Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
We walked on. Shifters flitted this way and that. Gargoyles hovered in the sky. They wouldn’t be able to see any basajaunak, not when they were blending into the scenery. They all watched my progress.
My magic kept going in waves, seeking out that which was invisible. Another basajaun shape, this one standing by a tree. Kingsley veered away to give it some space. I felt his connection. It wasn’t as strong as Austin’s bonds, but plenty strong to know that he wasn’t concerned. That wasn’t the Elder, either.
Another stood around, then two more, the last one walking in my direction. It never changed course. Neither did Drex, passing within three feet of it. Once again, he wasn’t troubled.
Aurora radiated alarm behind me. I glanced back, sending magic to see what she was responding to. A basajaunak quickly veered, having been jogging toward me but stopping once Aurora reacted. Or maybe it stopped when I had turned around. Also not the Elder.
It occurred to me that my shifter guardians were acting like radar. I used magic to suss out the creatures I couldn’t see, outlining them but not able to distinguish the details. The shifters used their natural primal senses to feel presences and gauge the danger. I could “see” farther out, but they could feel in more detail. Together we were basically cheating in this challenge, even without Ivy House.
Did the Elder not know that?
Up the way, Edgar stood next to a tree. He pointed right—at Nessa twenty feet away. She pointed at a diagonal, deeper into the wood. They were reading the energy currents or whatever they did, somehow using that to know where danger lurked. I didn’t much understand it. It was another thing on the list.
I was definitely cheating. These two weren’t even supposed to be hanging around. But…well…I’d still have a powerful adversary at the end of all this, so the result would be the same. It would just take less time.
I started to jog. Might as well get on with it.
The shifter guardians picked up the pace, perfectly synced with my movement, spaced around in a circle. In the deeper trees, where the visibility would be low for the fliers, I sent directions marking our path. If I set sail, I did actually want Tristan to catch me.
Edgar appeared randomly, pointing left again.
More basajaunak appeared now, their postures aggressive. One rushed right at me.
I flinched, wondering if it was go time. Austin lunged, though, putting himself in the way. He wasn’t aggressive about it. He was just a roadblock. Don’t attack. This is not the Elder.
That basajaun stopped just shy of Austin and then relaxed.
Another crashed through the bushes to my right. It became visible ten feet out. Hair puffed out all over its body. Its mouth opened to show its large canines.
“Dude, stop,” I grumbled, jogging by. They were trying to get me to react.
I remembered when they did this to the shifters in Dave’s homelands, testing the shifters’ control. Now they were clearly testing mine.
I heard the thrum of Tristan’s wings and slowed. A corresponding warning came through the connection. Target spotted.
Nessa jogged in from the right, out of breath. She put up her hand to stop me.
“That elder is somehow pulling energy from the natural elements around us. It’ll become power. She might be more powerful than you, Jessie. You can always turn back now.”
“She might be more powerful than Jessie,” Edgar said from somewhere on the right, hidden behind the trees, “but she is not more powerful than the Ivy House mistress.”
His head slowly peeked from around a trunk. He had a strange smile. Both his eyes blinked, but at different times, before he—just as slowly—melted back behind the tree.
I put up my hands. “As we’ve seen from the new invisibility spell Momar has, I won’t always be the most powerful person in the room. She said she wouldn’t kill me. I guess I’ll learn how to fly without wings, huh? Tristan better be paying attention.”
I continued on.
“Okay. Then yes, use everything you’ve got, like Edgar said.” Nessa fell in beside me. “You’re on Ivy House soil. You have access to additional attacks and defenses because of the house. Use those.”
I frowned at her. “Oh, is that what he meant?”
“Yeah.”
“You’ve gotten very good at understanding him.”
“It’s easy, really. You just have to take nothing at face value and always assume he’s confused.”
“Yes…” I already knew all that. It didn’t help decipher some of his more cryptic messages. Then again, I didn’t teach him random, incorrect slang like Nessa did. “Using Ivy House is probably cheating, though?”
“She’s using the energy of these woods. Energy that June cultivated and tends to constantly. I think that’s how these basajaunak grow more powerful. They cultivate and then draw from their surroundings. These are your woods. If anyone is cheating by using natural resources, it is the Elder.”