Eight 4

In the dark of night, the forest lit with the tell-tale flashes of fire magic. That would be Wensatsu, I thought, easing myself past a thicket. Ahead, the trees clustered like old men, or maybe more like the cutouts of them, backlit with their edges traced in flickering orange-red. There came a whoosh and a whoom, and I had to blink my eyes clear of the after images.

An unhappy roar sounded in reply; the spell must’ve found its target. The trees didn’t like it either, the fire licking a little too close for their comfort. All the small birds and animals had already fled the area. There were only Aslishtei’s nieces and their bodyguards left. And whatever it was that had caused them to launch a distress flare earlier.

Assuming it was Wensatsu and Krenya, of course, but not many other visitors to Voorhei knew that particular spell, and the nieces were expected.

I crept closer. Teila was to my right and slightly behind, while both Tegen and Haol stealthily circled around a stand of ferns about ten feet past her. Mumu was here too, to my left and ahead. Snow moved independently of the rest of us, watching for anything that might’ve been drawn to the fighting.

My team and I should’ve been back in Voorhei, celebrating with the rest of the villagers, yet after eight years we were still the only team whose members were all fully night capable. Well, except for Snow, but the blynx’s night vision was spectacular even without magical help.

So here we were instead—in the forest east of Voorhei—when we should’ve been out-of-our-minds drunk, filling the village’s central plaza with song and dance. The Hunter’s Lodge had bought Teila, Haol, and Tegen the last bit of silverlight they each needed to become dawn.

Wensatsu and Krenya hadn’t arrived in time for the party, however, and that was very, very unusual. The two peltwei girls weren’t like their double-dealing aunt, which was surely why she’d sent them to Voorhei every spring for the past eight years. No doubt she’d intended them to become friends with our lodge, to create the relationships she couldn’t—forming real, genuine friendships filled with honest care.

There were times my spirit eyes annoyed me no end. It would’ve been a lot easier for me to handle Wensatsu and Krenya if I’d thought they were as manipulative as their aunt. They hadn’t been, though. And they would’ve hated being late to such an important celebration. Both were accomplished mages too, so Wensatsu’s flare meant real trouble.

It smells like kalesks, Yuki said.

I couldn’t help the sigh that followed. This would be the third time this week that some version of the big lizards had attacked a traveler along the road to or from Voorhei. Ever since the Deer God had eaten the power in Knight Ithia’s throne, the damn things seemed to be intent on seeking their doom at the hands of our village’s hunters.

We’d been hard pressed to survive the influx of all the creatures descending on us—not just the wide variety of kalesks, but also everything and anything else that fancied itself a power and looking to grow more powerful.

Now, we just had to figure out what kind of kalesk was causing problems this time and deal with it or them. Step by careful step, my team and I approached. There was yelling, and I recognized Wensatsu’s voice, commanding. The trees lit up again as more fire magic was cast.

A glance up revealed clear skies without a single cloud. The moon was almost full, though, so that should help Aslishtei’s nieces and their guards. A chill spring breeze carried the scent of loamy soil and green things growing. Then the wind shifted and I smelled the kalesks for myself—a bitter tang to the air.

I cast my Camouflage and Scentless Hunter spells and eased up against one of the upset trees. My apologies, old man, but we’ll make this quick. Mumu was already in position, and the others would be soon.

My bow was in my hands, already strung and with an arrow nocked. A quick peek around the tree revealed Wensatsu and Krenya at the center of a group of five of their family-sworn soldiers. Surrounding them were a pack of ravening kalesks.

Each of the lizards was about the size of a go cart, their torsos only about a foot off the ground, but every single one was ornery, nasty-tempered, and densely muscled. They were persistent too. Although the forest floor was strewn with their dead, I counted fourteen of the beasts still standing, snapping at the guards.

These kalesks hunted in packs, although they acted more like hyenas than wolves. They didn’t always cooperate so well with each other, but their muscular low-slung bodies and powerful jaws made up the difference.

If there were alphas among them or any that had strayed in strange directions, they were among the dead. My Talent Scout camera didn’t pick up anything beyond what I’d come to expect from ravening kalesks. Things like: Jawbreaker, Built to Last, and Vengeful Ripper.

Methodically, I moved the camera between them to make sure none escaped examination. Then I scanned the area with my spirit eyes to check if there were any shadow kalesks in hiding. That happened sometimes, the shadowed ones stealing the kills from the raveners.

Through Yuki, Snow let me know the area was clear farther out too, and that she’d post nearby to rescue anyone who might need it. Then Yuki let me know they were ready too.

Mumu signed that her Wild Sense wasn’t picking up anything unusual, and I added the findings from my companions’ and my reconnaissance. Signals passed between my team as we picked our targets and got ready.

From the outside, it might’ve appeared that we moved too slowly and were callous of the life-and-death struggle happening on the other side of the trees—the cursing of the guards fighting for their lives; the sweat soaking the young peltwei women’s clothes, their mana thinning over time; and the thrashing, biting ferocity of the ravening kalesks. But none of the besieged defenders were injured yet, not truly and not anything that Healing Water couldn’t ease. And they’d likely already handled the worst of the ravening kalesks.

The danger would only really come once the magicians ran out of mana. When their offensive and protective spells ran out, then the balance would shift toward the jaws and claws of the ravening kalesks.

Honestly, it had been foresighted of Wensatsu to plan that far ahead. Which was just like her; she’d known we’d come rushing, and also that we’d approach the scene like hunters once we were close. Just like we knew her facility with elemental magics, as well as the power of Krenya’s buffs and shields.

Mumu began a countdown, then cast a Whisper Talk to the area: “Danger, danger, area attack in ten beats, stay to your defense line.”

I took a breath and steadied my mind. Qi trickled into my bow and nocked arrow. Yuki spun up Dog’s Agility and got ready to cast Unbroken Shield, while I brought the runes for Unerring Arrow to mind. It probably wouldn’t be necessary, but I didn’t like the looks of that Vengeful Ripper. I’d make sure it died first.

Beat by beat, even though Mumu counted down for us, I didn’t need to see the gestures. None of us did. We’d fought so often together, we knew the moment when it came.

Mumu cast her Thousand Spears, and the ground sprouted a bramble of them surrounding Aslishtei’s nieces and their guards. At the same time, Haol’s swarm of arrows shot at the kalesks, with both spells each carrying a portion of Spiral Pierce. The air vibrated with the cacophony of the area affect spells. Amid the noise and chaos, my own Unerring Arrow took the Vengeful Ripper in the eye.

Then Tegen was among them, swinging his spear like a staff to smash the already wounded kalesks, disrupting their attempts to recover. Once he had their attention, Mumu slipped in among their ranks too. She flexed her Scout-Born talent to diminish her presence and take lives almost unnoticed.

The cavalry having arrived, the guards similarly went on the offensive. It was all close-in work, so they used their sidearms—a macuahuitl, three swords, and a war hammer. The peltwei sisters contributed what they could too, but they were clearly out of gas.

The rest of my team shot arrows into the fight, looking for opportunities and watching the flow, until it looked like the kalesk pack had lost enough members to finally break. The big lizards turned to the side opposite Mumu’s position, so I dashed that way, out in the open in front of them for all to see.

Now, I was no longer a young boy, so the tempting morsel that had made for such good bait over the years was lost to time. At sixteen, I was tall for my age, easily six feet. However, I was wiry rather than broad, and without weapons in my hands, having slipped my bow onto its clip on my backpack. I even opened my arms to show I was harmless.

To be honest, the ravening kalesks probably didn’t even notice. I could’ve been a juggling clown singing opera while on a unicycle, and they would’ve still stampeded my way.

I held my ground and brought the Whisper Talk runes to mind. “Danger, danger, area attack. Hold your positions.”

Warning given, it was time for the fun to begin. A grin spread across my face, and Yuki was right there with me, their elation rising with mine as we simultaneously cast Lightning Hands.

Mana flowed through me, arcing up and down the silver filaments running along my spine. The forest lit up again, but this time it was the incandescence of skyfire, washing away every other color as it spread across the ravening kalesks. The lightning scalded their hides and sought out their soft, wet eyes and mouths. Seeking, always seeking, it found entry into their bodies to lock up their muscles and stop their hearts.

The bright arcs of electricity totally spoiled my night vision, so it took a mental ping from Mumu—via the portion of Yuki within her—to let me know to stop casting. She beat Teila’s alert by a half second.

As the spell died, I blinked to clear my eyes. It took precious seconds for my vision to adjust, but my team knew to watch my back. Eventually, I saw that the remaining kalesks were down.

My team and the guards were moving among the bodies, their weapons rising and falling, to make sure the beasts were all dead and to pull their cores. And… Ah, I was wrong. Some of the guards are injured. As Krenya’s spells lapsed, a couple wobbled and had to be supported until they could sit.

I quickly strode over, reaching for the water skins attached to my pack. The likelihood was slim that I’d need both, but it was better to be prepared. Halfway there, though, I got waved off by Teila. The only mana she’d spent during the fight was on her Night Eyes spell, and she signaled her willingness to cast the necessary Healing Water spells.

So, I pulled a hunting knife from its sheath and started slashing kalesk throats instead.

###

Once the bloody work was done, my team conferred about how to transport the bodies of the dead kalesks to Voorhei. Not that the village lacked for meat, if anything our lodge’s storage areas were overflowing, but the excess could always be sold off to nearby Albei.

Half of the kalesks had been killed by Aslishtei’s family, but our lodge would charge them a dressing and transportation fee. There was a standing contract between us, negotiated shortly after their first visit to Voorhei.

At the time, a bunch of the village teens had taken Aslishtei’s nieces to go swimming in the river, and if I recalled correctly there’d been a wounded bear who’d stumbled out of the woods, being chased by a shadow kalesk.

And little did we know then just how much worse it would get. Those early kalesks had been the first of many, and there’d been a couple of years when the village had barely held on during the Long Dark. If not for the influx of immigrants to Voorhei, we may not have.

“It’s a cool enough evening,” I said. “As long as we get the guts out, the rest will keep until morning. It’s the scavengers I worry about.”

Tegen’s eyes looked over the bodies. “We should move them tonight before the scent spreads. We’ll need the whole lodge, though.”

“I agree,” Mumu said. “The new hunters are eager to prove themselves and will come if we ask.”

“And not to be outdone, the teams from before Ikfael’s Boon will also join,” Tegen said.

In a lot of ways, that was how we’d taken to thinking of things: life before the boon and life after. There’d been that much of a change. We’d gone from being barely able to field four hunter teams to being in the process of filling out our ninth. And all those new hunters were invested in proving their worth.

“We can use Healing Water on the drunk ones,” I said.

Haol had been quiet through most of the conversation, but he chimed in, “That will be all of them by this point in the celebration.”

Mumu nodded. “Then we do what we can with what we have available. And as our mana replenishes, more hunters will join in the effort.”

In that case, we’ll need to improve the rate at which our mana recovers, so I called in Snow from her position.

The blynx appeared next to me accompanied by a soft pop of air, followed by a gentle headbutt to show she was glad I was safe. ‘A good hunt,” she said via Yuki’s translation.

Kneeling, I gave her good scratch, and said, “We’ll set aside some of the meat for you.” My thoughts, though, went in a different direction. I’m sorry, but I need to borrow the portion of Yuki inside you. They’ll be returned once the task of transporting the meat is done.

Snow leaned into my scratches, purring, and I felt her agreement before the portion of the uekisheile inside her sprouted and flowed into my hands.

“Best girl ever,” I said aloud. Then I stood to clap both Haol and Tegen on the arms. “Not that you two aren’t also worth keeping around.” I appeared to be joking around with my lodge brothers, but the important thing was Yuki slipping into both men.

Our team had done this before—sneaking Yuki between members. The benefits were just too good: telepathic communication, doubled recovery rates for both qi and mana, and a second spell caster who could shift their attention between us as necessary. The advantages were so frustratingly amazing that it often became a real challenge to balance where Yuki’s six satellite consciousnesses should go.

Snow was often an obvious choice, since it allowed me to communicate with the team’s outrider and scout.

A satellite always rotated between members of my family in Voorhei. That was perhaps a selfish choice on my part, but I needed to be able to stay in touch with them and make sure they were safe.

Whenever Snow and I were away from the Glen, a satellite of the uekisheile resided in Mouser, a wolf belonging to Moonlight’s pack. That way if anything happened, I could rush back to defend the Glen.

Teila wasn’t necessarily an obvious choice, but Billisha and Aluali would be absolutely heartbroken if I let anything happen to their fiancé. Honestly, it’d be awful if anyone on my team died, but they’d all—my team and family both—pressed for Teila to carry Yuki with her. She was considered “the future of the lodge.”

For a while, the people of Voorhei had started thinking of me that way. It was quite an honor really, since I was nathlein and people didn’t tend to have a lot of faith in outsiders. That had all come to a halt, though, when they’d realized I had no intention of stopping at Level 7.

Residing in a village was technically illegal for anyone past that point on the Path to Perfection. The only civilized place that would accept them was one of the big cities, places like Albei. Which was why, at Level 8, I lived full time at the Glen.

It was also why Mumu always carried Yuki with her. My membership in the Voorhei Hunter’s Lodge hadn’t changed, and she needed a way to call in help from their highest-leveled member. Plus, you know, the other benefits of having Yuki around.

Depending on where they were needed, Yuki kept one or two “spare” satellites inside me. That was a tactical decision, one that’d proven especially useful when dealing with beasts wielding powerful qi-based abilities. The uekisheile’s Qi Plunderer talent had been such a source of fear when I’d first met them, but now it was a relief to know it was a weapon available for us to use.

In another few years, as the number of their satellite consciousnesses continued to grow, the uekisheile would be able to maintain a regular presence in all of my team’s members, in addition to the folks who usually carried them. That’d be a welcome day.

Until then, Snow would have to do without while my team took advantage of the boosted recovery rates. Once we got back to Voorhei, we’d be spoiling the drunken hazes of quite a few hunters.

As we were talking, Wensatsu finished organizing her people, and she came over to bow to Mumu. “Our gratitude. I don’t think we would’ve lasted much longer.”

Where her sister went, Krenya followed, and she attached herself to Mumu in a side hug. “It was frightening. Yes, thank you.”

The mis-ordered words got her a few smiles in response. Not that that was Krenya’s aim; it was probably just the fear talking. She was only twenty years old, and during Albei’s Long Darks, she was almost always on the walls and kept well away from the direct fighting.

At twenty-two, Wensatsu was the more evenly keeled of the two sisters. She bowed to each person on my team. “Saving us has taken you away from an important event. My family offers its apologies and its congratulations to you and your lodge.”

Mumu patted Krenya on the back as she said, “Don’t mind it. We become dawn in the service of our paths, and ours is to protect and feed the people of Voorhei. This meat and light will be put to good use.”

“Then let it be so,” Wensatsu said. “Our family releases its claim on our shares. We give them to you as a gift.”

There were almost thirty dead kalesks. Looking them over and estimating the amount of meat, useful materials, and light we were likely to get from each—altogether they should be worth between twenty-five and thirty antaak. Our team was already due half for coming to their aid, but it was still a generous gift. And it was given earnestly too. As the fear and determination clouding Wensatsu’s spirit receded, they revealed her delight at our lodge’s good fortune.

I sighed. It was just so god damn impossible not to like these girls.