Chương 39: Evolution [End of Book One]

Some of our would-be assailants' legs are half buried in the soil now. Nothing like the coffin I created a month or so ago. Nothing that horrifying. A few of them broke their necks in the fall, and I feel a lingering sadness about it. But it's not like it matters to me. There's a part of me that realizes we will simply have collateral damage. I reach out, knowing where everyone is, but needing to reassure myself that they won't get caught in the crossfire.

Lareny and Cedrik are off to the left, and I can feel his surprise, but he's professional enough to go about his business. Xan is worried about me. Mithris is curious. Parra is… oh no. I'll get to that later. For now I need to find Dendrak. My head is woozy, but not in a bad way. Perhaps it's more accurate to say I feel like I'm outside of myself, and yet in control at the same time. Such an odd sensation of peace. I can feel so much through the flow of power as it exchanges my gift of replenishment.

In return, there's so much I can see, can test with it. So far I can reach. I find Dendrak. He's there, reaching for his Blood Ties and coming up short. They're out of range, at least for what he wants from them, I believe. Not to mention the ones who are gone from his reach now. Surprise and shock surround him for several moments as he rethinks his strategy. The thoughts obviously don't come fast to him, reinforcing my theory that he's not our mastermind. It's almost entertaining if he didn't make me so angry.

But anger is a friend I know how to juggle it. Right now I'm calmer than I've ever been. Anger has become my familiar. It burns in me with a purpose. With drive to return the natural equilibrium to what it needs to be. To understand the history I'm plagued with. I take steps toward him, picking my way through the underbrush without looking at the ground. Constantly replenishing my own energies with the life around me. Sending minuscule strength boosts and life to all the plants and wilderness around me.

Adjusting the water levels, finding new growth. It's all a part of me now.

"Grasp," I say, quietly picturing exactly what I want to happen flash through my mind. Roots. Grass. Vines. They all shoot up around him grasping his arms tightly against his body. Pinning him in one spot. It's just a small trick, nothing heavy duty. Nothing I couldn't help the area here replenish if he manages to damage it. Dendrak roars, and his visage glows red. Sprays of blood escape the pores of his skin, and power shreds the plant life I've asked to aid me.

Stench assaults my senses, floating on the air I've only just begun to grasp. It's sickening, like rotting, befouled meat. It's effective.

"You dare to go up against me!" he screams at me, his face ruddy red. I can't tell if it's the blood or anger. Maybe it's both.

"She dares." Lareny is there, close to him, sword raised as she stabs him in the side. Dendrak screams, but this time it's a mixture of wrath and pain. He swipes with his hand and a force I can't discern picks Lareny up like a ragdoll and flings her against the trunk of one of the trees behind her. Her body crumples into a heap at the base of it. She's still breathing. From what I can tell Mithris and Xalin are taking care of those who provide Dendrak with Blood Ties. The whole system is sick and wrong.

But it's powerful. And it works. Rethinking my strategy fast, I realize I need to bait him and get him away from the injured. Out of here. Far from those he's already hurt. I grin, push him on his backside with a gust of wind. I actually knock him flat, not being aware of how much energy I need to exude when using wind powers yet. Air seems to require much more finesse. I bind him down once more. Reinforcing the roots better this time. Replenishing them and myself.

May as well make him use power to break free again if it means it drains some of it. He struggles at first, and I ignore it. This isn't going to work if I don't manage to get in a good barb. Taunt activated.

"You're an imitation. And you're done now. No more hiding. No more concealing. And no more killing us all off. This time, you won't win." He pales slightly, visible even in the moonlight. And the anger comes back to the fore. Exactly what I wanted. Blood power bursts forth once again, and I send a healing sliver back to the earth begging for her to aid me just a few more times. Once Dendrak's almost free, I turn on my heal and run. His anger has such a hold of him, there's no way he won't follow me.

If I want to remove him from possible power replenishment, I need to get him away from anyone who could possibly serve as a power reserve. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Because I have a sneaking suspicion that the people in the cave recovering from their initial bout of leeching will give into his power's call if I let Dendrak press it enough. We can't let that happen. For all I know, he can simply suck anyone near enough to him dry.

I won't let that happen. Fury fuels his footsteps, and I feel each of them as he gives chase. I lead him out of the forest. My instincts are to stick to the shadows but I have more than just those on my side. It's still night. Dawn has yet to hit us, yet to grace us with her presence. Shadows are everywhere. It's amazing how well I can see with only the light of the moon to guide me. Dendrak thrashes through the undergrowth, his breathing labored.

I can tell because the air lets me know how hard he's working to use it. He didn't strike me as unfit when I met him. The oxygen begs to differ. I stand out in the open field, attempting to lure him to me. I thought everyone knew to leave him to me. I thought they'd all take care of the rest. I'm not sure why he does it, or what he was thinking. But Ellir jumps out from the edge of the woods, intent on his target.

Dendrak swivels faster than I'd thought he could have given his energy levels and catches Ellir in the throat.

"No!" I cry out the word, already darting back to where they are at the edge of the trees. But I'm too late. I can see the power rush through the man, the sheer energy that ripples through him as he sucks Ellir's lifeforce out in an instant. I guess that answers my question about whether he can do that. He tosses the body aside as if it weighs no more than paper. Looking in that direction now would undo me. I'd deliberately refrained from killing Ellir once but a few months ago. How dare Dendrak do this.

My own anger boils close to the surface, but I force it to recede behind the lines I've drawn. I underestimated Dendrak. Of course he's powerful. There's no way he'd have been able to overthrow Cedrik otherwise. Flexing my fingers, I run through all the possibilities in my head. I was going to capture him alive and hold him for questioning but as I take a few steps back and watch him, I'm not sure that's going to be possible. Dendrak is expanding.

His muscles sound as if they're ripping against constraints, and his biceps expand through his shirt to two or three times their original size. Taller too, he now towers over me. Strength. He gathers himself and jumps toward me, landing but a foot away and making the ground groan beneath him. The reverberation it causes makes me lose my footing, and it's the only thing that saves me. I have the distinct feeling that if he grasps me, he'll drain me just like he did Ellir. That's all I need to kick myself into gear.

Vaulting around, I sprint toward the group of boulders, feet pounding the earth, asking the air to just help me speed a little. I can still feel him behind me. Until I can't. Stopping just as I come up to the boulders, I realize what he's doing. Screaming hits my mind as he digs his hands into the ground beneath him. I don't know enough about Blood Magic yet, but he's trying to force the earth to do his bidding. The ground ripples beneath me, and not in the ways I'm used to.

Choppy, just like the waves that break against the rocks. If not for the boulder behind me I'd lose my footing. This sense of decay wells up from beneath me, trying to overwhelm me, to get inside my head. He's poisoning the world around me. Strength. Water. Dehydration. The senses flash in front of me and I suddenly know what to do. I plant my feet, pushing down with my strength, cleansing the land beneath me, while taking aim with my mind.

Power floods me, waiting to be used, thanking me for cleaning even a portion of it. Even as Dendrak closes in. Even as I know I can't let him touch me, I know at the same time I have to. Just before he reaches me, I activate the thought in my mind with one word. Decay. See. I've been healing with the earthen ability, nurturing with the water, and now adding air into it, there's so much more I'm capable of. As our hands touch, Dendrak's cry of triumph turns into a wheezing cough.

Air sucks the oxygen out of his lungs, giving him nothing to inhale. He bats at the air feebly, as if maybe he can punch it into submission. The hand I'm touching doesn't leech anything from me, but instead I from it. Withdrawing the water from a body isn't something I've truly contemplated before. But our bodies hold so much of it. Even our blood. Which I'm careful to drain until it can't be recognized anymore. It hurts inside me. Not just the hum that's still agonized, but the pain of taking from my energy.

This is, after all, a huge ask of nature. Still, I pull at him. The air. The water. The life. Not everything. Just enough. He stumbles to his knees, reverting back to his original size. And then even less.

"Taria!" Xan's voice comes out of nowhere, and yet all around me. I'm dizzy. Might have overdone it again. I laugh, and suddenly my energy levels drop again and I continue laughing.

"You forgot to call me Ria," I say, gasping the words out. Dendrak is laying on the ground, shriveled, face down in the dirt. He barely has any of his own blood left now, it's not like he can do much damage there. Xan's arm is under mine and I rest against their head.

"Now you've gone and saved me again," I mutter against them.

"Shut up." But there's no heat in their words, just a tight grip I know will always be there when I need it. Mithris, Lareny, and Cedrik are there, binding Dendrak. Damn it. Didn't I kill him?

"He'll be useful for questioning while we extract his Blood Ties from him." Cedrik seems regal in the dawning light.

"Once he regains consciousness anyway." That's when I realize dawn is incoming.

"We'll need some of the Dream. Maybe some of the Graven Root too. If you're feeling particularly nasty." Lareny flashes me a smile.

"Trust me, they're all about as potent as can be." Cedrik finishes performing a binding on Dendrak before turning to look at me.

"I guess pipes aren't your only secret weapon then." I nod, and the world spins. But I just feel a little loopy, not like I want to pass out. I wiggle my fingers up at the morning stars.

"Magic. That's my secret." Cedrik nods.

"It'll stay safe with me until I know it's fine to share."

"Thank you." Lareny smiles and is about to say something else when I begin to cough.

"That's enough for you." She relieves Xan of me, and shoos them off to go and help the others. This field looks like it exploded, and I let her lead me back to the camp, which is closer than the city. A fire has been lit now there aren't any consequences—or at least not as many. There's more energy left in my body than I thought there'd be. I attribute it to my constant Recovery Acclimation. It's warm and the blanket someone drapes around my shoulders helps. Soup in my hands and I am suddenly tired.

But I dig my spare hand into the dirt and feel the happy undercurrent and receding pain from the ground beneath me.

"You okay?" This time it's Mithris. So I fully think over the answer and nod, watching the flames dance.

"A full night's sleep and I'll be fine. I just need to recharge." He nods and crouches down next to me.

"Did you mean it when you said blood mages have been killing the elemental ones, have been restricting everything?" I look at him for a long moment, wracking my brains and I find it. It was me speaking, but at the same time, it was information I gleaned from everything around me.

"Yes. But I only know it because the elements never forget."

"Maybe there are others like you then? We sure could use more of you." He stands up, reaches down and pats my shoulder twice.

"Thanks Taria. We only had five casualties. It would have been a lot worse without you." I grin into my soup. But frown as I hear rapid footsteps approaching.

"Someone has news for you." I mutter, and Mithris reacts moments before one of the scouts who helped with the Blood Ties comes bursting into campsite.

"Sir. Dendrak isn't the ringleader." Suddenly Cedrik is there too, his prisoner in tow.

"What do you mean?" Mithris pulls me up, and lets me use him as a leaning post while we wait.

"These guys are in a bad way with the ties severed, but they're all not delusional about one thing. Dendrak is just a supervisor, not the leader."

"Damn it." Cedrik says, echoing my sentiments exactly. Looks like we've only just scratched the surface. I glance at Mithris who sighs deeply. Yep. I hate being right.