NOVEL NEXT 32. Wrath and his Avatar
“What the fuck, Matt? What the hell are you doing here?” Bonny clenched her teeth and fists, barely able to withstand the sudden anger that overwhelmed her. She wanted to run down and punch him in the face.
“Hey! Listen!”
Adelina, who had been sitting quietly on Bonny’s helmet all day, suddenly shouted and flew down in front of the bunny to boop her on the nose.
Bonny flinched back, forgetting about Matt and the army of goblins for a moment.
“He uses aura. Resist. Cycle mana.” The fairy hovered right in front of Bonny’s eyes, nakedness obscured by moonbeams now that the sun had set.
Bonny tried to pulse her mana like Kanae had shown her, but she had been using it during each fight for several hours and felt drained. The anger started intruding again.
Eloisss, Miu, and the fox stepped up beside her, and the fairy flew back to sit on her head. They waited, unafraid, staring down at the growing army of goblins.
The crowd of monsters continued to swell and more and more joined the band. There were at least two dozen boar riders, most better equipped than the ones they had faced earlier, along with several hundred unmounted goblins. They filled the woods at the base of the slope.
Matt had waited quietly, fists tightening and loosening, but now spoke as the party looked down at him. “This is YOUR fault!”
“My fault? What the fuck? Don’t blame your shit on me. Again.” Bonny's anger flared higher, the argument feeling very familiar.
“You humiliated me. Talked about me with your friends.”
Bonny hesitated, unsure. That was different. “What? What are you talking about?”
“You know. You all laughed at me. Kandi told me about you and George.”
Kandi was one of the other strippers. One that Bonny didn’t get along with. George was Kandi’s sometimes boyfriend. Bonny had wondered if Kandi and Matt had an affair. It was one of the things they had argued about in the past. “Kandi was a pathological liar, you know that.”
Bonny wasn’t even angry anymore, just confused. The absurdity of an army of goblins and boars fighting a bunny, cat, lamia, and fox because of communication failures in a doomed relationship. The fact that Matt held onto a grudge after he killed her and they had woken up in a different world — a world with gods and demons and animal people. It was beyond ...
“You are a lunatic, Matt.”
He sputtered something incoherent, then waved his army forward, shouting, “Capture the rabbit. Kill the others, or whatever, I don’t care.”
The army of goblins surged forward, at least a thousand strong, running up the slope at them.
“The Oak, Miu. Now!” Eloisss grabbed Bonny’s shield and slung it over her back, then scooped up Bonny like a princess.
They fled, Miu leading the way, her pathfinding allowing them to slip between trees and around obstacles without slowing. The fox and fairy vanished, unable to keep up with the more physically oriented lamia and cat.
As the goblins pursued, they shot arrows and threw spears. A few hit Eloisss in the back or along her serpent body, but none of the wounds were serious, her gear and scales preventing deep penetration.
The army slowly fell behind, except for the riders. The boar bounded over rocks and fallen trees, their riders hanging on tightly. They were gaining, but at least they couldn’t shoot at the same time. Some closed in from the sides, trying to cut them off.
A horn sounded from in front of them. They were already surrounded.
Eloisss sped up in a clearing, drawing up beside Miu, who was running on all fours. “Jump on, hold tight.”
Miu leapt, landing on the lamia at the top of her tail and grabbing on around Eloisss’ waist. The undulating motion threw her from side to side, almost shaking her off until she learned to lean inward on each bend, having remembered watching Bonny sway with the motion.
“Tighter. Usse claws.” Eloisss’ breath came in pants, but her voice was steady, determined. She shifted Bonny from the princess position to a fireman’s carry, then leaned forward, tensing.
“Kay, nya.” Miu extended her claws. Her arms were crossed, claws extended, digging into the sensitive skin just above the lamia’s scales. Miu’s back feet were pulled up on either side of the serpent body and she dug her back claws in as well.
The world suddenly blurred, like they had shifted into warp drive. Bonny felt her stomach and lungs compress as several Gs of force pressed her into Eloisss’ shoulder. There was a brief pause and she gasped for breath, before everything blurred again, the acceleration again driving the air from her lungs. Another pause, then blur, and blur, and blur.
Bonny looked back and to the side, to see huge loops of the lamia’s body being thrown forward, alternating half of the serpent body at a time. Sidewinding. She’d read about some snakes reaching speeds of up to 15 miles an hour. But this was far in excess of that.
She glanced down to see Miu holding tight, head pressed into the lamia’s butt, or where it would be anyway, under the pack. With each lunge forward, the wind whipped across her, flattening her ears and fur. Bonny could see blood running down Eloisss' sides, where Miu’s claws had ripped in from the force.
She felt Eloisss holding tight to her legs and tried to time her breathing with the lamia’s motion.
The boar riding goblins quickly fell behind, unable to keep up with the new speed. Eloisss couldn’t maintain it either, of course, and slowed after a few minutes, going back to the undulating side to side motion she normally used. She panted, chest heaving as she gasped for breath.
“Mending! Wound Transfer! Sacrificial Restore!” Bonny whispered the spells, sacrificing her own body to heal and restore Eloisss beyond what the first spell could handle. Pain stabbed into her waist and legs, cuts from Miu’s claws. Other wounds opened as well, covering her back and legs, damage from the goblin arrows and spears. She could feel blood running down her legs and she wheezed, her stamina sapped to replenish Eloisss.
Bonny panted in exhaustion and pain, but she was being carried, while the lamia had to run. It was worth it.
A few minutes later, more goblins swarmed in from the sides. The advance wings that had been sent to surround them. However, newly restored, Eloisss accelerated again, dodging between them.
Bonny’s vision narrowed to small dots, focused on Miu clinging to Eloisss’ back. White spots swam across her eyes as she gasped at the lack of oxygen, the lunging making it impossible to recover her breath.
The Oak should be near. If they could just make it that far, they would be safe. She hoped.
A long, long moment later, they shot past Grandmother Oa… No! They passed DRYAD Oakleigh, the primordial nature spirit who promised safety under her tree. As they did, there was a surge of power and a ritual circle bloomed under their feet.
The magic was written in grass. A massive ritual circle covered the entirety of the gardens under the huge oaken limbs. Bonny remembered her walk with the dryad, days ago, her mossy hair dragging along the ground behind them, drawing lines in the earth as they weaved in and around beds of flowers.
Those trails had grown grass that now glowed green. Whorls and circles that had confused her earlier were radiant, illuminated internally, the grass incandescent.
Spears of roots shot out from the ground behind them, covering a semicircle around The Oak, spearing into the boars and riders. A wave of death ripped through the pursuing army and blood poured onto the ground like water behind a collapsing dam. The roots drank it greedily.
Hundreds died and the forest quieted for a moment. Eloisss set Bonny down and they turned to watch as the roots retracted, pulling the bodies underground with them and leaving the soil stained red with blood. Nourishment for the the tree, probably. Bonny shivered and glanced up at the ancient dryad, who stood calmly, arms crossed, just under the edge of the leaves.
The slower goblins were spared obliteration. They gathered, slowly, just outside the stained soil. The army was still at least a thousand strong. They shouted and raged, but none advanced, none dared throw a spear or arrow at the dryad.
Matt rode up, walking his boar steed through the gathered forces. He looked at the dryad, then at Bonny.
“This won’t save you. There is other power in this world. I will find it and scourge the earth until you are gone.” He spoke calmly, his rage tightly contained, but she could see it his clenched fists and jaw, in the tight lines around his eyes.
A second ritual circle lit up, overlaid on top of the circle of grass. This one was formed from the flowers that ran across and along the grassy trails, beds planted almost haphazardly, filled with blossoms they had walked around and admired. The circle flickered: once, twice, thrice.
The world paused as flower petals drifted down, slowly, then the clear night skies strobed with light.
Enormous bolts of lightning lanced down around them, dancing among the goblins, raining death and destruction. The booming thunder was a constant overwhelming wave of sound, flattening even those sheltered under the oak. Leaving their ears ringing in the deafening silence that remained.
Looking out, Bonny saw craters and bodies, the red stained ground extended further. Underbrush and trees smoldered and burned. A light rain started to fall.
Only Matt was left standing. He staggered around blindly, smoking. His boar was gone, his clothes burned away, and his red fist glowed with power. There was a bright crimson flash and he vanished.
The dryad didn’t just decimate the army, she had “kilo-mated” it. Instead of just ten percent, she had slaughtered a thousand goblins a thousand times over. In seconds. Bonny stared out at the devastation as icy fingers of fear crawled up her spine. What had she gotten herself into?
Grandmother Oak turned and smiled at her. “Well, that takes care of the goblins. Great job bringing them here. Now, who’s hungry?”
