Page 19 of Tricky Magic
“Find a mountain man for me while you’re at it,” he said, squeezing her hard. “I’ll miss you.”
She couldn’t respond. Her heart hurt, but it felt right as she left him and snuck out the door. She caught a glimpse of Isaac and his father before she and Billy rounded a corner and snuck out the back door.
7
Ros
The forest surrounding the town of Glenover was filled with towering oaks. The town itself was ancient, the oaks even older. Old and new magic alike existed in the forest, all untouched. It was why so many supernaturals found themselves there, whether they knew they wanted to be there or they happened upon the town by accident.
One supernatural was currently chopping down some oaks. The forest didn’t mind; it would grow more, and grow them faster than regular trees in other forests. Their wood was needed, and even though they would burn, the forest would enjoy the sight.
With two hard hits, an oak snapped and fell to the ground. Picking up his discarded shirt, Ros attempted to wipe some of the sweat from his face. He didn’t mind the shards of tree and dirt plastered on his bare and sweaty chest. He would be done soon and would take a much-needed swim in the lake. Ros tucked his shirt into the back pocket of his jeans and bent to grab the newly chopped tree. With one hand wrapped around the trunk and the other propping his axe against his bare shoulder, he dragged it to the hundred others. He would need to triple that number over the next few days in order for the sixty-foot trees to dry in time for Mabon.
Ros couldn’t count how many bonfires he’d helped set up for the town. The wolven community had usually been in charge of that task, but with their numbers dwindling, he’d stepped in to help. With one last tug, he lined up the tree with the others. Ros slapped his hands on his dark jeans to shake off the dirt and bark. He stood to stretch and wipe the slight sheen of sweat from his face. Looking up, he noticed his hound staring past him.
Ros perked up and let his breathing slow, calming his beating heart to listen. Zoning out the birds and the forest creatures, he finally heard it: the crunching of the leaves. The sound was too uneven and quick to be one of the forest beasts. He heard a ghastly, wet snarl, and his nostrils flared as a stench wafted toward him. The unwelcome creature was a Drekavac, or what some called a screecher. It was a lower demon that would put theWalking Deadzombies to shame. With an eye roll, Ros picked up his axe.
“I got this, Garm,” he said to his hound. “It’s been a while since I got to make something bleed.”
It has been two weeks, Ros,the hound said telepathically while looking up at the sky, asking for strength.
Garm was the size of a small pony, coming up to Ros’ hip. He was similar to a black German Shepherd except for his eyes, which were a deep red and would sometimes glow. Garm was one of the first helhounds.
Ros readied his axe and waited. The crunching of leaves got louder, and the stench was becoming overwhelming. As soon as the demon’s hot breath was on his neck, he snapped his elbow back, connecting with what would have been the demon’s chin. The demon stumbled back and tried to shake the surprise assault. Whoever had sent it clearly didn’t warn it what it would be up against. Ros stepped forward and swung his axe, easily chopping one of its legs off.
“Who sent you?” he asked. Annoyingly, the demon just screeched. Ros rolled his eyes again and asked, “Did someone summon you?”
Screech.
“Well, I tried.”
Ros swung the axe low, removing the other leg from the demon. Then, with an overhead swing, he chopped its head off; a splattering of black blood sprayed on his already dirty chest.
Hel, those things are gross,Garm said. He walked up to Ros with his flannel shirt clenched in his enormous mouth.
“Haven’t seen one of those in a while,” Ros said. “Do you mind doing some sniffing around to see if you can track down who summoned it?” he asked, grabbing the shirt from his hound to wipe off the grime.
What if it was sent directly by Hel?Garm asked, looking up at Ros.
“Then I wish you luck,” Ros replied with a smirk.
Thanks,he said sarcastically. Garm trotted off a few feet before shimmering into shadows and disappearing completely.
Ros, now happy with his sloppy clean-up job, threw his flannel next to the stacked trunks. He donned his black t-shirt and went to hunt down one of the demon’s missing legs. Gathering the parts into a pile, he held his hand over the dismembered demon. Letting his heavy powers rise to the surface, he summoned fire. It burned hot and quickly turned the demon to ash.
“I remember when we used to mess with those things as children,” came a voice.
Ros turned slowly. It had not been too long since he’d heard that voice, but long enough to make him wonder why he would be here now. And if he was here, that meant…
“More like they would mess with you, brother,” said a soft female voice. “You were always too slow to outrun them.”
Carver and Cara came around the gigantic pile of trees and smiled at the towering man standing in front of them. “Hello, cousin,” they said together in their creepy twin way.
Two redheads stood in front of Ros, looking as if they’d just left a business meeting. Carver was dressed in a crisp, deep blue suit that accented his deep red hair. He looked like he’d never worked a hard day in his life. His twin, Cara, was dressed in a pair of white, wide-legged pants with a silk blouse to match her twin’s suit. They had matched outfits since they were young. “It helps boost our creepy-twin vibe,”Cara once said.
“Hello, cousins,” Ros replied. They looked so out of place in the middle of the woods. “What brings you to this side of the world?”
“We were in the area on business and wanted to check on you. It has been some time since you sent word home,” Carver said.
