King's Gate 2: A High Fantasy Harem, page 5
“What are you doing?” Emely asked.
“I’m going to set off a bomb,” I told her as my hand wrapped around the handle of my sword. “If I direct it into the center of the swarm it can wipe out more of them at once.”
“No,” Nia said. “Don’t do that, Alex.”
“Why not?”
She sent another blast of freezing power at a cluster of the bugs and several of them seized up and toppled. The effect was getting stronger but was still not taking out as many at a time as she would want.
“You don’t want to call too much attention to us. Those bombs are powerful magic. They aren’t exactly subtle when they go off. If you blast one of those things, everybody within a huge radius of this place is going to hear and feel it, and that means the people of the city a few miles from here. We don’t want them scared of us or thinking of us as a threat before we even get there.”
I grumbled under my breath in frustration even though I knew she was right. Rather than creating the bomb through my sword, I aimed the tip at the undulating stream at my feet and directed a concentrated burst of magic into them. The magic deflected off their shells and I dodged it as it came back toward me. Emely let out a victorious shout and I looked toward her. She leaned forward and pried an arrow from the ground, displaying it to me to show off the bug now impaled on the point of the arrow.
“Good job,” I shouted to her. “Now get the other million of them.”
She glared at me and shook the bug from the arrow so she could string it across her bow again and aim for another. I was slashing across some of the bugs with the blade of my sword when out of the corner of my eye I noticed movement at the edge of the camp. Turning toward it, I saw a woman creeping toward Riley’s bags. She crouched down beside them and dipped her hand inside, rummaging through the contents.
“Hey!” Riley shouted as she noticed her, too.
The woman looked up, and in a sudden eruption of movement she rushed at Riley, lifting her hand above her head. I immediately noticed the glint of sunlight on the knife she gripped, and I ran after her, a roar of anger building in my throat.
8
Riley gasped as the woman slashed the knife through the air toward her. The tip of the blade narrowly missed slicing into her throat, and only because I grabbed her around the waist and yanked her back. We crashed to the ground and immediately the sharp pain of the bugs radiated over my entire body as they rushed over me. The woman flailed against my grip, but I noticed the bugs weren’t getting anywhere near her even as they crawled over every inch of me they could access.
Still holding her as tight as I could to prevent her from getting away, I rolled to my side and got to my feet. Riley ran toward me and swatted at the bugs still clinging to me. The woman thrashed at Riley, still trying to get to her with the knife in her hand.
“Cut that shit out,” I commanded, pulling against her to yank her off her feet and swing her away from Riley while I quickly adjusted my grip to hold both arms down. “Who are you?”
The woman wouldn’t respond, and Riley got in front of us again, purposely staying far enough away that even if she was able to wrench her arm free, the stranger couldn’t get her knife anywhere near her. Around us the others continued to fight against the infestation of bugs, with Mathus now shifting his approach from trying to hold the creatures to smashing as many of them as he could with his massive feet.
“Hold her still,” Riley said. “I can help.”
Tightening my grip around the woman, I held her in place so Riley could focus her magic on her. The succubus drew the energy out of the strange woman, draining her, but Riley took it a step further and enthralled her completely. This put the woman under Riley's control, and stopped her from fighting against my hold on her. Her body went limp in my arms and she tumbled to the ground when I released her.
“What did you do?” I asked. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“I guess I went a little too far,” Riley said. “Don't worry, though. She's going to be fine. Just give her a minute and she'll come to.”
Just like when I brought her to the ground with me, the bugs totally avoided getting near the woman. It was as though she had some sort of power over them, and as soon as the thought went through my mind, I realized that was exactly what was happening. She had sent the creatures. I stared down into her face and waited for her eyes to flutter open. When they did, I pointed at the bugs around us.
“Stop them,” I commanded.
“Hmmm?” she murmured.
“Stop the bugs.”
“Oh,” she said, pulling herself up to a sitting position.
She looked out over the bugs and waved her hands. Immediately, the swarm turned and retreated into the forest. I watched them until they got among the trees and sank down into the dirt, burrowing themselves out of view.
“Who are you?” I asked. “Answer me, or I’m going to make your day a lot worse.”
Wide brown eyes turned to me. “My name is Sabrina,” she said. She was beautiful, if a touch skittish just then.
“Why did The Covenant send you?”
She didn't answer and Riley took a step toward her. “Tell him,” she demanded.
The power Riley had over Sabrina meant she couldn't resist the command, but she shook her head.
“Not The Covenant,” she said. “The Covenant didn't send me.”
I didn't want to believe her. It seemed too convenient for her to wander into our camp without being sent.
“Tell the truth,” I said. “I know what The Covenant sent you to do. Why else would you try to steal from us and send those bugs to attack us?”
“She is telling the truth,” Riley said. “When she's under the power of my thrall, she can't lie. She doesn't have that level of control over her own thoughts.”
"Then what's going on?"
The others gathered close and I noticed Mathus was no longer holding Celeste. Instead, he had lowered her to one of the sleeping bags where she huddled under a blanket, still shuddering. I hoped now that the fight against the bugs was over, she would be able to recover from the effects of the magic quickly.
"I sent the bugs," Sabrina admitted. "I wanted to distract you so I could get into your camp without any of you noticing."
"Why?" I pushed. "Why were you trying to steal from us?"
"I . . ." she hesitated slightly, and it seemed the power of the thrall was starting to lessen, allowing her to more closely monitor her words. "I found out about you and wanted to take your sword and a few days of rations. That's all."
"That's all?" I asked, incredulous. "Just my sword. No big deal. You just wanted to come pillage our camp and steal my sword and our supplies, so you sent a horde of electrified bugs after us. Happens all the fucking time."
"How did you find out about his sword?" Riley asked.
"What?" I asked, turning to her.
Riley stared at me, then gave a tiny shrug.
"She just said she wanted to take your sword. But why? This place is full of weapons. She could have grabbed any of them much faster than trying to go after your sword. Why that piece in particular?"
My eyes turned to Sabrina, narrowed in suspicion.
"I am not with The Covenant," she emphasized again. "I am a shapeshifter from Creyfell. It's not far from here. Perhaps you've heard of it." When none of us responded, she continued. "I am on my own and have had to learn to be resourceful in order to survive. That's how I learned to control the bugs. They are a powerful weapon when they need to be."
I looked down at my shoes. "I'm sorry I crushed some of them, but the little bastards were biting.”
"No worries," she said almost dismissively. "The dust will sink down into the ground, and the next time it rains a new generation will be born."
"Perfect," I said, trying to ignore the chill that sent along my spine.
"Why are you on your own?" Celeste asked.
I was surprised to hear her voice and saw that she had dragged the sleeping bag over with her, still holding it tightly around her.
"How are you feeling?" I asked.
"Better," she replied with a nod.
"I'm the only one left of my clan," Sabrina told her. "My family were outspoken resisters to The Covenant. They wouldn't be forced into their control like the rest of Creyfell. But that put a target on them. They were hunted and decimated. I was only a very small child during most of the murders, and my parents left me with allies in the woods to protect me. There has been no word from them since. I left the family that raised me as soon as I thought I was capable of taking care of myself and went to find any of the clan that might be left. It didn't take long to find out they were all dead. When I tried to return to the people who raised me, they were gone. Leaving had put them at risk. I've spent some time in Creyfell, but it's gotten too dangerous for me to live there. They don't know who I am, but I don't put it past them to figure it out."
"Why would it be dangerous for you?" I asked. "If your clan is gone, why would you be a threat to The Covenant?"
"I am as much against them as my family was," Sabrina told me defiantly. "Even if I wasn't, The Covenant has long been against shapeshifters. Some of us are gifted with the ability to take on many forms. That makes us unpredictable and capable of using a wide range of skills when needed. The Covenant doesn't like unpredictability."
“No shit,” I agreed. At least that was the truth.
9
“Can you bring the bugs back?” Celeste asked.
My face contorted involuntarily as I looked at the teenager. Maybe this was the episode that had finally snapped something in her brain and she was no longer all there.
“Why would you want her to do that?” Emely asked her sister, her voice sounding as though she felt the same distaste I did. “Did you miss how nasty those little things were?”
“No, yeah, I noticed. That's exactly why I wanted to bring them back. I want to try something.”
"Don't try to pick them up. They are really shiny, but it's not worth it to try to get a closer look," Mathus warned.
There was a mischievous glint in her eyes, and I looked at Riley, giving her a slight nod.
Riley turned to Sabrina. “Go ahead.”
Sabrina turned her attention to the woods and reached her hand out toward the trees much like she had when sending the bugs out of the clearing. At first, nothing happened. After a few seconds, there was an unpleasant scraping sound and the horde of sparking blue and green creatures crawled back out of the ground and swarmed the camp again. They had only gotten a few feet in when Celeste climbed shakily to her feet and pressed her fingertips to her forehead. She drew in a deep breath, her body stretching to a fuller height and her chest pressing out as if she had filled herself with every drop of air she could possibly fit inside. Her hands shook slightly, and I wanted to stop her. She had just overcome the terrible effects of her first attempt at controlling the bugs, and I didn't want another episode to hit her even harder when she was still vulnerable.
Emely had just taken a step toward Celeste when the teenager's eyes popped open. The bugs stopped where they were, hesitated, then turned and scrambled even faster in the other direction.
“What did you just do?” I asked, stunned.
Celeste giggled, obviously pleased with herself.
“Remember I said I was trying to get into the hive mentality so I could control them? I figured out how to do it. So, I planted a new idea in their heads. I just sent them back to my village and told them to act as a barrier to anything else The Covenant might throw my family and friends. I'm not exactly sure how long I can hold them there, or how effective they'll be, but it'll be a good test of my powers.”
"And you still feel fine?" Emely asked. "Not feeling weak again?"
Celeste shot her sister a glance, and Emely grinned at her confidence.
“Is that alright with you?” I asked Sabrina. “I’m not exactly clear on the chain of command for glittering attack beetles.”
She shrugged. “It'll be interesting to see just how long she can keep control over them,” she said. “I've never seen them respond to anybody but me.”
“Celeste is a bit of a different situation.”
“I can see that.”
"But you still need to keep yourself in check," I warned Celeste. "Don't let the power get to you so much you that start throwing it around arbitrarily."
"Are you telling me to be nice and not play with other people's toys without asking them first?" she teased.
That sounded better than 'don't be a little terror', so I smiled at her. "Yes."
Nia settled onto the ground beside Sabrina and opened one of the huge books on her lap. The pen in her hand touched the paper expectantly, primed and ready for whatever the young demon might feel the need to record.
“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?” Nia said, settling in with the air of a teenager who just told her boyfriend we need to talk.
It struck me as amusing that she would even ask, considering Sabrina didn't have any choice but to answer anything we asked. If she started to resist even slightly, Riley could increase the amount of Magic holding her and force her to tell us whatever we wanted to know. Sabrina nodded and Nia rattled off a few questions, periodically checking the book in her lap and jotting things down. It was fascinating listening to the interrogation. Some of the questions made sense, while others seemed to have been randomly pulled out of the book. I didn't know what she hoped to glean from it, but Sabrina rattled off the answers as quickly as the questions were asked.
“What are we going to do with her?” Emely asked when Nia finally finished.
“What do you mean what are we going to do with her?” I said.
“It's not like we can just leave her here. We can't just set her down next to the fire and walk away. Obviously, she knows a lot about us, and no offense to you and your magic, Riley, but I still don't know how much we can trust her. She's a completely rogue creature, by her own admission. The distaste The Covenant has for shapeshifters is well-known, but if she isn't associated with a clan, she has no allegiance or guidance. We have no idea what might happen if we just continue on our way and leave her behind.”
“You do know she's sitting right there, right?” Nia asked. “She can hear everything that you're saying?”
“What is it that you think she would do?” I asked, ignoring Nia for the time being.
“I don't know. That's the problem,” Riley said, pulling at her lip in thought.
“I'd like to join you,” Sabrina said. “If you'll have me. I may not have a clan that's still alive for me to show my allegiance to, but I am committed to the fight against The Covenant.”
We all exchanged glances, and it was obvious none of us were completely convinced. Though she was unable to lie when she was under the thrall of Riley's power, that didn't mean she couldn't manipulate. There were still so many questions about what was possible, and what we'd encountered so far made all of us hesitant.
“She's not in her right mind,” Riley said. “Can't trust anything she says. Like I told you, I put too much magic on her. For all we know, she's just mimicking what we are thinking or what we want to hear from her.”
“So take some of the magic away,” I told her. “Let her speak without your control and we'll find out what's really going on in her head.”
“But then she could lie to us.”
I shook my head. "I'd know."
Riley eased her control over Sabrina, lessening the enthralling effect. She offered her water and waited until Sabrina swallowed several deep gulps before speaking again. “Now that you can think for yourself and answer fully and freely, what do you want to do from here?”
“I want to join up with you,” Sabrina said without hesitation. “That is my true and honest conviction.”
“How do we know we can trust you?” I asked her. “Just curious, you understand. I’m not anti-beetle, as much as I am anti-beetles that bite me and, um. . .well, it’s an odd skillset, the whole mistress of insects thing.”
“I understand your reluctance, but I assure you I am true in my intentions. I can give you secret information that no one else knows that can help you in your efforts. It's information I've been aware of for quite some time. I've been holding it for safekeeping until it was needed. There would be no reason for me to share it with you if I didn't honestly want to offer myself in whatever capacity I can.”
“What information do you have?” I asked.
“The portals are growing stronger. Now that you are getting more powerful, Alex, the portals are responding. That isn't lost on The Covenant. All those in power are becoming anxious and out of control, desperate to maintain their hold on our world. I've seen it for myself. In Creyfell, they're cracking down on the laws, and it is becoming dangerous just to pass through. The town is under full power off The Covenant. If you don't know what you're doing or where you're going, you have very little chance. I can offer myself as a guide. I know the town very well, and I can make sure you get through without being detained.”
“How do you know who I am?” I asked, my voice neutral.
“Because I have to.”
10
"What do you think?" Nia asked.
Sabrina looked between the young demon and me, then flashed me a smile. Taking away Riley's magic allowed her true personality to come through and the meek, cooperative image was gone.
"Come on," she said with a hint of bravery in her voice. "Don't you want to have me around?"
"Someone who attacked my group and tried to rob our camp? Forgive me if I'm not delighted at the prospect of you joining our ranks."
She gave a teasing pout, her soft, full bottom lip poking out as she fluttered her eyelashes at me.
"You can't forgive me?"
"I'm not impressed." I said, deflating her ego. For a moment.
I didn't mention that her big brown eyes and curvy body were impressing me in all the ways her words weren't. She laughed, dropping the act as quickly as she picked it up.
