With a jaguar’s tail hanging out of its mouth, the large beast waits at the far end of the valley. Short, blue hair covers its muscular body with a few bald stripes going along its ribs. Four thick, claw-tipped limbs flex on knees that can bend in every direction. A wide head swivels from side to side on a short neck, the creature’s amber eyes searching for its next meal. Hoping to startle one of the Feykin or belraphi into running, the predator roars to reveal rows of sharp teeth that curve inwards. It takes a hesitant step toward the hunters and stops to redirect its hunger on the solitary forest tracker who drops out of the nest and moves away from the terrified herd. The beast slurps up the tail in its mouth and salivates in anticipation of easy prey.
“Hey, Delvin! Is this thing edible?” Luke asks while spinning his sabers. Taking a deep breath, he answers the beast’s bellow with a roaring screech. “Sorry, guys, but I’m not going to change. This one is going to be all me.”
“I’m not sure,” the other warrior replies, slightly confused on what is about to happen. A few of the Feykin nod their heads, none of them wanting to draw the predator’s attention. “It looks like it is. Hunting belraphi too easy for you?”
“I’m in the mood for a challenge.”
“Then go for it.”
Refusing to be on the defensive, Luke charges at the large animal that hunkers down for the attack. He is forced to dive out of the way when his enemy’s neck turns out to be a coiled spring that rockets its head forward. Teeth graze the half-elf’s leg, but they only slice through his pants and fail to taste flesh. His blades cut deep into the beast’s shoulder, hitting bone that is as dense as a boulder. Several more strikes anger the creature, but the slender sabers cannot get beyond the thick skeleton that protects its vitals. When one of his stabs ends in a very jarring stop, Luke is stunned long enough for the predator to kick him in the stomach and tear off his leather armor patch. Tumbling toward the forest, the champion leaps behind a tree and stands straight to let the trunk prevent the beast’s incoming mouth from closing on him. Seeing an opening, the forest tracker stabs into the jaws that pull back before the blades get too deep.
Thinking he sees a solitary weak point, Luke runs backwards until he stumbles over his own foot. The hungry beast’s head telescopes out to snare the warrior and leaves a path of warm drool in its wake. Its mouth snaps shut, getting only air when its prey backflips out of the way. Before the predator can recover, Luke dives forward and slams one of his sabers into its soft throat. The neck retracts, which drags the blade down its folding windpipe and carries the forest tracker along the uneven earth. Getting his footing and leaping, the blonde warrior uses his unhindered momentum to help drive his other sword into the animal’s solid chest. For a terrifying moment, Luke fears that his weapon will break, but the breastbone suddenly cracks and lets the blade pass further into the massive predator. His enemy quivers on wobbly legs for a few seconds before the champion twists the saber and jams it the last inch to pierce the heart.
“Do I still need to catch three of the belraphi or is this good enough?” Luke asks with a proud grin. He is swarmed by all but one of the Feykin, awe and wonder in their eyes. “So, what does this thing taste like?”
Helping Dariana out of the nest, Delvin chuckles and shakes his head. “I almost forgot what happens when he acts reckless. Makes me feel sorry for telling others that he can’t be trusted in a battle. Now does anybody know how we’re going to get all of this food home?”
*****
Nyx does her best to ignore Sari and Phelan kissing beneath a tree while they manipulate a stream to gather food. With Fizzle dropping the ripened fruit into her arms, the channeler manages to avoid looking at the openly intimate pair. Yet the sounds of lips touching and happy giggles gradually take their toll on her patience. Every noise feels like a stab to her chest, which reminds Nyx why she spent so many years dodging relationships that go beyond family and friendships. Glancing around the pond for anything to distract her, she can only see vague shadows of the other Feykin as they hunt for jungle hares. The bloated rodents are not very different than the bog hares of the north, but the locals swear the meat is sweeter than fresh pineapples. With a sigh, the channeler lets the thought of food take over her mind and drown out the more painful distractions. The peace does not last long since she remembers the command word for her mother’s bracelet and then how she transformed it into Delvin’s shield. Now the enchanted object sits on a table with a collection of fruit in it like a cheap bowl.
“Stop that damn noise!” Nyx shouts before lashing out with a burst of wind. Her companions are separated and their attempt to hit back with a blast of water is undone by a sweltering heat shield. “Just get back to work. Save kissing, being in love, and whatever else you do for the bedroom.”
“What is your-” Sari begins to ask, stopping when the half-elf charges. The gypsy’s hand flicks out a dagger, but a moment’s hesitation allows her to get pinned against a tree by a forearm made of rough stone. “Calm down, Nyxie. Stop with the magic and take deep breaths. I know you’re upset about Delvin and I agree with you. He’s a bastard for getting engaged without giving you a final chance. Definitely not suited to be king. Okay, not important! Ease up on my throat! Let me go and we’ll talk about it.”
“Delvin isn’t the only person I’m angry at,” Nyx growls as she releases her friend. The drawing of a dagger causes her arm to rise with a fiery blade that stops a hair away from Phelan’s face. “I’m going to politely ask you to go somewhere else. Fizzle will help if you want him to, but Sari and I are going to have a private conversation. Don’t argue or fight back. I know a lot of spells that will get you out of my way and I’m more than happy to use them. Nothing lethal, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be pleasant.”
A dagger presses against the channeler’s throat as Sari waves for Phelan to leave them alone. Nyx watches him cautiously back away with his hands over his head, but his weapon remains in his fist. The fire blade flows to her other hand and points at the gypsy’s head, neither woman wanting to give any ground. They barely notice a tendril of rainbow mist float between their faces, the colorful vapor making them lightheaded. They look up to see Fizzle with his cheeks puffed out and his magical breath leaking out of his nostrils. Both women put away their weapons and step away from each other, earning a small nod from the dragon. He darts toward the lake, leaving behind a rainbow trail that lingers as a warning.
“Is it because I’m happy?” Sari asks, her arms across her chest. The blue-haired woman clicks her tongue a few times in frustration and anger before recovering her weapon and returning it to her skirts. “Everyone must have gotten used to poor, little Sari chasing a man she could never have. Destined to lose, but always smiling. Now she’s in love with someone who isn’t a bastard and there’s no longer a reason to pity her. Maybe you’re angry and jealous because our roles have changed. You want a man that you can’t have while I’m in love. Really sucks being the pathetic cast off, right?”
“I don’t care if you’re really in love with Phelan or it turns out to be a phase. I’m sick of you insulting and threatening my little brother,” Nyx replies while cracking her knuckles. Every pop sends sparks into the air and they gather within her ebony tresses, the small display putting Sari on edge. “The entire trip to the jungle, Luke was worried and felt guilty about you being in danger. Instead of being thankful for his concern, you keep coming up with different disasters that you want to have happen to him. Do you expect me to side with you on this? Mistakes were made, but you were warned about the risk before you got serious with Luke. So don’t act like he broke your heart out of maliciousness when you’re the one who put it on the chopping block. I’d even go so far as to say you got a few good stabs into the thing with your own hands. Not to mention you did some damage to him and Kira.”
“You’re actually defending him, Nyx?”
“Yes and I’d do the same for you if he was the one being a jerk.”
“Like he’d have
any issues with me. I was one of the best things he ever had.”
“Sure. It wasn’t like his presence kept your nightmares at bay or helped you heal from losing your clan.”
Sari clenches her fist and is on the verge of throwing a punch until she sees that Nyx is ready for her. Knowing magic would alert Fizzle to their fight, the gypsy turns to kick the nearest tree and release some of her pent up rage. A jolt of pain pulses through her leg and she hops away while creating ice around her bruised foot. The embarrassing sight has no effect on the scowling channeler, the sight of which suddenly cuts through Sari’s mental haze. As if waking from a trance, she realizes what she has been saying and blushes in shame. The moment of clarity ends when she remembers how much she loves Phelan and that Luke’s presence puts her newfound happiness in danger. Muttering a curse, the gypsy sits on a rock and meets her old friend’s steely gaze with a blank stare.
“If you want me to apologize then I’m sorry. You obviously see Luke in a better light than I do,” Sari explains as she waves her hand at the nearby stream. Arms of water rise to the canopy to pick fruit and nuts, the hands getting into fights with hungry toucans. “But you should look at this from my perspective. My relationship with Luke was a horrible, nauseating, painful ride that I’ve finally escaped. Phelan makes me happy and not only because we’re both descended from water fairies. He’s on edge now, but he’s really very sweet and tender. Luke and I are toxic around each other, so I don’t want him poisoning what I’ve found. Just him being here is making me angry and Phelan is worried that I’ll fall back into a bad situation. So he’s protective and I’m edgy, which is why I say mean things. They’re not real. I only want Luke to know that I don’t want to be with him.”
“So you lied when you said you still wanted to be his friend,” Nyx says, her body relaxing slightly. Wanting to get back to work, she kneels next to a vine that has yellow berries, which she discovers taste like vanilla. “I simply don’t understand the change. You’ve done so much to make Luke happy, so it’s strange to find you openly despising him. Not like he was enjoying the mess since he was always miserable. I assume you hate Kira too.”
“Not really,” the gypsy admits, blowing a kiss to Phelan when he waves. A wicked grin is on her face, but she hides it behind a fake cough. “Kira may have set things in motion, but that’s her culture. Luke’s the one who could have stopped it at any point. Instead, he let it get out of hand and hurt me. I get the feeling that you’re on his side in this, Nyx. Can’t you be happy for me and admit that your little brother is a jerk.”
“I’m not taking any sides. I’ll defend either of you against the other.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I don’t want to lose a friend.”
“Are we really friends, Nyx?”
Confused by the question, the half-elf looks away from Sari and remains crouched by the vines. Wanting to put some distance between herself and the gypsy, Nyx tries to stand only to feel something yank on her arm. Glancing at her wrist, she sees the green plant has fused to her skin and the connected berries are throbbing in time with her heartbeat. A wave of vertigo hits when she tries to use her magic and the fireball in her palm turns into a puff of smoke. Out of the corner of her eye, the channeler sees Sari staring open-mouthed at the display, but the gypsy is not making a move to help. Bracing herself for the pain, Nyx gets to her feet and attempts to tear the vine out of her flesh. After the first violent tug, the plant sinks beneath her skin and retracts to steadily drag her through the bushes toward the lake.
With a gurgling screech, the rest of the creature rises from the water, which is dotted with the yellow berries. Resembling a mass of vines and algae, the monster opens a circular mouth where hundreds of pulsating tendrils squirm. The remains of animals can be seen within the beast’s maw, their bodies desiccated from being drained of their fluids. More of the thick vines creep through the underbrush to snare Nyx and pull her toward the lake at a faster rate. When she sinks herself into the earth, the creature burrows its protrusions into the soil and extracts her like a stubborn root. To stop the half-elf from fighting, the beast pops the yellow berries that are connected to her skin, their poison making it difficult for her to focus. Another gurgle sends ripples through the water before the mummified body of a hippo is ejected to make space for the fresher meal.
Several of the vines are waving through the air in an attempt to catch Fizzle, who repeatedly dives toward his captured friend. The drite is kept on the defensive, but he manages to launch a few simple energy spells. All of them are absorbed by the berries and returned as kaleidoscopic beams that follow their target through the canopy. When the serpentine blasts strike several branches, they implode to leave a gaping hole that causes chunks of the trees to tumble into the lake. Fizzle repeatedly becomes invisible and reappears in different locations to confuse the creature until many of the pursuing vines are tangled. Diving for the main body, the drite prepares a powerful spell that blooms from the tip of his nose. Right before he can cast the disintegration wave, a geyser erupts to cover him and his opponent. The plant-like beast is shoved to the other side of the lake while Fizzle is sent tumbling into the sky where his attack is unleashed on a hapless cloud. As he regains his bearings, the dragon notices Phelan controlling the water to keep the predator off balance and slow down Nyx’s approach.
“I got you, Nyxie,” Sari says when she pounces on the half-elf. The vines stretch as they pull on the immovable gypsy, who struggles to think of a way to fend off the beast. “Don’t know why it took me so long to react. I think you caught me by surprise with what you said or . . . I don’t know. Can you roast this thing?”
“I get violently dizzy every time I try to cast a spell. Fizzle, you, and Phelan would be in danger if I attacked in this state,” the channeler replies as the pressure on her body increases. Darkness is creeping into her vision, but she shakes her head to remain conscious. “The poison is making it hard to think straight. It’s a plant, so it probably doesn’t like the cold. Phelan churning the water is the equivalent of giving that thing a sensual massage, so we need ice.”
“Bad time to mention that I’ve been having trouble with that since I got to the jungle,” the gypsy admits with a low grunt. Flicking a finger, she sends a dart of water at what she thinks is the predator’s eye, but nothing happens. “Zohara says the region’s heat is getting in my way. I don’t remember having much luck in Bor’daruk and Helgard either. If I’d practiced more then this would be less of challenge.”
“That implies that you’re able to do something.”
“If I get into the water then I should be able to freeze the lake.”
“In that case, let me go and dive in.”
“But I might freeze you.”
“Then move quickly.”
Licking her lips and staring at the lake, Sari releases her friend and sprints toward the shoreline. The stretched vines retract faster than either woman expected, but Nyx’s momentum is slowed when Fizzle zips down to wrap his tail around her arm. With the drite’s efforts giving her enough time to reach the water, the gypsy is about to dive in when she stops. A flickering thought of letting her childhood friend die sends a shiver down her spine, but she cannot forget that the channeler is not on her side against Luke. Noticing Phelan casually leaning against a tree instead of keeping the creature at bay, Sari turns her foot to join him in ignoring the scrambling half-elf.
“What is taking so long, little sister?” Nyx asks while her fingers leave grooves in the muddy earth. “Fizzle and I can’t hold on any longer!”
Snapped out of her thoughts, Sari dives into the warm lake and sinks to the bottom like a rock. She finds herself among thick, gnarled roots and she touches one before focusing on the spark of cold within her core. The elusive piece of aura repeatedly slips away as if it is terrified of her touch, but the gypsy catches it when she sees Nyx’s booted foot briefly break the water’s churning surface. With a spray of bubbles erupting f
rom her mouth, Sari screams and unleashes a wave of cold that freezes the lake. Encased in ice, all she hears is her own heartbeat while her lungs ache from the artic temperature. Once she sees the creature crumble under its own frozen weight, the blue-haired gypsy undoes the spell and swims to the surface.
“We can gather the berries,” Phelan says, extending his hand to help Sari walk across the water. He glances at Nyx who is sprawled in the mud and gasping for air, the tips of her boots covered in frost. “These are tasty, but you need to soak them in ginger water to remove the poison. We don’t take trendals down very often since most Feykin don’t have powers like you two. This one definitely has enough berries to last us for a month or two. Thank you for this unexpected bounty.”
“No problem,” Nyx replies, making no move to get up. She watches the water swirl and sprout hands that pluck the yellow berries from the thawing carcass. “I’m going to stay here and regain my strength. Are we good, Sari?”
“For now,” the gypsy coldly states as she holds a bag open for the food. Slinging the heavy sack over her shoulder, she pats her boyfriend on the back and smiles. “We’re going to check on the others and tell them that we’ve gathered enough food. Be ready to go back to Rhundar soon, Nyx.”
Fizzle watches the pair leave hand in hand and waits for them to disappear into the trees before whispering, “Sari pause. Not right. Why Nyx smiling?”
“One says Nyx and the other says Nyxie,” the half-elf replies with a weak chuckle. Battling the lingering vertigo, she struggles to stand and heats her body until the mud flakes off her exposed skin. “You’re in there somewhere, little sister, and I swear on my life that I’ll drag you to the surface. Even if I have to face the Baron himself, I’m bringing you back.”
Charms of the Feykin Page 13
