Chapter 45

Part 1

“On your feet! You are not so weak anymore, are you?!” Her familiar voice echoed in my head!

I was back; laid in a pit of smoldering asphalt. My life, only spared by the subconscious reaction to erect a barrier. “Anesha!” Reality slowly settled back in as a real voice called my name! “Hey! Are you alive, bro?!” That manner of speech pierced the ringing in my ears, recognized as Jordie Mack’s. He foolishly walked across the scorched road leaving melted rubber from his sneakers with each step. “You look alive. Did you need me to get some help or something?”

Sirens in the distance. Still laid back onto the hot ground, I saw approaching fire trucks zooming towards us! I kicked myself up off the ground, booted Jordie aside and dodged away with only a few seconds to spare! Using water cannons mounted atop their shiny red vehicles, they sprayed the roads, buildings, trees, and everywhere fire had caught! The rescuers ran with axes, oxygen tanks, and medical bags to aid trapped or injured civilians. It seemed futile, lo’; those humans worked admirably, nonetheless.

And what of the town? Down the road, Whispering Hills was a long line of destruction and death. There was not a block one could see without burnt or dismembered bodies, human and animal alike. People cried, limped to safety, and helped each other, but one thing stood out in the quiet chaos. “Bernadine…Bernadine! Where is Bernadine?!” Among human crowds, a woman of her size would normally not stand out, lo’, I would always be able to spot someone with such a distinct visage. She was nowhere! “Jordie, the sharp faced woman, taller than I, where did she go?!”

“Uh…no idea. I was running when those fire tornados sprung up, like most people.” The fluffy haired fool pondered. “Ah!” He suddenly resounded! “That sharp toothed scary chick?!” That was basically my description! “The one in the catsuit?!” Apt, as she was dressed in such a manner. “She was wearing a jacket that looked like an alligator?”

“My goodness, man! Yes! Her! Where?!”

“…Uh, that way.” Worst case scenario once more, as Jordie pointed across the horribly damaged Whispering Hills-Gold River bridge. In the time that I was unmoving and barely conscious, she left me alive. Bernadine must only have cared to track down the seed and Fate!

“I am going.” Nothing could stand in my way anymore. For too long had I allowed obstacles, such as people and their problems, to inhibit my goals and sway my decision making. My defeat at the hands of Bernadine was proof of that. The pain in my gut from her Slice spell was proof of that. Fate and I being stranded in two separate towns was proof of that! All those instances and more existed as bricks used to build a monument of failure! Mocking me with its magnitude, existing as an obstacle to my goals, that monument was a creation of my own foolishness! (No more! I shall kill Bernadine.) Anyone or thing standing in my path was an obstacle, and all obstacles would be surmounted. Victory would be mine! Revenge would be mine! (Enough questions and hesitancy!)

I ignored all calls for attention, desperate and authoritative, on my way toward the bridge. Each step, my boots would sink into still warm asphalt or splash through pools of blood and viscera. Bernadine succeeded in decimating Whispering Hills’ citizenry; with their numbers dwindled, streets that were bustling a mere hour before, became overcome with despair. Instead of music there were sirens, crying, and screaming; lights from their clubs were replaced by fires and emergency vehicles. So much of the town looked unsalvageable, and Bernadine assumedly moved to Gold River with that same intent. Calamity had befallen Whispering Hills, brought on by a single Magekin from Graewood, and yet one question still plagued me.

(Why?) Bernadine’s actions had broken one of the most sacred Magekin laws. We were to always operate in secrecy, limiting our presence in front of humans! Our existence was to remain nothing more than legends and whispers. Yes, I planned to toss aside that very law myself, criminal to my own society that I was; lo’, Bernadine was slave to the aristocracy! (What sense does it make that she would do something so contradictory? It is one of our longest held laws!) Magekin walked amongst humans every day, everywhere, and at all times, in fact. It was not uncommon for some of us to leave behind the world of magic and live with humans, lo’, those who did, swore upon their lives to die with knowledge of Magekin and to never reveal our existence. There were many contingencies to maintaining that secrecy, even so, as human technology has advanced, they have amazingly grown less suspect of what they would see or hear. (Even if the world around is slowly changing, I am not aware that the veil over Magekin society has suddenly been lifted.)

“Sheesh!” Jordie resounded! We stood at the bridge’s end, staring across to Gold River. Cars riddled with holes, and shattered front windows were abandoned halfway over the crossing. “Lady took her animal army over there; shit was wild!” Corpses hung from the vehicles, having failed to escape their cruel deaths.

(Broomless, I am doomed to chase Bernadine on foot. She was not using her own broom, likely to walk with her animals. How very Bernadine.) I started across the bridge, thinking back to those days of academia. Remembering Bernadine's obsessive personality, she favored animals…more than even her kin. For some time, the boys would call her ‘Leather back Bernadine’; her silhouette being what, mostly aristocrats, often deemed unpleasant. It never seemed to bother her, though. Bernadine kept her circle of Magekin friends small, and animals massive. Walking the earth so as to be alongside her beloved animals instead of riding upon her broom was such a Bernadine thing to do. (Mayhap I can apprehend her before she finds Fate. I must contact Bramble and inform them of the situation.) A small, nearly insignificant, ripple in the flow of mana interrupted my attempted communication magic! From the sky dove an owl: beak coated with azure scales! I barely dodged forward with a cartwheel, feeling wings grazing my leg, only for another avian to attack! Resorting to my saber, azure talons met blade, ‘lo, the assault would not stop. It was then that a startling new group of adversaries entered the fray; fish! “…A joke, that must be what this is.”

Onto the bridge climbed fish – many fish! Multiple fish, with bird like azure scaled legs! I was dumbfounded, at the waddling and hopping creatures glaring at me with their side facing eyes! Those gasping lips and flexing gills were impossibly pathetic; lo’, the fish suddenly charged me was startling ambulation! They scurried up the bridge with manic intensity and leapt at me, still fending off birds!

“Rebuke!” A barrier protected me! I cast it, realizing exactly then how low my cache had gotten. (This is not good. I must conserve some for my battle with Bernadine!) The birds pecked, and fish…kicked?! It seemed another spell was necessary for me to advance, until a car’s horn resounded from further up the road. Every one of those animals’ attention was drawn for a second, perfect! I released my barrier, ready to counterattack! (I shall not utilize a spell!) One; I cut down a bird! Two, my blade slashed through one of those fish! Three, four, then five, I was cleaving through them left and right; my skills with the blade being as reliable as they always were! My body was my own, absolute control, and no one could restrain me! Felling animal after animal, I started to realize, for each one I killed, another two would appear. Light would fade from their eyes, yet the scales of Bernadine’s familiar would then escape from the corpses; attaching to another bird or fish within range to empower them! More climbed the bridge while others flew in with murderous intent! “Van…” I could not. Summoning my familiars before I would even face Bernadine would not only give away my location, but it would also use precious mana!

I was backed away, walking while swinging my blade on the defensive! A decision was upon me; push forward with magic and hope I could internalize enough mana on my way to confront Bernadine again, or retreat, regroup, and plan? My own choice frustrated me. Back, I went! Steady, carefully picking each step! I lifted my feet over cracks, and debris in the road while fending off growing swarms of beasts, but then something gripped my ankle!

“H-Help me…please…” A bleeding man laid beside his vehicle! Rationality blinked in that instant. The situation melted away; all that remained was fire burning around my ankle. My skin crawled so fiercely it created friction, wishing to ignite a flame through my veins and burst out of my face!

“Get off!” I tugged my leg away, but he persisted! “Get off! Get off!” I had been touched many times before, lo’, in such a situation, it set an unfortunately familiar sensation alight in me! Restriction. “Ge-l-let go!” Warm, tight, moist with blood, that grip on my ankle, through the sock, restricted me. “Raze…” If not for an owl swooping in and landing a blow to my head, I would have seared the man down to his bones.

That attack dislodged me; yet more beast continued their assault! “Wait! Please!” Were the man’s final words as many of the fish and birds turned their focus onto him! Beaks and sharp azure teeth grown in those fish mouths picked at him. Skin bruised purple, then torn, oozing crimson blood, stripped down to flesh and bones; like watching a person ripping off pieces of a ripe peach, allowing its juices to spill out. Gruesomely they picked his mouth of its tongue, and skull of eyes. His agonized cries were drowned out by brutal violence.

Cruel, maybe, lo’, I seized on that distraction and escaped! Fully about-face, I sprinted with my all back toward the bridge’s opposite end! Success, I dove and rolled to my feet ready to fight with more room and preparedness, yet nothing came. Fish swiftly scurried off the bridge, and the birds settled onto cars or lingered above. They did not pursue me. “I see.” Those animals under Bernadine’s control were acting again as sentinels, blocking passage over the bridge.

Part 2

“Run!” I shouted! “Go! Go! Go!” Citizens of Gold River stampeded up the road and away from a raging flock of geese! One such waterfowl lurched for me, and I dodged…sort of; Bramble latched his jaws onto the back of my collar and pulled! Those radiantly blue webbed feet flew overhead and kicked a stop sign out of its concrete home in the ground! (Are these the animals Anesha mentioned?! I wasn’t expecting to fight angry geese!) Gunshots and more screaming came from beyond the strip mall. (Innocent people, again!) Bramble jumped into my path! “I already know.” He growled! “Seriously! I know…” It was my fault, but Bramble didn’t want to hear it! The dogman familiar’s goal was to serve Anesha, his master, and her mission was to protect the seed. I knew all of that, and the witch had long made my position absolutely clear! (Don’t get full of yourself, that’s what Anesha said. I won that fight with Darcy because she wasn’t prepared for actual combat.) Both witches warned me about Bernadine. They said she was strong, a Magekin threat unlike what I’d faced before. Sure, I defeated Bryn and Darcy, but they weren’t real combatants; surviving Lauritz was totally different, just luck! (If I run over there and try to help…I’d just put myself directly in the line of fire.) A glance from Bramble to his side pointed my attention at an old man being helped away from the hoard. “Ah.” I stepped toward him; the dogman didn’t stop me. “Over here!” I called, seeing it was Libby by the man’s side!

“Fate?! Nice! I need a hand!” With the both of us together, we basically lifted the man and carried him through a growing crowd of people! To our backs, the waterfowls continued squawking! “Duck!”

“No, geese!” They were right behind us!

“No, duck! Get down, dummy!” Oh! I did, just in time! A metal bat whacked some geese flapping their wings behind me, sending the birds flying!

“We got ya’! Over ‘ere!” Guitarist of Dirtbags Done Dirty, with bat in hand, helped fight off the flock of magically powered feathered fiends!

Shooting in the distance faded as the crowd of Gold River citizens and I left behind that strip mall area. (I hope whoever’s left there is alright.) There wasn’t much I could do. My body was still heavy, regardless of the old man who’d basically been put onto my back by Libby.

Moving from the mall brought an entire towns worth of people to that long stretching road, with dark forests on both sides. My phobia was at bay thanks to the volume of people surrounding me, but my internalized guilt grew as more animals turned adversarial! Someone screamed to the furthest side of our group! Deer leapt into the crowd, some with antlers coated in magical blue scales! The lucky ones were kicked or bashed by those large furry bodies; others weren’t so fortunate, gored by horns and trampled under hooves. My stomach churned. I wanted to help, feeling chills surge up my back…right through the Pukwudgie scars. No strength bolstered my muscles, no mana roared in my veins, no heat rose from my skin.

(Fuck!) Innocent civilians were being trounced! (Fuck!) Right in front of my eyes! (Fuck! Fuck!) All because of me! (…Fuck…) Blood spilt into the dirt while flesh ripped and bones were being crushed. The whole time, I staggered with that old man on my back, and cast securing my left arm, infuriated; both at what I was witnessing, and myself! (…I’m fucking scared.) Dying still scared me, and so did Anesha. She instructed me to avoid those animals and not fight Bernadine Clément, because I couldn’t win. The witch made it clear; follow her orders! Punishment awaited if I disobeyed her commands, but that was an excuse! (I can’t just abandon these people!) Anesha wanted me to avoid fighting, to turn tail and run! I couldn’t even muster the courage to fight without the seed backing me! Death and Anesha, my two biggest fears. (All that bluster with Chester. Saying it was a fight I couldn’t run away from, but that’s what I’m about to do?!) The seed would change the world, that’s how Anesha felt; yet I had the power to help people and was supposed to just let them die in front of me?!

“Fate, move!” Libby shouted, pushing me from behind! We stumbled forward, barely avoiding the chaos! “Keep moving, man!”

“Right! OK…” Then I looked back, noticing a trail of blood behind her. “Libby…”

“Worry about me later, man! Move your ass!” Despite the woman’s fraudulent vigor, color drained from her face until, all at once, she collapsed!

“Libby!” I set the man down, rushing to her side. “Libby! Say something! Hey!” There was a nasty gash on her waist, hip bone even visible! “I’ve got you, don’t worry.” Bramble barked! I had to ignore him; there was no way Libby was getting left behind! Even if…

An already frenzied crowd was made even worse at the sudden appearance of chimpanzees! They swung through trees, and onto the backs of deer, aiming to add numbers to the already horrific slaughter! If they weren’t pelting citizens with rocks, those damned monkeys used their paws to grip, break, and tear people apart! Seeing a person’s arm be stretched until it popped out of its socket, skin purpled from stress, then rip and explode into a bloody gusher; all while its former owner screamed in agony, that image was burned into my soul.

Eyes settled on me, ignoring other fleeing humans. Those orbs bursting with malice bored holes through me. I could feel it; my neck was the target. (Run.) The thought almost sent me into a full-on sprint, but in my arms was a barely conscious woman. She was there because of me; all the suffering people of Gold River were, but Anesha demanded I avoid fighting! (I won’t abandon Libby! There isn’t much I can do though. I can’t save anyone like this, and if I die Anesha’s whole plan…) When did that start mattering to me?

They approached. I turned, shielding Libby best I could. My back exposed, I prepared for the worst. Roaring came toward me, and screaming resounded…but it wasn’t the cries of feral beasts, but thundering of trucks barreling through lines of animals, sending them flying! Atop them, men and women from Gold River who had taken up arms, firing their rifles upon the attacking beasts! Deer slammed antlers into that armada of trucks, grinding their charge to a halt! A line of bucks, which couldn’t weigh more than two hundred pounds, dug their hooves into asphalt and held back screeching, smoking, truck tires.

My eyes were drawn away from the clash, settling in on the animals’ azure scaled bodies. Peculiar as those clearly magical portions were, I was drawn to them, feeling my attention stolen by their mere existence. (The scales are like armor…so…) I couldn’t attack, but helping was possible! “Hey! Aim for the unscaled parts!” I shouted, praying my words would reach the gun wielding citizens! “The blue scales are like armor! Aim for the parts that aren’t covered!” That assertion was perceived by the animals themselves! The chimps moved with incredible speed, climbing over their deer allies and toward gun wielding citizens! (Shit!) I expected carnage like before but was shocked by the outcome!

A quick whistle came from seemingly nowhere. With incredible accuracy, timing, and coordination, the monkeys were shot out of the air! Bullets didn’t fly from the backs of those pickup trucks, but from the darkness surrounding us! Then more, and more, in perfect synchronization, more shots felled the beasts! Then from atop those trucks, bullets rained down, striking at vulnerable flesh and incapacitating numerous animals! In only a minute, the tide shifted! Those beasts who once were overrunning the citizens of Gold River had been matched…then heat faded from the woods.

Across the river two massive tornados of fire exploded upward, painting the whole of Whispering Hills’ dark skyline bright orange! (Anesha?) They separated, both becoming twin firestorms, then morphed into colossal, flaming snakes! (That’s definitely Anesha!) Those serpents clashed, spilling flames everywhere! All in attendance stood around, enthralled by the site, except me. (This is the perfect chance!) Seeing Anesha’s magic was always cool, I had to admit, but bearing witness to it many times before had made me a bit calloused to that kind of wonderment. “I got you, Libby. Hold onto me.” With everyone, including our adversarial beasts’, eyes on the spectacle, a chance presented itself! I lifted Libby in my arms and skulked under everyone’s eyeline toward the row of trucks.

Breath held, teeth clenched, muscles tight, and carrying an unconscious woman while hunched over was physically stressful; but doing all that and knowing those animals could turn on me in a second was mentally taxing! “Psst!” A large, dark-skinned brown hand waved from between the trucks. “Fate!” With a hushed call, officer Wallace Threader appeared as my savior! He reached out, pulling Libby over to him and then tugged me along too! Free beyond that barricade of cars, we watched one set of pyro serpents devour their opposition, infernal fangs slicing through the conflagration of scales! With those snakes squashed, the battle over in Whispering Hills seemed to end in one Magekin’s defeat.

Spectacle quelled; those citizens prepared their weapons again only for no resistance to be shown by the opposition. In fact, the animals slowly turned and walked off, heading back down the road! Everyone else breathed a sigh of relief; meanwhile, I wondered. (Why the hell did they just leave?) Watching those surviving beasts walk away, that hollow victory left my stomach pinched by anxiety.

Part 3

(A ‘Skip’ spell? No. Using that to cross the water would consume too much mana, also I would be placing myself in danger with those bird and fish still nearby! A barrier? I could rewrite it and then ‘skip’ over the water. That could work; lo’, I would, again, be using too much mana. Afterwards, I would have to rapidly internalize mana within my cache before confronting Bernadine! What am I to do?! I must secure a means of safely crossing the water!) A mannerism of mine I wished to curb; my heel drummed on the road’s asphalt whilst thinking. (I must contact Bramble, immediately!) I prepared the magic to reach Bramble, remembering then that humans were around. To my side, however, that foolishly enthusiastic Jordie.

“…Need me to do something?” Blue eyes brimming with eagerness, one would naturally take advantage!

“Yes.” I asserted and pointed to my side. “Stand here.”

“Here?” Jordie moved his large, wide shouldered, body in such a way as to obscure me adequately.

“Yes. Good boy!” I would have petted his fluffy hair, looking like a jolly golden retriever, only if I could stomach touching him. My magic rippled out to Bramble and the connection did not go through! I tried again, and nothing! (…) Again! Nothing. Again! Nothing. Again! Again! Again! Again! “Nothing…”

“Everything cool?”

“…” I was not sure. I could not reach Bramble. His existence, I could sense it, lo’ he was not answering my calls. That never happened before! Again, I tried…and nothing. Bramble had never, in all the years since he had become mine, gone without answering my calls! (Why? Bramble…for my own familiar to abandon me…)

“Yo! BB, Bobbie! Here!” Jordie’s sudden shouting shocked me! Running up were, the only reliable member of that production team, Bernie, and Jordie’s infinitely more childish brother, Bobbie. “I was startin’ to get worried, bro!” While Jordie gleefully conversed with his friends, more attempts were made to reach Bramble; all ignored!

“Whoa, magic lady is back.” The idiot brother spoke. “Le’me guess, crazy shit going down is ‘cause of some magic dude again?” Jordie nodded, making Bobbie groan with exasperation. “Bruh…! You see all this?! We were supposed to be partyin’!”

“Don’t think anyone in Whispering Hills gonna’ be partying for a while, dude.” Bernie approached. “Anesha, what’s up?”

“…” Even then, all my calls for Bramble were not being answered; repeatedly draining my cache. The spell was not a taxing one; lo’, so many attempts were made, I was beginning to feel affected. My cache was already lowered, maintaining the barrier over Graewood, as well as using such a substantial spell earlier, all after battling Caelan’s familiar; facing Bernadine would be nearly impossible! “I…”

“…” They awaited my response, all three men.

“…I am not sure what to do next.” Uttering such words aloud hurt more than forcing a razor blade up my throat. (Is Bramble alright? He must be! I would know if he had been…) Thinking in such a manner, twisted my stomach.

“What do ya’ need?” Jordie’s bright eyes again, lit up within the chaos surrounding us! “Maybe we can help! Right, BB?”

“I mean…” He considered. I could not blame him for such hesitancy. “Fuck it! We ball!” And yet, such bravery! “So, what’s up?”

“Simply put…” I explained the predicament. How I needed to conserve resources for an inevitable conflict, cross the dangerous bridge, and track down Fate before my adversary. “With all of that considered, I must cross the bridge, post haste!”

“Hmm.” Jordie placed a finger to his chin. “Think we could drive her over, BB? The van’s pretty tough.”

“Doubt. The van’s tough but look at those cars.” Vehicles on Whispering Hills’ streets were slashed and overturned, meanwhile, ones upon that bridge had been devastated by constant animal attacks! “We’d probably end up getting killed.”

“What about the northern bridge?” Upon reaching the area, we had only traveled the southern half of Whispering Hills; not even once beholding its northern side.

“I mean…sure, we can go up there, but Anesha said she wants to hurry, right?”

“Indeed.” The clock was ticking and Bramble remained unreachable. Deeper into thought I went, as I observed the land, concocting a manner of approach. “Gold River is a peninsula, no?” Bernie and Jordie nodded. I had only properly observed the topography briefly during my battle with Caelan’s familiar, and Killian; allowing a plan to form. Squeaking of a familiar kind suddenly resounded to our side.

“Pinkie!” That grey and pink beast, the squonk, skulked about one of the bridge’s posts. Upon its own backside, more of those magical scales! I reached for my blade, prepared to cut down the creature! “Wait, wait!” Jordie positioned himself between us!

“Step aside, fool! That thing is being…” I sensed no hostility. The little creature was…disgusting, but timid. “Odd. Bernadine is not forcing the creatures to attack us? How very…her.” If it was not a threat, then I would not waste energy on slaying the insignificant thing. “It matters not. BB, I require your vehicle. I have an idea!”

Part 4

Against my better judgement, and due to endlessly earnest pestering from Jordie, we all, including Bobbie and that little creature, climbed into their truck and began our trek. Our destination was further south of the bridge, a patch of woods which over looked that quarry where I faced Killian. During our trip, I was granted some time to draw mana and forcedly internalize it. (Pain be damned. I must be ready to face Bernadine!) A sudden stop nearly launched me across the vehicle’s back! If not for that, admittedly soft cushion beneath me, I would have slammed into the driver’s seat! “Be careful, fool!”

“Uh…sorry, it’s just…we…well, come up front, Anesha.” Bernie waved for me to see what had impeded our path. Over his shoulder, I recognized another far too familiar creature.

“The ogrekin.” Matted fur still singed from battle with that goblinkin, the crusty and mammoth hill ogre moved from around a tree whilst waving. The little creature in Jordie lap suddenly began to yip with concern! The monstrously large creature pointed his finger, the size of a wine barrel toward us. “Is that…?” Upon the dark greyish skin were azure scales with a curious red spike! “Bernadine’s familiar?” Clearly. “Move aside!” I shooed Bobbie, who was also in the vehicle's back out of my way, then opened the door! Inspecting the magically coated portion, it was identical to every other one we had encountered; however, the ogrekin showed no hostility. That beast then pointed to its back, hidden down within the quarry were its family of other, smaller ogrekin. They also were coated, in small part, by those scales. “Honestly? I have not the time to concern myself with your plight.” We had, fortunately reached the destination! “As I thought, the shape of these two towns gives way to a point. Both landmasses are close enough for me…just possibly close enough for me to ‘skip’ across the waters.”

It was a gamble, as the air was still filled with birds and river with fish empowered by Bernadine. From that distance, it would likely still take multiple uses of the spell; requiring concentration, balance, timing… “Anesha.”

“What?!” I snapped, unfairly, lo’, my focus was broken by Jordie!

“Uh…I think the ogre really wants you to help them.” The ogrekin had yet to take his leave. I was neither interested in their plight, nor did I have time to assist them!

“Have you awakened some hidden ability to converse with beasts, Jordie?” I half-joked. “If so, tell those creatures…” Another thought. “Have that creature throw me.”

“Huh?! Throw you where?” An explanation was due, it seemed.

“If this ogrekin is strong enough to toss me over the river, or even just high enough for me to use magic to lower myself onto the Gold River side, I can pursue Bernadine. It will use far less mana, allowing me to minimize the usage of my internal cache.”

“…Not gonna’ lie, I only got, like, half of that.” Wasting time dumbing down that explanation was pointless.

“It matters not. Tell that creature what I said.” Jordie then turned to the massive scruffy hill ogre and spoke.

“Hey, big bro, uh…think you can toss…” He earnestly pantomimed the actions to that ogrekin. “Toss…throw…over the river! To the other side!” It was quite the distance.

Peering down into the quarry, Killian’s burial site sat alone and undisturbed. Only a few days had passed since I ended his life. Killian never saw us as kin, thus I should not have felt anything when ending his life; and yet I did. (He was a disgusting man, one deserving of punishment that he would never receive otherwise! In my upcoming battle with Bernadine, I must think of her in a similar manner. There must be no remose!) Forlorn in his last moments, Bryn asked me, 'what is it that I want, and why I would betray my own people’. Before Killian and Bryn, I had taken other lives, Magekin and human alike. I had done so much for revenge, all to achieve my goals, all for the seed, all for mother! (I am not so weak anymore! I shall never again curl up and cry alone with the world as my enemy! Hate me if you will; Magekin, human, what have you! I shall become a goddess who rules over Earth with control of the seed of Yggdrasil!)

“Anesha.” Jordie! I had gotten swept up in my own thoughts and lost focus! “I think he gets it, but…I kinda’ got an idea!” Miracles were true, a thought penetrated that fluffy hair and thick skull! “So, like, those fish and birds were attacking, right? How about instead of having to landin’ all the way over there and then having to run the way back up toward the south bridge, we go with you in the van!”

“The fuck?!” Bobbie responded, but it was an inspired thought. “Jordie, ‘we’, don’t gotta’ do anything, bro!”

“Why not?! Come on, bro! We already came this far, right, BB?” Both brothers turned to their cameraman.

He looked to me. “…Fuck it, we ball!” Jordie cheered, Bobbie groaned, and Bernie readied himself! “Anesha?”

“Fine! Make haste! And you, creature…” The ogrekin looked down its gargantuan, truck sized, nose at me. “If you wish to have those scales removed, then you will follow my orders!” It nodded. “Then you understand?” Again, a nod. “…You are to toss the vehicle onto the other side of that river. Nothing more, and not too far. You understand, yes?” One more nod. (Something will go wrong.) I sadly concluded.

We all climbed into the Mack boys’ van, steadying ourselves, as it was lifted into that ogrekin’s hands. Calculations for a skip spell were prepared in my head; using it on such a large vehicle would be difficult, but I trusted myself enough to at least slow our descent to a safe speed. I had Jordie move to the vehicle's rear alongside Bobbie and that smelly little pet of his. With Bernie braced at my side, Jordie, Bobbie, and that creature readied as well, I prepared to speak the words…then the ogrekin leapt. High, high, into the air, soaring across the river in a single leap, it jumped over the river with us in hand!

“A communication error, clearly.” Yet, one I could live with.

Part 5

Any still living animal ran back toward the Gold River’s strip mall and parks, leaving behind a road carnage. “Move, people! Get the injured looked at and move everyone else back toward the pass!” A man, slightly younger than Dad, directed several armed men and women out from the dark forest surround us! They’d been totally cloaked within shadows; likely hunters based on their clothes. Those armed people atop their trucks also leapt down to help the injured citizens. It was thanks to all of them that we ended up on the better end of that skirmish, considering the number of deer, chimps, and geese corpses laying around, but…

“Fate, you good?” Blood pooled around maimed men and women, agonizing at horrible, life altering injuries. Hands, arms, fingers, and toes, they’d be ripped off; countless scars would be left behind, not all physical. Kids cried alone in the road near their dead relatives, having witnessed things they would never forget; horrors burned into their psyches for the rest of their lives. “Hey!” Wallace shook me!

“I’m fine.” Gore didn’t faze me anymore, but I despaired at the thought of what those children would be experiencing for years. “Oh!” It occurred to me that Libby was also badly hurt. “Wallace, can you check on her?!”

“Oh, Libby, right? Got it!” The officer already had his first aid kit pulled out and began checking on the still unconscious woman.

“Where did all those fuckers come from, anyway?!” The Gold River citizens questioned, speaking amongst themselves. “Gotta’ be the zoo! A bunch of animals broke loose in the city, I hear!” Someone else replied. That explained all the notifications on my phone. “At least it’s just monkeys and ducks.” I had a strong feeling, it wasn’t. Scrolling through the news feeds, everything from tigers to wolves were on the prowl up north, and the zoo was known for housing several exotic and rare animals. Every county was in a frenzy, from state troopers to animal control, even the national guard was being deployed!

(If those deer were strong enough to tip cars, and geese could rip apart steel, then big cats and dogs powered up by magic are going to ravage these towns!) It would still take time for the national guard to arrive in Whispering Hills and Gold River. By then, tons more could be slaughtered by Bernadine Clément! Her goals, however, eluded me. (Why did all of those animals just leave? I assumed she was using them to hunt the seed, but they didn’t do anything to me. Hell, it didn’t feel like they even cared.)

There were still dead animals on the ground, coated with blue scales. Upon closer inspection, they were like a combination of reptile and armor plating; several times tougher than my cast and heavy with a brilliant blue luster. On some, a unique red portion stood out, a kind of fin. They were sharp, curved and serrated, similar to fangs chiseled into weapons! “Hey, should you be touching that?!” The Dirt Bags Done Dirty guitarist called to me…having let my curiosity get the better of me.

“Oh, uh…probably not!” I tried to play it off with laugh.

“Yo, Fate!” Officer Wallace called out to me. “Libby will be fine. We’re going to load her into my cruiser and take her up toward the pass.”

“The pass?” I heard someone mention that before but had no idea what it meant.

“It’s the northern half of Gold River. Folks call it the pass 'cause lots of people still use the mountain pass and some homes are up around there. That’s where your pops’ place is.” I could only hope that way was safe. “You comin’?”

I wasn’t sure. Those animals were heading toward our meeting place with Anesha. (I need to call Anesha; see what she thinks we should do.) I looked down for Bramble, hoping we could find a private enough location to call his master. “Bramble? Bramble?!” He was gone! The dogman was nowhere to be seen! “Bramble! Hey! Where are you? Bramble?!” At some point, the familiar dogman had run under my nose! “…Wait. Did he…run toward the strip mall?” A distinct scent was on the air, faint, but I recognized it immediately! Strong and rich vanilla; the seed’s mana! “Hey, Wallace, did you see where my dog went?”

“You mean that fa-er, the shar-pei? No. He wasn’t with you when you came past the trucks. Maybe, I don’t know, he could’a went back toward the parks. Now that I think about it, I think I saw him headin’ that way.”

(Why would Bramble run back toward the mall while leaking…did he lead them off?) It dawned on me then. (He pulled their attention away so I could escape!) I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose! “Fuck. You idiot.” A brave move, but Anesha would probably be mad. She wanted us to stick together, plus I was sure the witch wouldn’t want more enemies on her! (…Damn.) There was a pit in my stomach. (He’s sacrificing himself for Anesha’s mission, not me.) Easy to justify that, but still. (I’m really foggy on how familiars work, but if Bramble gets…destroyed or whatever, does he like…super die?)

“Rita! Caleb?! Rita?!” Amongst all the shouting, one louder voice reached my ears! “Caleb, Rita?! It’s mommy, where are you two?!” Maya desperately shouted, weaving between other concerned citizens.

“Maya!” Wallace approached his friend, hearing the terror in her voice! “Weren’t Caleb and Rita with you?”

“They were, but we got separated when all those geese and deer attacked!” Scratches were all over Maya’s clothes and arms; she’d been through a lot but was ignoring the pain. “I can’t get through to Caleb’s phone…they’re probably back at the mall. They’ve got to be back at the mall! I’m going back! Move!”

“Uh, no.” Wallace grabbed her by the arm, and she winced. “Look how hurt you are!”

“I don’t care! I’ve been hurt way, way worse back in the day!”

“I know, but you're a civi now! You aren’t going back there!”

“Fuck you, Wallace!” Fighting back against a much larger man, especially when Maya was exhausted and distressed, accomplished little. Not like I could help much, but another person was missing from the group and that was upsetting to me, personally.

“Arnold’s missing too, isn’t he? I don’t see him.” Dirk wasn’t anywhere to be seen either! “…Did a bunch of people just get lost on the way here?” I asked, gripping my stomach, trying to fight back against the guilt that was chewing at my lower intestine. (Shit. Again, because of me.)

“Yeah, looks like it.” Wallace released Maya’s arm to go and grab his drained first aid kit. “Gotta’ call that the national guard is on the way. The police department is in shambles, apparently. Someone…” For some reason, Wallace seemed to get caught up on that part. “Or something, probably the animals, messed up the precinct. Whispering Hills is fucked.”

A truck revved its engine suddenly! That formerly spotless, garishly dark-green, truck of my father’s, then covered in dirt and blood, was pulling away from all the other vehicles! “Out of the way! I’m coming through!”

“Zahn! You ain’t goin’ back to the mall!” Wallace was doing his best to keep everyone together, but knowing my dad, he wasn’t going to listen.

“I am! Move out of the way, Wallace!” His stubbornness was getting to me, but Maya was on his side…and climbing into his truck! “Maya, you coming?”

“Fuck yeah! Move, Wallace!” She shouted from the passenger seat! “I’m going to get my husband and daughter, and no one is stopping me!”

“Y’all, come on!” They continued to argue back and forth, neither side yielding! Honestly, I wasn’t sure where I stood. Anesha instructed me to stay away from Bernadine at all costs. Everything was riding on that, my life included! She’d been mellowing out since our spat in Hopesburg; even started thinking I was getting on her good side. So, I was going to follow her orders, not just because she made them, but because it was for the best. We’d gotten so far, and there were still things I needed to do. Protecting my friends, finding a solution to removing the seed, and eventually defeating Anesha, those were my goals! If I didn’t play it safe in my weakened state, everything could come crashing down! “Zahn, Maya, I get why you're both feelin’ like that, but it’s dangerous! Just let the national guard get here and handle things! If you go back now, you could end up messing things up!” Officer Wallace Threader’s earnest plea was for the two hardheaded civilians’ own good; I understood that.

“We’ve got people back there that need us! You know we can handle ourselves, Wallace.” No matter how good the intent, it obviously wouldn’t get through my father’s thick skull. He wanted things his way, and no one was going to tell the old jerk otherwise! “You’re not going to stop us just because of ‘protocol’, or whatever. Wallace, the world on your shoulders will never weigh as much as your own failures; I’m not going to fail my family.” Oh. Right. That’s where I got it.

(Rita is back there.) She was just a goofy, overly attached, kid, and saving her felt good. I used my strength to help someone! If we weren’t there, she may have been seriously hurt…or even died. (Dirk too…) He was friendly to us from the second we met. Welcoming, didn’t care if we seemed weird, and even treated us outsiders like friends. (And Arnold.) That grouch helped us. He didn’t need to, but the old man went out of his way to open his home to us, take Anesha and I around, even offered me plenty of advice. Thanks to him, I realized I could trust myself and make decent decisions in difficult situations! (I need to make the right decision here.)

“Move, Wallace!” Maya shouted again, as her friend realized there truly was no stopping them…or me! “Fate?”

I pulled open the backdoor and climbed into dad’s truck, reluctantly, accepting that it would be the fastest way back! “I’m going with you guys.” It was likely going to end in disaster and a scolding from Anesha, but my failures weren’t going to crush my shoulders with guilt; there was no more room for inaction!

End of chapter 45