Feral Mage Book 2: Chapter 7

“She was going to throw a fireball at Vex, so I rushed her and tried to take control of it,” Janna explained as she winced. “I thought I could overpower her since I was a pyromancer, but she was too strong.”

“You did great, Janna,” Bryce reassured her.

Once she healed, they could reflect on this and discuss what she had done right and wrong in the situation. Right now, he was just happy that both the girls were safe. He opened the container of healing salve and took a decent amount.

“Hold you’re hands out,” Bryce said.

Carefully, he applied the healing salve to Janna’s burns. She would flinch each time he touched them, no matter how gentle he tried to be.

“She’s hurting,” Vex said.

He turned and saw the worried look plastered across the wolfkin’s face, her ears flat and tail tucked. Not far behind her was Levi, bound with the remains of the horse harness and struggling against Omelet as the griffin tried to steal his boot.

“The pain is a good sign. It means the fire magic didn’t destroy the nerves in her hands,” Bryce answered as he put the salve away before wrapping Janna’s hands in bandages.

The kitsune frowned at the mass of cloth covering her hands as Bryce helped her to her feet.

“Just rest for right now. You’ve earned it. Vex and I will salvage what we can,” Bryce said.

Janna nodded, but her eyes never left her bandages. Bryce grimaced at them. She couldn’t use her hands for much until the burns healed. He reached out and gently squeezed her shoulder, causing Janna to look at him. Bryce smiled at her.

“Thank you for saving Vex,” he said before turning and making his way toward the wolfkin.

“Will she be okay?” Vex asked as soon as he neared her.

Bryce put his arm around the wolfkin and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head as he held her. Vex’s arms wrapped around his waist, and he felt his lover squeeze him tightly.

“She’ll be okay, but Janna is going to have to depend on us for a little while,” Bryce answered.

He felt Vex rub her face against his chest, mumbling something in beastkin. The two stood there a little longer, just holding one another before breaking apart.

“I’m going to check out the wagon. Do you care to track down the horse?” Bryce asked Vex.

Vex kissed him, then started walking away. She whistled as she did, and Omelet dropped the boot he had stolen from the dwarf and started following beside her.

“Well, two love birds—” Levi started to say.

Bryce delivered a swift kick to the dwarf’s gut, shutting him up. He was making his way to the wagon as he heard the dwarf retching up whatever had been in his stomach. The two of them would have a chat soon, but first, Bryce needed to assess the damage.

Burn marks covered the back of the wagon. Some of the wooden boards were little more than charcoal. Bryce sighed as he looked it over and even pushed on one of the boards, only to watch it break apart.

The wheels look barely touched, at least…

He used the strength of the Primal Troll Aspect to tip the wagon back over. A few more burn boards crumbled as the wagon’s wheels struck the ground. Bryce kicked the charcoal away as he began to push on the back of the wagon, watching the wheels closely as it moved a few yards down the road.

Seems solid. I don’t think the wheels will break.

He heard a snort and looked over to see Vex coaxing the horse back, doing her best to steer the beast away from the body of its partner. Bryce stopped pushing the wagon, knocked the ash from his hands, and moved to one of the packs lying on the ground. He retrieved a few oat cakes from it before going to Vex and the horse.

“Easy, girl. It’s been a rough day today,” Bryce said gently as he offered the horse an oat cake, his hand gently stroking the beasts mane.

“Vex, I think the wagon is still functional. Go ahead and hook the horse up and start loading our gear into it,” Bryce said as he fed the horse another oat cake. “I’m going to have a chat with the dwarf.”

He handed Vex the rest of the oat cakes and then went to Levi. The dwarf watched his approach with a glare, and Bryce scowled deeply at him. When he got to Levi, he said nothing. Instead, he kicked the bastard again. He even let some of the Primal Troll’s strength slip into it. Levi cried out in pain, cursing as he rolled several yards along the ground. When he stopped moving, Bryce approached him again.

“Kicking a tied-up man? There’s not a drop of honor in you, is there?” Levi growled, a trickle of blood coming from his mouth.

No dog tags around his neck…

Bryce put his foot on the man’s head and pushed him to the ground.

“Not for the bastard that ambushes me on the damn road. You’re not a merc from the human kingdoms, so where are you from?” Bryce demanded.

There was always the chance they were just hired thugs, but he doubted it. A skilled mage and a spearman with trained gnolls seemed too much of a step above that.

“The Red-Shield Company!” Levi growled.

Company. He knew dwarves didn’t use the guild system, which had originated on the Selkie Isles. Dwarfs instead used companies to protect their tradesmen. Organizations where each member held a stake of ownership in the company. Bryce had heard the Dwarven Mountains saw more wars and blood shed between the various companies, than it did from the clans.

“So, dwarven merc,” Bryce answered.

Levi laughed.

“From one of the best companies to come out of the Dwarven Mountains. They’ll pay you well for me, mark my words,” Levi said with a grin, his teeth stained red with blood.

Bryce huffed.

“I think I would rather have answers than gold,” he said, giving Levi a jostle with his foot. “Start talking! I killed some damn gnolls back at Baroness Julia’s graveyard and then get jumped by more? How did you know I’d be coming this way?”

Levi laughed again.

“Oh, you trust that Baroness too much,” the dwarf growled.

Bryce huffed at the blatant lie before pushing down harder on Levi’s head with his boot.

“Nice try. There’s no motive or reason for her to want me dead. Hell, I’ll be impressed if she even recalls my name when I drag you back there,” Bryce stated, then put some venom into his words. “Now, the condition you’re in when I bring you to her. That’s entirely dependent on you.”

Levi bucked against Bryce’s foot, his head starting to sink into the soft soil.

“A maid!” the dwarf yelled out.

Bryce removed his foot, and Levi looked up at him, dirt clinging to half his face.

“I bribed a damn maid that works for the Baroness. She told me you were the one who killed my gnolls and was going to Witchbrook for more mercenaries.”

“Why?” Bryce asked.

Levi’s face twisted and reddened. Bryce narrowed his eyes at the man, then looked over at the corpse of the sea elf mage. He recalled what Baroness Julia and Captain Taylor told him about the raids along the shore of the Kingdom of Deathridge.

Why just two?

Bryce looked back at Levi, his eyes still narrowed.

“You weren’t acting under orders, were you?” he accused.

Levi closed his eyes and swore.

“Gnolls eat everything, flesh, bones, clothing, everything on the body. I would send them into the graveyard, let them feast on the dead. Then dig any jewelry the corpse had on them out of the gnoll’s dung,” Levi answered. “Humans. Burying wealth with the dead as if they would have a use for it. Such an odd practice, I didn’t even believe it at first.”

Bryce shook his head at the man. Greed, that was all this was about.

“So, not a move to attack the Kingdom of Brook?” Bryce asked.

Levi looked at him with wide eyes, and his mouth opened.

“Because that’s what Baroness Julia thought this was,” Bryce stated before Levi spoke.

The dwarf paled and cursed more.

“The Commander of the company will have my head…” Levi grimaced.

Bryce was sure Baroness Julia would be taking that, but he didn’t say it aloud. Hell, the death the Baroness would give Levi might be more merciful. Bryce didn’t think a Commander would be too happy with a subordinate who almost started a war.

“Okay, so we have the why. Now tell me how you got ahead of us to do this ambush?” Bryce demanded.

Levi glared up at him, but the look was now bluster. The dwarf’s eyes were dull, defeated.

“We used a boat. It’s moored at the river edge through the woods. Kim had a map, and we figured you’d have to come this way if you were going to Witchbrook,” Levi answered.

Bryce’s head tilted to the dead sea elf.

“What did she get out of this?” he asked.

The question must have been salt in a wound for Levi, his eyes darting away from the corpse, as a shadow crossed his face.

“Outcast from the Saltland Kingdom. She needed the coin,” he said, his voice dripping with regret.

“A lot of good it’s doing her now,” Bryce answered as he reached down and grabbed Levi by his bindings.

Vex had the wagon loaded and the surviving horse hitched by the time Bryce and Levi were done with their little chat. He tossed the dwarven merc in the back of the wagon, then looked to Vex.

“Keep an eye on him. I need to check his story,” Bryce said.

Vex gave him an unsure look, but to his surprise, the wolfkin didn’t argue with him. He moved off the road and toward the wood line, stepping into the dense brush. He didn’t have to walk far before he came upon the shoreline and saw the boat moored at its edge.

The vessel was little more than a large rowboat, with no cover from the weather or places for individuals to hide. Still, Bryce approached it cautiously. The first thing to catch his attention was a bright red shield with an axe painted on it, no doubt the sigil of the Red-Shield Company. He heard dwarves didn’t use banners since most of their wars and battles were in the tunnels of their mountains, and banners were a lot less impressive without any wind. Instead, they used shields to mark allegiances.

He picked it up and looked the armament over. It was decently crafted, perhaps worth a few silvers, if the Baroness didn’t want it for further evidence. Bryce scanned the boat for anything else, his gaze landing on a bag stashed under one of the boat’s benches. He knelt and picked up the bag, giving it a small shake. He heard the clattering of metal and had a hunch of what was inside. Sunlight glistened off the gold and silver metal resting inside the bag as he pulled open the drawstring, revealing dozens of rings, necklaces, and other forms of jewelry.

He clicked his tongue.

“Yeah, this would have been a good haul. Hell, even I would dig through gnoll shit for this,” Bryce said to himself.

He pulled the drawstring closed and looped it around his hand that held the shield, letting out a sigh as he did. The haul would be worth several gold coins, but he would return it to Baroness Julia, if for nothing else than the Mercenary Guild’s reputation.

Once he stepped off the boat, Bryce walked a short distance until he came to a decent-sized stone. He laid down the shield and bag of jewelry to pick up the stone, then returned to the boat.

Wack!

The boat’s wooden hull sounded as he slammed the stone against it. The blow created a large hole, then he added two more for good measure. Bryce tossed the stone aside before pushing the boat back into the Winter River. He watched it until he saw the vessel start to sink in the water before turning and making his way back to the girls. If the Red-Shield Company came looking for their lost members, he didn’t want to give them any hints.