Feral Mage Book 2: Chapter 24

“This is a brothel,” Callie deadpanned.

Bryce could feel her glaring at him as they arrived at the Red Lace. He had already tried three times to get the snow elf swordswoman to turn back around, but she refused. He said nothing, instead turning his attention to two scantily clad women at the entrance. The catkin waved at him before she turned and entered the establishment. The human woman approached him, her tits on full display.

“The boss told us to keep an eye out for you. She’ll be down in a second,” the woman said before smirking at Callie. “Oh, is it a double date today? A snow elf and a sea elf, you lucky boy. We call that the Iceberg special in the house.”

Bryce could feel Callie glaring daggers at him. The woman noticed as well and leaned forward to whisper into his ear.

“I’m guessing she’s the extra cold kind of snow elf,” she said. “But they’re the most fun when you warm them up.”

Bryce kept his eyes locked on Callie’s, who glared at him while gritting her teeth. Most humans tended to underestimate the hearing of an elf.

“Good morning, hun!” Isabelle called out.

Callie looked away from him, and Bryce breathed a sigh of relief before turning to face the approaching Isabelle. The gang boss was in her usual attire. A white fur coat and twin short swords on her hip. She smiled, then looked at Callie before arching an eyebrow at him.

“Not the friend I thought you’d bring,” Isabelle said.

Bryce nodded, hoping the fact that Callie tagged along wouldn’t be a problem.

“Well, it’s nice to meet the Frozen Rose,” Isabelle said, waving at Callie. “I’ve heard a lot about her, quite the reputation in the north.”

Bryce blinked.

“You recognize her?”

Isabelle shrugged.

“I didn’t just kill the hunters, Bryce. They told me their secrets first, and a description of Lady Queenshield was among them. They even had down her grumpy face,” Isabelle said with a chuckle.

Callie’s glare shifted to Isabelle at that remark, only for the gang boss to smile at her.

“You killed them?” Callie asked.

Isabelle nodded.

“I don’t like pests in my city, so I cull them as they try to enter. Why else do you think you weren’t harassed by hunters as soon as you entered Witchbrook?” Isabelle turned and gestured for them to follow her. “Well, shall we go?”

The gang boss hummed happily to herself as they followed her through the Rim. People either got out of her way or bowed as she passed by. Bryce watched as Callie seemed to frown more at these displays of submission by the people of Witchbrook. The snow elf’s pace quickened until she walked beside him.

“Who the hell is she?” Callie asked in a low tone.

Bryce glanced at the swordswoman before looking back at Isabelle, who continued walking while humming happily to herself.

“Red Isabelle. A gang boss who controls much of this part of Witchbrook,” Bryce answered.

Callie clicked her tongue.

“You have a thing for dangerous women, don’t you? The crazy mutt, Bellamy, and now this woman. Is the kitsune the only ordinary person after you?”

Bryce shot her a dirty look, to which Callie shrugged.

“I really don’t care what your taste is, just keep Alice out of any plans for your harem.”

Bryce scoffed.

“You think Vex would let me have plans like that?”

Callie stared at him as if he were an idiot.

“You have no idea what your mutt is saying when she rants in beaskin, do you?”

Bryce just stared at her.

“Oh, this is funny,” Callie laughed. “Beastkin form packs. What do you think a pack is, Bryce?”

“Their family,” he answered.

Callie nodded.

“Eventually, but it starts with a male and his mates. The possessiveness you see in Vex is how she gatekeeps who could be potential members of her pack. If someone meets her approval, she’ll stop being aggressive toward them and even try to push you two together.”

Bryce’s eyes widened as he thought about Vex locking him and Janna in the bath. Was that what she had been trying to do? Did Vex want him and Janna to become something more?

“I can see you’re connecting the dots,” Callie said.

Isabelle led them to a small shack on the edge of the Rim. Bryce frowned. The building was so small that the three of them would be cramped just standing inside it. How could this be the place?

Then Isabelle opened the door, and Bryce saw the large hole in the shack’s floor.

“Drow ruins,” Callie growled.

Isabelle nodded.

“What ruins?” Bryce asked as he stared at the hole.

Enough light was passing through the holes in the shack for him to see the architecture of the subterranean room the hole led to. The walls and floor were made from what looked like sandstone.

“The lost race of elves. They built their cities underground. Some say they learned it from the dwarfs, others that the dwarfs learned it from them,” Callie said.

Isabelle smirked.

“Don’t let a dwarf ever hear the latter,” she chuckled. “Either way, it didn’t save them in the end. They vanished from the continent before humans arrived. Witchbrook was built on top of these ruins. Its underground rooms were made for convenient storage areas during the city’s early days.”

Isabelle walked to the hole. She looked at them as she tapped her finger to her lips in the sign for silence, then jumped down. Bryce and Callie shared a look before approaching and following her. Bryce took in what he could of the room when he landed, which honestly wasn’t much because the only light source was coming from above them.

“It’s pitch black down here,” Callie growled.

Isabelle tapped her finger to her lip again before lifting a small magic lantern from under her coat. The mana crystal burned red before light poured from the lantern, illuminating the room. Bryce saw that the room was, in fact, a long tunnel.

Is this a road?

Isabelle began walking down one end, her lantern swaying back and forth. Bryce followed along, as did Callie, who matched his pace. He locked eyes with the snow elf who was frowning. He knew they both were having the same thought.

If we’re trying to sneak up on them, then why the hell is she using a lantern?

Bryce rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, as Callie did the same. Both stopped following her. Isabelle looked back and pouted.

“Oh? Did I slip up somehow?” she asked as she began to pull off the white furred coat. “Darn, and I thought I played my role well.”

As the coat fell to the floor, Isabelle shifted from a red-haired sea elf to a blonde human woman. Black leather armor appeared on her body like Erika had worn back in the Red Pine Kingdom.

Illusion Magic!

Bryce was about to pull on his Manticore Aspect when Callie pushed him.

“Move!” she shouted, shoving his side.

He saw an arrow fly by where he had been standing, the sound of it hitting the sandstone floor several yards behind him.

“Take out the archers!” Callie yelled as she drew her sword. “I’ll hold her!”

Callie charged as the blonde drew the two short swords, a savage smile on her face. Bryce pulled on his Aspect as he raced down the dark tunnel. The archers were waiting in the darkness. Bryce realized the assassin had used the lantern so they could see their target. Unfortunately for them, he had an Aspect suited for this type of environment.

He felt his body become cold as the Pale Queen Aspect took hold, the dark tunnel lighting up with six orange blobs before him. Bryce raced down the tunnel, his footsteps silent compared to the clashes of steel from the fighting happening behind him. Occasionally, he would hear the twang of bowstrings, and he hoped Callie was okay.

His claws tore the head from the first one he came to before they ever realized he was there. He saw their body turn from orange to light green and then blue as his Ice Magic spread through it. He killed another as silently as the first, but the third let out a gurgled cry. He was still holding the freezing corpse when the shouting started.

“Shit he’s here!”

A bright white orb appeared, and Bryce dropped his heat sight. He saw two individuals in black armor standing in what looked like a camp in the tunnel. One held a sword and a magic lantern while the other drew back a bow. Bryce used the frozen corpse he held as a shield while charging the archer. An arrow slammed into the corpse as the archer moved to abandon his bow for a short sword. Bryce dropped the corpse and launched himself at the archer.

The Pale Queen’s claws slammed into the archer’s chest, and ice started to spread over the black armor. The man twitched as a pained look spread across his face, but he didn’t move. Bryce tried to push the claws deeper, but realized the man’s chest was now frozen solid. Instead, he raised his other arm, blocking the strike by the assassin with the lantern. The chitin gauntlet held against the blade, and when he batted it away, he tore the man’s throat out.

That was five.

He spun around in the camp, looking for the sixth assassin. Then he spotted green eyes watching him from a cage against the tunnel wall, fiery red hair surrounding them.

“Isabelle?” Bryce said, hurrying to the cage.

The green eyes stared at him with intensity.

“Get. Me. Out. Of. Here.” Isabelle growled, her voice seething with anger.

Bryce still heard the clashing of steel from Callie’s battle. He thought briefly about leaving Isabelle and rushing to join her, but they would probably need the gang boss’s strength. She didn’t earn the name Red Isabelle for nothing.

He moved to the corpses, quickly checking them. When he found the keys, he rushed over and undid the lock. Isabelle stepped out and immediately grabbed two swords from the dead assassins.

“Is that the blonde fighting?” she asked.

Bryce dropped the Pale Queen Aspect and started counting in his head.

“Yeah,” he answered.

Isabelle looked at him curiously for a moment as the changes to his appearance by the Pale Queen Aspect faded, then she rushed toward the sound of the sword battle.

“Good, I want to kill the bitch,” she yelled.

Bryce followed, pulling on the Manticore Aspect as soon as he hit thirty seconds.