by Isaac Hooke
A spider was wrapped around the face of the leftmost lion, keeping its limbs wrapped around its muzzle and preventing the creature from opening its jaws. The scallion moved backward, shaking its head in an effort to fling the spider off. The second spider meanwhile was wrapped around its torso, and trying to chew through those scales.
Malem reached that one and stabbed his sword into its side. The blade bounced off the scales.
Ziatrice slammed her halberd down, aiming for the bare neck between the two spiders. Wither also bounced away.
The scallion rolled to the ground and slid both paws along either side of its face and managed to maneuver one of the spider’s legs into its mouth. It promptly bit down. The spider’s remaining grip relaxed, and the scallion chomped down rapidly, chewing up those legs, and the abdomen. Then it spat out the dead spider, stood up, and roared.
Eddy’s foot promptly smashed down into the scallion from above. The spider was squashed to a pulp on the creature’s back, but the scallion itself otherwise seemed unharmed. Again and again Eddy smashed down its foot.
“Die, little lion!” the ettin said.
Khaan was doing something similar to the scallion on the right.
Finally Eddy stepped back, and the scallion rose on wobbly feet. Malem rushed forward, and tried to slide his blade into its eye—no good. Ziatrice meanwhile sliced her halberd into its mouth, but also couldn’t draw any blood. He wrapped his mind around the creature’s will, but once more his mental tendrils evaporated on touch.
He stepped back, allowing Hansel to wrap the scallion up in one of its long tentacles.
“Khaan,” Malem said.
The basilisk ceased pouncing on the second scallion, and stepped back. The creature walked away drunkenly, the remnants of the smashed spider visible on its back. Hansel shot out an appendage and bound that one fast, too. The ghrip tried to crush them, wrapping multiple tentacles around the creatures and squeezing so hard that its whole body shifted, but had little success. He had to instruct the bull to simply hang onto them for now.
“That wasn’t so bad after all,” Gwen said.
“No,” Malem said. “We just lost a few spiders.”
The goblings from the rest of the search party began to arrive in small groups. Khaan turned them all to stone in succession. When Malem sensed that was the last of them, he gave the order to continue east once more.
“What are we going to do about them?” Abigail asked, nodding at the scallions that remained bound in Hansel’s tentacles. They occasionally struggled, but couldn’t break free of the ghrip’s superior strength. They were little more than bugs trapped in a spider’s web.
“We’ll hold on to them, at least for now,” he said. “Until we can find somewhere to dispose of them.”
They continued east. Malem bound three more spiders along the way, and had them scout ahead in a wide line.
Eventually the rightmost spider discovered a tar pit, and Malem had the party swerve that way. When they arrived, he had Hansel toss the scallions inside, and then they proceeded on their way. He hated having to kill the creatures like that—it seemed like such a waste. But what else could he do? If he let them go, they would return to another search party, and then the goblings would send them out once more. The party would have to fight them all over again.
They met two more parties of goblings as they continued east. Neither search party had scallions or other powerful creatures, and the team made short work of them.
They encountered one last gobling search party—this one had a basilisk with them. Malem instructed Khaan to dash in, turn the goblings to stone, and then kill the basilisk. In that order.
“Think you can handle that?” he asked.
“Easily,” Khaan said, dashing ahead.
Malem took a roundabout route around the gobling party, and continued east. He heard the occasionally loud thud coming from the forest behind him, along with the screeching of basilisks engaged in a deadly duel.
“Should we lend a hand?” Gwen asked.
Malem shook his head. “Let the basilisk work. If it loses, I’ll Break the other one. Actually…”
He expired the three spiders that acted as scouts, draining them completely of their stamina. He released Sark as well, but didn’t extinguish the gobling.
“Go,” Malem ordered the monster. “Run back to your tribesmen. Tell them what you’ve seen. Tell them if they send any more basilisks my way, I’ll return with those same basilisks, and turn every last gobling in this forest to stone.”
Wide-eyed, Sark fled.
“My, my, but you’re sexy when you threaten,” Ziatrice told him.
Ignoring her, Malem wrapped his will around the enemy basilisk. Khaan had weakened it severely, so much so that Malem was able to Break the creature almost instantly, filling up seven of the slots he’d cleared, leaving him with only one.
Trading up.
He called off Khaan and ordered the creature to return with its new friend. He promptly drained stamina from Eddy and Hansel to replace that which he’d lost in the Breaking, funneling some of the vitality to Khaan and the new basilisk.
Master, I displease you? Eddy asked over the mental link.
No, Malem said. I needed to borrow some of your strength. Go with Hansel and find something to eat. We’ll wait.
Thank you! Eddy sent.
He reached out to the new basilisk before it arrived. Basilisk.
You are in my head, too? the creature replied in a female voice. You have broken my will, and that is not enough?
He smiled greedily. It’s never enough. I want you to ensure your gaze doesn’t harm me or my companions.
It will be done. But who are you? Vorgon? Or one of his dark servants?
Neither, Malem said. I am a man.
A man did this? Impossible! The basilisk struggled frantically against his will. I refuse to serve a mere man!
He tightened his grip and drained stamina from the creature. You will call me Master.
At last the thrashing ceased.
You will enjoy serving me, Malem sent.
The monster didn’t answer.
You will enjoy serving me, Malem repeated.
Finally the monster replied. I will enjoy serving you.
The pair of basilisks returned, limping, covered in blood. Malem couldn’t tell them apart visually, but he knew which one was Khaan because of his beast sense—the energy bundles were slightly different between the two of them. And unique.
“So now we have two basilisks,” Gwen said.
He nodded. “Uh huh.”
“What are you going to call the second?” Xaxia asked.
“I’m sure it has its own name already,” he replied. “Basilisk, what is your name?”
“I am Ophid, Master,” the second basilisk said.
“There you go,” he told Xaxia.
“They’re in pretty bad shape,” Abigail said.
Ziatrice glanced at Weyanna. “Maybe we should get the white dragon woman to use her healing magic.”
Weyanna pursed her luscious lips for a moment. For some reason when he saw that, all he could think of was her head between his thighs as she worked him with that sexy little mouth of hers.
“I might be able to accelerate their healing a little bit, it’s true,” Weyanna said, her words returning his distracted mind to the present. “If you grant me some stamina, that is.”
He forced himself to regard the basilisks. The sight of their battered and bloodied bodies helped get his mind out of the gutter. “They look pretty bad, don’t they? But I can already sense them growing stronger with each passing moment. No, I say we let them heal naturally. You need to conserve your strength as much as possible.”
So that we can fuck, later? she sent into his head.
He swallowed in sudden arousal. He forced the feeling down, and instead scolded her: We’re not having sex again until the Eldritch magic is out of your system. I won’t risk taxing you any more than necessary.
<
br /> She shrugged. Your loss.
He recalled Eddy and Hansel from their hunting session—they’d only snagged an elk and had shared it between them. It would keep them sated for the time being.
When the monsters arrived, he forced Abigail and Weyanna to ride atop the ettin, and then headed east once more.
He Broke an eagle and slid it into his last free slot. He named the eagle Garibaldi in honor of the last one, and had it fly over the treetops to gauge the distance to civilization. “Looks like we’re almost out of monster territory. Greentree isn’t far ahead.”
By evening they had left behind the monster territory. Malem knew immediately, because the density of the undergrowth kicked up. With Eddy and the basilisks leading the way, much of that undergrowth was trampled, making passage for the rest of the party much easier.
“It’s actually a relief to be out of there,” Gwen said. “And yet, traveling through that forest didn’t seem as bad as the first time we did it, when I was the only half monster you had Broken.”
“Yes,” Malem said. “Having four women bound to me, along with a team of monsters, certainly makes a hell of a difference.”
When Garibaldi sighted the road that wound through the forest, Malem ended the eastward march and instead had the team mirror the route. They stayed within the trees, about a mile to the west so that the sound of the monsters trampling the undergrowth wouldn’t be heard by any travelers on the road.
At one point, a patrol of twenty human soldiers—no doubt hailing from Greentree—broke away from the road to approach through the trees. As with Xaxia, he couldn’t feel them with his beast sense, and if it weren’t for Garibaldi he wouldn’t have even known they were coming.
Malem had all the monsters hide in the undergrowth. He told the basilisks not to look at the soldiers.
It was an odd feeling, knowing he had the power to turn all twenty of the intruders to stone with but a single command. It was like they were all string puppets, and he had a pair of long hedge trimmers in place, ready to sever the thin threads of their existence at the same time, as per his whim.
Don’t get too high on your own power or anything.
The soldiers on horseback approached slowly, hacking through the thick foliage with their swords. They were set to pass the hidden group right by.
And then Gwen sneezed beside him.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
“You there!” one of the soldiers said.
Gwen cringed at the words.
“Come out of the trees,” the soldier continued.
Malem glanced at Xaxia, and gestured for her to join him. She seemed the safest choice, considering she looked as human as he did. Gwen or Weyanna would have also worked.
He brushed aside a particularly large fern, and walked into view of the soldiers on horseback. Xaxia reached out to hold his hand. He glanced at her, and he saw that she was pretending to be scared, acting like they were some couple ambushed while camping in the woods or something.
“Oh, hello,” Malem told the soldiers.
“What are you doing here?” the lead soldier demanded from his saddle.
Malem was feeling cocky. “The same could be asked of you.”
The soldier raised an amused eyebrow. “We’re investigating strange noises passersby reported hearing in the region. Given that goblings have been sighted in this area over the past few days, we figured it warranted an immediate follow-up. When we arrived, as soon as we pulled up our horses we heard it too: the sound of a big group of monsters traveling past. It ended only a few moments ago.”
Whoops. He’d been too close to the road after all.
“Look at their armor,” another soldier said. “Have you ever seen anything like that?”
The leader frowned. “Who are you?”
Malem decided to tell the truth. Or a variant of it. “We’re from the front lines. We’re on an important mission for King Goldenthall.”
“Goldenthall, huh?”
In answer Malem merely nodded his head.
“And you’re not allowed to divulge the details of this mission, I suppose?” the soldier asked.
“That would be a correct supposition,” Malem said. “You haven’t yet said who you are…”
“I am Robert Havansk, of the Greentree Second Militia,” the man replied.
“A civilian military force?” Xaxia said. “That would explain the amateur behavior.” She glanced at Malem. “This is what happens when you send most of your army off to war.”
“That one has the looks of a bandit,” another soldier commented. It was obvious he was talking about Xaxia.
“Maybe we should tie her up and bring her back to the city, just to be sure?” another interjected, eliciting laugher from his companions.
Xaxia rested a hand on her hilt and bared her teeth in a malevolent grin. “You’re certainly welcome to try.”
Robert straightened, as if affronted. But he wisely made no further comment to disparage her. Instead, he seemed to get a hold of his emotions, and searched the trees around him, as if worried Malem and Xaxia were trying to distract him from some sort of impending ambush.
“Did you see monsters here?” Robert asked.
“No,” Malem replied. “But we did hear the commotion you mentioned. I think it was a party of traveling goblings. We hid in the trees, and when your soldiers turned up, the noises quickly faded, as if the goblings were high-tailing it away to the west. If you want to catch them, they’re probably long gone by now.”
“I see,” Robert said.
“But you’re welcome to check it out.” He gestured through the trees, pointing to the west, well away from where the rest of his party, and the monsters, were hiding.
“Do you smell that?” another soldier behind the leader said. He rubbed at his nose. “Smells like something died here.”
That was probably Eddy. The monster gave off a rotten scent that even Malem could smell from ten yards away.
Robert gave Malem one last look, and then turned back toward the east. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll rejoin the road. It’s not wise to stay in these woods.”
“As I said, we’re on a mission,” Malem told him. “But don’t worry, we can take care of ourselves.”
With that, they rode back through the trees.
He slumped slightly, relieved. The soldiers had no idea how close to death they had come.
Then again, Malem doubted he would have killed them. But he would have certainly given them a good scare.
He had his party move another mile away from the road to avoid a repeat of the encounter.
Not long thereafter the party reached Greentree.
18
Malem entered Greentree without issue. It helped that he took with him only Weyanna, Abigail, Xaxia, and Gwen. He left Ziatrice behind with the others—blue skin wasn’t well known in the area, and would draw unnecessary attention. Then again, with four beautiful women at his side, two of them garbed in exotic armor like himself, and the other two clad in what had once been obviously expensive dresses, his small party was drawing more than a few eyes.
He wasn’t worried so much about Gwen’s green skin tone: half goblings were a relatively common sight in the forest cities that bordered monster territory, unfortunately.
He stopped at the first available tailor and purchased long, flowing robes for the five of them using the drachmae Rashan had given him for the mission. They donned their new garments immediately, placing any backpacks on top, and raised the hoods to hide their faces. Malem also bought two extra robes, and two pairs of thick gloves, stowing them in his pack for later distribution.
Before leaving, he asked the tailor for directions to the closest magical healer.
“A magical healer?” the tailor asked. “Not many are open at this hour. Those that are, well, they charge a premium!”
“We’ll pay the price,” Malem said.
The tailor nodded, and gave him directions to a healer that was open
late.
Malem thanked him and the party proceeded on its way.
He could still sense Ziatrice out there, along with the other monsters in his control, camped out in the forest next to one of the farms that populated the land along the outskirts of Greentree.
He hadn’t noticed it at first, but the range of his beast sense had increased with each half monster he Broke. By his estimation, he was roughly two miles away from those monsters at the moment; he felt he could go up to at least three miles if he really wanted to, but that wouldn’t be necessary, not with the directions the merchant had given him—the healer was only a few streets away.
At least no one was paying them much attention anymore. Well, his company still stood out somewhat with their robes, but curious eyes usually looked away shortly after a quick glance. No one cared much for traveling monks, after all.
The buildings on either side were all roughly the same, made of mud brick covered in white plaster, and topped by red tiles. There were no rich or poor quarters in this town: the population was too low for that. It was big enough to escape the title of village, but still small enough to avoid being classed a true city. A while ago, he’d had a brief tryst with the daughter of the Greentree mayor; Malem had rifled through the ledger in his office at one point, and learned the median income at the time was about fifty drachmae a month, placing most of the residents squarely in the middle class.
That wasn’t to say there weren’t still people below the poverty line, of course. In fact, a new set of beggars accosted the “traveling monks” for coin every intersection.
As he walked, he found himself missing Felipe and Bounder. Especially when he passed caged beasts that some vendor or another was trying to sell. In the past, he had always sent Felipe out to secretly open those cages, setting the animals free. Without the monkey, that was essentially impossible. Maybe Garibaldi might be able to open some of these doors, but most likely not. Eagles just weren’t that great with their talons, and there weren’t any other nearby animals he could Break who were better suited to the task.