Protector Of The Grove (Book 2) (35 page)

Stop commenting and think
! Snapped Willum as the scholar went to check on the leatherworker’s progress.
You need to do something
!

“
I’m not sure what
,” said the imp. “
Perhaps if I concentrate I may be able to protect you from the effects of his new artifact, but that depends on its power. Even then, I don’t see how that helps you get free. That fool Cletus would be your best bet. But as you can see, he’s pretty helpless at the moment.
”

Why doesn’t he just fight
? Willum asked.
It’s obvious he doesn’t want to listen to the scholar
.

“
These gnome warriors have the rules ground into them when they’re young. It’s one of their basic principals. Ho. Don’t attack stewards. Don’t attack scholars. Do whatever a scholar tells you, unless-. Hmm . . . Ho-ho! Perhaps Djeri had the right idea. Here’s what you say
.”

Willum licked his lips. “Cletus! He’s not a scholar. He’s a warrior. Look at him! He has a sword. He can’t tell you not to obey-!” Arcon silenced him with a gag of air. Willum struggled, but couldn’t get another sound out. He just hoped his message had gotten across.

“Why was he not gagged earlier?” Aloysius asked the dwarves as he eyed Cletus’ reaction. “I will not stand for incompetence.”

“They was bein’ quiet before,” Donjon said, but the gnome wasn’t listening to his explanation.

Aloysius’ gaze was still on Cletus. “Warrior Cletus you ignore what that man said. Understand?”

“Okay, Scholar,” Cletus said but, when Aloysius turned away, Cletus watched him very carefully.

Tarah fled.

The moment she saw the blood pouring from Esmine’s neck, she ran screaming into a dark place in her mind. Here there was quiet. No one to see her shame. No one but her memories.

You protect those that are helpless when you can
, chastised her papa.

I tried, but I failed, papa
, she replied.

Tarah Woodblade never fails
, said Grampa Rolf.
And even if she does, she would never admit it
.

I know
! she shouted.

Yet she had failed. Tarah Woodblade had failed the most important job of her life. Esmine, that sweet beast, was dead, slaughtered before her eyes. And it was her fault. Why? Why hadn’t she been able to stop it?

As if in answer, Tarah saw a spot of light in the darkness. It approached her, growing larger and larger. As it grew near, she saw that the light was, in fact, Esmine’s white skin. The rogue horse stood in front of her, looking just as she had when Tarah first met her. Strong, vibrant, powerful. No, that was wrong. Esmine looked even more powerful than back then. Now she shone.

What do you want from me
? Esmine asked.

Esmine
! she said, sobbing.
Please forgive me! This was all my fault
.

What do you want from me
? the rogue horse repeated, cocking her head. Tarah saw white ropes of energy floating towards her from Esmine’s chest.

Please forgive me
! Tarah said.
I’m so sorry. You should have lived another thousand years. You would have if not for me
.
I’m the one who killed you.

I know this
, Esmine said. She repeated,
What do you want from me
?

I-I want your forgiveness
. Tarah said.
Though I know I don’t deserve it
.

The rogue horse blinked.
Such power is beyond me. Ask something else
.

Tarah’s heart fell. What had she expected?
Just be happy. Move on and find peace
.

I do not know this
, the rogue horse replied confused.

Esmine
! commanded another voice in the darkness. There, in the distance, appeared the gnome scholar. He sat cross-legged with his shining sword across his knees. His long arms were outstretched.
Esmine come to me
.

The rogue horse gave Tarah an apologetic look and turned towards the scholar.

Wait! Don’t go
! Tarah said.

Esmine
! Aloysius called again and the rogue horse walked towards him, the white ropes of energy trailing behind her.
Come, Esmine. Obey me. I have need of you.
The rogue horse broke into a trot.

No
! Tarah said. Her staff appeared in her hand and she ran towards the gnome, intending to battle him. But she didn’t move. She ran as fast as she could, but she grew no closer.

Esmine continued towards the gnome and Tarah saw white ropes of energy leap from the gnome’s sword and wrap around the rogue. Tarah knew what was happening. It was like the imp had explained to her. The gnome was using binding magic to enslave Esmine’s soul.

She could not let that happen. Tarah raised her staff and pulled it back, intending to hurl it at him like a spear. Then she paused. The ropes of whiteness that led from Esmine to her rose with the staff.

Tarah looked at her weapon. In this place it wasn’t blood red, but brilliantly white. Thousands of tiny white threads extended from the staff in every direction. Something clicked in Tarah’s mind. These were links. Spirit magic links, each one connected to the spirit of a creature whose blood the staff had absorbed. The white ropes linking her to Esmine came to the staff as well.

Tarah watched the gnome cast rope after rope of his own white magic, urging Esmine closer. As he did so more of her conversation with the imp came back to her. There were prerequisites for binding. She tried to remember exactly what Theodore had said.

“
One must first kill a creature you wish to bind.
”
Esmine had acknowledged that her death was Tarah’s fault.

“
Eat part of it.
”
Tarah had swallowed Esmine’s blood on the day of the attack.

“
Create an item using part of the creature’s body
.” She hadn’t done that, but her blood staff allowed her to skip that step. Djeri had told her how the staff had absorbed Esmine’s blood.

“
Then commune with the spirit of the creature and convince it to work for you.
” Tarah swore. So that’s what Esmine had wanted from her.

The gnome had many ropes of magic around Esmine now. Tarah couldn’t hear what he was mumbling but she already knew what the gnome wanted of the rogue. Esmine must not have liked what he asked, because she resisted, pulling back. But Aloysius was insistent. Some of his ropes of magic changed color, turning gray.

Esmine
! Tarah shouted, holding out her staff.
Come to me! I know what I want of you. Come! Don’t listen to him
.

The rogue horse pulled harder, moving slowly away from the gnome’s grasp. Tarah pulled along with her, willing the ropes of spirit magic leading from her staff to tighten. She cried out Esmine’s name again and another rope leapt from her staff like a lasso, wrapping around the rogue horse’s torso.

What are you doing? Obey
! commanded the gnome.

Aloysius stood in anger, holding out his sword at the rogue and his eyes widened as he noticed Tarah for the first time. Tarah snarled at him and pulled tighter on her staff, willing Esmine to turn her way. The rogue horse turned.

Come
, Tarah said.
Work with me. We’ll work together
.

Where are you going, Esmine
? said the gnome, his voice rising in power.
Come to me, Esmine.
You belong to me. I killed you. I devoured you. I command you
.

Aloysius grew, his form increasing in size, becoming larger and larger. Tarah pulled and Esmine strained toward her. The scholar grew bigger, gradually turning into the giant Tarah had seen in her dreams. Black ropes leapt from his mouth combining with the gray and white ones.

Esmine screamed as her progress stopped.

How dare you, Tarah Woodblade? This rogue horse is mine. Bought and paid for. You have no claim.

I have every claim you do
! She replied, pulling on the ropes again.
Come, Esmine, work with me
.

The giant grew as the rogue horse struggled. Esmine looked into her eyes, her voice pleading,
What do you want from me
?

Tarah had thought on this and she knew what she wanted.
Come. We’ll work together. Help me escape. Help me take all my friends and hide
.

Hide
? Esmine asked.

Tarah could tell the thought appealed to her.
Yes. Hide with me
.

I accept
, Esmine said.

The rogue horse surged forward, struggling to break free of the gnome’s grasp. But Aloysius wasn’t ready to concede. The ropes he had tied around Esmine solidified into the shape of a hand. A solid black hand that pulled the rogue horse towards the giant’s hungry mouth.

The scholar had the benefit of age and knowledge as well as the fact that his claim on the rogue horse was more recent. Tarah knew that it was a battle that she shouldn’t be able to win, but that didn’t matter. She was Tarah Woodblade and she refused to fail again. If someone had to be a giant to win this battle, then so be it. She’d be a giant too.

Tarah’s form began to grow, more white ropes leaping from her to help Esmine forward.

*          *          *

Willum watched Scholar Aloysius sitting cross-legged on the ground, his sword resting across his lap with its still-wet new leather grip. The leatherworker had complained that the leather needed to cure, but the scholar had been convinced that the leather would cure on its own once the binding was complete. Aloysius had his eyes closed and was leaning forward, his hands steepled in front of his face. He wore a large frown.

Steward Jessica walked by with a scowl on her face, having just finished negotiations with the dwarves. Obviously she felt that the scholar had come out on the bad side of the deal. As she walked by, she stepped in the rogue horse’s blood and grumbled, “Disgusting! Isn’t someone going to clean that up?”

“
Oh! Ho-ho! I have an idea, Willy
!” said the axe suddenly. “
Oh, it’s a good one. Oh ho
!”

Great.
Willum said.
What is it
?

“
I’ll surprise you, Willy. Just say ‘force’
.”

I’m kind of gagged here
, Willum reminded him.
Can you skip that rule for now
?

Then say it in your mind, Willy
, Theodore said irritably.

Fine. ‘Force’
.

With a rush of air, the axe flew up out of the wagon, flipped once, and landed splat in the pool of Esmine’s blood. Willum was confused at first. Then he smiled in understanding.

“
Oh, yes
,” said the imp, drinking in the magic. “
Willy-Willy-Willy, this is blood magic. Oh, there’s dragon in it. Ho-ho, and others. This is power I haven’t felt in a very long time
.”

One of the dwarves had seen the axe fall out of the wagon. He went over to pick it up. By the time he got there the pool of blood no longer shimmered with magic.

“
Oh-ho, and I’ll take yours, too, dwarfy
,” Theodore said. The dwarf was startled by the sound of the imp’s voice. He turned the ax over in his hands, inspecting it. The axe turned translucent in his hands.

Slice
, Willum commanded.

The dwarf jerked and fell in two pieces, sliced down the middle. But the axe didn’t fall. It stayed suspended and translucent, nearly invisible to the naked eye. Willum switched to mage sight and saw a figure standing there holding it. The figure was made up of golden air magic in the shape of the imp. It turned and walked towards him.

“
Dwarf blood is nothing compared to rogue horse blood, Willy. Oh-ho, but it’s still blood magic
,” said the imp as the golden figure bent, slicing the ropes that bound Willum. “
I’m pretty sure this is what a god feels like, Willum. Ho! This is more power than I ever held when I was alive
!”

One of the stewards cried out at the gruesome sight of the dwarf’s corpse. The camp was a sudden flurry of movement as the stewards backed away and dwarves and gnome warriors looked for assailants. The only ones that didn’t move were the prisoners and Aloysius. The scholar’s face was pinched with concentration. Cletus took a step towards him, watching the scholar carefully.

Willum didn’t let on that his bonds had been cut.
Free the others. We all need to make our moves at once
.

“
What about that Steward Gray guy
?” asked the imp. Arcon was looking in their direction raising a squirming gloved hand. “
He has magic and I’m pretty sure he sees me now
.”

Down him
, Willum said.
Slice
!

A vertical blade of golden air magic shot from the axe, carving a furrow in the ground and slicing the arm off of a passing dwarf. Arcon saw the attack coming and threw up a hurried shield, but the shield did not stop the powerful attack completely. The blade of air struck Arcon’s shield and shattered, sending a dozen deadly shards into the mage’s body, tossing him to the ground.

“
Ho-ho, if only rogue horses grew on trees I would harvest one every day
.”

Not funny
, Willum said. He didn’t like the sound of power-drunk Theodore.
Now free the others
.
Hurry
!

“
Now-now, don’t rush me, mortal
,” the imp laughed. But he did move quickly. The invisible axe sped through the air, freeing everyone in seconds before returning to Willum’s hands.

Just then a column of fire erupted from around Arcon’s fallen body, obscuring him completely and setting several of the stewards on fire.

Everyone drew back from the heat and Willum took the opportunity to run to the wagon and start tossing his companions their weapons.

*          *          *

Arcon lay on the ground, fire burning all around him. He looked up through the pillar, seeing the lightening sky far above him, and knew he was dying. Blood pooled around him and he couldn’t feel his body from the chest down.

“
Listen to me, blast you! Turn the power of the rings inward
!” Mellinda pleaded. “
You can live. We can come out of this unscathed
!”