Feral Mage 3: Chapter 28

Duchess Frozenveil’s knife cut through the salted pork before her. The grating sound of the blade sawing against the plate in order to make the cut filled her tent. The stiff, dried meat would be the only kind she would get on this island other than fish. There were no living animals left on land. Even the rats were undead.

She speared a piece of pork with her fork, lifted it, and placed it in her mouth, chewing as she looked over the notes and crystal before her on the table.

The items were something she had found in the ruins of the Winter Palace, not long after the assassination of the Ice Queen and her family, stashed away in a sealed study hidden within the royal library. Had the magical explosion not damaged the wall, the study and the knowledge it held would have remained a secret.

The Divine were favoring me that day.

The study had once belonged to the King of Winter, who reigned during the Elven War against the Sorrowful King. The information inside was a treasure trove of knowledge about that era. Everything from who the Sorrowful King really was, to ways the Winter Kingdom could defeat him. One such method caught her attention and gave her hope.

She set down her fork and picked up the crystal on the table, holding it up to the candlelight. Black wisps of smoke swirled within the crystal, and if the Winter’s King's notes were accurate, this was the soul of a necromancer who failed to become a lich. A device called a false phylactery.

The false phylactery could bind the lich’s soul to her, granting her its power. Had the ancient king used this method, he probably would still be alive today, ruling over the North. She figured he had been talked out of it by the other Elven Kingdoms or hadn’t been brave or desperate enough to try. She was both, though.

She heard a gurgling moan from outside. Setting down the crystal, she stood from her table and approached the flap of her tent. The encampment her soldiers had made greeted her, along with the wooden palisades that surrounded them. Spearmen guarded every entrance, and in a wooden cage were the remaining hostages she had.

Looking outside the perimeter her soldiers had established, she saw a dead elven woman staggering toward them. Her throat was gnawed ragged, just sinew and bone left. The remains couldn’t support her head, and it leaned awkwardly to the side as if threatening to dangle from her spine, yet she kept moving, walking toward the encampment with her arms stretched out.

She’s fresh…

That told Frozenveil that the woman had to have been one of the hostages they had released earlier to occupy the undead. She frowned at it, wondering if all of them had been caught. Her soldiers approached the dead woman with their spears, quickly pinning her to the ground before one came with a sword, hacking her to pieces. It was a gruesome sight, but necessary. The undead could be challenging to stop.

She looked at the guard standing beside the cages.

“Release two more hostages,” she said. “Make sure they run far. We need more time to uncover the door to the tomb.”

Then she turned to the sealed temple her men were working to open. Mages stood by them, casting spells to weaken the enchanted bricks that covered the entrance as soldiers swung hammers to break them away. It took time to break down powerful enchantments like these, and time was not on their side.

When she ran out of hostages, she’d have to start using her own soldiers. They were loyal to the point of being fanatical, but she didn’t doubt that the moment they thought their lives were on the line, they would turn against her. Fear of death would clash with the greatness she would offer their kingdom, and she didn’t doubt which they would choose.

Bryce

The next morning, Bryce sat in the guild tavern eating a simple breakfast of bread, cheese, and bone broth while he waited for Bellamy to arrive. Usually, this early in the morning, there weren’t many people in the guildhall. However, with Mark canceling all contracts in preparation for the invasion, it was more crowded than usual.

He also wasn’t alone at his table, as two other individuals had joined him for breakfast. Vex chewed on a biscuit as she sat facing away from the table, glaring at the bronze mirror that Thea had brought to the guild. She had angled herself so that she was blocking his reflection in the mirror.

“My Bryce…” Vex growled, her tail bristling and her ears flat.

He should have expected this. Thankfully, from what he could tell, Ciarra paid little if any mind to the wolfkin.

The other person was Thea. The Princess had forgone her usual elaborate dresses and was wearing a simple tunic and pants. Bryce wondered if she had borrowed them from Callie or even Alice, given that the simplicity didn’t suit a Princess, but he wasn’t about to comment.

She was currently slipping pieces of her biscuit under the table to Omelet. The act reminded Bryce he needed to ask Bellamy about why the little griffin’s growth had stalled.

Bellamy arrived around the time Bryce finished his breakfast, and the guild started to become packed.

“All of you are coming?” Bellamy asked as she looked around the table.

Vex nodded, still glaring at the mirror.

“I thought the fresh air would be nice,” Thea said as she held Omelet’s leash, keeping the griffin chick from begging for scraps at other tables.

He couldn’t blame her for wanting to get out of the guild. The tension in the air was suffocating with the upcoming attack.

Bellamy looked at him, checking if he was okay with both Vex and Thea joining them. Bryce answered by standing from the table.

“Yeah, we’re ready,” he said.

Bellamy glanced at Thea, but she didn’t say anything. She just turned and started for the door.

“Let’s go,” she said.

Leaving the city took longer than any of them anticipated. Word had finally started to spread about the attack, and people were trying to leave Witchbrook in droves. Every gate had what seemed like an endless line of wagons waiting at it, and they saw more than a few fights break out in front of it.

When they finally did make it out of the city, Bellamy led them to a hill with a view of the harbor. Thea found a spot under a large hickory tree, sitting there while gazing down at the city below.

“So beautiful,” she said, wrapping her arms around her knees. The wind would tease her blond hair as she stared out at the river.

Bryce knew Bellamy had picked the spot not for its beauty, but for the view of the harbor. A caution in case their timing was wrong and the attack came sooner than expected.

Vex entertained herself and Omelet by throwing a stick, which the griffin chick would fetch and return to her. Earning praise and a head scratch.

“Any thoughts on why he hasn’t grown bigger?” Bryce asked Bellamy as he stretched and prepared himself for training with his Wyvern Aspect. He knew Bellamy wouldn’t go easy on him. Hells, he still woke in cold sweats from some of her methods all those years ago.

“Winter isn’t far off; his body is trying to store fat,” she answered, watching Vex throw the stick again. “Honestly, he’s a little thinner than he should be, but he’s also more active than many Crown Griffins, and he’ll be out of the elements this winter.”

Bryce stopped his stretching and stared at Bellamy.

“Crown Griffin?” he exclaimed, then turned to look at Omelet. “But his feathers are brown, not white.”

Bellamy pointed.

“Under his beak, you can see the white. After his first winter, he’ll shed the brown feathers and grow his white plumage,” she said. “Then he’ll grow. Very quickly.”

So not a Hawk Griffin.

Crown Griffins preyed on Hawk Griffins. They were the kings of the Griffin family, being stronger and more aggressive than many of their brethren. Instead of comparing Omelet’s size to a horse, he would instead be built more like a large bull when he grew up.

“I thought you knew,” Bellamy said. “Vex has done well at training him.”

Bryce shook his head as he watched Omelet try to play keep away with Vex.

“I thought he was a Hawk Griffin,” he said.

Bellamy nodded.

“Easy mistake to make since their chicks have a similar color pattern,” she said, then wings sprouted from her back as she used her Griffin Aspect. “I took this Aspect from a Hawk Griffin. You can see the brown is slightly darker than Omelet’s feathers.”

He examined the wings, watching as Bellamy spread them out in the morning sunlight. Then he realized his mistake as she brought the wings down, sending a powerful gust of wind that pushed him back.

“Pull on your Aspect. It’s time to train,” Bellamy stated sternly.

***

Bryce struck the ground for the fifth time that morning, rolling along it before he finally came to a stop against a tree. Swearing, he pushed himself up off the ground. He looked at Bellamy, seeing a scowl on her face, and let out a laugh.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen that disappointed look,” he said, standing. “Not since you tried teaching me how to use a sword.”

She beat her wings, keeping herself hovering in the air as she stared down at him.

“There are some similarities between the two. Both aim to train your muscles to react on reflex,” Bellamy responded. “Which is why sparring is the fastest way to build it. Pain is a great teacher.”

The Quill Wyvern’s wings spread out and started beating, lifting him into the air.

“Just like sword training,” he said, recalling his many lessons in it.

At least she’s not tethering me to a monster to teach me to fly better.

He started to rise in the sky until he was close to the tree tops, then Bellamy launched herself at him with one beat of her wings. Bryce dove, catching the wind on the membranes of his wings, and looped around the tree, Bellamy following him. He felt the wind striking his face as he tried to increase his speed and lift. The next tree was approaching, and he shifted to loop around it. He was halfway around the tree when he set himself into a spin and returned to the ground in a loud thud.

He lay there staring up at the sky while his body ached. If he were practicing alone, he would use the Primal Troll Aspect to recover in between flights, but Bellamy had rejected that suggestion.

Pain is part of training.

Omelet’s head suddenly blocked the sky as the griffin chick stood over him, looking down.

“You got any advice?” he asked.

Omelet responded by climbing onto his chest and lying down as if to take a nap. Bryce reached up and scratched the griffin’s head.

“Yeah, I don’t think Bellamy will agree with that advice.”

Thea appeared next in his vision, a worried look on her face as she pulled Omelet off him.

“You try to correct yourself too much,” Thea said. “That’s why it set you into a spin. Maybe…”

Bellamy landed beside them, her wings folding behind her back as she watched Thea with a nonplussed expression.

“Go on,” she said.

Thea bit her lip, glancing between Bellamy and Bryce.

“Perhaps… if someone flew with him, guided him. Then he could get a better feel of how to control his wings,” she suggested.

Bellamy nodded, then canceled her Griffin Aspect.

“Very well. I’ll hand off training to you,” Bellamy said before turning and walking away.

Thea’s eyes widened.

“Wait! What do you mean? Where are you going?” she demanded.

Bellamy looked back at her.

“I’m letting you try your method with Bryce. I’ll still be here, but I think I’ll take a cue from Vex and take a nap under one of the trees,” Bellamy said, pointing to where Vex lay curled up.

Thea paled.

“But…” she looked at him, and he could see the fear in her eyes.

He knew she was worried about becoming a chimera again. He had seen that fear when the puppets attacked the Duke’s ship. He was about to call out to Bellamy and tell her as much when Thea took a deep breath.

Wings spread from her back as she used her Drake Aspect for the first time since she became a chimera.