Better with them, Poops conveyed.
“I have to agree,” Vanx answered in a whisper.
“Agree with what?” Gallarael asked as she sat beside him. “Are you talking to that pooch again?”
“Yup.” Vanx smiled at her. He wondered where the night had gone, for the sky was already starting to pink with the hope of dawn.
“I wonder why those things didn’t try to eat Papri?” Gallarael’s question was serious.
“I think either they don’t like the taste of elves or they only like a fresh kill.”
“The latter most like.” She slid closer, put her arm around him, and leaned her head against his shoulder.
“I can sense it, when my changing repulses you, love.” Gallarael’s voice was soft and understanding. “It is a natural thing to be put off. It is like the dragon fear, or the sleepiness caused by that Heart Tree we just rooted. But it hurts me to know that part of my being makes you feel so.”
“I can’t control it, Gal.” Vanx shrugged. “I don’t want to feel ill when I see you that way. It just happens.”
“That’s what I’m saying.” She turned him to face her. “You didn’t want to feel fear when you came near Pyra, but you did, even though you knew she loved you.”
“I wasn’t afra—”
“Yes,” Gallarael kissed him quickly. “You were afraid every instant you were near that dragon.”
Vanx had to admit she was right. Even after long conversations with the wyrm, and after the great red fire queen trusted him enough to allow him into her lair, he’d been scared of her. How could you not be afraid of something that had teeth as big as you were.
Then Vanx understood.
He never was really afraid of the dragon, save for their first meeting, but Pyra radiated fear all the time. Just like he wasn’t repulsed by Gallarael at the moment. At the moment, the taste of her kiss was sweet and still on his lips. But if she were to change, his attraction would be replaced by disgust.
Maybe he didn’t understand, but he knew he loved her when she was in human form. He didn’t even mind that she was a changeling, as long as he didn’t have to see her shifting shapes. It was the changing, or maybe something her body emitted while she was changing, that made him feel the way he did.
He gave her a hug and indicated that he needed to visit the trees. To his surprise, she went with him and, after kissing him ardently, half hidden in the shadows, she dropped to her knees, took him in her mouth, and satisfied him.
Nothing about that made him feel repulsed, he decided while hugging a trunk to keep himself standing. Nothing at all.
Chapter
Nine
I picked a special flower,
to make my Molly purr,
but right after she kissed me,
she said two coppers sir.
– Parydon Cobbles
The sun was above the ridge when they were finally situated and ready for Anitha to cast her teleport spell. The elf had ridden the great hawk just after dawn and gotten a closer look at the terrain and the structure they would be appearing near.
It was only when they were all huddled together that Vanx realized he was the only male left on the island. Papri, and Castovanti were dead, leaving three women with him. Ronzon was still guarding the ship, he remembered. To manage the ship, he would need a man’s strength— No, he changed his mind. Chelda was stronger than Ronzon was, but Ronzon knew the rigging and, without him Vanx would have to rely on his strange connection with the ship.
Me, Poops conveyed, reminding Vanx that he was a male, too.
Vanx started to respond with his mind, but Anitha’s spell suddenly wrapped itself around them and they were standing in a much drier climate. The stickiness of the jungle terrain was gone, and though the forest here was as lush and full of life, the undergrowth hadn’t taken over.
The air was cooler and dry, but still strongly tinged with brine. Vanx had to bite back a chuckle when he saw the way Chelda was batting and swatting at her skin. When he oriented himself to the cardinal directions, he saw one of the building’s outer walls and followed it to where it made a corner.
For the briefest of moments, he thought he saw a head pull back around the edge, as if someone was watching them, but the salty wind caused a tree limb to waver and the shadow appeared, then disappeared on the edge of the wall again. It was what he’d seen, for the limb’s silhouette looked just like a sneak trying to get out of sight.
The wall itself was fairly plain. Constructed of gray stone blocks, it was two stories tall at best, and might have been only one. The roof only had the slightest pitch to it, just enough to let the rain wash away. Vanx saw where one of the long empty clearings ran off to the right in a straight line. The area they were in, and immediately around the building seemed devoid of life, too.
Looking around, he saw that behind them, another lane of grassless dirt led away until it topped a ridge and disappeared from view.
“What can you tell me about it?” Vanx asked. “The building itself seems to be holding the forest, even the grass back, just like the lanes are, and we’re right in it.”
“There is strong power flowing from inside, and the lanes are boun—”
Just then Poops chased a darting rabbit across the empty stretch Vanx looked at. The dog ran, and when he came to the center of the lane, his snout, followed by the rest of his body, were stopped flat. A ripple of wavering sparkles made clear there was a barrier there. The way Poops yelped, and sent pain burning through Vanx’s body, Vanx knew they couldn’t just walk through.
Vanx jogged over to the startled dog, who was now ignoring his pain and growling at the rabbit, that had passed right through. The fat hopper sat there munching the petals of a bright yellow flower, as if it knew the dog could no longer get at it. It had to have eluded predators this way before. Vanx eased down near his familiar and began soothing his four-legged friend. He guessed the varmints that were of the island weren’t stopped by the barrier, thus the rabbits and birds were able to pass freely.
“You’ll get him next time.” Vanx told the dog. “It’s all right, pup. If I had a bow, I’d shaft the little bastard just for teasing you.”
A roar, as loud and primal as that made by a full grown dragon, resounded from what Poops sensed was just on the other side of the building. It was so loud and savage that Poops forgot the rabbit and darted behind Vanx.
“Scaredy Pooch,” Chelda teased, but her eyes were open so wide Vanx thought she might strain a brow. She had the war hammer out, too, but Vanx knew that it would take more than Chelda and her hammer to stop whatever made that sound.
“Let me see Papri’s map,” Vanx asked while trying to gather himself.
“Was it a dragon?” Anitha asked.
“Use your spells,” Moonsy ordered. “I need you to cast every detection you know. Magic, evil, creatures, witchborn; all of them.”
“Are we sure that, that—” Vanx indicated the thing that had made the noise, “can’t get at us here?”
“I’m pretty sure,” Anitha gave Vanx, and then Moonsy, a look. “I’m about to know all I can know about this area and what is in it.”
“Look.” Gallarael pointed down the lane, to a point farther than the best archer Vanx knew might be able to put an arrow. There, a sizable herd of antelope, tentatively crossed the open stretch, strolling right through the barrier that had stopped his dog.
Vanx watched raptly as none of them were affected by the field. To the animals, it wasn’t even there. Then the giant shadow of an avian predator slid across the antelope still in the open, and they bolted after their fellows.
Vanx saw it was one of the two great hawks and an idea struck him.
“Moonsy,” he asked, taking her concentration off of Anitha. “Can you see through the eyes of the hawks? Or better yet can you mount one and see what made that sound? It had to be, probably still is, not far beyond.” He indicated the building.
“She can, but she will need rest first,�
� Moonsy seemed miffed by something. “My duty is to protect the glaive, not any of this other stuff. Though I don’t like it, I must not stray too far from your side, Vanx.” She forced a smile. “This place isn’t right.” She shrugged. “I have a bad feeling.”
“Yah,” Chelda agreed. “Where is Gal?”
Vanx looked around and didn’t see her. He let out a sigh and tried to ignore everything just for a moment. He was sure he was missing something.
How could the rabbit and the deer pass, but not a dog?
Maybe it was because Poops was his familiar and they shared a magical bond?
While they waited for Anitha to finish, and Gallarael to return from wherever she’d gone, Vanx pondered the issue, but nothing came to him.
He was brought out of his deep thoughts when Poops nudged him. Anitha was about to explain what she’d sensed to Moonsy and Chelda, and Vanx wanted to hear exactly what she had to say.
Chapter
Ten
From the open sea the spire it grew,
and pointed toward the midnight sky.
But nothing else did that old spike do,
as a million years passed by.
– a sailor’s song
Anitha said something to her general and then Moonsy asked Vanx for the glaive. After poking the exhausted elven spell caster, she returned it to Vanx. They gave her a moment to gather herself, then listened as she told them what she’d perceived from her detection spells.
“There is something inanimate inside those walls. It is so powerful I can feel it through the ground itself.” Anitha paused seemingly contemplating her thoughts. “Why the island is divided, I cannot say, but I have no doubt that there are creatures outside this place, here to guard whatever is inside, for they are magicked, too. They are actually bound to the prize, so to speak, so I imagine whatever it is in there will be a help to our cause. I sensed something else on the southernmost end of the island, too, but we are too far away for me to detect anything specific about it.”
Anitha scratched her head. Vanx thought she looked like a girl caught in indecision, as if she were trying to decide between the apple or the cherry pie.
“No doubt the answers you seek will be in this place.”
“What makes you so sure of that, Anni,” Moonsy asked. “How do you know?”
“I can’t be fully certain, but there is nothing else radiating this powerful kind of magic on the island that I can tell.” She took a deep sip from her canteen and continued.
“Is it another Heart Tree jewel you are sensing inside there?” Vanx asked.
“The object isn’t a gem-seed, and it isn’t just behind those walls, either.” She pointed at the building, then her index finger started lowering. “What you are after Vanx, is below it. I can tell there are rooms and halls, below where we are now standing, even. Whatever is in there is far more powerful than one of the gems. There are probably wards and all sorts of peril inside as well as outside.”
“So there isn’t a gem-seed in each section?” Vanx was a little let down. He was hoping to find the last three gem-seeds, with instructions. He was also hoping it would be as easy as getting the other two had been. If there was one in each section, and something inside the structure, with an indication of where they should be cracked, he might not have felt so discouraged.
“It’s time to go a questing. A questing we will go,” Gallarael sang badly as she eased out of the forest on the side of the barrier Poops’s rabbit had run to. “What we find, and who’ll survive, soon enough we’ll know.”
“How did you get—” Anitha’s question was drown out by Vanx asking the exact same thing.
“How did you get over there?” Vanx eased closer to where Poops had run into the magical field. He could feel its vibration, and in the lowest registers of the dog’s hearing, he could tell it was humming.
“I found one of the worm holes you told us about on the journey here,” Gallarael grinned. “It isn’t far.” She paused as if she wasn’t sure she should say what else was on her mind.
Vanx could tell.
“Spill it,” he said, his voice full of agitation at being forced to ask.
“I think I know why the island has been divided.” Gallarael started walking along the barrier, toward the building. “I think they are there to keep the things that live in each section from killing each other. I saw what roared. It was a gigantic pale furred spider-like thing. It didn’t look happy that we are here, but it never sensed me.” She put her hands out to the side, palms up. “I’m not sure what set it off.”
“I hate spiders,” Chelda said.
“Probably when Poops ran into the field and disturbed it,” Anitha suggested. Vanx started to ask more questions but the look on Gal’s face had turned severe. “What?”
“Get ready to fight,” she warned before darting away, into the trees and out of sight.
“Vanx,” came Chelda’s voice. He could tell by her tone that something was behind them. “Bring it, Vanx.”
Poops started barking and, for an instant, Vanx saw through the dog’s eyes. There was a dozen or more of the larger tree-coons easing out of the woods in an attempt to hem them in. These had matted blood around their maws and what looked like vengeance in their eyes.
Vanx spun around. He didn’t have to warn Moonsy or Anitha. They were already casting at the things.
The two elves, using spells, were able to destroy each creature they impacted with their magic, but the time to recast the spell allowed the things to get in too close.
Poops was just ahead of them, ready to pounce on one if it neared his companions. Vanx pulled himself out of his familiar’s perspective, for Poops’s angst and rage clouded his judgment.
Vanx knew he was about to have to get in the thick of them, for even more of the creatures were coming.
He sent a command out through the crystal that he doubted would help, but was worth the few seconds it took to do, just in case. Then he made sure to draw his family blade instead of the elven blade of healing.
Chelda was already pressing out away from the elves. Vanx saw her war hammer crunch into a coon-tail’s skull, dropping it cold. She then sent another flailing through the air, off to the side.
Vanx took up position at the other side of the group and yelled at Chelda. “Stay out from in front of the elves.”
“Yah,” he heard her reply. “You’ll stay out from in front of me, too, if you’ve any sense.”
Chapter
Eleven
Ogres are full of menace,
ogres are full of rage.
Once a man was fool enough
to put one in a cage.
– a song from Dyntalla
Vanx’s blade slid right into the first ring-tailed bastard that came at him. It was a head taller than he was, its head and maw a little larger than a dire wolf’s, and he had a hard time feeling threatened by such a creature. The problem was, there were so many of them. This one fell away dead when he yanked his blade free. The next one, he skewered clawed him across the face. It didn’t hurt, but blood came pouring into his eyes, blurring his vision.
One of the things hurled a rock that hit Moonsy right in the side of her head. The elven general fell over backwards, and Anitha and Poops both moved to protect her from the crazed creatures.
They must have smelled fresh blood for most of them started toward him or Moonsy. He had to duck a hurled stone and didn’t quite get out of its way. He avoided a full impact, but his bell was rung, and he almost stumbled to his knees.
Poops leapt up and got a hold of the throat of one that came too close to Moonsy’s fallen body, but the dog was slung away. To the pup’s credit, he took a piece of flesh with him, leaving the creature confused and bleeding profusely. Some of the attackers stopped coming at them and started ripping the wounded coon apart, to feed.
A moment later, after seeing what would become of his friends if they were gotten a hold of, something burned through Vanx’s blood. A murderous
lust, like he’d felt fighting the Hoar Witch’s evil horde. It carried him forward, right into the thick of them.
His boot found a furry chest, and he pushed off, turning a full backflip. As his feet went over his head, he sliced the neck of one, then another of the things. The growling, hissing creatures had a body more like a black bear’s, than anything. He landed on both feet and had to immediately duck a swinging claw, but he pushed his blade up through that one’s belly, under the ribs. He had to shoulder it over to its back to pull his blade free, and then he was spinning as he’d seen Zeezle do.
In moments, he had cleared an area around him. He glanced over and saw that, though Chelda was holding her own, Poops was now standing almost on top of Moonsy. Anitha was on her knees, holding her head as if she’d been cracked pretty good.
“Anitha,” he yelled, drawing the Glaive of Gladiolus. He tossed her the elven sword, but wasn’t sure she got it.
The sound of Chelda bashing and crunching the bastards was welcome, and the fact that she didn’t even look to be winded yet was heartening. It was then that he saw twice as many of the things coming at them from the edge of the forest.
He looked and saw that Anitha hadn’t grabbed the glaive, but instead had pitched forward. Poops was doing all a dog could do to stay on top of them, but Vanx knew that, even if he succumbed fully to his bloodlust and killed as many of these things as he could, this still wasn’t going to end well.
A few of the creatures snatched their fallen and tore them apart, right there. They fed like they were starving, ripping open flesh and pulling it from the bone. Vanx decided there was no better motivation to survive than seeing what would happen to you if you missed a step. A glance at Poops and the elves showed him that Anitha was stirring, but one of the creatures had gotten hold of her ankle. It would have drug her into the bloody mess, but Poops sank his teeth into the creature’s rib skin.
The Tome of Arbor (The Legend of Vanx Malic Book 9) Page 4
