The clothing was new; he didn’t need his enhanced olfactory senses to tell him that. They had been at Juniper’s mansion now for two hours while the clothing was being custom-made by an intelligence-based exemplar. This meant that it was perfectly tailored, the fur and leather fused together rather than stitched, which was odd.
Ozella led Sam outside, a few snow flurries swirling in the air.
They passed the man standing guard in the winter garden, who merely nodded at them as they continued along a cobblestone path to a garage of sorts. Juniper, Helena, and Zoe were standing inside, several large backpacks on the table next to them.
Helena wore an outfit similar to Ozella’s, but no skirt. It was also a leather and fur get-up, the soft, white fur on Helena’s jacket and hood looking to be a grade higher than the fur on Ozella’s.
Zoe’s outfit was a bit looser, which Sam assumed was for mobility reasons.
While her jacket buttoned all the way up to her throat, she had the first several buttons open, the tops of her breasts on full display. She didn’t have a hood on her jacket. Instead she used the hood on her exemplar uniform, her ears poking out. She also wore a thick scarf.
Juniper wore something similar to what she’d been dressed in back at the train station, flowing white robes now with thick fur padding the inner fabric. She also wore a fox fur hat, two tassels hanging off the back of the cap.
“Grab a backpack, we’re going now,” Juniper said.
It was interesting to see the dynamics between Helena and Juniper.
In a way, they acted almost like sisters, one taking charge and eventually switching off to the other. Sam could tell that they were more familiar with each other than they let on, probably from the years they had spent having to act in a certain way, never truly revealing their emotions.
It was something he would explore later through his nostrils (which was a weird way to think about it), and he was definitely feeling the change in dynamics of having a new member in their group, even if it was temporary.
He caught Juniper in the act, the woman with long auburn hair tracing her finger in the air, painting an invisible script.
Fascinating.
A portal opened up just a few seconds later, and she invited the four to step through.
Once Sam had his backpack on, he stepped into the portal, his form instantly reappearing in a wooded area covered in snow. Ozella was next, followed by Zoe, then Helena and Juniper.
“Portals don’t go directly to the schools?” Sam asked, suddenly feeling the cold smack him in the face.
“No,” said Juniper, “they have wards all over the far south that prevent any type of teleportation or portal usage. Well, at least into the schools. You can teleport or take a portal out, but going in requires advanced permission.”
“Good to know,” Sam said as Juniper waved them forward. “And yeah, now I see why we needed these warm clothes.”
“The tailors took a little longer than I would have liked, but that gave you time to catch me up on the vampire situation, which is…” Juniper stopped. “I just can’t believe that someone is trying to bring that here. And to the Rune School of Heart?”
“Any idea why they would want to go to the School of Heart?” Ozella walked with her hands holding the straps of her bulky backpack. She still had her red backpack strung from one shoulder as well, which bounced against the larger sack.
“I have my suspicions,” said Juniper. “But we may have to get closer to tell.”
“What are you thinking?” Sam asked.
“Well, what do you know about runes?”
“Only what I have read in comics,” he told her as they made their way down a small hill, Sam careful not to step on any of the ice that had formed. There was fresh snow on the ground, but there were also spots where the snow had already melted a little and frozen again, now with track marks from a cart cutting through it.
There wasn’t anyone around, but he could tell that people had moved through this area, mostly due to the tracks, but also because of discarded food along the path, all of it now with a solid sheet of ice over it.
“You Centralians and your comics,” Juniper said.
“It sounds to me like someone’s jealous,” Zoe said under her breath, shooting a quick smile over to Sam.
He gave her a funny look; it hadn’t been but a few hours ago that she was talking shit about comics as well.
“Jealous of what? Your comic books?” Juniper laughed. “We have our own forms of entertainment down here. Anyway, about runes and rune schools, we should start with just runes. Runes are practiced in both the southern and northern alliances. In fact, it is one of our biggest disputes with one another. But I’ll get to that later. In our world, there are exemplars and non-exemplars, and before the Eastern Province was able to devise advanced tech that could recreate a superpower, there were runes. There were also stones, which the East and the North used, the West as well, but runes represent an ancient technique that all of us used to share, but three of the countries have mostly forgotten about. This is why you Centralians don’t know anything about them.”
“I learned something about them,” Ozella said, “but not as much as I would like. There aren’t many books in Centralia about them, and the ones that exist are hard to come by.”
“We will take care of that, then,” said Juniper. “Before you leave the South, I will make sure you leave with a treasure trove of books on runes.”
“That would be so awesome,” Ozella said with a whisper, smiling up at Juniper, even though Juniper wasn’t looking at her.
Helena walked to Juniper’s left, somehow managing to look dainty even though she was wearing a bulky warm outfit. Sam couldn’t remember a time he had seen her without ballet flats, but even with the fact she wore boots, she still moved in the same light way she always did, almost as if she were poised on the balls of her feet.
He could also tell that she had heard some of these rune explanations before in her previous trips to the South, which was why she was mostly looking around, just keeping an eye on their surroundings. In that moment Sam had the urge to catch up to her and loop his hand in hers, Helena immediately smiling at him as their hands locked.
“Learning and understanding runes isn’t something that everyone can do. It’s almost a dormant power in that way. There are plenty of Southerners who, even if given a full rune education, would not be able to cast a simple spell. Unfortunately, because of the nature of exemplars, rune usage over the last century for non-exemplars has dwindled. I am sure you have heard, as is the propaganda in Centralia, that non-exemplars don’t have rights in the South.”
Sam nodded, it was literally what every Centralian was taught.
“This isn’t quite the case, but class separation is something that every non-exemplar struggles with. Before, the struggle was answered through runes. The four schools mostly taught non-exemplars how to use various powers, and those non-exemplars were able to coexist with the exemplars. But, without getting into Southern Alliance history, a shift in power has radically changed that. Now the only non-exemplars who study runes are people like me, people who can afford to.”
“Why do you think the group we are tracking, Fang, are so interested in going to the School of Heart?” Zoe asked, suddenly becoming interested in the conversation. “We were under the impression that they were trying to start up the Western Plague part two, so this is definitely a new development.”
“So, as I’ve already explained, each of the four rune schools have their various ways of casting magic. The School of Script, my school, uses ancient writing. The School of Whisper uses ancient words. The School of Ring hammers power into objects—enchantment. The School of Heart does the same thing as the School of Ring, only it is blood-based, which is fascinating to see.”
“Blood-based?” Helena asked, looking over her shoulder at Zoe.
“Something is starting to make sense, but I don’t know exactly what it is,” the tiger girl said.
“It does make sense, in a weird way, that vampires would be interested in the usage of rune magic and blood,” said Ozella. “This also brings up another issue, something we haven’t really discussed yet,” she said, looking to Helena.
“What’s that?” Helena asked.
“So we were tricked. We were told from the beginning that they were bringing these children vampires down here to start the next Western Plague. Even Donovan told you and Zoe that. But that’s not what they’re trying to do.”
“We don’t know that yet,” Sam reminded Ozella.
“What are you getting at?” asked Helena, her breath now visible.
“They could have already started that if that’s what they wanted to do,” said Zoe.
“Maybe they’re trying to make the vampires stronger by bringing them down here,” Ozella suggested.
“That could be the key here,” said Juniper as they moved off the path and into the woods. No one questioned why they were doing this; everyone trusted that Juniper knew where she was going.
The snow was about six inches thick now, a light dusting covering their clothing as well. While Zoe’s chest had been on display earlier, her shirt was now buttoned, her scarf wrapped even more tightly around her neck.
All of them were starting to feel the effects of the cold, and it wasn’t even night yet.
“Aside from that part,” said Ozella. “I understand how they were able to lie to the people they worked with, the gangsters, whatever. But how did Donovan lie to you?” she asked Helena. “That’s why I brought this up. How did he lie to you? He was under hypnosis, right?”
“Right, and I really don’t know the answer to that question. Zoe was there though, and it seemed genuine, right?”
“Yes, Jessica Bunny.”
“Maria Meow,” Helena said, a smile stretching across her face as they came to a frozen river. They easily crossed it, Sam preventing Ozella from slipping by catching her hand just in time.
“Maybe this Donovan fellow is a rune user as well,” Juniper offered. “He may have done the same thing I did. As soon as your eye started to change, he cast a rune.”
“Do you think he is a practitioner of your school?” Sam asked her.
“Well, he wouldn’t be from the School of Whisper because you would have heard him say something, but he certainly could have been from the other three schools, even my school. I really don’t know.”
“But that still brings us to the main question,” said Sam. “Why are they going to the School of Heart?”
“Whatever it is, I’m going to assume that it is for nefarious reasons,” said Juniper. “All of you stop for a moment. It’s time I increase your inner warmth.”
The four members of Vigilante Justice stood around Juniper for a moment as she traced some letters into the air. With each gesture, she pushed whatever she had written forward, and when it came time for her to push what she had written toward Sam, he instantly felt a strange warmness spread down his chest and to his extremities.
“Good. It’s only going to get colder from here, so let me know if you start to feel cold again,” Juniper said. “The plan is to walk until we can’t walk any longer, and build a shelter at that point. It’s going to be a cold night, but at least we’ll be warm. Just be sure to stay close. It is very easy to get lost in these woods.”
Chapter Thirty-Four: Electric Bearwolves
(Snow demons they are, yarr!)
Look, Sam was no stranger to the outdoors. His family owned a vineyard, not a very large one, but wine was quite the commodity in Centralia, so they did well enough. And when he wasn’t in school or off farting around, he usually helped out at the vineyard.
TLDR; Sam was used to being outdoors.
But those were generally warm days.
Sure, there was the Centralian breeze, and the occasional cold rain, but it was nothing like what he was experiencing now in the Southern Alliance, the snow now ten inches high, his body warm, but his nostrils red and runny. And he was getting tired as well, not used to the effort it took to trudge through the snow for hours and hours.
The sun would set soon, and Juniper was already talking aloud about settling down for the night. But she was also used to this type of weather, conviction on her face as she urged the group to go further, just a little bit further, no more than a mile. So that’s what Vigilante Justice did, the four putting all their trust into Helena’s old friend.
“Do you have any runes for a runny nose?” Sam asked her.
“I wish,” Juniper said, her nose clearly runny as well. “Just inner warmth, which doesn’t seem to do anything against a cold nose.”
They pressed forward, Zoe’s ears flickering every now and then, the predator in her making itself known. Usually when this happened, they would hear rustling nearby, some forest creature on the move. Occasionally she would pause for a moment, look around, spot Sam and look away.
Weird woman, Sam thought as they ducked under a low hanging branch, the snow falling onto the top of Sam’s hood.
Ozella kept making little snowballs and then tossing them back into the woods, the shy statkeeper entirely enamored by the snow.
Eventually, this prompted some probing from Zoe.
“You know, it does snow sometimes in Centralia,” the tiger girl said, moving lower now, her tail lifting into the air. “You act like you’ve never seen this stuff before.”
“Not this much,” said Ozella. “I really wish we could just stop and build some snowmen. There’s never enough snow in Centralia to build an adequate snowman. Sorry if that sounds stupid.”
Sam laughed. “We’re not here to build snowmen, although that would be fun. Or a snowball fight…”
“With our powers?” Zoe asked. “Pfft. I would have you all screaming for mercy in a matter of moments.”
“I would just hypnotize you and force you on my team, then take out the other three,” Helena said, jumping into the fray.
“That’s cheating!”
“All’s fair in a snowball fight,” Sam reminded Zoe. “And I am not ashamed to say that my powers would be of no use in that scenario. But I do have some endurance, plus I could power up my sense of sight, get far away, and then ambush you when you came after me.”
“Who said anyone would come after you?” Zoe asked.
Juniper laughed at this.
“See? She’s starting to get me.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Juniper told Zoe as they passed by a large rock, roots from a tree nearby jutting over its edge. “Stop,” she said, looking at the rock for a moment.
“A geologist too, huh?” Zoe asked.
“No, nothing like that. This rock was thrown here years ago, must have been hundreds of years ago. As you can tell, it disrupted the trees in the area.”
“Let me take a look at it,” Sam said, coming closer to the rock, and leaning forward so he could give it a good sniff. In that moment he saw an epic battle, one that pitted two rival rune users against one another, a fight that destroyed half the forest and left a mark on the area that had led to dozens of local superstitions.
“Do you sense it?” Juniper asked, glancing at Sam curiously.
Sam found himself looking back at Juniper, staring at her for much longer than he normally would have. He hadn’t really been this close to her yet, and now he was seeing all sorts of details of her face, the way her lips were parted, her cheekbones just a little higher than your average Centralian, her pupils slightly dilated, her intense focus.
“I sense it,” Sam said, turning away. “And what a battle it was.”
“Someone fought in this forest?” Ozella asked, looking around. “That must have been so difficult, especially with all the trees. You could hurt yourself just running around.”
“When they finished, it wasn’t much of a forest. Besides,” said Juniper as she turned back to the path, “the fight actually started a couple of miles to the east. The rock was thrown that far.”
“Throug
h runic magic, right? There’s no way an exemplar could do something like that.” Helena shook her head at Juniper. “Such an untapped resource, especially for Centralians.”
“And the source of many a war, the most recent one taking place in the Western Province, along the borderlands between my country and the North. I do feel sorry for the West.”
“Better there than Centralia,” said Zoe with a shrug. “Sorry if that sounds harsh, but who’d want that type of war in the place they lived?”
“We used to fight in Centralia; that used to be the battlegrounds, long before it was a country,” Juniper said. “And I’m guessing most of you don’t know that.”
“I’ve read it,” said Ozella, Helena nodding as well.
“Never heard of it,” said Zoe.
“Same as her,” said Sam. “I’ve never heard that in my life.”
“Centralia wasn’t always the shining country on the hill,” Juniper told him. “The North and the South and parts of the East developed much earlier than Centralia, and until borders were cut out, it was the ideal place for battle. But that was years ago, thousands of years, in a time much different than now. It does make you wonder what a thousand years from now will be like, where the countries will stand and what will become of these rivalries. There really is no telling.”
“Everyone stop,” Zoe said, her ears perking up. “Something’s coming, something big.”
“Okay,” Juniper said, immediately tracing something with her finger. “Brace yourselves. We’ve got company.”
***
Sam had never seen anything like it before.
Something between a bear and a wolf, an enormous predator stood before them, dark fur, its body outlined in electricity. It snarled, and as it did, its form began to separate into two bearwolves, saliva dripping from their jaws, their dark angry eyes focused on the group.
The next thing Sam heard was the sound of Helena and Zoe activating their energy blades. He did the same, lifting his other arm with the energy weapon on it, his wrist guard now aimed at the first bearwolf.
We Could Be Heroes 2 Page 27
