Eric Linnaeus | Book 3 | Chapter 32 - He’s Utterly Incapable of Making Good Decisions (Patreon)

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ℍ𝕖’𝕤 𝕌𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕪 𝕀𝕟𝕔𝕒𝕡𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕄𝕒𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔾𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝔻𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤ɴᴀᴛʜᴀɴɪᴇʟ ᴋʟᴇɪɴ: ᴊᴜɴᴇ, 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟶.

─── .✦········· ───

Kári stepped back, “I didn’t sign up for this…”

The storm blew wildly around him, and he gave a short whistle as if calling a dog before he spoke again, “I’ve changed my mind; I’m done,” he announced, kicking the end of his trident up and spinning it back to hold over his shoulder as he put his arms up. He was a fool to think I would allow him to go so easily after killing my vanir.

But when I moved to attack, Eric put an arm out to stop me, “Nathaniel, don’t…”

Startled, I turned to glare at Eric, but his expression gave me pause. He kept his gaze low, focused away from mine, ashamed. This person was someone he still cared for; he didn’t want me to kill him. I can’t say that didn’t annoy me, but I understood it, and obliged his request without saying a word.

One of the boars passed Kári, and he took a hold of its fur, pulling himself onto its back in one smooth motion. That must have been what he had called, although I couldn’t tell if it was the same as the one from before. The creature shook itself irritably, its fur was streaked with mud, and its beady black eyes focused on me.

They’re truly terrifying creatures, more so than griffins or manticores.

The other Vanir delayed; it looked as though he wanted to say something to Eric. But as his focus flicked to someone across the field, his jaw set, and he said nothing. He cast one last glance back at us before he turned, directing the boar away.

“Bastard,” I hissed under my breath ruefully.

“Nathaniel,” Eric warned, recalling my attention as another of the boars turned toward us.

It had been eating a fallen guard, and its jaws oozed with a coagulated mixture of blood and saliva. Taking in a deep breath, I exhaled magic and focused on my target. My energy had changed state since Eric revenanted; no longer light as flame, it moved rapidly and dripped off me like hot magma.

My nails were blackened with Vanir transference, and as I flexed the energy, it moved freely through my cells. The cut across my cheek healed over. I’d been holding back, afraid to push the power too far—that hesitation was gone now.

Together we cleared over half the field, and the remaining guards were able to pull back to safety. There weren’t many bodies of fallen Fae, but there were enough that I would have difficult news to give families when this was over.

Watching Eric fight was mesmerizing. Energy moved around him like a polarized field, pitch black on one side, bright blue tipped with darkness on the other. This was his true aura. It scorched the earth, killing any grasses that had survived the trampling. The rain didn’t touch him, it evaporated in the air before him and when he moved the force sent ripples through the raindrops.

Eric met with one of his kind head-on, and the resulting discharge sent a wave of dust outward as they collided. No wonder these people thought they were gods. The power they held was immense, but it wasn’t continuous. In only minutes, the aura around my vanir was beginning to fade, and the bigger one tackled him to the ground with brute force.

„Ertu búinn að missa töfrana þína, argr skítur,“ (Out of power already, you bad-gay piece of shit.)

“I don’t know what you’re saying,” Eric snapped. I couldn’t tell whether he was lying or not in saying that. Eric spoke a few languages, but perhaps he never continued with his family’s tongue.

“I’ve waited so long for this; I’m going to tear you apart piece by piece,” he sneered as Eric struggled to push him back.

“You’ll be waiting a while longer then,” Eric replied flatly, flaring his energy to force the man away.

But when I moved to help him, Karyna attacked me. She intercepted my path, and I clenched my teeth. I could hardly focus on her. The girl was no match for me like this, “Get out of my way,” I hissed.

Fighting an opponent that grows stronger each time you kill them is endlessly frustrating. Each attack you make must be adjusted to avoid lethality. All the while they have no such concerns, and it’s not as if I was going to get the time to write out a sealing curse to hold her with.

“Holding back?” she teased, but I ignored her; of course I was holding back. Killing her would only help her.

My sword clashed with her knives. The momentum forced her back, and I tilted the sword slightly so that it slipped along the length of her knife. It cast off sparks and sliced her hair and shoulder as she retreated.

“That was close! What’s the matter, can’t kill me? Afraid I’ll come back stronger?”

“You talk too much,” I muttered, irritated.

“You don’t know how to kill us, do you?”

I didn’t justify her taunting with an answer and instead sent a blast of energy in her direction. I needed the space between us to make a seal.

“You know, we know how to kill our own kind, and it looks like Eiríkr’s energy is fading fast~” she commented, and I hesitated.

I hadn’t before considered that they could kill my vanir permanently. I hadn’t thought they would even want to kill him at this point. Rather I was worried they would take him from me.

Whatever the case, I wanted this to be over. The longer it drew on the more opportunity they had. Regrettably distracted in my thoughts, I faltered, and the girl took her opportunity to strike. She sank a blade into the base of my shoulder, and we fell back.

Impact with the ground knocked the air out of me, and I hissed through my teeth as pain radiated across my body. It was stupid of me not to pay attention. Now she held a knife to my throat as she leaned in close.

“Aww, did that hurt?” she purred. Her breath was warm as she spoke against my skin, and she took the opportunity to lick my cheek as the proximity allowed.

“Disgusting,” I scowled as I subtly placed a hand flat on the earth beside me. I didn’t want her to notice what I was doing as I began channeling energy through the dirt.

“Don’t be like that; just give in,” her eyes were glowing bluer, and she focused on me intently. What she hoped to achieve, I will never know, but her frustration was amusing.

“What is wrong with you-”

I didn’t allow her to finish the sentence. While she spoke, I had been carving the spell into the ground with my magic, and as the final strokes connected, it was complete. It wasn’t the neatest spell I had ever written, nor was it as tight as one of Eric’s might have been.

Still, it caught the girl by surprise, and without the magic left to counter it, she was finished. Shards of magic like blunt glass materialized from the spell lines. The splinters forced her back and condensed around her to create a cell. They turned from transparent to opaque as they set in place, securing her between them, and effectively immobilizing her movement.

The vanir screamed like a child throwing a tantrum, momentarily trying to fight her way out before understanding the crystals formed would not budge. She would remain trapped, even if she revenanted, there was no way out.

“No, no! It’s not possible. You can’t do this to me!” she spat.

I ignored her as I ripped the knife from my shoulder. My left arm would be useless now, and my right isn’t as strong, but I would have to make do.

“Hey! Don’t you walk away from me! Kill me, you coward!” Karyna shouted after me, though I hardly heard her.

Eric was still fighting Raven, and as I approached the last of his magic was fading.

“You ruined this family,” Raven hissed.

“I was eight; I didn’t do anything!”

“Brigetta is dead because of you!”

Eric faltered, as if that were news of some significance to him, and the other vanir didn’t miss the opportunity. He lashed out, “You don’t deserve to live!”

They were both low on energy, and my vanir blocked the attack surprisingly well, considering. “So emotional,” he commented calmly.

The icy demeanor that settled over him was chilling, and his strikes were precise. Raven may have been bigger and stronger, but skill and strength are different. Eric was certainly more skilled. He targeted the tendons, slicing through ligaments methodically.

Eric didn’t need my help. He drew the curse seal around Raven and activated it with the Fae magic in his arm. Immediately black tendrils burst upward, wrapping tight around limbs and beginning to descend back into the ground with their victim. It was a vicious spell to use, not something Fae would ordinarily think of.

By then the battle was largely over and we had won. In the distance Alvíss cleared the rest of the area, and further toward the castle the fighting had died down. But Eric stood still in place. The rain was beginning to soak his hair as his aura died out and he looked unsteady.

Using magic in itself takes a toll physically. It’s exhausting, and for someone unused to it I’m sure it was worse. I took in the breath to call his attention when another voice spoke, catching us both by surprise.

“Well done, Eiríkr.” Silvius emerged from the trees.

The boar he rode was far larger than any other, and its fur bristled with luminescent golden energy. Beside him were three other riders, including Kári. One moved away to save Karyna, and the other to get Raven while Kári remained where he was. I knew we shouldn’t have allowed him to leave.

Silvius dismounted his boar to approach. The black markings on his face were similar to Eric’s and I thought that this man could be his father. As he came near, Eric took a step back to prepare, and I moved between them. This wasn’t a fight my vanir could handle.

“Stand aside, faeling; this doesn’t concern you.”

“Eric belongs to me. Anything involving him concerns me.”

The man chuckled, bemused, and I gritted my teeth. His aura was the same as last time, nothing short of a shroud of death, and I dreaded knowing what his attacks were capable of.

“Come now, surely you don’t want to face me again? What you saw last time was only a small fraction of a god’s power.”

“You’re not a god,” Eric stated flatly.

“You’re right; we are gods, Eiríkr. You don’t belong here with these,” he paused as he considered what to call us, “Half-breeds,” he decided at last as he offered out his hand, “Come with me, child.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“No? Your parents will be so disappointed; they were so hoping to see you.”

Eric hesitated, “…My parents?”

Silvius smiled, “Of course. They never stopped looking for you after you ran away, even if it was all your fault that the Enforcers came.”

My vanir tensed, taking in a sharp breath, “How did you..-”

“Oh? Did you think we didn’t know? You’re the one that let the human boy go. Disappeared him into the black hole… that broke laws, Eiríkr.”

Eric’s complexion paled, but he said nothing and so the man continued, “You look so much like your father. Come, you’ve earned your place among us. All is forgiven. Only the weak died, so you did us a favor.”

The tone of voice this man spoke with reminded me of the way my father would use half-truths to manipulate others, and it sent a chill down my spine. “Eric, go back to the castle. I’ll handle this,” I told him firmly.

Silvius chuckled, “You’re no match for me, and Eiríkr belongs with us.”

I didn’t bother answering. It wouldn’t be easy facing him, certainly, but my energy felt stronger today. It moved through my cells freely, as it did before the salt damage, if not better, and I only had to wait until he ran out of power.

Regardless, when Eric’s attention shifted to me, my blood froze. His expression was a tangled mix of shame and regret. He had made a decision, and I knew it.

“Don’t,” I begged quietly.

“Take care of Charles for me..?”

“Take care of him yourself. You can’t possibly believe this man?!”

“I don’t… but you can’t face him alone, and if I go back to the castle, you’ll imprison me…”

Understanding settled, he was going to run, “I won’t, Eric, please,” I couldn’t protect him if he ran.

“I’m sorry…”

Of all the stubborn, stupid, things he had ever done, this was the worst.

In the instant Eric turned I hated everything. Myself for letting him believe he wasn’t safe with me, and his family for the chaos they brought. The vanir gave chase immediately and as I moved to stop them Silvius stepped into my path.

“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of him,” he assured with a superficial smile.

Dark magic gathered in the palm of his hand, and as he turned toward the castle in the distance, I understood his intention. There was no time to think, he released the blast without even a moment’s hesitation, and I braced my left arm with my right hand to block it.

The impact pushed me back, and the ground splintered beneath my feet. This attack was immensely more powerful than the last time, and it took everything I had to counter it. Our magics collided with explosive force; pitch black struck against electric blue, splitting the air and evaporating the moisture from the atmosphere.

It would only take one second of inattention, one mistake, and his energy would overwhelm mine. Something gave way, and the combined magic inverted, collapsing in on itself into a condensed point, before expanding rapidly in a rush of energy.

A blinding light erased our surroundings, and the resulting blast tore through the air, leveling everything in an instant. I braced for the impact but was thrown to the ground regardless. My vision blurred and my ears rang. The axis of the world tilted, and I fell, as did my opponent.

─── .✦········· ───

Afterward, all was still. The shockwave had decimated the immediate area and everyone in it. My consciousness slipped, and I regretted not commanding Eric; I should have. Then perhaps he would still be here.

As the world grew darker and further away, I remembered lying in the gardens with him: It was a fair day, and the sunlight illuminated the soft undertones of his dark chocolate hair. I was lying in his lap, and he looked distinctly amused as he looked down at me.

‘Why would you want to know that?’ he teased.

‘You said you were arrested once; I’m curious what the charges were.’

‘Too bad, I’m not going to tell you.’

‘You’re insufferable.’

‘And you’re too nosy; you don’t need to know everything about me.’

It’s strange to know who a person is while also not knowing their experiences, and he had told me almost nothing about the time he had been gone. ‘I would settle for just knowing one thing,’ I complained flatly, and he paused.

‘Fine.’

‘Fine?’ I asked skeptically.

‘Yes, fine, I’ll tell you one thing.’

I held my breath, waiting, as he considered what to tell me. ‘I don’t like deep water,’ he announced at last, and I scoffed, disappointed.

‘I knew that already.’

‘Huh, then I guess you do know things about me after all, and I don’t need to tell you anything.’

‘You’re absolutely insufferable,’ I muttered, vexed, and to my surprise, Eric smiled, chuckling to himself.

‘What now?’

‘I like the way your brow creases, and your lip curls just that little bit when you’re pissed off.’

I wasn’t permitted the chance to answer before he leaned over, and his lips found mine. His hand rested at the base of my throat as he kissed me, and I was perfectly at ease with that. He was always strangely gentle with me.

‘What was that for?’ I grumbled as he pulled away.

‘To make you less pissed off.’

I couldn’t say it didn’t work. However, when I looked up at him, black lines spread upward from his throat, and the sky behind him changed. That wasn’t how the memory went, and I stared, confused, as he spoke, ‘You need to wake up. Everyone is looking for you.’

‘What?’

‘Now,’ he stated firmly, and a warm breath on the back of my neck woke me.

Adrenaline snapped me back to reality. I was lying face down in the dirt, far from the gardens. Ash coated my clothing, and a gentle breeze ruffled my hair. It had been some time, but whether it had been hours or days I couldn’t say.

Beside me was a black horse, she startled when I stirred, and wheeled away in a panic. It was Eric’s horse I realized dully; she must have re-entered the area, for she was the only other living thing around. All else within the radius of the blast was eviscerated. Brittle husks remained of the trees, and not even insects chirped.

I pushed myself up slowly, I was alone, and everything hurt. In the distance, I could see the castle. Although I knew not whether it was captured or if anyone else had survived, I couldn’t remember what had happened.

Crisp light reflected off early morning mist, and as dawn spilled over the battlefield, all was still. Debris littered the area, and thin trails of smoke rose from piles of smoldering remains. The ground was scorched, and broken weapons lay abandoned among hundreds of slaughtered boars.

The horse twitched skittishly as I took the reins. Her eyes were wild, and her nostrils flared. Vaguely I was aware that Eric was gone, though I didn’t allow myself to think about that too much as I dragged myself onto the horse.

The way back to the castle was a slow journey through the carnage. The Fae had been collected I realized, so perhaps more than a day had passed. The castle itself had taken some damage, but nothing that couldn’t be repaired. The gates into Dunkel opened for me, and I very nearly fell from the horse as I entered.

Markos was the first to greet me; his clothes were torn and streaked with blood. “Where have you been? Achaicus is out looking for you–! Nathaniel!” he hissed, surprised, as I slipped from the saddle.

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