Feral Mage Book 3: Chapter 8

A sense of freedom washed over Bryce as their wagon rolled through the gates of Witchbrook for the first time in a while. Even Omelet seemed excited as he stuck his head between Bryce and Janna in the driver’s box, watching the road with interest.

“No table scraps for you these next two days,” Bryce said as he scratched the feathered fiend’s head.

His gaze drifted from the griffin chick to Janna beside him, or rather, the spear she had brought with her as a weapon.

She left her naginata again…

Bryce decided he would talk to her tonight when they made camp. He had turned his attention back to the road when someone spoke.

“I’m surprised the Princess let you leave without a fuss,” Callie said from the back of the wagon.

He could hear the sound of steel on a whetstone behind him and knew Callie was sharpening her blade.

“I’m a merc, not a knight sworn to her. She’s planning to stay at the guildhall while we’re gone. Which is probably the safest place in all of Witchbrook for her,” Bryce answered. “I thought this small contract might be a good way to get her acquainted with the twins, but Nicole and Olivia are apparently on a job. At least according to Alice.”

The sound of the whetstone stopped, and Bryce knew Callie was looking at him.

“You could be her knight,” she said in a serious tone. “This only ends with Thea sitting on the throne of the Volpin Kingdom or dead. When she finally wears the crown, she will rain down wealth and noble titles upon the man who was her champion. That’s you, Bryce.”

Bryce felt a light caress along the side of his neck as someone whispered into his ear.

“He’s my champion…”

He scowled and looked into the back of the wagon out of reflex, though he knew the person whose voice he heard wasn’t there. Callie caught him and returned his scowl with narrowed eyes.

“I didn’t think that would be a sore subject for you,” she stated. “Honestly, I thought you would see it as an opportunity.”

Bryce sighed, dropping his scowl and silently cursing the strange four-eyed woman haunting him.

“I don’t like nobility,” Bryce said, deflecting from his real reason for scowling. “And I certainly don’t want to be one.”

He turned back around, but not before he saw Callie’s scowl deepen.

“What’s wrong with nobility?” she asked, hostility in her tone.

Before Bryce could answer, Janna did.

“Callie, drop it,” the kitsune warned.

He heard the snow elf huff in the back before Vex chimed in.

“Nobility boring,” Vex stated in common before switching to beastkin. “So many rules and places one must go to strut about like a fancy chicken. Nobility made Thea soft. She would bring nothing to the pack. No good.”

Bryce’s eyes widened as he deciphered what Vex had said in her native tongue. The thought that Vex had even considered Thea as a potential member of their little pack sent chills down his spine.

The mental image of Vex locking him in the bath with Thea, as she had with Janna, slipped into his mind. The moment he pictured her nude body, he pushed the image away, quickly redirecting his thoughts to the contract.

“We should arrive at the area where the fences went missing a few hours before sunset,” Bryce said, changing the subject. “We can scout and then set up camp for the night.”

Janna’s tail drooped as she looked at him curiously.

“Wouldn’t it be better to camp away from the area and visit it in the morning?” she asked.

“Bryce wants to know what we’re dealing with. If it’s a monster, we’ll build a large campfire for the night to try and keep it at bay. If it’s bandits, then we won’t build a fire, and Bryce will play the role of a monster,” Callie answered.

He nodded.

“Given it’s this close to Witchbrook and the group was hauling valuables, I think most likely we’re dealing with bandits. A monster is still a possibility, but one that close to the garrison town would have alerted the guards,” he answered.

“Unless it’s new territory,” Vex added. “Fall is coming soon.”

She had a point; the seasons would start to change soon, and many monsters moved with them. A garrison town on the edge of a large wooded area might look less like a threat to certain monsters and more like a kitchen pantry.

***

After a few hours of traveling, the garrison town loomed on the horizon as they neared the path taken by the fences. There was little to distinguish it from the other logging trails in the area, except a mark carved into a tree that Isabelle told them to watch for.

Omelet let out a squawk from the wagon’s sudden jolt as it started down the rougher trail. Trees grew close together, and Bryce had to duck to avoid some branches.

“You girls keep your senses sharp. I don’t want to pull on my Aspect until I need to. If you notice something odd, let me know,” he said.

No one spoke as they traveled, just the sound of the wagon wheels turning and brushing against the growth on the trail. He saw both Vex and Janna’s ears twitching as they stared ahead, alert for any noise or smell that might be trouble. After over an hour traveling like that, Vex spoke.

“I hear water,” she said.

Janna nodded in agreement before she grimaced, and her ears went flat.

“And I smell dead bodies, lots of them,” Janna added.

The forest began to thin, and Bryce heard the sound of running water himself as an old stone bridge appeared around a bend in the road. The structure had been partly collapsed once, but was repaired with trees cleared from the shoreline of the swift-moving river that ran under it.

A wagon was turned over on its side in the middle of the bridge, as if something large had struck it and knocked it over. The tattered remains of the horse’s harness lay on the ground near it.

“Okay, not bandits,” Bryce said, seeing several large chests and crates by the tipped-over wagon.

He pulled on the reins, stopping just before the bridge, and stepped off the driver’s box. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword as he heard a clatter of metal and saw that Callie had jumped from the wagon to join him. Her hand was also resting on the hilt of her blade.

Together, they started walking toward the wagon, Vex and Janna following a little behind them. As they neared it, Bryce noticed several long objects peppered the side of the overturned wagon. He frowned as he approached and plucked one of the objects out of the wooden box.

It was a long spike about the length of his hand. He turned it over, feeling the tip.

A tooth? No, there are far too many of them.

One end of the spike was darker while the other was still bone white. He looked at the wagon once more, seeing dozens of spikes embedded in the wood, then stepped around it and saw the rest of the carnage.

“Shit,” he said, looking at the two other wagons further down the bridge.

Both were still standing, but five men and two horses lay dead near them. The same spikes were pierced into the men, but neither they nor the horses appeared to be touched by anything.

It killed them, but only took one horse.

He looked back at the torn harness by the tipped-over wagon.

“Do you know what monster did this?” Callie asked.

He held out the spike to Callie, who took it.

“Quill Wyvern, at least I’m pretty sure,” he answered. “They’re a medium wyvern species that grow spikes on their bodies, using them as armor and projectiles.”

Janna’s tails frizzed out.

“There’s a wyvern here!” she said, looking up into the sky, her ears flat.

Callie looked around the bridge and back to him with a frown.

“Something about this is off, isn’t it?” she asked.

Bryce nodded.

“Quill Wyvern’s are pack animals, but only one horse was taken and none of the bodies so much as have a bite mark,” he answered. “This is a monster that shouldn’t venture from the wilds. I would expect to find it near a frontier town, not a garrison town by a major city.”

Vex hummed thoughtfully.

“Babies like the spider?” she asked.

He shook his head.

“They nest in the high mountains. The hills around here would be too low for a female,” he replied. “This one is away from its pack. Either it’s the last of its family or was expelled from it for some reason.”

Janna gasped.

“There’s a survivor!” she exclaimed as she started moving toward the bodies.

Both Bryce and Callie turned toward the corpses, and he saw one had started to twitch.

“Janna, stop!” Callie yelled as she drew her sword. “That body is bloated. Something is in it!”

Bryce pulled on his Pale Queen Aspect. He felt a chill run along his body and the chitin gauntlets form on his hands. Quickly, he used the heat sight on the corpse. The body was a dark blue, but several small blue dots wriggled in it, working their way to the surface.

Dread filled him at the realization of what it could be.

“Janna! Burn the body, now! Burn all of them!” Bryce yelled.

She listened, and a fireball flew from her hand at the body just as several small creatures started to wiggle their way out. High-pitched screeches escaped the burning body, but the other corpses had burst open as well, and the creatures took to the air. They swarmed together, making high-pitched chirps that sounded like a cross between laughter and a cricket’s call.

“Keep burning them and make a wall of fire around yourself!” Bryce yelled to Janna. “Don’t let them near you!”

He quickly flipped one of the large trunks, emptying it of its contents, before grabbing Vex and shoving her and Omelet inside it. Both looked up at him as he grabbed the lid.

“Don’t come out until I open it!” he commanded before shutting it.

Callie had her sword drawn and helmet on, her voice echoing through the visor.

“What the hell are these?” she asked.

“Carrion Fairies,” Bryce answered. “They make nests in rotting flesh and viciously defend it! Don’t let them near you or they’ll burrow into your body and turn you into a future nest.”

Something else that shouldn’t be around here.

Callie swore.

He looked back at Janna, seeing her twirl her spear in the air with flames covering it. The swarm of Carrion Fairies flew away from the fire, keeping their distance. Janna’s magic made her the best at dealing with them, but they were quick little bastards. For every one she killed, three escaped her, and there were hundreds.

“Nasty little jagged teeth. They thrive in the deaths of spring and summer…”

Bryce gritted his teeth as he heard the whispering voice. He knew he would have to pull on his Primal Troll Aspect for its fast regeneration to survive the swarm. There was no way he could kill them all before they got to him.

“…In the fall they flee, burrowing into fresh kills to wait…”

Part of the swarm broke away from Janna, deciding her Fire Magic was too risky, and flew toward Bryce and Callie. He began pulling on his Primal Troll Aspect, but instead of his body flooding with strength like it usually did when he used it, he heard her voice again.

“…for winter’s cold breeze is the end for them.”

He felt hands close around his neck gently as the swarm drew near. He felt the Pale Queen’s soul stir inside him as he felt the Aspect do something strange. Then the voice gave him a single command.

“Exhale.”

He did, and his lungs felt bitterly cold as the breath left him in a white mist. The mist spread out among the swarm of Carrion Fairies, and he recognized it instantly as the Pale Queen’s Ice Breath. Before the mist had even faded, he saw the frozen bodies of the Carrion Fairies fall to the ground.

The Ice Breath killed most of the Fairies, though a few fell to the ground and still moved. Callie quickly stepped forward and crushed them under her foot or stabbed them with her sword before they could recover. She cast Bryce a curious look before both of them turned their attention to Janna. The kitsune was still twirling fire around herself, keeping the little monsters away.

“Hold on, we’re coming!” Bryce yelled.