eldritch files 07 - elemental blood (6 page)

As I neared I could make out Bastien's wolf's shadow in the lights…and there was something else. It looked like a man—

-Samantha?-
came Zephyros's voice. I loved the soft, wispy tones of my Air Elemental. -
Should we attack?-

"No—" I don't know why I hesitated. Might be because the show ended and I heard someone moaning. Anything we added would just be overkill. I swallowed, but didn't dismiss my buddies. "B-Bastien?" Oh, I sounded a bit disturbed.

Who was I kidding? I was freaked out.

The bushes parted with the darkness and a very, very naked Bastien LeBlanc stepped into the moonlight, dragging someone by their foot. Bastien muttered in French and dropped the man at my feet. I tried looking at him, this Nisse, but I was too distracted by Bastien's nakedness. You'd think I'd be used it by now, but no one is used to Bastien's physique.

No one.

"You"—he pointed at me—"no more out alone at night,
chérie
. Not with such
bon á rien
Risi roaming these woods."

"You know what he is?"

"
Oui
. Wolves and Risi know each other very well. No
mon ami
."

I looked down at the man and asked Belenos to summon a small sun. He did, and the grapefruit-sized sun floated above us, high enough to cast a wide circle of light and not blind us. I knelt down beside the Nisse. He was turned on his side and wearing… I wasn't sure what it was. Visually, it looked like some kind of costume made of silk leaves. When I touched it—

Green sparks!

I jumped back so fast I landed on my backside. "
Lady Darksome
…what the hell was that?"

"Arcane. I believe the
marmot
over taxed his magic. He is not very good with it, no?"

I nodded as I gingerly touched him again. This time the spark was pretty mild, and the body flinched and moaned. I touched his upper arm and gently pulled him on his back…and slapped my hand to my mouth.

Elf! I was looking at a freak'n Elf! And it had horns!

SIX

He was young, or young
looking
, with a pretty face. His hair was a light green or mint—I couldn't really tell with the combined moonlight and sunlight from Belenos. His ears were pointed but not very big, though they did stick out from beneath that hair. Just above the tip of his ears curled thin, delicate horns. They reminded me of a ram's, but were nowhere near as thick. They sprouted from his temples, parting his hair. I ran my gaze all the way down then back up again. "Rise…are Elves?"

Bastien snorted. "Call him that. See what happens. This one's a Risi, part of the Nisse people."

Neessay? Reesee? Who named these people? Five year olds?

"But he's not an Elf."

"
Non
."

"And he was following me."

"
Oui
."

"Why?"

Bastien shrugged. "No matter. I can finish the job and bury him in a tree."

"Stop!" I put up my hand. "You will do no such thing." No one buries a horned Legolas!

"Samantha—" Bastien turned his head to the side. "The Nisse are not kind. The Risi in particular. Races amid their own people…" He sighed. "He probably sensed your magic. Followed you to see? Ah, little Risi? I know you are awake."

I looked from Bastien to the Elf—er, Risi—and watched as his eyes fluttered. He looked at me and the side of his mouth turned up in what looked like a smirk. "You have a
tayhang
for a protector," he said in heavily-accented English. At first, I thought he was Irish, but there was something else there. "Then you are the one I was searching for."

Huh?
I sat back on the damp grass, then shifted when my butt hit a rock. This Risi slowly sat up and kept glancing at Bastien. Bastien growled. The Risi winced.

"Are you hurt?" I asked, not sure what to say. I had a naked wolf standing to my right, and for all intents and purposes, an Elf sitting in front of me. Now that he was sitting up, the sun moved around as I asked it to and I could see his face better. Soft, smooth skin, perfectly symmetrical features, and full lips. He was pretty to look at. I couldn't tell what color his eyes were because of the shadows cast by the sun globe.

I decided his hair was white, and it hung disheveled around his face. I could see most of it was still pulled back in a cue, but the abrupt fight with Bastien had really messed it up. His clothing, when I looked at it, moved a bit and adjusted itself to him. It didn't look as leafy now. In fact, it looked more like…grass. "Is your clothing…changing?"

He nodded and looked down at himself, then brushed at his chest and arms with long-fingered hands. "This is a delphynad."

"A who?"

"Delphynad," he pronounced again. "
Dell
-fi-nad."

"Living cotton," Bastien volunteered.

The Risi glared up at him. "It's not just living cotton. It's imbued with the purest essence of life before it's harvested by hand and massaged—"

"Stop. Please." I held up my hand. "I got it. You're wearing living clothing."
Creepy
. "What's your name?"

He moved around a bit until he was on his knees, then he knelt on one and bowed to me. "I am Brahms, First Lieutenant of the Black Shadow Army."

"Army? There are more of you?"

He settled back down. "There were. I was part of the escort of our King when we were attacked. I woke up close to a lake, alone. I was wounded, and it took me some time to heal."

I looked him over. "Did your…suit heal too?"

"Yes."

Uh huh. "Well, Brahms, since I don't know what the Nisse are, and Bastien here doesn't like you, care to tell me why you're following me?"

Brahms looked stricken. "I feared for your life. I sensed you were a Witch—your Elementals are magnificent! But I also saw a wolf stalking you. I didn't want him to hurt you, or worse, un-maiden you."

I actually giggle-snorted on that one. I glanced at Bastien. He pulled his mouth to the side in a smirk, but he didn't say anything. So I smiled pleasantly at the confused-looking Brahms. "I do appreciate that, Brahms. Since I had no idea I was being followed." I looked back at Bastien, who shrugged. "Will you put something on?"

"I will not leave you alone with him,
chérie
. The Risi are known for luring humans, and Wolves, to their deaths."

Brahms stumbled to his feet. I got up as well. The guy was perfectly proportioned with a nice, slim body, but he was a good half-foot shorter than me. "We do not, beast. Unlike the Wolves, who eat small, defenseless children."

I winced. Ooh. He just hit a hot button with Bastien. If there was one thing the Wolf, and the man, was protective of, it was children. He'd shared with me his dream to have a family and his eternal love for Regine, the pack's only child.

I slipped between Brahms and Bastien, with my hands on Bastien's chest.
Eyes up, Sam!
"Not now. Please?" When Bastien stopped, but continued to glare at Brahms, I turned to the Risi, again amazed at the stark difference between him and Bastien. I understood now how Elves—Risi—were always portrayed as beautiful. Not very masculine, but nice to look at.

But then, so was a piece of chocolate cake. And if you eat too much of it, you gain weight.

Man…I needed sleep.

I noticed Brahms and Bastien eyeing one another and figured if I didn’t get Bastien to back off, Brahms would end up fertilizing a nearby tree.

"Okay," I said with a short sigh and pointed to Bastien. "Go find a leaf, or a bush, or something while Brahms explains himself."

And of course, Bastien didn't move to find covering, but instead crossed his powerful arms over his chest and stood his ground.

Typical Wolf.

“Fine.” I looked at Brahms. “Can you be more specific?”

Brahms seemed more amused than worried at Bastien's continued presence. "My Lady, I am the King's Chevalier. His advisor and his Pathfinder, as well as his protector."

I frowned. "Pathfinder?" I had the feeling that word didn't mean what I initially thought it meant.

He pulled his hair back behind his ears.

I arched a brow and glanced at Bastien. "And?"

"He's showing you the size of his ears." Bastien sounded amused. I thought he should be feeling cold. It was long after midnight in Oregon, and damn…yeah, I was cold too.

"Ears?"

"My ears are not as large as a true Risi, but smaller. As is the nature of my breed."

"Breed? You said you were Risi."

"No, the
tayhang
said I was. There isn't a name for a half-breed like myself. I am only half Risi. My father was a Troll."

"That explains those horns," Bastien said.

"Do Risi not usually have horns?" I asked.

"Not like those." Bastien pointed.

Whoa. "So Trolls…" I edited myself there, of course I was thinking big monsters under the bridge or something very Tolkien-esque. "They have smaller ears and horns like a ram?"

"Trolls don't have ears." Brahms smiled. "At least not in the places you'd think they would be. You really don't know about the Nisse races, do you?"

And again, I was embarrassed at how lacking my education into the Other World, Supernatural World or, as I'd learned to call it,
What-The-Hell-World
, really was. "Afraid not."

"Then I am honored to educate you, My Lady."

"I will keep you honest." Bastien smiled. He looked at me. "
Chérie
."

I shook my head. "Keep going, Brahms."

"Half-breed children within the Nisse world are revered and not shunned. I am both Risi and Troll, which means I have some of the Trolls' magic."

"You do?"

"All offspring created by mating with Trolls are known as Pathfinders. As a Pathfinder, there are times I can see the future. My Risi blood prevents the path from being as clear as a true Troll could find it. As a Risis, I have the ability to create gates along ley lines."

"Gates."

"Yes."

I figured he didn’t mean a gate to keep things in or out. "Do I take that to mean an opening into someplace else?"

"Yes. A means of traveling—but just along the lines." He licked his lips. "We were traveling through the Greater Kingdom—"

I interrupted, "Greater Kingdom?"

"Oregon," Bastien said.

Oh.

"We were here bringing supplies to the Boggarts. They are nearly extinct now, and the King was very upset by this."

I didn't say anything. I already knew about the plight of the Boggarts because I was there when a Ceremonial Magician destroyed over half of them. I also blamed myself for this disaster. They were trying to help me when they were caught up in the fight. Just lay on the guilt.

"That's when we were ambushed near the outer edges. We are good fighters, My Lady, but the numbers overwhelmed us. When the King was injured, I called forth a gate so he could escape."

"Did he?" Bastien asked.

"Yes." Brahms dipped his head. "I planned to accompany him. I knew his wound was deep and needed my attention, but between my injuries and the amount of will it takes to create a gate… I lost consciousness. When I woke, it was beneath a loose pile of dirt and the bodies of the other soldiers."

"They thought you were dead," I said as I tried to make sense of the attack. "Who attacked you?"

"The one leading the charge was one of the King's former concubines, Yolyn."

Bastien stepped forward. "You were attacked by your own people?"

"I'm afraid so. And they were backed up by the
tayhang
." He looked at Bastien. "Wolves."

Silence filled the space between us. The tension building from that simple statement became thick and palpable. One look at Bastien and I knew Brahms was in for a fight. "No Wolf would help a Nisse."

"I know how this sounds," Brahms said with his hands out, palms up. "But that's the truth. There were Wolves. They killed my kin." He pulled his jerkin over his head and tossed it on the ground.

I gasped when I saw the half-bandaged wound on Brahms's side. He'd bled over what could have been a torn shirt, wrapped tight around his middle. My protective instincts kicked in as I approached Brahms. Bastien growled. "Shove it," I muttered as I called on Spirit to give me the power to heal. Power accumulated in my hands as indigo light burned bright. Brahms gasped when I placed my hands on his side, over the wound. The healing power of my Unicorn sought out the rendered bone, muscle and flesh, folded it together, and stitched the damage. When it was done, I got a little dizzy and fell back into Bastien's arms.

"Careful,
chérie
," he said gently. "You can't heal like that, not without your Arcane."

He was right, but him pointing out my new weakness irritated me. I didn't like having my faults thrown into my face. Logically, I knew he was warning me, reminding me not to be reckless. Emotionally…I wanted to deck him.

"You are an Arcane Witch?" Brahms asked from somewhere in the fog of my recovery.

The night air chilled me and I started shaking. I'd grown so accustomed to having the Arcane to replenish me that reverting back to having to wait on my strength to return made me feel weak. "Right now, that's debatable." I eyed his chest and saw his wound was little more than a scar.