Chapter 12 #3
We stopped speaking once we broke out of the trees.
Jax took hold of my arm so that we could become invisible again.
While he could only handle doing one person at a time, he had reassured me that the chicken was small enough to include with his magic.
I put my hand in my pocket and managed to pinch my fingers into the pouch to get enough holmium for the trip.
Since it would be short, I didn’t need much.
The bird kept wriggling, but I kept a firm grip on its beak.
We snuck up on the guards, who were sitting and chatting about what they’d do after their shift.
Apparently, they had two hours left. We maneuvered behind them and then released the bird.
The moment it started squawking, I began chanting in a low voice.
The chicken was so loud that I could barely hear myself.
Squeak! Squawk! Squook!
The guards leaped to their feet, with one of them screaming as the green and purple creature went straight for his face. “What in all the nameless ones? It’s back!”
“Hit it,” the other one cried.
I could barely keep chanting, and though I couldn’t see Jax, I was almost positive he had doubled over as he tried not to laugh out loud. His hand shook on my arm. Finally, I got the portal open. The guards gaped in shock.
“That bird really can open portals by itself.”
As the chicken dove at the elves again, aiming for one of their groins, Jax and I raced for the ring. The screams grew louder as we came closer, with one guard wailing in pain where the bird had gotten him right between the legs.
The other elf managed to kick the chicken in the chest, and it let out a high-pitched ROAR! That was the only way to describe it. Then, the air began to crackle with magic as it enlarged to ten times its previous size—still very purple and green.
“Oh, shit!” one cried.
The other fell on his ass. “Dear nameless ones, save us from this monster.”
Squeak! Squawk! Squook!
The sounds it made were even louder now, hurting my ears.
It narrowed its gaze on the men and then went after the one who’d fallen. He scrambled to his feet and spun around, but still took a sharp peck to his butt cheek.
“Ow, it got me. It got me!” he screamed as he gripped his injury with one hand and hobble-ran.
The other guard was farther ahead, glancing back with a panicked expression. “Hurry!”
Just before we left, I couldn’t resist one last look. The two guards were running for their lives toward the village, screaming for help. The chicken squawked as it ran behind them, easily keeping up. Its head was weaving side to side in that weird way from before.
Squeak! Squawk! Squook!
That was the last thing I heard before the portal swallowed me.
We stumbled out of the ring on the other side, falling to our knees in the courtyard. I slapped a hand over Jax’s mouth, so his laughter wouldn’t echo far. As soon as he saw where I’d sent us, he gave me an accusing look.
“You brought me to your murder garden?” he whispered angrily.
“Sorry.” Considering I’d tricked him, I chose to let his slander of my garden go. “But I had to check on my plants.”
He sighed and looked up at the night sky. “Why me?”
I moved quickly to inspect the soil in various places, finding it still wet from yesterday's thunderstorms. All the plants looked healthy, including those that still needed a little time to recover from the battle.
I went to a storage cabinet to get some special meals I kept for the carnivorous varieties.
“Want to help feed them?” I asked Jax, holding out the container.
He shook his head vigorously. “Absolutely not.”
“They might grow to like you more.” Doubtful, but one could hope.
“It’s still a firm no.”
I went to my jawtraps first. A few died fighting against my uncle’s soldiers, but out of the dozen I’d had before, nine sets survived.
They lived closer to the ground, in groups of three, forming a triangle in the middle.
Each one appeared like a very thick leaf, but if it opened its mouth, it would look like a jaw with several rows of teeth on top and bottom.
They mostly caught rodents and large insects that passed by, but they would attack feet if provoked, and could do severe damage.
Crouching down, I crooned to them. “Open up, my pretties. I’ve got food for you.”
They happily opened and closed their mouths a few times in excitement before waiting for their meals.
I dropped a special worm-and-insect mash into each one.
They only needed it about once every two weeks since they usually caught their own meals, but since some were still healing, I wanted to give them extra to help along the process.
I quietly walked to the archway, relieved no one was around, and checked the compost bin.
In a box next to it, I found a dead mouse.
The fae who caught it had kindly left it for me as usual, despite my absence.
I gave that to my lone crunchertrap. The giant flower with lavender petals grabbed it quickly and snapped its teeth over its meal.
I petted its leaves for a few minutes, giving it some attention so it knew I still cared.
It wasn't easy being apart from my plants this long. True, it wasn’t the first time, but I was extra sensitive about it now because of the sacrifices my garden had made for me. It felt like I was abandoning them by not coming more often, even if it had only been five days since my last visit.
I doted on a few more that needed extra love while Jax watched me with incredulity.
He stood in the back, near the supplies, where I had the least harmful varieties.
Even then, the elf stayed in the middle of the stone walkway to keep as much distance from the plants as possible.
He must have gotten a glimpse in here before we cleaned it up and saw the carnage with all the bodies and random limbs strewn everywhere.
That sight would have terrified me, too, if it hadn’t been my plants fighting to save my life.
After doing all I could, I grabbed some parchment and a pen from the supply cabinet and left a note for Tadeus.
I’d made Darrow adjust the wards to give my cousin access to the garden before we left last time.
He was supposed to check on the plants regularly to ensure they had enough water.
I didn’t expect anyone to feed them, of course, but they could go a couple of weeks longer now that they’d eaten before they’d begin to get seriously cranky.
“Okay,” I said, wiping my hands on my pants. “Are you ready to go?”
Jax snorted. “Are you really asking me that?”
I gave him a genuine smile. “I know you didn’t have to help me tonight, so thanks for that.”
“You’re welcome,” he said with a nod. “At least we learned some things we can take back to Chief Orran.”
“Yeah, and it could have gone a lot worse.” Not that it made me feel much better.