Chapter 5
Relieved at finally getting some time to himself, Chespar scurried away from his house. On the one paw, it was fun to practice magic all the time. On the other, it was frustrating always having to work. A mouse needed a break from time to time, just to enjoy life, didn't he?
Chespar glanced back, and, seeing no one, scratched he ear and combed his fur before giving one last glance back and scampering off to see what kind of trouble he could find. He considered himself pretty good at sneaking around, and liked to practice on the townsfolk. Most rarely ever noticed him as he darted about, but Rondi always knew when Chespar was near. He couldn't even blame it on her nose, since he'd tried to sneak by her with the wind blowing his scent away. Lorn was nearly as good, probably because Rondi worked with him so much, but at least Chespar could surprise him. Not that he'd ever really try to surprise Rondi. Something about that just seemed like it would turn out very, very badly if, by some miracle, he succeeded. Knowing her, it would probably involve knives too.
Sneaking around also had a few other advantages. Nobody knew where he was, so they couldn't drag him into some project or other. Well, except for Lorn. He never had too much trouble finding Chespar when he wanted to, but that was most because he shared Chespar's favorite spots. All, that is, except one.
One of the bunnies, Ida maybe, or perhaps Misandra, it was hard to tell, came by, so Chespar dashed up a tree, watching. The rabbit paused, nose twitching as she, or maybe it was a he, looked around. Long ears twisted back and forth, searching for any sort of sound as Chespar grinned, hidden in the branches. After a moment, he - Chespar decided it was Irving - shrugged and carried on. Chespar watched for a while before jumping to the ground and carrying on.
He paused by Satchel's smithy, peaking in to see the horse busy crafting something, but the heat made Chespar wrinkle his snout and leave fore he could figure out what it was. Probably shoes or a plow for his brother Gilead, or maybe a new knife for Rondi. They got the most made from Satchel. Well, except for nails and such, but those didn't count.
Chespar considered stopping by Beth's. The old cow was always nice to him, a d would probably give him some cheese to snack kin, but he could hear her working her milk machine, a. oddly noisy thing, so he decided to leave her be. It just seemed too private an event to intrude on. So Chespar continued in, scampering down a little-used path to the town's graveyard.
It was rather small, but scenic. There had only been a few deaths since everyone began living here. A few old rabbits, a bull who lost a fight with a troll, and Beth's calf, stillborn, were the main graves, but Chespar walked solemnly past all of them to stand in front of another.
"Sorry I haven't been by as much lately," Chespar said. "Dad's been keeping me busy learning magic with him and Lorn. I'm getting better, but Lorn's something else. I don't know if I'll ever be able to do what he does. I mean, he has to work to hold back, while I'm still trying to just use my power." He shook his head."Sorry, I shouldn't complain, right?" I'll get there eventually. That's what dad tells me. Anyway, I'm doing well, so don't worry about me. I couldn't find any flowers, but I do have something to show you. I haven't shown anyone else yet. I wanted you to be the first."
Chespar sucked in a breath, then pressed his hands to the dirt and pushed his power out with his breath, a soft light glowing under his paws as the ground began to move. Slowly, on either side of the grave, rocks rose to the surface, melding together to form a series of pillars that climbed a short distance into the air before bending into arches that met over the grave.
"There," Chespar said, breathing heavily. "Now you can have some shade." He inspected his work, surprised at how exhausting it had been, but proud it had come out so well. "I think Dad wants me to work more with plants like him, but I don't really understand what he's talking about. Ah well," he said, climbing back to his feet. "I hope you like it. I'll be back soon, alright Mom?"
With that, the little mouse walked out of the graveyard, feeling a little better about himself. A weight he hadn't really noticed had been lifted off his shoulders. Better yet, he'd finally managed a sustained, controlled release of his magic. His father would be happy to hear about that, though not about where it happened. Tsivar acted oddly anytime anyone mentioned Chespar's mother, and rarely ever visited her grave. She had passed when Chespar was still young. He barely remembered her, but he always felt better after a visit to her grave. He didn't understand why his father avoided it, but it didn't seem like it was his business anyway, so Chespar left it be.
Flitting around in a private game, Chespar bounced around the dappled patches of shadows the sunlight made as it passed through the trees. His game carried Chespar on until he heard a couple of voices chattering with one another down the road. Chespar snuck into a bush, waiting as Gilead appeared pulling a cart down the road behind him. The Shornsky sisters, a pair of old sheep, sat on top of a set of wooden chests, their wool looking freshly shorn. Well, they had a week's growth, but the last time Chespar had seen them they had been particularly fluffy, so it was a big difference. Gilead must have brought them to the city where they'd stocked up on supplies and, knowing the sisters, news. the country. They had always been fond of gossip, and had a knack for knowing most everything that happened in town.
The Shornsky sisters were also an excellent pair of weavers, and pretty much everyone in town wore their work. Mostly, they worked with their own wool, but they would also use silk and cotton when they had it. Tsivar regularly made a special tonic for them, enchanted too not only help promote the growth of their wool, but also to make it softer, which made their wool surprisingly high-quality and thus more expensive.
"I know," Harriet was saying. "A dragon in Cirafell, and with a rabbit no less? Talk about surprising."
"At least he was still young," Olivia replied, nodding. "Smaller than a bunny. Why, he couldn't be much more than a century old, would you say? Odd that he's wandering on his own, isn't it? And looking for a friend if you can imagine that. A dragon? With friends?"
The two began laughing together, and Chespar shook his head. They could always be counted on for something interesting, even if only secondhand. They were, however, nearly impossible to tell apart. Completely identical, it was their sense of style that helped anyone else know which was which. Harriet favored lighter clothes, while Olivia preferred darker ones. At least for the moment, their fashion choices evolving over time in a way the rest of he town simply endured as their test subjects.
"They were an adorable pair though," Harriet said. "Do you think the rabbit was related to one of our bunnies?"
"I doubt it," Olivia said, shaking her head. "Didn't you notice their clothes? The rabbit was an offworlder. I wish we could have got some of that fabric. You could tell at a glance it was high quality."
"They use machines, dear," Harriet said, shrugging. "Those things don't really work here, and they aren't practical. One or two years, then rags. No life there."
"That reminds me, do you think those people really knew Lorn?" Chespar felt his heart speed up at the mention of his friend.
"Well they must have," Harriet said, waving a hand. "They know so much about him after all."
"I don't know." Olivia looked up at the sky. "Something about it just seemed so suspicious."
Gilead had passed by Chespar and was now pulling away, forcing the mouse to leave his hiding spot and scamper over to continue listening. Gilead was moving at a steady pace, but not so fast that Chespar couldn't catch up, jumping onto the back of the cart when he got close enough.
"Oh my," Olivia cried out, jumping and rocking the cart enough to draw an annoyed glance from Gilead. "Oh behave," she said to the horse with a playful laugh. "We've got a surprise guest."
Meekly, Chespar waved at Gilead, who huffed and muttered something under his breath Chespar couldn't hear. "Lorn grew a new apple tree the other day," Chespar said as something of an apology. "No apples yet, but dad says it should have some soon." Gilead didn't reply, but he did seem to stand a little straighter and there was a bit more of a spring to his step, so Chespar knew he was happy with the news.
"So what brings a little mouse to join us today?" Harriet asked.
"I heard you say something about Lorn?" Chespar said, squirming in place.
"You do spend a lot of time with him," Olivia said, nodding as her sister began digging through a sack, pulling a small pouch out.
"Well, I'm glad you showed up," Harriet said, handing the pouch to the mouse. "Your father asked for these, but I don't think he'll miss one or two."
Chespar took the pouch and peeked inside. "Th-thank you!" His paw darted in, emerging with a hazelnut he quickly set to happily gnawing on.
"Do you know if Lorn has ever met another human?" Olivia asked as Chespar cracked the nut's shell.
Chespar shook his head. "No, he hasn't. Never really had any interest in it either."
Harriet gave a dismissive huff. "He should at some point. Lorn can't spend all his time here alone. He aught to go find a girl for himself eventually."
"In time dear," Olivia said, patting her sister's knee. "But this proves my point. Those three weren't honest with us."
Chespar paused his chewing to look up. "Who?"
"A group of humans," Harriet answered. "They said they were related to our Lorn, but I have to agree with my sister, they don't look much like him."
"Exactly," Olivia said, nodding. "I don't trust them. They will bring trouble, mark my words."
Chespar continued to gnaw at his but, the shell breaking apart quickly and giving him access to the meaty interior. Too soon, the entire thing was gone while the mouse thought. "When did you see them?" he asked.
They left Cirafell a day or two before us, didn't they?" Harriet said.
"We didn't pass them on the road either," Olivia mused. "They did mention coming to find their lost relative, so unless they got lost themselves, they should be in town already."
"I haven't seen anyone," Chespar said, letting the shell fall to the ground. He stood up, nodding to himself. "I'll go ask Lorn about it."
The Shornsky sisters nodded and wished him well as Chespar hopped off the cart, his pouch rattling as it bounced at his side. They watched him vanish into the distance as he made his way to Rondi's place, then began shaking their heads and moving on to he next subject. Nine of them noticed the three creatures flying high overhead that had been following the cart ever since it left Cirafell.
---
Rondi's ear flicked, making Lorn pause as she cocked her head. "What is it?" he asked, relaxing slightly. She held up a hand and looked around, sniffing the air before relaxing herself as Chespar came into view, a pouch bouncing at his waist.
Lorn and Rondi were in the middle of a light exercise session. Rondi was mostly guiding him through some knife work, while Lorn worked on a different problem. He had found that holding onto power was oddly difficult for him. When he had it, if he wasn't careful he would unintentionally burn it in bursts that enhanced whatever he was attempting. Rondi believed it was an issue of focus, so she was drilling the basics into Lorn to see if making it effortless would help keep him from manifesting unintentionally. At least while he was working with his daggers. If nothing else, it would help him improve his skills anyway, so Rondi considered it a decent efforts regardless of the outcome.
"What is it?" Rondi asked as Chespar ran up to them.
The mouse took a moment to compose himself, combing his fur down before and annoyed Rondi gave a short, barking huff in war in, making Chespar hop a little in place. "The Shornsky sisters are back."
"And you interrupted out work for this vital information?" Rondi asked, unamused.
Chespar shook his head. "N-no." He looked at Lorn. "They said they met some people claiming to know you."
"Me?" Lorn said, frowning and glancing at Rondi. "Who?"
"They didn't say," Chespar admitted. "Just that they claimed to be your relatives." He paused, nervous at the way Rondi was staring at him. "Olivia didn't trust them, but they also said they didn't meet them on the road, and that they'd left Cirafell a few days after them, so they might have made it sooner?"
"The sisters?" Rondi asked. "That gives us time."
"No, the people they met left early," Chespar said, squirming in place. "I haven't seen them though, so maybe they got lost?"
"Maybe," Rondi muttered to herself, glancing at Lorn. "I don't like this. Arm yourself, I think we'll need it." She looked at Chespar, thinking. "You have some energy to spare?" Surprised, Chespar nodded. "Good. Lorn, stock up. Leave him a little, just in case."
Lorn nodded, stepping up to the mouse and holding a hand out. "If you would," he asked his friend. Hesitantly, Chespar put his paw in Lorn's hand, then felt his power drain out of him through their contact. Lorn only took about half if Chespar's energy, then stood up. "Thanks Chespar."
"You did good telling us," Rondi agreed. She froze, turning to face her house. "Just in time too," she growled. "You'd better hide. They'll be heading this way if they're after Lorn."
"What?" Chespar. squeaked, seeming to shrink in on himself.
"Wards don't tell me that," Rondi muttered. "Just that some magical creature's come to town."
"I don't hear anything," Lorn said, confused as Rondi began grabbing weapons designed for fighting instead if practice.
"Because your ears are terrible," Rondi said, taking up Little Fang. "Now I'm guessing there are at least three of them, so get yourself something to fight with. I'm going to figure out what we're dealing with." She looked at Chespar. "I thought I told you to hide?"
Chespar squeaked and vanished, leaving Rondi to nod to herself and held out. Lorn stared dumbly at her before running over to the weapons rack. A short while later, now armed with his own assortment of knives and wearing a set if leather armor, Lorn set off after Rondi, confident she would find him when she was ready.
It wasn't long before Lorn had a new reason to hurry as the scent of smoke began to fill the air. A roar echoed past him as Lorn found himself staring at some sort of nightmarish, winged creature as it ripped its way down the road. When the wall of a house held up against the blow of its claws, despite deep gashes in the wood, the monstrosity coughed up a fireball, setting the building on fire as it continued carving its own door into the building.
An angry moo told Lorn who was under attack as he charged the beast, feeling the ground surge under his feet as he leaped onto the creature, twin daggers scraping along its thick skin, doing little more than annoying the creature.
With a roar, it spun around, backhanding Lorn and sending him flying through the air to crash and tumble on the ground. Groaning, Lorn got back to his feet, cursing whatever this thing was. It, however, seemed happier to see him, flashing a grin from a mouth that was a little too wide and filled with entirely too many teeth.
"That just isn't right," Lorn muttered, watching the hulking beast as it walked leisurely towards him. It was bigger than he was, and definitely stronger. Each claw on its hand were as large as his own daggers as well. Likely, they were also sharper, and while the thing was humanoid in shape, its proportions were off. Its arms hung longer than they ought to, causing those claws to drag along the ground when it wasn't holding them up, clenching and the air like it was eager to squeeze Lorn hard enough to pop.
It was also incredibly tough, or at least its skin was, since Lorn's attack did nothing to it. That was worrisome enough all its own, leaving Lorn with few options to deal with this creature. Unless he could find a way to actually hurt the monster with his knives, he'd have to rely on his magic, but he wasn't too certain that he would have enough power if it came to that. He'd already used some during his leap.
There was one thing to try first, and so Lorn burst into motion, a knife flying through the air at the beast's eyes. It flinched, giving Lorn a bit of hope even as the knife bounced ineffectively off its head. Eyes weren't as tough as the rest of a creature after all. Still that wasn't very helpful if couldn't get close enough to actually hit it.
The creature let out another roar, why was answered by two others a moment later, making Lorn curse. He was having enough problems dealing with just one. these creatures, two more would be a problem.
Chespar's power burned inside Lorn, asking for release, so Lorn let a bit out. The ground around him cracked as the beast charged at him, stone spikes shooting out to catch the creature, stabbing through and stopping it in its tracks as it bellowed in rage and pain. Thick, black blood drained from the beast too sizzle like acid on the spikes and ground as the creature clawed at the air between it and Lorn before its energy drained and it slumped over. A moment later, the entire creatures ignited, burning with unnatural red and black flames that consumed it in just a few heartbeats.
Lorn took a moment to catch his breath, shaking in place. That took too much magic, but at least it worked. He was surprised it did, since the spikes shouldn't have been as sharp as his knives. There wasn't any way to check now though, those flames having melted the stone.
Something interrupted his thoughts by grabbing hold of Lorn, yanking him into the air and bringing him entirely too close to the face of another of those creatures. It sniffed him, then, as Lorn struggled in its grip, snaked out a long, slimy, and purple-black tongue over his face and neck.
"Damn your breath reeks," Lorn cursed and spluttered, struggling to break the iron grip. In answer, it roared in his face, great wings spreading to lift them both in the air. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," Lorn said, grinning at it.
The beast glanced at him, grinned back, then tried to leap only to find its legs ensnared by stone Lorn had given enough life to bind the creature's feet. It grunted, annoyed, and yanked its legs free, easily breaking its bindings. They weren't meant to stop it though, merely to slow it down as Rondi appeared, her knives striking into the creature's leg, hamstringing it and making the beast roar in pain as it stumbled and dropped Lorn to the ground.
Lorn rolled to his feet and put some distance between him and the creature. He took a moment to wipe his face, his skin tingling where that thing's spit had touched it. "Thanks Rondi," he said as she danced with the beast.
"Stay alert," she said back, darting in and out of reach, her knives silver blurs leaving burning red lines all over the creature as she baited and toyed with it. "There are still two more of these things."
"One," Lorn said, waiting for the right moment, then flinging a knife out to impale itself in the creature's eye, proving his theory. Rondi took advantage of its pained and angry bellow to leap onto the creature, Little Fang plunging into its back as she let gravity drag her down, black flame shooting out into the air from the long gash she made. "I took out the other one."
Rondi huffed , shaking her knife free of the creature's blood, stepping back to appraise the beast. "Congratulations," she barked. "Still at least one more, and this demon would have had you if I hadn't shown up."
Half-blind, the demo. belched a ball of black fire at Rondi, but it crashed into an invisible barrier Lorn threw out in front of her, making he fire burst to the sides ineffectively. Lorn felt his reserve dwindling, too much of it gone in this fight "Demons?" he asked. "What the hell are demons doing here?"
"Looking for you," a new, gravelly voice said from above them, drawing Lorn and Rondi's attention. It was identical to the first two, except it looked much more intelligent as it grinned down at him.
"Well this is bad," Rondi muttered. "Hope you've got some juice Lorn, your weapons won't help us much. Need silver or magic to get through their hides." She glanced at the wounded demon and shrugged. "Or good aim."
"Not much led," Lorn said, stepping up by Rondi. "They burst into flames when they die though."
"They don't belong to this world, and rejection can be powerful," Rondi muttered, wary as the new demon landed opposite the wounded one, effectively pinning them in place.
"I will have the boy," the demon growled. "And then I will feast on your bones bitch."
"Think you can finish that one off if I keep this one busy?" Lorn asked, not sure how he'd manage it, but not sure what choice he had.
Rondi snorted and darted towards the wounded demon, leaving Lorn with his own, fresh monster to deal with. He shook his head, then flung a pair of knives out at the demon's eyes. It laughed, blocking them with an arm, but they were meant to be a tiny distraction as Lorn started moving. He only had three knives left and his trick for the first demon had used more magic than what he still had.
The demon grinned at Lorn, leisurely walking towards him as Lorn tried to figure out something he could do. Rondi was busy carving her demon up, the creature steadily losing its ability to fight. Already, she'd stopped it from walking, but the demon didn't seem to care much, launching itself around by pressing off the ground and flapping its wings. If it so much as clipped her with its claws, Rondi would be in serious trouble too, but she was playing keep away with the monster, darting in just long enough to get it to swing before dodging away, never in place long enough to get hit. She never dealt a lot of damage at once, but she was steadily bleeding the demon, and it was slowing down, just not very quickly.
For his part, Lorn was stuck fighting a creature he had no real way of dealing with. The only positive he had was that it didn't seem to want to kill him, limiting what it could do. Still, it was fine with trying to bash Lorn down, and with throwing whatever was handy around.
The demon paused, grinning as it turned to launch a fireball at Rondi while she was distracted by the other demon. Lorn let out a shout, burning magic to stop the blast. Angrily, Lorn burned more to make a spike of stone blast out of the ground like a missile into the demon, piercing its shoulder and making it bellow in pain.
It grabbed the spike and yanked it out of its shoulder, holding it in one clawed hand like a club as it marched toward Lorn. For his part, Lorn started moving again. He had enough magic for one more spell, just not a large one. A desperate idea led to him slapping the ground with both hands, burning the last of his magic to pull two stone knives free and dashing in to strike at the demon. He was praying it would work, and was rewarded when, after ducking under the stone club he'd given the demon, he sliced a pair of deep gouges into the demon's arm. Lorn was granted a roar as he scrambled away, managing one m!ore shallow cut across the demon's leg and barely dodging the club smashing and shattering into the ground next to him.
Rondi's demon finally fell, and Rondi gave her Little Fang a taste of its neck, black blood gushing out to burn and smolder on the ground as she bounced back. With one last burst of effort though, the demon managed to grab her leg in a death grip as it began to ignite. Rondi howled in pain, chopping at the demon's claw until sh broke free, her leg a blackened mess.
Lorn cried out to her, but Rondi's wounds left her in no shape to continue. While her leg bore the brunt of the damage, her had had been badly burned as well, the fur gone and the flesh cracked and blackened. The demon laughed, stepping up to Lorn, but he dodged the demon at the last minute, slipping to the side and carving another deep gouge along the beast's are.
"You'll pay for that," the demon growled. Lorn tried back, jumping in to stab both knives into the demon's chest and ripping them apart. Accepting the pain, the demon wrapped its arms around Lorn in a parody of a hug, squeezing him tight as his burning blood covered Lorn. "Burn with me!"
Lorn grunted, feeling his vertebrae popping as the demon crushed him. I-I'd rather not," he gasped, driving his stone knives into the thing, earning a yell for his efforts. Fresh blood flowed from the wounds as Lorn ground the blades as deep as he could, only to rip the magic out of the knives and repurpose it into a small burst that turned the knives into bombs.
The demon howled, pain causing it to release Lorn as it stumbled backwards, its innards shredded by shrapnel and its wounds poisoned with magic. Lorn coughed on the ground as the demon growled and cursed, lifting a claw to point at him.
"Pathetic," it grunted, black flames beginning to flicker in and out over its body as it struggled against the inevitable. "You will never escape us boy. We will hound you until your dying days and claim your soul for our own." The fires grew more brazen, then vanished as the demon smiled, every drop of its blood that had fallen starting to glow. Suddenly, powerfully, the demon became a raging black pillar of flame and Lorn began to scream as the blood covering him began to burn with unholy fire. "You may have bested me," the demon said, laughing as it was consumed." But there will always be another, and one day we will have you."
Struggling, Lorn felt his own battle waning, consciousness slipping away as the blood seared into his skin. He collapsed to the ground, clenching and grunting against the pain until his strength ran out and his vision faded to black.
