Chapter 92

“Bartley,” replied George, his tone one of worry as I sensed the faint buzz of aether being used by my mentor. “I can’t say that it’s good to see you.”

“The feeling is mutual, dear cousin. But Uncle was very clear in his desires, so here I am, out in the middle of nowhere and still cleaning up the mess you made when you went away.”

Bartley raised his hands at the forest around them, performing a small turn and sparing a sneer for the cozy home he had just exited. Like his cousin, Bartley was clean shaven with styled, dark brown hair. On his hands, he wore two rings that looked like silver in the pale light of the moon and the lantern hanging from the door. I didn’t see any chain mail on the man though he wore a breastplate over the top of his dark clothes.

When Bartley was done with his little pirouette, his hand returned to his rapier. The sneer remained on his lips though, giving the appearance of utter disdain for what he saw before him.

“Let my family go and I will come with you willingly,” George offered as he pushed Kaylee and Etta behind him like Nazim had done with me.

My heart was already pounding from the danger I realised I was in, though I spared a little of that worry for Etta. My mind was considering what to do — should I run and try to get Gramps? Start screaming? Slip into the darkness with my Cloak of Shadows? Where would that leave Etta? ℯℯ𝘭.

The questions came one after another, and my indecision froze me in place. Through it all, I felt a whisper nearby in the night — chilling threads hovering partway up a nearby tree. My eyes were moving towards where I sensed the icy coils when the entire situation exploded.

“Afraid I can’t do that, George,” Bartley replied, though his tone put lie to his words. “Your Father wants his granddaughter brought into the fold — where she always should have been. You as well, if I can manage it, but I am not opposed to you having a little accident. All sorts of things can go wrong when you inevitably fight us. He’ll be disappointed with me, but so long as I have your daughter the reprimand will be minor while my path towards being named heir is clear of useless debris best left in the past.”

I sensed more aether being used by George, a hollow-looking glass bird appearing before it shot south towards the festival.

“Messenger Spell?” Bartley asked with a snort. “They won’t arrive in time.”

His rapier was out of its sheath so fast I couldn’t follow it, and then the night lit up as white lightning blasted from its tip into George… and hit an aether shield that drew the blast into the ground.

“Run!” George screamed, the earth exploding at the same time, creating a wall that split the clearing in half.

Turning to dash away, I felt the icy coils move in my senses. I was almost too slow.

“Nazim!” I yelled and pointed up into the tree. Something small and metal flew from where I felt the thing in the darkness. Then Nazim was between me and it, the sound of metal plinking off metal filled the night, the wolfkin’s vambraces saving me.

“Go,” Nazim growled, his eyes darting about as men in blackened chainmail stalked out of the night. I finally listened, running after Kaylee, who was carrying Etta with Lucille close behind.

The sound of weapons clashing behind me was followed by the distinct noise of someone groaning in pain. I glanced back to see Nazim now following me with one of the soldiers falling to the ground blood frothing on their lips.

We just need to get back to Gramps, I kept telling myself over and over again in my head as I dashed madly through the shrubs, my heartbeat pounding in my ears.

I had almost caught up to Etta when another soldier came charging out of the darkness from behind us. The man plowed into Kaylee, sending her flying across the ground. Etta flew even farther, crashing into the undergrowth. The soldier stalked forward towards Kaylee’s fallen form with his sword raised.

“Go!” Kaylee screamed at us with dirt and leaves stuck to her face.

Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed Etta’s hand, dragging her along with me. Behind us, I saw Lucille run toward her daughter.

I swallowed a howl of frustration that I couldn’t do more. Beside me, Etta had tears streaking down her cheeks as we ran hand in hand. Like me, she kept glancing back behind us, searching for the others. Within seconds, they were lost to the darkness.

I thought we were almost there when I heard the sound of heavy footfalls stomping through the growth after us.

I activated my Skills immediately. Shadows rose up around me, and I pushed for them to extend further, trying to pull my friend into their embrace. Despite my efforts, they refused to reach that far. Muffled Aura had the same problem, covering the sound of my own footsteps but not enough to cover Etta’s.

My eyes darted around frantically, looking for anything that might help us. My gaze landed on a shadowed hollow within a tree, and I dragged Etta after me, raising a finger to my lips and pushing her down into the darkness.

Using my body to shield her, I moved as close as possible so that my Muffled Aura would hopefully hide the sound of her breathing. My Cloak of Shadows remained active, making us appear as nothing more than the darkness within the hollow.

The crunch of dry leaves came from where we had just come as a gruff voice called out.

“I know you’re here somewhere. Give me the girl, and you can run back to your parents, kid. She’s not worth dying for.”

Behind me, Etta shook, her fingers digging into my arm where she gripped me tightly. I don’t know if she thought I would leave her, but I wasn’t that kind of person. Afraid as I was, I wouldn’t leave a friend behind.

The soldier came into view a moment later, a hatchet in his left hand and a short sword in his right. His head swept back and forth, searching the darkness while I tried to control my breathing. With eyes wide, I waited for him to find us, all the while praying that Gramps would come soon.

***

Nazim moved to place himself between the charging soldier and the fallen form of Kaylee. The soldier was decent, but Nazim was better, his claws ripping out the man's throat after a quick exchange. The wolfkin realised his mistake a moment too late and was forced to activate Celerity, trying to interpose himself between the thrown daggers and Bastian.

Even with the attribute, he was too slow to properly deflect them, the second grazing his wrist rather than striking his vambrace. The cut should’ve been nothing, but the instant heat from the wound told him the blade had been poisoned. Nazim just hoped his Poison Resistance attribute would be enough to keep it from killing him. Either way, he was on a timer now.

He inhaled the scents of the night, recognising the faint odd smell that had drawn his attention for the past week or so. They were using something to suppress their scent, and Nazim guessed that whatever it was had to be a decent one since his Enhanced Smell attribute was still only catching whiffs of them.

Still, that little bit of information was enough to narrow down what he was most likely dealing with. Poison, shadows or perhaps illusion, scent suppression, and working with the House of Arman?

“Fox,” he growled, his yellow eyes surveying the night.

Something stepped away from a nearby tree, the hazy form blurring and resolving into a masked foxkin in dark leathers that seemed to drink in even the minimal light from the moon above.

“Wolf,” his opponent acknowledged. “If you stop interfering, I can let you live. Just run. They aren’t your pack. Why do you care what happens to these humans?”

“Why do you?” Nazim countered, the heat of the poison already climbing up his arm as it slowly spread through his veins.

“I don’t,” admitted the fox casually as it stalked silently across the leaf strewn ground. “But the boy was able to sense me despite everything. If he has an attribute that lets him pierce illusions then he is a risk to the Clan. His death is already written. Yours doesn’t need to be.”

“A fox afraid of a pup… your kind never change. Pack or not, my honour is unstained, and that will not change for one of your ilk. Your only hope of getting to him is through me. So, fox, will you run and hide, or do you like your chances?”

The foxkin huffed in response. “You’re already dead anyway, the poison will reach your heart soon.”

Two more daggers flew out of the darkness from Nazim’s left as the hazy form of the foxkin drifted away as though on a breeze. Nazim's sword deflected the first dagger as he avoided the second. His heightened wolfkin senses were almost useless. Only the faint smell remained. Were it anyone else, Nazim would’ve expected that to make his enemy predictable. They would seek to get downwind of him, taking away the last possible method he had for finding them. Foxkin were always far trickier than that, even potentially using such to bait Nazim into showing them his back. For all Nazim knew, the fox could use some sort of Scent Projection Skill.

His only hope was that the fox couldn’t keep up his Skills forever. Nazim backed away slowly, continuing to move in the direction that Bastian had gone. There were other sounds in the forest though most were north from where they had fled. The crackle of lightning, coupled with the yells and screams of men. Nazim simply took that to mean that George was still alive — for now. Nazim himself had killed two of the soldiers, and he’d witnessed George slay another as the battle started. Nazim’s nose told him that left another five plus the fox. If George was keeping all of them busy, then Bastian was safe. Nazim doubted all five were fighting George though.

A growl of frustration bubbled up from within him unbidden. Bastian could be in danger right now. Instead of being there to defend him, Nazim was tied up fighting an enemy he couldn’t see, hear or smell.

“Not long now,” came a whisper from the forest to his right.

Nazim stumbled, his left leg giving out. He pushed himself back to his feet quickly and took a few more stumbling steps backwards before the same happened to his right leg. When he tried to push himself to his feet, his arm shook.

Out of the darkness to his right walked the foxkin, its facial expression hidden behind the dark mask it wore.

“Your honour is unstained,” it whispered in amusement as it approached, raising a short blade of black metal in preparation for the final blow.

A faint musky smell reached Nazim’s nose, the scent coming from behind him. This was his chance. He dropped the act and activated his Celerity attribute.

His body screamed in pain as he moved in a flash faster than any Quick Step could manage. Blade out, he swept it through the empty air behind him. An aether shield appeared for a fraction of an instant, outlining something invisible behind it, then shattered as blood sprayed across the forest floor.

The bisected foxkin had a look of surprise in its eyes in the seconds before death.

“How?” it whispered in confusion.

“I was raised to protect pups from your kind,” Nazim replied in obvious pain as he collapsed.

A second later, the fox was dead. Its innards leaked out into the dirt with the smell of piss and shit that stung Nazim’s nose.

Panting on the ground, Nazim felt the heat of the poison travel into his shoulder and stop. The shake in his arm returned, the only thing he hadn’t been faking, as he tried to pull himself to his feet. Bastian was still out there, and Nazim needed to find him. Stumbling into the darkness, sword dragging through the leaves, the wolfkin searched for the pup he had sworn to protect.