by Andrew Lynch
Teint snapped his fingers. ‘Oh, yes. In that case, she might kill you, master.’
I led the way back to the scary tree, and the giant tree. Halfway up the path, I could see She Who Slays shifting and trying to peer around me at the two robed cultists.
Her nameplate appeared, which meant that mine did for her too. Aaaand… right on cue, she let out a scream. She left the entrance she was guarding, took three loping steps towards us and… fell over. Falling into the ground.
I turned to Teint. ‘What just happened? Where’d she go?’
Teint mumbled to himself. ‘Oh dear. Bless her, she is awfully protective, master. That said, she’s stalking you.’
I dropped into a defensive crouch. ‘What do you mean stalking me? She’s a tree! Trees aren’t predators!’
Teint scoffed. ‘A bit racist, master. She’s a Spriggan, not a tree.’
I scanned my surroundings. The ancient tree that She Who Slays had come from. The huts, the willow tree… but no angry tree. I mean Spriggan.
‘What’s she going to do?’
‘I’ll be honest, master, we were more lovers than fighters.’
I cringed at the thought.
A red circle appeared beneath me, and I dived to the side. I tried to roll, but in my heavy breastplate, I just dug my shoulder into the soft ground and planted myself there. Barbed roots shot up where I’d just dodged. The roots continued to rise from the ground and twist around themselves until, like an optical illusion, they coalesced into a Spriggan, and She Who Slays’ nameplate appeared above her.
I managed to roll onto my back, and before I realised what I was doing, I had my hands raised and felt a Soulburn pooling into my focusing hand. I spent the mental energy to cancel it, and the next thing I knew, I was being pushed up to my knees, then my feet, then being constricted and suspended in the air.
Tendrils of stinging wood snaked over my body, tightening and squeezing up to my neck.
My face was forced up to the sky, but I heard a thud and a shuffling of feet. A body smacking into wood.
‘Stop!’ I heard Teint shout. ‘Both of you, stop!’
What must have been She Who Slays’ roots, relaxed enough that I could breathe freely.
‘She threatens our master,’ Horace said. ‘We must protect him from these inner threats, young cultist. Do not let your feelings swerve you from the dark ones.’
‘You too, Slays! I’m fine.’
I heard the signature banshee scream of the Spriggan.
‘You know it wasn’t his fault.’
An equally aggressive scream.
‘I’m fine. Just a bit less Life than before.’
Another scream.
‘Yes, no feet. There’s that.’
An ever so slightly softer scream, and I felt my weight return to my feet as the Spriggan’s branches lowered me, her rage subsiding, and her focus moving to the real issue.
‘Of course. That sounds perfect. But for now, we need help.’
The branches receded completely, going back into the ground at my feet, and then pulling back out into She Who Slay’s arms. She turned fully to Teint now. She reached her branches forward, as if asking for a great weight to be placed there. Horace reluctantly gave up his charge.
Teint pointed to the assembled crowd of fighters at the edge of the grove. ‘We need your permission.’
I took a step forward. ‘She Who Slays. We must hide. If we don’t, then the Child of Light will decimate everyone here.’
The Spriggan whispered a low creak at Teint, to which he replied. ‘The Eastern Shadow’s Elite unit.’
She Who Slays looked at me and her dead branches shook. I didn’t need Teint to translate that.
‘But why not? You would condemn so many people to death? Because Bri isn’t here? She abandoned us!’
She Who Slays glared at me and let out a series of whistles, creaks, and screeches.
Teint translated. ‘She says that Bri left, yes, and everyone apart from her. And she’s not sure why. She was just instructed to stay here and keep the tunnels clear.’
Damn it. Bri had to leave the one order that would screw my plan up, didn’t she? The logical course of action was to fight my way through She Who Slays. Imprison her, and then save the hundreds of troops. But I’d also be declaring war on Bri… who wasn’t here and had abandoned us.
‘Does that mean Bri is coming back?’ I asked.
A moan. ‘She doesn’t know.’
Time to do what had to be done. I took a few more steps toward She Who Slays.
‘It’s not your fault. Don’t worry,’ I said, reassuringly.
‘She says it is her fault. Because of… oh.’
I was right behind the Spriggan now. On one side, Teint was looking into her eyes, and on the other, his missing legs were laid on the grass.
‘Oh, what?’
‘Bri had decided that she couldn’t be fully trusted. That her emotions would get in the way. That she’d be more useful here.’
‘How so?’ I gripped the manacle in one hand, and wound the chain around my other, ready to use it as a garrote.
She Who Slays continued her low callings. ‘Because of me, master. Bri saw that she would disobey her orders if… if it came to me.’
Teint couldn’t take his eyes from the Spriggan he loved. He couldn’t see me and my intentions. I raised my arms ready to clear her branches when I made my move, mere seconds from saving hundreds of my troops. But when a green glow caught my eye. I lowered my arms, and realised I couldn’t go through with it. The green glow was coming from the grass and writhing roots at Teint’s legs. A complex working of spell and physical materials was being woven, and I could see shapes sprouting from it. She Who Slays was growing new legs for the man she loved.
I stepped back and unwound the chain from my hand. ‘We’ll think of something else. Don’t worry.’
Horace pointed behind me to the ancient tree. ‘Master, look!’
I turned to see a four legged figure between the tree’s roots. A grizzled and angry looking beast. The leader of the Fawns. Stagatha.
As my eyes met hers, and her scowl deepened, I regretted my earlier thoughts of rather facing her than She Who Slays.
‘She was in there this whole time?’ I asked.
The Spriggan shook her branches.
‘So this means…’
A loud roar and a terrible shriek from within the dead woods suddenly pierced the air. Stagatha emerged from within the ancient tree at the grove’s heart and galloped toward us, skidding to a halt, just before knocking me flat.
‘The beast comes!’
Chapter 52: Dark Thorn
Stagatha loped ahead, taking her Fawns with her. She Who Slays had stayed to help Teint walk again, but Ixly, Horace, and a whole load of confused looking troops were at my back.
I left Thanis through the breach, and while the Fawns turned north toward the scream, I was ground to a halt by the game of cat and mouse my Agility units were playing with the Child of Light.
Two black robed figures lay unmoving on the ground, and I felt my heart stop as I realised their deaths were my fault. Four of the waifish blade dancers had been taken out in a single hit, their bodies mangled together, limbs bent at unnatural angles. There were pools of light dotting the battlefield, and I knew just how dangerous that could be. Even those that hadn’t been at Hursh’s battle knew once they saw Teint’s legs eaten away.
The two mages on flying levitating discs that had hovered past me when I’d been talking to Ixly were the ones keeping the Child of Light busy now, allowing the others to regain their Stamina for a moment. They had cast illusions of all the cultists. They seemed basic, and could only run in circles, and the Child of Light wasn’t having any trouble hitting them, but it was the down time for the real troops that was their main benefit.
I took a step toward the Child of Light, but Horace gripped my shoulder.
‘It hurts me to see it too, master. But there’s nothing we can
do.’
I wanted to argue, but knew he was right. I turned away and began to follow the Fawns. Stagatha had given zero information, but damn it, when someone shouts “The beast comes” and sprints past you, you follow that crazy insectoid deer.
My willingness to follow without explanation came to a crushing halt when I looked to the northern woods. The trees were shaking, as if artillery was performing a creeping bombardment toward Thanis. Was it a second Child of Light, and were the trees moving because it was burrowing under them?
Whatever it was, I didn’t need the hassle. But hassle had come regardless. I turned to Ixly and Horace. ‘We can’t hide, so we go to plan two. We fight!’
Horace nodded resolutely but Ixly tilted his head in confusion.
‘Fight?’ He pointed to the Child of Light being occupied by the Agility fighters. ‘Fight that, you mean?’
‘We don’t have any options left. I doubt we can take one of them, let alone two. But we’re here and we’re out of options.’
Ixly looked between the shaking trees and the engaged Child of Light. ‘No, Severo. Don’t you see? We’re saved!’
‘What?’
The shaking trees were nearly out of the woods and ready to reveal the horrific creature, when the ear piercing screech washed over Thanis again.
‘You don’t recognise it, Severo?’
‘Well, it doesn’t sound like a Child of Light, but… no?’
Ixly grinned. ‘It’s hard to forget the call of something that kills you.’ He pointed to the woods. ‘And look who’s brought it to us.’
I turned back to the woods to see the giant emaciated form bursting from the tree line. His feathers were still sparse, and the plumes a defeated grey, but Arthur was all the more terrifying for it. And he was pissed.
His mouth glowed purple, and there was a small, belligerent water elemental sitting on his shoulders. Bri had come back! Of course she’d never really left me! She was downright majestic. Arthur continued his charge along the open plains toward me. I heard nervous shuffling from behind, and a few of my troops began a tactical retreat.
I turned to them. ‘No, it’s okay. They’re with us.’
Arthur was going very fast, though… I took a step back.
‘Master,’ Horace began. ‘They are on our side?’
I took another step back, and both Ixly and Horace took it with me.
‘I mean… probably. I don’t think I’d pissed her off that much the last time we met.’
‘You mean when you left her in a slum tavern with hallucinogenic mushrooms, known for their stench? And then died in the same room as her?’
I cleared my throat and took another step back. ‘Told you about that, did I? Ahh. But she wouldn’t–’
‘Run away with all her minions before a siege,’ Ixly filled in my thoughts for me, ‘and then hate you enough to ride an elite Moonbeast directly at your face?’
I took another step back. ‘That’s not as crazy as it sounded in my head. Umm, should we run?’
I felt Ixly’s giant claw against my back as I tried to take another step. ‘That would be the smart decision.’
I looked at the big lizard. ‘You’re smart. So why aren’t we running?’
He shrugged. ‘If she is truly against us, then we’re dead anyway. Might as well die with honour.’
Horace nodded his agreement. ‘There is honour in doing what you must in order to live and fight another day, master. But in this, Ixly has the right of it. There is no other day.’
‘Well, shit. I guess if you two have things like principles and morals, I should too. All right, I’m standing my ground because you two are. I was in this for my friends from the start, so I may as well be in this with my friends at the end!’
Arthur continued his flapping, squawking charge, running past Stagatha and her Fawns so closely that some of them had to dive out of the way as his giant talons ripped hunks of dry earth from the ground and sent them flying.
As one of the Fawns fell in the wake of Arthur, I looked to Ixly and Horace, who were both still standing firmly, resolve obvious in their stances.
Arthur was close enough that I could see his beady bird eyes glowing with arcane light, and the purple glow from his mouth was… Dark Thorn. I thought back to the whispers I’d heard when I had first touched it in the cave. My mind flashed to a white room and figures touching my face. Those whispers made a lot more sense now. I shook my head, feeling a tingle from the contact pads at my temples.
I didn’t want to leave. I was strong here. Stronger than anyone could explain. Even Ixly said so. And I had friends here. I was safe.
Although, safe was a relative term, as Arthur’s talons planted themselves into the ground a bare few metres in front of me, and opened his wings wide, trying to use them to slow himself down. His torso pitched forward, but then the ground gave way and his feet pulled the earth free, making the house sized bird thing skid. I didn’t break. I stood my ground.
The two tree trunk thick legs and the razor sharp talons filled with crumbling boulders slid past me in a shower of dust and debris. As he passed, I turned to follow the giant, and found myself alone. Ixly and Horace had run away!
The cheeky little…
Arthur came to a standstill, and dropped his body, using a wing to turn himself around. He shoved his face into mine, so close I could see my breath causing rivulets of moisture to drip along the cracked and dusty beak.
Bri jumped to the ground next to the giant head. ‘Drop it! Now!’
For a second I wondered what she wanted me to drop, but then Arthur let out a huge screech that definitely should have burst my eardrums. Once he was quite done, he stood upright and instantly looked a bit… happier.
‘I guessed you’d want that.’ Bri pointed at Dark Thorn on the floor at my feet. ‘I couldn’t touch it though. Not my element. I had to enlist the Moonbeast to help me!.’
My eyes were drawn to the dark weapon, and I could hear its whispers again, tugging at the corners of my mind, telling me to look at it, touch it, hold it, it would be okay, nothing bad would happen. But my eyes stayed on Bri. On the gentle shimmer of the water under her blue skin.
‘I thought you weren’t coming back?’
Her eyes were hard as they ever were when she looked at me. ‘Why would you even think that? Do I have to spell it out for you with words? Do my actions mean nothing? Eyes, I’ve been with you this whole time, even if I haven’t been here!’
I thought back to everything, and when I put my emotions aside, she was right. She’d never left. She’d been grumpy, angry, and aggressive, but she’d never left. She’d always been there to help. She was as faithful as Ixly, but I’d never questioned his loyalty. So why did I question hers?
‘Uhh, I’m sorry. You’re right.’
Her eyes softened ever so slightly. ‘Of course I’m right.’ She put a hand on my shoulder and slid it down to my forearm, breaking contact just before our hands touched. ‘Now, I just delivered you an elite weapon and an elite monster.’
I snapped myself out of the creeping infatuation that was pulling me toward her, vowing to make amends and grow a damn pair once Thanis was safe. ‘And just how did you do that? Not that we have any time, but I have to know.’
She pointed at Ixly. ‘I had his Geeko, who is arcane aligned, infuse the shadowgem from the emissary. Then I infused my Charm Nature spell with it, turning it into a Charm Arcane spell. As you know, I am incredibly skilled, and so I was able to tweak a few more things, and the next thing you know…’ she pointed at Arthur who was stomping on the ground seeming generally ornery. ‘Voila.’
‘That… all makes sense. Yeah, okay. I should have thought of that.’
She smiled at me. ‘You were dead at the time.’
‘That happens way too often.’
She chuckled. ‘It’s a learning experience. Takes a lot to get an idea through your skull. I mean honestly, if you’d found the motivation to take all of this seriously a week earlier, y
ou’d have been able to avoid a lot of your issues.’
Horace stepped between us. ‘I apologise master, but can we put this Moonbeast to good use?’
‘Right, yes.’
I bent down to pick up Dark Thorn, and as soon as my hand gripped the gnarled wood, I saw the white light and heard the voice. “Power seduces. Get the Thorn and leave!”
I staggered backwards, but kept Dark Thorn in my hand. That was too damn much now. Every time the flash. I remembered the flash. But the words and images disappeared, fleeting as a dream when I tried to remember.
‘Are you okay, master?’
‘Of course.’ I took a step forward and felt the real power of Dark Thorn. Not the voices or the visions, but the raw stats.
‘Holy moly. Have you guys ever seen an elite weapon’s stats before?’
They all grumbled that they hadn’t.
‘I wanted to inspect it, at least,’ Bri said, ‘But I couldn’t pick it up.’
‘Well, let me tell you, it’s a beast!’ I scanned through Dark Thorns stats. ‘Plus three hundred to Mind! That’s crazy, right? A little bit to Strength. Ooh, and even plus twenty to Luck. No Agility, though. A few bonuses to Living Stats, slows down hunger, toxicity, and thirst.’
Horace explained that one. ‘The dark gods sustain their servants, master.’
‘Good! Oh and there’s a buff to Summon Familiar! I just need to resummon him.’
I unsummoned Gurim from my jailor’s manacle, and then cast the spell again. A large purple and black circle appeared on the ground, and wind whipped my robe into a frenzy, yet left everyone else untouched. The circle span and grew tighter until it touched my feet. This was an epic casting animation! As soon as it touched my feet, it disappeared. Aaand... nothing?
‘That was anticlimactic. Where’s my little dark blob?’
A deep booming voice came from behind. “Here.”
I spun around, but no one was there.
‘Are you okay?’ Bri asked.
‘I’m not sure… Gurim? You there?’
Again, from behind me. “Gurim no longer. I am Thorn.”
Mildly terrifying, and still nothing behind me.
‘Okay, umm, Thorn. Are you in my head?’
