Feral Mage 3: Chapter 34

Bryce lay in bed with his arm around Callie after their late-night activity. Sweat still clung to their bodies, and the blanket only covered their lower half as they cuddled. Callie was drawing circles on his chest with her fingers, while Bryce finally talked about his meeting with Isabelle.

“She kept saying I didn’t have a choice in it,” he said, feeling the pattern her fingers were taking. “She said she didn’t bless me, that she merely told the Goddess about me, and Ciarra chose me.”

Callie laid her hand flat, feeling his heart still pounding from their earlier activity.

“Do you believe her?” she asked.

Bryce stared up into the darkness of the room. It reminded him of the dark skies in Ciarra’s realm.

“If it’s true or not doesn’t matter. Isabelle intended for this to happen,” he answered. “I wondered why she didn’t attack me after I burned down the fighting pit when I rescued Vex and Janna. I think she was planning this since the first time she saw me.”

His hand squeezed Callie’s shoulder.

“She told me Ciarra was responsible for creating the first Aspect Mage, Cain. I think he was the Goddess’s champion as well.”

Callie’s fingers stopped their pattern.

“Cain met an untimely death, didn’t he?”

Bryce nodded. “He was the first Aspect Mage, and the first Chimera. Bellamy always told me he became that way from drawing on too many aspects at once. Now I wonder if he just didn’t live up to Ciarra’s expectations.”

Bryce turned toward Callie, kissing the top of her head. Just enough light slipped under the crack of the door that he could see her pale hair and a hint of her blue eyes.

“Years ago, I prayed and gave what little coin I had to the Goddess of Harvest, all the things the priests in the temples said would place us in her good graces. I hoped she would intervene in the famine and help my family,” he said, pushing the memories of that time away from his mind.

Callie moved so her blue eyes stared up at him in the low light of her room.

“The Divine never answered my prayers either. No matter which of the pantheons I prayed to. The process to awaken the Bloodline of Thorns is not gentle or kind,” she said, and Bryce pulled her closer to him.

He had heard as much about Bloodlines. If the rumors were true, then the family members who failed to awaken it were killed and used in potions or reagents to strengthen the Bloodline in those who had it.

“I’m sorry you went through that,” he said.

Callie scoffed.

“It’s the past. We need to focus on the present. Which means where are you going with this?”

Bryce licked his lips, recalling Isabelle referring to Ciarra as a real Divine.

“Something Isabelle said to me. Is the Divine that different in the elven Kingdoms from the human?” he asked.

“There’s not much difference,” she answered, “The pantheons are very similar to what the humans worship. The names may vary, but there’s still a Goddess of Harvest, a God of War, and so on.”

She paused in thought.

“The drows were different. Their Divine were respected, but treated more like potential threats or disasters. I heard one elven scholar describe it by saying, ‘In drow legends, there were no heroes of the Divine, only survivors.’”

“What if the Kingdoms created the Divine in the temples?” Bryce replied. “That the real Divine are more in line with what the drow believed.”

Callie rolled on top of him, straddling him as she gazed down.

“That’s something I’d expect from a worshiper of a heretical Goddess,” Callie said, before she kissed him, then rolled off him and out of bed. “What are you going to do when you see Isabelle again? Don’t make the mistake of thinking you won’t. You will see her again.”

Light filled the room as Callie lit a candle with a mana crystal. Bryce took in the shape of her pale body in the flickering light.

“Vex thinks she was misguided,” Bryce answered, as he started to rise out of bed. “I think she’s right.”

Callie turned and threw the mana crystal at him. Bryce dodged the object, then quickly picked it up off the blanket before it could burn anything.

“What the hells, Callie?” he asked.

She stood there facing him, one hand on her hip.

“Vex said that in Beastkin, which means you’ve learned it!” Callie growled. “And that means you knew exactly what that mangy mutt has been saying to me each she gave me shit for being turned on by you.”

She marched back to the bed and placed both her hands on Bryce’s shoulders. He stared into her blue eyes.

“Are you going to headbutt me or kiss me?” he asked.

Callie tilted her head slightly and narrowed her eyes.

“You’re lucky you put me in a good mood earlier,” she answered, leaning forward and kissing him. When she broke away, she pinched him. “Don’t lead Vex around!”

Bryce rubbed the spot on his arm. “Ouch, and I don’t plan to much longer. It just annoyed the hell out of me that she kept speaking in her language, but didn’t want me to learn it. Now that I understand some beastkin, it’s been… insightful.”

“About Vex or about Nicole’s interests in you?” Callie responded. “It may be insightful, but it’s also deceptive.”

Bryce sighed as he stood from the bed and made his way over to the wash basin.

“I know, I’m just wondering how much of a shit storm telling her is going to be, given how much she didn’t want me to learn it.”

Callie approached and handed him a towel. Bryce’s eyes ran up and down her body as he washed his face.

“Her own damn fault. But back to Isabelle.”

Bryce shrugged as he used the towel to dry his face.

“I don’t know. Hells, depending on how the battle goes, we may be leaving Witchbrook.”

***

Bryce and Callie sat in the guildhall in the early morning, both sipping cups of warm broth. Visible marks of their activity last night were still on them. Across from them sat Nicole and Olivia. It didn’t escape Bryce’s attention that Nicole was giving Callie the stink eye, but she would drop it the moment she caught him looking in her direction. So far, the morning had been quiet despite the tension in the air. The guild was nearly empty. Most mercs were probably getting as much rest as possible in case it turned into a long siege.

“Good morning,” Janna said with a yawn as she and Vex made their way into the tavern.

Vex immediately approached Bryce, wrapping her arms around him and laying her head on him.

“You smell like a elf,” Vex said in Beastkin as she rubbed her face against him. Then she turned to Callie, sniffing her. “Oh, guess not a sea elf.”

Reaching up, Bryce patted Vex on her head.

“Good morning to you, too, Vex,” he greeted.

Vex looked at Nicole as she leaned against Bryce.

“My mate smells like an elf, not a cat,” she informed the catkin in beastkin.

Nicole narrowed her eyes at Vex before responding in the language as well.

“Bryce will realize one day that felines are better than mangy mutts and elves,” Nicole replied, her hand running down her long braid. “I’ll be there when he does.”

Vex tilted her head. “To cough up a hairball?”

Nicole sneered at her. “I’m a skilled mage who has known Bryce for years. You just made your move first.”

Instead of responding in beastkin, Vex started coughing, and Bryce saw Nicole’s face shift into a sneer.

“Vex, are you alright?” Janna asked before waving toward the bar. “Alice, can you bring us some water?”

Bryce just held his cup of broth, sipping it as Callie stared at him. Vex continued her harassment of Nicole, though Olivia ignored both of them and watched him, her arms crossed.

“Good morning, Bryce,” Alice greeted as she handed Vex a cup of water. Vex smiled at Nicole before taking a sip.

“Is Thea still sleeping?” Bryce asked, looking at Alice.

She shook her head.

“No. She left with Bellamy a little earlier. They were going to see Baroness Julia before she left the city.”

Bryce was surprised the old Baroness was still here, the alarm bells for the city could ring at any moment when the ships were sighted. Then he thought about it and realized that was just the kind of person Baroness Julia was. In fact, Thea and Bellamy were probably visiting her to try to talk her out of staying in the city.

Her apartment isn’t far pass the guild district.

He looked at Callie, seeing the stern glare she wore, then stood.

“I’m going to go get them. I’d rather all of us be here when the alarms bells ring than scattered around the city,” Bryce said. “Vex, will you join me?”

She nodded and the two left the guildhall together.

Vex hummed happily to herself as she walked beside Bryce, her tail thumping against him repeatedly. It seemed that picking on Nicole had put her in a good mood.

The emptiness of the city reminded Bryce of some of the towns he had passed through after wars or disasters. Empty, save a few scant reminders of life that clung to it, like a dying animal. Unlike those towns, Bryce was sure Witchbrook would spring back, whether it was after the battle or war that would follow, he wasn’t sure.

He was thankful for the empty streets, though. It gave him a chance to discuss things with Vex finally.

“Vex, we need to talk,” Bryce started to say.

She hummed in response, her arm looped through his as she looked around the desolate city.

“About us,” he added in beastkin.

Her tail stopped striking his side, and she froze, forcing him to stop walking.

“What did you say?” she asked.

He turned to face her, pulling The Art of Tail Brushing book out of his jacket pocket, and held it out to her. She looked confused at first, then opened it and started reading.

“I’ve been learning your language,” he answered in beastkin.