The Great Forest: Laya: Dark Sculptor Novel 04

by D. R. Rosier

  Creation was about what it sounded like. Instead of summoning something that already existed, the mage could create something out of nothing, or magical energy as the case may be. It took a lot of magic, and a long period of time, just to create something small. Fabric was easier than metals, or stone. It was also outright impossible to create food from nothing, or anything organic. Flowers, plants, trees, and crops a creationist could grow quickly, and those spells came under creation, even if I thought it really shouldn’t. Nothing was created, it was just accelerated growth.

  Ironically, a lot of my flesh sculptor ability was creation, the ability to regrow parts of the human body, and even modify DNA and control the bodies of others. Creating the organic spells I used was also creation magic, mixed with illusion.

  The biggest surprise for me was illusion. Illusion didn’t create illusions in the way I thought they would, it was mind magic. Like when I connected to someone and saw their body in my mind’s eye, and could make changes, that was all the illusion half of my ability. Or, when I looked at Karana’s red robe, and how sexy she looked, her robe was really still a sickly white grayish color, I just thought I was seeing red. The magic created the illusions directly in the minds of the people around the spell, and anyone that looked at the spell would be affected. They were also the hardest spells for a mage to resist, but it was possible. Reason being the magic travelled in the very light reflected from the robes, or other illusory anchor, to modify what the human saw when it reached the mind, so the only way to avoid seeing the illusion was not to look at it. The only way to shield from it was by blocking all light. Which meant the only way a mage could see through it is if they noticed the tiny flow of magic, and then halted the flow of magic and stopping it from reaching them with an act of will. There were ways to block pure magic, but that would also cut the mage off from the flows of magic in the world, and they’d run out of it eventually without being refreshed.

  So, mages had it rough with illusion, and Non-mages were just screwed that way, and couldn’t see through illusion at all. It also wasn’t just seeing, illusion covered sounds, touch, taste, and scent as well, with all the same rules.

  We ended it there, and I didn’t really learn any new concepts that day, but I had a few ideas already anyway on what could be done in those three spheres. Summoning would come in handy, but I’d have to literally make a different spell for every item I wanted to be able to summon. Because when a mage casted that spell, a part of it would be thinking of the specific item during casting, and they could just cast that same spell over and over, but summon different things with different thoughts in the part of the spell for what to summon. The way my ability worked couldn’t do that, just like I needed two spells for different tub sizes, what I wanted to summon would have to be programmed in the organic spell as a constant, not a variable.

  Still, it might be worth it for a few things, like my armor. Or I could just rewrite the organic spell each time I wanted to cast it? It would take me a half minute or so, but that would be okay since it wasn’t something to use in battle. Illusion and summoning mixed was also what the communication spell was about, it could connect two people together over large distances, and the magic would give the audible illusion of what the speaker was thinking at the recipient at the recipient’s end. No one else would hear it, because the sound was illusion, but the contacted person would hear it as if it were spoken aloud. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to use that at all, but I’d try once I understood the concept better.

  Saria said, “Illusion is one of the reasons the forest is so dangerous, outside of the deadliest part which is the fae. I already mentioned the jaguars and bobcats, which are bigger and more powerful, but they also have natural illusion magic, which makes them able to disappear into the background, or even appear to be in a slightly different place. It’s one of the reasons I told you to do what I say, even if it doesn’t make sense. Just because you don’t see or understand the danger, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

  “I should also tell you about my family. Most of you already know Desirae, who’s just over three hundred and an accomplished mage herself. My two twin brothers, Arun and Sudryl, who are about two seventy-five, may or may not be like me, but right now they aren’t mages. I’m sure they’ll be the first two in line to get the ring Karana carries.”

  She looked at me, Sianna, and Regina, “I’m also warning the three of you, they don’t like humans at all. I didn’t like humans much either, until James and Regina came along and risked themselves for a stranger, and saved my life, virtue, and more. Since then I’ve changed, and judge people for who they are rather than what, but please be wary around my brothers. They won’t be happy you’re in our forest or city. I hate to say that about my family, but it’s true, and you’re all my dear family now.

  “My parents will be a little wary, but a lot more open minded. If that wasn’t so, they’d have never made the decision to let you in. Keep in mind that decision probably pleased half the nobles, but also infuriated the other half. Try to stay with me or Karana at all times, or Desirae. I don’t think we’ll be threatened physically, but there are other dangers to be wary of.”

  Sianna grinned cheekily, and said in a faux wistful home sick voice, “Sounds like home.”

  Regina giggled, and Saria smirked, while Karana choked on her laughter.

  Saria gave the princess a hug and laughed too.

  “It’s true enough, you’re all going to be amazed I think, and have fun, but remember what Sianna just said, it’s also a political morass and half of them would like nothing better than to see you sent home disgraced, if not killed by your own inattentiveness in a dangerous place. It is home, and I love my family, but it is what it is. As far as the city, I’ll let that be a surprise, though you know some of it already, it’s truly a magical place.”

  At least I knew why Saria had never really explained her home before, elves weren’t ones to sugar coat things, and apparently her family was messier than I’d suspected from her talking about her own faults.

  Karana said, “I’ll tell you about Amathyr before we leave Lelmalond. No need to worry you about it yet, and you should be focused on Lelmalond right now.”

  I tilted my head, wondering what she didn’t want to tell us.

  Karana shrugged helplessly, “It’s not that bad, just… you’ll see.”

  She stood up, and then slipped out of her mage robes. She was my mate, and I was quite familiar with her naked body, but I still couldn’t help but stare at her proud heart shaped C cups, or her long legs, beautiful mound, and thin waist. She was lissome, and all sensual predatory seduction as she headed for the bedroom. It was a hell of a way to change the subject.

  She looked over her shoulder, “Let’s go to bed early.”

  It was obviously a manipulation, to stop any more questions.

  Did it work? Damned right it did. Especially when my other mates started to giggle and disrobe too, what’s a man to do but his stern husbandly duties? It’s only right, after all.

  Chapter Eleven

  The transition from the regular thick forest to the Great Forest Laya was obvious. The trees were bigger, the leaves greener and richer in color, and the sounds of wildlife a lot more numerous. I felt like the cliché farmer in the big city for the first time, as I gaped and tried to take in everything at once. Even the scents were crisper.

  Other than that, so far, Laya wasn’t that different from a regular forest. There were no alien trees, or something that didn’t fit, just larger, more vivid in color, and filled with a lot more life. That included the flowers, bushes, and other flora as well.

  The one bad thing about the trip was we could only take one pack, and we had to carry it ourselves. I was in pretty good shape, we all were, I was even used to walking all day from being an intern, but… walking in the forest on ground that wasn’t flat was a lot harder, and it had a different knack to it to conserve strength. I was picking it up, it was all about bending the knees, an
d keeping the torso at about the same level, rather than picking up my body over and over again each time I had to step up only to step back down again. There was a magic we used to make the packs lighter, but even just one was bulky enough, we couldn’t afford to be awkward or off balance if we needed to run for cover.

  Neither Sianna nor Regina were all too happy about that, because as usual they’d planned to go back to wearing dresses when we got to the city. They’d finally relented when Saria explained the city was a part of the forest, and elves didn’t wear dresses, they wore elven armor, or leather armor similar to humans, and the mages wore tight robes.

  It also became quite obvious why Karana’s robes hugged her body so well. When I’d met her I’d assumed like everything else with her it had been about her sensuousness, and that she wasn’t ashamed of her body and didn’t mind showing it off. In truth, that was part of it no doubt, or at least, it was all true, but the real reason for the tight robes was so they didn’t get caught on the branches and bushes as we made our way through the forest. Not a decision made because of fashion or how damned sexy she looked in them at all, but more a practical reason. The way she flitted through the trees just made it… obvious. Loose robes would have constantly been getting caught, and possibly ripped.

  I was a bit disappointed myself, because they were both stunning in their dresses, but they were very attractive and fetching in leather travel clothes as well, just in more obvious ways.

  I also learned the city was only about thirty miles away, we’d make less than twenty miles the first day, maybe as little as fifteen. We stopped a lot more with Saria’s raised fist, than when we’d been on the road. Worse, I never knew why she stopped, or sensed anything wrong, or even saw our thirty-six-elf scout escort. It made me a little paranoid, like I was missing obvious dangers. But… they really weren’t, obvious I mean.

  The forest was also far less fun a trip, even if far more beautiful. There was no small talk, and we moved as quietly as possible, though for us humans that wasn’t very quiet at all. On the road between human cities I’d gotten used to getting even closer with my mates, there in the forest even casual flirty glances were rare as we were all constantly searching for a danger we might never see coming.

  Humans were a bit jaded sometimes, and they say you can get used to anything, and by the time we stopped for a quick lunch I was pretty much used to the forest and had lost my sense of wonder. Don’t get me wrong, it was still beautiful, incredibly so, but like my elven mates it’d lost that alien flavor. Still a bit exotic, and nice, but not that different.

  Of course, that’s when Saria taught me how wrong I was, the elven forest was different. She took my hand, and then led me carefully about fifty feet away from where we were eating, with Regina and Saria behind us. Her measured steps filled me with caution, but I kept my attention on her, I knew she’d identify dangers I’d never see, so figured I’d take my cue from her.

  I didn’t see anything strange at least, that is until she reached out and parted the bushes she’d led us up to, revealing a glade about fifty feet long by twenty feet wide, filled with beautiful alluring flowers.

  The flowers were about three feet in height, with gorgeous pink petals ranging from dark pink at the core of the flower, out to light pink on the edges. It had golden leaves, and the stems were a lush vibrant green, almost glowing. I took an unconscious step forward, and Saria wordlessly blocked me with her hand, and then pointed.

  At first, I had no idea what I was looking at, it had the body about the size of a large dog, like a German Shepard, but it was definitely birdlike, with long leathery wings with a twenty-foot span. It was also dead, decaying. I tilted my head in horror, as I finally noticed the bright green roots digging into the creature’s body from the ground. I imagined that creature was one of this forest’s flyers, the reason we couldn’t build a flyer to avoid travel through the forest… and it was the prey of this beautiful flower.

  That’s when the truth finally hit me, it wasn’t that this forest wasn’t different, it was that the elves were guiding us around the most deadly and strangest of those differences. At least in regards to magical and dangerous flora. I still felt the need to sniff the flower, even though I knew the danger. Not enough to override my common sense, but it was clearly a huge danger for the unwary, or animals with limited intelligence. There were several squirrels and a few rabbits that lay dead in the field as well.

  Point was, the scouts were doing their best to keep us out of danger. I wondered what other deadly wonders there were in the forest, besides large wolves, cougars, panthers, and bobcats that is. I was curious to see them, but not curious enough to want to risk my life, or one of my precious mate’s lives on such an endeavor.

  Still, I was interested to see such wonders, just not that interested.

  I reached out with my magic to the closest one, just to look at the DNA. I discovered the flower gave off scents to confuse the unwary, which had magic mixed up in it. The roots themselves would snake up from the ground and stab into a creature that ventured to close. Not far into the body, but far enough to release a paralyzing toxin. Then the flower would leisurely suck the life and magic out of its victim as its roots slowly dug deeper.

  I was half tempted to burn the things, but I knew the elves wouldn’t thank me for that. The flower was part of a well-balanced eco-system, without them the larger predators might see a population boom, which would mean a serious culling of the plant eaters, which would… the point was the flower was part of the food chain, a necessary part no matter how awful I thought it was.

  The elves didn’t want empty forests, like back on Earth where so many animals are at near or total extinction.

  Saria nodded in satisfaction, as if she’d seen that decision in my eyes, and walked us back to the others to finish our lunches.

  I wasn’t sure, but I think my loving mate had just tested me, and if I’d failed it we’d have been marching back toward Eastguard. I’d have been offended at the idea, if my first inclination hadn’t been to raze the whole meadow with fire. It was also possible she’d just wanted to re-stress the dangers of the forest, so we didn’t become complacent since nothing happened the first four or five hours, but I honestly doubted it.

  After lunch we continued on for several more hours, while I couldn’t help but look for more horrible wonders, unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, my inquisitiveness went unanswered. But it was that late afternoon that serious trouble found us.

  A fierce wind struck us from the north, which actually knocked me on my ass, and sent me rolling until I grabbed onto a bush, followed by an intense horizontal rain that made me completely blind to the world around me. I felt someone grab my leg, and I thought it might be Sianna. Another body struck me, and I reached out and grabbed it as it started to bounce away.

  The wind got fiercer, and I got hit in the head with what I guessed was a small piece of hail. The storm was loud, and larger pieces of hail started to hit my body and I grunted in pain.

  I did the first thing I thought of, which was to cast the hot tub spell. A large portion of the ground disappeared right from under us, and the three of us fell into the large hole. The wind and hail were still hitting us, but most of it was going right over.

  I activated a protective ward above us, sealing the hole against the furious wind, and then another one to seal it against water. A third and fourth person rolled into our big hole in the ground, and they cried out in shock when they hit the dirt.

  I was never happier than in that moment, that I needed three separate spells for a hot tub, no water needed for an improvised storm shelter.

  Sianna was there, she had been the one holding onto my leg, and was now snuggled into my left side as I sat against the wall. The one that hit me and I grabbed turned out to be Regina, and she was on my right, leaning against me. I had no idea where my other two mates were, the other two that fell in the hole were two of the elven women we’d healed and brought back from Malburn. I reco
gnized them of course, despite my efforts to avoid them. They were both very attractive, as far as I could tell all female elves were, of both the light and dark. They both had that same silver white blonde hair, and dark blue eyes of subtly different shades. They were both taller than Saria, and more willowy, closer to Desirae’s body type. Their faces had that same exotic beauty to them, but at the same time looked nothing like Saria or one another for that matter.

  Of course, I wasn’t thinking about that right then, or ever really. The last thing they needed was a man’s attention, and I already had four mates. I’d just been trying to remember their names.

  “Claire and Alea right? Are you two alright?”

  I already knew my two mates were fine, I didn’t need their permission to treat them, or check them with magic. Not because I had rights to their bodies or any type of bullshit like that, even if that was really a thing on this world, but because they’d given me blanket permission a while ago.