"No time to go like the present, eh?" Tolian asked wryly and shouldered his pack for yet another journey.
Jaxius flung his wood and iron shield over his back and took up the spear that Tolian tossed at his feet. Just after the sun came to full over the horizon, he and his companion were off again. This time not simply for the sake of traveling to a new land to find adventure, but because adventure was leading them onward.
They set their pace as brisk as possible, just short of jogging. They traveled through the day, not stopping to rest until it was time to make camp for the evening.
"Like old times again. Eh?" Tolian asked. "Just the two of us."
Jaxius knew the words had special meaning when Tolian spoke them, wondering if it would stay "just the two of them" for long. He also mused about whether or not Tolian had fully considered his word choice as he set up the tent that they had brought from the camp.
"I am surely glad that we got to bring a tent this time. Otherwise, we might get cold." Tolian said not trying to hide his sarcasm.
Neither man dared to allow himself to fully sleep that night. They alternated dozing, wrapped tightly in warm furs, and watching for trouble through the barely opened tent flap. Hours passed without so much as the wind making a noise.
"You are watching the wrong way," an all too familiar voice squeaked from nowhere, startling Jaxius.
Jaxius spun from watching through the cracks of the tent flap to face the direction of the little girl's voice. Tolian leaped to the side of the tent like a farm wife startled by a mouse. He hugged the edge of the tent, his chest heaving, and beads of sweat forming on his face despite the cold.
"The danger that you should be watching for is coming from further west, not the southeast. Your man-tent is facing the wrong way. Not that it would do you much good, anyway. What you ought to be looking out for simply will not care if you are hiding behind some deer skins." Chlora continued. "And I hope you don't expect me to save your lives again. Not this time, anyway. You still haven't thanked me for the one hundred thirty-five times that I saved you last time. But... perhaps I have come again to save your lives."
She shot Tolian a sidelong glance and returned her mischievous look to Jaxius, "Well, I have at least come to save your life, Upuchwe."
"What are you talking about Chlora?" Jaxius asked.
Her gaze locked onto his eyes and a wide, toothy smile spread across her suddenly beaming face. She leaped into his lap, "You remember! You remember! Yay. He remembers! I thought you lost forever, Upuchwe. But now you remember."
"No, Chlora, I don't fully remember. I just have a couple of pictures. A scene or two, but nothing I would call memory. Besides, I don't have any context to put it to." He, in fact, did not. But now that he had heard it a few times, the name Upuchwe seemed familiar to him.
"Oh, then, in that case, I guess I will have to eat him," she said flicking her thumb at a dumbstruck Tolian. "I would be doing you a favor too," she continued to the muted bard, "because I would do it quickly. If the followers of Hopush get to you then they will enjoy eating you too much."
"Chlora, explain what you mean, please." Jaxius said already somewhat exasperated with the little faerie girl's riddles but liking the way that she turned them on Tolian.
"Well," she started, putting her hands together in front of her face mimicking eating motions. "First they would strip away all his skin and set that aside. Then they would suck his eyeballs out. And, I would imagine, do some really nasty things with his bowels...."
"No, I mean explain why you even bring them, whoever they are, up," Jaxius said.
Tolian interrupted before she could open her mouth, knowing if he let her then he might not get a chance, "Hopush is the cruel demon prince of carnage if you are to believe the legends."
"No, not legends," Chlora scowled at Tolian before turning her attentions once again to Jaxius. "You faced his followers before, Upuchwe. They were decimated by your mighty force. But," she began to pout, "you've forgotten how to make a tremendous power. The world has to settle for a tiny thump."
"You are getting sidetracked again, Chlora. What does Hopush have to do with us now if, as you say, my mighty power defeated his followers before?"
"Maybe he's coming back for revenge. Maybe he doesn't like you," she shrugged devilishly. "Or maybe it's just a coincidence that they are less than a mile from here."
"Less than a mile? Why didn't you say something before?" Tolian asked, frantically starting to pack his things up.
"I did. I said I came to save your life again, but I wasn't speaking to you. I was speaking to Upuchwe."
"So these demons are only a mile away?" Jaxius asked.
"Well, they could possibly be closer now. I mean, they were only a mile away when I came to you and woke up sleepy head here. But neither of you listens, so the skin-ripping, people-eating demons are probably much nearer now."
As if in reply to their conversation a blood-curdling howl ripped open the night sky. Jaxius and Tolian dove out of the tent just in time for a streak of purple flesh to tear it from the ground.
"Chlora!" Jaxius shouted, overcome with concern for the little faerie.
"What?" came the little voice from beside him.
Jaxius grinned as he remembered that the mischievous thing was full of surprises.
"Never mind," he said.
Jaxius looked up into the night sky to try to see what could possibly loose a howl so evil. The moon was blotted from the sky by a cloud of demons. Instinctively he dove for his weapons that were now scattered across the snow. Jaxius stood, viortassi in hand, and silently lamented the loss of the protection that his shield would give. However, the viortassi felt more and more comfortable as the days passed by.
Tolian had already drawn his fighting daggers and dropped to a defensive crouch, inching his way to Jaxius' position.
A wall of demons swooped down and landed in the middle of their camp, cutting Tolian off from his friend. The snarls and growls coming from the demons caused the short hairs on Tolian's neck to stand straight. The monsters' thick shiny skin was deep purple, virtually black. Their bright yellow eyes bulged from their misshapen heads, and the things' bright red pupils shone as foul as the fires of the Underworld. The demons seemed to taste the bard's abject fear and they turned their whole attention on him. One grinning behemoth licked its lips and grinned wider. Its mouth stretch from that grin into a gaping maw, exposing row upon row of tiny razor-sharp, yellowed teeth.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Tolian shuddered.
Taking the barely perceptible quiver as a signal, the gigantic demon threw himself upon Tolian. Tolian's reflexes, remarkable as ever, were barely enough to keep him away from the lunging monster. The purple demon narrowly missed the arm he was aiming for.
Tolian continued his movement, turning in a sharp circle and sank three daggers deep into the monstrosity's heavily muscled side. Two more daggers snapped into the bard's hands at lightning speed to replace the ones now quivering in the beast's hide.
The brute howled at the injuries, and blue-green ichor trickled down its side. The snow sizzled when the blood splashed down onto it. The monstrosity reached a clawed hand up and yanked one of the steel daggers from between its ribs and flung it angrily to the hissing and spitting snow. The demon threw back its head and howled its imminent victory into the winter air.
Tolian leaped and slashed both newly readied daggers across the fiend's bared throat. More of the alien blood flooded out, staining the white snow. The shocked creature fell limp and gurgled its life onto the ground.
"Never sing your success until you're back home drinking. Old bard's rule." Tolian said. He jerked his daggers free and looked for Jaxius in the rambling confusion.
After the first demon went after Tolian, the rest, it seemed to the bard, had turned their attention on Jaxius. The majority of the host of demons circled and lunged at the half-elf. Tolian saw only brief glimpses of his embattled friend through the throng of dem
ons. Sharp, serrated claws thrust in and out of the ring, reaching for the warrior who worked laboriously to keep the dangerous appendages away.
Jaxius toiled to parry the dozen or so raging demons that darted in and out of his range. His breathing came faster and shallower with each thrust of his heavy elven sword. Sweat clung to him, and his body staved off the bitter cold by producing more heat that turned to steam in the night air. Jaxius' viortassi sang a nearly constant note as he fought off the beasts.
The creatures held nothing back. One managed to get a claw around Jaxius' ankle. The monster howled with bloody glee when his intended meal slipped heavily to the ground. That one lost his arm to the mighty viortassi, wielded with amazing precision by the now prone warrior. Its blue-green blood spurted out in jets and turned patches of snow to rivulets of turquoise sludge.
Thick, leafy green vines sprouted from the ground, lifting Jaxius from the ground to continue his valiant battle.
Chlora stayed in constant contact with Jaxius, even when he fell or swung his viortassi her way. Her every action was in concert with Jaxius. When Jaxius swung out at a demon to his left, she would call up some root or vine to block a demon from attacking his rear.
Tolian helped Jaxius in his own way, too. Never really sure of Jaxius' next move, Tolian flung daggers at any demons that strayed too far from the roiling sphere of action. Once, this plan brought Tolian to the full attention of one of the largest demons. It turned, pulled the hastily thrown dagger from its rippling shoulder, and dove headlong for Tolian. Huge leathery wings kicked up loose snow as the demon hurtled toward the bard. Tolian waited, patiently gauging the beast's approach.
Finally, Tolian somersaulted through the snow toward the oncoming monster and thrust his blades forward and along a jagged line. The daggers pierced deep into the creature and sliced the hideous thing's stomach open from its chest to its thighs. The creature hit the frozen ground with a thunderous crash. Tolian was on the thing's back before it could recover. He held onto a wing with one hand and pumped a dagger into the demon's side with the other. The blood that oozed from the cuts scalded Tolian's delicate hand and forearm, but he ignored the pain. He was focused on destroying the foul creature.
Rising to its feet but unable to fly, the bat-winged thing spun in circles, swatting at the man clinging to its back. The acrobatic human stung him again and again. Each steely prick stole more and more of the demon's energy. Bit by bit it slowed and eventually fell to the ground, dead before it landed.
Now with two of the things dead by his hand, Tolian posed more of a threat to the demon multitude than he had previously. Three of the pack abandoned their attack on Jaxius and tore after him.
Tolian knew that he was no match for three of the beasts and sought his escape route. If he could make it to the edge of the woods, perhaps he could slow the creatures down. This was all the time for thought that he had because one of the monsters was almost at him. Tolian sprinted off toward the darkened forest. He crashed through the thin layer of underbrush and skidded around the first large tree that he came to. Tolian threw his back against the tree, hoping the demons would pass him by. He forced his breathing to slow and listened.
The first purple-black creature sped past, quickly followed by a second, smaller demon. Tolian waited for the third of the monstrous creatures to fly past his makeshift hiding spot. Wind from the other passing demons filled Tolian with a chill, and a shudder slipped down Tolian's back. The sound of deep, snorting breaths broke the wintry silence. Tolian twisted his neck in the direction of the sound. He wanted to see how close the creature was. He was immediately answered by the creature's foul, hot breath in his face. Its glowing red eyes flared and its bat-like nostrils spread wide.
Tolian turned to flee, but the demon caught him by the back of the neck, jerking his retreat to a sudden, terrifying stop. Tolian's body slumped bonelessly as the creature climbed on too-quiet wings, carrying the unconscious bard into the night.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Jaxius' viortassi slashed and split demon flesh, spilling the entrails of demon after demon onto the melting snow. But still, a nonstop onslaught of monsters pounded Jaxius' defenses. The demons hacked and snapped at him, rolling their fallen kin out of the way to get to him. They pressed in on Jaxius until he was fighting on one knee.
He sucked in deep breaths and spent all of his energy just staving off the attack. The creatures scored several small cuts and scrapes on his arms and legs. The cuts immediately began to fester and ooze from the fiends' vile toxins.
"Chlora, save yourself. Get away from here," Jaxius shouted.
"How? What do you mean?" she asked.
"You can move without moving. I remember you did it in the forest before."
Chlora blasted another demon in the face with a burst of light and said, "Oh. Sure. I forgot about that."
She closed her eyes and scrunched her face. Blinding light erupted from where she stood. The attacks of the demons halted with the brilliant light.
Jaxius blinked several times to clear the flash from his eyes. He hoped that he could readjust his sight faster than the demons. He thought that this might be the advantage that he needed. When the spots in his vision finally cleared enough to see, Jaxius was surprised to find a dome of roots and vines just a foot above his head. He looked around, Chlora was sitting in the middle of the hemisphere with her eyes still closed tight.
"What did you do?" Jaxius asked.
"Didn't you say for me to save myself? Well, when you said save yourself, I thought to myself why not save both of us, if I am going to save myself. That's definitely the more heroic thing to do. It's what you would do, isn't it Upuchwe? Anyway, I saved us. Again."
"Where are we?"
"In a cocoon. A home that my friends made for us." She reached over and tickled one of the vines which shook at her touch.
"I can see that, but where is the cocoon? I mean where in the world are we?"
"Oh, well why didn't you ask that, silly Upuchwe? We are in the middle of the Green Wood, my forest. Don't worry. The demons can't get to us here. They are miles away. It would take them hours and hours to get here, even if they did know right where we are. But you see, my friends are sneaky. From the sky we look like just another tree top. At least, that's what I think we look like. I mean really, I am inside with you. So I can't really see us from the sky, but I like to imagine that we look like a tree. That would be nice wouldn't it? Sometimes I like to imagine that I am a frog bodied dragon, but that's silly because they don't exist do they? You don't know any stories about dragons with the body of a frog do you?"
Jaxius took her return to capriciousness as a sign that they were truly safe where they were. Or perhaps it only meant that she was truly insane. Either way, his legs and arms had no more energy to argue the point. He dropped his heavy viortassi, and his knees buckled. His falling body was caught up by a soft throne of thickly leafed plants.
"I know you must be extremely tired. You fought bravely. You gave the demons a fighting chance. You didn't even use any of your powers. That was really noble of you." She paused and looked bewildered for a moment. "Or perhaps it was incredibly foolish. I don't know. I haven't decided yet. We will see if you can vanquish the beasts. That will determine which it was. Either way, are you hungry? I know you must be."
"Yes, actually. I am starving." Jaxius spoke into her short lapse of silence.
"Then you should eat something. That always takes care of my hunger."
Jaxius stared at her, trying to decide if he should speak, pounce on her, or ignore the comment. At length, he opted to speak up, "I would, but all of my food was left at the camp along with my shield and my spear."
"Bah, you don't need the spear or the shield. You have your blade. And as for food, all you had to do was ask. You know I would take care of you."
Jaxius did not doubt that idea one bit. He just wondered when her taking care of him might kill him. He accepted the nuts and berries that Chlora produced fro
m seemingly nowhere. As he chewed the mouthful of flavor, he thought it odd how at home he felt with the little fae. How comfortable he felt near her. How completely sleepy he felt. What? He thought. Not sleepy! But it was too late, he was fast asleep, cradled by the soft bush.
"You always fell for that trick," Chlora said. She chuckled to herself and put away the rest of the sedative berries. She leaned over him and breathed out a green mist which he breathed in with a deep snore. "Sleep now, my king. You will need your strength soon. And may these memories come to you and help you through your coming trials."
Chapter Thirty
The swirling black clouds buffeted Bergar from all sides. The ashy winds stung his eyes so that he had to squint and still they filled with tears. He stood on a cliff overlooking a windswept land pockmarked by large holes billowing flame and smoke. The winds died down around him, and he noticed a pair of sandaled feet standing next to him. He followed the scrawny legs up to the man who obviously belonged to the sandals. He stared at the face for several seconds, scrutinizing every detail. Finally, Bergar decided that he knew the man. He could tell from the man's smile, that spread from ear to ear. He recognized the long, thin beard and toothless grin.
"Kaird!" Bergar exclaimed.
The old mystic nodded. His face had changed. He was still aged. His skin still wrinkled all over his body. He was still all bone and no meat. But he didn't carry the weight of three lifetimes in his features any longer. He stood straight and tall, wrapped in a loose fitting, soft brown cloak. His hands were clasped in front of his belly, knotted together by his swollen knuckles.
"Why am I here? Did the spell take me out of my body and into the afterlife?" Bergar asked with a cringe of fear crawling down his spine at the thought of the Demon Witch coming for his soul.
Kaird shook his head.
"Then why?" Bergar's confusion compounded. The old mystic had not said a word. He just stood there and grinned, and this put Bergar on the defensive. He sensed that something was not as it should be. Even here in this odd realm.
Flames of Awakening: Faemoch Cycle Book 1 Page 13
