleasant.”
“Did I get them all?”
“You almost got me too.”
“Sorry,” Jez said as he managed to sit up. “I don’t know you as well as the others. You were harder to recognize.”
Galine looked over the clearing of fallen snake men. “Given the circumstances, I won’t hold it against you.”
“But you recognized me,” Lina said as she wiped her forehead to stop water from dripping into her eyes.
Jez managed a smile. “Well yes, but it would’ve taken more power to exclude you. I wasn’t sure I’d have enough to make the working big enough. You wouldn’t have wanted me to fail, would you?”
She glared but didn’t say anything. Galine cleared his throat, and Jez looked at him.
“Come, let’s see to them before they wake up.”
Osmund had a rope in his pack, and they cut it into pieces and used it to tie the snake people’s arms, as well as the legs of those who had them. As Jez tied the last one, he took a deep breath and drew back so fast he almost tripped over his legs.
“What is it?” Galine asked.
“These things smell like sulfur. I think they’ve been possessed.”
CHAPTER 23
They lined up the snake men, and Jez walked up to the largest one. Now that he knew to look for it, he caught the faint smell of sulfur hanging about the creature. He put his hand on the snake man’s forehead and closed his eyes. A chill ran through him, and his awareness brushed against something wrong, something that didn’t belong in this world.
He concentrated, but he couldn’t tell what type of demon it was. He splayed his fingers and touched the snake man’s forehead. As he dragged his hand down to the creature’s heart, he pushed power through his fingertips. The snake man stiffened, and its scales emitted a soft blue light. It opened its eyes, but rather than the slitted eyes of a snake, they looked like sapphires shimmering under the light of the noonday sun. The snake man arched its back and let out a cry that was neither human nor snake. Black smoke billowed from its mouth and began to take shape. Before it could congeal, however, Jez waved a hand and the smoke scattered as the demon was banished back to the abyss.
The snake man took in a sharp breath but closed his eyes again. Rather than moving on to the next one, Jez examined him more closely. He ran his hand over the head and torso of the creature, searching with every sense he had.
“What is it?” Osmund asked.
“There’s something else wrong with him,” Jez said. “Give me a minute.” It was another few seconds before he found it. He opened his eyes and pulled his hand back. “There’s a darkness inside of him that doesn’t feel natural.”
“What do you mean ‘darkness’?” Galine asked.
“I’m not sure.” He met Galine’s eyes. “This balance you mentioned. It’s a working of beast magic, isn’t it?”
Galine shook his head. “Not exactly. There’s a working in our minds that helps make the first step, but everything after that comes from us alone.”
Jez nodded. “What would happen if that working were corrupted?”
“What would happen if you removed the roots from a tree? Everything built atop the working would eventually collapse.”
“Something similar to beast mind?”
“Maybe.”
Jez looked at the unconscious snake man. “I think that’s what happened to them.”
“No, impossible. Even if the working failed altogether, it would take time for something like this to happen. Maybe if it was just one, I could believe it, but practically everyone who went mad did so at the same time.”
“They had help,” Jez said. “It’s not easy for a demon to inhabit mortals and control them, but a person transformed by beast magic with the foundation of their minds crumbling? It might not be enough for them to be controlled right away...”
He let the words hang and Galine inclined his head. “They wouldn’t really need to be controlled. If the demon drove back the conscious mind, they would revert to something...” he motioned to the snake men. “Like that. Can you free the rest of them?”
“I think so,” Jez said as he moved on to the next one.
The second didn’t take as long as the first, and the third was even faster, but it still wasn’t quick enough. He was only three quarters of the way through before they started to awaken. Osmund threw himself at the last one while Galine held down two with his massive paws. They struggled to rise as Jez pulled the demons out and dispersed them.
The last one screamed as Jez drew out its demon. By then, the rest of the snake men were up and looking at each other, trying to figure out what was happening. Galine spoke to them quietly while Osmund and Lina stood over Jez as he leaned against a tree to rest. After a few seconds, one of the snake men, close enough to human to have arms and legs, approached them. Osmund’s hand began to glow slightly, flame flickering around his fingers. Jez knew he was ready to attack, but the snake man ignored him and focused on Jez. He had a scar across the left side of his face. It had cut through his eye and left it completely white.
“I am Ravous.” His voice was gravelly, and he drew out the ‘s’ sound. He bowed deeply to Jez. “Thank you.”
“Please don’t do that. I’m Jez. Can you tell me what happened?”
Ravous shook his head. “We don’t know. All any of us can remember is going to sleep. After that, there are flashes of anger.” He looked at the fallen snake men, the ones that Galine had taken down in the fight. None of them were moving. He looked at the half lion. Galine’s shoulders slumped, and he kept his head down. He didn’t look up when Ravous spoke.
“Thank you as well, Galine. I would not have wanted to live that way. Neither would they.”
Galine shook his head and spoke softly. “You can’t speak for the dead.”
“It was like when the madness came upon us, before we had found balance. No one would choose to live that way.”
“If it was the madness, it could’ve been cured.”
“It wasn’t the madness,” Jez said. “It might’ve been like the madness, but it was something different.”
Galine snarled at him. “What do you know about the madness?”
“I know it’s not caused by demons.” Jez cocked his head. “Okay, I don’t actually know that. Is it?”
“It’s the beast mind and the human mind fighting one another,” Galine said.
“Well, you saw what came out of them,” Jez said.
Galine sighed and looked away. He walked to the edge of the clearing and stared into the woods. Jez could barely make out the low rumble escaping from his throat. Jez’s gaze stayed locked on the beast man for several seconds.
“What’s wrong?” Lina asked.
“He killed,” Ravous said.
“But he’s a lion,” Lina said. “Lions kill.”
“Lions hunt,” Ravous said. “They protect their territory. They defend themselves. They don’t do this.”
“But he was defending himself,” Lina said.
“Why did he bring you here?”
“I wanted to see the old village,” Jez said. “I thought I might be able to find something you all missed.”
Ravous hissed. “It is a human reason.”
“Well, yes. I’m human.”
“He is not, though he has often been accused of it.”
“The wolf,” Jez said.
Ravous nodded. “Welb has been Galine’s greatest opponent since he took over the tribe. It will not help him to have it known that he killed for a human reason.”
“What if we don’t tell anyone?”
The snake man smiled, and Jez found himself taking several steps back. “Were I the leader, that might work, but not him. He has never been one to lead from the shadows. He will inform the tribe himself.”
Jez was nodding before Ravous finished speaking. Such a thing felt right to him, but Lina pursed her lips. “But that’s foolish.”
“Lions are proud creatures, and I suspect that as a man, he was no different.”
“Will he be okay?” Jez asked.
“Perhaps. His leadership will be weakened, but he may survive it.”
“Do you think Welb will try to take over?”
“No. He complains a great deal, but he’s had the chance to take leadership before and has always found a way around it.” He gave Jez that evil looking grin. “Like my kind, wolves prefer to work from the shadows. There are others who might challenge him though.”
“Others who might not like working with us?”
“Quite possibly. I myself would not associate with you if you hadn’t saved us.”
Jez nodded. “Can you show me where the speaking stone was?”
The snake looked to Galine, but the lion man didn’t turn from the woods, so Ravous nodded. He led them to a group of trees. Underbrush had grown thick between them but the snakes cleared it away. The raised receptacle had almost been covered by leaves and branches, and Jez had to look close to see that it wasn’t a natural formation.
“It sat on that.”
Lina blinked at him. “You just had it out in the open?”
“Who would steal it?” Ravous asked.
Jez took a deep breath, but he caught no whiff of sulfur. He extended his protection sense but didn’t find anything. He turned to his friends.
“Look for anything. Use all your senses.”
They each nodded and closed their eyes. Jez had limited proficiency with dominions other than protection, but he used what little he had. When he got to his sense of knowledge he felt a prickle against his awareness. He walked over to one of the trees and brushed aside a branch to find the image of a tooth and claw carved into the bark. He moved on to the tree next to it and found another rune. Others had been chiseled into rocks. Still others had been burned into the grass. Too much time had passed for him to be able to tell what exactly those had been, but he could guess.
“It’s a summoning circle.”
“What?” Osmund asked.
He indicated the runes he’d found. “Check the trees. All of them.”
As more runes were uncovered, Jez grew worried. By the time they’d revealed enough for him to get a good idea of what the circle had been intended to summon, he’d broken out in a cold sweat, and his mouth had gone dry.
“If they did try to use the speaking stone to lure a Beastwalker here, it didn’t work.”
“What makes you say that?” Osmund asked.
He pointed to the first rune he’d found. “That’s a circle used to summon a Beastwalker by force.”
The snakes hissed, and one went into the jungle to get Galine. The lion returned a few minutes later. He examined the runes and growled. “Who could’ve done this?”
Jez and Osmund exchanged glances. Osmund’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth to speak, but Jez shook his head.
“No, it can’t be him.”
“He is a skilled summoner,” Osmund said, “and we already know he can use places of power.” He glanced at a rune on a nearby tree before looking back to Jez. “He can trap pharim too.”
Lina had paled and brought her hand to her neck.
“What?” Galine said. “Do you know who did this?”
Before Jez had been born, the dark mage Dusan had battled the Shadowguard Luntayary. Dusan had lost, but had lashed out at the pharim, cursing him and binding him to human flesh. A stillborn child had been given life, and Luntayary had been born as a human, but the reason Dusan had been able to improvise that working was because he had done it before. He’d caused a demon to be born into the form of a human, unbound by the laws that normally restricted its kind. Unlike Jez, that being had full memory of who and what he was.
“Sharim,” Jez said. “I think it’s Sharim.”
CHAPTER 24
“Who is Sharim?” Galine asked.
“He’s an extremely dangerous mage,” Jez shook his head and started pacing back and forth between the trees. “No, he’s more than that. He’s a demon made flesh. He almost dethroned King Haziel and toppled Ashtar. It took everything we had to stop him.” Jez shuddered. “We almost didn’t make it.”
“It’s not necessarily him,” Lina said.
Jez stopped and let out a breath. “You’re right. It could be anyone who knows how to tap places of power and is a summoner skilled enough to call and bind a pharim.” He shook his head. “Even if it’s not Sharim, it’s someone nearly as dangerous.”
“What do we do?” Osmund asked.
Jez considered for a second. “Where is the center of this place of power?”
“The nexus?” Galine showed his teeth. “Why do you want to know?”
“That’s where whoever did this will go.”
Galine shook his head. “We have that place watched constantly. It’s our first and greatest duty.”
“This person was able to take your speaking stone from inside your own village. Sharim could craft illusions good enough to fool even a Veilspeaker. Are you so sure he won’t be able to get through your defenses?”
“It is forbidden.”
“That wouldn’t stop Sharim.”
“I’m sorry.” Galine looked away. “After what you did, I’d tell you if I could, but I have my commands from Aniel himself, and I will hold to them. I may not reveal the location of the nexus.”
“Do you have to stop us if we find it on our own?” Osmund asked.
Galine looked at him for a second and smiled. He shook his head. “No.”
“I’ll fly up and see if I can find anything.”
“Are you sure?” Lina asked. She started to take a step back but stopped herself.
“It’s our best option.”
“But if Ziary is waking up...”
“I think I can control him. I won’t take long. I’ll just fly up and come back down.”
“Still, maybe you shouldn’t.” Jez glanced at Lina and couldn’t help but look at her scar. “You haven’t lost control in over a year, but what you did then still bothers you.”
“I know,” Osmund said, “but it’s a high lord of the pharim. Have that binding ready.”
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Lina’s hand didn’t go to her scar as it might once have, but her fingers twitched. She nodded. “Should we hide?”
“Probably,” Osmund said.
“Hide from what?” Galine asked. “What’s going on?”
“Osmund is a limaph,” Jez said. “He has a particularly strong scion, but he can’t always control it. When he can’t, it’s generally best to stay out of the way.”
“I see,” Galine said.
He waved at Ravous’s kin, and the snakes seemed to melt into the trees. Galine retreated into the jungle and vanished as completely as if he’d worked an illusion. Jez glanced at Lina.
“I thought he’d try to stop us, but he didn’t. He wanted to tell us where the center was. Do you think that means Ziary will find something?”
“Or maybe he didn’t try to stop him because he knows Ziary won’t,” Lina said.
“I’m right here,” Osmund said. “You don’t have to talk about me like I’m not here.”
Jez grinned. “Technically, we were talking about Ziary, not you.” He motioned to Lina and got behind a nearby bush. She followed. “We’re ready whenever you are. Please, try not to make me use that binding.”
Osmund nodded and turned away. He shimmered, and Ziary appeared. Abruptly, the jungle went quiet save for the wind rustling through the trees. Ziary scanned the area like a predator looking for prey, and Jez got the feeling the rest of the jungle understood this and had gone quiet to avoid attracting attention. The scion’s eyes passed over their hiding place before spreading his wings and lifting off. He crashed through the canopy, leaving a few spots of burned leaves in the trees.
For a long time, Jez and Lina sat in the bush without saying a word. Lina kept searching the sky for Ziary. Her hands were shaking, and she was holding her breath. Jez was ready to unleash the binding at a moment’s notice.
“It’ll be all right,” he said.
She point to a gap between the leaves. “There. I see him.”
Jez looked up just in time to see Ziary streak between the leaves of the canopy. A few seconds later, the trees rustled and Ziary landed a few feet away, his burning eyes locked onto them. Slowly, he drew his sword. He took a step toward them, and stepped into a puddle, the water turning to steam at his touch.
Beastwalker (Pharim War Book 3) Page 8