“Over here!” Elorinelle shouted.
We ran over to find her crouched in the dirt.
“It’s a plumed snatcher footprint,” she said. “But larger than the ones we fought before.”
Now that I looked at the dirt, I could make out what she meant. It seemed that I’d found one of Elorinelle’s strengths, one I would want to encourage as she grew in skill and confidence.
“A plumed snatcher matriarch,” Drek said, his voice husky. “The biggest of these beasts.”
Elorinelle led us along a trail of dusty footprints toward the far side of the boneyard. Soon enough, we saw something between the cairns, a feathered body nine feet tall, with that familiar long neck and deadly beak. It was tearing at the half-rotted corpse of a mountain goat, gulping chunks down, bones and all. As we approached, it looked up with a vicious gleam in its eyes.
“You practiced working together earlier,” I said to my students. “Now, it’s time to really show me what you’ve got.”
Choshi looked at me, her mouth wide open. “You’re not coming in with us?”
“If you need me, I’ll be here,” I said. “But I believe in you guys. You’ve got this.”
Emboldened, they advanced toward the snatcher, with Choshi in the center. At her signal, the others spread out in a semicircle around the beast.
The snatcher matriarch screeched and ran at Zedal, who was holding one end of the line. Before the creature got close, Fig and Zedal raised their arms and released Sandstorms. Individually, neither would have been powerful enough to drive the snatcher back, but together, they were a potent combination. It flapped its stubby wings and staggered away from them, screeching in frustration.
The matriarch turned its attention to the center of the line, where Choshi stood. Again, it spread its wings and charged at her, beak wide and ready to bite. This time, it was Choshi and Drek who flung up Sandstorms, stopping the snatcher in its tracks.
In a sudden, swift movement, the creature lunged sideways. It snapped at Fig, who raised his shield just in time to block the attack. The beak slammed in, and he was flung to the ground.
The snatcher matriarch reared over him, head raised for another attack. But now, all the initiates closed in, arms raised to direct Sandstorms at the beast. Battered about from every side, it wailed and flung its head back but couldn’t even see Fig as he wriggled clear and joined the others.
“Now!” Choshi shouted.
All six initiates sank to one knee. Together, they slammed their fists to the ground. The earth trembled, and stones tumbled from the tops of cairns as six focused Ground Strikes were launched. They all slammed into the snatcher at once, waves of earth hitting it from every direction. There was nowhere for it to dodge or be thrown back to. As the magical impacts hit, the creature’s lower body exploded under the pressure, scattering the dried ground with feathers and blood.
“Woohoo!” Choshi jumped to her feet, and the others did the same. Everybody cheered and high-fived each other, indifferent to the blood and viscera that had rained down on them.
Elorinelle drew a long knife, sliced open the remaining part of the plumed snatcher matriarch, and pulled out the core. The initiates huddled together for a minute in conversation, then came over to me.
“This is for you, Master,” Elorinelle said, bowing her head over the core.
“You were the ones who killed it,” I said. “One of you should have the power.”
“We couldn’t have done it without your teaching and encouragement.” Elorinelle looked at me shyly. “Please, take it.”
“If you insist.” I accepted the core and bowed to each of them in turn. “Thank you.”
The sky was darkening, and we needed to find somewhere sheltered to rest and eat. I also needed somewhere I could meditate, to make the most of the power I had gained.
We headed for the back of the boneyard, where a series of small caves lined the bottom of a cliff. Drek and Elorinelle gathered dried bushes while Fig chopped up pieces of meat and vegetables, which he put in a pan together with some of our water. Soon, a stew was bubbling over a fire, and by the time dusk came, we were all eating a fine meal in our cozy shelter.
“How did you get so powerful, Swordslinger?” Onvar looked at me over his wooden bowl.
“I don’t entirely know,” I admitted. “I was brought here from another world, and that might be part of it. But I worked hard. And I killed a lot of monsters. I still have a ways to go, though.”
“If we kill enough monsters, we could be like you?” Drek asked eagerly.
“Maybe,” I said. “It’s certainly a good way to become strong.”
I figured the group could use a little philosophy lesson to iron out what the cult had done to them.
“Let’s talk about the paths through life,” I said. “What do you know about them?”
“I know the Path of Peace isn’t for me,” Drek said as he toyed with his club. “I like action. It’s what makes all the study worthwhile.”
“Peace isn’t the only valid path,” I said.
“Yeah, but we can’t all follow the Path of the Swordslinger.”
I laughed. “A fair point but not what I meant.”
“I remember when the Unswerving Shadows started explaining the Straight Path to us,” Elorinelle said. “At the beginning, it made sense. The idea of going straight for what you want; that’s appealing. They talked about not wasting time and potential, about making a big difference in the world. It sounded like the sort of things I’ve heard other elves say. It sounded good.”
“I felt the same,” Zedal admitted. “So much talk about mastering ourselves and our powers.” Her forked tongue shot out in an expression that had a certain thoughtfulness to it. “Sometimes, you miss the important details when you hear a big story like that.”
“Exactly,”
