She was tall, close to six feet, even, with long legs and a lean, athletic build her hunting leathers did little to hide. Light brown hair fell from her head in a practical braid, kept out of her face by a leather band, just above a pair of chestnut-dark brown eyes. One half of her face was colored by an intricate woad tattoo, as detailed as the ones I saw on Alum and the rest of the Gaelguard. Strapped to her back were arrows and an unstrung bow—how she managed to unstring it while leaping down I had no idea, and she was pointing a familiar, red-tipped spear at me.
It was the same spear she had threatened me with when I first came to the Woadlands so long ago. I tried to think positively about the fact that she was at least consistent. It didn’t work. But the dumb-ass dragon in me was absolutely thrilled with her.
See? Exactly what I was talking about earlier—
She just tried to kill us, you moron! I cut him off while addressing Stell’s youngest Satellite.
“Merada, what the hell is your problem?” I said angrily. “Are you going to try and kill me every time you see me?”
“Aye.” She nodded calmly. “At least until it finally sticks. Be a dear and move yer shield out of the way, will ye?”
“No!” I snapped, turning my head just enough to shout over my shoulder. “Breena! Merada’s trying to kill me again! Hurry the hell up!”
I sent the exact same message to her through the mindlink, but it seemed to have absolutely no impact on the Woad Princess.
“Och,” she snorted. “Ye must be one of the new fakes, if ye don’t think I’ll recognize me sister Satellite.”
It felt weird to hear the word ‘Satellite’ come from a voice having such a strong, pseudo-Irish accent, but then again, she was trying to kill me straight out of the blue, so all bets were off for my sanity right now anyway.
“Saved my life the first time,” I replied, trying to keep my temper under control, because this woman was technically part of my boss. “I get I’ve had a lot of imposters, Merada, but can we just stand our ground until Breena and the others come verify my identity?”
She seemed to actually consider that idea, until her eyes suddenly widened.
“Others,” she muttered, turning her head back to the rescued captives. “Get out of here! Before his friends come!” She turned back to glare at me. “I’ll hold him off.”
Before I could find an appropriate expletive, she darted forward, spear snaking downward to strike past my shield.
If Virtus hadn’t taken our training sessions so seriously, her first strike probably would have ended me right then and there, or at least crippled me. As it was, I managed to knock her blow aside and step inward, in an attempt to get too close for her spear to work at all. It would have worked better if I knew what to do next, though, because there was no way I would get in a death match with one of Stell’s Satellites.
Breena, I sent. Tell me you got my message earlier.
Yes, Wes! We’re on our way! Just hold out for a bit!
This is not okay! I shot back, but then I had to raise my shield high enough to stop a booted foot from denting my head.
Those are great legs though, the Freaking New Guy pointed out. I didn’t even have time to snap at him, because the next moment Merada leaped forward, planted both of her feet on my shield, and rebounded backwards, gaining enough to distance to use her spear and launch a thrust that nicked one of my legs.
I swore as I made another leap of my own, trying to put more distance between myself and the woman I wasn’t allowed to fight.
“Bit of a mouth on ye, aye?” the wild brunette said calmly. “The other imposters didn’t curse near so much.”
“Yeah, well I blame work-related stress,” I answered sarcastically. “Can we talk about how I’m not an imposter, and that if you just wait two minutes, like you did way back when we first met, Breena will prove it for me?”
“Sorry,” the beautiful amazon said grimly, readying her spear for another stab. “But another one of ye already tried that same trick. Surprised ye got that memory out of ‘em before you killed him though,” she added harshly, and I saw raw hate in her eyes. “Tell me: how bad did ye have to torture the real Wes Malcolm before he finally talked?”
Memory flooded me. My jaw clenched.
“They didn’t get it out of me,” I spat, a lot more darkly than I had meant to. “And it wouldn’t have made a difference. They were going to torture me to death every single time no matter what I said. That was obvious after the first handful of deaths.”
She flinched at that, but kept glaring me.
“I’ll credit ye for yer acting then. This is for the real Malcolm,” she growled, charging forward to launch another series of strikes that I barely batted away with my shield.
Her anger surprised me. I hadn’t expected to leave such a strong impression on Merada in the small amount of time I had spent with her. But then again, I suspected that a bit of Stell’s feelings ran through each of her Satellites. Apparently Merada got most of her bloodlust. That was a side of Stell I hadn’t really seen much of.
“I’m alive, Merada!” I shouted, still trying to work this out verbally. “Stell should have told you! I just talked to her a month ago!”
“Haven’t seen the rest of me in a long time,” the Woad Princess answered calmly, “Reckon I have yer people to thank for that. That and enslaving me people, plunging me world into a frozen hellscape, and generally making arses of yerselves. Now hold still for a wee bit, will ye, darling?”
Hey, just saying, Teeth spoke up, but I’m really digging the legs, accent, and sass on this one. Hurry up and offer her one of our kills. Maybe try using the big one you let head-butt us?
I did my best to tune the hormonal idiot out while Merada’s next spear thrust narrowly missed my cheek. I turned my dodge into a full roll to get more distance away from the murderously unhappy amazon.
“Ye all there, darlin?” the Woad Princess asked with cool amusement. “Most of the others kept their heads out of the clouds while I fought them. Bad time for distractions and all.”
“Here’s some news,” I said as I glared at her. “Only the real me has to deal with an annoying jackass dragon in my head offering all kinds of dumb ideas.”
“Head, now, is it?” she asked, still amused. “Are ye sure?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, confused but still keeping my shield up.
“I mean most boys keep their dragon under their trousers,” she said as she began to flank me. “Sounds like yers has gotten out of control if it’s all the way up there now. Ye should probably get it checked.”
I began to sputter, and she took advantage of it, stabbing at me again with her spear. This time she shimmered as she moved, and I could tell she had done something to increase her speed. I darted back as fast as I could, but my shield began to shudder under her suddenly stronger blows.
“Are you always this aggravating when you kill people?” I snapped, pulling on my own enhancement spells to finally shrug off her blows and dart back from her again.
“Aye,” she answered, grinning. “But yer a dear for noticing. Hold still and I’ll stab yer dragon for ye.”
She seemed to be having so much fun right now that I honestly couldn’t tell what part of this fight was or wasn’t a game.
“Do you really not recognize me?” I asked, taking advantage of her willingness to talk. Every moment she didn’t attack gave Breena and company another moment to get here and set the story straight. “You met me after the very first Horde Pit was destroyed, several months ago my time, fifty years ago yours? I pulled a fairy out of the Pit and you didn’t believe me? Breena snitched on me blowing it up afterwards? You and Breena said a bunch of weird stuff about me afterwards, that broke my brain?”
She had been circling me again, and paused mid-stride during my explanation.
“Aye,” she said slowly. “That does all check out. Would still come out after enough torture, though. And since every new one of ye knows more than the last,
” she said, suddenly narrowing her eyes, “that might mean that the real Wes Malcolm is still alive. Tell ye what, if ye be a good lad and tell me where he is, I’ll spare yer little dragon when I finally kill ye.”
I sighed in discouragement.
“Do I really look that different?” I asked tiredly.
“A good bit,” she confessed, not attacking yet. “A closer match than the others though. Most of them were jumped-up pretty boys, all soft and shiny at first, but rotten and weak when ye finally trust ‘em. However, they must have decided to go a different route when they dressed ye up.” She smirked. “Much, much closer to the real thing, I’ll grant that. But they gave ye too much muscle, and the real one was a tad less ruggedly good-looking.” She smirked as she said the last part. “Can’t fault them for figuring out me taste in men, though,” she added with a shrug.
“Wait,” I said, suddenly having trouble keeping up with this conversation. “What?”
Yeah, what? FNG added unhelpfully.
“Shame they forgot the best part of a man,” Merada added darkly, locking eyes with me. “Every lass hates heart-breaking arseholes.”
Her long legs flexed, and then she launched into me, piercing deep into my shield with her spear and slamming me against a large tree. She strained as she kept pressing on her weapon, pinning me against the tree with strength too great for even her athletic frame. I could hear her spear blade begin to slowly grind its way through my shield.
“If I can just show you some of my equipment,” I grunted, feeling the wood on my shield continue to splinter under her spear thrust. “Heck, I’m wearing Gaelguard armor, Merada.”
“Could’ve looted it,” Merada said simply, not letting up on her thrust.
“I have woadsap!” I said next. “From a Monarch!”
“Don’t believe ye,” Merada said tensely, exerting more force. “And wanting to show me yer equipment is just making me want to kill ye more.”
I gave up, gritted my teeth, and began pushing back, slowly moving my shield out of the way and moving off of the tree. I saw her eyes widen in surprise, but then she growled and strained even harder. I pushed harder in turn, putting the strength of my Ideals, Rises, Dragon bonds, and constant training to work. It proved to be just enough, and I finally yanked free of the tree, pulled her stuck spear out of her grip, and threw my shield and the weapon it was stuck to out of the way.
“Breena!” I shouted, “why aren’t you here yet!”
Merada growled again, crouching low and pulling a knife from her belt.
“Can’t believe I have to waste this,” she muttered angrily, and the tattoo on her cheek began to glow. I suddenly remembered that she was a Gaelguard, and supposedly on a stronger level than Alum’s people.
Alum’s people could do all kinds of incredible things with their tattoos. If Merada was even close to their level I’d have to resort to fighting lethally, which would end in us both losing in the long run no matter how the fight ended.
I swore and launched into her, driving my shoulder into her stomach. I saw her eyes widen in surprise at my speed, then as my shoulder impacted I heard the air rush out of her mouth. The force of my slam lifted her off the ground and blasted the knife out of her hand. But she was already trying to twist out of the way. I wrapped my hands around her torso, pinning her arms as we both crashed to the ground.
“Dirtbag!” she spat as we both thrashed. She wasn’t much weaker than me, and I winced as she kneed me in the side. “Finally letting yer dragon do the thinking now, are ye? Makes ye the boldest one of ‘em yet!”
I gave up on talking to her and just tried to hold her prone until someone else could try to talk to her. My own issues, upbringing, and knowledge of harassment lawsuits made sure I kept my waist off of her, though.
“Not even doin’ it right,” I heard her complain under her breath.
“What?” I asked, completely confused. What exactly was she complaining about?
“Got ye,” she said with a smile, flexing her legs and somehow flipping the both of us. She landed on top, still smiling, and snaked her legs around my torso, and begun to squeeze my stomach in a scissor hold. I gasped as the air knocked out of me, and I saw her tattoo begin to glow again. I gritted my teeth and squeezed back with my own hold, causing her to gasp in return and disrupting whatever she was about to do with her Woad tattoo.
“Hmph,” the woadwoman grunted in pain, still tightening her own hold. “Strongest… one of ye… bastards… yet.” She closed her eyes as her whole face went tense. “Also… the most… brazen…”
I closed my own eyes, wondering which of us would pass out first. I was stronger but it sure felt like she had the better hold.
“Wes!” Breena’s voice cut through the blood pounding in my skull.
“Breena?” the woman strangling my stomach asked in amazement, and I felt her legs loosen slightly. I let go of her in a sigh of relief, sucking in giant gulps of air as I heard Merada do the same.
“What in the holy herb are you and Wes doing?” my bonded companion demanded. I was far too tired to defend myself, so I just lay there panting and wondering if the bloodthirsty war maiden would ever stop straddling me.
Shh! Teeth whispered. Don’t jinx it! I sent him a mental projection of my middle finger and tried opening my eyes.
“He’s real?” the woman asked as her chest heaved and her long braid bounced in my face. She looked uncertain, hopeful, and slightly embarrassed all at once. “He’s our Challenger? Ye both are finally here?”
“Of course we’re here! And what do you mean he’s real? He doesn’t look that different from before!”
“There’ve been fakes,” the Woad Princess replied, sounding self-conscious and defensive. “Dozens of ‘em, in fact. I…” She swallowed. “I didn’t really hurt him.”
“Not that badly,” I groaned, closing my eyes and patiently not mentioning that I had spent the whole day running, fighting through a village, running some more, getting hit in the head by a giant ape-orc, then finally stabbed a couple times and nearly squeezed to death by a bloodthirsty Celtic beauty queen.
In fairness, the last one on that list really isn’t ba—
Shut up, Teeth.
“What do you mean ‘didn’t really’?” Breena asked Merada angrily. “And why are you still on top of him?”
Teeth whined as the weight left my chest. I heard Breena buzz over to me and begin checking my injuries.
“He looks sore, a few stab wounds, but nothing his vital guard won’t fix… that’s a giant bruise just above his hips though, Merada. What were you thinking?”
“He started it,” the woman pouted. “I was just squeezing back.”
“Explain, Wes,” Breena said carefully.
I opened my eyes to see her hovering near my face, looking concerned and suspicious. Merada stood over me, arms crossed and tossing her brown braid indignantly.
“She was about to activate her tattoo,” I sighed, rising painfully to my feet. “I didn’t want the fight to get serious, so I tried to lock her down.”
“Ohhhh,” Breena said slowly, eyes widening in comprehension. “That makes total sense, then. Good call, Wes. She would probably have hurt you enough at least to make you angry, and then you might’ve let your dragon out and torn her in half with it.”
“Breena,” I groaned as I covered my face. “Don’t…”
“Dragon?” Merada asked, suddenly amused and unrepentant. “You’ve finally seen it, then?”
“Only a couple of times, but yeah!” the fairy said enthusiastically. “Saw it on the way to the Woadlands, in fact! Haven’t had a chance to talk about it, though!”
To my horror, I looked and saw the rest of the company approaching. Val, the Testifiers, the Gaelguard, and even a few of the elf warriors all slowly began to filter close by. My horrified look did nothing to shoo them away.
“Congratulations,” Merada continued in her amused tone. “I guess ye’ve finally gotten bigger then?”
“Stop,” I begged. “Please, stop.” I looked around at the audience snickering behind the two Satellites. “Merada, now that you trust me, can you at least confirm that everyone is safe?”
“Aye,” she said slowly, and smiling again. “From this raid at least. You were saving the last group of me people when I found ye. I thought it was another trick. I reckon I owe ye quite an apology, Challenger.”
“Thank you,” I replied, choosing not to read into that at the moment because I wasn’t sure we had time. “You suggested there were other raids. Is the Horde’s Pit close by?”
“Aye.” The wild brunette nodded grimly. “Been trying to deal with it for good, but I’ve had too many fires to put out at once, what with that Trial and that Tumult going on at the same time. I have a force on the way to deal with them, though. Care to come with us?” She winked at me, apparently completely over the fact that she tried to murder me earlier, and expecting me to be the same. We’d have to talk about that later, but I knew enough about Horde Pits to know that every day they were ignored equaled a day the Pit spent growing another Horde army that would turn around and reinforce the Pit. I didn’t know how advanced the Pit was but if it was currently spitting out advanced Mongrels and new types of Horde, then it was a Pit I needed to deal with today.
“Absolutely,” I answered her. “Let’s wipe out that threat while we can.”
“I’ve missed that confidence,” Merada said with another smirk. Then she grimaced. “It’ll be tough, though. All we have are meself, me guard of sprite-folk and elves, Breena, and yer…” She blinked as she looked at my tattooed honor guard and the rest of my warband. “Gaelguard?” She kept blinking. “There are this many Gaelguard left? Where did ye even find them?”
“Long story,” I answered tiredly. “Breena or I will tell you later.”
“… and Testifiers?” Merada asked next, her eyes scrolling down to Eadric, Karim, and Weylin. They were kneeling in the presence of one of Stell’s Satellites, making a sign with their hands that they had never bothered to make around me. Probably because I never would have recognized it, but still…
Woad Children (Challenger's Call Book 3) Page 33
