Moral Stand (Aether’s Revival Book 7)

Their first two days out of Coldwood were quiet. As they approached the last camp before Icelake, the tension rose; Gregory had warned all of them about what they’d be facing. The light snow had abated for a couple of days, but came back during the march. As they got closer to their destination, it began to flurry.

A half-hour out from camp, Gregory dismounted, giving the reins to Dot. He’d be best served on the ground, as it would make it much less likely the alpha would target Legacy. Half a mile away, Gregory took off running. The men continued to march forward, but their hands tightened on their naginatas, as they knew they’d be in the thick of things shortly.

The snow reduced visibility and muffled sound— the five slavers were huddled around the firepit. Their captured eurtik were chained together, the chain wrapped around a tree and locked to prevent them from fleeing. Even the eurtik were huddled up, as the snowstorm made them want extra warmth, too.

Gregory was nearly inside the camp before the first of the slavers noticed him. “Magi?!”

Gregory swept past them and the eurtik without speaking, his naginata appearing in his hand as he cleared the far side of the grounds. The slavers had gotten to their feet in confusion, calling out to him. They cut off the moment a wolf howled nearby. When that howl chained with several others, the slavers drew their own weapons.

The snow came down faster, swirling around the camp to cut off vision. Small icicles grew from the trees around them, quivering in the winds, but not falling. Red-flame eyes lit up a space a dozen yards from Gregory, barely visible through the driving snow.

“Your fight is with me!” Gregory said, taking up a ready stance. “There will be no feast for your pack!” In a fluid movement, Gregory leapt backward an instant before icicles from the nearby trees shot toward where he’d been standing.

The alpha rumbled out a deep growl before letting out a long howl. The sound washed over Gregory, not affecting him, but he heard the slavers and eurtik cry out in fear. More wolves picked up the howl as they charged at the fearful people inside the swirling blizzard.

Throwing himself forward, Gregory ducked and wove through the sudden barrage of icicles that flew at him. Following the future, he danced around the danger that threatened him. His steps took him closer to where the baleful red eyes glowed. The alpha was fixated on Gregory— the aether in him was strong, and the wolf wanted to taste it. That fixation made it miss the moment Gregory’s men hit the encroaching pack, tearing through the unsuspecting wolves that encircled the camp.

Following the future rather than physical stimuli, Gregory finally sprang at the alpha. The wolf jumped back, inhaling deeply before breathing out a cloud of ice. Gregory dove to the side, his naginata vanishing, then reappearing when he came out of the roll. The freezing cloud just missed him, instead enveloping a couple of trees that exploded when their bark froze solid. The toppling remnants made both Gregory and the alpha separate farther apart.

The battle in camp picked up as the remaining pack charged in to kill. Most of them panicked upon seeing armored men charging them back, as the temporary blizzard was rapidly dissipating without the alpha’s focus to keep it going. One of the slavers had been dragged down and savaged by a pair of wolves when he’d tried to flee. The other four were pressed tightly together, their hands shaking as they prepared to defend themselves.

Gregory’s unit didn’t pause to kill as they went— they made a hard push for the slaves, who had no defense. That let a couple of wolves try to attack the back of the unit, but the rearguard was ready and put them down. One of the slaves cried out as a wolf bit down on her foot, and the other two jumped on the wolf to wrestle it off. They’d have been next if not for Gregory’s men making it there to stop the five wolves that’d gone for them.

The alpha shook itself off, growling as it circled the fallen trees, its burning eyes focused on the magi. It could hear its pack dying, but that wasn’t as important as the feast of aether in front of it. None had survived its icicles and breath before, making it wary of the magi, but the draw of power was too much to ignore. With a focused howl, the alpha tried to congeal Gregory’s blood before rushing him, mouth open to tear out the magi’s neck.

Gregory pivoted with the alpha, angling around the trees to get closer. His steps slowed as the howl hit him— his aether spluttered for a moment when the pressure from the bane wolf alpha bore down on him. It’d tried to overpower Gregory’s resonance, but ultimately failed. The wolf hadn’t gone all the way around, instead taking a gap in the branches to lunge after the howl, expecting Gregory to be immobile. A hard thrust from Gregory’s naginata was the answer to the charging alpha.

A mighty feast was its due— it would become the strongest of the infused bane beasts this close to the magi. It would gather the largest pack seen and pull down the walls around the lake town. Dreams of grandeur filled the wolf’s mind for the brief moment between its howl and charge. They were wiped away when the pain cut deep into its body. It’d never felt pain so intense, so agonizing. With a whimper, the alpha tried to pull away, but the naginata had impaled it through the chest.

Gregory grunted at the sheer mass that hit his weapon, driving him back a few feet until his heels caught a downed tree. He nearly fell, but when the wolf tugged back, trying to free itself, it helped him keep his feet. Meeting the dying embers in the bane wolf’s eyes, Gregory twisted his weapon, needing to widen the wound to free his blade. That drew a piteous whimper from the former terror of the forest before it slumped over, completely lifeless.

Yanking his naginata free, Gregory rushed back to camp. His men were putting the last bane wolf down as the snowstorm broke entirely. There were sobs of pain filling the air as the wind calmed down. One dead slaver and a eurtik with a savaged foot were the extent of the injuries. Cleaning his naginata, Gregory let it go back into the ring as he finished walking into the camp.

Donald was kneeling next to the eurtik, applying a salve to her injury. It would stop the bleeding, deaden the pain, and by morning, have scabbed over enough that she’d be able to walk on it. The man who’d yelled at Gregory as he’d rushed through camp looked relieved when he approached.

“Magi, how fortuitous for us,” the man grinned broadly. “If not for you and your men, we’d likely all be dead.”

“You and them,” Gregory motioned to the captured eurtik, “would be had we not fast marched part of today. We’d have only found the pieces left behind by the pack.”

Eyes wide, the leader swallowed, then tried to smile. “Aether smiled upon us, because here you are. Let us share our food, and perhaps you’d be willing to brand the trio there for me? I’d pay the normal fees, of course. Better in your pocket than the magus’, eh?”

Gregory looked off to the side where the last squad and the staff were coming into camp, having stayed back for safety reasons. Milton held up two fingers, indicating they’d killed two bane wolves who’d fled and tried for them, instead.

“All of them are dead,” Gregory exhaled, relaxing upon seeing the others safe.

“Magi, do we have a deal?”

Gregory turned his attention back to the slaver. “Your name?”

“Cleamon, Magi. Why does that matter?”

“Can I see your papers for capturing eurtik, Cleamon?”

“What? Wait, those rumors were true?”

“Laws are laws,” Gregory said firmly. “Your paperwork?”

Cleamon’s lip pulled back in anger. “Are you fucking serious? We nearly died to those beasts— beasts that you are supposed to keep away from the road— and now you demand useless paperwork?!”

Gregory let his resonance touch Cleamon. “If you do not have a license and the proper paperwork, your captured eurtik will be set free. Laws are laws, Cleamon.”

Cleamon gasped when he felt the pressure build. “The magus won’t stand for this.”

“She’ll be my problem later. My problem right now is you. You are in violation of the laws. You are to disarm, hand over the keys to the shackles, and then you will be taken into custody to be handed over to Commander Trida.”

The sound of weapons hitting the ground came from behind Gregory. Cleamon spat at Gregory’s feet, then dropped his own axe and dagger before he begrudgingly handed over a set of keys, as well.

“Lieutenant, free the eurtik, give them each rations and a blanket, then let them go. Once they are free, shackle these men, but make sure they have blankets to get them through the night.”

“Yes, sir,” Davis replied, saluting sharply. “Sergeant, make this happen.”

“Yes, sir,” Glasson grinned.

The three eurtik stared at Gregory in shock, but the wounded one spoke up, if hesitantly, “Magi…? I can’t go… my foot…”

“Davis, find them a comfortable spot to rest for the evening. They can leave after breakfast tomorrow.”

“Understood, sir,” Davis replied, still unshackling the eurtik. “We’ll have a hot meal for you all shortly, too. Just relax. You’ll be safe until you leave tomorrow.”

Gregory gathered the dead bane beasts after setting camp. After a while, he also collected the dead slaver, as the man might have family. He cut the bane core from the alpha, letting it join the other special core he’d got from the bane bear earlier in the year.

Barny made extra to feed the eurtik and the slavers, even if the slavers got lesser portions. Dot and Polka sat with the captured eurtik after dinner, chatting softly to help them understand the magi who’d done the unimaginable by freeing them.

Gregory met with Davis at the end of the night before turning in, bringing his foresight vision to completion. Gregory knew that tomorrow in Icelake would cause more waves and set Justina firmly against him. He put those thoughts aside so he could settle down to work on a Magi Square before bed.