Chương 48: Rescuing Tim

The chirping of crickets outside of Godric's house rattled the room as Alex paced around with his hands on his hips.

"Aaron, I'm so sorry. I tried everything, I promise!" He said, wiping a tear off his cheek. It was difficult to tell if he was sorry for Tim or afraid of making Giddeon angry.

"What happened?" Aaron asked.

"He just got really mad and started attacking us. He wasn't making any sense. I tried my music but nothing worked. We tried to stop him from leaving. He was thrashing so hard when we grabbed him. He got free and ran out the door," Alex explained.

"And where did he go?" Aaron replied. Alex gulped and took a deep breath.

"East." Aaron's heart was in his stomach. The camp was to the east and he was in no sound mind to avoid it. The wanted posters distributed by Harrold had both his and Tim's faces on. Wanted for murder rang in his head. If they recognise him, they might turn him in back at the city. Or worse execute him at the camp.

"We need to find him fast," Aaron said.

"Agreed, but we are no match for the mages at the camp," Giddon said. He had just spent the past few days gathering intelligence on the farm. Although Aaron suspected they would have some powerful Gifted and fighters, given the ferocity of the creatures that attacked them.

"All the more reason to get to him first," Aaron replied, "I'll send Cuthbert to find him."

"Don't do anything stupid," Paige said, grabbing his shoulder.

"Just find him and then cancel the spell before they see you. We'll ride out on the horses as soon as you spot him."

"I have some herbs in the cart. I can rustle up a sleeping potion in case he's still agitated," Giddeon said. Aaron nodded to the two of them in a show of respect and ran outside to the decking on the front porch of the farmhouse. Cuthbert was perched on a fencepost outside. The white scar on his wing glowed in the night, glistening off his dark beak. Aaron sat down with his legs crossed and reached for his Blood Bond spell. His perspective warped and spun, giving him a horrible nauseated feeling.

His vision settled, and he was looking back at his own body down the ridge of Cuthbert's beak. Without wasting time, he took off east. The feeling of flying should have been exhilarating, but it was entirely overshadowed by his worry for Tim. The farmland looked vast from the sky. There were fields as far as the eye could see, most of which were abandoned and overgrown. The road east wound through some hills and crossed a small river over an old stone bridge. The path was ragged and worn.

It clearly hadn't been maintained for many years. After following the road for a few minutes, Aaron spotted Tim. But he wasn't alone. Tim was surrounded by a patrol of peacekeepers. His arms were bound behind his back with rope and pulled tight and held either side by two men, like a wild animal. Aaron's heart raced. The camp was only a few minutes away and they barely had time to act. He relinquished his connection with Cuthbert and his perspective whirlpool back into his own body.

It made him want to vomit, but he held it and dashed inside to inform Paige and Giddeon that he was on the path east. They didn't hesitate a moment before riding out on a horse. Giddeon rode it while Paige sat behind him. Aaron paced around frantically. Tim was minutes away from the camp. He had to trust that Giddeon and Paige could get him back. The swirling anxiety in his stomach was almost unbearable. Alex was sitting in the corner of the room biting his nails. He looked genuinely worried for Tim.

Aaron thought about running east and helping them. But even if he went as fast as he could, they would easily be in the camp before he arrived. And what help would be against soldiers and battle mages? He picked at the skin around his nails. The wait was excruciating. He couldn't stand it anymore.

"Screw it." He ran to the door. Cuthbert was waiting directly outside on the floor, hopping around from foot to foot. Perhaps he knew what was going on, or maybe he could sense Aaron's worry through their mutual bond. But it didn't matter. He had to see what was going on and try to help Giddeon and Paige. He used his Blood Bond, shifting back into his crow's point of view and immediately flew off at full speed to the east. He had done this enough now to become quite a proficient flyer.

After a long minute, he saw Tim and the guards on the road. He knew the camp was just up ahead, but just about too far to see from the ground. Giddeon and Paige were stopped in the road, just staring ahead at Tim from a distance. Why aren't they helping!? Aaron thought. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. He swooped down and landed on Giddeon's horse's head and stared up at the old man.

He wanted to shout and order him to help his brother, but all he could do was squawk and caw. And he knew the grumpy bastard would never listen to him anyway. Paige understood him, though. She must have known exactly what he wanted.

"Aaron, it's too dangerous. They have mana hounds and a mage with them. They'll kill us before we can free him." Aaron wanted to scream. This was his brother. Rage swelled up inside of him.

"We will get him back, we need him for the relic." Giddeon said. Shouting burst out in the distance. Aaron jolted, taken by surprise. He took off into the air to see what was going on. The mana hounds were thrashing and pulled at their leads. Something was making them stir. Aaron took a step back and evaluated his mana and his aura. He had never considered what might be possible whilst using Blood Bond. Some of his mana had followed him into Cuthbert, albeit a small amount.

He could sense that he was projecting an aura around him and it was whipping the dogs up into a frenzy. They were reacting to his anger. Torn between hope and surprise, Aaron leant into the effect and focused on influencing the corrupted dogs. He'd never thought to see if he had access to his spells as the crow. The hounds felt distant and hazy. He was much weaker using Blood Bond with Cuthbert, than as a human. But he was still strong enough.

He channelled all of his anger and fear into his aura and concentrated it down toward the guards. Screeches and howls erupted along the path. One of the dogs knocked its handler over and ran off into the field, screeching hysterically. Three of the peacekeepers broke off the main patrol to chase after it. Tim was wiggling around, with his hands tied behind his back. He was trying to break free. It wasn't clear whether Aaron's abilities affected him or not. He hoped not, as he wasn't undead.

Although he wasn't entirely certain of the origin of his curse and its connection to the corruption. There were four guards left with Tim. Two were holding the ropes tied to opposite sides of him, and two were trying to control the remaining dog. If he could sever the ropes holding Tim, he might be able to escape long enough for Giddeon and Paige to collect him on horseback. It was as risky as any damage that happened to the crow was reflected on Aaron's body back on the farmhouse. But it was too late to worry.

If he didn't act now, there was every chance that they could end up killing Tim at that camp. Aaron swooped down from up high where he was circling and landed in a nearby tree. The good thing about being a bird was that no one suspected him, unless of course they saw the white glowing scar down his wing. Aaron hopped down to the floor and pecked around the ground. He did a few times as he hopped closer to his brother, trying not to draw attention to himself.

They were all facing away from him and focusing on the dog, which was still violently thrashing around. The two guards were using all their strength to hold onto its lead. He flew up and landed on the rope on Tim's right hand side. The guard immediately clocked him and shook the rope up and down to shake him off. Aaron dug both feet into the rope, curling his newly sharpened talons around it as hard as he could, flapping his wings for balance. He felt the threads of the rope tear as the man flailed the rope around.

With an aggressive up-down motion, the guard sent a wave down the rope, and Aaron finally lost his footing. He was thrown off to the side, but managed to open his wings and glide to the floor. He hopped into a bush on the side of the path.

"Stupid bird," the guard said. This was good. He didn't suspect him yet. Aaron looked over at the rope, it was only held together by a thin bit of twine. If Tim tried to pull, Aaron suspected it would break. But there was the matter of the rope on the other side to contend with. Aaron took off into the air and flew towards the other rope with his talons out. He grabbed it as he flew past and lifted it into the air.

As the rope became taut and the guard pulled back, he loosened his grip and pinched it with the tips of his talons. They dragged through the rope as it was ripped out of his grip, severing some of the material. Circling above, he could see that a good chunk of the rope was frayed. Where it had been cut, threads of string curled back on either side, but there was still a significant portion of twine holding it together. He circled back and dived down towards the rope, swooping down parallel to the ground.

He felt a crack followed by immense pain on his flank just before he reached the rope. The sky and ground blurred and tumbled as he crashed down onto the floor. All of his breath left his lungs and was replaced by a sharp pain in his ribs as he lay on the floor. With one beady eye facing upwards, he saw the second guard holding a quarterstaff, laughing at him through crooked teeth. Aaron was dealing with the kind of men who enjoyed hurting animals for sport.

The dog stopped thrashing around and locked onto him with jet black eyes. The spiny tendrils poking out from its shoulders started facing towards him. It must have sniffed out his magic. Aaron's face exploded with pain as if thousands of tiny shards of ice stabbed into his skin. He felt his mana being sucked from his body. The pain was all-encompassing. As much as he tried to free himself, all he could do was writhe around on the floor. A crash of light briefly blinded him and the mana hound's spell stopped.

Aaron scrambled to his feet, and several spears of light flew over and smashed into the dog's head. The dog barely flinched. Instead, it peeled its lips back, baring rows of knife-like teeth and snarled at Paige and Giddeon as they rode past it. Unlike the bat and deer Aaron animated, the light was barely affecting it. Small plumes of black smoke fizzled off each time it was hit, but it wasn't enough to burn through its flesh. The man holding the dog's leash summoned a ball of water in the air.

It split several times, and the smaller spheres lengthened into sharp points, the size of kitchen knives. He waved his hand forwards, and they solidified into ice as they catapulted forwards at the speed of a crossbow bolt. The shards curved and followed Giddeon and Paige as they swerved back and forth on horseback to avoid the attack. Giddeon waved a hand behind him, and a small cloud of rocks and dust swirled around just in time to create a barrier.

The icicles smashed into the cloud of stones and shattered into thousands of tiny splinters. Paige yelled and arched her back up. Several red specs of blood appeared on the back of her tunic. Giddeon turned and fled. He was powerful, but this was an ice mage trained for combat. Seizing the moment, Aaron scrambled into the air, flapping his wings frantically. His ribs were sore, and his lungs burned. If he'd reached for his True Sight, he knew he would find broken bones.

His vision was blackening at the edges from the pain. Aaron wished he could help his brother, but if he hesitated for a second, the mage or dog would surely kill him. And he didn't have the strength to land and sever the rope. Even if he did, Giddeon was on the run, and there's no way Tim could escape on his own. The guilt was overwhelming. But there was no way he could save him. He turned and flew back west. He cancelled his Blood Bond as the crow arrived home and his vision returned to his body.

He tried to walk, but his breath caught on his ribs as he breathed in and he fell to the floor in agony, clutching his chest. He lay on his back on the decking, taking shallow breaths and groaned in pain. All he could think about was his brother. It was no longer a stealth mission to get into the mine. It was a rescue mission.