Bulletproof Witch

by F J Blair

  “So you’re telling me that my spells might be the only thing that can hurt this upyr again?” she asked.

  “Yes. You truly are a gift from the Dawnbringer himself.” The boy smiled at her. “It will be difficult to lure Lucius out, but once he passes into the Endless Dark the thralls under his sway should be released. My father enjoyed almost a week of freedom after the Matriarch died.”

  “Listen—” Temperance opened her mouth, then hesitated. She didn’t want to destroy William’s good spirits so soon after they had recovered, but keeping the truth from him would only prolong the inevitable. The boy’s smile grew wider, and he leaned forward in anticipation.

  Gritting her teeth, Temperance continued, “I only had the one sphere. Afraid I won’t be repeating that particular trick.”

  The crestfallen expression on the boy’s face almost broke her heart. “But you are Lubjaleisei. Surely you have other weapons?”

  “I lost almost everything I had down in the canyon. Still have a few spells, but we won’t know how useful they’ll be until the shooting starts.”

  Temperance’s hand itched again for bandoliers that weren’t there. It was like someone had chopped off a part of her. I guess it’s easy to forget how worthless I am without my hexbullets.

  Immediately, she felt a flush of guilt. Her grandfather had been in far worse situations than this and with far fewer resources. He would have found a way through, hexbullets or no.

  “Well, I expect we’ll manage somehow. I promised to get you to Messanai, and I mean to keep that promise, come Hell or high tide. You’re certain we’re safe for tonight?” The boy nodded. “Then it’s best we get some more rest. Sun will be up in just a few hours.”

  They bedded down again, this time with Temperance at William’s back. Not exactly proper, but better a bit of impropriety than waking to find the boy gone. She curled up inside her coat and, with a new mission to give her purpose, finally slipped into a peaceful slumber.

  Chapter Seven

  The first embers of dawn worked their way through the ruin’s cracks, lines of red groping their way forward like the fingers of some fiery beast. They reached where William lay sleeping and curled their tendrils across his face. Temperance glanced over as he sat up and stretched, then returned her attention to the fire. A delicious aroma wafted from the meat that was already beginning to crackle and brown.

  William sniffed, then smacked his lips. “Whatever that is, I will take two.”

  “Hopefully it tastes as good as it smells.” Temperance gave the spit another turn. “Creature looked like some sort of marmot, but not any variety I’m familiar with. Must not be too used to people either. Darn thing dropped dead of fright before I could even get my knife up.”

  “Marmot?”

  “It’s a big rodent, I think. This one sure looked like a rat, anyway. You know what that is, right?” The boy nodded. “I don’t recommend eating any in the cities, but the ones in the country are usually safe.”

  William shuffled closer and dropped next to the fire with a contented sigh. “I will try anything at this point. There have been few decent meals since I left Reinstaht.”

  “Plus abandoning all your supplies down in the canyon,” Temperance reminded him. “Don’t let it eat at you none, I lost most everything too. I’ve still got enough coin that we should be able to supply at the first town we stumble across. I’m guessing we should stay away from the coast?”

  The boy glanced up from where he had been pawing through a small carpet-bag. “Huh? Oh. Yes, best if we avoid it. Less chance that Lucius can send any of his thralls after us.”

  “In that case, we’ll strike inland. We’ll have to cut through the redgrass fields, but a few days past that is a straight line to the town of Sweetwater. We can catch a train towards Messanai City and have you safe and sound in time for your birthing day.”

  “Thank you again for doing this.” William smiled at her. His smooth skin made him look closer to twelve than sixteen. Temperance shook her head.

  Poor kid needs some whiskers soon, or nobody will take him seriously. She chuckled at that thought. I suppose I’ve managed so far without any myself, although I can think of a few situations they might have come in handy.

  They ate their breakfast in silence, the meat even tastier than it smelled. After that they cleared up their campsite, smothering the fire’s embers but leaving the pit for the next wayward traveler. Temperance climbed a section of the wall to get her bearings, William observing from below as he donned a wide-brimmed hat. The sight of it caught her off-guard, as she could have sworn the boy hadn’t been wearing it yesterday. However, her memories of the canyon were still fragmented, so she dismissed the thought as little more than accumulated stress.

  Back on the ground, they finally risked a look over the side of the canyon. Below were several overturned rocks, along with long smears of soot, but no sign of Lucius.

  Temperance continued searching for a few minutes, but eventually gave up. She turned back to William. “Looks like you were telling the truth about this Lucius fellow. Maybe we’ll get lucky and he won’t come back again.”

  The boy didn’t respond, but she could see the doubt in his eyes.

  * * *

  For the next two days they crossed the wildlands of Ozaka, never coming across sight or track of anyone else, a fact for which Temperance was grateful. The only people they were likely to encounter off the main trails were criminals or others like themselves who wanted to be left alone.

  There were no further sightings of the horse-beast, nor did Lucius and his thralls appear. Regardless, Temperance still insisted they keep a watch at night despite William’s protests. His claim that the upyr would need a few more days to recover did little to soothe her concerns. If anything, they only made her more nervous.

  On the third morning, they caught their first sight of the redgrass fields. Temperance didn’t notice at first, engrossed in their discussion as she was. William had proven a difficult conversationalist, even by her standards. After the first day of little more than grunts and shrugs she had begun to despair of ever getting the boy to open up. So when she found a subject that interested him at last, she clung to it like a drowning man on a river log through rapids.

  Even if the particular subject was a rather infuriating one.

  “What do you mean, you only pray to one divine being? Everyone knows that three is a sacred number. Hell, even the pagans of old Galinor still worshipped three gods. Just having one doesn’t make a lick of sense.”

  William looked at her curiously. “Why would you worship anyone other than the Dawnbringer? He is all that stands between us and the upyr.”

  “Before I met you I’d never heard of the upyr, remember? Never heard of any Dawnbringer, neither.”

  “What? But . . . who do you worship, then?”

  “The Three?” William gave her a blank expression. “You’re telling me you don’t know about the three Divines? The god Vo, and his two sisters, Te and Zu?”

  “What kind of names are those? If this is some joke, I do not understand the humor.” The boy shook his head.

  “I’m not joking. All of Korvana worships the Three, and most of Galinor besides. The parts of it that haven’t been conquered by the Empire, anyway.”

  William opened his mouth, but whatever he had been about to say never made it out. Instead he stopped, staring ahead with a slack-jawed expression. Temperance followed his gaze, then glanced back. “What is it?”

  “I . . . .” The boy appeared at a loss for words.

  Before them spread the southern tip of a redgrass field. The waving stalks were ten to twelve feet tall and the dark red of a warm summer evening, so dark in patches they were almost black. From the hill where the two of them stood it looked as if someone had butchered a whole herd of cattle, thousands of them, maybe, and used their blood to paint the landscape. The field stretched for several miles to the west, but was thinner here than she remembered. A good place to cross
, short of tracking all the way south to the coast.

  Temperance mulled that over as she waited, and at last William shook himself from his daze. He turned to her, eyes still wide.

  “I have never seen anything like this before. Is all of Korvana this strange?”

  “Only the better parts. Most everything near the coastlines is full of boring towns and even more boring people. You’ve got to go where others are afraid to walk if you really want to experience this country.”

  “And traveling through there is safe? What if we get lost?”

  “For anyone else, that might be a problem, but luckily you’re with me.” William frowned, but she waved the unspoken question away. “I’ll show you when we get closer.”

  They marched down the hill, the shadow of the redgrass looming closer. Soon the few trees clinging to the prairie disappeared, the scrub brush growing withered and stunted. William glanced around, a worried frown creasing his forehead. “What is wrong with the land here?”

  “It’s the redgrass,” Temperance said, nodding at the waving stalks ahead of them. “Does something to the soil nearby so only it can grow. From what I’ve heard, farmers in this territory have been fighting the spread for years. The plant isn’t even good for animal feed. Going to come a day soon when this whole stretch has been hacked and burned to nothing.”

  They reached the redgrass field. Temperance stopped at its edge as William drew up alongside. She glanced at him. “Most folks wouldn’t care if this particular plant was gone for good, but a few of us would mourn. Might not be good for farmers, but that’s not to say it’s useless.”

  She reached out and grasped a stalk. At this height, it was wide enough around that her hand couldn’t circle it. She gave a grunt, then pulled the stalk towards her. The redgrass began to bend, Temperance running her hand up along the stalk as it drooped closer. Soon she had the head of it gripped tight.

  “Redgrass doesn’t have much value worth talking about. Its seeds, however, are a different subject.” She reached out, squeezed one of the thumb-sized pods near the top open, and pulled out the seeds. They were the size of a small coin, and still fresh enough that they were green around the edges. Suitable for her purposes, though.

  Releasing the plant, Temperance searched the nearby stones, finding one that was flat on one side. She handed the seeds to William, then set about marking a pair of runes onto the stone.

  That complete, she retrieved the seeds and set one between the runes. Temperance opened her mouth, then hesitated. “Since you don’t worship the Three, what exactly are your thoughts about magick? Does that Dawnbringer of yours have any problems with it?”

  “What?” The boy stared at her. “Of course not. Magick is His gift to mankind, so that we might stand a chance against the Lord of the Dark.”

  Temperance wanted to ask more about that, but set it aside for later. She shrugged. “Good enough. Ecuas Ilacho!”

  The redgrass seed shifted, then began to spin. It spun faster and faster, rising slightly into the air. It spun so fast that the seed was a mere blur, the stone vibrating from the force. All at once it came to a halt, the seed turned directly towards the Silversky range, hidden in the distance behind the clouds.

  Temperance nodded in satisfaction and pointed to the far side of the redgrass field. “We need to turn from the way we’ve been going, but that should see us through this field in a couple of hours. Then another day past that to Sweetwater, by my reckoning.”

  She glanced down. The redgrass seed had already turned to dust and blown away in the wind, its magickal properties spent. She slipped the stone and the remaining seeds into her pocket for use later and set off wading through the forest of bloody stalks.

  There was the sound of scrambling footsteps behind her, and William appeared at her elbow. “What was that? What did you just do?”

  “Compass spell. Redgrass seed is a powerful reagent, good for any number of uses. Long as we have these plants around us, we’ll never be lost.”

  The redgrass grew in thick clumps that were difficult to push through, forcing the two of them to stop and search for a way around. Inside the massive field, the sun was utterly lost, what little light filtered through taking on an amber cast to it. A few birds flitted about from the top of the waving stalks, but otherwise it was as if the rest of the world had slipped away.

  Twice more she stopped to cast the compass spell. William seemed to withdraw even further into himself. Clearly the boy had something on his mind, but for the moment he appeared to be keeping his own counsel.

  Temperance let him be. All her attempts to draw him into conversation before this morning had been like pulling teeth, and she was feeling worn down from the effort. Perhaps he found her too intimidating. He was rather young, after all. Two years made quite the difference in a lot of ways.

  On the other hand, just that morning she had caught him sneaking a peek at her while she changed her shirt. William might look young, but it would be foolish of her to forget that he was still a teenage boy.

  So long as he kept to only looking she didn’t mind, but if he tried anything further, the situation would get awkward for both of them. Particularly since Temperance suspected she could break him in half without too much trouble. Hell, a strong breeze might do it if they weren’t careful.

  Funny, she had never given a moment’s thought to such concerns while traveling with the Federation marshal Peter Scrimshaw. Maybe because they always had his prisoner Lalaish between them. Or perhaps it was simply that by the time she started thinking of Peter as a man, he’d grown on her enough that she hadn’t seen any issue to their being alone in the wilderness together.

  I wonder what he’s up to? Probably chasing after some other fool who got on the Federation’s bad side. Then again, he might have earned a promotion or two from bringing in that sorcerer. Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s leading his own field office by now.

  The thought sent a strange twinge through her. Not that the idea of Peter being happy bothered her, but the worry that their paths might never cross again did eat at her a little. If only there was a way for her to get him a message. When they got to Messanai she could locate the branch of the marshals stationed there. At the least they might tell her if—

  A tap on her shoulder sent Temperance a foot into the air. She whirled about, reaching for her guns, only remembering at the last second they had nothing in them. William stared back at her, a nervous expression on his face.

  “What is it?” she asked. “You see something?”

  “No, it is not that. May I ask you a question?”

  Temperance grunted. “First time for everything, I suppose.”

  “I—yes, this is true. This question may be a bit, ah, strange.”

  Well, that isn’t a concerning way to start a conversation at all, she thought wryly. “I’ll do my best to answer then. What is it?”

  “What you keep doing to that stone. Is it sorcery?”

  “Of course it is. How else do you think—” Temperance stopped. She winced. This whole time she had been blathering on without even considering William’s understanding of the language. “You thought because I’m a Pistol Warlock, I only use hexbullets. I use sorcery as well.”

  She braced herself, preparing to explain how the magic behind the two was the same, how there was nothing evil behind sorcerous spells, and that he had nothing to fear from her.

  William frowned. “Truly? How strange. I did not know anyone still practiced such an archaic form of magick. Is all of Korvana like this?”

  “Like what? Me?” Temperance snorted. “I should hope not. What did you think I was using, if not sorcery? You saw me cast that spell at Lucius, after all.”

  “I thought you enchanted them with sigilry.”

  “Enchanted?”

  William didn’t appear to hear. He shook himself free of a nasty thicket, then caught back up with her. “I do not understand. What about your—”

  Temperance clamped a hand over the b
oy’s mouth.

  “Mmfm,” he said, the sound barely audible. She shushed him, straining her ears to catch the sound from before.

  Maybe it was just my imagination. They both stood still and listened to the soft whisper of the wind. Around them the redgrass danced to its quiet tune. Nothing else moved.

  From beneath her hand, William made a muffled inquiry. Temperance shushed him again and kept listening. At last she released her hold.

  “Sorry, thought I heard something, but this place must be making me jumpy. Let me perform the compass spell again, check that all our yammering didn’t get us off course.”

  She pulled the stone and seeds from her pocket, then nearly dropped them both. The sound from before echoed around them again, a hundred-fold louder this time, too loud to be her imagination. A cry like that of an animal in pain.

  William said something to her, but Temperance didn’t hear the words. She was turned too inward at the moment. Something else had caught her attention, something far more terrifying than the sounds that were even now growing closer.

  A line of heat had begun to crawl up her spine. A burning, achingly familiar line.

  Damn everything to the frozen flames of Hell! Temperance cursed to herself. Out loud she let slip an angry hiss and grabbed hold of William’s hand.

  “What—” He cut off with a yelp as Temperance pulled him into the middle of a large redgrass thicket, the stalks growing so close together there was barely room for them to squeeze through. Branches slapped and scratched at their faces, leaving a hundred tiny nicks that burned with a fire all their own. Temperance pushed through them, not even registering the pain.

  At the center was a pile of fallen timber. She pulled William down beside her, and together they huddled beneath a log wide enough the two of them would have had trouble wrapping their arms about it. Temperance peered out from underneath, willing the fire along her spine to fade away.

  The flames grew stronger.

  She leaned out from under the log, knowing what she would find, but having to see for herself, anyway. Squinting, she just made out something large moving outside the wall of stalks. Something with legs far too long to be a horse.