It cried out in pain as yellow blood spewed from the stumps. She took a moment to glance at Devol, who seemed to be using his target for training more than any real attempt to kill it.
She shook her head and returned her attention to her adversary. With a swift kick, she catapulted it toward the young swordsman. The creature collided with the flayer he was battling and surprised him as both careened past Jazai.
“What was that for?” he grumbled.“I wasn’t in danger.”
“I could see that, but this is not the time to play,” Asla pointed out before she nodded at the scholar. “Can you finish them?”
The boy shrugged and held his palm toward them. “Fireball.” An orb of flame formed in his hand and he launched it at the two collapsed flayers to ignite them both. They shook themselves briefly in an effort to extinguish the flames but the fire consumed them before they could escape the blaze.
“Won’t that set the forest on fire?” Asla asked as the three friends watched them burn.
Jazai shook his head. “Not that it would be a bad thing, but cantrip flames don’t spread like normal fire. Besides…” He lifted a hand and snapped his fingers and the fire immediately vanished. “I’m not such a novice, even if that were the case.”
“I guess I can see why they were following an alpha,” Devol said as he rested his sword against his shoulder. “They weren’t as intimidating as I expected given what I remember reading about them.”
“You have to keep in mind that they were terrorizing villagers,” Asla stated. “To most people, even these smaller flayers are a deadly menace.”
“It puts it all in perspective, huh?” Jazai said thoughtfully, his hands clasped behind his head. “We’ve become strong enough that things like this are simply a nuisance.”
“We are gifted,” Asla agreed with a nod, “but we should not get too comfortable. We must still deal with the alpha.”
The three looked at the mouth of the den, knowing what awaited them inside. “I’m sure it is a big beastie and all that,” the diviner said to end the slightly uncomfortable silence. “But it is still a flayer. Between the three of us, it shouldn’t be a probl—”
A deep, massively loud cry issued from the den, one that each of the young magi could feel in their whole body. Asla raised her hands quickly to block her ears as the two boys simply stared, wide-eyed. When the scream died down, the silence in the forest became more palpable and the group realized what lay in store for them.
“That…didn’t sound like it came from a normal flayer,” Devol said and grasped his sword tightly. “That cry had something…terrifying to it.”
“That certainly did sound like a big beastie, all right,” Jazai muttered and lowered his hands to his waist. “So…uh, do we have a plan for this?”
Chapter Three
“I do not believe the alpha flayer will come out on its own,” Asla stated as she took one step closer to the cave. She hesitated for a moment and looked over her shoulder. “Should we proceed?”
Devol drew a deep breath. “We have to. It’s our job.” He flexed his fingers around the grip of his majestic. “But…uh, I have to say I would not guess that the noise we heard came from a flayer. Are we sure that’s what is waiting for us in there?”
Jazai nodded, opened his tome, and studied the bestiary section. “It has to be, although I’m not a hunter or tracker by any means. Still, I’ve studied the more dangerous creatures for other magi many times and I’ve never heard of flayers submitting to other beasts. It has to be an alpha in there.”
“Could it be a different species?” Asla inquired thoughtfully. “We are close to the border of the Zhangra empire. Perhaps they have a—”
“Flayers aren’t in their lands,” the scholar interjected and flipped through the pages. “Or none have ever been seen there, at least. Even if they did have flayers, I doubt they would travel all that distance to here. We might be close, but we’re still a couple of days away from the border and even longer for them.”
Devol hefted his sword purposefully and walked forward. “Well, I guess the only way to find out is to take a peek,” he reasoned and moved closer to the den. “You guys have my back, right?”
Asla nodded and straightened as she hurried to join him. Jazai followed and had begun to shut his book when the pages moved on their own.
“Hey, guys, hold on a moment!” he called as he opened the book again and his eyes widened.
“What’s wrong, Jazai?” Devol asked as the two of them paused and looked at the apprentice. His gaze seemed transfixed on whatever lines he was reading on the page.
“I’m getting…something’s thoughts,” he stated with a glance at them.
“Some…thing?” Asla muttered in bewilderment. She and Devol returned to their friend’s side and they huddled close to stare at the book. Inside was a half-sketched picture that consisted of the typical flayer scythe arms, a large body, and very little else. It didn’t have the normal details Jazai’s majestic typically showed when reading another person. Instead, a few words repeated to fill the entire page.
Hunt. Kill. Devour.
“This is coming…” Devol began and looked at the other boy in confusion. “Is it from the alpha?”
Jazai nodded slowly. “I mentioned before that my majestic doesn’t work on beasts, right?” he asked and both his teammates responded with nods. “Right. Well, I should probably change that to it normally doesn’t happen. This is the exception.”
“What could that mean?” Asla wondered. She turned to stare at the den and her ears twitched.
The apprentice shut the book and replaced it carefully on the side of his waist where it was secured with a leather strap. “Well, the reason it normally doesn’t work
