Feral Mage Book 2: Chapter 6

The wagon was finally making its way out of the low wetlands, and Bryce was happy that the rest of their journey to Witchbrook would be through rolling hills and forests.

Fewer mosquitoes and fewer chances of getting stuck in a mud hole.

“Omelet, stop attacking my tails!” the kitsune called out as her tails lifted away from the back of the wagon toward her.

Bryce looked in the back and saw Omelet staring up at Janna’s fox tails, his head tilted curiously. He also saw Vex stifling a laugh and holding a long piece of grass in her hand. Their eyes met and Vex grinned while holding a finger to her lips. Bryce just shook his head before turning back to watch the road. He wasn’t about to get into the girls antics, he could end up as their next target.

The rhythmic sound of the wagon wheels rotating on the dirt path was broken once again by Janna. She let out a growl and turned around in the driver's box to glare at Omelet, her tails swishing angrily next to Bryce.

“Omelet, you little…wait…Vex! Why do you have a piece of grass?” Janna yelled.

Laughter erupted from behind him, and Bryce gave a side glance to see the angry kitsune start to crawl into the back of the wagon toward the wolfkin.

He heard the rustling of leaves and turned his attention back to the road. His eyes widened as he saw the gnoll launch from the tree at their wagon, its maw clamping down on one of the horses' necks. Bryce smelled the horse's blood as the beast cried out in pain.

He pulled on his Primal Troll Aspect as the wagon began to tilt, the contents spilling out as the girls screamed in the back. Bryce hit the ground in a roll, only to stand and see the gnoll tearing into the horse now on the ground. Their other horse bucking frantically against its harness in a desperate bid to escape. He looked toward the girls and saw Janna helping Vex up. A poofed out, but unharmed, Omelet beside them.

Then he heard the voices at the tree line and gritted his teeth.

“Ambush!” Bryce yelled as he drew his sword and charged the gnoll feasting on the horse.

He heard a whistle, and the gnoll’s ears perked as it looked up from the horse and let out its cackling laugh. Then it charged at Bryce, ignoring its meal.

“Bad move,” Bryce said as he swung his sword at the gnoll’s head.

The blade cleaved into its skull with a crunch, only for Bryce to feel something collide with his side as fangs sank into his shoulder. He tasted blood in his mouth as another gnoll pulled him to the ground, leaving his sword still buried in the gnoll’s skull. He felt sharp claws trying to dig into his chest.

He felt the beast’s jaw pull away from his shoulder, tearing his flesh with it. His left arm went limp as he heard the smacking of the gnoll’s jaw. Bryce reached up with his still-functional arm, his hand closing around the gnoll’s snout as it swallowed its meal. His grip tightened around the snout as he pulled the beast off of him and stood. The gnoll shook its head as its claws tore at Bryce’s arm, trying to break free from his grasp. The Primal Troll Aspect made him too strong for it to escape, and Bryce stomped his foot on the creature’s back, pinning it as he pulled its head back farther and farther. He felt the muscle and tendons tear in its neck first, then heard the popping of its bones before the death spasms came. He dropped the gnoll’s corpse and looked toward the girls, already feeling the skin and muscles regrowing on his shoulder.

Vex and Janna were taking cover behind the tipped over wagon as flames lapped at the undercarriage. The kitsune pyromancer was doing her best to gain control of the fire and suppress it.

Damn it! A mage!

Bryce rushed to the gnoll with his sword buried in its head and ripped the blade free. He slashed the harness of the still living horse to allow it to escape the burning wagon. Then he raced around the wagon, ready to kill the mage.

A sea elf woman with blond hair and wearing a black gambeson at the edge of the wood line gave him a cocky smile. She summoned a fireball and hurled it at him. Bryce batted the spell away with his hand as he approached her, the charred flesh healing almost instantly.

“Fuck!” the sea elf grimaced. “Levi, get out here with your bitch! This one will be trouble!”

“The pups are dead?” a voice called.

Bryce watched as a large gnoll moved from the woodline beside the mage. Its fur was turning gray in spots, and its teeth were yellow with age, but still sharp and deadly. Such a gnoll would be the type typically seen leading packs in the wild. The kind that Bellamy had called matriarchs.

The beast wore a harness that connected to a saddle on its back, where sat a red-bearded dwarf. The dwarf scowled at Bryce and lifted a spear, pointing it at him.

“You’re the bastard that killed my pups at the graveyard?” he asked, baring his own set of yellow teeth.

Bryce frowned at the dwarf's words. How did they get ahead of them if they had been following them since the graveyard? Was this gnoll the monster outside their camp the other night? The questions left his mind as soon as they entered. He would get his answers after this fight.

“You look like the man she described,” Levi snarled, then his hand patted the neck of the gnoll. “Kill girl!”

The matriarch gnoll charged Bryce, using its front limbs every few steps to boost its speed, running on all fours. He sidestepped a bite as the matriarch arrived at him, its jaws snapping the air. He shifted his footing and weight back toward the gnoll, swinging his sword upwards for its neck. The spear’s head met his blade, leaving only a nick on the gnoll’s throat.

“Damn, you’re strong! You made my arm sting with that one,” Levi laughed.

The gnoll’s claws raked into Bryce’s side as he tried to jump away. The blow sent him tumbling along the ground, and the gnoll matriarch pounced on top of him. He felt the gnoll’s claws dig into his shoulder, tearing muscle and tendons as it pinned him to the ground.

“Hold him there, girl, I’ll put this through his eye,” Levi said, lifting his spear.

Bryce moved to put his foot under the gnoll, preparing to try and push it off him while the dwarf lined up his spear thrust.

“Vex!” Janna yelled, panic in her voice.

Bryce’s heart raced, and he felt the fury of the Primal Troll Aspect rage inside him.

“Die you little bitch!” the mage’s voice called out.

He needed to end this now! His leg moved from its attempt to push the gnoll off him to a hard kick to the monster’s knee. Bryce felt it bend the wrong way, and the gnoll matriarch let out a cry as it dropped closer to him. Close enough for him to sink his teeth into the beast’s throat.

“Damn it girl!” the dwarf yelled as the gnoll started to thrash.

The Primal Troll Aspect didn’t give Bryce sharper teeth or even bigger canines, but it did enhance the strength of his bite. His teeth tore through the fur and flesh, then he tasted the gushing blood as they cut into the arteries and cartilage of the windpipe.

The gnoll threw Levi as it desperately tried to tear itself free from Bryce, but it was too late. The matriarch had lost her advantage in having him pinned. Bryce’s hand grabbed the gnoll’s head as he tore out its throat before throwing the dying gnoll aside.

Levi stood from the ground, fear painted on his face, as Bryce spat the bloody chunk of flesh from his mouth. He knew the dwarf would run for his spear nearby, but the bastard wasn’t his main concern— Vex was.

Bryce turned and looked toward the girls. He could already smell the smoke, which had increased since his fight with the gnoll matriarch had started. Burn marks covered the ground, and he saw Vex, her leather armor covered in ash, ready to release an arrow. His gaze shifted to her target, and his eyes widened.

“Vex! Don’t!” Bryce yelled.

The wolfkin’s ear twitched, and she turned toward him, releasing the arrow. A cry resonated from behind him, and Bryce glanced at the dwarf to see the arrow sticking through his arm, which was reaching for the spear. Bryce walked over to the dwarf and knocked him to the ground before pinning him under his foot. Then he turned back to look at the scene.

“Janna!” Vex cried out, worry on her face.

Bryce grimaced at Vex and looked toward the kitsune’s battle with the sea elf. The two stood only a few feet apart, a massive fireball between them, which both of them was fighting for control of, and which one little slip-up would cost them their life. Even if Bryce or Vex intervene and kill the sea elf, the spell could still backfire on Janna.

“Come on, Janna,” Bryce said softly as he watched the battle of magic.

The fireball shifted in shape, sometimes closer to Janna, sometimes the sea elf. Both girls’ faces were etched in concentration, sweat beading down their foreheads as they fought for dominance of the spell.

“The fox is dead,” Levi laughed as he tried to wriggle free from Bryce’s boot. “Kim’s a skilled mage. You’ll watch the girl burn, then you’ll watch that damn wolf burn and…”

Bryce pushed down harder on the little bastard’s chest with his foot, not enough to kill him. No, Bryce needed answers from him. Just enough force to shut him up.

The fireball vanished, and Janna screamed as she fell to her knees holding her hands.

“Janna!” Bryce yelled as he lifted his boot and slammed it into Levi’s face.

He hoped it was enough to knock the dwarf out, but he didn’t bother to look back to check. He needed to get to Janna.

Kim took a few steps away from the kitsune, the sea elf staring at her arms in horror. Red glowing veins quickly spread along them.

“No, no, no!” Kim sobbed.

Seconds later, both her arms erupted in an explosion of fire as Kim screamed. She fell to her knees, as she stared at the charred stumps where her arms used to be. The screams turned to sobs as she collapsed to the ground.

Bryce got to Janna, dropped to his knee, and looked at her hands. Bad burns covered them, and he saw faint red glowing veins like those on Kim’s arms running along them, but unlike those, these were fading. Bryce let out a sigh of relief. The magic backlash had been minimal.

He wrapped an arm around the crying kitsune and held her close to him. Some instinct told him this was what he needed to do for her right now, and Bryce learned early in life to trust his instincts.

“You did great,” he encouraged softly as Janna sobbed into his shoulder.

An arrow slammed into the side of Kim’s head, silencing her. Bryce looked toward Vex, who was nocking another arrow and aiming it at a running Levi.

“Vex, I want him alive!” Bryce called out.

Vex’s ears canted, but she lowered her bow, only to follow it up with a hand gesture. Omelet burst out of some nearby bushes in a dead sprint and tackled the dwarf. Levi let out a string of curses as Omelet thrashed the dwarf around by his leg, all while Vex made her way over to them, only stopping to get the remains of the horse harness.

Seeing that Vex had things in order, Bryce turned his attention back to Janna. Tears streaked the kitsune’s face as she stared down at her burned hands.