Spirit Formed, page 21
“Damage feathers or kill them.” Wyrran paused. “Every other way I know to remove them from combat—like a hood, jesses, or a cage—depends on getting close to them.”
“Well, keep thinking.” Unfortunately, opening the lock had further depleted her magic reserves, and she probably only had a couple more spells in her. Unless one of those liberated all of the owls from Godric and Delilah’s control, it wasn’t worth wasting the magic. Shasta reached for the padlock again. It was warm against her fingers, but not hot enough to burn. She twisted the shank, opening it up so she could slip it off the loop. “I’m gonna open the door.”
“I’m ready,” Wyrran said.
Meron moved farther away from the shed, giving them more room. “Sky and surroundings are mine.”
After a quick debate between the desire to have a weapon that could be used against the owls and knowing it would be nearly useless when she opened the door, she tucked the arrow back in the quiver and moved the bow across her shoulders. With a twist of her wrist, she summoned her sword. She glanced over at Wyrran.
He nodded.
Shasta pulled the lock off, tossed it to the ground, and yanked the door open. Light spilled in, revealing Gwen and Nissa huddled in the corner. A glint of light where there shouldn’t have been anything had Shasta jumping back as Delilah emerged from the shadows, sword slicing through the air where Shasta had been only a moment ago.
Shasta sidestepped to the left and slashed at Delilah. Delilah blocked and followed her away from the door. As Shasta attacked again, she shouted, “Get them out of here!”
Delilah twitched as if she wanted to look behind her at what Wyrran was doing, but she still got her sword up in time. Disengaging from the block, Delilah tried to turn, but Shasta attacked again, going for her open side. Delilah turned back, her movements slowing she tried to figure out how to get out of the fight and over to the girls.
Shasta didn’t give her that opportunity. She kept pressing the attack, maneuvering Delilah farther away from the shed. It was a time game; she needed to buy Wyrran enough of it that he could get Nissa and Gwen to safety.
Between blows, Delilah suddenly smiled. “Aren’t you wondering where the other two are?”
Rather than answer, Shasta lunged for the woman, forcing her to scramble to the side. As she turned to attack Delilah again, she saw Wyrran helping Gwen and Nissa out of the shed. Nissa was limping and leaning heavily on Gwen, but they were both on their feet, and that was good enough for now. Shasta followed Delilah, pressing the attack again.
Over the clang of metal against metal, the air vibrated heavily. Shasta dodged Delilah’s sword, dropped to the ground, and rolled to the side. A shadow passed over her. She got to her feet, eyes darting around as she took in the situation. Delilah was still a few feet away, but two owls were swooping down toward Wyrran and the girls. Knowing this could mean the difference between their lives and someone else’s, Shasta flung almost all of her magic at them. “Air harden, shield them until they reach safety!”
The wind brushed across the back of her neck and then was gone.
She didn’t have time to see if the mixture of magic and elven power had worked. She spun around, only just getting her sword up in time to block a blow Delilah had been aiming for her head. She heaved Delilah’s sword to the side and shouted at Wyrran, “Get them to town! You’ll be safe all the way!”
“You think you can keep them safe?” Delilah snarled.
“I’m sure of it.” Shasta lunged forward, her sword going through Delilah’s shirt and slicing into her side. Shasta pulled her sword back, blood flowing freely from the wound. She gathered herself to finish the fight.
Delilah dropped her sword and clutched her side. She lifted one hand into the air. “Wait until you see what we’ve done to your precious boyfriend.”
Shasta hesitated, unable to stop herself from envisioning terrible things. Forcing those thoughts away, she lifted her sword. “You won’t be around long enough to enjoy my reaction.”
An owl swooped in and wrapped its talons around Delilah’s arm. As it lifted her off the ground, she cried out, grabbing her side again. Shasta lowered her sword, swearing. She’d had a chance to kill Delilah and hadn’t managed it.
As the owl worked to gain altitude, Delilah reached into her pocket and dropped a handful of tiny somethings. Shasta backed up, trying to get out of range, glancing over her shoulder to see if another owl was coming. There wasn’t, but a flare of plant growth raised the hairs on her arm. She jerked her head around and couldn’t believe her eyes. Where Delilah had thrown her mystery substance, now there were vines drifting down. As they fell, they grew, and some of them were already a foot long.
Shasta scrambled back as the first vine landed on her. She brushed it off her shoulder, but another took its place. She shoved that vine to the ground and went to take a step back. She tumbled sideways. Her foot was stuck. Shasta pushed herself upright and looked down to find a vine rooted into the ground and wrapped around her ankle. She dismissed her sword and tugged at the vine. The root system had to be growing as fast as the rest of it because she couldn’t get it out of the ground.
She resummoned her sword, knelt down, and slid the tip of it between the earth and the vine. A shadow fell across her foot, and Shasta twisted around in time to see an owl diving at her. She brought her arm up to shield her eyes and blindly stabbed in the owl’s direction with her sword. As soft as the bird’s feathers were, the wings hitting her face were not. She rocked sideways, losing her balance. The vines held her leg in place, and she fell awkwardly as she hit the ground. She kept flailing about with her sword, holding the owl at bay.
When several seconds passed without a gust of air blowing across her, a shadow crossing her vision, or any other sign of the bird, she slowly peeked around her arm. The sky above her was empty of owls, and the last of the vines were hitting the ground. Shasta breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed against the earth. Delilah was somewhere else, and the owls weren’t attacking. All she had to do was get free of these vines, and she could work on saving Cord and Shiloh.
Shasta started to sit up but only made it a few inches. She flopped back and looked down at herself. In the seconds she’d been on the ground, the vines had wrapped around her arms and previously unencumbered leg. She was effectively pinned on her back, one leg bent at the knee. An ideal position from which to stage a rescue attempt.
Since her sword wasn’t going to do her any good, and she didn’t want to have to pry it out of the vines later, she twisted her wrist and sharply dismissed it. Thankfully, it vanished as it was supposed to. With that taken care of, she turned her attention to the vines. They were plants, and she was in contact with them, so in theory, she should be able to communicate with them.
She closed her eyes and focused on the portions that were touching her bare skin. Along with the word, she sent a soothing and happy feeling. “Hello?”
No response.
“I’d very much like to talk to you.” She wiggled her arm as she spoke.
The vines still didn’t respond.
“Shasta!” Meron called out. “Can you talk to them? They won’t answer me, though I’ve never been much good with plants.”
“Working on it.” She tried to sound calm as the vines steadily increased their hold on her. They looked like ivy, but there was more than one type, and some of them needed firm handling.
Shasta tried again, this time adding a touch of magic to her communication. “Release me.”
The vine wiggled but didn’t reply.
So much of what Godric and Delilah had accomplished was by using magic, but Shasta suspected it was the forceful tone, not the addition of magic, that made a difference. She narrowed her focus to the vine wrapping around her right arm. “Release me!”
The vine loosened. Shasta yanked her arm out from its grasp. Her fingertips were just clear when it snugged down against the earth. On a hunch, she touched the leaves with one finger.
Hold. Never let go. Don’t listen. The plant repeated those three phrases over and over.
“Relax. No need to hold, can let go, can listen.” Shasta directed the communication to this one plant.
It shivered under her fingers. Don’t have to hold?
“No. You can do what you want.” She kept her finger in contact with the leaf as the plant thought.
Several seconds later, it wiggled under her finger. I will grow right here.
Whatever was left of Delilah’s hold on the plant faded away. Unfortunately, Shasta was still encased in shoots of ivy that had not yet reached this epiphany. Rather than argue with each of them individually, she broadened her feel to all of the plants still touching her and gave them the same stern order she’d given the single plant. Most of them leaped off of her as if she was on fire. One or two sluggishly clung on, but with another order, they finally let go.
Shuddering, Shasta scrambled her feet. If Delilah or Godric had found her like that, they could have killed her and she would have been helpless to defend herself. Shasta summoned her sword, more for moral support than because of an immediate need.
About twenty feet away, Meron was kneeling in the ivy as it continued to crawl up over his shoulders. “You’ll have to tame all of it to get me out.”
“Give me a minute.” The ground was littered with vines, most of them moving ever so slightly as they searched for something to latch onto. Only the ones in her immediate vicinity were quiet, and they were industriously rooting themselves so they could start an ivy patch. Not seeing another choice, Shasta faced the ivy between herself and Meron and closed her eyes. She let her power crawl over every bit of it, even the pieces behind her that were still hunting for ankles to trap. She expanded her reach to get the last few that had drifted farther away. One near the front of the house kept slipping away.
Meron screamed.
She ignored it while she connected with the last vine and then opened her eyes. One of the owls had its talons dug into Meron’s shoulders and was frantically flapping, trying to carry him away. With the way the vines were wrapped around him, the owl was far more likely to get parts of Meron than all of him.
He screamed again, thrashing as much as the vines would allow. The owl clung on.
She couldn’t get to him without dealing with the ivy. “Release him!” she bellowed.
The ivy fell off Meron, and he flung himself to the ground. The owl let go of his shoulders but grabbed for his arm.
“Grab the owl!” Shasta ordered the vines.
The ones that had been clinging to Meron surged toward the owl, tangling around its talons. The bird flapped frantically, managing to back away from the vines aiming for its body, and flew off. It hovered over a nearby tree limb, clearly trying to land.
Hoping she would be fast enough to make the transition between controlling all of the ivy and just the ivy on the owl, she bellowed one more order. “Ignore all previous commands. Simply be what you are.”
All of the ivy went limp and started behaving like normal plants again. That included the ivy in the owl’s talons. As the owl landed on the branch, Shasta narrowed her focus to just that ivy. “Move on top of the owl’s talons, and when it lands gently hold its feet against the branch.”
The owl landed, adjusted its footing, and then started preening. The ivy did as it was told and wrapped itself around the owl’s feet. It could still move around a little but wouldn’t be taking off again without a fight.
Shasta hurried over to Meron. A scream and banging came from inside the house, but she couldn’t deal with that right now. She dropped to her knees beside him and pulled his hands away from his shoulders. The owl’s talons had gone right through his thick deltoid muscles and started to peel them away from the rest of his body. Blood covered his shirt.
“It’s bad,” Meron gasped.
“I’ve seen worse heal nicely.” She set her bow on the ground, shrugged out of her pack, and rummaged through the healing charms. She only had two major healing charms left. As bad as Meron’s injuries were, it was what he needed. She pulled out a major healing charm, activated it, and tucked it in his hand.
His fingers clenched around it. He squinted at her painfully. “We weren’t the best band of rescuers were we?”
“Two damsels are on their way home. That’s success for any band of heroes.” Shasta said the words lightly, not mentioning the two people who still needed rescuing or the two people who still needed to be brought to justice.
As the charm began to do its job, the creases at the corners of his eyes smoothed out. “I wanted to do more for you and for them.”
“You showed you cared. Take it from someone who once needed to be rescued—showing up, trying, and caring means the world.” She smiled down at him, but the sharp squeal of door hinges pivoting yanked her attention back to the house. The front door was open.
Meron winced. “Go. They need you.”
She checked his wounds. The bleeding had slowed but hadn’t stopped yet. “How fast do you usually heal?”
“Quickly, though it’s been some time since I was this badly injured.”
Shasta tucked an unused minor healing charm in his pocket and slid her arms under his before dragging him back into the tree line. He hissed but didn’t protest. She settled him down between two pines and rested one hand on each of the trees.
They swished their leaves in greeting. Young one.
Could you protect this elf? She held her breath as she waited for their answer.
Yes. The ground shifted as roots rose up close to the surface. Low branches angled to protect Meron, edging down until they were at the right height to prevent someone from approaching him.
Thank you. Shasta broke the connection of the trees and turned to Meron. “The trees are going to protect you. Hopefully, you’ll be safe here until this is done.”
He shifted position and winced again. “I’ll help more if I can.”
Shasta nodded and stepped out from the tree line. An owl swooped down on her. She ducked and rolled, but it followed her, talons tearing through her shirt and opening up long gouges across her back. She yelped and summoned her sword, batting at the owl. She didn’t connect, but the bird backed off.
She twisted around, trying to see as much of the sky as she could at one time. There had to be ten owls up there, all of them focused on her. The door hinge squeaked again, and heavy footsteps tromped across wooden stairs. Another owl dove at her, forcing her to ignore whatever was going on at the front of the house. As it drew closer, Shasta held her ground. At the last moment, she darted to the side, and its talons closed over empty air.
That was a temporary win, but it wouldn’t solve the owl problem. She needed to deal with them so she could focus on more important things, but she didn’t have enough magic left to form an air shield around the entire area. Maybe she didn’t need it though. She scrambled back to the tree line, just barely dodging another owl trying to carry her away, and reached out to the air. “If you’ve ever favored me, carry these owls away, prevent them from returning until I say.”
A breeze swirled around her before shooting up. It knocked a diving owl sideways, forcing the creature to level out its flight. A great gust of wind rushed through the trees. Shasta knelt down, closing her eyes against the leaves and dust the wind kicked up as it rushed through the clearing and to the treetops. It pushed all the owls above the tops of the trees and carried them away from the area. The wind at ground level died down, but the treetops continued to sway.
“Thank you.” Shasta got back to her feet, grimacing slightly as the scab on the healing gouges broke.
The tiniest whisper of air brushed across her neck.
“You’re more elf than I thought,” Godric said thoughtfully, his voice carrying from his position at the front of the house. “But I still don’t think you’re elf enough. We lost our magic for a good reason. Only an abomination would undo what the earth did so long ago.”
Sword in hand, Shasta walked out of the tree line. Maybe she was elf enough, maybe she wasn’t. Either way, she was Cord and Shiloh’s only hope, and they most certainly were elf enough. At first, she didn’t see them, but as she paralleled the side of the house, the front steps and porch came into view. Her breath caught in her chest. If not for her, none of this would have happened.
Shiloh was tied to the post at the bottom of the stairs and gagged. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth, and Godric had a knife pressed to her throat. Beside them, Delilah yanked on Cord’s hair, lifting his chin. His right eye was swollen shut, the brow above it cut. Dried blood encrusted his eyebrow and smeared across his face, with more clumped around the cut across his cheek. A gag pulled the corners of his mouth back, opening up the split in his lip. His hands were tied together and lashed to his feet.
Nothing they’d been through together had prepared her for this moment. There was no amount of training that made it hurt less to see the man she loved beaten because she was only half elf. She swallowed hard. The hurt, the worry—none of it helped right now. Cord needed a Shasta who was ready to fight and one who was logical enough to do so cleverly. She adjusted the grip on her sword and forced a feral smile. “From where I’m standing, there are two abominations here. And I’m not one of them.”
Godric’s laugh raised the hairs on the back of her neck. The smile faded from his face. “Make the earth rise up and say you are its creation. If you can do that, I’ll let them go.”
“No.” Perhaps the offer was meant to tempt her into angering the earth, but she knew better. “The earth is not mine to command. I can no more ask it to humor you than I could ask the sun to stop shining.”
“Just kill her.” Delilah slid the knife against Cord’s neck. “This talk grows tiresome.”
Cord tensed but didn’t struggle as blood oozed from the laceration.
