“For the magic to work, it must be given freely.”
And no gnome would hand their blood over to the tengu. Bad spells could be done with blood. I knew some people who burned their blood if they happened to bleed anywhere near witch territory.
I sighed. “And what guarantee do I have that you won’t use this blood for nefarious purposes?”
“We will swear a geas.”
A geas was a blood-vow. It would prevent them from using the gnome blood for anything other than the commerce spell.
I glanced around at the tengu. “All of you?”
“If necessary. This is for the good of all of us.”
“I may know someone who can help. But I need proof that you can give me helpful information about the sword.”
“I will tell you where itwas. It is up to you to track it from there.”
Time was slipping through my fingers like water. I wanted to shake the tengu. To roar at him. To threaten. But I knew damn well that would only lose me any cooperation I might’ve had.
“Fine.”
We trudged out of the forest. Already, this day felt endless, and knowing that I was going to have to convince Gary to give me some of his blood was not improving my mood.
We were close to the edge of the forest when Kyla went still. It took me another moment, but I felt it too.
“They approached upwind so I couldn’t scent them,” Kyla whispered. “But they’re close.”
“What are they?”
“No idea. They smell… wrong.”
Using my power here would announce who and what I was to every creature in this region of the Middleground. I didn’t have time to play stupid dominance games or tussle with idiots who thought they could kill me and use my power.
Especially since I’d need to return to this area with goblin blood.
“No magic,” I said beneath my breath, and Kyla nodded. The werewolf looked pleased by the thought of getting her claws dirty. The last few days had been stressful for her as well.
Giant scorpions scuttled out from between the trees, blocking us in. They shuffled through the forest on eight legs, tails held high in the air, sharply pointed and likely dripping deadly poison. They were about the size of a golden retriever, and I scanned them, counting nine of the creatures.
“Give us your weapons. And your money,” one of them said, although his fangs were far too big for his words to come out clearly.
“Dude, that lisp is embarrassing.”
“Now!”
Kyla threw me an amused look.
I sighed. As much as I was ready to rumble, I didn’t want to waste time with this.
“Are you sure this is a good plan?” I asked them.
One of them stepped forward and attempted to poke Kyla with one of his claws.
She pulled her knife and stabbed him, so fast the movement was a blur. Her clothes tore, and then she was a wolf.
The giant scorpions attacked en masse.
“Don’t let them sting you,” I called to Kyla.
