It was nerve-wracking in the extreme to walk into hostile territory like this. She had no way of communicating with the forest that they were here to help, and only a limited understanding of where the blood mage was. And their plan basically boiled down to ‘Catch him!’ Which, really, lacked the logistical strategies she was accustomed to.
She liked plans, curse it.
The deeper Mei Li went in, the more tense she became. The pressure knotted badly in her shoulders and neck, and she had no doubt she’d have a whopper of a headache tonight from the stress. Gritting her teeth, she foraged ahead regardless.
Shunlei made a sound in the back of his throat, like a dog that came across a wretched smell. “What is that?”
Sharply, she turned to him. “What? What are you sensing?”
“It’s like a charnel house,” he explained, rubbing at his offended nose. “One abandoned for several weeks, no less.”
“That’s the direction,” she said grimly. “Sorry, Shunlei, we need to follow that scent.”
Grimacing, he gave a nod.
Mei Li turned to the left and signaled the others. They quickly caught up and hovered in a circle, coming in close enough to speak confidentially.
“Shunlei smells something like a rotten charnel house ahead,” Mei Li quickly relayed in a low tone.
Kiyo hissed in triumph. “That’s what we’re looking for. Where, Shunlei? Directly ahead?”
“No,” he said a trifle uncertainly. Pointing in a more easterly direction, he suggested, “More that direction. I don’t think it’s incredibly close yet. I didn’t smell it at all until a waft from a breeze carried it to me.”
“We’ll follow your nose,” Hawes encouraged. “This is in the same direction as Kiyo’s reading last night, more or less.”
In an uncommon move, Kiyo graciously admitted, “I could have caught him while he was moving about last night and not in his, well, lair for lack of an appropriate term. But the charnel house smell, that would be correct for a blood mage’s altar. Even if he’s not there, he’ll be close.”
“Re-orient,” Hawes ordered. “Spread out again, and let’s take this a bit more slowly. I don’t want to just blunder in there.”
Mei Li was perfectly in agreement with that. She walked steadily once more, a half-step behind Shunlei as he led the way. Within ten paces, she caught the same whiff he had. Within twenty, it became nose-hair curdling, the inside of her nose wanting to shrivel up in protest. It was like rotten meat, gangrene, decaying mold, and several other unpleasant things mixed altogether. With every step she took, it became that much worse, and it finally got to the point she had to consciously control her gag reflex.
Shunlei cast her a glance over his shoulder. “Can a human nose smell it now?”
“I certainly can,” she said, breathing through her mouth as much as possible. “Gah, that’s awful! And I sorely regret my decision to eat breakfast this morning.”
“Me too,” he admitted, taken for a moment by a dry heave. “How can anyone stand to live in this…potent filth?”
“Sadly, to him this probably smells like power. When you start using blood magic, it will warp your senses to the point that the human body doesn’t react the way it should anymore.”
“And people do this to themselves willingly?”
“People,” Mei Li said sourly, “can be incredibly stupid.”
Shunlei snorted. “That I’ve seen, but what draws a person to try blood magic to begin with?”
“Desperation, usually. I’ve seen two cases where the person was suffering from a serious ailment, something magic couldn’t help with. They tried blood magic as a last resort. And there’s always a few who think they’re somehow above the law, that they won’t be sucked under like everyone else. I don’t think they realize that when you start using blood magic, it affects every single drop of blood in your own body. There’s no escaping that or the consequences of it.”
He opened his mouth to respond only to stop, head snapping around to see something from the other direction. “DOWN!”
Mei Li dropped without a second of hesitation. Shunlei did the same, nearly flattening himself to the crumbling leaves. Not a second later, something whistled overhead, not a half-foot above Mei Li. She swore, snatching up a talisman from her belt pouch and activating it to wield a quick defensive shield. “What was that?”
“I don’t know, I just caught sight of something metal glinting.” Shunlei ducked behind the square shield she now held in front of her. “Why didn’t you have this up before?”
“Magic can be detected,” Mei Li answered succinctly. “It would have been like a beacon before now. Do you see him?”
“No. And I can’t smell him under all this rot. Was that a trap we sprung?”
“Quite possibly.” Mei Li turned to see how the rest were faring, only to see they were crouched down as well. No injuries, though. They were hunkered down with shields up, all ready to move. Perhaps they’d also heeded Shunlei’s warning and dropped down before they could be ensnared.
“Let’s move,” Shunlei urged. “If you stand still, you lose.”
Wise counsel, and Mei Li took it. She matched paces with him, keeping the shield up in front of both of them. The stench grew progressively worse, the environment around them changing as well. The trees that had looked dormant before looked ghostly now, like wood that had been burned so quickly the shape remained but only ash was left behind. On a whim, she brushed her hand against a trunk as she passed, and it crumbled to dust under her fingers.
“He’s leeched all life from this area,” Mei Li muttered, sickened and frustrated. It would take possibly a century for the Woods to recover fully from this.
“Don’t worry, he’ll pay for it soon enough.”
“That actually does cheer me.” From the corner of her eye, she caught a flash of movement between the trees and turned automatically to put her shield between her and it—whatever it was. Shunlei moved with her, attuned. Or perhaps determined to protect her flank.
Something else flashed out at them, but this time it wasn’t a simple trap sprung. It was blood-red, a flash of blood and power forming a large scythe that blistered toward them as quick as a lightning strike. Mei Li had no time to swear, or gasp, or anything before it struck her shield dead on. With an ominous crack, the white power of her own shield splintered, like fracturing glass. She grasped her arm with the other hand, twisting her torso sharply in order to throw the scythe upward, away from her and Shunlei. If it struck through her shield, she’d be dead in an instant.
That movement cost her dearly. She panted, arm aching under the force of the blow. The shield splintered entirely, the talisman crumpling into a smoking ball of paper in her hand. She dropped it, useless as it was now, and scrambled for another shield talisman from her pouch.
Shunlei stepped in front of her as she did this, and her haste—as well as the pain in her arm—made her a little clumsy. She did not want him to deal with a scythe like that head on. It had nearly seared through her shield as it was and—
This time she heard it as it was released—a vibrating thrum, like an arrhythmic heartbeat, mixed in with the sound of the weapon whistling through the air. She threw her uninjured arm up, the talisman gripped tightly in her hand, but too late. Shunlei still stood in front of her.
His chest expanded before a hot gust of flame burst out of his mouth in a steady stream. The red and orange flames crackled and burned through the air, enveloping the scythe and disintegrating it in a split second.
Someone yelped in panic as the flames kept going, and Mei Li sensed more than saw a shield thrown up. The blood mage was over there—and he was shielding against dragon fire. Just how much magical power did he have at his disposal?
Probably too much. Curses.
Hawes and Nord skidded to a stop beside her. Without a word, Nord grabbed her hand, their talismans overlapping and effectively doubling the shield. It snapped up with a hum, forming a perfect white square in
front of them.
“Did I see that right?” Hawes demanded of her. “Shunlei’s fire can combat his magic?”
“At least the blood scythes he’s throwing,” Mei Li confirmed. “Dragon fire can burn them to a crisp.”
“Shunlei, step back and behind the shield,” Hawes commanded urgently. He had his own shield up on his arm, his free hand clutching an enchanted sword in a ready stance. “Duck out only to spit fire at him.”
Mei Li glanced back for Kiyo and Melchior, but did not see any sign of them. Ah, of course, they were enacting Kiyo’s plan. They were likely hoofing it around the area, trying to sneak up behind the blood mage while the others served as a distraction. Mei Li crossed mental fingers that it worked.
“Hawes, I want to deploy one of my ropes,” she whispered, ducking in close to him to keep her voice from spreading beyond the four of them. “It probably won’t work, but I want to keep him distracted and focused on us as much as possible.”
Hawes nodded. “Do it.”
“Have Nord do it,” Shunlei said, still standing and staring intently forward. “Mei’s arm is hurt.”
True, it was throbbing something fierce. Mei Li had a bad feeling she’d seriously injured it by forcing that scythe up as she had. Nord gave her a look askance, and she grimaced at him. “I caught the first scythe directly onto my shield.”
His mouth formed an ‘ah’ of understanding. “Then I’ll do it. Hold onto my talisman for a moment.”
“Of course.” She did so, then tilted her right hip toward him so he could retrieve the coil of rope hanging off her belt.
Nord slid his hands over the length of it, imbuing it with his power and activating the spells woven into the very fiber of it. He’d grabbed the first one Mei Li had made, which was just as well. It was the more poorly worked of the two, so would be no real loss. He aimed the tip of it toward the area the attacks had been coming from, and with a whispered word, released it.
The rope flew forward, snaking through the air with commendable speed. It hit something—hard—the sound like a slap against stone. Then the rope frayed apart and flew off into every direction.
Mei Li had expected that to happen but still found it disheartening. That rope had taken her a good two hours to make, after all.
Without missing a beat, Shunlei blew out a steady stream of fire once more, and this time its heat blistered the very air. It was nice, in a way, as it cleansed part of the area where the blood mage had been slaughtering and butchering. But it was also disturbing because the rotten meat left behind now smelled like cooked bacon.
Mei Li had a feeling she’d not be able to have bacon for a while.
The blood mage threw out a succession of strikes, varied in all directions. Some of them were the scythe again, but others were darts—quick, small, and deadly. Mei Li instinctively dodged them even as Nord swore and threw up another shield above their heads. He wasn’t quite quick enough. One of the darts slipped through, searing him along the top of his shoulder.
A cry of pain came out from behind clenched teeth, but Nord held his position.
Mei Li had had a bad feeling the night before that they’d be injured today and had come prepared. But there was no time to stop and treat anyone, even with a basic bandage.
“Shunlei, I can’t see much beyond this heap here.” Hawes craned his head around to see past the shield. “Where is he?”
“I can’t lay eyes on him either,” Shunlei said unhappily. He shifted from foot to foot, as if his instincts urged him to move. “I’d take to the skies if I had the room to do it. I think—”
He cut himself off as magic clashed ahead, sending a wave of both magic and air gusting over them, nearly strong enough to send Mei Li off her haunches and straight to the ground.
“They’ve found him,” Shunlei snarled, and before anyone could say a word to him, he burst into a sprint. He nearly left vacuumed air in his wake he moved so fast, the dirt churning under his heels.
Mei Li swore viciously, taking off after him. She wasn’t athletic, and not nearly as fast as a dragon under any circumstance, so he was far ahead of her in seconds. Hawes and Nord out-stripped her too, although Nord not by much.
The tree trunks and the men in front of her blocked her view, but Mei Li caught snatches. Kiyo held talismans in either hand, a white rope dangling in between her outspread arms, but she was clearly struggling to find the right timing to dispatch it. Melchior was locked in a physical tussle with the blood mage. Whatever protections he had in place kept him from being immediately drained of life, but Mei Li didn’t give good odds of that lasting much longer.
The blood mage was a gnarly looking man—he’d probably been tall and ruggedly attractive at some point, but he was deformed by power now, almost hunchback in appearance, head seemingly permanently tilted to the side.
Shunlei struck with all the force of a typhoon. He slid to a stop beside the blood mage and lashed out with both fists at once. The hit was a solid one, with all the considerable strength and power in a dragon’s physique.
The blood mage, even with all his magic, had no counter for this physical attack. Without his shield up, he had nothing to protect him. His body lurched abruptly sideways, flipping through the air, arms splaying without finding any purchase. He landed with a hard thud, skidding on the dead leaves a good two feet.
Kiyo lost no time in executing her spell, and the rope flew forward to ensnare his feet. The trap was meant to keep him still and in one place—nothing more—but Kiyo wasn’t done yet. Even as the spell unfurled, working, she immediately whipped out a second pair of talismans. “Everyone, clear!”
People dove out of the way to give her room to work with. Both talismans flew through the air, slapping themselves over the blood mage’s hands and mouth, respectively. Mei Li panted as she stumbled to a stop, looking their prone prey over from head to toe.
The new talismans locked his magic. With him cut off from his magic and physically bound in place, the blood mage wasn’t capable of doing anything more than glaring at them. It was a good glare, though. Top notch.
Hawes looked him over and grunted in satisfaction. “Well. This one caused us some trouble. Thankfully he’s not as powerful as all of us combined. What do we do with him? Kill him here?”
“No,” all three mages protested at once.
Hawes’ brows shot up. “Why not? Blood mages have a bounty on their heads. He doesn’t need a trial.”
That was true even of the future. Mei Li squirmed, a little uncomfortable with killing anyone in cold blood. But this wasn’t a case where it was a matter of bounty or laws. She could tell Shunlei was clearly confused at their objections as well. They really, really should have talked this over last night. “I think we should still report it to the authorities, though.”
“We can do that after he’s safely dead,” Melchior pointed out. “And I don’t want to haul him to the nearest city. That’s a dangerous task in and of itself.”
“He’s full of dark, twisted magic at this point,” Kiyo hastily explained. “If we just kill him, all that dark magic will spill out through his blood, likely damaging the Wood. We’ll need to haul him to a temple to put him through the proper purification ceremonies—”
The ground under their feet rumbled, rolling in the most minute of ways under Mei Li’s feet. Alarmed, she stumbled back several feet, looking about her frantically. Now what was going on?!
The ground near the blood mage broke apart from the roots of the trees. The dark roots, dirt still clinging to them in clods, broke free of the ground with a snap of effort. Wrapping around the blood mage, the many roots covered him from head to toe and then with a snap, dragged him sharply underground. The ground closed up after him within seconds, like a reverse avalanche. It left no sign afterward that anything had happened except the area was now clear of leaves.
Shunlei stared at the spot and cleared his throat. “Correct me if I’m mistaken. But did a sentient forest just eat a man?”
; “Sure looks that way to me,” Hawes agreed, a little horrified. “Uh…are we next?”
“The Wood is reclaiming the magical power the blood mage stole from it,” Kiyo said confidently.
Nord tacked on dubiously, “I think.”
Mei Li had to agree it sounded plausible, but she wasn’t entirely sure on that point, either. None of the records mentioned that the Wood could purify a blood mage. But it was a moot question at the moment. Clearly, the Wood thought it could and fully planned to do so.
“I’m not inclined to argue,” Mei Li declared firmly. “Let’s leave.”
Everyone seemed to agree on that point and hastily beat a path back to their campsite. As they moved, Shunlei came in close to her, looking her over with worry. “You’re cradling your arm against you. How badly is it hurt?”
“I’m hoping it’s just badly bruised,” she admitted. The way it throbbed and ached with every breath didn’t give her high hopes in that regard.
Kiyo cast a glance over her shoulder even as she hurried along, skirts flapping. “I’ll take a look when we’re back at camp.”
“Thank you,” Mei Li managed, surprised at the offer.
“Wait.” Hawes held up a hand, stalling them all in their tracks. “Huh.”
All around them, the trees began unclenching from their defensive stance. Buds and leaves slowly unfurled. The dry leaves under their feet crumbled and were replaced with budding green grass, pushing up and forming something that looked suspiciously like a welcoming carpet. Water started flowing from somewhere nearby, and a few insects and birds lent their voices to the transformation.
Mei Li’s head turned in every direction, taking in the abrupt changes, and a smile lit her face. Oh, it was lovely!
“It’s thanking us.” Shunlei turned to stare behind him, a smile on his face. “The Wood is thanking us.”
“I much prefer thanks over being eaten,” Hawes muttered. Relieved, he waved them into motion again. “We still need to get back to camp. We have injured people to attend to. Good work, everyone.”
They’d thwarted an evil blood mage and made a sentient forest happy with them. Mei Li counted that as a good day. Even if she’d possibly broken her arm in the process.
First of Tomes (The Tomes of Kaleria Book 2) Page 8
