Chapter 104: That Seems Bad

Chapter 104: That Seems Bad

The second day of the venture to Makinaven was much like the first, excepting crystal entities and arcanes and Archons dropping through.

The guardsmen drove off more than a dozen arcanous creatures, varying from the quite common thunderbulls to a few massive reptiles. One of those seemed to have been stalking one of the thunderbull families and took exception to the guards having driven them off.

Rane took care of a half-dozen more minor threats to their progress.

Tala never left the wagon top.

Instead of begrudging her restriction, after all she could see that Mistress Odera was correct in every instance, Tala kept a ready watch on their surroundings, usually being among the first to notice any potential threat. All the while, she continued her study of Hollys texts. She wanted her knowledge surrounding her inscribings to be as deep and thorough as possible.

They made camp late that afternoon, just more than two hundred yards from the close edge of the reaching canopy, far overhead. The hard part of the journey would start the next day, it seemed.

The forest was an interesting presence beside the camp; the trees, starting at almost a hard line, were taller than anything she had ever seen, short of a mountain. Their branches spread out wide, interlacing with those around them. Their shape seemed much more like maple trees than pine.

Even the somewhat shorter specimens, at the near edge, were tall enough that Tala thought they might be able to strike the wagons, should they fall their way.

Lets hope that doesnt happen She could probably catch such with a Restrain, but shed never attempted to affect something that large, before, and Restrain was a more complex working than Crush.

Yeah, I could Crush a tree no problem, but that wouldnt help us if it were falling our way. She put it out of her mind, though, as it was quite unlikely in any event.

Rane and Tala sparred before dinner, to the great enjoyment of the passengers and off-duty guardsmen. Their display caused more to brave the cold for longer periods, many opting to eat their dinner while continuing to watch.

Eventually, however, night had truly fallen, and Tala had eaten a quadruple portion of dinner. Pasties never get old.

Tala was given the first part of the night-watch as Mage protector, and Rane and Mistress Odera bid her goodnight. Mistress Odera gave her several bits of advice and requested that she be roused if anything of note seemed to be happening.

Tala agreed with a smile.

That first part of the night passed with similar non-issue. Terry slew a night puma, a great cat that used shadow magic to stalk its prey.

He detected it, somehow, and slew it outside of the area between the wagons, near the edge of where she could see in the poor light.

He also ate it before Tala could notify the guards to log the encounter. When she checked with those on duty with her, none had seen the beast, to corroborate the kill. Ah, well. At least he got a meal out of it.

She still found it marginally intimidating when Terry swallowed things much larger than his standard form. The night puma had been more than eight feet in length, nose to rump, and Tala would have guessed it weighed more than she did, even accounting for her gravity enhancement.

Still, it was handled. No issue at all.

She hesitated at that. Is there no issue, because nothing has happened, or do I think theres been no issue, because the arcane returned, and removed memory of such?

She shivered at the thought, causing Terry to shift on her shoulder, though he didnt open his eyes.

Well, I suppose if it had returned, it would have manipulated me, causing me to not even consider its interference. Great, so she only had to worry about the arcanes involvement when she didnt consider that it could have been involved.

She felt her left eye twitching. Tala you are making yourself crazy. You cannot possibly allow that to be how you think of this

She shook her head. All I can do is keep on, and resist anything that I can.

It was small comfort, but it did seem to help.

When Rane took over the watch around midnight, Tala gratefully slipped into sleep atop her reinforced cot, happy to end an unremarkable day and happy that it had been just that.

* * *

The next morning, after her daily routine, a sparring session with Rane, and breakfast, Tala noticed Mistress Odera walking her way.

Mistress?

Good morning, Mistress Tala. Walk with me, will you?

Sure.

Tala fell into step beside the much older woman, moving towards the forest. What do you know of this forest?

She thought back to the information shed read up on in preparation for this trip. Summarize, she doesnt need a recitation of all of that. Its full of magic, though not specifically in the air. The trees have more power than those in other low-magic regions, and there are more arcanous creatures than on the open plains. I havent looked closely at the trees power-flow, though. Her mage-sight had noted it at a great distance, and she hadnt focused on it since.

Go on.

Itll be colder? Not much direct sunlight reaches the ground. There arent established roads through the trees, obviously, so the travel time is much less certain.

All true.

Almost no undergrowth? The trees deeper in grow massive and block even more of the sun, leaving the forest floor mostly bare of vegetation. She looked up at the trees which literally scraped the sky, uplifting branches creating trailing crevices in the lowest clouds as they moved past.

Mistress Odera nodded. So, you know the basics.

They are as big as I was warned. Tala grunted. Even yesterday, I thought I was just mis-seeing, somehow.

They truly are spectacular. The Mezzannis used to make their homes in these trees.

Mezzannis?

An arcane species. Never enslaved humanity, per se. They were one of the few to completely collapse when we gained our freedom.

Tala frowned. Thats terrible. We wiped out an entire race, which wasnt doing us any harm?

Mistress Odera quirked a small smile. They didnt enslave us, Mistress, because you dont put your beef cows to work in the fields.

Tala hesitated, narrowing her eyes at the older woman. Wait

The Mezzannis subsisted on ambient magic and human flesh.

Tala shuddered. I feel like you purposely led me astray, there.

Mistress Odera met her eyes with a searching look. So, I noticed that you didnt do any practice with your new gravity manipulation, yesterday.

I thought it better to focus on the caravan and improving the efficiency of the inscriptions I already have active.

Mistress Odera gave her a long look, then shook her head. Oh, child. You really are trying, arent you.

Tala frowned in irritation. Whats that supposed to mean?

Mistress Odera waved her off. Unimportant, now. I want you to begin practicing as soon as we get underway. Keep your eyes out, but work on using that inscription. Until you have it under control, you are working with an incomplete powerset, right?

True enough.

Im heading back to take up my post on the cargo-wagon. Why dont you take a more detailed look at the trees with your mage-sight, then join me? After a moments pause, she added. Dont get closer. Dont start an engagement with anything, if you see it.

Tala nodded. As you say, Mistress.

Mistress Odera moved back towards the caravan, and Tala, for her part, turned to regard the giant trees before her. She focused, allowing her mage-sight to really dig into what she saw.

Her eyes immediately widened in shock.

Each tree seemed to have sent its roots further down than she could easily discern, as well as so far out that she stood well inside the radius of their reach, even though the canopy ended another hundred yards in front of her.

That wasnt what had evoked the reaction, however.

Power. The forest was drawing in power from all around it, almost like a human city. Most of what she could see flowing into the forest came from deep in the ground. The trees, after using some of the power, seemed to release the rest from the tips of their branches, to fill the air.

Even so, the magic didnt stay there long, and the results werent even half as concentrated as the magic around Alefast. The power in the air seemed to be steadily flowing deeper into the forest. Towards Makinaven.

How dense would the power be, if the city wasnt here to lessen it? She shivered at the thought. So, anything in there will be more power-dense than the arcanous beasts of the plain. That was a lovely thought.

She briefly wondered why the Archons hadnt just burned the whole thing down, but as she considered, she doubted that the arcanes would allow such, and the action might even bring some of those uninterested in humanity down upon them. Were in a strange stalemate. We have to defend ourselves, but we cant do anything thats too effective, or we could be starting an active war that we couldnt win.

She grimaced. The more I learn, the more I wish Id been content with ignorance She snorted at that. She knew, very well, that even if she could go back, she wouldnt. Blissful ignorance is a false paradise.

She sighed, moving to turn back towards the wagons when Terry perked up, his eyes locked on the trees.

Tala followed his gaze and saw what looked like a pile of flowers, slowly growing up from the forest floor, near one of the closest trunks.

Her mage-sight showed a complexity of power that she couldnt comprehend at this distance, and she almost moved to investigate. Is that what Mistress Odera meant?

Thankfully, her better reason prevailed, and she stayed put. Its not because Mistress Odera told me to stay back. Im choosing the wiser path on my own.

Once the flowers had reached a height roughly equal to Talas chest, they condensed, forming the shape of a small person, eyes of vacant darkness regarding her from its place, near one of the closest trees. Though Talas normal sight saw only unending night in those black holes, her mage-sight saw blazing beacons of power. Is that what I looked like to others?

The depictions shed seen in informational tomes did not convey the wrongness of the creature. I really can see detail at a crazy distance Shed not encountered many instances where she focused so closely at something so far, but that was hardly the most pressing thing, at the moment.

The thing tilted its head to the side in clear confusion. Dont anthropomorphize, Tala.

The small form continued to look her direction for a long, silent minute. Finally, it slowly began walking forward. Its movements were fast, but jerky. The result was faster than a quick walk but looked more akin to a puppets movements than that of a man. A puppet controlled by a drunken child

Terry, go get Mistress Oderas attention. Tala began walking backwards, unwilling to put her back to the advancing creature.

Terry vanished. The flickers of dimensional power behind her indicated that he was doing as shed asked. At least, I hope so.

She moved with careful but quick steps. No reason to trip while escaping that horror As such, the flower-being was gaining on her, steadily, leaving dragging, irregular footprints in the snow. Even so, it didnt, yet, seem hostile. More than anything it seemedcurious?

It cant see me properly. Do I look like one of its own? Why doesnt it see the caravan?

Tala was about fifty yards from the caravan when the Leshkin reached the edge of the overhanging canopy. When it did, it froze in place, head jerking back and forth, seemingly seeing the caravan for the first time.

It threw its mouth wide, thorn-like teeth growing larger, stretching towards the center of a wholly inhuman, circular maw. A screech, high and wild, issued from the churning depths. Blessedly, there were no answering cries from behind it, within the forest.

The flowers of its exterior shifted into a pattern reminiscent of scales, and much larger thorns sprouted from its fingertips and toes.

Without warning, it rocketed forward with a sudden burst of speed, leaving a trail of flower petals in its wake.

The being seemed to have forgotten Tala, and was aiming to pass her by, seeking the caravan.

Yeah, no. Tala drew Flow, connecting void-channels to it as she pulled it free.

The weapon blossomed into a sword, and the Leshkin seemed to take notice, but didnt alter its path.

It whipped past her in a rush, Tala striking out and cutting through it with seeming ease.

Behind her, the Leshkin sprayed a bubbling yellow fluid from the cut Tala had made in its side.

Some of that acid splattered Talas back, immediately eating through her elk-leathers, and began burning at her skin. Why arent the ending-berries stopping it? The part that missed her sizzled through the light layer of white snow.

Allowing a moments distraction, she looked within. Tala saw that something about the creatures blood was pushing against her magical defense, moving the ending-berry power back more effectively than that of her inscriptions.

Tala growled, spinning around to face the creature. She bent her will towards her ending-berry reserves and forced that magic back into the areas still under assault by the acid.

The power began diminishing but not too quickly. That removed the strain on her inscriptions and most of the strangely burning itch. Well, Xeel did imply that Id have trouble with some of the forest creatures And hadnt Ingrit mentioned something along those lines, too? She definitely mentioned the Leshkin, but I dont think she discussed their effect on ending-berry power. But ending-berries had fallen out of favor during a Leshkin war. I think I might be starting to understand why.

Tala fully faced the Leshkin as it tumbled to a stop, immediately picking itself back up and facing her in turn. It hesitated, seeming to examine her, before glancing over its shoulder, the head turning far more than a human neck could.

It shrieked again, spinning and launching itself towards the caravan.

Tala cursed. Thatthat seems bad.

The guards had seen the beast, now, and Mistress Odera was clearly looking their way from atop the cargo-wagon.

A single quarrel thwacked into the creatures chest, and Tala saw the scripts on the shafts length ignite, inverting the Leshkins power for use against the beast.

The Leshkin lost all cohesion, the blooms exploding outward to be carried back into the forest by a wind that Tala couldnt feel or detect.