I left my sister with the crazy Lisk manaborn and followed the punishers in my smaller form.

  She was all over the place. One minute she was fawning over Ilya and the other, she was glaring at me.

  Why couldn’t she understand death was death. It wasn’t evil, and it wasn’t bad. It was natural.

  So I left them with each other and assisted the scouts and the punishers.

  My cold waves allowed us to trek faster. It solidified the snow and the ice to the side of the trail and stopped the snow from crunching under our steps.

  I kept to my smaller form. At eight feet I already stood out and I didn’t want to be the reason that the enemy knew that we were coming long before we were ready.

  It was also the best way to travel on the trail which was made for normal humans.

  My seal buzzed inside me. And words popped into my mind “Hunter. Protect the women and children. Eliminate the damned.”

  The strange emotionless words came out of nowhere and I stopped mid step. What women and children? Where were they?

  Before I could raise my hand and summon my Hunter’s Edge Grek reached me with a concerned look on his face.

  Grek whispered “Your Highness, I am picking up sounds from up ahead.”

  Grek was holding a shell in his hand. A sea shell in his hand with an ear drawn on it.

  An artifact. By the looks of it it was a cheap one with a limited range.

  That meant whatever was up ahead wasn’t that far away.

  I just hoped that it wasn’t the damned because our scouts hadn’t returned.

  And if they hadn’t returned it meant they had run into whatever was making the sound Grek had picked up.

  “Scouts?” I asked in a whisper.

  Grek shook his head with a frown on his lips.

  I closed my eyes and looked at the dark waters. They were calm here. Too calm.

  Like a predator holding its breath and staying silent to hide themselves from their prey.

  And when the prey showed itself, they would pounce.

  “Grek. Pull everyone that doesn’t have a mana stone I created back.”

  Grek looked at me and frowned “We only have four. Three with me and my team and one with your sister.”

  That was an oversight on my part. I should have created more of them and passed them around but I hadn’t had the stones or the foresight.

  In my defense, I hadn’t expected to face an army of damned.

  And now I didn’t have the time to create new ones.

  “Your Highness, what is wrong?”

  “I think there is an ambush up ahead.”

  “I see.” Grek nodded and started making hand gestures.

  In moments the three punishers coordinated and the scouts began to move backwards without a hint of a sound.

  The punishers began to arm themselves while I thought about how to approach the situation.

  After thinking about it for a second more I began to rise. And was pushed back down by Grek.

  “What are you doing, My Lord?” Grek asked with gritted teeth.

  “Walking into an ambush.”

  “Why?”

  “To reveal the enemies.”

  Grek looked at me and read my thoughts. He looked back to the trail with a thoughtful expression and muttered “You know that might actually work.”

  “I am so glad you can read my mind.”

  Grek made a few more hand gestures and turned back to me “I still think we should wait for her grace.”

  I winced “No.”

  Grek gave me a knowing look and rose with me. We began to walk down the trail together.

  He finally said “You know its perfectly natural for manaborn to be attracted to people of your elements.”

  “I am perfectly happy with Saha.” I started walking on the trail in full view.

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  “Then why were you looking at her like that?” Grek caught up with me and began walking alongside me.

  Behind us, Stone and Whily used their artifacts and faded into the snow.

  “I was just…” I gave Grek a look “I wasn’t ready for her to be barely dressed.”

  “What if Lady Voss likes her too?” Grek asked after a few moments of walking.

  I stumbled and looked down at Grek “But she is a girl.”

  “Woman.” Grek corrected me and asked “Don’t your siblings have more than one partner? And you don’t have to bed them together you know. Not unless they want it.”

  “Mouth, stop.” I ordered looking at the snow covered slope next to us.

  “Why?”

  I shook my head “She is too mad for me and I have Saha.”

  “Selly Lisk isn't mad, she’s just manaborn. See, mana has its own momentum. For a natural like her, when the emotions get high, it’s like a runaway carriage. They find it hard to stop a line of thinking once it starts. That is why the best berserkers in the empire are manaborn.”

  “What do you mean by natural?”

  “Your Highness, I don’t know how the emperor makes his Truechildren but a natural manaborn is made when a mother knows she is carrying a child that is in danger of being a stillborn. She moves to a denser mana zone…”

  “Like the basin?”

  “No, that would be suicide.” Grek paused and looked to the side “But similar. Just a lot weaker. Mothers take their unborn and give birth there. Mana rushes to the child at birth and transforms them.”

  I had noticed the slight movement of snow too.

  “You like her don’t you?” Grek asked while looking at the slope on his side.

  I gave a sideways glance at Grek and narrowed my eyes.

  “No my lord, I am not going to stop talking about her.” Grek grinned.

  I rolled my eyes and asked “If all manaborns have a problem, why don’t I?”

  Grek chuckled “You do.”

  I just looked at Grek.

  Grek whispered “We are here walking into a trap because you can’t stop yourself, Your Highness.”

  “Uhh…” I stopped and looked at Grek. I asked in a soft voice “If I am mad why are you following me?”

  “It’s my job.” Grek shrugged and smirked “And I like my job.”

  “Does that make you mad?”

  Grek made a nasally noise “Eh… Most of us punishers are mad. It takes a very different kind of person to run towards danger than away from it.”

  Grek shrugged and looked at me “So Selly Lisk. You find her attractive, yes.”

  “She is a child.” I dismissed.

  “She is twenty winters old.” Grek looked at me “And you are three months old.”

  I shook my head “I am ancient.”

  “If you say so.” Grek itched his left eye twice and I caught sight of a furrow being carved in the snow to the left.

  Made by a damned’s tail.

  Grek continued “You might deny it, now. But we all heard you gasp and say, wow.”

  “I won’t deny she is attractive…” I swiped at my nose letting my finger flick to the right.

  That made it two to the left and one to the right. Were those the only enemies stalking us?

  Probably not.

  “Oh thank the stars. At least we got that out of you.”

  Grek exhaled and continued “You know her addition to your family might be good for both your personal life and your clan.”

  Grek scratched his neck with two fingers.

  Two on our backs too. That made it five. I could take on five.

  If there were no mages among them.

  Something rippled by in front of us and I wiped my eyebrow with three fingers “How is that?”

  Grek swallowed and answered “Sooner or later Lady Voss won’t be able to keep up with you. As I said earlier mana has momentum and you are made of it. Guess who will be able to keep up?”

  Grek's eyes flicked to the rocks above us. He covered it up with a twitch of his lips “And joining the Voss clan with the Lisks will be good for both families.”

  Nine. There were nine damned and the one on the rocks above was keeping his distance.

  That made it the mage. A mage who had high ground. This could get bad, real soon.

  “What next? Are you going to set me up with Grisslow?” I asked.

  “Oh good heavens no.” Grek shook his head “I think the Vosses and Grisslows have intermarried enough.”

  So, there were no more damned he had noticed other than the nine we had counted.

  I nodded and grabbed Grek by his leather armor. I used my thumb to flick my torc. “Mouth.”

  I grew to my full height and lifted Grek to my face.

  “Yes, Your Highness?” Grek didn’t even bat an eye.

  I growled “Stop interfering in my personal life.”

  Grek read my mind and knew exactly how to respond “No, Your highness.”

  I growled and threw him. Straight up in the air.

  A sling appeared in Grek’s hand. It was already loaded. He began swinging it.

  It reached maximum velocity before he reached the apex of the height of his launch. He released the payload.

  The stone flew towards the mage.

  It appeared. A crackle of lightning left its mouth. It impacted the glowing crystal and blew it apart.

  Stone appeared on the top of the opposite slope. An arrow already drawn. She released it at the mage.

  Another crack of thunder turned it into kindling.

  That was okay. Grek’s attack was a distraction. And so was Stone’s. The real attack came from Whily.

  He appeared under the damned in a blur. And at point blank range shot his crossbow.

  With a thwack a crossbow bolt left his crossbow. It entered the underside of the lizard’s jaw.

  Up its mouth and got stuck on the roof of its mouth.

  The damned mage shrieked in pain.

  While all that was happening. I was not busy just standing and watching.

  The punishers had provided me with the perfect distraction. I shot up the snow covered slope.

  My foot dug into the snow. Rapid waves of cold firmed the snow around me.

  The damned in my way appeared. They hissed and moved out of the way when snow hit their brown mutated flesh.

  One swung its tail. Dark Hunter’s Edge appeared in my hand. I slashed up.

  Cutting the thorny appendage and ducking the spurt of blood. Another rushed me from the left.

  I raised my hand and shot a death bolt. The dark bolt hit its forelimb. It lost its balance.

  I used its skidding body as a step. I planted my foot on its flesh and jumped.

  Arriving in front of the damned mage.

  I swung down. My blade landed on top of the mage’s head. It met a hint of resistance.

  Then the green pommel on my weapon flashed and the blade ripped through the damned's head and into its soul, destroying it both here and in the waters.

  Essence trickled into me and I turned to face the rest.

  With a crack, I flew backwards. My body plowed a furrow through the snow and stopped.

  Rocks dug into my back. I wheezed and breathed in a loud breath.

  “You dare kill an immortal?” A second mage. One on the other side of the trail shouted.

  I saw Stone. She was tumbling down the slope. Her body was limp and broken.

  With a crack another yellow ball of magic left the damned’s raised arm and hit Grek.

  He flew through the air and tumbled down the trail.

  How had we missed a second mage? Was he always there? Or had he arrived just now?

  Those were questions for later. Right now I needed to do something. I lifted myself to a sitting position.

  The mage turned back towards me. It snarled. Its clawed finger came back up.

  A yellow flash and crack announced a discharge of magic. I braced to take on the magic.

  Whily appeared in front of me. His hand holding something.

  For a second, a blue shield appeared in front of him. It shattered. A yellow bolt shot into him.

  It crunched through his chest. And created a small hole that spurted out blood.

  Whily looked down in shock and crumpled to the bloody snow.