Spirit Formed Read online

  Shasta threaded her way through the dense brush at the edge of the forest. Back on the road, the sun was still cheerfully beaming down at them. Under other circumstances, she’d be grateful for the light, but today it meant there was still lots of time for them to answer questions. Or to explain their inability to provide useful answers.

  They were just out of sight of the town when Cord fell into step beside her. “Deer don’t vanish.”

  “Your point?”

  “If this was magic run amuck, wouldn’t the deer still be there?” Cord kept his eyes on the road.

  “Maybe.” Shasta considered that as they walked by two footpaths leading to houses. “The magic could have had a variety of effects, including an abnormal type of decomposition. Or their creator retrieved the buck without leaving a trace.”

  “When you say it like that …” Cord muttered.

  Shasta couldn’t help her small smile. “I wish the missing buck was enough evidence to settle that question, but it isn’t.”

  “You think it was a freakishly fast method of decomposition?”

  She shook her head. “I simply pointed out we don’t have enough evidence to make a definitive conclusion.”

  Cord glanced at her. “Okay.”

  She was saved—though perhaps that wasn’t the best term—from continuing the conversation with Cord when Godric marched into view. She kept thinking he would stop and wait for them, but he continued past the path to their cottage before planting himself in the center of the road.

  Godric folded his arms over his chest. “Where is the buck?”

  Shasta stopped in her tracks. That was the question. Now, if only they had an answer.

  Chapter Three

  “We were unable to find it.” None of the disappointment Cord had expressed to her was in his voice.

  Godric raised his eyebrows. “It was a dying deer. You are elves.” He looked Shasta over from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. “Mostly. Regardless, how could you lose a dying deer?”

  As much as his attitude irritated her, Shasta kept her voice as polite as Cord’s had been. “Under normal circumstances, I would agree with you. But these are not normal circumstances. While we were able to locate the spot where the buck died, it was no longer there. There were no signs it had been moved, no useful tracks of any type, and I was unable to track the remains.”

  “How do you lose a dead buck?” Godric’s eyes darted between the two of them.

  “We didn’t lose it.” She didn’t quite manage to keep the edge out of her voice. “Somehow it was moved or destroyed without leaving any evidence. It’s very different than losing something.”

  “Is it now?” Godric tipped his head back toward town. “What do I tell the injured?”

  “You tell them we’re working on it,” Cord said steadily. “If this was a simple problem you wouldn’t need us. For two weeks we hunted the deer and waited for an attack. We’ll solve the problem, but this is the beginning of the hunt, not the end.”

  Shasta followed up before Godric could respond. “We need to talk to you and anyone who managed to injure the deer in the past. It’s important we understand why so many of the weapons were ineffective today. Interviews and weapon examinations will help us understand how to kill the deer more easily in the future.”

  Godric looked away. “The first two herds weren’t this difficult to kill.”

  “Knowing how they were killed before is useful information. Perhaps we could meet in the town hall in an hour,” Cord said.

  “I’ll gather as many people as I can.” Godric turned to leave, paused, and turned back. “We can’t simply wait for the deer to come back.”

  “We don’t plan to,” Shasta said firmly. “Once we know how to kill them, Cord and I will go hunting.”

  “Good.” Godric nodded. “I’ll see you in an hour.”

  Shasta watched him walk away, wishing she didn’t have the nagging feeling that something was wrong. Perhaps it was that he had been out here to meet them rather than helping the injured. Or maybe it was the comment about her being mostly elven.

  “Shasta?”

  She shook off the feeling, turning to Cord with a forced smile. “Yes?”

  “Are you okay?” He gave her a concerned look.

  “It was odd being called mostly elven.” Between her height, golden blonde hair, and pointed ears, people usually assumed she was an elf. It wasn’t often people outside the family referenced her mixed heritage.

  Cord gently tugged her closer, enveloping her in a hug. “You’re all the elf I need.”

  Shasta smiled as she snuggled against his chest. “Thank you.”

  He squeezed her gently. “As much as I’d like to spend the rest of the day like this, we do have more work to do.”

  Shasta reluctantly broke the hug. “I know. To the house to drop off the packs, snack, and then off to the town hall?”

  “Sounds like a plan.” He offered her his hand.

  She intertwined her fingers with his, and they walked a few feet down the road before turning onto the path to their house. She was probably being too sensitive about Godric’s comment. After all the years of living in an elven community, he’d stumbled over the best way to describe her.

  Twenty minutes later, they were walking down Main Street. The signs of the battle had been erased. Shopping baskets and goods that were strewn across the street had been cleaned up. A few wet patches were all that remained of the blood that had been spilled.

  Even though it had been the third herd attack, and part of her wanted to think the village would figure out how to defend itself, Shasta felt guilty. They’d spent two weeks here at Quercuston and hadn’t fortified or set traps that would prevent the deer from getting into town. If they’d been more proactive about protecting Quercuston rather than waiting for problems to arise, several of the elves might not have been injured at all. That was the type of oversight they couldn’t afford again. “After the meeting, we should work on adding defenses to the town.”

  “Agreed, though I’m worried about the efficacy of traditional deterrents.” He looked at the shops on each side of the street. “And residents still need to be able to live.”

  “True.” What they needed were fortifications that would only be there when the town was threatened. “Gwen had a spear that went from being the size of a pencil to full-size. I didn’t pay much attention to it during the fight, but maybe we could use something like that to make reactive defenses that will be there when needed and not complicate day-to-day life.”

  “It’s not something I’ve seen before, but it might work.” He shrugged. “We can ask her later.”

  The rows of shops stopped, leaving a short stretch of road that dead-ended in front of the town hall. It was a whitewashed cobb structure, like most of the town. The rectangular building was also the largest one in town, capable of holding all the residents for meetings.

  With Godric standing outside, arms folded over his chest, no amount of cheerful roses could make the building inviting. His wife, Delilah, was next to him, though Shasta wasn’t sure if that was going to make things easier or more difficult.

  Shasta nodded. “But first we have to deal with this.”

  Cord sighed but kept walking. “Godric, Delilah.”

  Delilah gave a slight smile. “I was out gathering mushrooms and got back into town right after you left. I couldn’t believe what happened.”

  “I’m glad you weren’t hurt. It might be wise to stay closer to town until we deal with the deer,” Shasta offered.

  Delilah’s hands moved nervously. “Perhaps, but I do find the best mushrooms in the forest. Today I found the loveliest golden chanterelles. Though, the weather is getting cooler. The meadow mushrooms should be coming in this season, and they dry nicely.”

  “They are here to work, my dear,” Godric said gently.

  “Of course, of course. Go on in.” Delilah motioned to the door.

  Shasta nodded to the mayor and his wife. “Do be careful while gathering mushrooms.”

  Beside her, Cord forced a cordial smile before going inside. Shasta followed him. The town hall was mostly one large room with deep-set windows going down each wall. Rows of chairs were arranged to face the slender podium at the far end of the room. Today, a small cluster of people were sitting in the chairs closest to the doors. Gwen waved at her, and Nissa followed suit. Wyrran, Areena, and Bliss looked in their direction.

  A throat cleared behind her. Shasta stepped back, but Godric had gone around rather than wait for her to move.

  The mayor cleared his throat again, and this time every eye in the building landed on him. “Thank you for joining us. Shasta and Cord have questions for you about fighting off the first two herds of deer, and they also wish to examine any weapons you have successfully used against them in the past.”

  Godric turned to face them. He drew the sword hanging from his belt and flipped it around, holding it out hilt first. “I dispatched two of the creatures with this sword when they attacked two weeks ago. I did not engage them today, as I was at my house and did not arrive until after the battle ended.”

  Shasta accepted the sword. It was heavier than her own and slightly longer. By the balance and the etchings on the blade, she could tell it had also been made by an elven smith. She lowered her shields and looked it over. She didn’t sense any magic on it, so she probed it with a tendril of her power. Nothing happened. As far as she could tell, it was a very well-made sword—though not magical.

  Shasta passed it to Cord. He spent a few moments looking it over before returning it to Godric. “Thank you.” Cord turned to address the group. “Were any of you able to injure the deer today?”

  Gwen shook her head.

  “No,” Wyrran said. Areena and two others echoed him.

  “Did you use the same weapons today as you did when you were able to inflict damage?” Shasta asked.

  Wyrran nodded and tipped his head toward the bow and quiver of arrows lying next to him. Cord went over to him.

  “Yes.” Gwen held out her spear.

  Shasta took the spear. The moment her hand touched the wood, she got a sensation of confusion. It didn’t understand why someone other than Gwen was holding it. On the heels of that was a wave of curiosity. Previously, it had only been in the hands of elves, not a half elf like her.

  Shasta suppressed a smile. I would like to examine you, and then I will return you to Gwen. Could you answer a few questions?

  Yes.

  She spotted a clump of fur clinging to the spear. She dug a small plastic bag out of her pocket and carefully placed the fur inside. They could use it to track the deer.

  With the fur collected, Shasta turned her attention back to the spear. Have you always been this size?

  No. I can be smaller and also large. With the words came images of it pulling energy from the ground as Gwen fed her power into it so the spear could grow quickly. The reverse process allowed the spear to drain excess energy and substance back into the earth.

  Thank you. While it was a fascinating application of elven abilities, the weapon itself was ordinary wood. Well, as ordinary as ironwood in the hands of an elf could be. Shasta returned it to Gwen.

  Cord finished his examination of Wyrran’s bow and arrows. Then he stood and smiled at the group. “Please excuse my partner and me for a moment.” The others politely agreed, and he tipped his head toward the door.

  Shasta walked outside with him trailing behind her. Elven hearing was good enough that they had to leave the building to have a private conversation. She stopped right outside the door. Cord kept walking. Wishing she knew what all this was about, Shasta followed him.

  Cord finally halted a solid twenty feet from the door. He frowned. “I think we’re going about this wrong. Until today, the deer were difficult to injure but could still be injured by anyone who put enough effort into it. Today, that changed. The spells on our swords were countering whatever made them invulnerable.”

  “I can put a light enchantment on a few things,” Shasta offered, even though she knew it wasn’t enough. They didn’t need a few more people who could kill the deer. They needed everyone to be armed and able to defend themselves, and they needed to come up with defenses for the town. Not to mention actually tracking down and killing the deer.

  Ultimately, the problem was she didn’t have enough magic. This was where being a half witch had some disadvantages. A witch like her mom would have been able to lay spells on everything and wake up tomorrow recharged and ready to do it again. That wasn’t how it worked for Shasta. Her recharge rate was lower, and she wasn’t as good with magic as most witches.

  “I’d rather you save your magic for town defenses. They’re more likely to keep groups safe.” Cord heaved a sigh.

  Shasta nodded. “I can do that. But if we can’t arm all of them, we need to go hunting.”

  “Defenses today and hunting tomorrow?”

  “Agreed.” Shasta turned back to the town hall. “What do we tell them?”

  “That we’re going to make the best defenses this town has ever seen and figure out a way to make magical weapons.”

  “I might be able to repurpose some of the charms in our supplies. That could give me enough power to enchant a few weapons.” It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.

  “Your mom might be able to send something to help, though I don’t know if it would get here in time.” Cord headed back to the town hall.

  “I’ll call her tonight.” As they walked back inside, Shasta hoped they would be able to do enough to help the elves.

  “Well?” Godric prompted.

  Shasta took a deep breath. “Based on the evidence, we believe the deer have a magical defense against most weapons. Cord and I were able to hurt them because our swords are magical.”

  Not a single person in the group looked encouraged by that news. Shasta didn’t blame them. Magical weapons weren’t common. Not only could they break in all the same ways as an ordinary weapon, but the magic could also fail. Plus, witches were notoriously selfish when it came to sharing their power.

  “We can use this information to construct town defenses that should help keep everyone safe from these types of attacks.” The absolute certainty in Cord’s voice had the elves sitting up a little taller. “If you have any defenses we can build off of, that would be helpful, as would any ideas of the best way to defend the town.”

  Pink spots stained Godric’s cheeks. “There aren’t any defenses. This has always been a peaceful village. We’ve never needed defenses. We aren’t organized to be defendable. Not with all of the farms and land that we’re spread across.”

  Shasta wished she was surprised by that, but the elven community she’d visited growing up had been much the same way. They lived in a stable and peaceful country and had no reason to construct defendable towns.

  “We understand the challenges,” Cord said softly. “We would like to protect Main Street. It’s been the focal point of most of the attacks, and it’s the busiest part of the community.”

  Gwen stepped forward. “What about those of us who live outside of town? My sisters and I live on our farm. If we don’t have effective weapons, how are we supposed to defend ourselves?”

  “We don’t have a good answer for that. I’m sorry.” Shasta met Gwen’s angry gaze with her resigned one. There was a limit to what she could do, and this was it. “Once we’ve set up defenses for the town, I’ll see how much magic I have left. I’ll do what I can to spell as many weapons as I can. Tomorrow, Cord and I will go hunting. We’ll keep hunting until we’ve neutralized the deer.”

  “How much magic do these weapons need to be effective?” Wyrran asked.

  “I don’t know. It’s something we might have learned from the buck if we’d been able to find it.” Shasta hated how that sounded out loud. It was embarrassing that the buck had vanished on them.

  “Forgive me.” Delilah filled the silence. “But what precisely do you know?”

  Shasta looked at Delilah for the first time since re-entering the building. The woman’s tone was sincere, her expression one of concern, but the words themselves sounded like an insult.

  “We know the deer changed,” Cord answered coolly. “We know we need to find the source and put a stop to it before these mutations spread.”

  “Of course.” Delilah flicked her fingers as if dismissing Cord’s answer. “But what do you know that can increase our safety?”

  Shasta bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from saying something cutting and rude.

  “We were hired to help. You don’t like our help, we can leave,” Cord said flatly.

  “I believe what my wife meant was, what type of defenses do you think would best suit Quercuston?” Godric smiled tightly.

  Shasta was sure Delilah hadn’t meant any such thing but played along to keep the peace. “There are only a few gaps between the buildings. Those and the ends of the streets can be defended with pikes set into the ground.”

  “They’ll have to be close together to keep the deer from squeezing in,” Areena said. “It’ll be difficult for us to get in and out.” She glanced at Wyrran, who nodded his agreement.

  “What if they were only there when needed?” Shasta asked.

  “That would be ideal,” Godric said.

  Areena nodded. “It would make our lives easier.”

  “I can make defenses like that, but someone will have to activate them.” It would be tricky, and more effort than simply fortifying Main Street, but she and Cord were more likely to get help building them if the residents thought it was a good solution.

  “We’ll set a guard,” Godric said. “What supplies do we need?”

  From there, it was simple. Not long after Gwen and Nissa agreed to help with construction, the meeting ended. Shasta, Cord, Gwen, and Nissa headed to the tree line to gather the wood.

  The entire time they were out, Shasta kept her shields open, trying to sense the deer. While she could detect a plethora of squirrels, rabbits, and birds, the deer were either far away or able to hide from her.