One of the soldiers shouted at the archer, “Shouldn’t you be down here with us?”
The hunter tapped the long-knives strapped to his hip. “These ain’t gonna be much use against somethin’ that big. It’ll be easier to use my bow up here, than if I’m down there gettin’ my arse mauled.”
The men looked nervously at one another, and I wondered if they might break and run. I had to do something. “Stand your ground,” I commanded. Then I raised a wide shield between us and the direction the creatures would be coming from. I colored it blue to enable the soldiers to see it. Penny and Gram were on the other side, and I hoped they would be up to the task. “The shield should protect you, but if Sir Gram or the Countess have trouble, I’ll release it, so you can back them up.”
Penny gazed at me through the shimmering field for a moment and our eyes met. Then she nodded and turned to face the dark woods. We had come a long way over the years. In our early days, I would never have allowed her to face such a thing without protest, even though it had often been her job. But I had learned to respect her strength and resolve. We each had our part to play, and whatever happened, I would be there to haul her ass out of the fire if these things were more dangerous than we expected.
Had I made the right choice? There was no more time to consider options, for the massive creatures were upon us, bursting from the underbrush and leaping toward me.
Now that I could see them with my own eyes, they did indeed look bear-like. Stony skin covered massive shoulders and flanks. Their limbs ended in a multitude of glassy claws the size of meat cleavers. They roared as they came, ignoring the two warriors in front of them and instead charging toward the middle of my shield, trying to reach me.
An arrow sprouted from the shoulder of the one on the left, but it didn’t seem to slow it in the least. Gram ducked under and brought Thorn up from below, cutting deeply into the side of its chest. The sword stuck there, and rather than struggle to free it, he bent his knees, dropping below a great sweeping paw. Then he stood and put his hands against the thing’s shoulder.
It looked almost like magic. Despite Gram’s considerable strength the beast outweighed him by at least an order of magnitude, yet he hardly seemed to exert himself when he pushed, toppling the monster over sideways.
Penny wasn’t quite so lucky.
As the beast on her side charged toward my shield she sidestepped and cut at its front leg, hoping to cripple it. Her lighter arming sword failed to cut deeply, though, and as she dodged out of the way the beast crossed the remaining distance to slam into my shield.
My defense held, but it was slipping. Something about the very nature of these creatures made them difficult to deal with using pure magic. The strain it put on my shield was far greater than it should have been, even for a creature of its size and mass. After the first shock of contact it withdrew slightly and then brought its claws to bear. In spite of my efforts, they tore through the shield as though they were enchanted.
Unprepared, I felt the feedback from the shattered shield like a hammer-blow to my mind. I swayed on my feet, and only by clinging to my staff was I able to remain standing. An arrow appeared in the beast’s throat, and two of the men behind me stepped forward, stabbing at the monster, but it seemed to feel none of it.
Standing on its hind legs, it towered over me like the shadow of death. Its massive forelimb swung forward in a sweeping attack that seemed certain to rip my head from my shoulders.
And then Penny was back. Jumping in front of me, she stabbed upward with the point of her sword, catching the inside of the creature’s foreleg and using its own momentum to help drive the point through. It screamed in rage and then dropped down to snap at her with its teeth.
She should have moved. Her sword was trapped, and the thing was just too damned big to face in a stand-up fight, but I was still behind her. Rather than move, she threw up her left arm to keep the massive jaws from reaching me.
The monster’s maw clamped down on her arm, encompassing it from just above her elbow all the way to her wrist. The deadly teeth weren’t able to pierce her mail, but I heard her bones cracking as the jaws snapped shut. A tortured scream came from her as the beast jerked its head to one side, whipping her off her feet.
My vision was clearing, and I saw two more arrows standing out from its shoulders. The rest of the soldiers were around it now, stabbing in at it with their swords. They didn’t have the strength that Penny or Gram had, but their blades were enchanted, and given time I was sure the beast would die.
But time was something my wife did not have.
Somehow, she had drawn her dagger with her right hand, but the beast that held her had begun shaking its head like a dog with a toy. Her body was thrown back and forth, and only the unyielding strength of the mail encasing her arm kept it from being ripped from her shoulder.
Pushing through the pain in my head, I tried to grip the creature directly with my power, to stop its violent thrashing, but it was like trying to hold a greased pig. Desperate, I used the air itself, pressing it inward, compressing it around the monster’s skin. The dirt beneath it would have been better for the task, but I had no time.
Air is a poor medium to try and hold something with, but I put everything I had into it, until the air was as hard as steel, and it immobilized the beast holding Penny. Gritting my teeth and crying tears of rage, I continued to squeeze. There was a brief pause as the pressure mounted, and then the monster’s chest collapsed inward. Its jaws opened, and Penny dropped to the ground as blood fountained from its mouth.
The men were all around us, but I had spared none of my attention for them. The only thing in my sight was Penny’s crumpled form on the ground before me, her arm twisted across her body as though it was made of dough rather than bone and flesh.
Her heart was beating, I could see her chest still rising as she breathed, though the pain had rendered her unconscious. Frantic to help her, I needed to remove her armor, but it would be a long and terrible process. The mail was twisted around her arm as well as her chest.
Without thinking I applied my power to it, ripping the welded and riveted links apart with thought alone. It shouldn’t have been possible to do it that way. Enchanted mail is incredibly strong, and regular wizardry isn’t normally up to such a task. If I had been in my right mind, I would have used the rune channel in my staff to cut it, but I was beyond sanity.
Yet the mail came apart like tissue under the force of my will. Beneath it, her flesh was a horror of blood, twisted flesh, and shattered bone. Her arm was a ruin, nothing could salvage it, and her ribs and collar bone were broken as well. The skin across her chest was red and purple, and in places where the mail had been driven through the gambeson, it had been torn.
My mind was blank, and my heart cold with fear, but I didn’t hesitate. Reaching down with my right hand, I created a tightly focused line of gold fire at the tip of one finger and used it to remove the tangled flesh that had once been her arm, cutting it off close to the shoulder. Then I sealed the artery and closed the skin.
That done, I began reconstructing her ribs and collar bone, relieving the pressure on her lungs and internal organs. Minutes passed while I worked, moving quickly and efficiently to save her life. There were no words in my mind; it was an empty place that only had room for quick decisions and fast action, but eventually there was nothing more I could do.
And then reality came rushing in at me. Why didn’t she have enchanted plate? If she had been wearing the sort of armor I had on, the damage would have been far less. Why didn’t I ever make any for her? I had always meant to do so, but it was time consuming. I had been busy. There was always something more important to do. But I wasn’t always busy. I could have made the time.
I covered my face with my hands, hiding it from the men around me. Seconds ticked by; I could feel their eyes on me. I had to say something, I was in charge. They needed me to tell them what to do, but all I wanted to do was curl into a ball and die. Lifting m
y head and squaring my shoulders, I spoke to them, “We’ll hold this position until the dragons return. Sir Gram, you’re in charge of the men while I attend to the Countess.”
Staring down at Penny, all I could do was watch her heart flutter in her chest. Her body had suffered a massive shock, but I had done everything possible for now. My eyes kept drifting to where her arm had been. Stifling a silent scream, I pulled my eyes away. Don’t look. Don’t think about it. You have to keep it together. Everyone’s counting on you, I told myself.
Someone stood beside me, though I was too overwrought to recognize who it was at first, then the figure spoke, and Chad Grayson’s voice found my ears. “Whatever yer thinkin’ it wasn’t your fault.”
The urge to lash out, to strike him, was almost overwhelming. “Shut—the—fuck—up.”
He held out a hand toward me, “Here.” After a moment I realized he was holding his flask. I took it and unscrewed the top. Whatever he had in it burned as I swallowed.
“The dragons are back!” said one of the men loudly.
Glancing up I saw Grace and Cassandra descending, my son and daughter on their backs. I ignored their arrival, though I couldn’t help but listen as Gram filled them in on everything that had happened over the past half hour.
“Mother!” That was Moira, running toward Penny, Matthew right behind her.
I said nothing while they examined her with their own eyes and magesight. Then Matthew put his silver hand on my shoulder. It was rare for him to seek physical contact, though perhaps he was only trying to remind me that losing a limb wasn’t the end of the world. “We’ll make her a better one,” he said quietly. “Take her home, Dad. Moira and I can find Elaine.”
Something clicked inside me as I listened to his words. “No. You take her home.” Then I turned to Gram, “Take the men back. Moira will teleport home with the Countess. Matthew and the dragons will stay with you until you reach the reserve force.”
Sir Gram’s eyes flicked uncertainly toward Matthew, as though seeking confirmation.
“Dad!” broke in my son. “No. You are in no state to do anything. Let us finish this. I’m the best equipped for this place.”
He was right, of course. My head was still tender from the feedback, though it wasn’t nearly as bad as what I had experienced in the past. I was functional, but my emotional state was in disarray. I also didn’t give a damn. “I’m not risking any more of my family today. Do as I say.”
Gram nodded, “Yes, milord.”
Matthew wasn’t having it, though. “You aren’t the only one with family at risk here. Do the smart thing and go home.” Moira stood beside him, clearly agreeing with him.
“I’ve made up my mind,” I told them.
Moira started to speak, “Dad, this is insane. Listen to him…”
Grinding my teeth, I ordered them once more, “Do as I say.”
Both of my children looked at me as if I had lost my mind. Perhaps I had, but mad or not, I was certain. Certain no one else would be hurt. I turned away and began to walk in the direction I had last sensed Elaine’s aythar. “I’ll see you when I get home.”
As I walked I heard Chad’s voice behind me, speaking to Matthew and Moira. “Ease up, he’ll not listen to you. I’ve seen that look before. Best we get out of this damned forest as quickly as we can.”
I left them there, and since I was now alone, I didn’t bother cutting a path. Instead, I sought relief from the pain in my head by slipping into the mind of the stone. In the years since my abilities had first awakened, it had gotten easier. Opening myself to the world around me, I became more than what I had been, a larger entity that encompassed some of my environment while retaining the majority of my humanity.
It was like walking a tightrope, but with practice, balancing had become second nature. Language was still possible, I kept my ability to reason, but my emotions were distant. The ground beneath my feet was a part of me, as was the air I breathed. The trick was keeping my focus on the fragile human body in the middle of it all. The aching in my head was still there, but it was a thing too far away to hurt me.
Branches and limbs bent and swayed, pulling aside to let me pass.
In the mind of the stone, there was no physical danger that could touch me, only the constant danger that any archmage faces, the risk of losing himself. I continued toward my goal, letting the world slip past. I felt as though I moved without walking, though I was quite aware of my legs taking steps beneath me. The truth was more that the world ahead became me, while what was behind passed into the land of the other, that which was no longer me.
How long I walked was a mystery, for time had little meaning. Things moved in the shadows, some large and some small. For those that entered my domain, I had no mercy. Rather than allow them to join me, my body moved to destroy them. Vines and underbrush strangled the smaller creatures, and when larger ones came, the trees themselves tore them apart.
I remained untouched, as the world passed beneath my feet, changing to become the place I had set as my goal.
A light flared before me, not a light of the eyes, but of the spirit. There was a space, an opening beneath one of the great trees, and within was a creature burning with life and vitality. For a moment I considered destroying it as well, but then I recognized it. Blond filaments floated around its head. Hair, supplied the voice in the back of my mind. This is Elaine.
Death hung close to it, a dark shadow that would not be dispelled despite the creature’s fierce life force. It spoke to me, and at first I failed to comprehend it.
“Mordecai!” it repeated. No. She repeated. Elaine was a woman.
A human being, like me. “Elaine?” I asked.
She looked at me strangely, “Yes, Elaine. Snap out of it. Help me.”
At last my mind collapsed, like a bubble breaking. My thoughts fell inward, and the world shifted. I stood deep within the depths of the forest. I had found Elaine, huddling in a small cave-like place under a tree. There was a man with her. I hadn’t registered his presence before, probably because he was already dead, his body beginning to decompose. He was one of the soldiers who had entered with Elaine and her father, Walter.
“Get inside,” she told me, urgency in her voice. “If you stand out here long, more of them will come.”
I stepped in and darkness enveloped us, a veil of invisibility, blocking both visible light and aythar. I could still see Elaine within the veil, but only with my magesight. “Is there anyone else?” I asked her. “Your father?”
“Dead,” she answered in a voice numb with fatigue. Elaine looked gaunt and drawn, with dark circles under her eyes. Her skin seemed tight, stretched across her features and frame. “He drew them off, so Brent and I could hide.”
Brent, I assumed, was represented by the body of the soldier at the back of her hiding place. He smelled bad, but there was no sign of bloat yet. A small hole in his abdomen explained that, though if it was the result of an injury or whether she had done it herself, I had no way of knowing. Now was not the time to ask.
His body was partly covered with loose soil and leaves. Judging by the black dirt beneath Elaine’s nails, it looked as though she had been trying to bury him using only her hands. That made little sense, she could have accomplished the task much quicker with her power.
Her arms went around my armored chest, despite the fact that hugging a man in plate armor wasn’t a pleasant thing. “Where are the others?” she asked. “Are you alone?”
“I sent them back. Penny was injured, and we had lost a number of soldiers.”
She released me and sank to her knees. “So, you’re trapped too. Do you have any food?”
“Trapped? No. I came to take you home,” I told her. Her face changed at those words, new hope replacing the despair in her eyes. I still didn’t understand everything, though. “Why didn’t you teleport back?”
Elaine looked down, “I couldn’t remember the keys. I had them written down, but I lost my belt and pouch during the
chaos of the first attack.”
I sighed. “I made you memorize them when you were a student. How could you forget?”
“That was years ago. Some things get fuzzy with time…”
“Then you should review them,” I said, regretting the harsh tone in my voice almost immediately. My own recent failure to protect Penny had left me bitter, and it was coloring my reactions. Unlike Matthew and me, other people didn’t have perfect recall. It was easy enough for me to judge, but reviewing details like that was something I never had to do. “I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “This is not the time. I’m tired and upset myself.”
Now that I was no longer in the mind of the stone, my head throbbed, but I ignored it and used my power to clear away a level place in the middle of her hideaway.
Anxiety gripped Elaine, and she warned me, “Careful. Any use of power draws them.”
“They can’t see our aythar inside this veil of yours.”
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Even the veil draws them. They sense the aythar it uses, even if they can’t see exactly where we are. Too much power and you’ll draw a lot of them, eventually one will stumble into the entrance.”
“What have you been doing all this time?”
“I kept my mind closed, my aythar damped down as much as possible. I only used the veil when I heard something getting close. Dad and I hid the first day using veils, along with poor Brent here. But they kept finding us. Dad finally figured out it was the diffuse aythar of our veil that they were homing in on, but it was too late. When the wolves found us, he ran, drawing them away.”
Walter, killed by some kind of strange wolf? It was hard to believe.
Elaine went on, “I think he killed the wolves somehow. I saw him coming back, but the spiders caught him.” She stopped briefly, her throat struggling to say the words. “I saw—everything.”
I felt sympathy for her, but even that emotion was blunted. “You say ‘them’, but what do you mean exactly? The bears, or something else?” I asked.