Headed north into the unknown... but first they discover monsters of a type all too familiar to them.
The wagon lurched to a stop. John ignored the lack of motion for a moment. The moment stretched on and then the door to his left opened. He noticed the movement but paid it no heed. If what he was reading was true— and the logic and patterns of the spells were well reasoned and placed— then he should be able to—
"John!"
John jerked his head up and around to see Jennaca staring at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. "Wha— can it wait a moment, I've almost got this figured out."
"It's Sasha," Jennaca hissed. "Listen, you can hear her."
John frowned. Sasha was a giant tiger, she could take care of herself. Why he—
John's thoughts were rattled again as he heard the roar. It was distant, but filled with primal rage. "Are you sure that's her?"
Jennaca fixed him with a look.
"Okay, sorry. I was just so close..."
"You can pick it back up later," Jennaca said. "Come on, we need to help her."
"She needs our help?"
Jennaca grabbed his wrist and tugged, pulling him off balance and nearly forcing him to drop his book. "Come on!"
"Hang on," John grumbled and shut the book. He put it back in his chest and pressed the spells on it to make it disappear back into the ether. He grabbed his cane and stepped out. With a touch of dark magic he called on the item's magic and it sprang to its full six foot length, including the crossed blade that looked like an X to whoever was unfortunate enough to be staring down the pointy end.
"What else can that spear do?" Jennaca asked.
John shrugged. "I'm not sure, why?"
"It's been a few days since you figured that out," she said while starting off the path next to the river and heading up into the tree and brush filled hill. "You've been learning new things on the hour lately, it seems."
"I'm trying," John said. He turned and saw Artesia standing behind him, her hand on her sword. "Stay with the wagon."
"I have to protect you," she said.
"I can protect myself well enough," he said.
She snorted.
"Next time we spar, should I use my magic?" he asked.
The woman-at-arms's nostrils flared. She shook her head and said, "No, but you have to teach me how to do that."
John hesitated and then nodded. So far he'd taught her only the basest of magical tricks and spells. She struggled to learn them and struggled harder to put them to use, but maybe if she had something to identify and associate the magic with it might help her. "Okay. You and Zynga keep watch."
Artesia snorted again. Zynga was as likely to raid the wagon herself as she was to protect it.
John turned and hurried to catch up to where Jennaca waited for him. "Just us, I guess."
"Anyhow," she said. "A walk in the woods is just as good for you as studying and learning new things," she said. "Especially when a friend is in trouble. Now be quiet... or as quiet as you can."
John raised an eyebrow at the gentle rebuke. He summoned up his magic and thought through the spells he'd managed to master, wondering which, if any, he might need. Some sort of protection might be nice, but he already had the necklace he'd taken from Jaspara that shielded his flesh from harm. He could still be hurt, but it took a lot more effort to pierce or cut him. A log upside the head would leave him senseless too.
Sasha's roars grew louder while John pondered how he might best respond to whatever was coming. Jennaca slipped between the bushes like a shadow, leaving them barely even moving, let alone making any noise. She had a hand on her hand axe, keeping it tight to her thigh so the branches and brambles didn't get caught on it.
John made up for her silence even though the bushes seemed to slide off his magical robe. His big feet found the sticks she missed and his staff bumped branches, trees, and rocks sticking out of the ground.
Sasha's roars and the cries and shouts of men drowned out the thunks and cracks John made. Nearly another minute of traveling up one hill and down another brought them to a small clearing caused by the rocks that emerged from the dirt of the hillside. Jennaca and John hung to the trees at the edge of the clearing where the large boulder emerged from the ground. Sasha was ahead, her back to a cliff side while three men approached. Two held spears and a third held a net. A fourth man was behind them his arm clutched tight to his belly. Blood dotted his legs and the ground around him. The man's net was on the ground to Sasha's left. She was favoring her rear left leg too, putting as little weight on it as possible.
"She's hurt and outnumbered," John whispered. "Nets and spears... they know how to fight her. Do you want me to entrance them or leave them dazzled? I could blind them too, or—"
"Just wait," Jennaca replied.
"Wait? They might hurt her!"
Jennaca shared a wicked smile with him. "Trust her."
John frowned and looked back. He prepared his hand to trace out the pattern to weave bands of magic around the three men and leave them slowed and confused while they struggled to pull and cut themselves free of the phantasmal bonds.
The men advanced, unaware of the threat behind them in favor of the tiger before them. Sasha roared and limped back until her haunch bumped the rocky wall behind them. She roared and snapped at the wall then.
The men laughed. The hunter with the net swung it around and around, building momentum and spreading the weighted points so it would fly true.
"Jen..."
"Just wait," Jennaca said even though she slipped her bow off her shoulder and fitted an arrow to it. She didn't draw back, but she was ready.
The man with the net tensed and took a step forward while his arm came around. Sasha leapt straight up, her wounded leg driving just as powerfully as the other three. The net flew under her while she twisted and caught the edge of the cliff side in her claws. She pounced around, springing off the rocky wall even before her upward motion had stopped.
"Blood of the Ampytheans!" John cried out as Sasha leapt over the three men and landed. She spun around and roared at them, trapping them between her and the cliff.
The wounded hunter screamed and tried to run, only to trip over himself and end up falling on the blood stained rock. Sasha stepped to the side and dropped one paw, claws fully extended, on his wounded arm and pressed him down to the rock.
"Come on," Jennaca said and stood up. She stepped out into the clearing and let the sunshine highlight her tanned flesh on display. She glanced at the wounded man and then looked to three trapped beside the cliff.
John was a step behind her. He held his spear like a walking staff but was ready to bring it around if need be. In truth, he wanted his hand free to throw a spell. He could pull the rocks above the man to try and start a small rock slide that would injure or bury them.
Jennaca kept walking and reached down with a free hand to rub Sasha between the ears. Sasha, in turn, leaned in and rubbed the side of her head against Jennaca's thigh. Jennaca smiled down at her and then looked at the three shocked men. "Are you done hunting her or do you want to try some more?"
The man that had thrown the net motioned for the other two to lower their spears. "This tiger's yours?"
Jennaca sighed. "She's not mine, she's my friend."
"She stole our deer," he stated. "We had it up draining and she came and snatched it."
Jennaca looked at the nets on the ground. "Hunters with nets?" she asked. She scratched under Sasha's ear. "I've known a lot of hunters. I've been a hunter, believe it or not. My mom keeps track of the hunters up where we're from, you see, and in all that time I've never known a hunter to use a net. A trapper, maybe, but they usually prefer cages and snares and traps. No, a net is something used to take prey alive...
"So what I keep asking myself is: if you're afraid of something that can carry off an entire deer, why would you want to capture it alive?" she asked.
"We never said we were hunters," One of the spear wielders said.
