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Ellory, Alone
Ellory couldn’t see for the blood. Despite the healer mage’s best efforts, her wound had not yet closed and blood poured down her face, blurring her vision and making each step burn.
But she ran anyway. She had no choice, no other place to be than away. In her ummaroc form, she could run to the edge of the world, leap right off, and fall forever.
If only.
Pain tore at her face, her shoulder, but her legs moved anyway, carrying her far from her most recent mistakes. But no matter how far or fast she ran, she’d never shake off her past. The taste of human blood tainted her mouth, but she had no regrets for killing that sodding miserable excuse for a priest. That woman was better off dead.
Unlike the fellow mages that Ellory had tricked into Legion’s hands — and surely sent to their deaths.
The thought of Legion made her steps quicken. She sped through the pine forest, heading for the border of Silverwood Province. If she didn’t slack off, she’d be there in a few hours, and then….
Then she’d decide.
But running like the wind while still bearing injuries—even mostly magically healed injuries—took much of the fight from her steps, so soon she had to stop. Breathing hard, Ellory paused at the edge of the pine forest, staring at the last stretch of open marshland before the ground gave way to the prairies of Silverwood Province. One of her stockpiles of supplies was only a few days’ travel away. She inhaled; no trace of hematite, which meant Legion wasn’t around. A small mercy.
But another inhale brought the scent of magic: a faint tang of ginger at the back of her throat. Ellory’s stomach dropped, but her shoulder throbbed and the lost blood from her head wound made her dizzy. She had to rest, and soon.
Leave now, her better sense urged. It’s best for everyone if you go on alone.
Ellory hadn’t been able to stop rogue mages from destroying her clan, so she really should have been smarter than to seek the kinship of other mages—or anyone—now. But even her brief time with Verve had reminded her of how good it felt to share a meal and a fire with someone you could trust. Sort of.
In her ummaroc form, her vision was only a little better than her human shape, so she relied more on her sense of smell. And each inhale told her a story: the other mages weren’t too many or powerful, and they were close. A warm fire, maybe a hot meal and some company, beckoned.
Ellory forced herself to keep a slower pace as she followed the trail. Once she slipped out of the forest and onto the open marsh, scents of water and lilies diluted the smell of magic, but even so, she followed it, until at last she reached their encampment.
The mages had built a small fire at the center of an island in the marsh, and clustered their tents around it. Only three mages were visible, although Ellory could smell another half dozen or so in the area. Closer now, she could smell the other mages’ shared blood; they were related, at least loosely, and their green eyes meant they were shape-changers like her. Hope flickered in her chest. Perhaps they’d accept a fellow shiftling, at least for a day or so while she rested. After that, she could head for her nearest bolt-hole and regroup.
She ensured these other mages spotted her before she changed form, then allowed the change to happen slowly, gradually, more so than she normally did when faced with strangers.
Changing didn’t hurt, at least not anymore. By now, her bones and muscles were used to being stretched and molded, so only a mild tingle swam through Ellory’s body as she shifted to her human shape. When she looked at the mages again, they had all risen, their faces hard, their hands clenched.
“I know you, traitor,” one of the mages hissed. “Get the fuck out of here.”
Ellory raised her hands, trying not to grimace at the searing pain in her shoulder. “I mean you no harm. I just need a place to rest for a day or two. In return, I’ll hunt some game for you when I’m recovered.”
The other mages’ glares deepened. The first one spoke again. “Your health is no concern of ours. Leave. Now. Or else we’ll make you.”
The grass all around her parted as the rest of the mages surrounded her. A few had shifted already, so she found herself staring into the green eyes of a huge urslan, a lion, and a wolf. Low, dangerous growls rose from them in a feral chorus.
Ellory’s heart was too tired to sink. What else had she expected, really? The other mage was right. She was a traitor.
So she bowed and backed away, her legs splashing in the cool water. Once she was safely out of clawing range, she shifted back to her ummaroc shape. The energy cost was high, but the risk of being caught as a helpless human was far higher. Her body, although still screaming with pain, moved more easily now, and she hurried away from the other mages, racing toward the province border.
By her own doing, there was nothing for her here any longer. Perhaps she deserved nothing more than to find Legion and let them take her away, with all the other mages she’d handed over to them to save her own sorry skin. Perhaps her injuries would claim her life soon.
Either way, she’d face her future alone.
That, at least, would never change.
