Feral Mage Book 2: Chapter 3

Bryce leaned against the mausoleum as the sun started to set. He had already activated his Manticore Aspect, and the sounds of the night came alive with the cries of nocturnal beasts. He listened to everything from the hooting of owls to the chirping of crickets, all while tearing bites from a piece of dried beef. He was eating it more to sate his boredom than his hunger. He had just finished the last bite when all the animals fell quiet.

Bryce pushed himself off from the marble wall to stand, his hand going to the hilt of his sword. The sound of metal being pulled from the sheath was the only noise in the night, but he knew they were coming. He could smell them with the heightened sense of his Aspect. The horrible scent they acquired from eating the rotten corpses.

He saw the shadow of the first one jumping on the fence and landing silently. Immediately the beast started rushing toward him on all fours. Bryce charged toward it, lashing out with his blade as he met it. He felt the sword sink into flesh, pulled it free, and darted back.

A cry sounding like cackling laughter left the creature. Bryce put more distance between himself and it as he saw three more creatures jump over the walls of the graveyard. The beast let out a similar cry and they moved to corner him. One lunged at him, and he jumped to a headstone to avoid its long, sharp claws.

“You've got to be quicker than that,” Bryce said, kicking the beast in its snout.

This was his first time seeing these creatures, but he had heard about them from his Master. Gnolls, humanoid hyenas that hunted in packs and were scavengers or opportunists. Some of them even figured out how to use weaponry looted from their victims, but they weren’t much brighter than goblins. They also ate everything, including their own kin.

A yelp escaped the gnoll as it backed away. Bryce used the distraction his kick gave him to leap across to the adjacent headstone, then another. The bastard’s friends were already trying to circle him. If they could get him, they would tear him to shreds.

One got eager and scrambled over a headstone at him, launching itself at him with its maw wide open. He jumped from the headstone just as the gnoll’s jaws slammed down on it with a loud snap. The granite crumbled from its bite, and the beast’s yellow eyes looked up at him as its jaws opened to lunge again at him again. Bits of stone falling from it’s mouth.

“Damn it! That’s a nasty bite,” Bryce cursed.

The beast never made its lunge as his sword slashed its neck open. He made a hasty retreat from its body as the other gnolls quickly closed in.

The sound of thrashing and the scent of blood gave him pause. Turning, he watched as the gnolls fell upon their dying brother. The one whose throat he had cut open wriggled on the ground as its intestines were torn out and feasted upon by the others. He grimaced at the sight.

Strong bite, but would probably make me hungrier than the Primal Troll Aspect…

He shook the thought of taking the gnoll as an Aspect from his mind, too many potential drawbacks compared to the gains. Anyways, his part was done. The gnolls were grouped together. It was time for them to end this.

“Light them up,” Bryce called out.

The glow of a fireball appeared on the roof of the mausoleum before it flew at the group of feasting gnolls. An inferno erupted, illuminating the graveyard. The gnolls let out cries of pain as their fur burst into flames. They started to run, but arrows began raining down on them from the mausoleum roof where Vex stood beside Janna. Bryce watched as his girls worked in tandem to slaughter the monsters with magic and arrows. He finished one that got too close to him, two arrows piercing its back and already bleeding out enough to die soon. He decapitated it with a half-hearted swing as the beast staggered toward him.

His nose twitched at the scent of burned hair mixed with the already putrid stench coming from the beasts. He would be glad when he could drop the Manticore Aspect and with it the heightened senses, but he wouldn’t until they were sure this was all of them.

Bryce watched as the corpses burned for a bit, then turned and made his way to the mausoleum, climbing onto the roof to a grinning Janna and Vex.

“Good work,” Bryce praised, and the girls’ grins grew wider as several tails started to swish about.

The rest of the night passed slowly, since no more gnolls appeared. After being near the smoldering bodies of the dead gnolls in the graveyard for hours, Bryce was ready to take a long bath and get the stench of burned hair off him. He watched as the sun began to rise, and he scanned the woodline in the low light, his Manticore Aspect sharpening his vision. He paused, and his hand went to rest on his sword as he locked eyes with a creature on the far edge of the woodline. He couldn't make out the figure, but red eyes stared at him from the shadows. The wind shifted, and he caught a faint scent from that direction. He inhaled it and tried to piece together what it was. After a moment, his mind could only place one thing to the scent. Death, but not like how the gnolls had smelled. Their stench was from eating rotten carrion. No, this was more like stale air, the scent of something devoid of life.

“Bryce, is everything okay?” Janna asked.

He turned to see both her and Vex staring at him with concerned looks. That was when he noticed the sun had fully risen. He had been staring at those red eyes for nearly half an hour. His gaze shifted back to the woodline, only to notice the eyes were gone.

“Yeah, sorry. I thought I saw something,” he answered, his vision sweeping along the entirety of the woodline. He sniffed the air, trying to catch the scent again, but all he could smell was the stench of the dead gnolls.

Whatever it was is gone now.

“Let’s take a look at these bastards,” Bryce said, shaking off the eerie feeling from those red eyes.

He jumped from the roof of the mausoleum, with Vex and Janna following behind him. The gnolls had died in various spots around the graveyard after the girls unleashed their ambush on them. Bryce made his way to the one he had dealt a fatal wound to and, in turn, had been feasted on by the others.

He saw the glint of metal not far from the ravaged corpse. A frown spread across his face as he looked at it.

“Well, this doesn’t look good,” Bryce said, his foot lightly kicking the metal collar. He could already see the glyphs on it.

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Janna said, as her and Vex came over by him.

They both knelt down and looked at the blood-covered piece of metal. Their tails swished about and ears perked.

“Is that a collar?” Janna asked, turning to him with a frown before he could respond. “Someone kept these things as pets?”

Bryce was walking over to another gnoll, covering his sensitive nose as he drew near the burned body. Sure enough, it had a collar around its neck as well.

“The collars have a spell glyph on them with a mana crystal in the center. No clue what kind, but probably something to keep the gnolls in line. Like a shock spell. I’ve heard about this. It’s a dwarven war tactic. They send semi-trained gnolls in as shock troops to soften up a clan before they launch their invasion. The question is, what are they doing here?”

Bryce picked up the bloody collar and ran his thumb over the glyph.

“We need to show this to Baroness Julia,” Bryce said before turning to leave the graveyard.

***

The Baroness ran her thumb over the glyph on the collar just as Bryce had. Only the maids had cleaned the filth from it before giving it to her. Bryce and the girls were sitting in the parlor across from the Baroness with Captain Taylor standing behind her at attention. The maids kept bringing out more of those pastries shaped like flowers. Bryce mostly thought they kept bringing them because if Vex was busy stuffing her mouth, she wasn’t glaring at any who got too close to him.

“You’re certain this is a dwarven war tactic? Not some experiment by some mage?” the Baroness asked, a grim look on her face.

Bryce took a bite from one of the pastries, which was almost sickeningly sweet to him. He couldn’t see how Vex kept eating so many of them.

“I’ve never seen it myself, but I have heard tales about it in the guildhall. Plus, gnolls shouldn’t be around here. They’re native to the Dwarven Mountains in the east. The only thing that makes sense is someone brought them here.”

The Baroness shared a look with Captain Taylor. While the old soldier could keep a straight poker face, there was nothing hiding the dark expression on the Baroness’s face. They had an idea of what was going on, and Bryce didn’t like it, but his job was done.

Bryce cleared his throat, bringing the attention of the Baroness and Captain Taylor back to him.

“I’m sorry this seems to have brought to light larger issues, but we completed your job, Baroness Julia. The graveyard shouldn’t be disturbed any longer,” Bryce said, doing his best to be polite but direct.

The Baroness sighed and gestured to one of the maids, who brought over a purse. Bryce opened it and started counting the coins.

“I’m willing to pay you more,” Baroness Julia said quickly. Her tone carried a desperate edge.

Bryce didn’t break his gaze from the coins. His fingers ran through them, counting the total.

“I’m sorry, Baroness. I have no interest in getting involved in a mess that I know nothing about,” Bryce replied.

“War is brewing in the north,” Captain Taylor said.

Bryce nodded.

“Of course it is. The Northern Alliance was established to counter Duchess Frozenveil’s aggressiveness. The bitch probably shat a frozen turd when she learned of it’s formation,” Bryce replied.

 He had even raised a toast in the guildhall when he heard, in hopes that Duchess Frozenveil’s days were numbered. Her death would be one less threat to Alice and one less worry for Bryce. The evil hag would stop at nothing if she learned the daughter of the last Ice Queen was alive.

Captain Taylor sighed.

“There have been raids on towns along the Kingdom of Deathridge side of the river. Small bands, employing quick hit-and-run tactics that do more damage than loot anything,” Captain Taylor stated. “Some believe the bands are hired mercenaries from the Elven and Dwarven Kingdoms that Duchess Frozenveil brought in to harass the Alliance.”

Bryce stopped counting and looked at Captain Taylor.

“But you don’t believe that?” he asked.

Captain Taylor shook his head, but Baroness Julia spoke.

“I take it you don’t know the history between the Kingdoms of Volpin, Deathridge, and Graystone?” she asked.

Bryce smiled.

“I’m just a merc.”

The Baroness turned a shade of red, probably embarrassed that she had slighted him. Not like Bryce cared.

“It’s a rather bloody history, marked by deep scars. That was why the Northern Alliance was so shocking. The three Kingdoms just seemed to agree to it one day, no months of negotiations or even a peep about it. The whole affair is strange, and there has been a push by Volpin for a meeting with the King of Brook.”

 Bryce frowned as he tied the purse close, slipping it into the pocket of his jacket.

“You think Volpin is behind the raids as a ploy to get the King of Brook to agree to this meeting?”

Baroness Julia nodded.

“If they’re starting to come over on this side of the river, I do.”

Bryce looked at Vex and Janna. Both girls were watching him intently, and he knew they would go along with whatever he decided. Unfortunately, this sounded like the kind of job he had sworn he wouldn’t take anymore. The dangerous kind.

“What is it you want to hire me to do?” Bryce asked before adding. “Not that I’m agreeing to anything yet.”

“Capture one of the raiders so we can learn the truth. I will pay you very well regardless of whether Volpin or Duchess Frozenveil hired them,” Baroness Julia said before pointing at her maids. “The maids have prepared guest rooms. Please, stay the night and consider my offer. Come morning, let me know if you accept or if we will part ways.”