Page 15 of Family Found

The beasts had sensed the two Koa Esher outside the building now. Those Koa Esher had stopped talking and were looking at the fog, clearly weirded out enough to find it suspicious. One put his hands to his mouth, preparing to shout a warning or alarm. Vergis had been right about fog being poor cover for what we were doing.

But oh my effing gosh, the Koa Esher wasn’t fast enough to shout a warning. One of the yellow things jumped out of the fog bank. I wondered whether the land had done that intentionally, and the land gave me the impression of someone looking a bit too innocent.

There was a yelp from that cola asshat, and unfortunately, I wasn’t able to pull away fast enough. I saw. I made a tiny noise, high and much too loud, I knew.

Inkiri moved fast and clamped his hand over my mouth before bending toward me. In front of the house, the second Koa Esher managed a half scream before he had the left side of his face torn off, screamed some more, then went silent apart from wet noises he wasn’t really contributing to all that much.

There was movement in the courtyard, but then Kinnek got back to us. I missed what he was saying, and he only stopped long enough to squeeze Charles’s arm and Vergis’s shoulder, both of whom held their guard positions rather than rejoicing at having him back.

The next thing I knew, Kinnek was reaching for my hand.

“Rory,” he said. “Help me.”

That sort of messed with what I was doing and had planned on doing. I still wanted to throw lightning at the Koa Esher as if I were Zeus in a Hollywood blockbuster.

But Kinnek needed me to dispense. Doing that while also watching my environment in that disembodied way was hard, and there was the fog to keep an eye on too. I focused on keeping that up, although the beasts were gathering around the two Koa Esher now. What was left of them, anyway. The beasts ate, all snarling while attempting to keep the best pieces for themselves.

I let Kinnek pull magic through me. It wasn’t much, but it still made me dizzy. I was no longer spread out, but back right there, Inkiri steadying me, one of the survivors whispering in near silence. I sensed where Kinnek was directing the magic—the building.

“What was that?” I asked him, blinking to make the world stop spinning.

He looked at a survivor—the one he’d sent through the window first—and the two of them locked eyes. That bagu, the one with the holes drilled into his light blue horns, also had a scar on his throat. It looked to have come from a deep cut that had healed to form rope-like scar tissue. A shiver ran down my spine just imagining what this bagu had endured.

Kinnek’s jaw tensed. “I’m turning that place to ash.”

Charles let out a low hiss. “Baby, we need to leave, now.”

“Yes. I’m done.” Kinnek let go of my hand, and Inkiri took my wrist once more.

Our group started moving, finally. There was a howl, and Inkiri pulled me closer. I heard the sound of several blades being drawn. There were shouts from the Koa Esher.

Some are lost to the blood frenzy, but some have sensed you, the land said, forcefully pulling my attention to three yellow things that were running around the castle—cutting off the route we’d taken when we’d come here.

I hissed. “Shit. The beasts are coming. We can’t⁠—”

The thud of a Koa Esher jumping out through the already broken window we’d passed on our way in was disproportionate to his size. He was the big celadon we’d met before. Thanks to the knowing, I could tell he was in charge, held the position of the head of the inner guard. I didn’t need magic to know he was mean. That showed on his face.

The celadon moved with the elegance of my guys, but none of my guys nor any protector I’d seen had that kind of sneer, that way of pulling his lips to show his teeth that made me cringe.

There were whimpers from the survivors. The celadon had a broad and lightly curved sword, and said something I didn’t understand. His tone was enough to make my skin crawl. Two more Koa Esher jumped out of the window behind him, at least one of them a mage, going by his messed-up horns and spotty face. He quickly pulled a jar with something living inside from a pouch.

“Down!” Vergis.

I froze. Inkiri slapped his hand down on my stomach, almost like a Heimlich maneuver. It got me to bend over, and from there, he got me closer to the ground, using his body as a shield.

Stones flew through the air—no, shingles.

The Koa Esher was doing that. The land sensed it, and so did I. I saw the muzzle of Vergis’s gun from the corner of my eye, and there was a bright flash and a deafening bang. I covered my ears with my hands. One shot, then Vergis cursed, bringing an arm up. The shingles.

A noise, different from the numbingly loud gunshot, pulled me out of my freeze state: Inkiri was clicking at me, and I just… He was protecting me and making me feel safe. He was putting himself in danger for me. I had to do something.

Moors, I told the land. Turn the ground under their feet into the moors of Esaka, the ones that devour bagua.

Well, okay, I was thinking in drama terms, but the land got it. Nothing so strange that I can do here, but I can do this. Move away now. Stones are powerful, but water and earth are more powerful still.

I gasped. “Run!”

The celadon cursed, pulling one leg up out of the softening ground, but the very earth beneath him was changing.