Beastwalker (Pharim War Book 3)

by Gama Ray Martinez

  “I know that a few hours before I saw him as a bull, he was human in full control of himself.”

  “That’s impossible,” he said.

  Jez sighed. “I wish it was. The beasts master doesn’t know how it happened. Toden was on the second floor of the Academy tower. Do you think a huge bull just crept up the stairs when no one was looking? He was in his room and he changed without wanting to.”

  Galine snorted. “Could you accidently write a letter or accidently build a house? It’s not something that happens by accident.”

  “It’s why I’m here,” Jez said. “I came to find out what’s wrong with beast magic.”

  Galine laughed. It was difficult to tell with his half human voice, but it sounded a little forced. “If there was something wrong with beast magic, we would know.”

  Behind him, some of the cat people were exchanging uneasy glances. Galine, seeming to sense this, turned and hissed at them. They took a step back and inclined their heads, and Galine returned his attention to Jez.

  “Why were you trying to summon one of Aniel’s children?”

  Jez was about to answer when Lina put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her, but Lina’s gaze was focused on Galine.

  “You already know why, don’t you?”

  Galine shifted his weight, but rather than coming off as nervousness, Jez got the impression he was preparing to attack. Lina either didn’t notice or didn’t care. She took a step forward seeming completely confident, though Jez could sense the power she held inside. She was one of the most skilled illusionists the Academy had seen in a couple of centuries. In the blink of an eye, she could vanish.

  “You could’ve stopped him at any time. You didn’t because you hoped he would succeed. They’re missing too, and you know it. Just like Aniel.”

  Galine snarled, but Osmund stepped up next to Lina. His eyes glowed orange and curls of smoke rose from them. Though he wasn’t as tall as Galine, he was every bit as imposing.

  “I wouldn’t,” Galine said. “We’re no threat to you, but we can be.”

  The hairs on the back of Jez’s neck stood on end. He turned to see some of the other beast men moving toward them. Some had bows drawn. One, a black furred wolf-like creature that stood on two legs, was only about ten feet away, having moved without making a sound. A trio of other wolf people were right behind him.

  “Please, stop!” Toden cried out as he ran in front of the wolf. The wolf snarled and pushed him aside with casual ease, and Toden fell to the ground.

  Galine tensed, but relaxed after a second and let out a long breath. “There’s no need for this.”

  “But they know,” the wolf said as he took another step toward Jez.

  “They knew before they ever met us. I suspect that means others know as well. This isn’t something we can hide.”

  “Why would you want to?” Jez asked.

  “Say nothing, Galine. We don’t know if we can trust him,” the wolf man said in a voice that was closer to a growl than anything else.

  “Don’t be foolish, Welb. We can’t very well expect them to keep a secret if they don’t know why.”

  “We don’t have to let them go at all.”

  Galine took a step toward Welb, pushing Jez out of the way in the process. Jez flew two feet to one side before coming down in a puddle of mud. For a second, he could only gape at the lion, astonished at his casual strength. The two beast men stared at each other. Their growls were echoed by everyone in the clearing, though none of the others moved. The sound made the ground rumble, and Jez felt the power in their combined voices.

  The feather haired woman threw her head back and let out a screech. The beast men let out howls and roars, and the jungle echoed their calls. Welb was broader in the shoulders with thicker arms, but Galine didn’t seem to care. Welb’s muzzle snapped forward. Galine moved only slightly, and Welb’s jaws missed him by inches. Galine’s massive paw shot forward in an orange blur. It slammed into Welb’s throat. The wolf man grunted as he was lifted off his feet. Galine let out a roar and slammed Welb into the ground. The beast men went silent, and Galine showed his teeth.

  “We will tell them.” Galine’s voice was like thunder, but when he looked up at Jez, his eyes looked kind. “Please, have a seat. There is much we should discuss.”

  CHAPTER 20

  “We are the guardians of this place,” Galine said, “entrusted by Lord Aniel himself. It is a place of power. You know of such places?” Jez nodded, and Galine continued. “One with the skill can tap into that power and do terrible things. We have been charged to ensure that does not happen. This is not the only such place in the world, and many are watched over by Lord Aniel’s children, the ones you know as Beastwalkers.”

  Jez understood. “And you don’t want us to tell anyone because if the word gets out that the Beastwalkers are missing...”

  Galine nodded. “Men would descend on the places the Beastwalkers were set to watch, and few who would seek such power can be entrusted with its use.”

  “Do you know what happened to them?”

  “Only that they vanished after the loss of our speaking stone.”

  Jez blinked at him. “You have a speaking stone?”

  “We had one. It allows us to speak to the Beastwalkers directly.”

  Jez and his companions exchanged glances. “I didn’t know a speaking stone could do that.”

  “This one could. It vanished a few weeks ago. We tried other means to contact them, but nothing worked.”

  “There something you’re not telling us,” Lina broke in. “Where did this all happen?”

  For a second, Galine looked shocked, but Jez smiled. “She’s very good at that.”

  “Your huts are new.” She waved at the roof the ape men were building. “So are those dens, and you’re building others. You haven’t been in this clearing for very long.”

  From the ground, Welb snorted. Galine looked at him but didn’t offer him help getting up. The wolf man rolled onto his stomach and slunk away. Before Welb disappeared into the jungle, he turned and glared at Galine.

  “You have always been too human, Galine. If you wish to return to them, you need only reverse your transformation.”

  Galine snarled but Welb vanished into the trees. A handful of others, many with wolf features, followed, but most remained. Galine stared after them for several seconds. Finally, Jez cleared his throat, and Galine returned his attention to them.

  “It’s nothing you need to concern yourself with. I won the challenge.”

  “What did he mean when he said you only need to reverse the transformation?” Jez asked.

  Galine sighed. “We all were taken by the beast mind and were all forcibly turned back to human. It doesn’t work, not with our minds no longer human. Eventually, we were brought here and given these forms where our minds could find balance.”

  “Who brought you?”

  “The beasts master at the Academy, mostly.”

  “Master Horgar?”

  Galine nodded. “And Master Gwyna before him. L’tarro before her, going on for as long as anyone can remember.”

  Jez looked over his shoulder at Toden who was helping the ape men with the roof. “Then, reversing the transformation is turning back into human?”

  “Yes.”

  “You mean you could just go back?”

  Galine shook his head. “Only in body. Being taken by the beast mind changed us irreversibly. Our thoughts are a mingling of animal and man. My mind is like that of a lion. It will always be, and a human brain simply isn’t capable of dealing with it. Neither can the body of a beast deal with the mind of a man.”

  “If a beast can’t deal with the mind of a man, how do people transform?”

  “It’s difficult to explain to one who doesn’t even study the dominion. Essentially, transformation magic holds the mind in flux and makes it something the beast can deal with. Ours no longer can.”

  “So you’re stuck like this?”

  �
��We have made our peace with it.” He closed his eyes for a second. “At least I thought we had.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Galine inclined his head to Lina. “Your friend was correct. We have not been in this clearing for very long. Our tribe used to be much bigger than this, but most of us went mad after the speaking stone disappeared.”

  “Maybe that’s a place to start,” Jez said. “If someone stole your speaking stone, they might have contacted Aniel and led him into a trap.”

  Galine barked out a laugh. “You think someone trapped him?”

  “It’s possible.”

  “Do you think it’s such an easy thing to trap a pharim high lord?”

  “It’s just a place to start. I might be able to see something you missed.”

  “Or smell it,” Osmund said.

  A dog woman yipped and Jez turned, but she had her face averted. The way her body moved told him she was trying not to laugh. Jez looked back to Galine who was looking from Jez to Osmund.

  “Do you imagine you can smell what we cannot?”

  “It’s a different kind of smelling,” Jez said.

  Galine pulled back his lips and showed his teeth. “It’s extremely dangerous. The mad ones are still out there. The power of a beast mixed with the mind of man can be a formidable danger.”

  “We can take care of ourselves.”

  “Very well. I’ll lead you to the site of the old village in the morning.”

  CHAPTER 21

  It was difficult to sleep. Though the soft patch of grass Jez lay down on was comfortable, the air was so thick he felt like he was being smothered, and he sweated constantly. His shirt clung to him, and he struggled out of it, but it didn’t do much to cool him. It was closer to dawn than dusk when he finally fell asleep.

  He screamed when he woke up to a creature with round eyes too big to be human and a curved nose. The creature hopped back and Jez sat up. He blinked several times and saw that the thing that had woken him was another of the beast men, though it was closer to being an owl than a man. He pursed his lips. It might actually be a beast woman. He couldn’t really tell which.

  He took several deep breaths. The dreams had been back, and he’d hunted and been hunted half a dozen times. He could practically still taste the blood. He looked around. The beast men were going about their business. Galine was speaking to a pair of birds, and Toden was nowhere to be seen. No one was staring at Jez, so he didn’t seem to have screamed in his sleep. His stomach growled. Osmund was seated on a stump munching on a handful of berries. When he saw Jez away, he waved at a pile of fruit that sat nearby on the ground. Some had been sliced, and Jez didn’t recognize what most of them were. Still the sight made his mouth water.

  Jez sat up and picked up a slice of fruit that had red skin and orange flesh. He bit into it, and flavor exploded in his mouth. It was sweet, a little like an orange and a little like a pineapple. Juices dripped down his face, and he gobbled it up and took two other pieces as well. The old baron Dusan had had a fondness for exotic fruit, and so Jez had been exposed to more variety than most, but even he had never seen so many. There fruit of every shape and size, each with its own unique flavor. Even the ones he was familiar with had odd tastes to them, infinitely better than the fruit he’d eaten before.

  “This is all so amazing.”

  Osmund smiled as he popped a red berry into his mouth. His teeth had been stained by the fruit. “Just like home. Fruit always tastes better when it’s fresh.”

  “If the two of you are done,” Galine said as he walked up to them. “I can take you to the old village.” He smirked. “Of course, if you think sitting here filling your bellies is more important than finding the missing pharim high lord, I can understand that as well. The fruit is, I’m told, quite good.”

  “You haven’t had it?” Jez asked. Galine showed his teeth, pointed and ill-suited for plants. “Oh, right.”

  “I can always go on without you,” Lina said. “It would give you a chance to finish eating.”

  She was perched on a nearby rock. A pair of new water skins hung from her waist, and she’d torn the sleeves off her shirt. Her pack bulged with supplies.

  “You’re up early,” Jez said.

  “I couldn’t sleep very well.” She swatted at her arm and left a small red streak. “The bugs wouldn’t leave me alone.”

  “You should’ve said something,” Galine said. He waved a hand, and grimaced. He tried again, staring at Lina for a second before finally nodding. “There, they shouldn’t bother you anymore.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Thank you.”

  “It’s failing for you too, isn’t it?” Jez asked. “Beast magic, I mean.”

  Galine pulled back his lips, but nodded. “Probably less than it is for you, but we’ll lose the ability completely before long.”

  “What’ll happen to you?”

  “We don’t know. Most think the rest of us will go mad.” He let out a growl. “We’re desperate, or I wouldn’t have accepted your help. So please, finish your meal and let’s go.”

  Jez nodded. The beast men had prepared new packs for each of them as well as fresh water skins, and they started off after Galine. Almost instantly, he left them behind, and it took them five minutes to find him again. He scowled, but didn’t say anything and continued into trees, though he moved slower than before. This time, it was a full five minutes before they lost him.

  After the third time Galine was forced to stop to wait for them, Jez was frustrated. He couldn’t understand how the huge creature could move through the woods so quickly. Galine shrugged when Jez asked him about it. He couldn’t explain it saying only that it was instinct and that all beast men could do it.

  “I’m not used to your kind anymore. I’ll go slower.”

  “How far are we?” Lina asked.

  “I could make it in an hour, but at the speed you move at? A day, perhaps two.”

  Jez nodded, and once again, they started after Galine. It took a day and a half, they reached a clearing and Galine stopped. The faint murmuring of a brook sounded form just beyond the trees, many of which bore colorful fruit. Though it was still early in the day, this seemed like a perfect place to make camp.

  “Are we going to rest?” Jez asked.

  His legs were aching, and he was breathing heavily. Galine shook his head.

  “We’re here.”

  “Here?”

  Jez looked around. There was nothing in the clearing, but as he gave the area a closer examination, he saw the signs. Several trees on the other end of the clearing had been torn out of the ground. Though underbrush had started growing into the clearing, Jez could see that the moss covered mounds were the remnants of buildings. Something had upturned the ground. Vines covered something vaguely human shaped at one end of the clearing, and Jez didn’t want to see what was under them.

  “Be careful,” Galine said. “We’re not alone.”

  Before Jez had a chance to ask what he was talking about, something brushed passed his leg. He yelped and jumped back as a huge snake rose out of the grass. It was longer than he was tall, and near the head, its body flattened out, forming a hood. It hissed at him, tasting the air with its forked tongue. Its long curved teeth dripped with venom. Jez raised his hands and backed up slowly but stopped when he bumped into something. He turned to see another of the snakes, this one at least twice as long as the first. Other snake creatures rose from the grass, though some were closer to being human than serpent.

  “Friends of yours, Galine?”

  “They were once,” Galine said, and claws emerged from his fingers. “Then, they went mad. Prepare yourself to fight, but be careful. If you let them bite you, you’ll be dead before you hit the ground.”

  CHAPTER 22

  Jez drew his machete and slashed at the snake creature nearest him, but the blade bounced of his foe’s scales. The thing lunged at him. Its head moved in a blur, and he fell back. The creature’s bite got so close he could feel the
wind of its passage. Jez cried out at the sound of its teeth snapping together. He drew his sword and struck as he fell. Sharper than the machete, it left a shallow gash on the snake’s torso. It hissed and drew back, and Jez manage to get to his feet before it recovered.

  Another Jez appeared a few feet away, though this one was armed with a crystal sword. Beside him was another Osmund and Lina. Other images appeared until there were four of each. Only Galine remained unduplicated.

  “I can’t keep this up for very long,” One of the Linas said. Jez had no idea if it was the real one.

  “Get away from here, Lina,” Osmund cried out. “We’ll hold them off.”

  A solid figure touched Jez’s shoulder and he glanced over his shoulder to see Osmund standing back to back with him.

  “Just like in Rumar,” Osmund said. “Don’t you think you should use your other sword?”

  Jez considered for a second before shaking his head. “They’re not demons.”

  One of the creatures darted forward, but a quick slash of Osmund’s sword sent it reeling.

  “Half snake, half man,” Osmund said. “If they’re not demons, they’re close.”

  “Not the same thing.” Jez’s words tumbled over each other as he turned away another attack. “You could change, though.”

  “Maybe if I wanted to kill you and Lina both. Ziary is barely dozing now.”

  “We don’t have a small army with us this time.”

  “I know.”

  “So basically, it’s nothing like Rumar at all.”

  “We’re probably going to die. That’s kind of like Rumar.”

  “That’s not really comforting,” Jez said as he slashed upward with this sword. The blade tore open the stomach of a snake man.

  “She hasn’t left yet,” Osmund said.

  Jez looked around. Galine, taking full advantage of the distraction provided by the illusions, had already taken down three of the snakes, but the illusions were still moving too precisely to be a working that had been left in place. Lina had to be nearby directing them.