Cathy studied my face before releasing me. “Okay, let’s go.”
“No, you need to stay here,” I said. “It will only work if I go.”
“I’m at least following you to the edge of the forest,” Cathy said.
“Okay,” I said happily.
I led Cathy to the edge of the forest and told her to wait. The camp was set up a hundred metres away and I boldly stepped out of the forest towards it. Cathy looked worried, but didn’t follow me. I think curiosity played a factor in letting me do this. She was going to love it.
The camp was a few shoddy, wooden shelters. By the look of the edge of the forest, it was easy to see where they had gotten the wood. The Evenawks were in for some trouble when they fell for the trap.
I continued walking closer to the camp. Groups of Evenawks and some Humans became visible, but they didn’t register that I was there. I called out to the camp and waited. When all eyes were on me, I held out my arms and started swaying my hips. It wasn’t long before the rhythm took me and I broke out into a full dance.
Chapter 22
Humming along, the dance had become mesmerising; or at least I hoped it did. For all I knew I could have just been flailing my arms around like a mad man. Either way, the pure act of dancing had taken me. I hoped Cathy could see it; I’d hate for her to miss out on this beautiful scene.
I twirled into a bow to end the dance number and looked up at the camp. The Evenawks were standing motionless, too shocked by the sheer awesome-ness of what they had seen to react. I waited a couple of seconds to see if they would start chasing me, but they just continued to stare. Frustrated, I gathered some power and launched a Fireball at the nearest building.
The Evenawks shrieked loudly and finally started running towards me. I turned and ran back to the forest, giggling excitedly. The shrill squawks of the Evenawks were growing louder as some took to the air to launch arrows at me. I made sound effects for the arrows as they whizzed by.
I broke through the trees and Cathy was immediately beside me running. “What the Void was that?” she asked.
“A Fireball,” I smiled.
“You know what I meant!” Cathy exclaimed. “You said you would dance with me!”
“Next time,” I called out.
“I’m keeping score, mister,” she replied.
I laughed and we ran past the area where the Huntresses were gathered. Cathy grabbed me by the shoulder and stopped me. Part of me wanted to keep running because the wind felt so amazing, but we had a job to do. Cathy dragged me to a fallen log and we hid behind it.
The spark of magic filled the air as the Naos charged their spell. As the Evenawks entered range, they were cast into the Nao’s Illusion. One by one the Evenawks slowed down and stared slack jawed at something only they could see. The archers in the air came to a stop, and slowly landed next to their brothers.
The Nao moved closer and singled out individual Evenawks. Each Huntress grabbed their Evenawk and sunk their teeth into the Evenawks’ necks. The Naos’ black eyes swirled with white as the Evenawks twitched and started turning grey. When the soul had been fully sucked out of the Evenawk’s body, each Huntress moved onto the next. The Evenawks stood and waited their turn, so enthralled by the Naos’ Illusion to realise their fate.
I let out a high pitch, feminine scream and Cathy covered my mouth and pulled me close to her. “You need to calm down,” she said to me. “No more berries for you...ever.”
I nodded.
“We can sneak around this and head for the camp,” Cathy suggested, removing her hand from my mouth.
I nodded again. “OKay.”
“Follow me,” she said.
She grabbed me by the arm and led me around the ‘battle’. I kept my eyes looking away but could still hear the sound of the Nao feasting on the Evenawks. I needed something to distract me from the sounds.
“Lalalalala,” I sung quietly, bouncing my head side to side.
Cathy mumbled something as we emerged from the forest. The camp had to have been cleared of the Evenawks, but I vaguely recalled seeing a few Humans within. Either the Evenawks had taken some prisoners or Desroche had recruited some Mage help.
I stopped my singing and pulled on Cathy’s arm to get her attention. “There might be some Mages in there. I think I saw some Humans when I first started dancing.”
Cathy stopped and turned around to look at me. “Are you sure?”
I shrugged.
She let go of my hand and adjusted the shield on her arm for comfort. “It would make sense. If Desroche is setting up something magical, Mages would be needed to help.”
I nodded.
“Not talking anymore?” Cathy smiled.
“I’m too worried I’ll say something stupid right now,” I answered.
“You’re way past that point,” Cathy said, turning back to the camp. “Come on.”
The fuzzy feeling from the berries was starting to lift and I shook my head to try and clear it. Cathy was already half way to the camp and I raced after her to keep up. I needed to maintain focus if I was about to head into battle with Mages. Any urges to frolic in the field would have to wait until after this battle was finished.
We entered the camp and I could feel a strong magical energy pulling me towards the centre. The nature of the energy felt like Desroche’s machine in Scert’chak, but there was something else to it. I focused on the source and felt the telltale sign of a barrier around it. It was a feeble attempt to protect the machine from my magic but I had to applaud their effort.
There were only three Mages in the centre of the camp. They wore robes of a brownish red colour that closely resembled dried blood. I had never seen robes of that colour before. Where they must have found a colour-blind tailor to put them together was beyond me.
The Three turned their attention towards us. The barrier glowed purple around what looked like a thin tree sticking out of the ground. Not quite the machine I had envisioned, but there had to be more to the story.
The Mages lined up and I quickly covered my body in scales. They raised their hands in unison and a wave of fire raced towards us. I covered my exposed head with my scaled hands, created a barrier around the staff on my back and Cathy dropped to a crouch with the shield covering her body.
The wave of heat washed over me and I waited for it to be over. I turned to Cathy to see that her shield was glowing pale blue and fully protecting her from the flames.
She looked up at me and smiled. “It actually worked! The shield must have been forged in the Forge of Kings. I barely had to enchant it.” The fire continued to rush past us and my body was starting to get warmer as the Harden Skin spell weakened. “When will they tire themselves out so we can start fighting?”
“Soon,” I answered, hoping it was true.
The flames started to weaken before dying out. I dropped my arms and Cathy stood again. I felt the staff fall off my back as the sheath holding it turned to ash. I left it on the ground and maintained focus on the battle.
The Mages were breathing heavily but reached out to a point in front of them. A stream of magic from the three joined together to start building a ball of electricity. It slowly grew bigger as wild sparks shot off of it into the sky.
“Looks nasty,” Cathy said.
“Indeed,” I agreed.
She turned to look at me. “You know what is weird? When you cover yourself in scales, you can’t see your junk anymore.”
“Why are you looking down there?” I asked.
“Curiosity,” she answered. “Plus all your clothes were burned off.”
“Yeah, I’ll have to take one of their robes after this,” I said. The lightning orb hit maximum size and the Mages launched it at us. “Dibs.”
“All yours,” Cathy said, backing up. “Just don’t get any on me, I’m wearing metal.”
The power raged inside me as I summoned my strength into my hands. They started to itch and when the orb was close, I raised both arms and launched waves
of Pulses at it. The orb slowed to a stopped in front of me, and I took a deep breath and launched a massive Pulse at it to send it back to the Mages. They dove out of the way and the orb struck the barrier, causing it to explode and the Mages to scream out from the force of the energy.
My head throbbed and I clutched it with both hands and temporarily lost my balance. Cathy looked at me worriedly for a second. “I’m alright,” I reassured her. “Things like that were much easier to do when I had your magic to lean on.”
She chuckled. “Shall I finish them off?”
“If you can,” I smiled, lowering my arms.
“Challenge accepted,” she smirked.
Cathy lowered her shield and took off like a shot. The furthest Mage to the right was barely on his feet before Cathy’s sword was through his chest. The other two started backing away from her to set up for a spell, but she was already closing in. They were forced to use simple Pulses and Ice Bolts to try and knock her back, but Cathy deflected them with ease.
Cathy swung her sword out at Mage #1 and he rolled out of the way. Mage #2 sent a Pulse to try and knock Cathy off her feet and Mage #1 tried to shock her with lightning. The lightning was easily deflected but the Pulse left her staggering. Cathy swung out at Mage #2 and he jumped back and launched another Pulse. I laughed at Cathy’s cursing, and started towards the fight at a leisurely pace.
Mage #1 was back on his feet and shocking Cathy from behind. She swung around quickly and bashed her shield into his shoulder. He dropped to the ground and Mage #2 sent a stream of fire towards Cathy, forcing her to defend herself and allowing his companion to get back to his feet.
My hand grew cold as power raced down my arm. I reached out and launched an Ice Bolt into the back of Mage #1. He cried out and dropped to the ground and Mage #2 stopped his stream of fire to back away. Cathy checked behind her quickly to see the dead body and pressed her attack on the remaining enemy.
With his attention split between both Cathy and me, the Mage looked as if he was having problems figuring out his next move. I sent a Pulse his way and he side stepped and launched a Pulse at Cathy to prevent her from catching him off balance. Desroche had done a good job picking his Mages; these ones seemed highly experienced. I wondered if they were the same Mages that worked with Desroche during his first time in power at Ghanlar.
Cathy regained her footing and charged at the remaining Mage. He rolled out of the way of Cathy’s sword and I launched an Ice Bolt at him. He quickly rose to his knees, barrier ready and deflected it. Cathy turned and used her unnaturally superior speed to rush him from behind and drive her sword through his back. Our last surviving adversary looked shocked before dropping to the ground.
Cathy pulled her sword out and sheathed it as I approached. “Dang,” she said. “Did I get soft overnight or were those guys tough?”
“Mages aren’t the easiest to fight, even another Mage can have problems,” I said. “If you are a non-magic user, you need to have numbers on your side to defeat one.”
Cathy chuckled. “It looked so easy in your head.”
“We always had numbers,” I said. “And frying pans.”
Cathy laughed. “I guess I owe you thanks for helping and a smack on the back of the head for taking so long to help.”
I shrugged. “You looked like you were doing well.”
Of the three Mages, the robe of the one to die first was the least damaged. I removed it from him and threw it over my scaled skin. Fully protected from any lingering eyes, the scales returned to my normal skin and I walked back to pick up the staff from its resting spot. My barrier was still holding up so I dispelled it and brought the staff to the centre.
“So what now?” Cathy asked when I returned.
“Let’s figure it out,” I said.
What I thought was a tree turned out to simply be a staff sticking out of the ground. Around the base was the same runic symbol that was under Chieftain Harkis in Scert’chak. Part of me just wanted to push it over to see if that would stop it.
“Maybe we should just push it over,” Cathy suggested.
I chuckled. “I was just thinking the same thing.”
Cathy reached out to touch the staff but stopped and brought her hand back with a weird look on her face. “Can you feel it?” she asked.
I reached out towards the staff and my hand steadily got warmer until a burning sensation spread across my fingers. I retracted my hand and shook it a bit. “Strange,” I said. “I wonder if that is what the Nao have been feeling.”
“It’s possible,” Cathy said thoughtfully.
“Well let’s put an end to it right now,” I said, gripping the flowery staff with both hands and aiming towards the staff.
I wasn’t sure exactly how I was supposed to use the staff but Mistress Carlia said it only had the one purpose so it shouldn’t be easy for me to mess up. I pushed power through it and a yellow beam shot from the tip and connected with the ground staff.
Cathy laughed. “Not only is it flowery, but it shoots sunshine too?”
“Shut it,” I said, concentrating on my task.
The runic symbols changed from red to yellow and the staff started to shake in the ground. I forced more power through the staff and in a flash of white, the runes were gone. The staff snapped in half and fell to the ground. I stopped my power and the both of us looked at the broken staff.
“Is that it?” Cathy asked, disappointed. The staff burst into flames and turned to dust. “I guess that’s better than nothing.”
“The Nao must not be big on cool explosions,” I said. “Can you feel its magic anymore?”
Cathy reached her hand out and shook her head. “We’re good.”
“Then let’s go see how the Nao are doing,” I said, heading away from the camp.
“How are you feeling?” Cathy asked, following me. “Are the berries completely out of your system?”
“Yeah, thankfully,” I answered. “I don’t want to do that ever again.”
“I don’t know,” Cathy smiled. “Those were some sweet dance moves.”
I grabbed my head. “I can’t believe I did that.”
“I’m still mad you didn’t bring me out to dance,” Cathy said.
“Nothing stopped you from joining me after I started,” I said, playfully. “Unless you were afraid.”
“Psh!” Cathy scoffed. “Next time I’ll show you what dance is really about.”
“Can’t wait,” I smiled.
Chapter 23
The Nao hunting party was waiting for us when we entered the forest. They had made short work of the Evenawks and Fawna made a joke about being full. It was a little too much information for me, but it was good to see everyone had made it out in one piece. They even confirmed that we had successfully stopped the magical disturbance.
The journey back to Tanoba was more pleasant but with frequent stops for me to water the local wildlife. All of that water Cathy had made me drink had come back with a vengeance. My comfort breaks didn’t stop us from arriving at the Nao village by nightfall.
Night is an interesting time for the Nao. Their inner glow shines brighter in the moonlight and they become beacons of light in the dark forest. Of course, this is part of their defence. You spend too much time staring at the pretty colours that you don’t realise the others are sneaking up behind you. But at least you can enjoy a beautiful sight just before you die.
The village seemed empty as we travelled to the large temple. Fawna’s hunting party broke off and she led us into the building and towards the giant stone statue at the far end. It was a depiction of the Tree God Alfoa, creator of the Nao race. It looked like a giant Nao dressed in a horned headdress and wolf pelt holding an orb.
Mistress Carlia rose from her kneeling position and approached us. “You were successful?”
“Yes, Mistress,” Fawna replied.
“Let me see,” Mistress Carlia said, centreing in front of Fawna. Their eyes glowed white as the images of the battle were shared
between them. Their eyes returned to black and Mistress Carlia took a step back. “This is happy news indeed. Please go and expel the souls of the dead, Huntress.”
“Yes, Mistress,” Fawna said with a quick bow. She turned and hurried out of the building.
“What do you mean by expel the souls?” Cathy asked.
“When we harvest a soul from a body we carry it with us until we perform a ritual to release the soul from our body and return it to the Spirit Plane,” Mistress Carlia explained.
“What end does it come out?” Cathy asked.
“Cathy!” I exclaimed.
“What?” she asked innocently.
“Are you curious?” Mistress Carlia asked.
I waved my hand dismissively. “Not right now. I think I just want to grab some sleep.”
“Very well,” Mistress Carlia said. “Did you find that the berries helped for your quest?”
Cathy started laughing. “Oh, they made things interesting. Tell her about the dance.”
I groaned and Mistress Carlia stepped in front of me. “Let me see what you have seen,” she said.
“Catch me, Cathy,” I said, dropping the flowery staff.
Mistress Carlia’s eyes started to glow white and my body jerked and collapsed into Cathy’s arms. She squeezed me tightly before helping me back up to my feet. I scooped the staff back up as Mistress Carlia’s face broke out into a smile and her eyes returned to black.
“Keskar Berries have an interesting effect on the Human body,” she said. “You also have some interesting dance moves.”
“Is that what we are calling them?” Cathy said.
“Alright you two,” I said, turning away. “I’m going to sleep. Is my old room still set up?”
“Yes, you will find it like you left it,” Mistress Carlia said.
I left the main hall and travelled down a short corridor to ‘my’ room. This had been my residence while they grew me the tree on the edge of the forest. It was a small converted storage room, but served its purpose well.
Entering the room, Mistress Carlia was right. The room was exactly the same as when I had left it behind. The animal pelts on the ground and the opened box of spare robes I had kept before switching to regular clothes. The only addition was our pack of supplies we brought from Balendar.
The Vacant Throne: The Legend Of Kairu Vol 3 Page 18
