The Red Mage Chooses the Monster

I stepped between Nimiwa and the Keeper, raising the flamberge as the Keeper’s mouth opened wide. It let out a high pitched squeak that caused the water to tremble.

The reeds in front of it bent away, and everyone who could raised their hands to their ears. Behind me, wounded elves screamed and warriors shouted commands. Spears formed in the Sun Braves’ hands, aimed toward the Keeper’s head.

Nimiwa called out in Elvish, causing several Sun Braves to hesitate. Keme shouted back, raising his axe.

“He says Keeper is corrupted,” Nimiwa translated.

The purple eyes, enormous body and oozing wounds supported his argument.

“What happens if they kill it?” I asked.

“Hanwi’s vessel may break.”

“And if they do nothing?”

Nimiwa looked at the Keeper. “I do not know.”

Keme shouted again and three Sun Braves released their spears.

“Down!” I yelled as I dragged Nimiwa behind me and swung.

The first spear passed above the sword. The second struck the flamberge near its tip and burst into orange sparks. The third hit the Keeper beside one of the buried bolts.

Orange fire spread across the area. The Keeper let out another cry as water exploded from the spring. Its leg surfaced and struck the bank, throwing mud as it landed. The Keeper shifted toward the Sun Braves.

Its mouth opened.

Nimiwa pushed past me. “Keeper!”

The creature stopped as one purple eye shifted toward her.

Nimiwa planted her staff and spoke again. The Keeper lowered its head slightly.

Keme started around the side. I moved with him and blocked his path.

“Wait.”

He shoved me aside.

I stepped in front of him again, this time with the flamberge between us. Aponi spoke behind me. “He says to stay out of the way.”

Nimiwa caught my eye. “Trust me.”

Keme was responsible for protecting the tribe. His solution was simple. Kill it before it killed them. Nimiwa wanted time she had not promised would help.

“Can you calm it?” I asked.

“I do not know.”

“Can anyone else?”

“No.”

I turned the flamberge toward the elves. Nimiwa spoke quickly in Elvish. At first, I thought she was reasoning with them, but Keme’s expression turned colder.

“What did you say?”

“That you choose Keeper.”

“I was trusting you, not the beast.”

Keme struck his fist against his chest and pointed at the wounded. Then he pointed the axe at the Keeper.

“He says if it attacks tribe, blood is yours.”

Keme stepped back, but he did not lower the axe. The Sun Braves followed his example, keeping the orange spears summoned in hand but not immediately preparing to throw them.

The Keeper’s gaze shifted between them and the purple light brightened. Orange flames reflected across both purple eyes. Every time a Sun Brave moved, the creature’s head followed.

“It sees the weapons,” I said.

The tribe was surrounding a wounded animal with the same bright lights that had just struck it. Nimiwa walked closer to the water's edge.

“It will attack before you reach it.”

“I must go closer.”

She continued to step toward the spring. The Keeper’s pupils narrowed.

I moved in the opposite direction and raised the flamberge, waving it. The Keeper turned its head away from her.

I ran along the edge of the spring, keeping the blade raised. The Keeper followed. Each movement sent water crashing against the bank. Mud sucked at my feet as I ran. One wrong step and the Keeper would discover whether Redborn tasted different.

Nimiwa approached from the other side with her staff giving off a faint blue light. I kept the Keeper’s attention on me, backing away from the wounded.

“Redborn,” she said.

Redborn. I hated the title from the start. Being forced to exercise at my age did not improve my opinion of it. “My name is Uriel,” I shouted back.

“Uri-el,” she repeated. Her eyes brightened despite the monster between us. “Ah! You Uri. I Nimi.”

She had finally understood what I'd tried to do with her name on the day we met. Being called Nimi without understanding why, must have bothered her more than I realized. Of course, surrounded by a deadly monster and a tribe of armed warriors losing their patience, Nimiwa had chosen this moment to solve nicknames. The discovery had taken priority over self preservation.

“Your intellect continues…” I stumbled but managed to catch myself. “To shine,” I continued, “but may I suggest we celebrate another time. Keeper!” I shouted.

The Keeper lunged with its mouth open wide enough to swallow me in one movement. I threw myself sideways into the reeds. Mud and stones erupted around me as the beast struck the bank. The impact knocked the flamberge from my grip and the sword dissolved the moment my fingers opened.

The Keeper’s tongue struck next. A dark shape snapped through the air and wrapped around my ankle. It dragged me toward the water.

Keme’s axe came down and buried itself through the tongue close to my foot. The Keeper recoiled with a cry that shook water from the reeds.

“That seemed unnecessarily close,” I said.

Keme grabbed the back of my trousers and flung me away from the spring like a sack of potatoes. Apparently, raising my sword against him had not freed him from the burden of keeping me alive.

Purple light burned more brightly around the Keeper's wounds as it thrashed. Its tongue swept toward us along the bank.

Keme raised his bone shield but the impact still sent us both flying several paces away. I landed with enough force to remind every joint that I was forty.

Sun Braves raised their spears.

“Wait!” I shouted.

Nimiwa repeated the command in Elvish. The spears remained raised but did not leave their hands.

Nimiwa had finally reached the water. She stood within reach of the Keeper’s lowered head, staff held in front of her. Her legs trembled, but her staff was steady. Blue light flowed from it into the spring.

The Keeper turned toward her. I summoned the flamberge again and struck the blade against a stone. Sparks rose and the purple eyes followed them.

It lunged again. I swung at the nearest patch of empty air and nearly lost my balance. Skill remained unnecessary as long as the target was large enough to mistake incompetence for strategy.

Nimiwa pressed her palm against the Keeper’s face. The creature froze. Blue light flashed.

Its mouth remained open and its breath rolled over the bank, putrid and sour. The blue light in Nimiwa’s eye brightened. Purple slowly receded from the Keeper’s eye.

The Keeper’s body lowered into the water.

The tribe relaxed slightly but remained ready to move if needed. Nimiwa's hand looked like a speck against the Keeper’s face. “You know me,” she whispered in human.

The enormous eye focused on her. Blue returned around the pupil. The Keeper gave a low croak.

Nimiwa moved her hand toward one of the sanctified bolts buried near its eye. The Keeper flinched, purple light immediately returning.

“It hurts,” she said.

“The bolts?”

“White fire remains inside.”

The nearest Moon Guardian called to her. Nimiwa answered in Elvish, then raised her staff. The Moon Guardians looked toward the wounded. Every staff turned toward the Keeper would leave someone without the little healing Hanwi had returned.

Nimiwa gave the command again. One Guardian obeyed. An elderly elf lifted his staff from a wounded warrior and turned it toward the Keeper. Blue light moved from the tip and settled around the nearest bolt wound. A second Moon Guardian joined him. Then a third.

Nimiwa pressed both hands against the Keeper. “Hanwi can heal them if vessel returns.”

“What if the Keeper kills them first?”

“It will not.”

“You sure about that?”

“I am oracle.”

“There has been plenty of uncertainty so far.”

Her blue eye narrowed at me. “That was insult.”

“Just testing to see your recovery.”

The Moon Guardians’ light spread across the Keeper’s wounds. The buried bolts were being pushed outward by the healing.

The Keeper raised its head and opened its mouth. A round blue glow pressed upward beneath the skin of its throat, forcing its mouth wider. The vessel moved toward the opening.

Then purple light flared around the buried bolts. The blue glow disappeared as the Keeper slammed its mouth shut.

Nimiwa was thrown backwards as the beast flinched. She lifted her staff again. “The fire holds Hanwi inside.”

I looked at the shafts buried across the Keeper’s body. At least a dozen remained. I had no skill with a sword, an injured tribe at my back and a corrupted guardian large enough to swallow me without trouble.

Nimiwa looked at me. “Remove bolts,” she said.

Apparently, trust had its disadvantages.