Chapter Two Hundred and Seventy – 270

Chapter Two Hundred and Seventy – 270

"The storm must have passed," Atar noted, blinking into the bright sunlight. It was edging toward sunset, but the sky was almost blinding after the dark caves.

"Summer storms," Alister mused. "Here and gone."

Felix looked up at his friends as they exited the shallow cave mouth. Moving the cave had proven to be an illusion, but a vividly convincing one. Felix had even felt the stone beneath his hands. Whatever magic they were using was far, far stronger than anything Thangle had used. However, once Wyvora had explained what it was, Felix's Willpower, Perception, and Intent were able to muscle past it. The illusion shattered into pieces. The Henaari's shocked expressions had been satisfying at least.

"Uh, what happened?" Evie asked. She pointed at the bodies currently cocooned in stone restraints, leaving only their noses free, and at Wyvora who was merely standing aside with a conflicted expression on her face. Harn just chuckled. "Who're they?"

Felix frowned at the Henaari guards. "They tried to capture me and leave you in the tunnel. So I...convinced them otherwise."

"Does this change our reception?" Vess asked, ever the eye on the ball. Her impromptu floating gurney of spears still carried Davum and Vayne behind her. They hadn't woken up the entire journey, and their Health had deteriorated again.

"Wait, what? You said you had healers." Kylar rounded on Wyvora and grabbed the hilt of his swords. "My team needs a healer!"

"Quiet, oaf," Kikri said. Kylar actually listened, which was surprising to Felix. "Let the Fiend answer Lady Dayne's question."

"It might," Felix answered, ignoring the outburst. "But I didn't hurt them too badly. What do you think Wyvora?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but Evie snorted. "You're asking her? Didn't she just attack you?"

"Not her, not this time," Felix said. "Still. What do you think?"

Wyvora wet her lips with the tip of her tongue and darted a glance at the rest of his team. When none of them interrupted, she dropped once again to her knees and kowtowed three times. Each time she hit her forehead harder against the earth. "This one apologizes profusely for the actions of one's sisters. This one begs that you do not kill them."

"Kill them? They didn't try to kill me, why would I kill them?" Felix asked.

"It'd save time later," Evie muttered but Atar elbowed her in the ribs. She frowned until Atar gasped in pain and clutched his arm.

"This one does not presume to understand the intentions of a Pactlord," Wyvora said.

Felix wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose. His Aspects weren't quite recovered from the fight previously, and he'd had to strain them again. "Enough with theLook. Honest opinion. Will your people try to murder me and my own if we walk in there with your sisters all," Felix rolled his hand. "Stoned?"

Wyvora lifted her head slightly and peeked up at him. "This one...believes it will be seen as an act of aggression. Even from a Pactlord...such treatment would not be forgiven easily."

Felix grunted. "Yeah, figured as much. Okay. Let's just...bind their hands? Evie, Alister, you're on prisoner duty. Harn, are you bleeding again?"

Harn shrugged.

"Great. Let's move then. How far is your camp?"

"It is two leagues south, along the river."

Felix altered the Stone Shaping around his prisoners, letting them stand up and move their feet, but bound their hands behind their backs. Wyvora took possession of their spears and numerous knives they had hidden around their person, and they were marched ahead of everyone else.

"You'll follow quietly, or my friends will be more than happy to gut you," he said to them as calmly as he could manage. Still, he couldn't help the edge in his voice. They glared over the top of their stone muzzles. "Yeah, the irony is a bit much for me too. Let's all just walk calmly back to your camp, okay?"

The journey was simple enough. They travelled downhill into the lush forest, walking along an ancient path of laid stone that was heavily overgrown with moss. More of those massive ferns, easily tree-sized, and tons of hanging vines and brilliantly flowering buds. It reminded him more and more of the area where he'd first woken up. Once or twice, Felix thought he saw a carved stone monoliths in the deeper greenery, but they were quickly swallowed by the tree cover and their rapid pace. He would have stopped had his people not been hurt.

They soon came to a river, though it was more of a wide stream, and they took the time to slake their thirsts and refill their stores. Tempered Bodies might not need sustenance as much as Untempered, but they needed some and it had been a while since their last resupply.

Felix noted several crocodile-like creatures on the far bank, disguised by their moss colored bodies and utter stillness. There were even a few in the deeper portions of the water, and those were all a mottled grey-blue-green color. His Eye called them Veiled Aquabbar, and they were all Tier II creatures bordering on Tier III.

Voracious Eye is level 53!

A few swam closer, but Harn stepped forward and flared his Spirit. The crocs milled in place a moment, as if considering their chances. Harn only stood there, resolute, and eventually the crocs turned back toward easier prey.

"Predators are cowards," Felix noted.

"Always are," Harn grunted.

They walked along the ancient causeway, more of a ground-eating jog really, as it paralleled the river. The ground around them rose and fell, hills and dales all covered in old growth forests that stretched just as high as those outside this odd mountain valley. Further in, Felix could now spot cliffs to every side, as if they were in some sort of giant crater.

"We are not looking to fight," Vess said. Her voice was smooth and resonant, a lilting bell tone to her every word. Felix could almost see the Mana coursing through her channels as her Diplomacy passive worked through her. "But that does not mean we will not answer force in kind. Your people attacked our own, and we showed mercy in not killing them outright. That makes three spared in only a few hours." She spread her hands, her spear planted to the side. "We do not seek conflict with the Henaari, but the ones you call 'ice warriors' have given us little choice but to take refuge with your people."

A ripple passed through the crowd and Felix could feel their collective Spirits turn from their slow, strident beat toward something more hesitant. Not all of them, but many. Henaari exchanged quick glances with their neighbors, and spears dipped fractions of an inch. The Matriarch, however, drew herself up to her impressive six foot five height and scoffed through her golden facepaint.

"That is precisely the reason why the Farhunter should never have brought you here. We are hidden from the ice warriors by virtue of our goddess, and you are not welcome."

Vess paused. "You are saying you will not aid our injured?" Felix could practically feel his friends' hands creeping toward their weapons. Atar practically stank of fire Mana.

The Henaari bristled, their spears and bucklers lifting and something like the sound of flapping wings flitted across Felix's senses. The Matriarch curled her lip. "I am."

Felix flexed his hands. He wasn't looking forward to fighting an entire community, but he wasn't planning on dying either. What a fine mess you made this time, Felix. He wracked his brain for something, anything to get him out of this. His memory, one of his greatest assets, flickered through ten thousand moments since arriving in the Continent. His Mind parsed it all, sorting and cataloging and rechecking everything he knew about the Henaari. About conflict. Think!

A flash of memory surfaced, of a bloody, underground garden and the words of a golden giant.

"Matriarch!"

Everyone turned to him.

"We claim the Right of Wander," he declared.

A gasp went up among the crowd, and the Matriarch's snide expression twisted into a delighted, cruel smile. Yet before she could speak, another figure darted through the press of bodies. As for the Matriarch, the warriors parted with exceptional deference, until Felix saw a panther the size of a pony slink forward. It's fur was black but patterned with faint shapes, and it's hindquarters...were coated in dense scales, all ending in a powerful looking tail equipped with a deadly barb.

Chimera, he thought and within him Pit squirmed in excitement.

Harnoq, Pit provided.

The chimeraHarnoq, Pit corrected him againwalked until it was level with the Matriarch and then sat. The woman's expression had soured, her cruel smile turning brittle. "A'zek. To what do we owe the pleasure?"

A'zek casually licked a paw before answering, but it simply ignored the Matriarch. The Farwalker wishes to speak with you, Felix Nevarre.

It can talk?

"It can talk!" Evie whisper-shouted.

"Did you not hear the boy?" The Matriarch threw a hand at Felix. "He claimed"

"We are aware of what was claimed. All in due time," A'zek said. It's voice was soft and smooth, and deeper than he expected from a big cat...lizard. Gather your healers, Matriarch. We are to give them all courtesy due a guest in the old traditions. As the Raven wills.

...As the Raven wills. She echoed back.

Things began happening quickly, but the armed warriors put up their spears and left without another word. Apparently the orders of a harnoq were worth a lot, here. Soon, Henaari in robes of pale green and blue stepped forward and beckoned to Felix's team.

"Those are the healers," Wyvora explained needlessly. "They will take care of your allies."

"And we're just supposed to trust you people now?" Evie asked. "After all that?"

"The Farwalker's Companion speaks with his Voice," she said, as if that explained everything.

Companion? Things began making sense. The other Pactlord she was talking about. It's the Farwalker.

"Go with them," Felix said to his friends. "Get everyone the help they need, but keep an eye out. We don't know the lay of the land yet." He looked down at the harnoq, A'zek, who was waiting patiently for him at the base of the hill. "I'll be back soon. I think."

Vess gripped his hand for a brief second before releasing it. She spun toward her floating spears and nudged them toward the healers. Nevia, Kikri, and Kylar were close behind.

With a thought, Felix broke the stone bindings on his prisoners and let them back into the village. They rubbed their wrists and necks, but their eyes seemed to consider him in a new way. He didn't like it.

"Keep an eye out," he whispered to Harn. The man grumbled and slapped Felix on the back.

Felix stepped carefully down the hill, his eyes on the harnoq and his senses spread out around him. Wyvora walked with him, obviously heading to the same destination.

Dont do anything Id do, Evie shouted from behind.