Honestly, it wasn’t Tisha, the twins, their tutors, or even the guards that worried her. Her gaze was drawn to Frank, who was curled up on one of the cots in the corner. His eyes were closed, but when she focused, she could tell his breathing was uneven. He was awake and listening, even as he pretended to sleep. He’d been down there so much longer. The boy who’d good naturedly poked fun at his own expense as he explained contractual magic was gone. She didn’t know if the change was permanent, or if he’d be able to reclaim some of the happy innocence he’d had before.
Still, she forced herself back to the conversation at hand as she smiled at Tisha. “Nope, not green and gold. I’m not big into wearing gold, so I’ll be focusing on the green. Maybe I’ll let you have some of the gold. It would match your hair, after all.”
“Oh, would you really?” Tisha was beaming as she flung herself forward, hugging Jade as she started babbling about the dress she’d have made. Jade didn’t mind too much, absently setting Tisha to the side as she chattered on. Besides, the green stuff was what camouflaged, so it was more important to her anyway. Giving the girl something happy to think about was worth whatever potential dip in revenue the loss would be. Heck, it wasn’t like she needed money for anything right now. Her business that she’d foisted on the others would take care of any needs she had in that regard.
“Of course. I’ll make sure you get it.” She absently patted the girl’s head, not realizing she was half treating her like a pet to be reassured. Her attention was more on the guards, who’d shifted almost infinitesimally further away from her when she’d talked about blowing brains up with blood magic. It’s funny that that was what made them more wary of her. Not the flying, or the wind walls and blades that they couldn’t see. It was still tangible, something that could, theoretically, be blocked. The problem was, you can’t truly block someone from taking your blood and yanking it around your brain--unless you could do it too. No wonder blood mages were always feared. Ah well, that was a problem for future Jade.
One of the tutors was eyeing her strangely, the small tick of distaste evident to her as he watched her pat Tisha. You’d think these people would be more grateful that she’d saved their lives, but nooooooo…
Deciding she didn’t want to deal with them right now, she focused on following Lavender. She felt her connection with the little queen slip into place, and as her human eyes closed, she could see the ultra vibrant scenes of Lavender and Carl high in the sky. The sun beat down upon their backs as they flew, and Jade realized that it was probably around noon, if the sun was any indication. That meant she’d only gotten maybe three hours of sleep, but that was still plenty of time for the rescue group to have reached them by now if they’d left when she told them to.
To Jade, that meant they were either lost or...under siege, just great. They’re supposed to be the rescue squad, not the ones needing rescue… Her errant thoughts aside, she directed Lavender and Carl closer. It looked like the tialon pair that attacked this group got the jump on them, if the guard who was lying on the ground at an odd angle and the broken capall body were any indication. The group seemed to have rallied after that though, because they were in a circle working together to fend off the giant bodies of the tialon.
The fact that there were two of them was actually helpful in this case, and she was extremely grateful that it’d been Lavender who chose to go. With their attention drawn to the troop of people, they weren’t paying heed to the air above them, or the stream of tiny lavender particles drifting down and into their airways. Lavender split it into two streams, and Jade was fascinated as she experienced the control of her tiny queen. She could even feel Carl assisting by taking control and spreading her second stream with his own wind magic.
She could tell when both of them fell under Lavender’s illusions. First one stopped pacing, then the other. They turned to each other and leapt, giant claws outstretched. They went down in a tangle of clawing limbs, each trying to rend the other. It was much messier than her own execution, and she watched as the bright green goop that passed for their blood leaked out onto the golden stalks, staining it like a broken neon glow stick.
Thankfully, the group took this unexpected boon in stride, proving that they genuinely were an elite group. Weapons and spells tore chunks out of the tialon. The more wounded they became, the greater their frenzy seemed to be. It was only when the larger tialon tore the smaller one’s throat out that things got stickier. It finally seemed to resist Lavender’s mental influence, but by then it was too late.
She’d never seen Carl’s pollen in play, but she quickly realized it was much more subtle than the others. Instead of causing new harm, it magnified the harm that had already been done. He’d described it as drawing blood to the surface, which was pretty apt. Anywhere the pollen landed acted like a beacon, drawing the green goo from the creature’s body. It tried to run away, but it’d lost too much blood, and was only losing more. The humans won this war of attrition as the beast finally collapsed beneath their concentrated onslaught and Carl’s influence.
“What just happened?” Through Lavender, she heard a somewhat familiar voice. She was trying to place the man who was now walking over to the strangely twisted man. It took her a moment to realize that his legs were backwards, as was his left elbow...and neck. It wasn’t necessarily backwards, but it was at an angle that no human could survive.
The man bent down, gingerly beginning to right the body starting with the out of place head. Something about it seemed so familiar, so she had Lavender and Carl move a bit closer. Even as the head was turned right side up, she heard another familiar voice, “Aren’t those Lady Jade’s fellacai?”
It was the last thing she heard before she broke the connection with a gasp, a tear leaking from her eyes to slowly trail down her cheeks. Everyone in their little temporary fort was looking at her in slight panic, and she shook her head, reaching up to wipe the tear away. “Time to go. Our rescue party ran into another pair of tialon. The fight is over, but they’re not very far away so we’ll go meet them.”
Everyone started to pack up, bringing her the cots and other supplies she’d gotten out. She absently collected them into her ring, finding Hunter at her side once more. She smiled wanly at him, but he stared at her and asked in a low voice that even she could barely make out, “How many of them died?”
Smiling bitterly at him, she choked out, “Just one.” He nodded, surprising her as he grabbed her hand and gave it a quick squeeze before letting go and moving to help the others.
Staring out the door at the golden waves before her, she didn’t really see them. Instead, her mind was replaying memories. Strong arms carrying her when she felt too weak to walk. His bright blue eyes watching her from behind a wind wall. His expression as he explained Frank’s abduction. The sad acceptance as he explained the fate of the orcs at the wall. Sir Christopher Jacobs had been a good man who handled her abnormalities with aplomb.
Another memory surfaced and she grimaced, hearing Scylla’s sing-songy voice replaying in her head, “Then may the blessing of Heavenly Mother be upon you, that you may seek that which was lost. But be warned, no journey is without cost.”