63. Kami

63

Kami

S heltered amidst all four of my companions, I'm doing my best to focus on, one, not dying, and two, bringing out Caethybdue again.

But it's slow going.

The guys are keeping the shifters busy while running a commentary on how poorly our enemies are fighting.

Personally, I'd rather the guys fight in silence so I can concentrate on being of help. But they're keeping me safe, so I don't complain.

The goddess is inside me. I can feel her there, but she won't answer my summons.

Because of course it would be way too easy if she just popped out and helped.

This is a battle for you to win, not me. My time is not yet come.

Oy. She's listening to my thoughts? I should probably think kindlier of her.

Yes, you should. She sounds amused, thank…god. Goddess.

Whatever.

Goddess is preferrable. But you cannot keep killing here and think you're doing well. You must get away and regroup. You're only making my brother stronger.

I flush. Sorry.

She's gone again. But at least I know not to count on her. Not like I ever have.

"Guys, we need to leave."

Ries glares at me over his shoulder. "Yeah, we're aware. You want to help?"

There's not all that much I can do. Or is there? Trees are my wheelhouse. So I reach out with my mind to a nearby tree and bond with it. Fortunately, these hot weather hardwoods are happy to connect with me.

The largest one urges me to come touch its bark and rid it of the parasites crawling into its roots. It wants to share in the enjoyment of its rich earth.

What a lovely sentiment. And the need to commune is so familiar.

So welcome.

"I'll be back," I tell the others and hurry to the tree before the two shifters on my ass can catch me.

"There she is," I hear one roar.

I scurry up the tree's trunk to the canopy high above. And I merge with it.

Together, we get a sense of each other. To my surprise, I learn that it's a clonal colony of trunks sharing a root system. A lot like the aspens in Cosmoton, west of here.

In the tree, I reach out and mentally crush the parasites chewing through the roots. They look like bear ants to me, very small but ferocious.

Having bonded to the tree, and through it, its many clones, the mass is becoming like me, needing more than simple nutrients to sustain itself .

So I feed it the bear ants, which it greedily absorbs. And now it knows what it is to feed on fresh life.

The shifter after me trips, and I let a rootlet out to pierce his flesh.

He shrieks while the tree gulps him down.

Now the tree and its many clones will feed on anything unlucky enough to be caught by their roots and branches.

I hear another enemy scream and can't help smiling.

I keep telling myself I don't enjoy causing pain. And maybe if I say it enough I'll believe it. I can't help but think I'm becoming that monster everyone's always accused me of being.

Oddly enough, I don't care.

"Kami, we have to go," Crash shouts.

I sigh, pet the tree I'm in and wish it well while asking it to direct us toward the cave system Oz mentioned.

It's happy to help and spreads the word throughout the island.

I send it the sensation of my companions, not a physical or mental comparison, but something on another level, a feeling of the sun on their skin, the wind in their faces, a measured amount of spiritual energy, perhaps? I ask the trees not to hurt any of them.

Once assured they understand, I leave their essence and climb down to see the others waiting for me.

All around us, bodies are being pulled into the ground by hungry roots, and the vegetation has turned a reddish green with streaks of black.

"Nice work," Ries says. "I was hoping for the goddess to help, but this is good too."

"Though it's an eleven on the creep scale." Crash grimaces at me.

I flip him off.

Malkar chuckles. "The fight was stimulating, but we have better things to do away from this place. I'm tired of feeding Beyrthnel."

At mention of his name, the island trembles, and overhead, the sky screams.

"Fuck off."

"Asshole."

"What the fuck ever."

"Dick."

The guys have no problem mouthing off to a god.

I just want to get the hell gone before worse comes after us.

Because worse always comes after us.

Plus, we need time to plan our next move.

One, get off the island.

Two, escape the games.

Three, figure out how to kill a monarch, his archdemon, a warrior orc, and of course, assassin bodyguards and a horde of barbarian elves and murderous fae.

Yeah, not so easy, especially since Caethybdue has decided this isn't her fight.

It's mine and my—friends'.

I study them as we follow Oz and the trail given to us by the trees, which are swaying so that we are guided by rootlets and branches pointing the way.

Part of me is sad to note that we're leaving the Kami trees behind. But really, a forest of man-eating trees can't be a good thing.

"Handy." Malkar nods his approval but has to add, "For a soul-taker."

Crash comes next to me. "Explain that."

"What?" Malkar asks.

"What's the difference?" Crash asks me. "Are you a soul-taker? A reaper? A necromancer? Is it all the same? "

Oz hangs back, and Ries moves closer, all wanting to hear.

"I thought all necromancers were the same," Oz says.

"No, there are differences." Ries pushes a branch out of my way, unnecessarily. It would have moved on its own, but I appreciate the gesture.

It feels nice to be taken care of, so I let him. "Well, I don't know. I only know I was born a necromancer, and I lived with others like me. A lot of others. And then our village was burned and most everyone died. I had no one to explain any of it to me."

"What can you do?" Crash wants to know.

"Me? Well, I talked to Caethybdue in a dream. And she used my body to choke Serl." I grin. "That was nice."

"Yeah. He's a dick." Crash frowns. "I don't like him spying on us. I'll talk to him about it the next time we run into him."

"That's sounds a lot like, ‘I'm going to set him on fire and watch him burn when my magic is back,'" Malkar teases.

Crash flexes his fingers in front of his face. "Well, vamps do tend to make excellent kindling."

Everyone laughs.

Serl should keep well away from all of us.

Us.

Will there still be an us when this is all over? Will they go their separate ways, or can we, maybe, still stay together? I find that I want that. I'm starting to like these guys, even Crash.

"Unfortunately, I don't know a lot about necromancers." Crash shrugs.

"But I thought you had a friend who was a necromancer." I'm confused and a little bummed. I hoped he'd be able to educate me on my kind.

"Nah. She helped defeat the monarch though, and his archangel. But then, they had a bunch of badass Choir Boys involved in that takedown. Their head vamp is no joke. And the werewolf and fae are major problems."

"What?" I'm both confused and intrigued.

"Don't worry. I can help a little here." Ries tugs on my hair.

"Hey."

He smiles, and there's real warmth in his expression. "Necromancers come in several flavors. The question is, which one are you?"

"I wish I knew."