Feral Mage Book 2: Chapter 9

Bryce pushed the back of the wagon, his eyes going between the tied up and gagged Levi, who was glaring at him, and Omelet, who had his front two paws on the wagons back and his head cocked to the side. The little griffin kept finding it interesting that when they came to a hill, Bryce would jump out and push on the back of the wagon to help it up the hill.

He looked past the two riding in the back of the wagon to the driver’s box. Vex sat there beside Janna, the kitsune instructing the wolfkin on how to steer. He had tried to get Vex to learn how to drive the wagon several times in the past, but the wolfkin had always shaken her head. Now, with Janna’s hands injured, she had no choice.

They crested the hill, and Bryce stopped pushing the wagon. The horse could handle the rest until the next hill, though…

He looked up at the sky, seeing how low the sun was on the horizon. Dusk wasn’t far off, and there was no way they’d make it to the next town, not with just one horse. The low wetlands past the hills were not the kinda of place one wanted to drive a wagon through at night, even with lanterns. That was a good way to end up in a bog.

“We’ll need to stop for the night,” Bryce said, looking from the hill’s crest for a spot to make camp. His gaze landed on a small meadow beside the road halfway down the hill, the wetlands just past it.

He moved to the driver’s box to take over steering the wagon. To his surprise, Vex moved into the back without being asked, letting him and Janna have the box. Bryce stepped into the box and lightly grabbed the reins, urging the horse to continue.

“Thanks for driving, Vex,” Bryce said, looking back at the wolfgirl.

Vex just smiled at him.

“She did a decent job,” Janna said from beside him. “Kept the horse on the road, most of the time.”

Bryce chuckled at that as he guided the wagon to the meadow. Once they arrived, everyone started going about their tasks to make camp. Vex followed Janna to help set up the campfire, while Bryce secured Levi to a tree with a rope. The dwarf merc flopped around like a trout out of water, but it did him little good. Once Bryce had the prisoner secured, he moved to the horse.

“You did good, girl,” Bryce said, feeding the beast an oat cake.

He could still tell the horse was on edge, her ears flicking around at every sound.

Maybe we should stay at an inn for a few days and let her rest in the stables.

He put the oats away, grabbed the brush, and ran it along the horse’s mane.

“Bryce,” Vex called out.

He was expecting her to ask him to brush her tail. That’s what usually happened anytime the wolfkin caught him with a brush. He turned to tell her he would later, then saw her expression.

He immediately put the brush away and walked over to the unlit campfire where Vex and Janna were. Vex stood beside the kneeling Janna, who was focused on the pile of kindling before her. Bryce could see her intense gaze concentrating on the wood, but saw something else. She held a hint of fear in her eyes.

“Janna,” he said gently. “I can get the fire going. You need to focus on resting.”

Janna looked up at him with a defeated look.

“I… I can’t use my magic,” Janna said, her voice cracking.

Her ears went flat, as her tails drooped, and Bryce heard a sniffle. He knelt beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“You experienced magical backlash. It did more to your body than just burn your hands,” Bryce answered, squeezing her shoulder. “Your body needs to recover. Vex and I can handle the fire making until then. In fact, it would do us some good to not let our fire-building skills get rusty.”

Janna nodded slowly, but kept staring at the kindling.

“What if my magic doesn’t come back?” she asked softly.

That was a real possibility, at least from what Bryce knew about elemental magic.

“Don’t worry about the what-ifs. Focus on recovering, and when you’re healed, we’ll tackle any issue together,” Bryce said, before adding. “Nicole is as knowledgeable in magic as she is at being a smartass. If you’re still having trouble when we return to Witchbrook, I’m sure she can help you.”

Janna scoffed and gave a pitiful look at her bandaged hands.

“I can’t cast magic or even hold a sword…”

I can’t fight like this..

The memory hit Bryce like a knife to the gut, twisting. He had said those words while looking at his mangled leg years ago, Bellamy changing the dressing on it. Her usually hard eyes had looked up at him a touch softer.

He shook the memory away as he pulled out flint and steel to light the fire. The ache in his gut finally left him by the time the fire was built enough to cook on. That was when they encountered the next limitation for Janna.

Bryce watched as Vex tied a spoon to Janna’s hand. The kitsune gave the contraption an odd look, then went to scoop out some of the stew Bryce had cooked. She made it halfway to her mouth before the spoon slipped free from the rope and fell to the ground, much to the delight of Omelet, who raced over to eat it.

As Vex tried to drag the griffin away from his meal, Bryce set his bowl to the side and grabbed another spoon. Janna looked away from Omelet to him as he approached and held out his hand.

“Hand me the bowl,” he said.

Janna looked between the bowl and his hand, then blushed.

“You don’t need to feed me,” she said, turning red.

Despite her embarrassment, she did hand him the bowl. Bryce dipped the spoon into the stew.

“I think I can either feed you, or we’ll just end up feeding most of the stew to Omelet.”

She stared at the spoon.

“I’m sure Vex wouldn’t—”

She started to say, only for the wolfkin to start cursing in beastkin at Omelet as he struggled to escape her grasp. Bryce still didn’t understand beastkin, but he recognized cursing when he heard it.

He lifted a spoonful of the stew up toward Janna, who hesitated briefly before taking a bite. She chewed and swallowed.

“It’s good!” she said, her voice sounding surprised.

Bryce nodded as he filled the spoon again.

“I added more pepper and herbs this time.”

Janna took another bite, this time without any hesitation. Bryce glanced over at Vex, only to see the wolfkin holding the now-tamed Omelet, a smile on her face. He had to admit he was a little worried about how Vex would react to him trying this.

“Are you going to season it like this from now on?” Janna asked, licking a little of the sauce from her lips. Bryce could see her tails swaying happily behind her.

He smiled and shook his head.

“Don’t get too used to it. I’m just being a little heavy-handed with the seasonings since the Baroness will likely pay us once we return to her.”

This time, Janna leaned forward to take a bite before Bryce could get the spoon to her. The next spoonful, he was a little quicker with and couldn’t help but smile at Janna’s shift from embarrassment to ravenous.

The bowl was almost empty as dusk set in, and Bryce was about to return to his own meal when he heard the rushed footsteps. Quickly, he turned to the tree Levi was tied to, only to see the dwarf running into the woods.

“Shit!” Bryce yelled as he gave chase, pulling on his Manticore Aspect.

The scent hit him just past the treeline, the stale scent of death he had smelled in the graveyard. Bryce gritted his teeth and, for a second, hesitated following Levi deeper into the woods.

“Both of you stay in the wagon!” Bryce yelled as he raced after the dwarf mercenary.

He was hot on Levi’s trail. He could hear the dwarf’s breathing, the leaves crumbling under each step he took, and the sweat clinging to him. The fool was running toward the scent of death that Bryce faintly smelled. Then he heard Levi scream and smelled blood.

Bryce slowed in his pursuit as he neared the dwarf, looking up at the dead tree he was in. Levi’s corpse hung there, his chest run through by the jagged top of the dead tree, glassed eyes looking down at him. Bryce’s gaze only lingered on the dwarf’s corpse for a second, then he looked past it to the winged figure flying in the sky. The sun’s dying light was barely outlining a humanoid body with wings. He saw the monster’s head look back toward him, and glowing red eyes focused on him for a second.

What the hell is that?

His mind reeled with all the monsters Bellamy had taught him about, even those he had learned from bards’ tales that were more myth than reality. He turned and ran back to the camp, even faster than he had in his pursuit of Levi.

“Did he get away?” Janna asked once he stepped out of the woods.

Bryce didn’t answer her. Instead, he immediately went to a young tree. Its trunk was as thick as two of his fingers, and its height was just a little above him. He pulled his knife, cut the small tree down, and then moved to another one.

“Bryce?” Vex asked.

He looked at the girls, a dozen small trees in his arms.

“A monster killed Levi. It’s a flier, I’m going to prepare our camp,” he answered before cutting down another small tree.

“A monster? What kind?” Janna asked, both fear and excitement in her voice.

Vex immediately had her bow drawn and was scanning the sky.

“Don’t know,” Bryce answered as he returned to the wagon.

He used his knife to trim the small trees into poles, sharpening the ends. When one was done, he staked it into the ground next to the wagon, its sharpened end pointing up. He did this all around the wagon.

Then he built three more campfires, all circling the wagon. Once that was done, he looked back at the girls.

“This is the best defense I can make against a flier with what we have,” Bryce said, scanning the now night sky. “The spiked poles will keep it from swooping down on us, and the fires should deter it from trying to approach on the ground.”

He began gathering the bedrolls.

“Wait, the poles are around the wagon,” Janna said. “You don’t mean…”

Bryce threw the bedrolls into the wagon with Janna, Vex, and Omelet. He looked at the kitsune and nodded his head.

“Yes. We’re all going to sleep in the back of the wagon tonight,” Bryce answered.