Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2022 21:56:30 +0400
From: Nell Bas <helledon12@gmail.com>
Subject: the last feres/ the feri war 19

Happy reading!


				The feri war
				 Chapter 19

The harsh rain stumped our progress. We rode for only two hours before we
were forced to stop because the wagon was stuck in the mud yet again. With
his earth element powers, Malik managed to get us unstuck. Although, we all
knew it was futile to push on at this point.

Moving the wagon off-road, we sought shelter under a massive tree.

Even within the wagon, we weren't safe from the elements. Gushes of wind
and water were getting in and Maya had to intervene. It was the first time
she utilized her power in front of us.

She was awesome!

Like Malik, Maya was an earth elemental but she has more control over
plants. Like a mother protecting its babe, she made the tree bend its
branches over us.

For the rest of the night, we all crowded the wagon to keep warm. We didn't
talk much and cosying between Silas and Wren, sleep came easily for me.

The next day, the rain didn't let up. Yet again we were forced to stay
put. Under the safety of the tree's branches, we were able to venture
outside the wagon to stretch our legs. After a meal, I went straight back
into the wagon for a nap.

I awaken later to a zealous Ferard worshipping his boyfriend's slick
pole. They were shameless. The others were right outside! Knowing my
shifter friends, they probably knew what these two were up to. Nonetheless,
I wasn't in the mood for voyeurism. They didn't look up as I exited the
wagon.

'They're at it again huh!' Rhett laughed as I joined him at the fire pit. I
had no idea how these guys managed a fire when the ground and woods were
soaked through and through.

'Don't remind me.'

I scanned our campsite. At one end Eric, Malik and Maya were in a
conversation as they groomed the horses, while on the other end Fiori was
teaching Silas how to use a sword. Knowing Fiori's volatile temperament,
she was surprisingly a good teacher.

'Silas is good at this. He catches on quickly,' Rhett said.

'He does. Not like me who is a complete dud in a sword fight.'

Rhett laughed. 'Yeah, true. But with your abilities, you don't need to
sword fight.'

I didn't comment. Powers are not infallible.

A sudden growl came from the forest grabbing our attention. Rhett stood up
and I followed him.

'What is it?' I asked.

We heard more growls.

'Warning from Wren and Connor. People are coming. Get ready.'

Eric was quick to join us.

'What do we do?' Maya asked.

'We're next to a road, so they might just be passing by. Rye, get word to
Wren. I want him and Connor to stay away and monitor the campsite from
afar. Rhett, you go join them.' He didn't put into words what he truly
meant. That they should attack from behind if the situation escalates.

The shifter stripped and took off in wolf form.

Eric turned to Silas. 'Get into the wagon and stay there until we call you
out.' The boy did as he was told.  'The rest of you gather around the
fire.'

We sat around the fire and pretended to warm up. Fiori and Russell had
their swords concealed within reach.

Several minutes later a group of people approached our campsite. They were
soaked to the bones as they encroached on our personal space. 'Good
evening, gentlefolk,' one of them said as they stepped out of the rain,
which had become a drizzle by then. 'Please, we need help. Would you be so
kind to let us share your fire? My friend is injured and he won't make it
another minute in this rain.'  He pointed to a person being supported by
two others. 'We were on the way to our encampment when we were ambushed by
some werewolves.'

They certainly fought some werewolves but he lied. They weren't ambushed,
they were trolling for a caravan to ransack. That was when they came upon
the beasts and decided to hunt them for sport.  It was a meeting they could
have avoided. I related this to the others but without waiting for Eric I
was already moving towards the wounded.

With care, I lifted his head. Under the hood of his cloak, blood was
running down the sides of his face and he could barely keep his eyes open.

'Lay him down by the fire and get his clothes off.' I wanted to see the
extent of his injuries.

As they stripped their friend naked, I noticed two things about the
newcomers. They were all young and barely had any facial hair. And even if
they appeared to be healthy, their clothes were a mismatch.

"Can they be trusted?" Eric thought.

"Yes. They are mostly bruised and tired. Watch the one called Ben closely,
though. He's the leader.  Already he is putting a price tag on everything
we have."

Eric and Malik nodded.

Maya joined me by the wounded boy side. The other boys crowded around us to
watch. I could sense their angsts. They wanted their friend back yet they
feared that he was already a goner.

Maya and I gave the boy a dry bath before I started healing him with water
and core energy.

His injuries were serious yet I was confident we could save him. He should
count himself as lucky that none of his bones was broken. He had a
concussion from a blow to the head and a deep gash at the waist where the
beast dug its claws in him. He might also have a torn intestine. It took
almost an hour but we managed to close him up and heal his wounds.

Maya was surprisingly a good healer as well. She uses core energy in her
healing too, although, she substituted the water I used with herbs from the
medicine bag I didn't know she carries. I suspected she received her
healing gift from the Goddess Rhea. When we were done, Russell carried the
boy inside the wagon to rest. Maya offered to stay by his side to watch
over him.

After seeing to his comfort, I joined the others outside. Silas followed me
out.

We approached the group of boys who were still huddling by the fire. The
leader, Ben was a bit suspicious. He warned the others to be on their
guards around us.

Fiori was partly to blame for that. She sat next to the wagon with Ferard
sharpening one of her daggers. She appeared to be absentminded but it was
just a ruse. She was as alert as a tiger hiding in the tall grass at the
sight of prey. Sharpening her blade at this particular time could be
interpreted as a threat display. And she knew it. In a way, she was daring
the newcomers to try something nefarious.

Eric and Malik had positioned themselves around the group. Whether it was
deliberate or not, it was for sure another threat display.

I inwardly cringed. Not that I disapproved. It was just that being in their
heads all this time, I was starting to sympathize with them. They were as
much a victim of this war as the refugees gathered at the gate of Helding.

When they saw me coming they started fidgeting. Until one of them saw our
young companion.

'Silas! Is that you?' He said aghast.

He took a step in our direction and stopped short when I lay a hand on
Silas' shoulder.

'Trash! What are you doing here?' Silas said. So this was Trash. The guy
who knows the whereabouts of Silas' street brother Dorian. Lean and gangly,
Trash was a few inches taller than I was.

'I could ask you the same thing? What are you doing far from Roccia?'

'I'm looking for Dorian. He still not answering my whispers.'

Trash whole demeanour changed before our eyes. I knew something had gone
wrong when he went dead silent.

'Is this Dorian's little brother?' Ben asked.

Trash nodded.

Ben turned to Silas. 'I'm sorry little bro, but Dorian is dead.'

He needs to learn better ways to break the news of this magnitude to
another human being.

Silas broke into a scream and fell to his knees. I pinned Ben with an angry
stare. He should have known better.

He sheepishly shrugged.

I squatted down and pulled Silas into my arms. He trapped me tight with his
arms and sobbed violently against my chest.

'There, there, it's going to be ok,' I said to comfort him. No amount of
words would soothe the pain he was feeling right now.

An animalistic growl spooked the boys. The rain had died down so they all
saw the imposing feature of Wren's black wolf form approaching in a
prowl. One or two ran towards the wagon but most of them stood their ground
in a defensive stance.

'At ease boys,' Eric said. The incredulous look on Ben's face would have
been funny if not for the circumstances.

They parted as Wren strode forward towards Silas and me. When he reached
us, he touched his large forehead with mine before nuzzling Silas's head
with his muzzle with a small whine. Not caring that Wren was soaking wet,
Silas released me only to turn around and hugged Wren-wolf around his
massive neck. My heart melted at the display of love and compassion.

I joined in the embrace.

Two more imposing-looking wolves entered the campsite. The boys were
genuinely scared now.

'Who are you, people?' Ben said in a broken voice.

Suddenly, Silas went into shock and passed out. I held him and pushed some
of my healing energy into him. Wren morphed. He took Silas in his arms and
carried him to the wagon. We came out a while later when Silas regained
consciousness and tucked back to sleep.

Clothed now, Wren stood behind me facing the boys. Fiori and Eric flanked
us.

'Who are you, people?' Again their leader asked.

Fiori produced a dagger and grinned. 'I've been dying to do this. Can I
kill them now?'

The boys paled and huddled even closer. There was nowhere to run since
Malik and the wolves were blocking them.

Eric pushed down on Fiori's daggered hand. 'I think we've scared them
enough, don't you.' To the boys he said. 'We're travellers from Wyrmer
heading to Pixan. We're not looking for trouble. We just want a peaceful
journey to our destination, that's all.'

Ben perked up and regained his composure. 'Pixan? If you have common sense
I advise you to turn around and go back to Wyrmer. Pixan is not having any
visitors unless you have dealings with the border guards.'

That was news to us. Although, I should have been more attentive. The truth
was, I'd stop reading their mind the moment Trash began talking to Silas. I
still wasn't going to read their minds because I was feeling drained. Both
the telepathy and the healing took a lot out of me.

'Tell us more of the border guards?' Wren said.

'You'll meet them about half a day's journey. I don't know the specifics
but, we've been told not to cross them,' Ben said.

'Told by whom?' Eric said.

'By Doug, our leader.'

'I want to meet with this Doug. Can you take us to him?' Eric said.

He glanced at the others. They exchanged whispers. Whispering is the most
efficient way to communicate secretly. Even the wolf shifters couldn't pick
up what was being said in a whisper.

After a few minutes, Ben looked at us. 'Doug normally doesn't like
surprises but he said yes because you nursed one of us back to life.'


The bandit's lair was a fort. Crudely constructed, it encompassed what I
suspected to be a farmstead. Because although the fields were bare and
taken over by weeds, it was still apparent what they used to be.

Several people stood at the gate as it opened. The boys were given a hero's
welcome. No one said anything to us. Flanked, we were brought inside the
enclosure in front of the cottage.

Followed by a few people, Ben told us to wait outside as he entered the
dwelling. It gave us the chance to inspect our surroundings.

Against the wall all around there were little shed-like structures. I could
see smoke coming out from several of their roofs to know they were being
used as temporary dwellings. In the middle of the fort, before the cottage,
where we stood were bare and muddy. To the side of the cottage, however,
stood a wide pole barn. It serves as a community hall because there were
people there doing common daily tasks when we arrived. But now they were
all standing there staring at us.

I stared back until my eyes met one of the teenage girls. She blushed
before running off to one of the shelters by the walls. I thought I
recognised her. But I wasn't sure where from.

'Rye, I see you're very popular with the ladies,' Connor teased.

I blushed and shoved him off. They all laughed.

That was when Ben came back out with an older male in tow.

'By the name of the Great Feri, welcome to our home. Ben told me what you
did for Wes. I'm eternally grateful for that,' the man said.

Doug was in his fifties, with salt and peppered hair and beard. He was
bulky and kind of reminds me of Niall, the alpha of the Redhurst
wolf-shifter clan. One feature that stood out about Doug was the leather
eyepatch he had over his left eye. This was a man that has known battles.

Eric exchanged greetings. And just as Doug invited us in, a voice came from
behind us. I turned to see the old lady I healed in Covenfield.

'Agatha!' I said rushing to meet her. 'It's good to see you again.'

She embraced me and kissed my cheeks. 'It's good to see you too, Rye,' she
said cackling with joy. 'I couldn't believe my ears when my Larkin told me
you were here.'

'And did you forget about me already,' Wren said from behind me.

'Of course not, larka. Come and hug me,' She cackled even more as she
yanked my bondmate into a tight hug.

'Agatha, I see you know these people,' Doug said.

The old lady grinned. 'These two are good people. I can vouch for them.'

Eric smiled and gave an approving nod.

Doug changed his mind about inviting us in. Initially, he just wanted a
quick talk and send us on our way. But he hasn't seen Agatha this happy
since she came here. So he figured the lady should have some time with her
friends.

'Friends of Agatha, you will stay and joined us for the evening meal. We'll
discuss whatever you want then. Ben, why don't you show them where they can
put their horses and wagon. And have Wes brought to the cottage. I want to
monitor his progress personally.'

Eric thanked him and he followed Ben. Only Maya and Connor stayed with Wren
and me.

'Come. Let's go to the common hall,' Agatha said.

'How come you're here? The last time you told me you were heading to
Soren,' I said.

'We had no choice but to leave Covenfield. The guards were getting too
rough with people. They beat my Rufus to a pulp just for speaking out.' She
shook her head. Rufus was her son. The one who was with her and her
granddaughter at Covenfield. The other one who I forgot his name lived in
Soren.

'What about Rolly?' Wren remembered.

Agatha's face darkened. 'Rolly died. I don't know the circumstances of his
death but that was what they told us when we got to Soren. They then turned
us away. To many refugees they said. With nowhere to go, we tried
Helding. Same thing. That was where we met Ben and his friends. They took
pity on us and brought us here. Doug and the boys are good people. They've
taken a lot of old folks like me in.'

'You do know what Doug and his gang of youth do, right?' Connor said.

'Yes, but I tried not to think about it much. Here, we are comfortable and
taken care of. That's all I care about.'

Perfectly understandable. She had lost all hopes at one point.

I wish there was more I could do for her, I thought.

"Maya, do you think the sisters could spare some provisions for these
people?"

She brightened. "Let me check and get back to you."

Later this evening, the rain finally stopped. Under the torched lit pole
barn, people sat down on fibre-weaved mats to eat. Servings were meagre but
everyone got some. There were more people than I initially thought. I count
eighty-three. A quarter was old folks and the rest were youngsters.

Beside me sat, Silas. I was glad that he was finally out of the wagon. He
still wasn't fine but he didn't want to be alone. I nudged him, encouraging
him to eat. He gave me a wan smile and brought a spoonful to his mouth. I
smiled my approval.

On the mat at the head of the group Doug spoke. 'Ben, told us you're on
your way to Pixan, is that right?'

'That's the plan, but we just learn that we have to go through the border
guards,' Malik said.

'Pixan is closed. No one in their right mind will attempt to go there at
this time. Trust me, if you go there now you'll die. They don't negotiate
and they don't take prisoners,' a woman about Eric's age said.

'Musa is right. It won't end well for you if you insist on going there?'
Doug said.

'Forgive me for asking. But why do you even want to go there?' The man they
called Greene asked.

It was normal for everybody present to feel curious, and even grow a bit
distrustful of us. After all, we were strangers. Their feelings genuinely
correlated with what they were thinking. Except, for these three.

"Eric, I don't know how to explain this. Doug, Musa and Greene are
unreadable."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm able to get in their heads, yes, but what I'm seeing doesn't make any
sense. It's like someone took their time to relabel or code their
thoughts. Their minds are jumbled up messes, yet their speeches are not
impaired in any way."

Eric inwardly chuckled and projected, "It's called insanity spell."

"But Devlin told me no spell can block a telepath."

"Normally, he would be right. But an insanity spell is not a spell. It's a
form of conditioning just like someone blocking you with an annoying song
or a mental image of a wall maybe. But those are temporary and take effort
on the blocker's part. Doug and his friend's conditions are effortless and
permanent."

Now Eric was convinced Doug had a connection with the Witch Council.

"We have to come clean with our mission if we want to solicit their help,"
he projected.

"If you think we have no choice, then do it," I replied.

Eric cleared his throat interrupting the man who was speaking. 'Doug, this
discussion is getting us nowhere unless we put all our cards on the table.'

Musa glanced at Doug who gave a nod.  'A few days ago my mate was abducted
while attending a ball in Helding. We came looking for him. We suspect the
Witch Council has something to do with his abduction and all intelligence
we've gathered so far points to them. We are determined to save him.  So,
we're grateful for the shelter tonight and we'll be out of your hair by
morning.'

Everyone was silent. Both Greene and Musa stared at Doug. It was clear he
takes the decisions here.

'That's fair. Although, I have a question that I want to ask,' Doug said.

Eric nodded. 'If it is within reason we would be happy to provide an
answer.'

Doug pointed at me. 'I was told that he has some sort of healing magic that
neither requires herbs nor potions. I'm curious about how he does it?'

No one has ever questioned my healing method before and I wondered how Eric
would play this one.

'Easy. He doesn't require herbs and potions because he doesn't need
them. But I can guess at what you're truly asking. You want to know who he
is.'

'Semantics,' he said with a shrug.

'You're an intelligent man, Doug. You already know Rye used feri magic,'
Eric said.

Agatha was the only one grinning. 'Well, I'll be damn! I am friends with a
feres.' That coxed a laugh from some people.

'Not just any feres,' Eric pushed on, 'he is the Feres King.'

The pole barn went completely quiet. For a minute there I thought I had
gone deaf.

Doug cleared his throat. 'I'm not disagreeing with you there, but I find
the idea of the High King to be sitting on the floor with us and eating
crappy food preposterous. No offence Sylvia.'

More laughter came. That was a welcome sign. Meaning they are more likely
to listen.

I glanced at Eric. "The ferilight trick?'

He nodded.

I placed the bowl I held down in front of me. Being stared at has become
second nature to me, so it didn't bother me so much anymore. 'It's going to
get dark, so don't panic,' I said before extinguishing the torches with my
telekinesis.

No gasps, no noise came. Good.

Ferilight energy was all around us so I drew some in. From the ground and
the air, visible tendrils of the sentient energy came with a glowing
sun-like streak. Like the birth of stars, they merged and circled all over
the pole barn creating tiny little spheres of lights above our heads.

'He's making ferilights!' Someone whispered.

'It's true, he is the Feres King,' another one said.

Doug inhaled deeply. 'It appears my suspicion was right.' He stood up along
with Musa. 'Come with me. I want you to meet someone.'

Rhett stayed with Silas, the rest of us followed them. Ben also tagged
along.

We crowded the torched lit cottage. Wes was on a bed of furs on the floor
by the fireplace while a woman lay asleep in the only bed of the room. She
was pale as a ghost. Musa solemnly stood at the foot of the bed while Doug
approached the sleeping woman. He sat at the side edge of the bed and took
the woman's hand.

'You already know our names. Most of the people here are marginalized
rejects like ourselves.' He sighed before pushing on. 'Musa, Greene and I
belonged to the Malakai order. An elite group of warriors trained as
bodyguards amongst other duties. Our last assignment was to protect Lord
Baxter at his residence.' Doug stopped talking for a minute as if the
memory was too painful. It seemed he hasn't come to terms with losing
whatever he lost.

'Lord Baxter didn't have a mate or children. And being an elderly man, he
had a fixed routine he keeps. After dinner, he reads a bit before turning
in early. As usual, one of us goes to check on him to make sure everything
is ok before we start locking down for the night. But on this particular
night, it was Vitara's turn to go. Ten minutes after she was gone we heard
her scream. We rushed upstairs and found her unconscious on the floor and
Lord Baxter dead. Before we could sound the alarm, we were arrested. We
were tortured for days before someone broke in and orchestrated our
escape.'

'Who?' Malik asked. He couldn't help himself. He was too impatient.

'Master Gregory. He told us to find him in Soren when the dust had
settle. We stayed put and kept an ear out for anything.'

'I travelled to Soren two weeks ago and by the time I found him, he was
dead too,' Musa said.

I moved closer to Doug and placed a hand over his shoulder. 'Tomorrow, Maya
and I will take a look at your friend and see what we can do to help.'

.....................

End of chapter 19