Elven Blight: A Katrina Baker Novel 02

by D. L. Harrison

  “I’m going to tear it out,” I gave the queen a heads up.

  Then I tore it out of the ground with my mind, compacted soil and all. Now what?

  “What have you been doing to destroy them?”

  The queen said, “Fire.”

  I nodded and lifted the compacted soil high out of the heart, and then moved away from it, holding it up using aero-kinesis to hold it up there, and then I used pyro-kinesis. I agitated the molecules as hard and fast as I could, and it all went up in a flash, incinerated in seconds. Even the soil. Perhaps it was paranoid, but then I teleported the ash to the mountain pass above the tree line.

  I still felt like it wasn’t enough, and that we should call in a hazmat team, but of course I was on the wrong world for that.

  The queen said angrily, “It might be too late for the tree.”

  My mind reached into the ground again, and into the tree’s roots where the grub roots were digging into it, and I felt the oily poison. What I didn’t feel, was any emotions. Apparently once the grub was cut off from its root and poison, it lost the magical part of it somehow. Like pulling the plug on a string of Christmas lights. I was sure with the grub there, that the emotions were coming from the poison as well as the grub and roots.

  I pulled the poison out using micro-kinesis, doing my best not to damage the tree’s roots, and then incinerated the small puddle of black poison right in the ground. Good enough.

  “I pulled the poison out and destroyed it, the tree might recover, give it a few days.”

  Aleisia took a deep breath, and I felt her trying to calm a storm of strong emotions.

  “I hope so, I planted that tree six hundred years ago.”

  I gaped, “I hope I age as gracefully.” Aleisia still looked thirty, and a very beautiful one at that.

  Aleisia laughed, “Thanks, what now?”

  “Just give me a minute, I want to see if I can find any seeds, or something to account for the grub coming back. If not, then someone is replacing the ones that are removed. But, it might take a while, the life of the heart is very strong, and blurs things.”

  Aleisia frowned, “You still think an elf might be involved?”

  I replied, “It’s not my favorite theory, no. I suspect a witch with a vendetta might be involved, that seems far more likely. Still, I want to look carefully and try to rule out my grub laying seeds theory. Do they all show up in the same spot?”

  This part of the heart did look rather cleared out, not as thick with life as the rest of it.

  Aleisia shook her head, “Yes, it does show up here. I also don’t see how a witch could sneak in.”

  I shrugged as the obvious answer occurred to me, “Who said the witch came in? Would you catch a bird if it flew over in the night, or a small animal on the ground, and dropped the grub into the heart? A witch controls animals as well, not just plants.”

  Aleisia sighed, “Good point, and that is a possibility. We wouldn’t recognize a bird flying over our forest as a threat. We would detect the animal on the ground though, the forest would feel the witch’s magic if it was down among them. The grub could probably even dig itself into the soil. Just as a point, elven magic does have sway over all nature, but enhancing animals with our magic was outlawed thousands of years ago. It gives them a high intelligence, and when paired with their natural predatory instincts it never turns out well.”

  That was good to know. It also seemed obvious, they couldn’t control animals like they could coax the non-aggressive flora.

  “I don’t suppose you know a witch, one of the good ones? Maybe they could look at the next grub and let us know if a witch is even involved. I’m almost sure one is but…” I trailed off unsure.

  The queen shook her head and said firmly, “No. That isn’t an option, Arelleas told me you would find the answers.”

  I hadn’t expected any different, but I had to ask.

  “This might take me a while, and I’m just going to be standing here staring at the dirt.”

  Aleisia nodded with an amused smile, “Very well, I’ll see you at lunchtime then?”

  I agreed and the queen left.

  There was a flaw in my bird idea that I hadn’t mentioned, if the witch was so far away, how could he or she know the grub needed to be replaced? I wondered though, if it would truly be impossible for a witch to shield herself and hide her presence from the forest. She or he wouldn’t have to hide from the whole forest, just the part she was currently in, the closest trees. The queen probably knew better than I did, but if she was right then I was back at it being an elf. Which was impossible, right?

  Or, an elven accomplice that sent word when the grub was removed, and the witch sent another via her feathered friends. What possible motive could an elf have in destroying their own forest’s heart, and assisting a witch with some grudge? I couldn’t think of a thing.

  Still, unnatural plant pointed at a witch, access to the heart and emotions in the magic pointed at an elf. The most likely scenario included both. I considered breaking out the telepathy, but I wasn’t sure things were that dangerous or out of control yet. I didn’t want to dig around in minds if I didn’t have to, and I sure as hell didn’t want to look inside every elven mind in the city.

  There was also the point of it being just one grub, constantly replaced. Why not two, or a hundred, if the person behind it wanted the forest heart dead, wouldn’t it be dead already? The visions indicated the heart would be destroyed though, if I didn’t figure it out. So… shit, my head hurt.

  Damn, I wasn’t an investigator, and I had so many theories right now, along with unanswerable questions, and answers I didn’t trust. I didn’t have a clue where to start. I decided I couldn’t rule out anything, and that I’d have to eliminate the possibilities one by one. Starting with the seed theory as I’d told Aleisia, which seemed as good a start as any.

  Chapter Ten

  Lunch was a bit tense, and we stuck to painful small talk while we ate, but I felt the impatience in the room, that is, outside of the ancient Eloen, who was still shielded. I’d thought that suspicious, wondering if she was hiding something, but when I asked Saida about it circumspectly on the way to the dining room from the heart, she said the seneschal is the protector of the royal family. Eloen was just very vigilant at all times, and prepared to defeat any attack against her or the royal family.

  The men were still missing in action, it was a ladies only lunch. I supposed I would take it, anything that got me out of the company of the prince worked for me.

  Edea asked, “How have you found Gwienidd so far?”

  There was a certain self-mocking bitterness laced with humor coming off her. I couldn’t even imagine being surrounded by what she had to deal with every day as a half-elf. I wasn’t exactly welcomed by all, and definitely hated by some, but I got to leave when this was all over, and it wasn’t nearly as bad as what Edea faced.

  I also picked up the subtle hardening of Eloen’s eyes as she looked Edea.

  “The forest is peaceful, and the city is beautiful. I’ve also enjoyed your welcome.”

  Edea laughed, “Well said, and all true.”

  Ayda sighed and looked uncomfortable at her daughter’s subtle jabs at the elven race, but didn’t say anything. The queen seemed to be ignoring it all, and there was something nice about it in a way. A normal loving family bickering around the table.

  I was curious again about Edea’s origins, she seemed very resilient, almost too resilient for someone who grew up in this hostile atmosphere of a city, even with her family’s love, but I refrained from asking. It wasn’t my business, not to mention it was damned awkward. Still, I had a good feeling about all of them, except Eloen, but that was only because I couldn’t feel her presence or emotions. She was a blank spot.

  I felt a wistful sadness, and my throat closed up for a moment as I suppressed the deeper grief. It reminded me a bit of my own family, and what I’d lost. Like Edea I had a nature I couldn’t help, which my parents and I had
argued about a lot, but I never once doubted they loved me despite me being a terrible supervillain child.

  I also missed Gerard, and wondered what he was doing. Was he safe, and what was going on down at the southern border to Chilik. Too bad I couldn’t just text him, maybe this world had a magical equivalent?

  We’d barely finished eating when Eloen asked rather sharply, “What did you discover?”

  I didn’t have to organize my thoughts, I’d been doing so throughout lunch.

  “No seeds at all, which means the grubs are being replaced by a person or animal.”

  The goddess only knows by who, or how.

  Eloen narrowed her eyes, “What will you do next?”

  “I’m not sure. I think there’s a witch involved, so I planned to search for her this afternoon. If she or he is close, I should be able to find them. Though it will take time.”

  That was an understatement, the forest was huge, and I’d have to search it and at least several miles beyond it to be sure no witches were close. It would take several hours, even flying at my fastest speeds.

  I wished we could just bring in a witch, one of the good ones. I bet they could figure out a way to stop it, but the queen already said no. I also wished my mother was here, she could probably whip something up in the lab in five minutes to kill the grubs and nothing else, lace the heart with it, problem solved.

  But I needed to focus on real solutions, not on the problems or impossible daydream solutions.

  Eloen asked, “And if you can’t find one?”

  I frowned, and just looked at her, not wanting to say the obvious words. I knew as a super, especially one with mind powers, I was very intelligent. But it wasn’t hard to come to a conclusion based on what that would reveal.

  Eloen frowned and asked coldly, “You think an elf is involved?”

  Edea choked on her drink.

  “No, I don’t think it’s likely. But… if the witch is far away, the likelihood goes way up. Unless they can feel their magic from that far away?”

  None of them looked happy at that, and Eloen shook her head negatively in answer to the question.

  I shrugged, “I don’t think an elf is involved, but I won’t rule anything out without proof. I’m searching the forest next because I think it’s the most likely answer.”

  Though, that still didn’t account for the emotions the plant gave off. Unless, a witch was capable of doing that too, through manipulation of the grub’s original nature.

  They looked slightly mollified by that and I felt a flash of annoyance. My annoyance stemmed from me having to tip toe around things, politics was making this more difficult. Although, to expect otherwise would have been foolish, and if it was easy they wouldn’t need me, would they.

  Searching the forest would also give me some time alone, Saida wouldn’t be able to follow me.

  They wished me luck, and I headed back to my room. I needed to summon a riding outfit and change, I wasn’t flying in a dress…

  I laughed a bit giddily as I hovered over the castle, it was always a rush to fly. Before I started, I needed to learn a new trick. I’d be sending out my telepathy and empathy to scan the forest below, but my eyes would be worthless above the tree tops and easily hidden from by anyone trying to hide.

  I was almost sure if there was a witch, they’d be shielded. I could hope only from elven magic, but I doubted I’d be that lucky, depending on that would be foolish. While my empathy and telepathy didn’t notice a minds intellect or emotions for those shielded, it also couldn’t even detect a blank spot. Everything else was a blank spot to those senses.

  My telekinesis was a different matter. Using Telekinesis to search under the ground, pick things up, and even create a wind with the dead air meant it connected to anything. So, the best way to find a shielded witch would be to look for a blank spot scanning with telekinetic energy, if they weren’t shielded my empathy and telepathy would find them.

  So I had to scan with all three at once. I not only hadn’t ever done that, but I’d never scanned using telekinetic energy before. Searched yes, which amounted to the same thing, but searching was more focused. This would have to be a telekinetic wave, which would touch everything it went through, and report all that information back to my mind while I hoped for a blank spot.

  Same power, but another new application of it, like summoning objects was just another new application of teleporting.

  It took a little experimentation to get it right, at least Eloen’s shield came in handy for my test as I scanned below me and into the palace.

  The third issue, was that even though my telepathy and empathy was good for a quarter mile, about fourteen hundred feet or so, my telekinesis only worked at a little less than quarter of that range, about a hundred yards. That meant a lot of grid lines at two hundred yards wide, to cover a forest with a fifty-mile radius, which meant I’d have to be flying extremely fast to have a hope of getting this done in one afternoon.

  It would take a lot of concentration for my mind to keep up, and I’d just have to hope the blank spot jumped out at me. I decided hoping was stupid, and flew off at several hundred miles an hour, turned, and swept past the castle as fast as I could. It wasn’t as bad as I’d thought, my mind mostly ignored all the information that streamed in about the structure of the trees, buildings, and smaller objects and flora. Eloen’s shield had been very obvious. A blank spot surrounded by air molecules that didn’t belong and I couldn’t read.

  I made a few assumptions right from the start. The witch was probably very close, or very far. I swept around the city first, in an enlarging spiral in a ten-mile radius. It didn’t take me very long, even the last ring around the city was only about thirty-five miles. I didn’t find anything, and teleported a couple of miles past the edge of the forest, still in the air.

  Then I started to fly in an inward spiral, scanning with my mind. The first circle was over three hundred miles in circumference, but I was flying close to the speed of sound. Still, it was a lot of area, and it took me almost twenty-five minutes for the first loop alone. The time slowly went down as the spiral shortened, and I scanned a six-hundred-foot swath at a time. That was three hundred feet each way, with me in the middle.

  It should have worked, but the sun was going down several hours later as I finished up. No witch. Which meant, if there was a witch involved they were very far away.

  I was exhausted, sweat soaked, and mentally fatigued in a major way as I drew a bath, and the last thing I wanted to do was tell them that if a witch was involved, they had an accomplice. Sure, the proof was just circumstantial, but more often than not, the simple answer was the right one. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of a witch working alone.

  But it was highly unlikely.

  My gut told me an elf was involved, and had for a while now but I was resisting the idea. Maybe because I didn’t want to offend the elves, or maybe because I worried that the prejudice they showed me, and especially Edea, had influenced me in the other direction. Elves weren’t perfect, their city and forest were a wonder, but they had the same foibles as the other so called good races.

  I sighed as I slipped into the hot water. It felt good. I needed sleep, but I was famished as well. I’d burned off a lot of mind power this afternoon.

  There was a knock on the door, it was Saida. I looked down, and the suds hid my body well enough.

  “Come in.”

  When Saida walked in, yet another possibility occurred to me. Chilik was acting up, and they had slaves of the other races. Could they be behind it somehow?

  “Saida, have any elves gone missing, or been banished lately?”

  Saida froze for a moment in thought, “No, and no.”

  Damn, so much for that idea.

  Saida said, “We have our rare exceptions, but don’t really have a criminal element like the humans do. As for the first, it happens, but we rarely leave our forest.”

  I nodded, “I’m tired and brain dead from my search today,
would it be possible to get some food delivered here? I’ll speak to the queen tomorrow, if that’s alright.”

  Saida sighed, “I’m afraid not. Normally that might be possible, but I’ve come here to fetch you for the queen. She wants to see you immediately.”

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, “Alright, five minutes? Wait outside please.”

  After Saida left, I finished my bath quickly and got dressed in the dress from earlier, then I pulled on my boots, and wondered what was so important that I had to see the queen right away. I still wasn’t sure what to do next, or what to tell her. Honestly, I felt like I’d gotten in way above my head, I was no investigator, I was supposed to show up, kick the bad guy’s ass, and then bask in the praise of the people.

  This world was so much more complicated than my old one.

  I wasn’t a hero, I was a paladin for a goddess, an enemy of true evil, not the watered down version on my world, and if I didn’t figure this out a lot of people were going to die, as well as a magical forest that was thousands of years old. I was confident enough about a fight, but I had to admit I was daunted.

  What would I do next? I was tempted to break out the telepathy and start fishing in minds, but at the same time I didn’t want to do that at all. Besides it being an invasion of privacy of everyone who wasn’t the guilty party, I didn’t want everyone else’s dreams, fantasies, and problems stuck in my head until the end of time.

  I tried to relax, I could do it. I knew for sure that I could. My goddess sent me here to do it, and said that I could. That had to be good enough for me. It didn’t mean I couldn’t fail, or quit, but it meant if I tried my best, chances were that it would all work out. I’d figure it out eventually. I also knew this wave of doubt was more from my mental fatigue at severely straining my abilities, than true doubts. I just needed to sleep on it and recoup my energy. I’d been depending on that to give me answers to the questions I was sure the queen would ask, it was why I hadn’t wanted to see her yet.