Furry Art Pile

Chapter 4, Sorcery, Swords, and Smartasses

Iris stirred in her bedroll. The sunlight shone through the tent flaps. “Morning, wonderful!” she grumbled sarcastically. As she exited the tent she heard a flute nearby; Gren? She walked to the source of the music. She saw Gren playing a flute by the river not far from their campsite. The melody was captivating, soft, and calming, like the mid autumn breeze. She couldn’t even bring herself to interrupt him; he however noticed her approach and started to put his flute away. “You don’t need to stop on my account.” She pleaded. “Besides it sounded nice.”

He simply smiled at her, “Why than you milady I’ve been playing this since the day I took up sorcery.” He bowed.

“How long ago was that?” She asked.

“Since I was six,” he answered.

“And your how old now?”

Gren smiled, “Twenty one.”

He’s only three years older than me? I thought he was at least twenty four. An awkward silence ensued between the two.

After a minute Gren was the one to speak, “Anyway you wished to continue?”

“Huh? Oh right.” Her mind focusing to her new task. “So when do I work on those ‘burn’ and ‘break’ tricks?”

“These aren’t tricks, they’re spells, and not so fast, you need to first learn to gather and control energy before you can use it.” Gren explained.

“Okay but after can I learn those?”

He let out a sigh and shook his head, “We’ve got a long way to go.” He soon snapped back to his regular composure, “Now to begin I’m going to teach you how to gather energy from the leylines, I could try to explain it, but I think the best way to instruct you is by example. I’d like you to focus on sensing the leyline again, but this time with your eyes open.” Guess I could give it a shot. She tried this, not only did the sense come to her, it did so quickly.

“I see the leyline, and our auras.” She said.

“Good, now simply watch.” As he said this she saw his auras reach down and “pull” some energy from the leyline below, making his aura brighter somehow.

She looked at him quizzically, “How?”

“Simply focus on reaching down and getting some of the leylines power.” He explained.

It’s worth a shot at least. She focused her mind on the leyline and herself. It didn’t happen fast, but it happened none the less, she was feeling this, rush go through her entire body.

“Excellent!” He smiled, “Now to focus it, watch me.” He set his paws in front of himself, barely a foot apart, and soon she felt his energy concentrating on the point in between his paws. A sphere of energy soon burst to life in the area. It was unlike anything she had seen, a perfect sphere of energy, with a translucent color to it. Not only that, but she could also sense it too. After he let the energy die down he turned to her, “Now it’s your turn. Focus the energy you’ve gathered at one point.” She focused, at first it flickered, and then did a small sizzle, and then finally she formed a small energy sphere.

“Wow that’s amazing!” She exclaimed at her own success.

“Indeed, you have talent, and I must admit you are also a fast learner.”

She released the energy and let it dissipate. “Why, how long did it take you to learn this?”

He merely smiled at her, “a lot more than a day, that’s for sure.”

Her mind started to wonder, more than a day? But it felt so… easy.

“Anyway,” he broke the quiet before it had too much time to ensue, “we should be on our way. The next town is Cole, and we’ll want to be there before the night.” She merely nodded her agreement, besides she could practice some of what he showed her on the way.

~*~

As they made their way to Cole, they heard a monstrous roar nearby. “What the fuck was that?” Iris yelped.

Gren pointed to the east toward a small forested area. “I'm not sure, but it came from that direction.”

Both cautiously approached the source and found a manticore in battle with a spotted feline male. The feline had blonde hair and orange fur with black spots. He wore heavy plated armor and wielded a large claymore. “Take that, foul beast!” he shouted as he raised his blade to strike the monster again. His sword sliced into the monster's chest, but not enough to kill it. The manticore countered with a swipe of its spiked tail, leaving long gouges in the feline's armor.

Iris leaned over to Gren, “Are we just going to watch?”

“He seems to be handling himself well enough,” Gren said, “but the beast is larger and more powerful. If their battle drags on, he will probably be the one to die this day.”

“Three to one sounds like good odds to me.” Iris' hand went to her knife, but Gren grabbed her wrist.

“This isn't our fight! Besides, just because the beast is injured doesn't mean its safe.”

“Fuck that!” Iris pulled away from him and ran to the battle.

Gren ran after her, “Iris, damnit!”

Iris rushed in and took a slash at the monster, but her knife barely scratched its hide. The beast roared and brought its tail down to crush her.

She heard Gren shout, “Wall!” At the word, a barrier formed around her, one she couldn't see but could feel pressing against her. The manticore's tail glanced off the barrier; she didn't even feel it.

The feline wasted no time in using the distraction to his advantage, stabbing the creature through the chest, striking its heart and killing it instantly. The monster slumped into a lifeless husk, its blood pouring onto the ground.

The feline withdrew his claymore, cleaned his blade with a cloth, and resheathed it before turning to Iris, “I thank you for the assistance.”

“You're welcome, sir.” Iris said.

Gren ran to Iris. “Are you all right?”

“I'm fine,” she snapped back.

The feline smiled slightly. “Hmm, never thought I'd see the day...” They stared at him, confused. “A mutt packing with a hyena,” he explained, “are you two outcasts or something?”

“For your information,” Iris retorted, a growl under her words, “we’re not 'packing,' asshole.”

“Fair enough,” the feline replied, smirking. “Well, I'd best be going. Perhaps I'll see you in town.” He bowed, then turned and walked away.

Gren turned to Iris. “You almost got yourself killed, you know that?”

“If we hadn't helped,” she snapped back, “he might have been killed instead! Besides, that wall protected me.”

“I can't do that all the time! And what if I hadn't been fast enough? You can't just rush into things or you'll get yourself killed! You've got to learn to stop and think!”

“He might have been dead by the time I stopped to think!”

Gren growled, “Impatient bitch!”

Iris growled back, “Stupid mutt!” They fell silent. After several moments Iris spoke, “Let's just get to town.”

“Yes,” Gren said, “let's.”

As they entered Cole they found an inn to retire for the night, Iris got her own room as did Gren. As soon as he got his key he went in the room and locked the door. She knows nothing of patience, or combat but still... I shouldn’t have been so harsh, damnit Gren you really are an idiot sometimes! he mentally cursed himself. He didn’t know why but he felt something when around her. “Get that thought out of your head!” He whispered to himself. I just hope she’s not too angry.