Spirit formed, p.11
Spirit Formed, page 11
He reached out as she walked by him.
She stepped away. “No. I’m going to get some water and sit on the patio. You’re going to give me this time. I’ve done the same for you, for longer than the few minutes I want today.” She didn’t wait for a reply but got her water and left without him saying another word.
In the shade on the patio, the breeze was positively pleasant and the heat enjoyable rather than oppressive. She took a sip of the cool water and set the cup on the small table. They’d worked several small cases back home since deciding to try the romantic relationship, but this was the first big one. Perhaps that was the real problem.
In day-to-day life, where her mixed heritage was mostly a footnote—or occasionally useful but not otherwise noteworthy—Cord didn’t have any problems. It was only on these big cases, people talked about it … where the earth seemed awake more often to help her, where people looked at Shasta differently because of what she was, that Cord had a problem. Whether it was the attention she received or that so far she’d ended up—in the eyes of the people they helped—as the primary hero, he couldn’t handle it. Unfortunately, being work partners as well as romantic partners meant it was an all or nothing deal. The entire relationship worked or none of it did.
She took another sip of water. Ultimately there was one question: Would the love between them be enough? Last week she’d thought so.
The gentle hum of the earth welled up from the ground, vibrating through the stone and into her. It was steady, constant, and today it carried a sense of calm. Shasta basked in the hum until it faded away, retreating into the earth.
Would she be happy if her efforts were always forgotten? It wasn’t a question she had a good answer for, but when she framed it like that, it was easier to understand Cord’s frustration. She couldn’t have defeated the sorcerer in the Dragon Lands or made peace with the volcano elemental Sirenum without Cord. Yet, while she was known as friend of dragons and fire-forged, his name was not spoken with those stories. No one liked having their contributions forgotten.
“Narzel blast it.” If it were her contributions being forgotten, she would want recognition.
She pushed off the wall and grabbed her cup on the way back inside. She paused, her hand hovering over the doorknob. Through the glass, she could see Cord sitting on the couch, elbows on his knees, head buried in his hands. The last of her anger drained away.
Shasta hurried inside, setting the cup on the counter as she walked by. She knelt in front of Cord, pressing his hands between hers. He looked up with watery eyes. She squeezed his fingers. “We never thought this would be easy, but it’s one thing to know there will be challenges, and it’s another thing to live them.”
He nodded. “What I said, it’s unforgivable.”
“Maybe unforgettable.” She smiled a little to soften the words. “But you’re already forgiven.”
“I’m not sure I forgive me,” he whispered.
Shasta wasn’t sure what to say to that. She thought repairing this would be easier. A little understanding, a bit of forgiveness, and they would be back where they’d been before. “We, as a couple, mean more to me than those few words. I know you, and I won’t hold a moment of frustration against you. You deserve better than that. We both do.”
He closed his eyes and bowed his head until it rested against hers. A long moment passed with them like that before Cord finally spoke. “I’ll do better. I promise.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Shasta looked up at him, her own eyes moist. “I know.”
Cord entwined his fingers with hers and drew her up with him as he stood. Then he slid his arms around her and hugged her tightly. She relaxed into it, holding him to her just as hard as he was holding her. They would get past this. They’d find a way for him to get equal recognition so everyone knew he was more than an assistant.
The romance of the moment lasted just until her stomach growled, followed quickly by his. They dissolved into laughter, slowly releasing each other.
“We need food,” Cord murmured.
“The café,” Shasta said between giggles. “That way we don’t have to cook.”
Cord grinned. “I like the way you think.”
Shasta went up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek before untangling herself and retrieving her pack, bow, and quiver. Her stomach rumbled again. “I’m ready.”
Cord had his bow and quiver in hand. He pointed behind her. “Pass me my pack, and we can head out.”
She picked it up and with a barely suppressed smile tossed it at him. While it was still in the air, she started for the door. She was reaching for the doorknob when he got to it first. Shasta cocked her head and looked up at him.
With a flourish, Cord opened the door and motioned for her to go through. “My lady.”
“Thank you.” The heavy scent of roses greeted her as she crossed the threshold.
The scent clung to her as she went down the path. On the main road, she slipped her hand in Cord’s, and the trip to town passed with rumbling stomachs and amused smiles.
Stepping over the gap in the brick road was a harsh reminder that their work was far from finished. As soon as they ate, they needed to figure out their next move. Maybe her mom would have an idea how to track the missing deer. Though, considering the lack of evidence left behind by the person who took them, Shasta wasn’t very hopeful.
Cicada waved at them from across the street, and Shasta returned the gesture. Farther down, she spotted Gwen unlocking The Tree Sisters. There had to be a reason this town was being attacked. Which left two large questions: Why Quercuston? And was the person behind all of this a resident? If she knew the answer to one she might understand the other. However, in her experience, those answers usually came hand in hand and not at a convenient moment.
The door to the café swung open, and Ayla stepped out. Cord hurried the last few steps, catching the door before it closed.
Ayla’s eyes swept over the two of them. “How—”
“Help! Help! They’re going to kill him!”
Shasta dashed for the street. Delilah ran toward her, arms bloody and shirt torn. Shasta caught her by the shoulders, avoiding the lacerations on her forearms that were still losing blood. “Who is going to be killed and who is doing the killing?”
Delilah’s gaze darted around, not focusing on Shasta. “Them!”
Shasta needed more than that if she was going to be able to help. “Delilah.”
The woman continued to glance around, twisting to look behind her.
“Delilah!” Shasta shook her gently. “Focus. Who do I need to save?”
The woman finally focused on Shasta, her pupils so dilated there was hardly any iris left. “Godric.”
At least they were making progress now, but she still needed more. “Tell me what happened, who’s trying to kill him, and where they are.”
Delilah twisted in her grip, motioning vaguely back down the street.
“Words. Delilah, I need you to talk to me.” Shasta glanced at Cord and raised an eyebrow. Perhaps he would have better luck getting coherent information.
He shook his head slightly.
Shasta released Delilah’s right shoulder and snapped her fingers in front of the woman’s face. “Focus! What happened?”
Delilah finally seemed to see her. “With the deer attacking, I haven’t been able to go collect enough mushrooms. But with them dead now, even if they’re missing, it seemed safe enough to go deep into the woods—something I haven’t done in weeks. Godric still wanted to go with me, just in case. We were alone, and then there were so many deer. We started to run, but they’d circled around us. There were too many of them for him to hold off with a bow. We broke through the circle and were heading for Quercuston, but they were gaining on us. He told me to run, that he’d hold them off.” Delilah grabbed Shasta’s shirt. “You have to help him!”
“Where did you leave him?” Shasta started prying her shirt out of Delilah’s fist.
Delilah turned and pointed out of town. “A half-mile into the woods from the community barn.”
Shasta looked at Cord, who already had his quiver clipped to his belt and his bow in hand. “We’ll do everything we can to save him.”
Chapter Eight
Shasta swung her pack around, transferring her quiver from the pack to her belt and took the bow in hand. Delilah turned back, reaching for her.
Ayla stepped between them and started guiding Delilah away. “Let’s tend to those cuts.”
Delilah nodded.
Ayla paused beside Shasta. “We’ll take care of her. I told Bliss to get you something you can eat after a fight.”
“Thanks, for both.” Shasta waited until Ayla resumed ushering Delilah into the café before meeting Cord’s gaze. “We run and hope we get there in time?”
He sighed. “And keep an eye out for traps. It’s a little too convenient that we kill the herd one day and the next a new herd appears.”
“Agreed.” It was all the more suspicious considering the previous kills had gone missing from the barn with nary a trace as to how they got out.
Bliss bustled out of the café. She thrust a cloth-wrapped package and small water skin at each of them. “They should be good whenever you have time.”
Shasta quickly put the water skin and package in her pack. “Thank you.” Her words echoed Cord’s.
“May the earth be with you.” Bliss marched back to her shop.
“Ready?” Cord asked.
“Let’s go.” Shasta started to run. As they made their way through Quercuston, she cracked open her shields, giving herself a closer connection to the earth. While it didn’t hasten her steps, she could feel disturbance almost precisely where Delilah had indicated.
When they reached the tree line, she took the lead, guiding them down game trails and between gaps and trees. Ahead, the feel of the battle changed, the energies dispersed. Shasta slowed to a jog and nocked an arrow. Beside her, Cord was doing the same.
The sharp crack of a branch snapping brought both of them to a halt. They put a few feet between them, taking cover behind available trees. Leaves rustled, and a flurry of footsteps followed. Deer didn’t make that sound. Shasta kept her bow pointed down, ready to aim if she was wrong.
Godric charged out from behind a holly tree, looking back over his shoulder as he ran. He tripped on a root and dropped his bow. He lunged after it, ending up on his knees. He glanced behind him before grabbing for the bow and looking back again.
Cord motioned with his hand, indicating Godric and then pointing at the path. Shasta bobbed her head, agreeing that only one of them should step into the open. Cord moved out from behind his tree, his weapon lowered. Shasta stayed behind her cover, ready to defend both of them from incoming deer.
Godric patted around on the leaves with his left hand, trying to find his arrow. His pants were stained and ripped along the left knee. His shirt was smeared with dirt and torn across the right shoulder. Godric’s attention vacillated from behind him to the ground around him. Repeatedly glancing over his shoulder slowed his search. After several seconds of frantic movement, he pulled the arrow out of the leaves and lumbered back to his feet. Godric made it two steps forward before he finally saw Cord. “I killed two, but I don’t think it will stop them.”
“Are you injured?” Cord asked.
Shasta did her best to keep an eye on Godric and the woods. If the deer came from the direction Godric had, Cord didn’t have a clear shot.
Godric shook his head. “Banged up a bit, not badly hurt. Delilah fell through thorns and one of the deer got close. I couldn’t help but step on her. Is she all right?”
“She’s in town.” Cord chose his words carefully. “It looked like it was mostly lacerations on her arms.”
“Thank the earth.” Godric leaned against the tree, some of the panic fading from his eyes.
The soft crunch of leaves reached Shasta’s ears.
Godric must have heard it too because he flinched and spun around. “They’re coming.”
“Can you make it to town?” Cord asked.
Godric glanced at him before staring in the direction the sound had come from. “Yes.”
“Godric,” Cord said, and the mayor focused on him. “Go be with your wife. This is what you hired Shasta and me for.”
Taking that as her queue, Shasta stepped out from behind the tree. “Delilah was panicked. I think it would do both of you good to be together.”
Godric’s eyes went wide. “I never even saw you.”
“You hired the best.” Cord gently turned Godric around until he was pointed toward Quercuston. “This is our job. Go to town, hug your wife.”
Godric wavered for a moment, his eyes darting between them and the direction he’d come from. “Thank you.” He turned and started jogging toward town.
Shasta split her attention between her surroundings and Godric’s retreating figure until he was lost behind a mass of foliage. “If the deer were that close to him, where did they go?”
Cord grimaced. “That is a damn good question. They didn’t break off their chases before. Why would they do so now?”
Shasta shrugged. “They don’t behave like any deer we’ve ever encountered. I really wanted to do that examination and see precisely what had been changed.”
“Maybe that magic infused a bit of predator into them,” Cord muttered. “I guess we go hunting.”
She scanned the forest but couldn’t see anything moving that was the size of the deer. “Hunting aggressive deer that are resistant to damage. What could go wrong?”
“I vote we backtrack Godric. It looks like he left a pretty good trail.”
Shasta motioned for him to go ahead. She trailed him past where Godric had fallen and around the tree. At the moment, there wasn’t much tracking to it. They followed the disturbed leaves and earth from Godric’s desperate flight.
Cord paused. “Deer on the ground ahead.”
Shasta took several steps to the right. About twenty feet ahead of them, partially hidden behind a log, a doe was laid over on her side, blood seeping out from under her. From the open eyes that weren’t moving, Shasta was reasonably sure the deer was dead, but it was always best to be careful.
They approached slowly. Cord motioned for her to hold her position when they were about ten feet from the doe. He carefully closed the distance and checked the body. “Dead.”
Shasta lowered her bow and rolled her shoulders to release the tension. Creeping through the forest waiting to be attacked was a surefire way to tense up.
While Cord examined the deer more closely, she kept a sharp eye on the woods. Two squirrels raced across the ground and continued their spat as they scaled a tree. Cicadas droned on, and birds chirped. Other than the dead deer, the woods felt perfectly normal.
“Definitely some of the same changes that we found in the others.” Cord got to his feet and pointed between two pine trees. “Godric’s footsteps continue that way.”
Shasta joined him. “Can you see the other deer?”
Cord shook his head. “Just disturbed leaves.”
Like before, the signs of passage were clear. Cord again took the lead, and she kept an eye on their sides and flank as they searched.
“I see it.” Cord stopped.
Shasta stepped up beside him. They were at the edge of a small clearing made by the canopies of two giant oak trees. The only things down here were a few small shrubs that could survive on what light got through the thick foliage. Across the clearing, the deer was lying on its side, but Shasta couldn’t see any blood or even a wound. She flexed her fingers on the bow, ready to spring into action should the remaining deer ambush them. “Covered.”
Cord nodded and started closing the distance between himself and the deer. He paused a few feet away from it.
Shasta abandoned her watch on the rest of the forest to keep an eye on Cord and the deer. As it was, she didn’t have a clear shot if it wasn’t dead.
Stepping to the side, and opening up a clear shot for Shasta in the process, Cord lifted his own bow. He studied the animal for a moment before deliberately crunching on a twig. The deer didn’t even twitch. Cord lowered his weapon, returning the arrow to the quiver. He set the bow on the ground and grabbed the deer by its horns, quickly flipping it over. Its entire side was coated in blood. A broken arrow shaft hung out of the wound. Cord lowered it back to the ground and retrieved his bow.
Shasta traced Godric’s steps through the clearing. The trail went several feet to the left of the deer. Considering the distance they’d traveled since leaving town, and the direction Godric’s path had taken them, they weren’t very far from where they’d been when they realized the deer were attacking town yesterday. The attack two days ago seemed to have come from this direction too. That made three attacks that had the same point of origin. “Did any of the attacks come from the other side of town?”
“Not since we’ve been here. Before that …” He shrugged. “I don’t think the direction of the attacks was mentioned.”
“Something worth asking when we get back.” She scanned the woods. A spot of bright red on the bark of a slender pine caught her eye. “There’s something over there.”
Cord kept watch while she investigated. When she got closer, she could tell it was an arrow. The red was dyed fletching, just like what was on her arrows. She yanked it out of the tree, a chunk of bark coming along with it. The broadhead had a small “W” etched in the metal. Wyrran had made this, just like he made the rest of the arrows for the town.
Shasta passed it to Cord for him to examine and returned her attention to the ground. From here, she could see where the tracks diverged—one set from Delilah running directly toward town and the other from Godric zigzagging as he tried to keep the deer away from her.
“Good eye.” Cord added the arrow to his quiver and then surveyed their surroundings. He focused on a three-foot area of disturbed leaves and a few chunks of kicked up dirt. “I think they fought the deer over there.”
