Feral Mage Book 2: Chapter 42

Janna threw another fireball at the wooden bridge that crossed the wetland and led from Stonewall to Baroness Julia’s towerhouse. The group of dwarves trying to cross it swore as they retreated from the flames.

Over thirty…

That’s how many dwarven mercenaries she counted trying to cross the bridge to Stonewall to join the ones already here. She saw Vex release an arrow from beside her, but not at the dwarves on the bridge. No, she was firing at the six already on this side.

The arrow bounced harmlessly off the thick plate armor these dwarves wore, and didn’t even earn a glance from the five currently fighting Bellamy. She was using an Aspect that turned her lower half into a giant serpent’s tail. Its size could knock down the heavily armored dwarves, but it did little damage to them. Her acid spit only worked if she could get it in the eye slits of their armor. That’s how she had killed the one anyway. She saw a bright glow form on the cuts the dwarfs had made on Bellamy’s snake-like body, and the wounds healed closed, the magic of the priestess they found with Baroness Julia after leaving the tavern. The two women were hiding in one of the buildings with those they had rescued from the tavern.

“Keep the bridge burning!” Callie yelled as her sword clashed with the sixth dwarf, though monster was a better name.

Janna started to form another fireball, casting a small side glance at the snow elf swordswoman and headless dwarf she was fighting. Her first strike had decapitated it, but the monster just picked up its head and held it in his hand as he kept fighting.

“Use me…”

Janna ignored the voice as she threw the fireball. It struck the bridge, but her heart sank as she saw one of the dwarves use a new tactic. He dipped his shield in the water and flung it on the bridge. The others saw him and quickly did the same, extinguishing the flames.

“We need to get to Bryce!” Vex yelled.

Callie countered a strike by the headless dwarf before kicking him back.

“Tell them that!” she yelled before lashing out at her opponent.

She hoped Bryce was okay. They were escorting those they rescued from the tavern to the bridge that led out of town when they ran into the armored dwarves. Janna knew from the bodies of guards and soldiers they saw along the way that they were the only ones left defending the town. They were against nearly forty dwarven mercenaries and the Divine only knows how many gnolls.

“Use me…my power can help…”

She heard the voice again, her eyes glancing at her naginata strapped to her back. She wondered if she was going mad. Ever since she started training with the weapon, she had heard a faint whisper, usually offering advice on how to improve her form with the weapon.

“…Use me if you want to save the boy.”

Her next fireball fizzled out on the bridge, a cheer going up from the dwarves as they continued to work together with their shields to keep it damp as they crossed. They would be here to kill them in a few seconds.

“Please don’t let me be going crazy…” Janna said to herself as she pulled the naginata off her back.

She drew a deep breath and pointed it at the oncoming dwarves.

“What the hells are you doing! Keep the bridge on fire!” Callie yelled.

Janna gasped as she saw a translucent hand grip the naginata, much the way Bryce had when he first guided her in how to hold a sword properly. Her gaze followed the see-through hand up, finding a smiling kitsune man wearing the armor of the Ember Islands, standing beside her.

“Let me show you the technique that is the pride of our clan, granddaughter,” the ghost of Ashai said with a smile. “Some of my magic is still in this weapon. I will lend it to you.”

The words he spoke were the language of the Ember Islands, which Janna only knew some of, but she understood everything he said as if he was speaking trade common.

“First, we must summon our fire,” Ashai said as he guided her to raise the naginata over her head.

Blue flames sprouted around her, forming a circle on the ground. She saw the dwarves pause in their approach, several turning to run. Vex gasped from beside her and backed away.

“Janna, what are the blue flames?” she asked.

The flames? Did Vex not see the ghost wearing strange armor helping guide her on how to lift the naginata? Did she not hear him speaking?

“Ha! Look at them fleeing. Though they will not make it far enough,” Ashai said as he helped lift the weapon straight into the air, the blade pointing at the sky.

Janna watched as the blue flames shot up toward the blade of the naginata until it was burning bright blue as well.

“Pull your fires to the blade, condense them along the edge of the weapon. Most blades would melt with such heat, but the Dragon’s Bride is a special weapon,” Ashai said with a deep chuckle. “When the flames are as hot and condensed as they can be, release them at your foe. This is my signature technique and the technique of our clan!”

The naginata slashed down, unleashing a vortex of blue flames. Steam rose from the wetlands as it traveled along the wooden structure until it arrived at the group of dwarf mercenaries. Cries of fear and pain echoed from them as the fire consumed them, followed by silence, silence except for Ashai’s laughter.

Janna stared at the destruction.

“Well done! Yours will not be this powerful, not yet anyways, but with practice—”

Janna let go of the naginata, and the ghost of Ashai vanished as teh weapon landed on the ground. She turned and looked at those around her. Vex was grinning at her as she wagged her tail. Bellamy stared at her as the heavily armored dwarves knelt, surrendering before her, their weapons cast away from them.

“What the hells was that, Fox?” Callie yelled as she plunged her sword down the neck stump of the headless dwarf. Its body twitched as she twisted the blade.

“I… I don’t know.” Janna said as she looked at the weapon on the ground.

Bryce

Bryce found himself standing in the pitch black room again. His body was clearly visible despite the darkness surrounding him. He had hoped what he assumed was his soul wouldn’t be as dark as last time.

He drew a deep breath and waited. He spotted the Primal Troll first, its body pulling itself up from the black ground. Their eyes met, and the monster snarled at him…right until Bryce’s foot made contact with its head. As it was with the last time, his strength was greater than it had any reason to be, and the Troll's head rolled along the ground before it sank back into the darkness. When it vanished, the room turned a murky gray.

“I know the game now,” Bryce said, scanning the room for the other monsters.

He saw the Pale Queen racing toward him and turned to face it, taking a few steps before his instinct felt that something was off. He turned at the last second as the Manticore jumped out of the ground, its claws lashing out at him.

Bryce dodged two more swipes when he saw the Pale Queen speed up to join the fight. He gritted his teeth as he charged the Manticore. Its stinger-like tail struck out at him, but he dodged under it and grabbed the monster by its head. Its jaws snapped at him once before he slammed its head into the floor, bashing it repeatedly until the creature was limp. The room turned lighter gray.

The Pale Queen arrived a second after the Manticore was dead, striking out with its spear-like legs at him. He felt the coldness of its hide as he dodged the attacks, then grabbed one of its legs when the opportunity presented itself. The Pale Queen let out a hiss as he snapped off the end of its leg before rushing it and driving the spear-like tip into its head. The spider monster squirmed as he pushed his makeshift spear down deeper, and when the spasm stopped, the room turned completely white.

Bryce caught his breath, waiting to return to the real world and hoping Thea hadn’t decided he looked like a meal in this state.

“Well done…” a voice whispered in his ear.

He felt a hand placed on his shoulder, felt hair brush against his cheek, and smelled perfume. A perfume of wolfsbane and hemlock.

Bryce turned around and saw an elven woman wearing a black dress several yards away from him. His body felt cold when he noticed she had four pitch black eyes staring at him.

“You’ve piqued my interest…” the voice whispered again, this time from behind him.

Bryce turned to see that the woman had moved. His heart raced as he looked at the faint smile she wore. He watched with dread as she slowly held out her arms and darkness spread from her, quickly filling the room until it was once again black.

“You may have my blessing…” he heard the voice say in the darkness. “My champion…My chimera.”

As her words still rang in his ears, the room shifted once more. The darkness vanished, replaced by gray stone bricks. Bryce drew a deep breath as he looked around.

“What the hells?” he said.

His gaze first landed on the stone throne against the far wall, behind which was a large statue in the likeness of a woman with four eyes. Turning, he saw the other three walls had cells built within them. Thick, black iron bars covered the cells, and behind them, he saw the monsters that were his Aspects. They glared at him through the bars.

The strange room faded, and Bryce opened his eyes. He stood up, the smell of ash, blood, and death surrounding him. He was still outside the burning Inn, surrounded by dead gnolls and dwarves. He took in his surroundings and saw Thea kneeling over the dead dwarf, its intestines in her hands as she worked to devour them.

Bryce looked at his hands. He still had the gauntleted chitin of the Pale Queen and the muscles of the Primal Troll Aspect, but he didn’t feel them tearing at his soul anymore. He felt no different than when he used just one of his Aspects.

Cautiously, he approached Thea, his eyes on the iron cuffs by the dwarf's body. He watched as she snarled at him as he got closer, but kept eating her meal.

“Easy girl,” Bryce said as he took the cuffs from the ground near the dead dwarf. “I’m just giving you some jewelry.”

He readied the cuffs and quickly grabbed Thea, using his Primal Troll Aspect’s strength to restrain her as he fastened the cuffs on her. She hissed and her claws cut into him, but the wounds healed as quickly as they were inflicted. She tried to fly, but Bryce kept folding her wings back down as he wrapped the chain around her. Thea hissed and growled at him, but soon she was tied up securely, and Bryce could catch his breath.