De'Vas Chronicles Book 4: Chapter 33

Ash stood outside the tavern with the backpack swung over his shoulder. His eyes followed Grace as she circled him, her ears flat and a stern expression on her face. One that reminded him of Faylen.

Like mother, like daughter.

He heard the party shouting for him not long after he had entered the tavern. When he exited, he spotted Grace and Blake beside the dead oni. Grace’s head had whipped toward him as soon as he stepped out and started circling him.

“I’m fine, Grace,” Ash said, after her third loop around him.

Grace’s lip quirked up, showing her canine.

“I smell blood. Your blood. Everywhere.” Grace growled.

Ash gestured to his torn, burned, and blood-stained clothes.

“I can see that! What I’m not seeing is a wound,” she said.

She narrowed her eyes at him, and Ash’s hand moved to rub his arm, the one he remembered Kaito tearing from his body.

How is it still here?

He should be covered in burns, his chest caved in, and missing an arm. He should be dead.

How am I still here?

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see another arm lying on the ground. The skin was seared by intense flames, and a bite was taken out of it. He didn’t dare look at it directly. He knew it was his old arm. Part of him worried that if he acknowledged that, his arm would turn back into a bloody stump.

“I… don’t know what happened,” Ash admitted. “Still, the oni is dead, and I now have the Silver Ball.”

Grace’s eyes widened.

“My daughters…” she whispered.

Ash nodded.

“Soon. Very soon,” he answered.

Grace’s tail started to swish as she smiled at him. Ash matched her smile, though he didn’t feel it inside. The dread and fear of what happened to Cleo were there.

Please be safe.

“Where’s everyone?” Ash asked, trying to shift the subject.

Blake turned from the dead oni to look at him.

“Eva and Rachel are waiting outside the walls. Whatever happened, it frightened the elf,” Blake answered. “Everyone else is looking around for any survivors.”

Ash grimaced.

“I don’t think the oni left any. He made this town into a trap. The bastard was eating corpses to heal himself,” Ash said, shaking his head in disgust. “Let’s gather everyone and start heading back.”

He wanted to leave the town immediately, but it took a few minutes to gather the party. He was right about there being no survivors left in the town. Kaito had done as he said, and the cages that once held slaves were now busted open. Though a few still held corpses, including one orc that Ash recognized as Ken. When they finally left the walls of the city, Ash spotted Eva and Rachel waiting.

“Good to see you’re not hurt, Warchief,” Eva greeted with a salute and smile.

Rachel hid behind the orc woman, peeking out at him with her blue eye.

“Everything is okay, Rachel,” he said, giving her a warm smile. “I’m sorry my fight scared you.”

Slowly, she stepped out from behind Eva, looking at him nervously. Ash pulled the backpack around and pulled out one of the candy bars Kaito had stashed in it. She watched him curiously as he opened the wrapper and held it out to her.

“Here, an Earth treat,” he offered.

She gave the brown bar an odd look as she reached for it. Ash saw that everyone was watching Rachel as she took a small bite. Her eyes widened as she licked her lips, and the next bite was massive. Soon, the candy bar disappeared from her hand.

“Can I have another?” she asked, her eyes hopeful.

Ash pulled out a different kind and handed it to her.

“Sure,” he said, carefully considering his next words. “What did you see that made you afraid?”

Rachel chewed her mouth full of chocolate and looked up at him with her blue and green eyes.

“Magic started gathering in the town from everywhere, changing from what it was to Lightning Magic. Then we heard it thundering several times and saw the flashes of lightning,” Rachel said before taking another bite. “It eventually dispersed, but for a while the town was a dome of blue. At least to my eye.”

Magic gathered in the town?

“That does sound frightening,” Ash answered.

He wanted to know more, but also knew if he pushed the subject too hard, Rachel might shut down. The girl had been through a lot, and what had happened had shaken her up. He would need to slowly ask her more about it.

“All right,” Ash said, looking at his party. “There’s nothing else here for us. Let’s head home.”

***

They traveled as far as they could back to Castle Markal until night fell and they were forced to stop to make camp. They were all eager to return to the castle and planned to push hard the next day to hopefully arrive there sooner. As was usual, they drew lots for who would take first watch and Ash ended up taking the first shift.

The glow of the campfire shone on the silver ball as he examined the runes that covered it. They were different than those on the brass ball that he and Bo had found.

Not like I knew what those runes meant either…

He wished they had found the runemaster the Exiled Princes had used. Then he might be able to figure out what the runes meant and how to use the object. He placed the Silver ball into the backpack.

He glanced around the camp, he saw everyone in his party asleep. He grabbed another log and threw it on the fire, watching the flames brighten as it consumed the new fuel source. He looked around at everyone one more time before he drew Riptide from his belt. He didn’t push his magic into the rune to activate the sword. He just wanted the chitin dagger.

Watching closely in the firelight, he pushed the tip of the blade into his arm. The arm he knew he shouldn’t have. His heart raced, and he felt the sting as the weapon cut into his skin. As he stared at the blade, he saw a trickle of blood run down his arm.

He let out a sigh of relief before removing the dagger and placing his thumb over the wound, sending a small jolt of Lightning Magic to cauterize the bleeding.

As he placed the dagger back in its sheath, he saw someone stir in their bedroll. He watched as Rachel stood and made her way to the fire.

“Bad dream?” Ash asked her.

She warmed her hands as she looked at him.

“No. I’m not tired,” she answered.

Ash nodded. He wondered if the candy bars were playing a role in that. He didn’t know what WillCo had been feeding her, but the way she devoured both bars of chocolate, he doubted her diet had much sugar.

“Do you still have the cat?” she asked him.

He felt a jolt of magic leave his scar and form into the elemental cat. Sparky sat beside him, his tail taking a slight curve that looked like a question mark as he stared at the elf.

Rachel smiled.

“He comes and goes as he pleases,” Ash said with a smirk. “Why did you ask if I still had him?”

Rachel’s hand pointed at her blue eye.

“I can’t see him anymore inside you. There’s no longer two, just one,” she said.

Ash froze and stared at the elf.

“Two of what?” he asked.

Rachel was looking at the cat curiously.

“Magic. When I used to look at you, I saw two sources of magic,” she said, her gaze shifting to him. “Now there’s only one.”

Ash felt Sparky rub against his leg and reach down to scratch the top of the elemental’s head. He had pulled on his magic when he first woke up outside the tavern, but he hadn’t tried to pull on Sparky’s yet. When he reached for it, he couldn’t find it. Instead, he felt something he hadn’t outside the tavern. His magic was strange, almost wild, as he tried to pull on it.

I guess I didn’t notice earlier because of the adrenaline.

“Your scar is glowing,” Rachel said, a hint of fear in her voice.

Ash stopped pulling on his magic.

“Sorry, I was trying to find Sparky’s magic. You were right. His magic isn’t there.”

But he’s still here…

Ash looked at the elemental as the blue cat rubbed his head against his hand affectionately.

“Does my right arm look different?” Ash asked.

Rachel nodded without even looking at his arm.

“Everything about you looks different now,” she answered.

He drew a sharp breath and examined the burn mark on his arm where he cauterized the small cut. The mark was gone now, not even a scar where it had been.

“How is—” he started to ask before Eva snored loudly.

Several of the beastkin that had accompanied them let out grumbles and growls as Eva woke them. One in particular rolled out of her bedroll and made her way to the fire.

“Go rest, Warchief,” Grace said, still glaring at where Eva slept. “If the orc is going to snore like that, I’ll take over watch.”

The rest of the words were still on the tip of his tongue, and Rachel seemed to be waiting for him to ask them. Instead, he let out a sigh and smiled at Grace.

“Thanks, Grace,” he answered as he stood.

He knew she meant well. They had a long way to travel tomorrow, and he knew later he would be thankful for the extra sleep.

Standing, he made his way to his bedroll, crawling into it and staring up at the night sky. His mind raced with everything. Excitement at having the silver ball, frustration at knowing he would need to figure out the runes before using it, and fear for Cleo.

He also felt a question tugging at the back of his mind, one he kept pushing away. It was a question he had asked himself several times since coming to De’Vas. Something he had been told before he walked through the steel doors of the first district he had seen. Something he wondered as killing became easier after becoming the Boss of District 114. Now, the question felt too real.

Am I human anymore?