Feral Mage 3: Chapter 27

After Nicole, Olivia, and Bellamy left, Bryce stared out over the city. He was still angry at Mark for giving him this mission to guard the princesses while the rest of his guildmates risked their lives defending the city. The berserker may have paid him a hefty sack of coin, but it didn’t change the fact that people he knew would die while he sat in relative safety not far away.

He heard the door open behind him, and he saw only Janna step out onto the roof. He gave her a nod as she walked over and joined him by the parapet.

“Where are Callie and Vex?” he asked.

Janna held her naginata, her fingers nervously fidgeting along the weapon’s shaft.

“They’ll be up soon. I asked if I could speak to you first,” she said, tucking a strand of hair behind one of her fox ears.

“About your weapon?” he asked.

Janna nodded.

“The guild is packed right now. So I don’t know when I’ll get another chance for us to actually have any privacy together,” then she let out a heavy sigh and looked toward the harbor. “Especially since this feels like it’s going to be big.”

He felt the same. They had waited months for the Kingdom of Brook to act against Harold Volson, and now the confrontation was inevitable. Along with it came a deep sense of dread about what was to come. Which was better for the continent, a bloody and long war? Or for all the Kingdoms to be controlled by the whims of one man?

I’m just a merc.

The thought chased away the contemplations about the future of the Kingdoms. That was for Kings and scholars to ponder. He wasn’t a noble or an educated man. He was a sword paid to act. His only goals were the next contract and keeping himself and his girls alive to see the next day. He wrapped his arm around Janna, pulling her close before kissing her head.

The two of them sat there like that for a few minutes, her tails wrapped around him. Then Janna took a deep breath, took his hand, and stood. She led him to the center of the roof, gripping her naginata tightly.

“Bryce, I’d like you to meet my ancestor, Asahi,” she said as she tapped the butt of the weapon against his arm.

Bryce looked at where the weapon touched him, only to hear an angry shout.

“What is your intention with my granddaughter?”

He looked toward the voice and saw a kitsune in strange armor, his nine black-and-silver tails lashing as he glared. Bryce stepped back in surprise at the man’s sudden appearance. When the naginata left his arm, the angry kitsune vanished.

He stared, stunned, then looked at Janna.

“What the hells was that?” he asked.

Janna gave a big smile and lifted her weapon, holding the butt of the shaft out to him. Bryce hesitated, then reached out and touched it. Instantly, the kitsune appeared again with an angry scowl.

“Answer me, you damn hornless oni!” Asahi shouted as his nine tails flared out behind him, as if to make him appear bigger.

Bryce looked at Janna and raised an eyebrow.

“Hornless oni?” he asked.

Janna gave a slight shrug.

“They don’t have humans on the Ember Islands. Since you don’t have any tails, Grandfather assumes you’re an oni.”

Ember Islands? Grandfather?

“His soul is imbued in your weapon,” Bryce said in shock. He had heard legends of things like this in old myths and fables, but had always assumed they were stories made up by bards for tavern songs.

“Do not ignore me, you bastard,” Asahi barked.

Bryce blinked, realizing he had forgotten to answer. Janna looked at the spirit and growled.

“Be nice! You know Bryce is my mate!”

Asahi scoffed.

“He is nothing but a ronin! Working for coin to spilling blood. He is not from a noble clan,” he sneered.

Before Bryce could respond, Janna pulled the naginata out of his hand and glared at where the kitsune had been.

“Asahi, we talked about this!” she growled, her tails lashing frantically. “Don’t try to twist things around!”

Bryce watched as she stared intently into the space before her. The cooing of the carrier pigeons was the only sound around them.

“It’s been several hundred years since your day, Grandfather. Our clan doesn’t control vast swaths of territory like it did on the Ember Islands. We have a boat. That’s it! Our life is sailing from place to place, performing tricks to make a living,” Janna yelled, stomping her foot.

Again, she stood there in silence, glaring at the empty air before her. Her expression darkened.

“I could sell this weapon to a blacksmith. Let them melt it down for scrap metal,” she threatened.

After a few more seconds, a smirk appeared on her face, and she held the naginata out toward him again.

He cautiously gripped the weapon once more, and the kitsune man appeared before him again, his nine tails hanging low, the scowl on his face now a sullen pout.

“I apologize. Thank you for taking care of my descendant,” the fox said, giving a slight bow toward Bryce.

Bryce cleared his throat, not feeling entirely comfortable with everything that had unfolded.

“She’s someone very important to me,” he said. “I’ll do all I can to keep her safe.”

The kitsune hummed and gave Bryce a look that said he had better keep that promise.

Bryce released the weapon once more and looked at Janna.

“That was certainly interesting,” he said, looking at the naginata in a new light. “So the fire attack that wiped out the dwarves back in Stonewall, that was him?”

Janna nodded.

“That was the first time he appeared to me. I heard his voice when I first started using the weapon, guiding me on how to place my hands and how to move. He’s helped me a lot in improving my technique in fighting with my naginata,” she said, then narrowed her eyes a little, looking at an empty spot on the roof. “Even if at times, he can be a bit of a grouchy old man.”

She looked at Bryce and bit her lip.

“I was worried you’d all think I was crazy if I told you,” he said.

“No, I won’t think you’re crazy at all,” Bryce replied. “Actually, I understand it a lot better than you think.”

She grimaced.

“This is about what Callie said, right? That we needed to talk about something related to mirrors?” Janna asked. “We’ve all noticed you’ve been avoiding them and tense since we brought Thea back to the guild.”

He heard the door open again as Vex and Callie walked out onto the roof. When the door closed, Callie looked at him.

“So,” Callie said, as she and Vex moved to join him and Janna. “You finally gonna talk about her?”

“Yes,” Bryce answered.

Vex glanced between Callie, Bryce, and Janna. A worried look on her face.

“Who?” the wolfkin demanded.

Bryce sighed.

“Ciarra, The Goddess of Monsters.”

Vex tilted her head in confusion.

“Who?” she asked.

Callie looked at the wolfkin.

“A heretical Goddess who is said to have given rise to all monsters and is responsible for the destruction of the drows,” she answered.

Janna’s eyes widened, and he caught her looking over into the empty space. The act made Bryce wonder if the old kitsune knew something about the Goddess of Monsters.

“Oh,” Vex replied, then looked at Bryce. “What does she want?”

He took a deep breath.

“When we went to rescue Thea, I started to see an elven woman with four eyes in reflections. I learned later that she’s Ciarra, the Goddess of Monsters.”

The girls listened intently. Callie’s expression was focused on him, but didn’t portray any emotion as she listened. Vex stared wide-eyed as her ears and tail stood straight up. Janna clung tightly to her naginata, making glances between him and where he assumed Asahi was.

“She made me her champion, gave me the ability to become a chimera without losing myself, and helped me turn Thea back into a human,” he added.

Janna relaxed, letting out a heavy sigh.

“So she’s helpful then,” she said.

Callie shook her head.

“Nothing is without cost, Fox,” she replied. “The old legends are filled with the Champions of the Divine and the prices they eventually pay for the powers they’re given.”

Bryce nodded.

“Ciarra made that clear when we first encountered the Wyvern. I have to follow her virtues or she’ll turn me into a chimera,” he said.

Janna almost dropped her naginata while Vex’s ears went flat, and she growled.

“How did this happen?” Janna asked.

He looked at Callie, then back to her.

“I think Isabelle is involved, but I’ll know for sure tomorrow when I go to see her,” he said with an edge to his voice.

“Why would the funny elf do that? She wants to be in the pack…” Vex pondered in beastkin, tilting her head. Bryce almost slipped up and responded to her, but caught himself.

“To add to the matter, Ciarra told me something interesting about Harold’s latest puppets,” Bryce said. “She was angry that the God of Fate would mock her children.”

Janna looked confused, while Vex’s ears lay flat and her tail bristled.

“Shit. So that’s why Harold Volson’s magic is so powerful. He’s a champion as well,” Callie surmised, then grimaced. “Why would the God of Fate choose a monster like that man?”

Bryce shrugged.

“Whatever the reason, he’s attacking Witchbrook in two days. Mark gave us our contract for when that happens,” he said, trying to keep his distaste from showing.

Callie looked toward the harbor.

“And if everything does turn to shit, where do we sail to?” she asked.

He hadn’t thought of that. Mark’s contract just said there would be a ship anchored in the cove, but no destination. He wondered if the twins had been given one in their contract.

Safest places for the girls would be either The Red Pine Kingdom or Havenport…

Though they would have to be careful around the bells in The Red Pine Kingdom, they would also be between the Saltland Kingdom and the Northern Alliance. The war could easily spill over into the area.

He recalled Charlotte saying she believed Harold Volson was cautious about Havenport’s close ties to the Selkie Isles. Havenport might be the riskier destination to travel to, but the safest once there. He also recalled that he overheard Harold would be at some fort named Breakwater in four days.

I’ll need to check Mark’s map and see where that’s at.

“Unless the twins have someplace different in mind, then I would say Havenport is our best bet,” he answered.