Chapter 396

396 296 – Mist and Shadow

We weren’t even close to the Elven Wood when Mother Bear stopped, plopped her but onto the ground, and snarled.

sent Pink.

complained Blue, who was trying on mid-day snoozing between snacks.

Violet said.

I sent to them.

Violet echoed, finding it almost instantly.

Pink asked.

Blue said.

Violet said, spotting one instantly.

.....

They had been eating flowers, and vegetables, and any leftover bones the bears left from their meals. I ate the grass and wood, and in some cases very nearly swallowed stones. The bears... I wasn’t about to get between the bears and any meals they wanted. Mostly vegetables, with bits of fruit and nuts, and once an entire beehive vanished into their maws.

Mother Bear told me.

I called [Mystic Vision] up with Nature mana, and shared it across both my sibling group and the one I shared with the bears.

From far left to far right, the Dragon Line, or flow of natural magic, or chi river, or whatever else you want to call it, extended. Like a pipe whose volume and shape and path just wavered. And... it was protected. Defended. Warded.

Someone, or more likely somefolk, had already begun tapping it, and had deployed some pretty hefty illusions in place.

I said,

Mother Bear said.

Blackfoot snarled, sending an image of...

Blue sent.

Mother Bear sent.

I said.

she said.

I said.

Brownie asked.

I shook my head.

Mother Bear said.

Blackfoot said.

Mother Bear shook herself.

The sunlight faded first. Not went away, just faded slowly as though we were walking under invisible gauze, or through...

A mist, a swirling mist of random colors, pressures, tastes, scents. Gravity seemed to dance, throwing off our balance and sense of direction.

Pink said, remembering... well, I’d forgotten which mushrooms had the weird side effects.

The children weren’t helping, broadcasting things like the taste of yellow, or the sound of wood texture. But none of them were afraid, or nauseous, which made them better than me at that instant.

I slipped in a pool of someone’s vomit. It may have been mine. For an instant, I thought everyone had turned around. It took a while to realize it was I pointed the wrong way.

I sent.

Brownie sent back.

He was doing okay, using a mantra to keep himself pulling forward, no matter where his instincts, his mind, told him where forward was.

I stayed near the cart, a mantra of my own. One, two, three siblings. All there. One, two, three siblings...

We arrived at the far side without incident, over two hundred yards south of where we’d planned to be.

I said.

Mother Bear sent.

I did so. Roughly two dozen chittering Tikich-Tikich were gathering behind us.

screamed one.

called another.

I said, and then to accompany the gesture.

It was successful, or not, depending upon your point of view. It did block both spells, but...

[You have taken six points of Biological (Dehydration) damage. 74/80 health remain.]

I bounced a Nut of Wrath off my shield, spun out of the way of an Air Dart. I thrust the point of my Jaws of Wrath into the nose of a Hog of Fear, cast Slumber on a Spirit of the Grains. I blocked a Giant Pebble with the power of Split Earth encasing my hands, and still nearly lost several fingers.

I split the haft of a Root of Doom before it could fully impale me, and lift me up into the sky.

But I couldn’t stop all of them; there were just too many spells. I danced and burned upon a Rug of Fire, one cheek went numb when struck by a Hailstone. I had no defense against Electrocution, or Unlighted Moonbeam, but my scales shielded me from some things; Spray of Needles, Flying Razors, and Torrent, to name a few.

It happened far too fast, from too many directions. No single spell was above damage code four, or eight points, but I was wearing my Titanspawn title, and they rained different damage types down on me, almost exclusively upon me, for twelve seconds.

She didn’t even latch onto me, just raced right up my leg onto my chest, as though chainmail were just a series of linked natural handholds for her. Which, now that I’m thinking about it, it might have been.

she chittered at me.

I said, moving my shield to cover her from a Sunwrath Beam.

wailed a woman I took for her mother, before she tried to smite me with Infection.

she said.

She did not resist as I cast [Slumber] and [Spirit Journey] upon her, setting her delicately upon the ground where her mother began shaking her.

the mother said,

Vibration is one of those weird damage types. It can be bludgeoning, or impact, or even pierce if an attack hits your ear just right.

[Temporary deafness, left ear only. Temporary condition – stumbling.]

someone asked, running up to sniff her.

said another.

said another woman, bouncing off the way we had come.

a male asked.

I said,

Blue said, jumping from the cart.

Disoriented as I was, I still managed to catch him. Ha! Not the worst elder sibling moment ever.

called one Tikich-Tikich.

his brother yelled.

the first countered, and soon the two of them were wrestling, sending the food sprawling everywhere.

Blue screamed, biting my hand with what little muscles he had.

I had exhausted my abilities against Acid damage, but still managed to set him in the back of the cart.

I said to them.

Blue sent.

For just an instant, I considered that. I was a horrible sibling. They still weren’t able to support and defend themselves. For just an instant, I was a bad person...

One, two, three siblings, all at full health.

[You have 18/80 health remaining.]

And with THAT, the instant was over. I extinguished my burning shield and left it behind us.

insisted another.

There was a squeal of pain, and things rapidly devolved from there into a free-for-all magical and ability brawl.

I tried to make some Healing mana, but found that in the wake of the raw faymist, I couldn’t focus enough to convert anything now that the adrenaline was fading.

Cheers arose behind us; we pressed onward.

While not the best parent, I did make certain that each of my siblings got to eat a bee. Just because I’d never wanted compound eyes didn’t mean I wanted to limit their choices.

.....