Feral Mage Book 2: Chapter 35

Bryce read over the description Bellamy had put in the contract of the chimera. Wings, red eyes, and a woman’s figure. No wonder he didn’t recognize the monster. It was a chimera. He was now wondering if that’s why she had stalked him, had some part of Thea recalled Bellamy's introduction of him back in Sentinel.

“What do you mean?” Bellamy asked, her eyes finally meeting his.

It was clear that this reunion had torn open old wounds in both of them. Callie joining them might be a positive, as she could serve as a buffer between him and Bellamy.

“Your description matches the monster that was stalking us west of Witchbrook. She followed us for a few days, even waited outside our camp one night.”

Bellamy’s eyes widened.

“I spent a few weeks searching the Red Pine Kingdom for signs of her. I figured she had traveled back toward the Kingdom of Volpine. Did you hear any stories or sightings about her while traveling through the area?”

Bryce shook his head and saw Bellamy frown.

“I checked, no one had seen her before,” he answered. “I thought I had a lead, but it turned out to be a Pale Queen coming south to nest.”

His former master’s face twisted into a grimace.

“I hope you destroyed the nest.”

Bryce nodded.

“You trained me well, Bellamy. I torched them and made sure the eggs were ruined.”

Her grimace fell away as she broke her gaze from his.

“I’m glad you still feel that way,” she said softly.

Bryce watched as Callie frowned and heard the snow elf kick Bellamy’s chair. His former master quickly shot Callie a glare before meeting his eyes once again.

“Right, so we know where to search,” she said with some steel in her eyes. “When will we be able to leave?”

Bryce looked to the girls, who had just finished looking over the contract.

“I think we’re ready,” Janna said. “I didn’t get to test out my pyromancy since we stayed in bed so late, but I can do that while we travel.”

Vex nodded.

“I’m ready,” then she looked at Bellamy and Callie with narrowed eyes. “Are we all sleeping in the back of the wagon together?”

He and Callie answered at the same time.

“No.”

***

The wagon rolled through the port gate of Witchbrook, the gate captain glaring at Bryce as he left. They would only have a few hours of sunlight to travel before they would be forced to make camp.

Bryce drove the wagon with Janna beside him, her nose already in one of the spear manuals. Vex, Omelet, and Callie rode in the back with the supplies. Vex had already informed Callie twice that he was hers and Janna’s. Bryce had gotten a kick out of the irritation on the swordswoman’s face as she glared at the wolfkin.

Bellamy followed behind them on her steed. She rode so far back that most would assume they weren’t traveling together.

“She’s fine,” Callie said when she caught him looking back at his former master. “Leave her be. She’s coming to terms with you being back in her life.”

Callie’s blue eyes met his.

“This hasn’t been easy for her,” she said.

Bryce frowned.

“For either of us. It’s like an old wound torn open again,” he replied.

He saw Callie start to move toward the driver’s box.

“Switch with me, fox,” Callie said to Janna, hooking a thumb at the back.

Janna looked up from her book, casting a glance at both Callie and him, making it clear she hadn’t heard the conversation the two of them were having.

Janna moved into the back with some reluctance, then Callie sat beside him in the driver’s box.

“Our Bryce!” Vex growled, pointing at herself and Janna.

Callie groaned as she rubbed her temples with her hands.

“How do you endure this?” she asked.

Bryce shrugged.

“Vex wore me down, now I kind of find it endearing,” he answered.

Callie looked at him as if he were mad before shaking her head.

“The divine only knows how I got dragged into the middle of your past relationship, but here I am,” Callie said with a sigh. “What I can tell is Bellamy hasn’t moved past you. The wound never even started to heal. She just kept it masked with her anger at you.

“Now that anger is gone, the wound is open. What’s worse for her is that you have healed.”

She paused and looked into the back of the wagon at Vex and Janna.

“And apparently acquired a thing for tails.”

Bryce narrowed his eyes at Callie for the comment, but she just shrugged.

“So what do you recommend then?” Bryce asked.

“Talk to her and be patient. She might be able to slaughter a dozen men in seconds, but I dread the day we need to depend on her negotiation skills.”

He actually chuckled at the thought of that.

“Fine. We’ll talk tonight when we make camp,” he said.

Callie grunted.

“I’m surprised you volunteered to join us. I figured you wouldn’t leave Alice’s side,” Bryce stated, fishing for an explanation.

“I looked over the guild when I arrived there. The reason the assassins tried to use the tunnels to break in is that the building is covered in enchantments, probably one in each brick used to build the place. I’ve seen castles with less defenses than your guildhall,” Callie said. “You’re clearly a paranoid lot.”

Bryce nodded, given the mercs he knew, he’d have to agree with that.

“She’s also told me how the guild members watch out for her. Especially the twins and Mark. Alice is safe there.”

He watched as Callie grimaced.

“I’m still mad about how you did it, but you were right to take her there. I had deluded myself in thinking I could crown her,” Callie’s grimace fell away. “Thank you, Bryce.”

Bryce waited for her to deliver a barbed remark, but it never came.

“Callie, you’re a bitch,” Bryce said, watching the snow elf turn to glare at him. “And I’m very much a bastard, but there’s something we both agree on, Alice needs to be protected, and I’m glad I have you at my back in doing that.”

He watched as her glare shifted to a smile.

The rest of the wagon ride was silent, at least between Bryce and Callie. He could still hear Vex and Janna quietly talking to each other in the back of the wagon. From their giggles, he had a guess at what their conversation was about.

The sun was starting to set when they found a clearing to make camp. Tomorrow, they would leave the hills of Witchbrook for the lower wetlands where Stonewall resided.

Bryce moved about the camp, taking care of the chores in setting up. Vex had been helping him in the endeavor, but was now sitting by the fire, eating candies from a bag.

“Where did you get those?” Bryce asked, not recalling them when they went shopping for supplies.

Vex popped a handful into her mouth and smiled.

“Isabelle,” she said after a few bites.

Bryce frowned.

“You took candy from that crazy elf?”

Vex laughed.

“Isabelle isn’t crazy, she’s funny,”

Vex said, eating another handful of the candies.

Bryce’s lips thinned. He was starting to really worry about what Isabelle had said to Vex in beastkin.

“She’s definitely crazy,” Callie said from where she sat by the fire, sharpening a knife.

Bryce just shook his head before heading back to the wagon for their bedrolls. He paused as he watched Janna running through the spear forms with her naginata. He frowned after watching her for a moment.

She needs to raise the grip on her right arm.

“Will do!” Janna said as her hand moved to adjust her grip.

Bryce blinked.

“I didn’t say anything,” he said.

Janna stopped her training and looked at him.

“I heard someone say I needed to adjust my grip more,” Janna stated, looking at him and the girls by the fire.

“I was thinking it, but didn’t say anything either,” Callie said. “And I didn’t hear anyone else.”

Janna looked at Vex, whose mouth was currently full of candy. She shook her head.

“Maybe it was Bellamy?” Janna said, glancing at where Bryce’s former master was unpacking her travel bags.

Bellamy turned ever so slightly to look at Janna and shook her head as well. Janna gave them all a confused look before returning to her practice.

Bryce grabbed the bedrolls and dropped them off at Vex.

“Can you set these out? I need to have an overdue conversation,” Bryce said.

Vex’s ears canted, and she shifted her gaze toward Bellamy.

“Talk. No smelling like her,” Vex growled.

Bryce nodded.

“We’re just talking,” he said.

Vex had nothing to worry about. He felt a fist fight was more likely than the two of them reigniting that old flame.

Bellamy paused in her unpacking as he neared, giving him a quick glance.

“Bryce,” she said, looking past him. “I don’t think your woman likes you over here.”

Bryce turned and saw Vex glaring at Bellamy. He sighed.

“Vex gets a little possessive, but she’s not going to do much more than glare. Besides, this is a talk we both need to have,” Bryce said.

Bellamy had a somber look as she stood, and together they walked into the woods away from camp. They walked for some distance, only the sound of the leaves under their feet and the wind.

“So you finally got another Aspect,” Bellamy said, her voice breaking the silence that hung between them.

“My second Aspect was a Primal Troll,” Bryce answered.

Bellamy nodded approvingly.

“Strong regeneration, a good one to have,” she said. “You take the Pale Queen as well?”

“I did, gained claws with its Ice Magic,” he replied.

The silence returned for a few more yards, and Bryce decided to break it this time.

“How goes the map-making?” he asked.

Bellamy drew a deep breath.

“I haven’t touched them since we parted,” she replied softly.

Bryce froze mid-step and stared at her. Bellamy had always made maps. When they traveled to a new place, she would spend part of their day at camp sketching the landscape. He felt a knot in his gut and a twinge of guilt. Bellamy had always done it because it was her connection to her father, who passed away. How many nights had the two of them cuddled in their bedroll together, him listening to her talk about how she would one day map the wilds of the continent.

“You never went to the Southern Islands, did you?” he asked.

Bellamy shook her head.

“I stayed at the Inn after our fight for a week, waiting to see if you’d come back,” she answered.

Bryce kicked at the ground. Silently, he swore to himself.

“I went to the guildhall and took a job after our fight, left Havenport that night,” he stated.

Bellamy’s lips thinned.

“You adapted to the mercenary life quickly,” she said, an edge in her tone.

Bryce frowned, preparing to deliver his own biting remark when he recalled what Callie had said. Instead, he bit his tongue.

“I took the job, completed it, and spent every coin to stay blacked out drunk for as long as I could. When I was broke, I would take another job,” Bryce answered. “That was my life for years. Only recently did Vex break me out of that cycle.”

He sighed and looked at her.

“It wasn’t worth it, Bellamy. I thought I was getting justice for my family, and perhaps some would say I did, but it changed nothing. My family is still dead, and I still have that hollow feeling inside me.

“If there were a way to go back and make the decision again, I would have gone with you to the Southern Islands.”

Bryce heard Bellamy sniffle, then saw the tears start to run down her face.

“We could still go there, to the Southern Islands, together. Pretend that stupid fight never happened. All those years were not wasted. Bring your girls, I’ll work to become one of them.”

Bryce shook his head.

“I loved you, Bellamy, and I regret what happened between us, but I’m no longer the farm boy you took under your wing.”

Tears poured down her face as she started crying, Bryce moved on instinct and wrapped his arms around her. Vex might not be happy about it, but he felt it was the right thing to do.

Bellamy hugged him as she sobbed into his chest. The last time he had seen her cry, it had felt like a knife in his gut. This time, it was a warm but somber feeling as if they were finally saying a proper goodbye to the old bond they once had.

They stood like that for some time, the sun setting and the moon taking its place in the sky. When the stars started to shine above, they returned.

Vex rushed toward him as soon as they stepped from the woods back into camp. Even in the dim light of the campfire, Bryce could see the scowl on her face as she sniffed him. Her ears went flat, and she started to growl before turning toward Bellamy.

“My Bryce!” Vex declared, her tail bristling.

Bellamy nodded.

“He’s your Bryce,” she said softly. “Please take good care of him.”

The growling stopped as Vex stared at his former master. Her tail hairs went flat, and her ears perked up.

“I will,” she said before hugging him.