Feral Mage Book 2: Chapter 14

“Bryce, are you sure this is a good idea?” Janna asked from the back of the wagon.

No, this is a pretty stupid idea.

He moved around the wagon, checking to ensure the spiked poles were securely in place. Vex watched him as he did with a frown. He wanted to make sure the girls were protected while he was gone. The creature seemed to be nocturnal so far, and they had a few hours of daylight left, but he wanted the girls to be safe.

“A seller at the market said they heard the red-eyed monster was spotted near here in a cave,” Bryce answered. “I’m going to scout the area. It could be the things nest, or it might have clues to what it is.”

Janna’s ears went flat.

“And if it’s waiting in that cave for you?”

Bryce checked the strap holding the crossbow to his back.

“Then I’m going to do my best to kill it,” he answered.

Neither of the girls liked that.

Bryce sighed.

“It’s not a good idea, but it might be our best option. That thing has been stalking us, and though I hope the two days in town shook it off our trail, I’ll sleep better knowing it’s dead, or at least what we’re dealing with.”

He was honestly hoping to kill it. Hindsight, he wondered if it was Levi who managed to break his bindings or if the creature had come that close to camp. If the winds had been in its favor, even the girl's heightened sense of smell wouldn’t have picked up on it.

“Vex,” Bryce said, turning to face the wolfgirl.

She was glaring at him from the back of the wagon, but had her bow out.

“I know. Stay in the wagon, protect Janna,” Vex said, her tone far from pleased.

Bryce nodded to her and gave the camp one last look to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything, then he made his way through the woods.

“I’m going to be doing a lot of tail brushing after this,” Bryce said to himself.

He came across the stream that the fence had told him to follow to find the cave. Bryce pulled on his Manticore Aspect, taking in the sounds and smells around him, then began following the stream. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until he saw the deer hanging upside down in the air.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting this,” Bryce said as he approached to examine it.

The beast was a fairly large buck, and at first, Bryce thought its coat was white. As he neared it, he felt the cold pulling the heat from his body and saw his breath. Frost covered the deer’s body, giving it an odd appearance.

He drew his sword and tapped the deer’s side with it. The sound told him it was frozen solid. He then lifted the sword above where the deer was suspended and gently tapped what appeared to be air. Frost formed along a thin strand that was holding the deer. The frost traveled along the strand, and soon Bryce saw several frozen webs form on the surrounding trees.

He took in the display that told him he was in the heart of the monster's territory already, and that it wasn’t the flier. The sound of skittering legs in the distance grew closer, then stopped.

“Bellamy did say Pale Queens were fast,” Bryce said as he turned around.

The sight of eight white chitin legs greeted him, as did six blood-red eyes. The wagon-sized spider had stopped two hundred yards away from him. Probably curious as to why he wasn’t frozen solid in its web yet.

The webbing will be the biggest issue.

If Janna were with him and still had her pyromancy, he would have asked her to ignite the webs. Fighting with the forest burning around him would be better than the risk of being trapped by the Ice Magic imbued in those strands. Janna wasn’t here, and he would have to make do.

Bryce tapped the strand once more with his sword, renewing the frost on the webbing. The Pale Queen didn’t like that, and its eight legs sprinted toward him.

He dodged, striking one of the legs with his blade. He swore as he saw his blow do little more than scratch the monster’s chitin. He tried to move back, trying to get some space between himself and the spider.

His eyes widened as the monster turned, closing the distance between them in an instant and slamming its spear like appendage at his gut. Bryce brought the flat of his sword up, taking the blow as the force knocked him back.

He gritted his teeth and glared at the Pale Queen as he pushed her leg back with his blade. It wasn’t often he found something or someone who could match his speed with the Manticore Aspect, or surpass it.

The spider arched back, and Bryce readied himself to try and find an opening to strike. Then he saw the frost form on its fangs and dove behind a large tree. He felt the chilling breeze pass by and heard ice crystals forming where he had been.

“Bellamy didn’t say shit about them having ice breath,” Bryce swore, his mind racing to come up with a plan.

He needed to slow it, and with that thought, he pulled one of the bolts out and raked it against the black claws his Manticore Aspect gave him. Doing so ruined his claws, but he could see fragments of them clinging to the bolt’s head. He placed it into the crossbow and stepped from behind the tree, the weapon raised. The spider started to charge him again, but Bryce fired. He saw the bolt strike, embedding itself into the chitin of the creature.

A screech escaped the beast as Bryce raced to put some distance between them. He led the spider away from its mess of frozen webs using the trees and brush to hamper its speed. He hoped the creature wouldn’t be immune to his poison.

Every chance he could, Bryce loaded the crossbow and sent another bolt into the creature. Some struck true, joining his first one in its carapace, while others bounced off harmlessly. His heart was pounding in his ears, the Manticore Aspect almost making it deafening.

Then he moved to fire another bolt at the spider and noticed it was farther away than it normally was, its movements more labored. Bryce smiled as he lifted the crossbow and fired another bolt, striking the thing in one of its eyes. The creature dropped to the ground, its legs curling inwards.

Bryce caught his breath as he approached the dead monster.

“You were a quick bitch,” he said, keeping the crossbow trained on it.

He kicked the corpse, and it didn’t move. His hand moved from the crossbow to his sword as he considered what part of the monster to devour for an Aspect.

Speed, tough hide, and Ice Magic.

Bryce licked his lips at the prospect of the new Aspect.

The slight rustle of leaves was his only warning. His eyes widened, and he shifted to avoid the spider’s leg striking out at him. He smelled his own blood as the spear-like tip sliced into his shoulder, knocking him to the ground. An instant later, the spider was up and on top of him, its fangs bearing down as frost formed on their ends.

The ice breath, she’s going to freeze me!

“Fuck you!” Bryce growled as one of the spider’s legs dug into his shoulder, pinning him to the ground.

His sword came up and slammed into the monster’s mouth as the frost started to spread. He twisted the blade as green blood poured from it, only to freeze and block its mouth. Ice crystals spread across the Pale Queen’s head, covering its red eyes. The spider stopped moving, and Bryce wrenched his blade up, trying to cut into its head. The leg that was pinning him began to curl inward, as did the others, while Bryce worked the blade deeper and deeper in the head of the spider. When the steel became too cold to hold, he pulled free his dagger and stabbed it a few times in its eyes.

Panting, he examined the wound on his shoulder. Blood soaked into his shirt, and he knew Vex wouldn’t be happy with him, even if the Primal Troll Aspect would repair the damage, but that would have to wait. Essence didn’t stay in the body long. When he stopped the bleeding with a makeshift bandage from the sleeve of his shirt, he set to work cutting a limb from the spider. He would have preferred its fangs, but they were frozen solid, and he doubted the essence would last long enough for him to thaw them. His hand fished out the green goop that was the innards of the leg, and he began to eat it. The taste and texture almost made him gag, but he pushed past it as he focused on drawing the essence of the Pale Queen.

When the essence was absorbed, Bryce opened his eyes and immediately pulled on the Primal Troll Aspect. He felt the throbbing in his shoulder subside. He was curious about what the Pale Queen Aspect had given him, and he wanted to use it now, but there were more pressing issues.

He looked over the Pale Queen’s corpse. They were solitary hunters who typically resided in the high mountains of the north. There was only one reason for one to come this far south. He moved away from the body, back to the stream, and resumed following it. He needed to find the cave for the safety of anyone traveling through this area.

“Oh, you’ve been a busy girl,” Bryce said, looking into the mouth of the cave.

Silk egg sacks covered the ground, and at a quick glance, he guessed there were over a hundred. Pale Queen hatchlings were only the size of a house cat, but they grew quickly, and in an area like this with frequent travelers and few predators, they could thrive. He needed supplies from the wagon to take care of this.

Vex met him before he made it back to camp, the wolfkin rushing to meet him, a worried look on her face.

“Bryce!” she yelled as she raced toward him.

He waved her down, but she ignored it and was on him in an instant, examining his bloody shirt.

“I’m fine, Vex,” he said, but that only got a glare from the wolfkin.

She pulled on the bloody part of his shirt and released a stream of words in beastkin at him.

Bryce rolled his eyes.

“Vex, if you’re going to yell at me, at least do it in a language I understand,” he said.

Vex glared at him.

“Stupid Bryce! Stubborn Bryce!” she growled, as she pulled his shirt off to examine under it.

Bryce had to agree with that and didn’t interrupt Vex’s barrage of insults. Slowly, her fur stopped bristling, and she calmed down.

“Monster dead?” Vex asked finally.

Bryce sighed.

“Yes, but not the one stalking us.”

Vex eyed him for a moment.

“You eat its soul?”

He nodded.

“The monster has eggs that we’ll need to clear out,” Bryce said as he moved toward the wagon.

“More Omelets?” Vex asked.

Bryce laughed and shook his head.

“I don’t think these ones will be as friendly as our Omelet.”

Speaking of the feathered fiend, he could see Janna sitting in the wagon with an unusually alert Omelet. Vex made a hand gesture, and the griffin chick instantly relaxed, lying down in the back of the wagon.

It seems she also taught him a guard command.

“You’ve really been working with him,” Bryce said to Vex.

She smiled and nodded, her tail swishing at the praise.

“Bryce! Are you alright?” Janna exclaimed as they neared the wagon. “Vex smelled your blood.”

“I ruined a shirt, but otherwise I’m fine,” Bryce answered.

She eyed him almost as closely as Vex had, but without the stream of cursing and insults. He just gave her a warm smile as he dug into the wagon, pulling out every bottle of whiskey, brandy, or alcohol they had. Then he grabbed kindling and the woodsman’s axe.

“What are you doing?” Janna asked.

“Eggs,” Vex answered. “No omelets.”

Janna paused for a moment before looking at Bryce for clarification. Bryce filled her in on his fight with the Pale Queen and the discovery of the eggs. Janna’s ears dropped, and she paled.

“I’m kind of glad I missed out on the giant spider,” she said, a disgusted look on her face.

Vex and Janna both accompanied him back to the cave, and within an hour, they had fires going by each of the egg sacks. The silk was flammable, and soon the mouth of the cave was a blaze. They watched it burn until the sun began to set, then turned to head back to camp. Bryce planned to check it out in the morning to ensure all the eggs were destroyed.