Totem Ch8: Eye of The Tiger (Patreon)

The Deformed were trying to break their way into the house through the locked shutters. Well, that would take them a while. Dad and I had spent last summer installing those, which wasn’t easy to do in a world that hadn’t invented screws, let me tell you.

Anyway, those shutters were made of hardwood and braced by metal rods. Nothing fancy—the most complex thing the blacksmiths could do in this village was a specialized horseshoe—but metal was metal.

With enough time and effort, the Deformed could warp the metal and break through. From there, they would have to search through the whole house, find the safe room—which, because it was made by my dad, would be well hidden.

Then they would have to break into that safe room with a very strong Badger Totem opposing them at every step. So, I wasn't too worried about the people inside.

No, I was worried about how the hell I was going to get myself and Annika in there.

Maybe I should go back? But where? The village was sure to be in worse condition than here, and the roads were not safe. Annika was proof of that.

The girl stirred in my arms and groaned in pain. Thankfully, she still looked to be unconscious because wasn't like we had morphine around.

Annika was heavy and my arms were feeling the strain. I’d have to figure out something soon. I looked back at the house.

Thankfully, the Deformed were single-mindedly beating the shutters like a minor zombie plague. None of them paid any attention to me.

The shutters…

Oh shit. I was a goddamn idiot.

I realized, with a sinking, swooping sensation, that in my haste to get out of the house and try out my cool new magic, I had not bothered to lock the shutters over my room’s windows.

It wasn’t like they were wide open, but they weren’t locked. It would just take a push.

I doubt Dad had taken care of it, either. After all, I was supposed to be near full-grown, and I can't remember the last time he checked the shutters because it was such a basic thing to remember during an incursion. Stupid...stupid...

Well, if none of the Deformed had found it yet, that was my ticket inside the house.

My arms were screaming in protest, but I ignored them. Shuffling to the side, I tried not to make noise as I made my way around the house to my room.

Thankfully, the noise of pounding fists and scratching claws, along with the general insane screeching, covered my sounds.

I found my window around the other side of the house and saw that the shutters were shut. Stepping forward, I nudged one with the side of my shoulder, and it swung in. The window was at chest height, and I gratefully started to place Annika in.

How the hell was I going to do this without dropping her?

A crack of a twig caused me to look over my shoulder. Five Deformed stood behind me.

I dumped poor Annika through the window in a way that you're not supposed to do to someone already injured.

Then I whirled around, held both hands, and shot fire at them.

But I had been taken by surprise, and panic had made me react instead of think. Instead of the impressive outline of a goose, regular flames leapt out from my hands in a five foot spray before fizzling into smoke. Still, it was a little impressive considering it had just come from the tips of my fingers.

But it hadn't done much then to scald the first Deformed and make the others flinch back.

Hey goose! I could use a little help here! I thought.

One of the Deformed snarled, showing pointed teeth, and stepped forward.

I thrust out my hands again and concentrated the last dregs of my energy on fire. This time, I only got hot air.

It was just enough to make the Deformed flinch back, likely not knowing if there was going to be fire in their faces.

Time to run.

I turned to jump through the window. But even as I did, I knew I wouldn't be quick enough. I caught the movement out of the corner of my eye as the Deformed lunged forward.

That's when I heard a roar. And when I say roar, I mean that it was the blast of a predator that not only hit my eardrums but seemed to somehow wrap around my heart and fill it with fear. I froze with one leg over the windowsill.

The Deformed froze as well.

Abruptly, a man jumped between me and the Deformed and flashed out with fists that left three cutting claw tracks behind them. He looked like a video game special effect.

The first Deformed fell down in three pieces.

I gaped. Yeah, I had grown used to magic in the last few years here, but I had never seen anything like this.

However, as impressive as it was, there was only one guy and four more Deformed in front of him. And the Deformed weren't exactly the sane, rational type. I saw them pile onto the dude right before I fell into the window.

By the grace of somebody out there, I managed not to land right on Annika.

Scrambling up, I slammed the shutters shut.

I heard growling and screaming right on the other side of the shutters, though it was so distorted, I didn't know if it was the poor guy who had come to rescue me, or the Deformed.

What was I doing? Was I really going to let him fight alone? No, I wasn't going to be that guy.

To say that my energy was on fumes would be an overstatement. There was nothing left, but I had to do something. I opened up the shutters with one hand, my fist cocked back. If I couldn't throw fire, then maybe I could throw a good punch.

The shutters opened… and I found the man calmly standing there, staring at me.

All around were the different parts of what used to be Deformed.

"Hello boy," the man said, "Are you injured?"

"Uh, no?" my voice came out high and I cleared my throat. "No, but I have a girl here. She’s… they got her."

The man nodded like a calm badass. "Let me see her.”

I hesitated for a second. In a village where I knew everybody on sight, this guy was a stranger.

Plus, he had just hacked five Deformed to death in the space of a few seconds. Was he really the type of guy I should be letting into my house?

Could I actually keep him out?

Still, Annika needed help, and I sure as hell didn’t know what to do. I stepped aside. He easily leaped through as graceful as a cat. The lighting in my room wasn’t great, but I didn't see any Totem marks on him. Though, on his chest, he wore the carving of some kind of big cat: A tiger or a puma.

The man stood to his full height. He was actually shorter than me, but his calm, dangerous presence made him seem bigger.

He stared at me for a long moment as if he were searching for something.

"You are the farmer's son?”

“Yes, I'm Seth." No last names here.

"I'm Ash MountainRage," he said.

Except for this guy, I guess.

Ash MountainRage knelt down and scooped up Annika in his arms, then he carefully placed her in my bed. From the pockets of his long robes, he withdrew bandages.

After taking a moment to close and lock the shutters again, I looked on, curiously. "Will those do anything for her?" I asked. Maybe there was some kind of healing magic in the wrappings. From the ruinous state of Annika's face, she would need it.

Ash nodded. "They are soaked in a divine substance."

That sounded promising. "Divine substance?”

“It is made from the mold of bread and melons. Very potent. It will keep the worst fevers away." Ash intoned seriously as he slowly began to wrap Annika's head like a mummy.

I stared at him for a moment. "You mean antibiotics? Penicillin?"

Ash glanced at me. "What?”

Those last two words had been in English, which of course hadn’t made sense to the man. Also, I didn't think that's exactly how antibiotics worked but unless Annika was allergic or something, this couldn't hurt.

A slam hit the shutter. Then another slam, and another. A small split started near one of the hinges. Shit, those wouldn't last forever.

"Ignore them for now," Ash said.

Oh thank fuck, this guy had a plan.

"They will be inside soon," the man added.

My jaw dropped. "That… Well, shit. Then we should go further inside, maybe see if we can find the safe room."

"If it's a safe room, then it will be locked against outsiders. Meanwhile, you should be cultivating. There is free flowing energy all around and five sources just outside, use it."

I stared at him, and for the first time, he looked up, eyebrows bunching in confusion.

"You do cultivate, yes? The pure fire came from you, right?"

"You saw that?" I asked.

He didn’t answer, turning to continuing to bandage up Annika.

Annika's face and hands were by far the worst where she had tried to defend herself and got bit and clawed in the process. Blood had already soaked through some of the bandages.

Swallowing, I sat by the window and felt for the energy from the pieces of Deformed out there. There was a lot of it out there, like a gross, poisonous fog. Did I want this in me?

"Draw the energy into your core," Ash advised, "let your totem filter the impurities out."

"What happens to those impurities?" I asked.

"They exit through your body the normal way, as waste. You'll probably have to pee like a racing ostrich soon," he intoned, again all seriousness.

Great. I shut my eyes, breathed in, breathed out, and reached for the energy.

It leapt to me as if it were desperate to be in another human body. But it was a little like trying to fan fog towards a bottle and hope that it filled up with water.

I guess that’s where my Totem came in. As I mentally flailed it towards my core, the gosling condensed it down, slowly but surely.

Then, in return, it fed some back out to me as pure energy. It sounds really easy, but keep in mind, I was trying to do this while monsters literally beat at the window a few feet from my head.

Very distracting.

"What stage are you at?” Ash asked, totally interrupting my trance.

"Uh, stage?"

Ash just looked at me.

"...Gosling?” I guessed.

"You don't know?" For the second time, he seemed shocked. "Are you telling me that you just blundered into this?" He swore under his breath. “I knew I was in hicksville, but I didn't think that I would be this lucky...”

There was a huge slam, and the shutters cracked and bowed out.

"That's your cue," Ash said, still calm. "Show me what you can do."

It didn't take a genius to guess that this guy was coming at me with the air of a teacher. So, I decided to show off a little bit.

I stood before the window, set my feet and concentrated on the feeding as much Deformed energy mist to more core as possible. I wanted every erg of energy for this.

I wasn't topped off, but I was pretty sure I had enough for one good hit. And if I didn't want it to be another embarrassing misfire, I needed to concentrate on my goal.

'Fire goose,' I thought, 'fire goose, fire goose...'

The shutters blew open, and I released the fire. Again, my power took the form of a goose. This time, the edges were distinct as it flew out, blasting the Deformed creature away from the window frame. Then the goose looped in air and dived down like a DNA-seeking missile. There was just one Deformed, but it got the full blast.

I heard screaming and caught a glimpse of a Deformed on fire as it ran off into the woods. I winced, hoping that it didn't set one of the fields alight before it died.

"I'm going to take a guess your element is fire," Ash said. "Was that a swan?"

"A goose," I said, bracing myself for a snide joke.

Ash just looked contemplative.

He had stopped working on Annika. I guessed he had done everything he could for her.

"Huh. Geese are mean bastards," he said approvingly.

Then, stepping away from Annika's now well-bandaged form, he gestured.

"Well? What are you waiting for? At your level, this is a smorgasbord for you. Go and cultivate."

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