Feral Mage: Chapter 7

Bryce stood before the large stone near their camp, he estimated it about the same size as a wagon’s wheel and four times the width. The sun was just cresting over the east. It wouldn’t be long before he would go to meet with Oakbridge’s mayor and see what he would pay for the vampire’s head. Which meant he needed to make himself presentable.

He felt his muscles swell and a surge of strength in his body as he activated the Primal troll aspect. He knelt and grabbed the stone, lifting it up as he stood. The aspect made him strong enough to lift the stone with ease, but it still weighed more than him. His first few steps were awkward as he adjusted to carrying it.

He would need to practice with the aspect until his body adapted to using it. A lack of understanding of the changes it made to his body was a great way to get killed. A lesson his master instilled in him not long after he gained his manticore aspect. A shiver went down his spine as he thought about the hellish-sparring match she put him through. That woman was a true sadist, he wondered what she was up to now.

Alice and Vex were beside the wagon. Alice working on breakfast, while Vex just watched and tried to steal the cooked bacon from under the snow elf’s gaze. She managed to snag one when Alice turned and stared at him with a shocked expression as he walked back with the large stone.

He gave her a smile as he made his way to the brook near their camp. Once there he dropped the stone in the water, looking around he spotted another large stone and made his way to it. The sun had risen a little higher by the time Alice came down to the brook with a plate of breakfast for him.

“So this is what you’ve been working on,” she said.

Bryce made his way up to where Alice stood and took the plate. He took a bite of bacon as he turned and looked at his project with her. A circular stone wall dammed part of the small brook, creating a pool of water that was deeper. The stone wall also was high enough to provide some privacy.

“We can take a bath!” Alice said excitedly.

Bryce nodded with his mouth full of food. He felt famished.

“I need to clean up before I meet with the mayor,” he said as he took another bite of food.

Alice turned and raised an eyebrow at him.

“I didn’t realize you were so hungry. I can make some more food,” Alice offered.

Bryce finished his last bite.

“I can cook my food, you girls go ahead and bathe. I’ll take one once you’re done and head to the mayor,” Bryce said as he made his way back up to camp, Alice followed beside him.

His gut still felt empty, despite the full plate of food Alice had prepared for him. The troll aspect had enhanced his strength, so the stones weren’t difficult to move. Had he worked up that much of an appetite?

“So that’s the catch…” Bryce said to himself.

Alice looked at him.

“Catch what?” she asked, confused.

Bryce patted his stomach.

“Some aspects have drawbacks. You get the good and the bad,” Bryce said as he saw Vex waiting by the wagon. She smiled at him as her tail swished back and forth. “It looks like the Primal troll aspect makes me a glutton when active. Probably burns a lot of energy with its high regeneration and strength. My body is demanding food to try and keep up.”

Alice looked ahead at the wagon.

“Well, we can get more supplies before leaving town.”

 “That sounds like a good plan,” Bryce said. He wanted to practice more with this aspect, especially before he attempted to use it in combat.

Bryce made his way to the wagon and pulled out the salted bacon. Vex appeared right beside him, her eyes almost glowing.

“Are you going to cook more bacon?” Vex asked, her tail now a blur as it moved behind her.

“Yes,” Bryce said as he turned around to make his way to the skillet by the fire. “And you’re going with Alice to take a bath.”

The tail stopped. Bryce looked up at Vex as he placed a few slices of bacon in the skillet.

“We’re not far from the town. Alice is our escort, we need to make sure she’s protected and I don’t think she wants me keeping watch on her while she’s bathing.”

“But, bacon!” Vex said, her eyes on the salted bacon in his hand.

Alice was by the wagon pulling out spare clothes.

“Vex, don’t you want to stay clean and your tail fluffy for Bryce?”

Vex’s eyes darted from the bacon in the skillet to Bryce. She let out a sigh and said a few things in her beastkin language before following Alice down to the brook.

He cooked two skillets full of bacon and devoured it with bread before he finally sated his hunger. The girls came back from their bath not long after he was done eating. Bryce grabbed some clean clothes and made his way to the brook. He let out a sigh as he submerged himself in the water.

He watched the clouds passing by above him as he leaned against the stones of the dam. He let out a sigh as he relaxed and closed his eyes. His thoughts went to what to do after this escort job was done. Depending on what the mayor offers him to take out the vampire coven he might have enough combined with what Alice pays him to live it up for a while. Stay a few months in one of the nicer taverns in a big city, or take a ship to somewhere else, like the Selkie Isles.

His mind conjured the image of him on a ship staring out at the sea while leaning against the railing. As he watched the water, he felt a light thump on his side. Turning he saw Vex standing beside him, a smile on the wolfkin’s face.

His eyes opened and Bryce let out a growl as he splashed his face with the water. Days, he had known the wolfkin for mere days and his thoughts were already putting her in plans for the future. He thought about what to do about Vex.

“She would be a damn good ranger,” he said to himself after a moment.

He threw another splash of water at his face, trying to wash the thought from his mind. She would be, but he couldn’t take a rookie merc under his wing, could he? No, but it was a good option for her. He could get her registered with the guild in Witchbrook and find someone there who would take her under their wing.

“The sisters usually operate out of that guild hall,” Bryce said as he thought about the twin catkins. They would be the best option to help Vex learn to be a mercenary, they could probably even understand her beastkin language.

Shaking his head he stood from the brook and made his way to the shore. He was worrying about things in the future when he should be focused on the vampire coven. There was no future if one of those vamps tore out his throat.

Convincing Vex to stay with Alice at the camp took some haggling. The wolfkin finally relented when he promised to bring her a gift. Bryce grabbed the sack with the vampire’s head and waved goodbye to the girls as he made his way toward Oakbridge.

The town was about the same size as Hayland, but Bryce could see the signs that it originally was a logging town, much like Sawtown. The aged and rotting stumps dotting the road to the town were a telltale sign of the industry that gave rise to Oakbridge. Now it probably survived due to trade from the river that ran along it, though too small for many of the larger barges.

He had just crossed the bridge when he saw a figure wearing red step into his path. Three black fur tails swished behind her.

“Janna, I haven’t changed my mind. The answer is still no,” Bryce said to the kitsune.

The kitsune’s tails lashed about angrily as she frowned at him. She had bags under her eyes and he was pretty sure she hadn’t slept since last night. She was even still wearing that ridiculous red armor.

“Why not?” she asked as she crossed her arms.

Bryce walked past her and she turned to walk beside him as he made his way to the largest building in the town.

“Because I work alone,” Bryce said.

Janna laughed.

“Then explain the snow elf and wolfkin traveling with you,” Janna said.

He turned and looked at her, the kitsune wore a smirk on her face as if she just made a winning argument.

 “The snow elf is a job, I’m escorting her. The wolfkin is more complicated,” Bryce replied.

Janna huffed.

“Meaning you’re sleeping with her. I could smell her scent all over you.”

Bryce felt something fluffy strike his back and arm three times and knew Janna’s tails were buffing him.

“I’m not sleeping with her,” Bryce said hotly. “We’re traveling together in a wagon, of course, I’ll have her scent on me.”

He felt the three tails buffed against him again.

“You smell like the wolf, not the elf. It’s very telling,” Janna said with a laugh.

Bryce scowled at her and once again the tails buffed him.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be? Like performing your act in town?”

 Janna shrugged.

“A dangerous monster was killed in the area. Who wants to watch a street performance during such times.”

Bryce opened the door to the large building in the center of town and turned to face the kitsune before he entered.

“I have business with the mayor. Take care, Janna,” Bryce said with a farewell nod.

He stepped through the door and was greeted the the similar sight of a desk with an attractive woman behind it as well as guards standing attention. The room was more heavily decorated than the one in Sawtown had been. Paintings hung on the wall, all of them depicting a thin man with a rather large mustache in various activities, such as hunting, fishing, or clearing timber. Bryce only took in the room for a moment before walking to the desk with the receptionist sitting at it.

He heard someone else enter the building and turned to see a smiling Janna standing behind him. He thought about saying something, but getting into an argument with the kitsune would probably piss off the guards. So instead he ignored her and turned to the receptionist, who hadn’t even looked up at him.

“I’m here to see the mayor,” Bryce said.

The receptionist continued scribbling on a sheet of paper with a quill, never looking up at him.

“The mayor is booked for the week. You’ll have to come back next week and try to schedule a meeting,” she said.

Bryce heaved the bag onto the table, dropping the vampire’s head onto the desk. The receptionist’s eyes shot to the head and she started to pale, a second later a blood-curdling scream echoed in the building.

“What the hell is the meaning of this? Is that a head?” one of the guards exclaimed.

Bryce just smiled and lifted his hands into the air as he heard steel being drawn. He was surprised when he felt Janna’s tails buffing him again and looked to see the kitsune had placed her back against his, backing him up.

“Janna, no spellwork,” Bryce said softly to her. “This is just to get their attention.”

He looked to the guard that had first spoken.

“Vampire’s head. Killed the bastard in the grove outside of town. I’m here to see what the mayor will pay for the kill and how much he’ll pay for me to take out the vampire coven.” Bryce said loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

The guards eyed him wearily, but one approached the head and pulled back its lips.

“Fangs,” he said to another guard.

The tension broke in the room as the guards sheathed their weapons. Though the receptionist still looked pale and had yet to take her eyes off the head. One of the soldiers escorted him into the mayor’s office once it became clear the receptionist needed longer to overcome her shock.

“What’s the meaning of this,” a thin mustached man that matched the one in the paintings demanded.

He scowled at Bryce and his eyes ran up and down him as if judging his character based on the wealth of his clothing. Bryce wondered what face the mayor would have made if he entered wearing the clothing stained with the vampire’s blood from last night. Probably would have demanded he be thrown out immediately.

The mayor’s eyes focused on his hand, which held the vampire’s head. The scowl shifted on his face to an expression of fear.

“Mayor, sorry to disturb you, but this man killed a vampire last night near our town,” the soldier said with a gesture to Bryce.

The expression of fear on the mayor’s face softened and his pompous demeanor returned. He turned and focused back on the paperwork before him.

“Well done lad, now I have important work to do,” the mayor said.

Bryce looked at the soldier and fought back a sigh. Janna, who had followed him inside the office, was not so tactful.

“Aren’t you going to pay him? That monster would have attacked your citizens!” Janna said.

“The creature was not within our fair township, but outside it. I’m sure our town guards could have easily dispatched this vampire.” the mayor stated never looking up from his paper. “So, no. I will not be paying him.”

Janna huffed and looked like she was about to argue, but Bryce cast her a gaze.

“I suppose you won’t offer me a bounty on the vampire coven either?” Bryce asked though he could guess the answer.

The mayor paused for a moment, then continued his work.

“Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I will have the guards increase patrols. When the coven is discovered, I’ll send a force to exterminate them,” the mayor said.

The guard that had accompanied them inside was white as a sheet as he stared at the mayor. Only discipline and fear for his job probably kept him from speaking his thoughts to the mayor.

“Well, I think we’re done here,” Bryce said before turning and gesturing to Janna to follow him. “Take care, mayor.”

They had just left the building when Janna started cursing under her breath about the mayor. Thankfully not loud enough for the guards inside to hear.

“What are you going to do?” Janna asked once she was done.

“Pack up and continue with my job of escorting the snow elf,” he answered.

Janna frowned at him.

“But, the vampires,” she said.

Bryce turned and looked the the kitsune.

“I’m a merc, if there’s no coin in it for me, I’m not fighting,” Bryce said and he let out a heavy sigh. “You would have backed me up in there against those guards?”

“Of course, you’re my master. Even if you won’t acknowledge me as your pupil yet,” Janna answered with a smirk as her tails swished.

Bryce’s hands went to his brow, he was already feeling a headache coming on. Where were all these women wanting to insert themselves into his life when he was a teenager?

“First, don’t call me master,” Bryce said, a few passersby were already giving him weird looks. “Second, is a warning or a lesson, whatever you want to take it as. Men like the mayor do stupid stuff in situations like this. Don’t get dragged into it, Janna.”

He turned and started making his way out of town, only stopping to pay a copper for some sweets for Vex. Janna followed him a bit, but once she figured out he was planning to leave Oakbridge, she vanished. Bryce made it back to the camp before the sun was even mid-way in the sky.

“My Bryce!” Vex said as she rushed from the camp towards him.

Alice was hanging clothing on a line near the wagon.

“How did it go?” Alice asked as she hung one of his shirts.

Bryce shook his head as he handed the sweets to Vex.

“Mayor isn’t going to pay, so we’ll head out and continue towards Witchbrook,” he answered.

He noticed Vex was sniffing him, her ears canted and a scowl on her face. She locked eyes with him.

“Why do you smell like that fox?” Vex asked with a growl.

Bryce instantly remembered Janna buffing him with her tails.