Two Masters (epic progression fantasy)

Chapter 16: The Lord of the Wild

He stared at his feet as he slowly marched through the snow, grateful for sturdy shoes. Something groaned nearby, and Revin looked up.

He was standing amid a herd of beasts. They reminded him of rhinos, except they bore three horns, their faces beaked, with large shields sprouting from the crowns of their heads. His eyes widened in fear. He wondered if they ate meat.

His heart thundered in his chest. He wondered what he should do apart from standing as still as he could. He looked to the side as a small horn-creature waddled behind the others, trying to catch up. The herd was starting to pass him by.

None were standing close enough to touch, except the small one. Mastering any of these beasts could help him survive in this wild land. He started to crouch down, slowly, reaching for the juvenile horn-face.

"Hey," Revin said softly, the words feeling odd after so much silence.

The small creature cocked its head and approached slowly, sniffing at him.

He reached even further. "Come here."

Something moaned with a deep bass. Revin's smile dropped and he turned, slowly. One of the large three-horned lizards barreling through the snow and branches, headed straight for him.

No longer frozen, Revin let out a curse, abandoning the creature and scrambling back up the hill, the earth thundering behind him. He ran for a tree near the top, climbing it with great effort, his muscles stiff. As he heaved himself onto a branch, the tree shook. He looked down, watching the monster headbutt the trunk again. Revin's feet hung just a few feet higher than the creature's horns. It slammed again. Snow, leaves, and branches fell with each collision, dropping a rush of cold down his shirt.

It moaned angrily again, glaring. But when Revin refused to fall, it turned around, ushering the smaller creature back to the herd. Revin realized with a frown that the little creature was the first thing he'd spoken to since Narazoth.

He waited a long time before he climbed down again.

✦✦✦

Revin lay on his cloak, breathing softly. Small footsteps skittered nearby. The fire was low but still burning. The tiny footsteps surrounded him, then came closer.

He only pretended to sleep. As he'd travelled, he'd heard dozens of small feet pitter-pattering behind him, when he ran back to check, he only found an empty trail, often marked with dozens of tiny footprints. Something clever had been following him.

A faint crunch of snow sounded somewhere near his nose, and Revin's eyes snapped open. He faced a small, bipedal lizard, its tiny, narrow head revealing sharp teeth. Tiny feathers ran down its back, arms, and legs.

Revin leaped to his feet, looking around. Several lizards snarled and jumped at him, biting at his legs. Revin laughed. Their tiny teeth only helped clean his metal-weave mastersuit.

One leaped at his face, jumping far higher than he expected. He half stumbled backward, sweeping his arms in panic, knocking it back and tossing aside a few others he only just noticed. One climbed the arm of his robe and he grabbed it by the neck. He dove into its mind.

He sensed intelligence or at least cleverness, and it defied Revin's control. Revin, however, was more than a match for this little lizard. He forced his mind in, broke the creature's will, and mastered it.

Revin released it with one hand as he grabbed another nipping saurian, mastering it quickly and letting go. The unmastered lizard tried a counterattack, regrouping and charging again. But their anger quickly became confusion when their mastered fellows hissed and jumped in the way. He took advantage of this and grabbed more. In turn, he reached into each of their little minds and lassoed their wills to his.