Chapter 7
Silas stood in the center of a large meadow far off the trail, breathing heavily, bleeding from his head and left arm. Two dozen burnt and dismembered kniphorn corpses lay amongst the lush greenery. He was surrounded by waves of tall, green grass that swayed in the breeze. The smell of the earth stained with the coppery scent of blood and burnt flesh. He closed his eyes and let his mana begin to regenerate.
It had been three days since they left Holmberg, and the trip had been anything but boring. Xavi would have him venture into the woods each day to hone his abilities. They still occupied the same camp and decided to keep a slower pace while he trained.
Once enough mana had returned, he pulled cloth strips from his bag and tended his wounds. It would be an hour before he returned to Xavi to have the imp heal him completely, and he didn’t want to bleed out in the meantime. He had tried to convince Xavi to teach him the spell so he could mend himself, but the demon refused, stating it was his punishment and it would force him not to repeat his mistakes. He had tried to argue, but the stubborn creature wouldn’t budge. A rustle of leaves in the distance pulled him from his musings.
Fifty yards away, a large form stepped from the treeline. It was another large kniphorn, but this one was slightly different. It was a full head taller than usual, and its body was full of rippling muscles that he could see flexing from even this distance. Rather than one horn, it had three wrist-thick, pronged monstrosities protruding from its skull. They glowed brightly with life mana and a hint of earth.
When the beast noticed him, it looked around with an intelligence he had not seen before from the other of its kind. When its eyes fell on the mass of death, it released a bellowing screech that emanated feelings of anger and pain.
“You must be the Elder Kniphorn Xavi was talking about. Well, let’s see what you can do.” Silas said with a smile, welcoming the challenge.
As if the beast understood his defiance, it lowered its head and aimed the massive forked horns at Silas. It quickly released three bursts from its horns that caused the air to shimmer in its wake, forcing him to dive away to avoid the barrage. By the time Silas recovered, it had already eaten up half the distance between them.
“You’re a quick one, aren’t you? But I’m stronger,” immediately pulling his sword and compressing a giant fireball in the other hand.
He threw the ball, probing the beast to see how it would respond. It continued its charge and deflected the blast off its horns without slowing. Silas rolled off to the side, barely missing a prong aimed at his chest.
The beast was relentless. It was no wonder it was at the top. Silas could see it was herding him onto the uneven ground one moment or backing him into the remains of a corpse the next. Each attempt was to keep him off balance or give itself the upper hand. However, with each failure, Silas found success. With each charge, he left burnt flesh or deep gashes across its chest and legs. Nothing lethal yet, but still bloody
It shot off another volley. Silas slashed it across the nostrils, causing it to miss. Right as he was about to follow up with a thrust, a hind leg shot out and hit him in the chest. He was sent tumbling away before sliding to a halt, gasping for air.
The Elder Kniphorn turned and charged again. This time, as Silas completed the flaming ball, he sidestepped and sliced down the length of its thick hide and, at the same time, released the spell directly into its flank. The blast engulfed him and threw them both ten yards away in opposite directions.
When Silas scrambled back to his feet expecting another charge, he saw the Elder Kniphorn struggling to stand. The mangled pieces of its rear leg dangling from his hip. With a raging scream and a blinding flash, the three horns rocketed off its head in a wild blast. Silas fell backward, attempting to avoid the obsidian spears, and tried to counter with a blast of his own. Before he could get the spell off, one of the horns struck his open palm, exiting out the back, leaving a gaping hole and fragmented pieces behind. Pain exploded from his hand. He looked down to see the fragments glowing bright to a crescendo before exploding again. Blood and fingers covered the area.
The Elder Kniphorn took the opportunity to lung at him with the bit of strength it had remaining to finish him off. Ignoring the pain, Silas jumped and slashed at its head with his sword, igniting the runes. The blade passed effortlessly through bone and took off the top portion of the beast's head, exposing its brain matter.
Both Silas and the dead Elder Kniphorn fell to the ground. Blackness took him.
Silas came too a little while later in a pool of vomit. He tried to sit up when excruciating pain reverberated through his body, head spinning, and he fell back down. After a moment of lying there, he pulled a water skin from his bag to clean off. He dressed his hand and got to his feet.
Before setting out for camp, he looked over the corpse, flies already covering the wounds. He spit on the remains and whispered, “Fuck you, I’m stronger,” before turning and hobbling off.
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When he returned to their camp, it was well after dark. Xavi was asleep on top of the Muskox.
Silas walked over and grabbed a pot of water, sitting next to the fire. He dumped the entire container on the sleeping imp and, when he jerked awake, punched him in the face. Xavi rolled off the Muskox's back, and it jumped, almost crushing him. Xavi lept up and shot towards Silas, wings pumping.
“What the hells was that for?” He screamed.
Silas punched him again mid-flight.
“I’ve been calling you through our connection for over an hour, and you’ve been fucking sleeping. Look at my goddamn hand,” lifting it with a wince.
“I can’t help that I’m a deep sleeper. Maybe you shouldn’t play with a Kniphorn’s balls before you kill it, then that wouldn’t have happened,” yelling louder.
Silas stopped in shock.
After a long moment, they both burst out laughing.
“Why would you even think about something like that?” He asked through a pained laugh.
Xavi shrugged, “What can I say? I have weird dreams. Now sit down while I take care of that, and tell me what the fuck happened.”
While he recounted the events, Xavi repeatedly cast his healing spell. Usually, healing wounds only required one or two casts, but regrowing muscle and bone was a different story—a painful one at that. By the time he finished his story, his hand was healed completely.
“I can’t believe you survived an elder. The amount of mana they contain is exceedingly high due to their evolution, and their speed would put even a high-level mage on their heels. Very impressive. But I have to know, why did you open its skull and not just take off its head?”
Silas chuckled, “I missed.”
Xavi burst out laughing, “Stupid human. Only one such as you could survive on dumb luck. Oh well, at least you got to claim the kill. Oh, and we must move on from this place in the morning. I’ve been listening to the settlement, and something brutal is happening behind those walls. It’s as if a war has broken out. Not a single soul has walked down this road in days, and being this is supposed to be a major trade route, something is happening that we want no part of.”
“Yeah, ok. I didn’t see any beasts on my way back, so it’s for the best anyway. Whatever is happening is not our problem, and it doesn’t concern us. Let them have their war.”
Suddenly, Xavi jumped up and hovered a few feet off the ground, “Shhh, quiet. Something is coming.”
Silas turned to face the direction Xavi was looking.
A few moments later, Xavi disappeared. He continued Through their connection, " Several humans are approaching from the north. Be ready to fight when I give the word.”
Silas shot to his feet and spoke through his mind, “What do you mean? How many?”
“Just be patient and be ready.”
Twenty men on horseback came into view and were headed his way fast. Once they got closer, he could make out their features through the moonlight. They all had red tunics and chainmail armor, and the horses had red barding that covered their chests. They rode in formation like an army but were very poorly trained. There was no true structure like you would find in a proper military. ‘How curious,’ he thought.
One man drove directly ahead to their camp, and Silas walked out to meet him thirty yards away.
Once he arrived, he asked, “How did you leave the settlement? No one is allowed on these roads. By order of the Holmberg Guard, you are under arrest. We will take your goods and you back to Holmberg for judgment; do not resist.”
“What is happening in Holmberg? I left several days ago and have no part in whatever happened. I will not go anywhere with you, and you are taking nothing. Who do you work for because it is certainly not the guard?” Silas stood his ground as the remaining warriors stopped before him.
“Something is wrong, master. Keep the talking while I get ready.” Xavi said in his mind.
Silas didn’t respond. He focused on what was in front of him.
A man with a sizeable plumed feather blooming from the top of his helmet road up next to the original man. “What’s taking so long? Take him.”
“He says he’s been outside the walls for days and has no idea what happened. How should we proceed?”
“I don’t give a damn what he says, take him and everything he has. We will relieve him of his burdens and help him back into Holmberg.” He said with a smile.
Eighteen men began converging on Silas with wicked grins on their faces.
“Oh, so it’s bandits then. Masquerading as guards, no less? That takes balls.”
Xavi’s voice burst across their connection, “You cannot win this fight, and I will not allow you to be taken! Delve into your core space now! Guard your mind!”
Silas didn’t hesitate. Trusting his familiar, he closed off the outside world and entered his core, greeted by a pool of purple and green hues of flickering flames. The moment he did, immense pressure fell upon him, and the breath in his lungs was forced from his body. It was as if he had descended into the deepest oceans instantly.
After an agonizing minute, the pressure subsided. He flew from his core space and fell to his knees, gasping for air. He fought back nausea and vertigo while looking around to see what had happened. The sight he saw was awe-inspiring.
All around him, forty bodies lay about in various stages of death. Some horses still stood with riders on their backs as they wobbled and fell to the ground. Every single living being in the immediate vicinity had been decapitated, not by any blade or claw but something much more. Blood, brain, and bone covered everything within 20 feet of the area.
Silas scanned for Xavi and found the ghostly pale imp slumped on the ground behind him. “Xavi!” he ran over and kneeled beside him. “What happened? Are you alright?” Panic in his voice.
Xavi coughed out a laugh, “I introduced myself, master. I told you before that my true name would melt the mortal mind. I guess imploded was a more accurate word. I just wasn’t expecting this much backlash for it,” laughing and coughing again.
“Words are powerful, Master Dreamwhisper. You’ve done this once before and know what I speak of. High-level magic is not about learning new spells but empowering them with a word. I will teach you when you are ready, but we must leave this place for now. It’s not safe here. Now pick me up and get your beast. We leave now.”
“Will you recover? Will this happen to me if I use a word again?”
“How you conjured a word before is beyond me, and it should not have been possible. You should not have been able to accomplish it, let alone survive it, but you did. Do not dwell on it right now. Just get me to the cart and get us on the road quickly.”
Silas picked up Xavi and placed him in the cart. He reloaded their supplies and harnessed their Muskox. Once completed, they left on the road south. He was leaving with a whole slew of new questions with no answers once again.