Feral Mage: Chapter 6

Bryce let out a sigh of relief as he saw the light of the fires behind him die down. At least he wouldn’t have to worry about the flames spreading from the grove to Oakbridge.

 “Damn pyromancers and their fireballs,” he grumbled.

 They hadn’t even arrived in Oakbridge yet when he saw the flash of the fireball within the grove. Bryce quickly passed the reigns to Alice before activating his manticore aspect and rushing toward the flash. Janna was lucky he had seen it or the vampire would have torn the kitsune’s throat out by now.

 He moved deeper into the woods to the tree the vampire had scurried up. There it was waiting in the darkness of night to try and ambush him. Except he knew exactly where it was waiting.

 Bryce’s heightened sense of smell picked up the sour blood that oozed from the stump of an arm.

 “Brave of you to save the fox and come after me alone,” the vampire teased from the treetops.

 The sickly scent from its wound shifted a few trees over as it silently moved. Its voice echoed from the new direction.

 “Bravery is useless against me. I will feast on you tonight, brave fool,” it laughed before moving to another tree. “Then I’ll feast on the fox.”

 The vampire moved three more times through the treetops until it was behind him, silently, it dove at him. Bryce turned and drove his fist into the side of the vampire’s face, knocking it to the ground.

 “Bastard— Ahhh!” the vampire cried as Bryce stabbed his sword through its stomach and deep into the ground below. He didn’t stop until the hilt was pressed against its skin. The vampire screamed as it tried to unpin itself from the ground. Bryce knelt down beside the vampire as it struggled.

 “Alright, let’s see what we’re dealing with here,” Bryce said to himself as he grabbed the vampire's jaw and forced its mouth open.

 Out of all the monsters in the world he could have run into, he wanted vampires the least. Not because they were dangerous or anything. They annoyed the hell out of him. They were one of the few monsters that would monologue, almost as if it was part of the parasitic curse that affected them. Vampires were also like roaches, where you found one there would be more not far.

 He tilted the vampire’s head to allow the moonlight to illuminate its fangs. The vamp tried to struggle and fend him off with its one hand, but Bryce quickly broke its arm when it tried to grab him.

 The fangs on this one were not fully developed yet, so perhaps a month old. Which meant there was a coven nearby. Bryce stood up and stretched his back with a groan.

 “What are you?” the vampire asked with a whimper. His cocky attitude was gone.

 “Disappointed,” Bryce said with a huff. “I thought this would be a quick one and done. I would earn some gold, maybe a new aspect, and be on the road again. Not a damn extermination job.”

 Bryce kicked at the ground before he sighed and looked up at the moon overhead. He heard the vampire try to move, only to yelp in pain as the blade cut into it. He could just kill the vampire, collect the bounty, and leave. He wasn’t under a contract to kill them all. He considered it for a moment before coming to a decision and placing his foot on the hilt of his sword, putting pressure against it.

 The vampire looked up at him with a sense of dread. Bryce noticed it was trembling as it stared into his eyes.

 “Understand this, you’re already dead. Whether it’s a quick death or slow depends on what you tell me,” Bryce said coldly. “Where’s your coven?”

 Bryce cleaned his blade on the cloak of the vampire after removing its head. The cloak was a simple travel cloak that would have cost a few coppers. What the vampire wore under it bespoke of wealth. Though nothing he wore held a family crest, so nobility or servant of nobility was ruled out. That was good given where he claimed the coven was, this amount of gold wasn’t worth pissing off some noble family.

 Bryce sheathed his blade. He checked the pockets next, taking anything of value. After pocketing the few gold and silver pieces the vampire had on it, he picked up its head and made his way out of the grove, only stopping to take the vampire’s sword since it was good steel.

 Just outside the grove, Janna was waiting for him. The kitsune was sitting on the ground and stood out even in the moonlight with that ridiculous red armor. Bryce turned and made his way back to where he had told the girls to wait for him. He heard the creak of leather and looked back to see Janna following him. He sighed before stopping and turning to face her.

 “The kill was mine, so the bounty is mine,” he said to her.

 After how she acted in the tavern, he expected her to start yelling about how he interrupted her fight or stole her kill. Janna just stared at him for a moment before dropping to her knees and bowing to him. Her three tails swished erratically behind her.

 “Please take me as your pupil!”

 Bryce blinked at the kitsune as he processed what she said.

  “No,” he answered before turning and continuing back to the wagon.

 “No?! Please, reconsider! I’m a pyromancer and a fast learner,” Janna said as she followed him. “I’m sorry about how I acted at the tavern. I didn’t realize you were a professional monster hunter!”

 “Monster hunting isn’t a real profession outside of books,” Bryce stated.

 “Then what are you?” She asked quickly, it sounded less like a question and more like a statement.

 Bryce stopped and looked at her. He lifted the vampire's head dangling it in front of her.

 “I’m a mercenary. I kill for money. Monsters or people, doesn’t matter as long as I’m making some coin,” Bryce said as the vampire's head swayed back and forth in his grip.

 Janna looked from the head back to Bryce and her gaze hardened.

 “Then teach me to be a mercenary!” she demanded.

 “Nope,” Bryce said as he continued on his way.

 He did his best to ignore the fact Janna was still following him. Hopefully, she would take the hint and leave. She was still behind him as he made his way back to where the wagon waited for him outside of Oakbridge.

 “My Bryce!” Vex shouted as he approached and she jumped from the wagon to race toward him, her tail wagging. The wagging stopped and she scowled as she spotted Janna following him. “And the stupid fox.”

 “Stupid? Did you just call me stupid?” Janna huffed.

 Vex put herself between Bryce and Janna, pressing her back into him as she did.

 “Yes. You do stupid things, so you’re a stupid fox. Go roll on a ball!”

 The fur on Janna’s tails and ears poofed out as she glared at Vex.

 “You dare call my act stupid! Those are skills I’ve honed for years! It's art, you mangy mutt!”

 Vex’s ears went canted and she let out a low growl.

 “I’m not mangy! My Bryce bought me a luxury bath! My fur is soft and fluffy!” Vex declared.

 Bryce left the wolf and fox to chase each other’s tails as he moved towards the back of the wagon. Alice was sitting there, her face blank as she stared at his hand.

 “That’s a head,” she said finally.

 “Yeah,” Bryce said as he retrieved a sack, sticking the head inside it. “Killed a vampire. I’ll turn the head into the town's mayor tomorrow for any bounty on it.”

 “Well,” Alice said with a cough to clear her throat. “Glad you got your monster. Are you going to…”

 Bryce looked at Alice, who was pale even for a snow elf, her gaze still fixed on the bag.

 “Vampires aren’t monsters I can or want to turn into an aspect. They’re the result of a parasitic curse and their abilities vary wildly as the curse mutates its host body,” Bryce answered as he climbed into the wagon. “Also this is just one of the vampires, a young one. No special traits or abilities yet. Tomorrow I’ll go after the others if the mayor is willing to pay.”

 He turned to see Vex and Janna’s argument had come to blows as the two were now rolling on the ground wrestling each other.

 “Vex, stop fighting. We’re leaving,” Bryce said as he gripped the reigns.

 Vex broke away from the fox and made her way to the wagon. Only stopping once to stick her tongue out at Janna. Vex climbed onto the wagon beside Bryce and he lashed the reigns to get the mules moving. Vex smiled at Janna and waved at her.

 “Bye, stupid fox!” Vex called out as the wagon left Janna.

 Bryce urged the mules to a decent speed in hopes of keeping Janna from following them. He would need to visit the town’s mayor first thing and see if he would pay for the job or not, then get out of town before Janna tracked them down again.