by Joe Kuster
Not helping was that he had no idea what deity Serina pulled her powers from, if she was being groomed to become a goddess herself, or even if that was how that worked. For all he knew, her backer, if she had one, could have been some sort of corrupt god that would get him executed if they found out.
Then there was the issue that she was a Deva. Because, aside from her, Devas could sit and spin on a rusty pitchfork, in his opinion. He doubted he was alone in that sentiment.
Roughly twelve feet below, the two-headed dog snapped and snarled as it circled. Judging from the shredded and bare tree bark that rimmed the tree, the animal had already tried climbing up but learned that it couldn’t quite manage to get up this high.
Eying the situation, he asked, “Is that the only one left?”
The two children shared a look, then the girl nodded as her hands found her braid of hair as she balanced on the limb. “You flattened the other.”
“I’m TJ, what are your names?” he asked.
The boy replied, “Uh… uhm… I’m Jack… and my sister is Jill.”
“Don’t suppose you’ve got any water?” TJ asked, trying to suppress a grin.
The boy shook his head and didn’t seem to have gotten the joke. “No. Just clay.”
TJ scrunched his face up in thought. His wings were hurting too much to consider trying to fly the children to safety, much less the injured woman. That and he didn’t really know where to go.
He briefly regretted not grabbing the woman’s sword, but that would have been a fool’s errand. He’d barely gotten her this far. He started to ask if the children had any weapons or even a stout stick but quickly realized if they’d had one, they’d have used it by now.
TJ crept back over and tapped her cheek twice on the off chance that the woman had a magical talent or even just better ideas. Her head rolled to the side.
She slurred, “Nuhnnnaa… tea is fine, Helga. Just one lump of sugar, please.”
He gave her a light shake, but she didn’t respond further. Given how pale she looked and the sweat on her skin, she might have exhausted herself in the fight. She’d barely been able to swing the sword. As he put his hand on her cheek again, intending to try poking her a bit harder, something in his chest twitched and prodded at his awareness.
Confused, he looked inward and found the massive pool of magic sloshing back and forth. Serina had stuffed him full of her essence before, but she’d never just left it there. There seemed to be an intelligence to how it rocked back and forth in his chest, trying to convey something.
Opening himself to it, he felt his palm begin to warm.
Unsure of what it meant, he felt a compulsion to place his hand on the woman’s temple. Not really feeling up to arguing with the massive beast in his chest, he did so. A thin trickle of warm energy flowed out from his chest and into the woman. The magic timidly slipped into her, poking and prodding without direction.
At first, he could feel cuts and bruises across her body begin to seal shut, but then it stopped quickly as everything was redirected toward the woman’s brain.
The idea clicked, and he realized that she’d taken a blow to the head. His magic mapped out the massive goose egg she had under her elaborate braid. It wasn’t that she was tired; it was that she was fighting through a concussion. Her body eagerly slurped up the golden glow, and in seconds her eyelids began to twitch.
The children gasped as the woman stirred, but he disregarded them.
TJ felt a pang of selfish resentment as the woman’s eyes fluttered open. Her hair color and general facial shape were identical to Serina’s, but her eyes made the situation readily apparent. Instead of being the lovely dark red he was used to, this woman’s eyes were blue. They were the beautiful azure of deep pools of pristine water, but he’d have given anything to be looking at his Deva lover right now instead.
He felt a sudden sharp stab from the pool of magic in his chest. It gouged him another three times to make sure he got the message. It was as if someone had shoved a dagger down his stomach and started blindly jabbing for all they were worth. Thankfully, the feeling faded quickly.
He grumbled internally as he realized it was the oath at work. He wouldn’t even be able to properly grieve losing Serina as it went directly against her commandments. Being sad wasn’t enjoying life.
Giving a slow groan, the woman placed her free hand to her forehead. She jerked at her secured arm and looked confused. “Whua?”
TJ explained, “I didn’t want you falling out. You ok?”
She worked her lips several times. “I fell off the ridge and landed on a wheelbarrow… did you heal me?”
Nodding, TJ said, “I’m TJ.” He pointed to the children, “That’s Jack and Jill. They don’t have any water. Just clay.”
The woman looked at him, then snorted.
“That’s… just terrible. You need better jokes,” she complained through an apparent wave of residual pain.
TJ helped the woman unbind her arm. “Sorry, most of mine aren’t suitable for children. Not that these two got it anyway. I don’t suppose you’ve got any brilliant ideas on how to kill that dog thing down there, do you?”
Still rubbing at her head, she mumbled, “My sword…”
“It was grab you or the sword. I figured you’d appreciate my selection,” TJ replied.
The woman blinked several times as a memory came back to her. “Did you… smash one?”
TJ shrugged. “Fell on top of is probably more appropriate. So… no hidden crossbow or maybe even a dagger?”
“But… you were glowing. And had wings,” she said.
Trying to avoid that part of the conversation, TJ tried again. “So… no weapons? Even if you’ve only got a belt-knife, we could probably cut a limb and make a spear. Really looking for a yes here.”
From her reaction, he decided the wings topic was probably a no go. She was human, and this world might not have any sentient beings that could fly. For all he knew, it might only have humans and dog monsters. Then there was the issue that if he were mistaken for an angelic or a Deva, bad things could happen.
If he kept his robes on, TJ knew he could pass for human. His cat-like eyes were different, but that wasn’t nearly as obvious. He’d just have to avoid looking like an outsider long enough that he could figure out if it were safe to reveal what he was.
He knew that some of the beings the Devas had abducted had reacted poorly to the fact that Eden’s Meadow was crammed full of different races. A few had gone into murderous rages at the sight of their sworn enemies. That was rare, thankfully. However, some of the more numerous ones like elves and humans had tried to form guilds and sub-governments to represent their races, and that had never gone well. It had caused instant friction in the community.
Some of the more fervent had decided to band together for protection or tried to subjugate others. The Devas didn’t care to govern and forcing them to deal with disputes among their toys never ended well. After all, they could always just bring back more from the field and try again.
The woman shook her head slowly and gave him a strange look that he couldn’t decipher. Her gaze seemed locked on his eyes. He wasn’t sure if she was making eye contact or had just figured out that he had vertical pupils set in yellow-gold eyes.
He cursed internally and quickly turned away.
“I’m Rachel Blackstone, by the way. Noble-born daughter of Sir Theodore Blackstone, knight and commander of the Skyridge county guard,” Rachel said.
TJ nodded and continued glaring at the two-headed dog. The animal had settled into an intense stare with all four of its eyes while it remained motionless. TJ had seen the same look when Gus saw a walnut on the edge of a table. It was as though the animal were trying to develop telekinesis.
“So… no ideas? Nothing we can use?” TJ asked.
Rachel shook her head, then pinched her eyes closed as though the movement had made her dizzy.
She grumbled, “No gear. I dropped my pack in the fight
so I could move better. That and no one is going to come looking for us until tomorrow at the earliest.”
Jack whined, “Miss Rachel, I’m thirsty.”
“Me too,” Jane parroted.
Rachel sighed. “Yeah, well, that’s what you get for ignoring the rules. Have you both really been up here for two days?”
“We’re sorry,” the children said in unison.
Rachel rubbed at her temples. “I, uh, came out to search for them. The brickworks have been closed for a while now due to those things. I guess Bill and Theresa didn’t believe there were any monsters and sent their children to fetch some clay. They insisted that the closure was some sort of conspiracy to levy taxes for the bounty.”
Not knowing what to do with the comment about the children’s parents, TJ instead eyed the ground critically. He spotted a dirt path leading out of what he was now assuming was the brickworks.
He glanced back to the woman who he was mentally considering a fighter. She still looked too unsteady to be much use in a coordinated battle. She looked like she could walk on her own, possibly even manage a jog, although probably not a fast one.
TJ flicked a piece of bark at the dog, but it didn’t flinch. He spent a few moments climbing higher into the tree and broke off several branches. Unfortunately, aside from the limbs that were far too thick for him to break off, they were all short, stubby affairs with no strength to them. Given how readily they broke in his hand, he was beginning to grow concerned about the tree limb that all four of them were sitting or standing on.
After resuming his prior perch and rubbing at his chin for several minutes, he decided to look inward to the pool of magic sitting in his chest. He could immediately tell that the amount had decreased after healing Rachel. Frowning, he poked at the stuff, and it sloshed around lazily.
He didn’t really know how it worked, but he’d used some sort of spell earlier. It had only been a bit of mild healing, no more than what a bard could do with minimal practice, but it was magic. He was also quite concerned that this was all the mojo he’d get. If that were the case, he’d need to ration out the essence like a cherished liquor, not slam it down as if he were at a dwarf’s maturation date party.
As if in response, the pool thrummed twice. TJ had the sense that it was calling him an idiot. Looking at it closer, he could feel a thin thread trailing off beyond his perception. If he had to guess, it was probably his tether to Serina that the other Devas had noticed. Even though nothing was happening with it now, it seemed poised to refill his essence.
“Eh, I guess that’s my answer,” he muttered to himself.
Serina had nearly every type of magic at her disposal, from polymorphing to telepathy. While she’d only tested certain types on him, he knew she had offensive magic, and some of it was rather powerful. She had summoned a swarm of meteors once just to see them blaze their way across the sky.
TJ supposed a lot of what he had access to would depend on what type of magician he was. Since he didn’t know what made up a proper spell, he could eliminate being a wizard right off. He wasn’t a sorcerer because he hadn’t been born with such a talent. Other than that, he was only knowledgeable about bards, but he hadn’t even had to sing to cast whatever he’d done.
Given his bindings to divine power and the fact he’d healed Rachel, he assumed he was somewhat closer to a priest, but that just sounded… off.
The idea that Serina would want him espousing her virtues and gathering followers seemed ludicrous. It was also something he’d be terrible at and seemed counter to what she’d commanded him to do. He wouldn’t enjoy that at all, and if she’d wanted him to build her religion or that of whatever power structure was above her, she’d have said so.
The pool of magic that he was beginning to see as his seemed to nod in agreement at that.
He chewed on that idea for a bit and then circled back to the priest idea again. It didn’t feel right, but even priests had offensive magic. Granted, TJ had no idea what those were, or if they’d work against whatever that dog-thing was. He’d hate to call up a massive spell that would consume everything he had only to find out it would only have worked on the undead.
Shaking his head, he realized that if he were a priest of sorts, he’d be better off trying to heal Rachel and let her do the fighting. Unfortunately, she’d lost her weapon, and fighting the beast unarmed sounded like a terrible idea, especially with her still being a bit banged up. He could try to heal her further, but that might not leave much left in the tank.
What he really needed was something that could do some damage, ideally from range.
He squinted and pressed on the essence in his chest, willing it with everything he had to squeeze it into his hands. With a sensation like chewing on shards of glass, the liquid seemed to flow into his palm and made his arm feel hot. The pressure built to a painful level, and he held it there. It tugged at his chest as though he were going to tear something.
Opening his eyes, he held out his outstretched palm toward the monster, but nothing changed. There was no blinding flash or roaring lance of fire.
“So… there’s something there, but I don’t know how to use it, or maybe I’m too far away?” he grumbled to himself.
Reinforcing that thought, he mentally repeated the process that had made his hands warm several times until he could trigger the feeling without flinching. It felt as pleasant as raking the inside of his mouth with a wire brush.
He felt like something would happen if he just pushed harder, but suspected he was going about it all wrong. He glanced over to the weary children, then back to the injured woman and made a silent whisper aimed at Serina to see him through this, or to keep him safe if he failed.
“You’ve got the look of someone about to do something stupid,” Rachel said.
He raised an eyebrow as he faced the dark-haired woman, and a twinge of guilt and a deep-seated desire to see Serina kicked in again.
He didn’t seem to be able to separate the woman he was looking at from one he’d left. He felt something deep inside himself shiver as though reaching for a connection that wasn’t there. He already knew what he was going to do. Serina or not, he couldn’t untangle his reactions.
He’d do exactly what he needed to if it were her stuck up in this tree trying to save two lost children. If he screwed up, he had to have faith that that Serina would find his soul eventually. He shuddered at the thought of having it unbound again, then reminded himself he’d already planned on dying today.
“You’re staring at that beast like you’ve got an idea, but it’s not a very good one,” she said.
“I mean, you’re not wrong. I get the feeling that I can take it, or if I can’t, that I can at least distract it while you three make a run for it,” TJ said.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Don’t tell me you’re a meat shield,” Rachel complained as she rubbed the heels of her palms into her eyes. She looked up at the sky through the branches and gave a long, slow exhale.
“A what?” he asked.
“Ah, it’s just this thing my father tells me about some of the guards he’s served with during sieges. The one that volunteers to hold the breach. They know what’s going to happen, but they do it anyway. It’s just stupid. Absolutely, positively stupid. If my mom were still alive, she’d slap you silly and call you a lemming.”
TJ held up his hands in defeat. “It’s dumb. I’ll give you that, but I’m not going to leave you three to die here.”
After a long grumble, her tone shifted to something a bit kinder. “It’s… not like I’ve got a better idea. If we wait longer, I’ll just have to carry those two out, and I don’t see that working well. You’re still an idiot, though,” Rachael said while scooting closer.
TJ pondered her statement then chuckled. “Says the woman who went into a monster pit alone to find two lost kids. Is that something you do a lot of? Going into battle by yourself to save the defenseless?”
Rachel laughed grimly, then cursed softly. “I guess I
deserve that. No… first time doing something that utterly moronic. The guard was busy preparing for…” she trailed off.
She suddenly looked concerned. “No one is going to come to look for us. At all. They are all gearing up to track down that escaped necromancer before he can get an undead army spun up. They are leaving at first light, and that’ll probably take them a week or more.”
“Ah. So… everyone else is preparing for war and you, what? Just happened to have a set of armor and a sword?” TJ asked.
Rachel frowned. “I’m not some stale cake in a display. My father has been training me with every weapon we could find since I was a toddler, but I’ve never done more than followed a squad of guardsmen around. Ask questions, knock around a few belligerents, keep the tax collector from having his guts torn out, stuff like that.
“Also, I’m the reason there were only two. I got the jump on the first one while it was asleep. I just didn’t expect the others to be so damn fast.” She fidgeted uncomfortably. “I… I just didn’t like the idea of children being lost out here or their parents not knowing what happened to them.”
TJ offered, “Looks like we’re the same sort of stupid then.”
Rachel’s lips tightened into a hard line, then she saw the mirthful expression on his face. She gave a soft huff of amusement.
As she eased against him to better look at the dog, he modified his plan slightly.
“Can you leave your belt with me?” he asked.
She looked confused but nodded. Wordlessly, she stripped it off and handed it over. TJ looped the thick band of leather around his right hand, leaving the heavy iron buckle dangling free. It wasn’t going to do much more than annoy the beast, but it would give him a bit more reach than bare knuckles.
Rachel’s azure eyes peered into his for a long time, then she glanced away.
Something swirled in his chest, and he felt incredibly homesick. This world sucked. It was rainy, muddy, and ugly. TJ had a looming feeling that he didn’t belong here. However, when Rachel closed her eyes, he could just about swear he were sitting next to Serina.