Lost Bloodline 2 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“So glad that you could join us,” Netta teased with a smirk from her spot by the fire where she stirred a squat pot. The hawk beastfolk woman’s feathered hair fluttered slightly as she shot them a wink before going back to stirring the pot. The scent of hot grains and fruit rose up from the pot that obviously held breakfast, making Koda’s stomach grumble with hunger. “I see that your appetite didn’t sleep in either!”

“Not exactly sorry about that. We all worked hard yesterday and while I get that we can’t just devour all our supplies without care, can’t deny that we all worked up an appetite.”

“I look forward to another of those feasts that the village threw the other day,” Arthene added with a broad grin. “I can just eat my fill and then just sleep until I’m not tired anymore. The only thing missing then would be affection from my mates.”

“Doubt it,” snarked Hannah, the cat beastfolk carefully sharpening one of her arrowheads against a small, flat stone where she sat nearby. “Even if Koda could keep his hands off you and Sienna, I doubt you two would give him a moment’s rest when presented with the opportunity.”

“It would be a foolish woman who would pass that up, and while most of my goals are simple in nature, I am no fool,” Arthene said with a broad smile down at the smaller woman. “So what is our plan today? Do you think we are going to catch the Crooked before they reach this Amberpost town?”

“Hopefully,” Todd sighed, glancing over his shoulder towards the threads of smoke that still rose in the direction of the town in question. “Whether there will be anything left by the time we make it to Amberpost, I don’t know. If we are up for it, we should try to double-time to catch up with that Crooked warparty. If we can get them before they join up with the ones attacking Amberpost, then we will stand a far better chance of eliminating them.”

“Agreed,” Arthene grunted, accepting the bowl of porridge with fruit from Koda when he handed her share over. “We only saw regular foot soldiers coming through the portal, so if we are very lucky, then they only have a commander, and no champion present with them. Even if they do, I wouldn’t expect more than one or two champions in that group, regardless.”

Conversation flowed back and forth between those present, with someone finally prodding Hans awake after Sienna joined them. The wolf beastfolk woman secured the bedrolls to the trio’s packs before accepting her own breakfast.

Once they’d all eaten and put out the fire, Koda turned to Todd and Hannah, the fox and cat beastfolk being their best trackers.

Not that they really needed trackers, as the path that the Crooked had taken through the grasslands was quite distinct due to how it had been pounded flat in a wide and unforgiving line. Just like everything else about the Crooked though, it wasn’t really a straight line between locations. Instead, it wound back and forth at seeming random, sometimes moving around one of the low hills that dotted the vast grasslands. Other times it would go right up and over unforgiving and rough slopes.

“Let’s head out. I want to see if we can catch them today. We could see their fires in the distance last night, so if we are lucky…” Todd said at last, looking over the group with a thoughtful frown.

“Move as quick as you can, but don’t exhaust yourselves. I’d rather it take longer to catch them than one of you going into a fight exhausted,” Koda interjected, getting a nod of understanding from the older fox beastfolk. “We wiped out their portal camp without losing anyone. I want to keep that streak going as long as we are able to. What we all want is to bring heroes back to the village, not bodies.”

The group of warriors all shared understanding nods before Todd and Hannah set off at a steady trot along the trail they had been following. They focused on keeping an easy and maintainable pace, with the group spreading out to not crowd each other, but not so fast that people couldn’t converse to keep the tension at bay.

True to Todd’s prediction, they found the remains of the Crooked camp in less than an hour of marching. The stomped and scorched circle of grass showed the many scars left behind by the Crooked as they traveled: tear marks in the soil from the tent pegs, greasy stains from their fires, slashed plant life, and mangled animal corpses that were clearly not captured for food.

The war party only paused long enough to confirm the camp was recent and that the fire circles were still warm before they got moving once more, though at a slightly slower pace to allow their scouts to move ahead and keep them from just stumbling onto the Crooked.

Koda, Sienna, and Arthene all led the pack, with only Todd and Hannah ahead of them while the others spread out in a short train that steadily pounded their way across the grasslands.

After his dreams of running down the mountain, Koda was chafing at the slower pace. He couldn’t help but feel a sensation of urgency about all of this. Like they needed to move quicker, as if an opportunity was slipping away from him. He didn’t realize he’d been grumbling about it under his breath until Arthene spoke up, amusement in her tone.

“You could likely catch them without trouble, my mate. I know that I could, and our sweet Sienna would have no problems keeping up. Our Lady has bolstered all three of us, both to empower and to strengthen, but it would leave our fellows behind if we did that.”

Arthene’s comment caught Koda by surprise, and he turned to look at her quizzically.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that, if we were pressed, the three of us could run ahead without issue. Your stamina is useful for something besides lovemaking, my mate.” This time, Arthene’s grin was wide and lascivious, but her teasing was something he’d grown used to over the last several days. Rather than blushing or reacting to it, instead Koda just squinted at her.

“I know that, obviously. Otherwise, all the fighting we’ve had to do in the last few days would have left us far too tired to even be out here. What did you mean by empowering Sienna, though? I get you and me, since you are an incarnate spirit and I’m a champion.”

“To be honest, I was wondering the same thing,” Sienna added from his left, the lithe huntress jogging easily with her broad-bladed spear slung over her shoulder. Sienna wasn’t even breathing quickly, despite having been running over uneven earth and greenery for the last hour or more at a steady trot. “I’m good, but I don’t even feel winded. Some of the others look like they could use a break here soon.”

Arthene’s lascivious smirk turned affectionate and her eyes squinted slightly as she turned her gaze to Sienna, seeking a new target for her teasing.

“Clearly our mate needs to spend more time tending to you then, if you can run and walk without trouble?” While Arthene’s words to Koda didn’t get a reaction from the man, Sienna blushed fiercely and bit her bottom lip.

“I mean, I wouldn’t complain if he wanted to… I don’t think you would either.”

“To true, sweet Sienna!” barked Arthene with a laugh that drew the eyes of the other hunters to them for a moment. “But to your point, it is because of your blessing from Thera. She gifted you with earth magic as you are Koda’s mate just as I am. If you could not keep up with him, then you would be a burden and not a help. And thus your blessing also extends your strength and endurance. Not as much as myself or Koda, as there must be a balance in these things and you have your magic, but it will allow you to keep up for long enough to make a difference.”

“Oh…” Sienna muttered, her expression turning thoughtful before she nodded. “I guess that makes sense. I wish that we could help the others somehow though. It would make this whole thing much easier to accept. I want to finish this and go home.”

The word ‘home’ made Koda’s heart ache hearing Sienna say it with such longing. He’d longed for a home and a place to belong for so long that it was one of his motivators for even being here. Thera had offered him all sorts of rewards for his help initially, rewards he’d declined. But the one that resonated the most to him was a place to call his own and community.

And now you have that. A whole village that looks to you for protection, and two wonderful mates to share your bed and your life, Koda reminded himself with a grin even as Arthene answered Sienna’s question while their group followed the path around a low hill.

“If one of Koda’s future mates are blessed with wind magic, then that will help us in situations like this. For now, though, we will have to make do with our little earth-shaker!”

“How would wind magic help?” Sienna asked the question before Koda could, and he turned his attention to Arthene as well, curious about that.

The bear woman jogged with an easy stride, her larger size making it almost a fast walk for her rather than a jog. The motion still sent delicious ripples through her muscular and succulent form, which was distracting enough that Koda nearly tripped on a thick tuft of grass before getting himself under control. He pointedly ignored the sly grin on Arthene’s face as she’d caught sight of his near-fall.

“The different magics have a number of uses beyond just manipulating that element. Since you have earth magic, you can also use it to bolster the strength and constitution of your allies by channeling the magic directly into them with that intent. Wind magic would bolster their speed and coordination as well. Earth will help them some, but not as much as wind would. Our people are already sturdy, but that will only help so much over uneven ground like this.”

Arthene’s answer confused Koda, as he didn’t really have a point of reference for using the magic, since it wasn’t something that he was able to do himself. But apparently it made sense to Sienna, as she made an excited sound and her tail started to thrash happily.

“Oh, that’s what it is doing? I was wondering, since I could feel small bits of energy connecting me to the others when I channeled it over the battlefield. I didn’t know what they did, so I didn’t use anything with them.”

“Indeed, sweet Sienna. I would recommend you wait until we stop to rest and then push your magic gently out to the others. It will help them recover from the exertion quickly. If you were to do it now, then you might upset someone’s stride as they push off with far more strength than they had expected,” Arthene cautioned, getting an excited nod from Sienna.

The two of them continued to discuss the fine points of magic use, while Koda focused on the path ahead of them. The twisting threads of smoke rising in the distance were still worrying to him, though the village was far enough away that it was only a low smudge on the horizon when they crested certain hills.

I don’t know if it bothers me more that I don’t know how many are waiting for us, or whether or not the town even stands. Either one is bad, and both are outright aggravating. If the town has fallen, then we will need to retreat back to the vale and start preparing for a larger force to come towards us. Especially once they fall back to the portal camp and realize that it’s gone. Or will they stay there and try to reopen the portal?

The previous day, in the aftermath of the battle around the portal camp, Sienna had sunk the rune-marked stones deep into the earth to hide them. Arthene had used her massive bear form’s claws to ruin many of the obscene runes carved into the rock as well. He just had to hope that it was enough. With the path back to wherever they’d come from closed to the Crooked, though, it was hard to guess what the enemy might do.

His thoughts were interrupted when Sienna mentioned his name, and Koda brought his attention back to their conversation.

“I’m just surprised that Koda didn’t get some kind of magic from the Lady,” Sienna was saying, looking upwards thoughtfully while she ran and somehow not tripping on anything in her path despite not watching her feet.

“I’m not. My Lady gifted her champion with something far more powerful than base elemental magic after all,” Arthene said with a grin that showed off all of her shimmering white teeth. “Our mate has the same power that I do: primal spiritual energy.”

“How does that even work?” Sienna asked, dropping her gaze back to Koda to find he was staring at her with a quirked eyebrow, making her blush slightly.

“No clue. First I’ve heard of it. Arthene?” Koda said while not looking away from Sienna.

Arthene snickered, shifting her bone club from one shoulder to the other before answering.

“It’s simple enough. Sienna, you can shape the earth with your mind and spirit because that is what your soul was attuned to. Thera simply completed the connection. Now it is a muscle you must train to learn how much and how quickly you can use it. Soon, your magic will be as instinctive to use as your beautiful ears or tail.”

The compliments caused Sienna’s shy blush to deepen, but she had been getting used to it as much as Koda was, so she pushed gamely onwards with her questions. Since they were the same ones that Koda had, he let her ask.

“Okay, but how is that like what Koda has? You haven’t taught him how to use any of that yet, and you started teaching me within hours of us meeting.”

“That is where it is different,” Arthene said gently, waving her right hand through the air as if wafting something about while she sought the words she wanted. “While you need to stretch the muscles and learn to use it until it is instinct, the use of this spiritual energy that Koda was gifted is something that is entirely instinctual. Each practitioner taps into it differently. For example, I tap into that primal energy by embracing my nature. I am the primal spirit of the bear, and that power flows through me the strongest when I follow those instincts. I sleep, I eat, I mate, I protect my young. If I were to spend too long not being true to myself, my power would wane and my strength along with it.”

“So I have to basically experiment a bunch to see what it is that works for me? And what will happen as a result?” Koda asked, glancing over his shoulder to check on the rest of the group of warriors. They were all keeping up, though he could see Hans at the back of the group, huffing and puffing for air.

“You will figure it out, my mate,” Arthene said, catching his eyes with her shimmering yellow ones. “Just pay attention to your instincts. Think about how your body reacted in the past during battle and you will find your trigger. Then just focus on that and embrace it.”

“And that will make me stronger?” Koda asked. His question got another wave of the hand from Arthene, this time a back-and-forth wiggle as if to say ‘maybe.’

“It depends on what form your power takes. Mine acts the way it does because of what I am as a primal spirit. If I was a wolf spirit, then it might increase my speed more in general. You conjure weapons that are totems of power crafted from the bones of mighty creatures and the earth itself, so your power may open up further equipment to you, allow you to take the form of a beast, or even conjure spiritual avatars to fight beside you. There are rituals we can perform to help you delve into your inner self and learn more, but they take time that we don’t have right now.”

“That makes sense, we are kind of racing from place to place right now,” Koda said with a sigh, only to get a shake of the head from Arthene as she held up one large hand behind her and began to slow down, gesturing for the others to stop.

“No. Well, not just because of that. I can smell the Crooked ahead. We are close.”