Chapter 76: Bushes

Chapter 76: Bushes

Brayden’s snores covered Noah’s steps as he padded out of the camp. As soon as he’d heard the large man fall asleep, Noah had slipped out of his tent and crept away. He’d caught a glimpse of Moxie beside the firepit before he left, but she still looked half asleep and hadn’t noticed his departure.

Noah continued for a few minutes, cresting hills until the camp was behind him. The cool night prickled against his skin and made his chest yearn for – well, something. He wasn’t exactly sure what.

The hills around him were fairly empty. There were bushes, grass, and the wind. Normally, that would have been perfect. However, Noah was currently in the business of trying to find a monster to annoy, and there was a very stark lack of monsters in the area.

He jogged, keeping to a straight line to try and make sure his trip back to the camp would be as easy as possible. Of course, he’d memorized the way, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get lost.

Noah continued for a little under half an hour, finding nothing but more and more bushes. Brayden had made it sound like there would be a large number of big monsters roaming around at night, but as far as he could tell, he was alone.

Or, more likely, I can’t see them. Nighttime predators are often stealth hunters, right? More birds, maybe?

The sky was empty, devoid of everything but the moon and some wispy gray clouds. Noah squinted, trying to tell if something was somehow blending into the night, but he found nothing in the air.

Okay, maybe no birds here. Underground, then. I’ve been walking for quite a while and haven’t found anything, though. I wish I could have left my gourd back at the camp so I could be a little less careful, but the risk of someone finding it while I was out is just too high.

Noah knelt, studying the grass at his feet. Aside from its color, it really did just look like normal grass. He chewed his lower lip.

If I were a monster hiding underground, what would make me want to come out? I suppose predators usually don’t expect prey to be strolling around casually. It’s possible they’re avoiding me because they don’t know how strong I am. That means I need to sniff one of them out.

Noah’s gaze landed on one of the bushes that dotted the landscape. They supposedly drew Runic energy out of passersby. That meant they had energy themselves – and typically, whenever there was a resource to harvest, there was something there to leech off it.

He approached the bush carefully. It was a good bit larger than the ones that had been along the path near Arbitage. Noah walked in a circle around it, keeping his magic ready to jump aside at the first sign of trouble. He pushed some Flashgrass into his pipe, though he didn’t light it yet.

Noah completed the circle and crossed his arms. It was a bush, and now he felt like an idiot. The flowers were all closed for the night, and they didn’t even lean toward him when he passed by. Noah nudged one of them.

The bush rippled, leaning away from him. Noah suppressed a laugh. He poked the bush again, then shook his head.

If these are the monsters in the area, I don’t think I’m going to be able to get all that much training in for the kids. But... if they feed off energy, there has to be something in the area that actually has said energy. Where is it?

Noah prodded the bush again. Once more, it leaned away from him. A small frown crossed Noah’s face.

What good does pulling away do a bush? It’s not like it can go anywhere.

The back of Noah’s neck prickled. He couldn’t place exactly what it was, but all the fights he’d been in over the course of the last few weeks had trained a sense that he couldn’t exactly place. It wasn’t one of the normal five senses as much as a combination of all of them – and it was telling Noah that something was wrong.

He ignited the Flashgrass in his pipe and spun, searching for the threat. It wasn’t the mole, as the monster was still sitting beside the bush. He tensed his muscles, waiting for something to jump out of the ground.

Instead, it came from the sky.

A streak of black flashed through the night, moving so quickly that Noah barely even saw it. It slammed into the mole, which let out a shrill shriek of terror and fury. As the two collided, Noah got a glimpse of the fast-moving form.

It resembled a vulture, but its body was pitch black and sleek. Its talons were long and curved. They left deep gashes across the mole’s back as the two monsters struggled, but it was clear that the bird had a huge advantage.

Even though it wasn’t quite as large as the mole, the bird shredded the other monster within moments. It whipped its large, pointed beak down into the mole’s head, killing it with a hollow thud.

Filthy little thief. That was my kill.

The bird ruffled its feathers, hopping onto the dead mole’s back and staring at Noah down the bridge of its beak. It looked to be sizing him up, but something was giving it pause. After a moment, Noah realized that it was the light coming from his pipe.

“Scared of fire?” Noah wondered aloud, igniting the smoke. A flash of flame rose up into the air, and he let out a low hum. It swirled around his head, then shot for the bird.

It squawked and fluttered back, lifting into the air to avoid the magic. Its ascent wasn’t particularly graceful or fast, but the moment it was in the sky, Noah nearly lost sight of it. The bird blended into the darkness so perfectly that it might not have even been there without the bright grass to contrast against it.

Noah snapped his fingers and ignited the smoke around him once more. Several streams of flaming ash shot out toward the monster, lighting the area up. It screeched, pulling away once more and taking higher to the sky.

Even though he knew where it was, Noah could barely spot the monster. He whipped a blade of wind at it and the bird tried to dodge to the side, but it wasn’t fast enough. It carved across its chest, cutting through thick feathers and sending several fluttering to the ground.

That was evidently far too great of an insult for the bird to ignore. It dropped like a rock, shooting straight for Noah. A series of sparks went off around him as he ignited the Flashgrass, sending it streaking straight into the bird.

It flew straight into the expanding cloud of superheated ash and screeched in pain as the smoldering motes enveloped it, catching on its feathers and setting it alight. The bird flapped desperately, trying to get away, but Noah had no intentions of wasting free energy.

He touched the cloud of smoke that still hung between him and the bird and poured energy into it. A deep thrum echoed through the night, traveling along the motes of ash and into the bird’s body. It shuddered violently, its beak clacking against itself. The ash solidified an instant later, turning into a sharp spike of embers and ash. Noah drove it forward, into the back of the bird’s skull.

An instant later, energy rushed into his body. The bird crumpled to the ground and Noah smiled. It had about as much energy as the Maulers did. Not exactly the most dangerous enemy he’d fought, but their camouflage made them considerably more of a threat than most of the enemies in the Scorched Acres.

Our target for training will be the moles, then. In the early hours of the day, the birds won’t be anywhere near as dangerous. Now, let’s see. I need to find some more moles to practice on before I go making any claims... I’m going to need more bushes. A lot more bushes.