Stronger Together chapter 72 (Patreon)

If I'd expected a long drawn out preparation for us leaving for  Colorado, I'd have been disappointed. River and Harry had been on the  way to meet up with Listens-to-Wind before stopping over and we all had  to hurry and pack before leaving. Cinder, unfortunately, didn't really  have any things, her Aura changelings didn't take what they saw as her  abandoning their whole reason for living very well, and burned most of  her clothes. She said they probably would have attacked at the party if  they weren't so clearly outmatched.

With  Cinder needing to pick up new things though that meant only Kara, Barb  and I needed to pack. Kara took about two seconds to get everything  together. Barb always kept a go bag ready because of course she did, so  all that was left was me. Since as guy I packed like a wild animal that  only took a few minutes too so we were out the door and headed to the  meeting place within fifteen minutes tops. We would have been out sooner  but Barb and I wanted to say goodbye to Raven, Kara to Inari, and  Cinder to Sam though that last was more of a sisterly send off .

It  only took about twenty minutes to reach the rendezvous point. We took  separate cars and for the rest of my life seeing that giant Big Foot  fold himself into Harry's little bug with what had to be shapeshifting  will be one of my most cherished memories. Upon arriving in the park I  caught up to Harry to ask him about the trip "Hey, boss man, I take it  we're taking the ways to Colorado? I know they're a lot faster, though I  was looking forward to the road trip snacks." I actually also hadn't  been sure approaching the tribal lands from the reservation side would  be safe, but he was the expert.

His  chuckle was relaxed enough that I felt reassured and he didn't seem  tense at all when he answered "Sorry you'll have to miss out, but yeah  we're taking the ways. River has a lot of friends in Summer so we have  easy passage through their lands. It'll take the two day trip down to  two hours or so, which means we get back that much sooner, plus things  are getting bad there and we don't want to make them wait. Injun Joe is  coming to meet us here to escort us back and I suspect my own teacher is  going to be with him."

I  was pretty shocked to be about to meet the Blackstaff. I was guessing  that he hadn't vaporized Ortega yet, probably because he was busy with  all this nonsense, so I guessed Harry got this extra time with his  mentor before his image of his grandfather was shattered forever. I was  personally pretty excited to meet Ebenezar McCoy, and I wondered how he  would be around his grandsons apprentices. I expected he would tear a  strip out of Harry for how little we knew, but the rest was up in the  air. Luckily soulfire was pretty positive stuff so he probably wouldn't  assume we were evil or something.

As  we approached the heart of the park, a bit further into the trees I saw  two men and a woman standing there waiting for us. I had to force  myself to calm down, going from the descriptions in the books, this was  Listens-to-Wind, McCoy, and Martha Liberty. There were three senior  council level wizards waiting for us in the middle of the woods. McCoy, a  short, stocky older man with a bald pate up top and a massive white  beard, stepped forward "Hell's bells hoss, you certainly your time  getting here, leaving an old man standing in the woods waitin' for all  you young 'uns just ain't right."

Listens-to-wind  snorted and waved his hand "Leave the boy alone. A bit of nature never  hurt anyone. It is good to see you again Hoss Dresden, and you of course  tanka, we appreciate your help in this. Who are your young  friends? I was not aware we were bringing others with us, and this  particular creature is quite dangerous. Bringing your young ones with us  may put them in grave danger." The old white haired medicine man spoke  slowly and without urgency, but his kind, weathered face was creased  with concern. His dark eyes showed with an obvious concern that made me  like him even more than I was already predisposed to.

River  Shoulders shook his head. "They are needed for this. Mister Dresden's  apprentices and the two other girls are both important to the happenings  in Colorado. It is best not to speak of such things out in the open  however, I ask for your trust in this Joseph. I will do my best to  protect them should they face danger beyond their capabilities, though I  suspect that may be less likely than you might expect." I saw Kara and  Barb glow with pride as the powerful Sasquatch expressed his confidence  in them.

McCoy  looked ready to argue but a look from Listens-to-Wind quelled him and  he just gave a grudging nod. Liberty simply said nothing, looking on  impassively as Listens-to-Wind turned to us. "It is nice to meet all of  you. I am Joseph Listens-to-Wind. The dumb redneck in the overalls calls  me Injun Joe, if that is your preference you may do the same. This is  Martha Liberty, a Senior Council member of the White Council and long  time friend, and I believe you've noticed Ebenezar McCoy, your own  mentor's teacher and a powerful skilled wizard. "

He  nodded at each of them in turn, getting a grunt from McCoy and a  subdued smile from Liberty, before continuing "We will be reaching the  tribal lands through the nevernever, that side of the veil is guarded by  the Canotila. The tree dwarves are old and clever, and even the  creature would not lightly cross into their territory. My people had  some dealings with them through the Lakota and the tanka is  known to them so we can cross unmolested. We have a bit of a walk to get  to that part of the ways but it's through friendly terrain, this will  be much more relaxing than our journey here, without the tanka we had to take the long way."

He  made a lazy swiping gesture with his staff and muttered a word and the  world sort of swirled around us, rather than cut the fabric of reality  Listens-to-Wind somehow spun it like a revolving door, and between one  breath and the next we were standing in a much different clearing.  Shimmering golden sun dappled the emerald green foliage and small  creatures scurried through the underbrush. It was...idyllic. I was in  awe of the natural beauty of the place, or unnatural beauty I supposed.  Cinder looked calm as ever but Barb and Kara were gazing in wonder at  the scene around us.

Listens-to-Wind  smiled softly at our expressions. "Yes, it is quite lovely. The lands  of Summer are a wonderful place for those who tread them with proper  invitation." He expression grew wry "I assure you, you would find an  unwelcome attempt to pass through these lands to be much less  enjoyable." His face melted back into a kind smile, and it looked right,  as if that was the expression he most often wore. "Now, I introduced  all of our group, Hoss Dresden, perhaps you might introduce us to our  new guests. If we're to be working together knowing their names may be  to our benefit."He set off in what looked to me like a random direction  and the rest of us followed behind, trusting the man to know his way.

My  embarrassment was clearly shared by the others as I realized I'd been  too distracted to return his introduction. Harry cleared his throat  sheepishly. "Sorry, about that, of course. I have the great pleasure of  introducing you all to Barbara Gordon and Cameron Beddows, my recent  apprentices, two of three in fact, though Yang had to stay behind. These  two are Kara Kent, foster daughter of Michael Carpenter, a knight of  the cross, and Cinder Fall, a...friend of Cameron's." Harry had been the  hardest sell on Cinder switching sides, but since I was blaming the  mantle of the Fall maiden and Cinder had wanted that, plus it wasn't  mortal power, he grudgingly let it go since she was less of a danger  this way.

McCoy  surprised me by stepping up to be the first to greet us. Giving Barb  and I a long look "If he doesn't teach you right, you come tell me and  I'll tan his hide you hear?" The old man's eyes were as kind as  Listens-to-Wind when he spoke to us, and his Arkansas drawl was relaxed  and soft. I could practically see the pride coming off the man, knowing  his grandson was teaching students of his own. He turned his eyes to  Cinder and Kara "And welcome to the both of you, any friends of my  grand-apprentices are welcome." He gave Kara a respectful nod " I've  never met Michael Carpenter but I know the knights by reputation, good  men, and it speaks well of you that he would take you in."

Martha  Liberty snorted "Ignore the old man, children. He'll judge you at your  own merits, despite what he says out of politeness, though he means some  of it. As Joseph said I'm Martha Liberty. You can call me Martha if  you'd like, you aren't council yet and this isn't a formal trip. It's  lovely to meet all of you. You all seem very cool under pressure and I'm  sure you'll be an asset on our mission. We haven't been gone long, but  last we saw the genius loci has been managing to slip out of the traps  the creature keeps laying. Trapping one is normally difficult and this  one seems to be far from normal. You'll see more of that when we arrive,  it's...hard to explain."

Listens-to-Wind  stopped suddenly, expression growing cold. "We can tell them of the  changes to the plant life later. This is the Canotila's territory. We've  been walking in their woods for a minute or two now and I don't sense  them anywhere. Tanka can you feel the tree dwarves here? We  have passage but they aren't ones to let someone pass without taking  their measure in person." His voice was still slow, but the relaxation  was gone, in it's place was a flat tension that spoke of restrained  violence and years of experience with danger. Listens-to-Wind thought we  were going to fight.

I  drew my aspect around me, slowing the world just a bit, not enough to  be noticeable, but enough to give me a slight edge and time to pull on  the power fully if necessary. It was easier to tap into it when I was  already cloaked than spin it up from zero mid battle. I saw Cinder's  right eye flicker with a weak flame that was barely visible in the sun  and Barb's normal Aura shield flickered into life. I expected the older  magic users to be unsettled or suspicious but they just brushed it off, I  wasn't sure if it was the danger or they just didn't care about  anything that wasn't black magic but I was relieved to have bypassed the  issue.

As we  came to another clearing I had to choke back a gasp, and I heard Kara  make a strangled choking sound of outrage and revulsion. On the ground  in front of us were dozens of lines of meat and blood and flesh and  viscera. Something had pulled the creatures apart, using their flesh to  write in large flowing letters  Only the first.  It had left the faces in the space between the letters, the expressions  of horror still written plainly across the features. Listens-to-Wind  made a pained sound and closed his eyes as River Shoulders reached out  to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. The growl in the Big Foot's  voice was unmistakable "It should not have been able to come here and do  this. It appears to be getting stronger."