The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage: Wandmaker Vol.2

WM [26] Deranged Howlings

"Bjorn, Duck-duck-duck!" Failsafe yelled.

Bjorn dove to the ground as arrows flew through where he had been a moment before. The arrows tore through trees and detonated anything they hit on impact. It wasn't from an explosive but the sheer force behind each arrow. Bjorn wasn't still for long as he had to keep moving. He couldn't run; his body was full of wounds and burns, and he was bleeding profusely. The forest fire he started was spreading quickly, the ash in the air hiding most of his form as he limped along.

"It went that way!" He heard someone yell.

Bjorn couldn't pinpoint the direction of the voice over the pain throbbing in his head. All he could do was drag himself as far away from them as possible. Then he tasted something in the air besides fire and smoke. It was a familiar and unsettling magic.

"Druids?" Bjorn asked.

The people that were chasing him weren't druids, as he knew what their magic felt like. This was a different group altogether. He made a decision and hoped that the druids weren't the friends of his pursuers. The magic put him at a diagonal from the path he was on; it also meant that he was giving up on a lead from them on a hunch.

"I hope I am right about this," Bjorn said.

***

The smell of smoke had everyone on the skinwalker mission on heightened alert. It had been a quiet night otherwise, with everything going according to plan. The small fortification was built in the middle of the forest, away from monsters and hunting activities, to eliminate the possibility of detection. Druid architecture and fortifications were grown, not built. Illusionary magic hid them from sight, and runes grown directly into the flora hid their magic from all but the most sensitive scouring.

Kara was the leader of the new operation, although she did not feel qualified for the position. Her last mission ended with every member of her team being brutally killed by a troll clan. She wasn't the commander of that squad that was killed, but the fact that she alone survived rocked her to her core. Not even her familiar managed to escape, which cut deeply, but she had a duty, and she would mourn once her mission was done.

The failure of the past mission was carved into her light-green body. Scars covered her body, though most were covered by combat robes aside from the claw marks across her face. Her antlers were broken, and she had a prosthetic left arm. She let the pain of losing so much fuel her, even now. Her men called her merciless, which she was to any of the cannibal savages or anyone who allied with them.

The camp above ground was small enough to leave as little footprint on their operations as possible. A central tree opened up to an underground base that housed their barracks and most essential equipment and supplies. Being druids, they didn't need field rations; any plant, leaf, or grass was food. The only thing they didn't bring into the underground bunker were the skinwalkers. They were kept above ground in cages that dampened the sound of their incessant screaming.

Kara was in her underground office going through the latest mission report from scouts. They had successfully released an additional six skinwalkers around the town. A few weeks ago, they already had two of which were self-realized and intelligent. The new ones weren't, but the havoc they would cause before being found brought a smile to Kara's face.

As soon as that scout left, a separate man entered. He was panicked and out of breath, which alerted Kara. Her smile was quickly replaced with a frown at the next report.

"We believe that one of the self-realized skinwalkers was found and killed," the scout said.

"Are you sure about that?" Kara asked, her voice was sharp.