Chapter 47

Part 1

Bernadine Clément was not a pretty girl, according to Graewood. She was tall with arms and legs too thick to be considered ladylike. Suitors thought her face wasn’t just unpleasant, but frightening! A sharp jawline with jagged teeth, her smile would send the boys running. Dieting did not shrink her waistline; just left her weak and unable to focus. Other girls saw the big, scary Bernadine as an outsider. With hyper fixations so odd and numerous, most girls her own age avoided chatting with Bernadine; fearing they’d step on conversational landmines which would shower them in an explosion of useless information. Animal biology, care, documentaries, those were just some interests, but most of all, dragons!

Bernadine loved the legends of dragons. Tales of majestic and dazzling creatures, unlike any other in the whole world, would send her heart a flutter. Their wings so mighty mountains would topple at a single beat, and fire breath so hot they could ignite the sky itself; dragons were everything Bernadine wanted to be! They were creatures so powerful none stood before them, they decided their own fate, protected their own, but…ceased to exist because of humans.

Humans took away their land and food. Small but numerous, humans overran them, even tricked and used Magekin to help slay those beautiful beasts. Humans were deceitful, avaricious, and envious; everything that ruined the world! Their existence infected all around them, plaguing nature and the planet they inhabited while ruining it for all others! Led by greedy leaders, all they would ever do is wage war, kill and destroy; leaving Magekin and animals to suffer on a scarred planet.

It was when Bernadine and her family left Graewood that those feelings were solidified. One simple vacation changed Bernadine’s life completely. Africa, she’d always wanted to visit. A place that repelled humanities’ obsession with growth and dominance! The closest place to perfect that earth had, in her mind, at least. She would go for walks, so many, just to see the mountains filled with animals and trees; even Graewood paled in comparison!

Down at a small lake sat a crocodile. It looked up to her, standing high on a mezzanine, with shiny and innocent eyes! That happened not once, but every day she walked out to look over the area. Every time, it was there, fostering a connection that Bernadine had never felt before! No words, no gifts, and no pleasantries exchanged; they simply lived in the moment while looking at each other.

On the last day of her family vacation, she rushed to wish that crocodile goodbye! For the first and last time, she wanted to speak with it face to face. (If I never see you again, I at least want to say goodbye!) Was what she thought, then came upon a horrible scene. Men surrounding her friend, pointing those accursed guns at it!

“Get back, girl! This thing has been stalking the area for days!” One man pushed Bernadine back! “Men, get ready to shoot it!” She couldn’t let that happen! Bernadine, with mage’s robe hidden beneath her clothes, leapt onto that crocodile! Five bullets struck her; the unprepared witch had never taken defense classes, so she was unprepared for what was to come next. Those pieces of metal burned hot like fire, right through her mage’s robes! Cracking ribs and tearing skin, Bernadine wailed in agony until her lungs ached. “Shit! She wasn’t supposed to do that! What do we do?” In the next second, all the men around were slain. Bernadine Clément’s parents were not powerful Magekin, but getting the drop on those humans was more than enough to assure swift kills.

“Bernadine! Bernadine, please be alright!” Bernadine’s mother laid a hand on her daughter, bleeding but breathing. She sat up, feeling the hot metal slowed by her robes, with only two reaching her body. The witch would survive but had thoughts that lay with her friend. Before Bernadine was that crocodile! “Get back!” With one shaking hand raised, Bernadine stopped her mother from shooing off the reptile.

They locked eyes. Their olive-browns, long jawline, and jagged teeth; they were alike. Bernadine smiled. In another life, maybe they would’ve both been dragons; so strong they could protect every facet of nature created from those horrible humans. She wavered, and with so little strength left; Bernadine could only muster a few words. “I want to be your friend. Will you be my first?” It approached the sitting, bleeding girl and placed its snout onto her lap. Bernadine hugged the crocodile through excruciating pain, happy to hold her first real friend. “Fafnir. I think that name fits you.”

Part 2

“I got ya’, Dirk.” Caleb pulled the old man onto his tired shoulders, fleeing for cover in a nearby building. Just beyond the glass doors closed behind them, wolves prowled through Gold River’s streets. The various stores around Gold River’s strip mall acted as shelter to citizens escaping an onslaught of animal attackers. Barricades were made using shelving units as the few armed civilians prepared their weapons for defense.

“Bunch’a fucking ducks!” Dirk exclaimed!

“Fucking ducks!” Rita also shouted!

“Rita! Don’t curse!” To which, her father Caleb chastised. “I left my phone in the car, anyone got theirs? I need to call Maya.”

“Here!” Dirk handed off his phone and sat back down, trying in vain to rub away back pain. “Libby didn’t answer when I called ‘er. Startin’ to worry ‘bout that girl.”

“I think I saw Libby with Maya, so if I can get through to her, we can ask if everything is ok.” Caleb hastily entered his wife’s cell phone number, eager to hear her voice. “We just gotta’ sit here and wait, I’m guessin’. Police are probably gonna’ make their way over the bridge.” Inside, the sheltered civilians seemed far from convinced.

“Knowin’ those cops over in the hills, they probably ain’t comin’.” One said. “Bet you fifty bucks those bums are just going to leave us!” Another joked, laughing with his round belly! “That’s why we need more boys and girls over there, I keep tellin’ y’all.” That chastising was met with a round of boos! Despite how dire the situation was; many older Gold River citizens didn’t let their spirits drop. “Gold River’s runoff invaders for generations, keeping ‘em from lootin’ the river and the town! We did it ourselves, so we don’t need those bums to do it for us!” The group of old folks cheered…feeling their aged bodies immediately warning them not to overexert themselves.

“Maya!” Caleb got through! “I’m good! Rita’s here with me! We hid in the clothes store with a bunch of other people.” Hearing the relief in his wife’s voice calmed him too, even if he still didn’t know where she was. “Oh, right. Where are you? Were you with Libby? Is she alright?” Maya replied, with some worrying information. “Dirk, Maya says Libby got hurt, but she should be alright.” That didn’t make the old metalworker feel much better. “…No, no way! You can’t come this way…! What do you mean car accident?!” The fear in Caleb’s voice rattled Rita! “Sorry, Rita, don’t worry. Your mom’s fine…right?” She confirmed for them. “Yeah. We’re totally fine, too. Dirk is with us and Arnold too…wait, where’s Arnold?” It hadn’t occurred to him; the old Native American hunter was missing! “Anyone seen Arnold?!”

“Knowin’ that old fart…” Dirk spoke up. “Probably huntin’.”

He was right. Animals approached the growing celebration, and Arnold felt it in his old bones. Instincts were one thing, but vigilance, preparedness, and most importantly, experience; those were the hunter’s most reliable tools. A fully loaded rifle was also a reliable tool, in truth. Vigilance allowed Arnold to notice the animals suddenly acting odd as the night went on. Normally, they’d keep their distance, mostly out of sight, while watching the Gold River citizens, but the whole evening Arnold felt he was being watched. Preparedness had that old hunter loading the rifle into his truck. Wildlife occasionally caused problems in Gold River, and whenever they did, the town’s hunters would step up. Arnold was one of the longest working hunters in the entire state; thus, his experience gave him wisdom to recognize how bad that situation was…and how much worse it was getting.

“Uh…” She began but was immediately hushed by Arnold.

Hidden in the brush, camouflaged by green leaves and shadows cast by trees all around, sat Arnold with his rifle…and Lu. “Keep ya’ voice down.”

“OK. It’s just that this jacket is smelly.” Begrudgingly, the teen wore Arnold’s dark-green camo-jacket; sitting on her thin frame like a tarp over a fawn. “Also, I should probably call Mom and Dad, not text them, right?”

Arnold shushed Lu’s smug jeering, peering out across Gold River’s strip mall. There were many animals, ones not native to the area, and larger than anything he had hunted in Gold River or Whispering Hills! Deer, he could take out with a 7mm round, wolves even, but stalking around cars with people hidden inside was an armor-plated bear. Larger than most cars around it, that lumbering brown furred behemoth menaced about with a back covered in azure scales. (Thems some really blue scales, and they gotta’ be magic. Bet those got something to do with the girl and Fate.) The old hunter correctly surmised. (Shootin’ the pukwudgie didn’ do nothin’. Gotta’ aim for the parts that ain’t covered.) Again, another correct assumption, Anesha would’ve been proud! (Probably a bad idea to antagonize ‘em though.) He went about planning.

The sequence of events played out rather quickly. People fled the event and stage area after a flock of deranged waterfowls sieged Gold River’s park. Even hidden, in the distance, those twin tornados of fire caught everyone’s attention before, and terrified them further. After that, unfamiliar beasts appeared before the citizens, out of nowhere. Gold River civilians still within the strip mall and park areas panicked, seeking shelter while awaiting rescue. Many were injured; some were killed.

A tap at Arnold’s shoulder came from Lu. She silently pointed to the bear climbing onto one car. It eyed something inside, but from that distance whatever caught the beast’s interest was unclear. (What’s it after?) He looked back at Lu, her concern growing. Arnold looked again, seeing the bear focused wholly on that one vehicle. (Somethin’ in there that it wants.) The teenaged girl to his back was clearly stifling herself. Those brown eyes were close to watering, and she was biting her lower lip. “…What is it?” Bending his own rule, he whispered to Lu.

“Mom’s in there.” Arnold hadn’t noticed until just then, but the tops of peoples’ heads were peaking up from the car windows.

“…wait here. When you get the signal, get their attention in the car, then make for one of them stores. Got me?” Arnold slowly crept away through the brush.

“What’s the signal?” Before she could get her answer, Lu lost track of the old man. That old hunter blended into the dark woods around and disappeared. She threw up her hands in confusion but patiently waited; not something the rowdy tomboy often did.

The bear’s snout alone was bigger than a person’s chest, and its paws crunched metal under five hundred massive pounds of girth. With ease did that beast’s thick claws crack and break through the windshield! The people inside screamed while climbing back and away from that quickly angered grizzly! Roaring with sudden bloodlust, a boom resounded across the mostly silent Gold River forest! That shook the bear, drawing its attention away from those crying citizens. Along the wind, a scent reached its nose, and the bear furiously pursued that burning and bitter stench, recognized immediately as gun powder!

Dark woods mattered little to the bear; following that scent with a nose stronger than its eyes was simple! Within seconds, the source was identified; and the beast sprinted off like a brown-haired tank! Barreling across the block, slamming cars and dumpsters aside, on a mad dash with violent intentions, anything in that beast’s path was crushed! Even tree trunks in the forest were bashed and splintered on the bear’s chase toward…a tiny firecracker. Buried in wet, dark soil was a small explosive pilfered from the festivities. That bear’s focus was so intense it missed the camo-jacketed teen sneaking around.

(Guess that was the signal.) Skulking her way over to the car door, Lu struggled to open it with a broken handle. Needing an immediate solution, she elected to bash a nearby rock into the window!

(Stupid girl!) From far deeper in the woods, hidden down a hill, behind trees, with water to his back, Arnold watched Lu lifting a rock bigger than her head up! Swiftly pulling up his rifle, loading it, and taking aim, a shot was fired off before the rambunctious girl bashed open the window! Arnold’s bullet wasn’t well aimed; grazing those azure scales along the grizzly’s back, only drawing its attention, as was his intent.

A roar from the bear and it was off chasing after Arnold! The old man looked back, seeing Lu helping people out through a freshly broken car window. Even at a distance, he could make out the worry in her eyes, but Arnold wasn’t afraid of the furry colossus giving chase. Outrunning the bear would’ve been impossible for almost anyone; thus, it came down to outsmarting that beast! Arnold weaved between trees which the bear couldn’t manage, resorting to lumbering movements and losing speed. It’d been years since Arnold was forced to sprint like that, an exhilarating activity, but his knees cursed him!

What was Arnold’s plan for survival? Even he didn’t exactly know. Running along the strip mall’s back, empty parking spaces and dumpsters were all that awaited him. The old hunter briefly considered jumping into a dumpster for cover, but obviously a bear’s nose wouldn’t be fooled. Off to one side, more parking lots trailing off into dark woods which could only end in the river, then to his left, an open backdoor to a familiar shop. He ducked in, slamming the metal door behind him, but knew it wouldn’t last long.

Through Dirk’s workshop, Arnold dodged around benches and shelving units on his way out of the other side! His lungs joined the knees in cursing Arnold; there was no stopping or slowing down, however. Roaring resounded from outside just as the door was blasted off its hinges! The gargantuan beast locked eyes with Arnold; those brown predatory marbles reflected its prey with blind fury. It charged, but with such a massive body, ended up wedged between the door frames!

“Sorry, fella’.” Arnold said before seizing the opportunity as it presented itself! Unleashing a shot right into the beast’s thick skull, blood and fur were sent flying; and yet, the beast didn’t yield! Quickly reloading his rifle, Arnold unloaded another bullet to its head, which failed to fell the grizzly! The bear tore itself free and tackled Arnold to the ground! There was less than a second for Arnold to catch his breath before it was on top of him again, biting into his back! Thick clothes did little to protect his body from those vicious jaws, puncturing flesh and cracking bones; Arnold was tossed aside, crashing through shelves!

Never in Arnold’s long life had the experienced hunter been in such a fight. Fangs dug into his back; and the slam knocked wind out of his lungs. Being rendered immobile for just a second would’ve spelled his death, but with how badly hurt the grizzly itself was, their battle of desperation was prolonged. Both of those shots had blasted away flesh and parts of bone from the beast’s skull. It staggered, dazed and moribund, with skull cracked open, at death’s door.

One final roar and the grizzly again charged a supine Arnold! The knife in his belt was drawn! It was either him or that grizzly, man or bear! Only one of them was surviving that attack, and Arnold would make sure it was him no matter what! (Moo, I’m not leavin’ ya’ yet!) Even unable to bring air into his lungs, Arnold rolled to his left, and jammed the blade into that beast’s skull, stabbing deep! The grizzly flailed, but Arnold held strong, pushing and gripping with all his might onto that knife's handle! Roaring, snarling, bleeding, fighting, and then no more. Down went the grizzly, a colossal and noble beast. Arnold finally took a breath feeling blood roll down his legs; knowing he didn’t have much strength left in that aged body of his.

Part 3

On weak legs, Arnold stumbled from Dirk’s metal workshop, his old body ailing. Bleeding, some old bones broken, muscles torn, and maybe organs ruptured; Arnold nearly collapsed into the street. A nearby light pole became the wounded hunter’s crutch, barely keeping him upright. “You…?” A voice to his side spoke. Arnold looked, and to his surprise, a familiar and old wrinkly face in Bramble stood on the street! “Why are you here, Arnold?” The manfaced dog familiar was out of breath with twigs and dirt clinging to his fur. “You must flee…” He looked over the old hunter, realizing how impossible that would be.

“Heh.” Arnold chuckled. “Bramble, right? The girl’s dog. She nearby? We could really use her here.” A Joke at such a time, it caught Bramble off guard.

“You have not given up on survival?”

“…” Thoughts of seeing his wife and son one last time before the sky claimed him kept Arnold from simply letting his last breath loose. “Nah. Too much of a pain to just die.”

“Then, run! There isn’t much time before—” Bramble’s ears twitched! “It would appear there is no time. I apologize, Arnold.”

Boots on concrete approached, chased by numerous claws scraping road asphalt coming upon the two exhausted old men. A young woman flanked by numerous azure armored beasts made her way up the street; like a commander leading an army of beasts. Her greyish jacket and skirt were adorned with ornate ivory trimmings shaped like animal fangs and a large reptile skeleton, down to a spiny back. What drew Arnold’s eye though, was the purple stitching running through her clothes, and that weird bodysuit, humming with energy; he recognized those. “There you are, little pup!” Despite her air of intimidation, leading an army of wolves, primates, badgers, snakes, owls, falcons, and even geese, Bernadine Clement smiled and spoke with a cheery voice to Bramble! “No need to run…oh.” That grin quickly morphed into a disgusted sneer upon seeing his human face. “I keep forgetting that Anesha has you take such an unpleasant appearance.”

“It was not My Lady Anesha who gifted me with such an appearance and this second life, child, but Lady Kiara! I would ask that you do not insult it, as I am rather fond of this form.” Bramble’s retort was basically ignored. Before the animal loving witch was a hunter, and inside a store to his left, laid her fallen ally! So many horrendous wounds covered that massive, strong body which would never move again under its own volition. Tears rolled down Bernadine’s tan cheeks, feeling another part of her heart crack.

“You…you killed that bear, you filthy human—” Arnold shot his rifle! That bullet struck Bernadine’s forehead, blasting through her bangs and blowing the witch off her feet!

A lazy shot, with hardly any aim, only having one arm to fire while the old man held himself up; but it landed. “That shot didn’t kill her, did it?” Arnold asked Bramble, fumbling to chamber another bullet. He was quickly swarmed by chimps who grabbed and tossed the gun away! “Ah…fuck.” With no option to fight back or escape, death seemed certain.

“Ugh…” Bernadine struggled, pushing up off the ground. Blood trickled down from where the bullet struck, having destroyed her unkempt bangs. “Just like a human.” The chimps held down Arnold as Bernadine approached, scepter at the ready. “Killing animals heartlessly? Killing those who have more right to this land than you?!”

“…Girl, I don’t know ya’ from the backside of a deer. Why ya’ going to pretend like ya’ know me? If ya’ gonna’ do me in, then do it.”

“Bernadine Clement!” Interrupting Bernadine building mana, Bramble stepped between the two. “Why are you doing this? This level of destruction and bloodshed is far beyond the pale for one such as yourself! Is it not against the wishes of all Magekin?!” Honestly, he wasn’t interested in her reasoning; Bramble was trying to buy time! The dogman had no plans to rescue Arnold but prayed that along with time, a miracle would come.

“Some, yes. Others, no. The entire world is in chaos, and Graewood especially!” She spat! The countdown to Bernadine ending Arnold’s life was short, and there still was zero ideas of how to help him popping into that familiar’s mind! “It’s been centuries since we’ve interacted deeply with human society and they’ve proven themselves to have changed very little. Even those who’ve chosen to live amongst them agree! Greedy creatures that imprison animals, slaughter them, and steal their homes!”

“That’s funny to hear, white girl.” Arnold took umbrage with those accusations.

“Do not speak so lowly of me, human. Magekin of Graewood have advanced far beyond what you disgusting savages consider ‘race’. Our kin are our kin. And our kin treat nature and mother earth right! We live alongside nature, allow it to grow, negotiate, nurture, and take only what is necessary! Meanwhile you humans…” With a sicken glare, Bernadine looked across the strip mall. “You build your stores while destroying the soil where animals walk. You pour cement and tar over the soil and foliage, just so your disgusting cars can roll over straight roads. You cut down trees to walk paths unbothered by nature!” Glowing with mana and a spell at the ready, she pointed her staff toward Arnold’s face! “How dare you speak to me of irony or hypocrisy, human?!”

“Humanity is selfish.” A statement from Bramble that shocked both Bernadine and Arnold. “However, so are Magekin. I have lived a long enough life, twice over, to see both sides’ greed.”

“The aristocracy are not selfish!” She fervently countered! “They, unlike all those avaricious human leaders, do all they can to maintain balance! Balance between nature and Magekin alike.”

“Meanwhile, they smother their own kin beneath them.”

“They do not! Silence!” Bernadine was infuriated, turning her full attention to Bramble! “Our lords and ladies do all they can to keep us safe from humans while providing for us and protecting mother earth!”

“Is that how you see it, child?”

“It isn’t how I see it; it is how things work. Our very society, culture, and existence hinges on the aristocracy creating Graewood, and the little that we are asked for in exchange is loyalty. That is why what Anesha has done is…unforgivable. It’s a crime against not just Graewood, but all Magekin!”

“…How many kids ya’ killed?” Arnold asked.

“What?” Being attacked verbally from two sources, Bernadine was left trying to reorient herself!

“How many ‘human’ kids, ya’ killed? ‘Cause I’m sure all of them didn’t cut down no trees, pour no cement, or build no stores!” It was not in Arnold to argue, personality wise or physically at that point, but hearing people in his home disrespected pushed the already battered hunter to speak up! “Ya’ came here and just had ya’ animals killing people left and right! Yeah, we got people that ain’t no good, takin’ from the land and never givin’ back; and sometimes our leaders are shit, but that ain’t the kids, or the regular folk though! If ya’ want to lie to yourself about how your leaders ain’t never stepped on an ant while making things good for y’all, then go ahead and live in your fantasy world, little witch girl, but don’t come to me and talk about how mine are the only ones that take!”

“…” Bernadine’s words were trapped in her throat behind a wall of indignant fury! She pinched her fingers, then pointed them toward Dirk’s store. A snap and… “Ignite!” A spark exploded, igniting the building’s entire interior! “How do you feel about that? Enraged, yeah? Because your greedy human construction is being destroyed before your eyes!”

“Yeah, I am upset. Not about all that bull you’re talkin’, but upset my friend’s shop is burnin’. My friend made lots of stuff in that store; stuff for the community. All that stuff about leaders and ladies or lords or whatever, ain’t got shit to do with us. Gold River’s always been small, and we been livin’ on this land for generations; keepin’ to ourselves and helpin’ each other. We try to let nature do its thing as much as we can and keep from fuckin’ with it.” There wasn’t an ounce of weakness in Arnold’s old eyes! “Ya’ just hate humans, girl. I get it, people suck, but there ain’t no way your people so saintly and mine so evil.”

“Ignorance.” Scoffing at the insinuation. “That’s ignorance! You don’t know a thing about Magekin! We use the very land – we use mana to make our world better! Your human leaders just kill, destroy, and take! All of you, you’re all slaves to your leaders and a way of life that only takes!” Bernadine placed her staff’s reptile sculpted head onto Arnold’s forehead. “Die, human.”

Bramble leapt at Bernadine! (Has Fate affected me?! Risking myself for something like this, My Lady would call me foolish!) The old dogman bore his shar pei fangs, ready to chomp down on Bernadine’s arm, much like Darcy’s! (Maybe if I can at least damage her hand, My Lady will have an advantage!)

“Pierce!” Without even looking away from Arnold, Bernadine launched a spell from her staff which blasted Bramble’s right front leg to pieces! The light-brown dog leg shattered into mana particles, rendering that familiar to a hobbled state as he fell with a thud. Looking at his face made the witch groan. “Why did you have to turn your face back into a dog’s?! Ugh. I feel awful seeing you in pain like that. Can you turn it back to the human form? If you do, I promise to at least make your death less painful.”

A pop rang out, and Bernadine’s long greenish-brown hair exploded out of its ponytail! She was blasted off her feet once more, thrown into the chimps’ arms as they released Arnold! Arnold recognized that sound as his own rifle! Tracing the sound back to its source, a confused and frightened Lu had fallen back with Arnold’s smoking rifle in her hands! “Uh…that’s a lot of kick.”

“What are ya’ doing here?! Why didn’t ya’ run?!” By then, Arnold was far beyond being able to stand, let alone get up off the ground. He was left screaming at the teenaged girl who was running toward him. “Get out of here!”

“No!” She retorted, trying in vain to pull that large old man onto her back. The animals all focused on Bernadine, downed and seemingly unconscious! That bullet scored a hit right to the back of her head, slowed only by a combination of thick hair, mage’s robes, and that collar. Even with magically powered clothing stronger than steel, being struck with such force gave the witch massive whiplash, concussing her. If Bernadine had been aware, maybe she could’ve prepared for the impact, but Lu had seized a superb opportunity! The witch was so distracted, even those familiar controlled animals were pulled into her indignation fueled tirade, missing that small Native American girl sneaking over to Arnold’s discarded rifle. “Come on, stop being stubborn…and whose dog is this?”

“Leave me. I ain’t makin’ it anyway.”

“Oh, my god! I did all this, the least you could do is try, you old fart!” Lu refused to give up! Using all the strength her body could muster; she managed the nearly two-hundred-pound man up on her shoulders while grabbing the scruff of Bramble’s neck! “Come…on…?”

It was Lu’s turn to be surprised by the sudden appearance of some familiar faces! “Let me help!” Caleb ran up…alongside Rita! “Rita, I told you to stay with the others!”

“I want to help!” Flippantly ignoring the situation’s gravity, Rita hoisted one of Arnold’s legs up over her head! Caleb grabbed the shoulders, and Lu held Arnold’s other leg; then with Bramble draped across his stomach, they began awkwardly shuttling him toward safety!

Bernadine suddenly regained consciousness! The groggy witch pushed herself up; a splitting headache making it impossible to focus. Her vision was blurred, neck and head throbbing, with a mind totally clouded. For an entire minute, Bernadine sat confused; having the mission, thoughts, and recent events knocked out of her head by a bullet. Raddled, looking around, seeing all the animals surrounding her, a smile still managed to bloom. Bliss warmed Bernadine’s breast. Overjoyed, she called out a name. “Fafnir! Where are you? Look at all these lovelies!” Her hand brushed the remnants of something. On the ground were pieces of that pink collar which held her hair in place. The collar that bound Bernadine’s hair had sentimental value only she and a few others even knew. “What…?” Slowly, it all came back to her! Bernadine turned, staring daggers into the fleeing humans! “Enough of this…” Raising to her feet, the Magekin’s mind was still clouded; not with confusion, but fury, as she prepared to use her trump card. A magic created with combating humans in mind! “I invoke thee…!” Bernadine shouted, and in an instant, all the azure scales throughout both Gold River and Whispering Hills rocketed across the skies towards her! A radiant blue tornado swirled, sucking in mana and clinging to her robes. Blue scales formed vambraces, spaulders, and greaves. A pale yellow, horizontally sectioned chest plate rolled up from a blue fauld and over the witch’s breasts and to her neck. The swirling azure twister subsided as claws were fitted to Bernadine’s feet and hands. A hood came to rest on her head; one with two protrusions upon the top and rows of pointed spines rolling down Bernadine’s back. “…your soul as my cloak; arise o’ unbreakable dragon!”

Part 4

“Bit much, don’t ya’ think…?” Arnold joked, but the dogman familiar laying across his stomach recognized that spell. Their situation went from dire to totally hopeless. Even those, unaccustomed to mana, felt a drastic change in the atmosphere as humidity across Gold River’s market was blown away by Bernadine’s sudden explosion of power!

The battle armored witch silently watched those frightened humans while sparing a thought for all her felled allies. Down by her foot was that collar; Bernadine picked it up and turned over a heart shaped tag inscribed with the name ‘Fafnir’. “Do you remember this, Fafnir?” A low growl came from the Magekin’s newly summoned azure robes! “It was what let us stay together; like a promise ring. They said you had to wear it in Graewood, and you did that wonderfully! Those few years went by so fast. I couldn’t let you go, and you promised to stay with me. Now, here we are, together, as one!” Bernadine lifted her staff up, sending out waves of mana! “We are not alone! They are not alone!” Across the two towns, every amethyst fin shined brilliantly with mana! “Together, scream with your deepest hearts, roar with your mightiest souls, and howl from within your very spirits!” Into the sky, the fins rocketed off, leaving behind the fallen and fighting animals alike! Each spike stabbed into Bernadine’s armored robes; attaching to her claws, hood, back, and forming a facemask of purple fangs. She screamed in pain as her cache was flooded with mana! Struggling to control it, Fafnir, her familiar, channeled that growing power throughout its robe form!

The fins absorbed mana from all her fallen beast allies across both towns, pumping that power into Bernadine’s armored robes! Suddenly another set of legs sprung out from Bernadine’s azure scaled fauld; her backside was morphed into a centaur-like shape! Both the hind and front legs grew to mammoth size as the undercarriage comprised of pure crystalized mana swelled! Her familiar’s scales fit to match a monstrous new form as the witch’s entire body, from waist down, outpaced a tank in size! A thick, colossal blue and purple tail sprung from Bernadine’s newly formed body, smashing a building to her back! Along her backside, the spines became wings, shrinking in size on their way toward her tail’s tip, but remaining razor sharp!

Bernadine looked down on Arnold and the others, silently viewing them as something lower than ants. She raised her staff once more and spoke. “O’ arid lands which claim the weak…”
Lu understood little about Magekin, but as every animal around Bernadine fled in terror, grasped something horrible was about to happen! She quickly swung Arnold rifle around, loaded the chamber, and took aim! Only once had Lu fired a gun, when the teen shot Bernadine to save Arnold! Lu was scared, and taking a life seemed impossible to stomach, but she was always ready to do what she felt was right! Just a shot to her chest, if Bernadine could survive one to the back of her head, one to that armor plated body wouldn’t kill her; that’s what the girl told herself when squeezing the trigger! The recoil knocked Lu off her feet, jamming hard into a thin shoulder and nearly dislocating it!

Faster than the eye could track, with destructive force capable of sundering bone and flesh alike; that bullet was caught in midair by Bernadine. “…And cinders upon the wind, melt swords and shields alike!” It was hardly even a thought, catching the bullet. Bernadine rose up on those powerful hindlegs! “Scorching seism!” A stomp from her mighty front legs, mana ignited the air and earth, exploding outward! Concrete crumbled, asphalt tore, buildings collapsed, trees in the forest ignited, and water surrounding Gold River was blown back by a heated hurricane force gale of magic!

Even miles out, in Whispering Hills, the still recovering citizens weren’t spared! The riverbanks were shoved into their streets with boats and yachts tossed onto land by an unexpected earthquake-typhoon combination! Many cars abandoned on the bridges were tossed into the river like toys! Quakes and waves of heat rolled out beyond both towns and into the hills themselves. What people feared, some animals cheered, but only some; watching trees, soil, and fauna catch fire.

Both towns were lit ablaze by a single magical being. Bernadine’s faith in Fafnir allowed her to give over autonomy of the flesh to her familiar, granting freedom for the Magekin’s mind to work at its highest level! ‘Invoke’, a spell to induce perfect synchronicity between Magekin and their familiars. With their bodies at ease, and minds focused on magic alone, a trained witch or warlock could single handedly wipe out thousands of humans, maybe more! That spell was the ultimate defense and weapon against mankind.

“This what ya’ wanted?!” Arnold shouted at Bernadine. That blast of fire would’ve burned him and his companions alive, if not for the surprising appearance of a barrier sprung forth from Bramble. “Burning down the whole forest?! Killing innocent animals and people all the same to ya’ now?!” Lu stepped in to catch Arnold just as the old man fell again!

“…” Silently, Bernadine looked out across the inferno. A forest fire of that size would obliterate the habitat of all wildlife in Gold River and Whispering Hills. “…This was the destined outcome. H-humans would have caused this regardless. This…this was necessary.” Bernadine told herself. “Right, Fafnir?” With roaring flames growing about, the animal loving witch watched her own allies flee! The familiar cloaking her body cooed, trying to soothe its master’s guilty mind. “These lands will be remade by a Magekin. When it is, animals will run happy and free.”

“Which lord promised you that through hollow teeth?” Bramble spoke up with Rita helping the hobbled dogman stand! Caleb was horrified seeing his daughter aiding that abomination; a dog suddenly morphing its face into an old man’s wasn’t the weirdest thing from that evening, but there seemed like no end to the insanity! “You are being used as a tool, child! Their gaze remains far beyond you and your goals.”

Bernadine couldn’t deny that. “…Maybe. Who cares? You won’t be around to argue that point much longer.” But she didn’t need to! “Humans, pray to whatever god you worship for a quick death!” A steward of the Graewood aristocracy’s goals, Bernadine would slay every human in Gold River, seeking their prize; the seed of Yggdrasil! “Burn…” Right onto her facemask, something dropped. Then, across her outstretched armored arm. More and more, the night sky opened up! “…Rain…?” Suddenly, rain clouds freed a squall across the towns.

Rain began blessing Whispering Hills and Gold River with watery salvation. The night had been clear until only minutes beforehand. Citizens from both towns looked up to the clouded skies with relief. On a night where death and fear ruled, the heavens offering a gift to douse fires surrounding those worn-out citizens, was a godsend. It wasn’t much, but the squall managed to save some buildings, the forests, and some lives as it washed away Bernadine’s magical flames. Even animals in the streets and woods were relieved by the sublimely fortunate rainfall.

Her boots stepped evenly through mud and pools as the rain slowed. Atop her shoulder was that recently purchased double sided axe; which she loathed having to sully so soon after acquisition. Pains in knees, hips, back, arms, and even her head, but there was no backing down. Worse yet, a cache running nearly empty, without her hat, no broom, and running on only an hour of sleep; Anesha Kyteler was worse for wear, approaching without an ounce of fear in her stride!

“Anesha!” Rita was the first to notice her favorite witch!

“Child.” She didn’t bother hiding the smile across her lips, even such a small thing would distract from an impending battle and possibly unavoidable defeat. “Lu, take that old fool of a dog and the curmudgeonly hunter elsewhere. I leave that to you, Rita, and her father.”

“Gotcha’!” Lu lugged Arnold over to Caleb. Using both of their shoulders, they were able to help the ragged hunter walk. “What about you?”

“Worry not.” Anesha walked in front of Bernadine’s new massive form and looked her former classmate in the eye, unflinching. “I shall not fall here.”

“My Lady!” Her dogman familiar tried his best to leave Rita’s grip, but the child held tight! “Release me, child! I will not leave My Lady! I will not fail another! I refuse to allow another of my masters to fall before me due to my weakness and inability!”

“Bramble!” Just that stopped him! “This is a direct order; hear it, as I do not plan to repeat myself. You are to survive tonight, no matter what the circumstances. For when I emerge from this battle victorious, I expect you to be there and welcome me in with adulation!”

“…Yes, My Lady.” Rita and Bramble followed behind Caleb, Lu, and Arnold as the group left Anesha to her battle.

“Bernadine.”

“Anesha.”

End of chapter 47