The Nature of Magic (The Curse of Magic Book 2)

Chapter 8

The talking stopped when they noticed their arrival, but the somber atmosphere did not lift.

"Were you successful?" the Elder asked, her tone surprisingly gentle. She must have already at least suspected that they hadn't, not that it would be difficult to figure out from his and Lanna's lack of enthusiasm.

"No. The Council refused to help," Feyrith admitted, his heart heavy. They needed an alternative plan now, but he couldn't think of anything.

"Of course they did," came the mocking voice of someone standing farther away from the table. Feyrith already knew who it had been before his eyes found him, though—the new elf, Ayd. A sudden burst of intense frustration and anger burned inside of Feyrith, but he managed not to say anything.

All of the insults at the tip of his tongue were centered around Ayd being Cursed, and he couldn't point that out. Not only because after meeting Edwyr, he was starting to think maybe there was more to the Divine Curse than they'd thought, especially when it could be cured by taking magic from another elf, but also because Feyrith didn't want Ayd to know Feyrith wasn't Cursed. Or at least that he wasn't until very recently. He was sure the other elf would mock him endlessly for what he had let happen to him.

"I appreciate you going to Aendor on our behalf nonetheless," the Town Elder said, and though she did sound disappointed, at least she didn't seem to be disappointed in him, and that did make Feyrith feel a little better.

The Elder waved her hand at them, beckoning them closer, and so they both walked up to the table and sat down, joining the others. Feyrith recognized all of the eight people in the room that came from Sunwood, but he didn't know the names of most of them, just that they were experienced fighters, decision makers, or both. He supposed it mattered little, though.

"I told you the Council wouldn't send anyone," the woman with graying hair sitting next to the Elder said, shaking her head. A disappointed murmur of agreement filled the room. Feyrith looked down at the table. He understood why the humans here didn't like the Council, but he had a hard time explaining this decision away. It had made sense to him until now that there simply weren't enough elves to help everywhere, but the Council itself did nothing to help the humans themselves. The elves needed leadership, it was true, but that didn't mean that the strongest magic users had to stay on Aendor all the time.

"It was worth a try," the Elder said, leaning on the table with her folded arms. "Now we need to decide what to do."

"The beasts come mainly for our livestock," a woman, Sunwood's smith Teri, said. "We have to shelter them."

"Yes, good idea," the Elder said, nodding. "Do we have enough weapons?"

Teri frowned in thought for a second before nodding. "I need to finish making arrows still, but yeah, I think so."

"If these attacks continue, we aren't running out of food anytime soon," the man next to Feyrith said. "But we should try to reinforce the walls somehow. Maybe the houses, too."

"It's too risky to go gather stone right now. Even during the day," Lanna argued, but Feyrith had started to tune the conversation out by then as Lanna reminded him of their experience near the jungle. What was happening wasn't natural, he was sure of that, and so he was sure there was a way to stop it. The problem was that the answer lay within the jungle, likely deep within the jungle. He didn't think it was viable to go inside and survive, but it was still worth sharing.

"I believe there is something of magical origin disturbing the beasts," he said, only then realizing that he'd interrupted whatever they'd been discussing, but no one seemed to mind as they all turned their curious eyes on him. Feyrith tried not to feel nervous about that. "When Lanna, Arbane, and I were exploring, looking for a possible cause, I felt an earthquake coming from within the jungle. And then a group of beasts flew out of it."