A Home Like Ours by Fiona Lowe (feel good books .txt) 📕

part of the energy seeping into my body? Am I somehow healing myself without knowing it? I will need to ask Bridget about that.

We follow whatever trail that Leeha had found for a good hour, none of us talking the way we normally would. Leeha has come a long way in her understanding of English, since all we have been doing all week when running or walking has been practicing. But now we are quiet, so as not to give ourselves away.

Without any warning, a wall of Air comes up in front of Leeha, making her stop short. But it’s the arrow that the wall stops, that truly bothers Leeha.

Out of the woods comes a man in a robe, and next to him is the archer who had shot the arrow. The man is tall and human, and he is in one of those fucking robes, a green one. Earth mage. The mage is bald, with a clean-shaven face, and he doesn’t have eyebrows. What the fuck?

He suddenly rubs a finger on the spot where an eyebrow would be and says in a nasally voice, “I thought we had gotten all the Elves, though, she must be yours. Too bad for you. We lost some Elves and we need to fill our quota, so we will take that one from you,” he says pointing to Leeha. “She seems young; she will do well to work in the mines.” Weirdly enough, as he speaks he proceeds to do the same eyebrow thing with his finger on the other side. Fucking hell, he must have rubbed them off doing that all the time.

“I’m sorry, did you say you would be taking my Elf?” I ask him through gritted teeth.

“Of course. You don’t seem to be wearing a robe, so you aren’t a mage,” he says with a grin. “So it should be fine, right?”

“Bridget, Sleeping Arrow the archer.”

Suddenly a purple streak goes past my ear right for the archer, and before he has a chance to dodge it, he gets an arrow in the chest. He looks down at it stupidly before crumpling to the ground, asleep.

“Bridget, Stun Arrow,” I tell her. And as quick as I think it, another purple arrow zips past me and hits the Water mage in the chest. The mage gets a stunned look on his face and doesn’t move, since I, well, just stunned him. I wasn’t sure about that spell, but I wanted this one awake. Glad it worked.

“Is there a way to stop him from using his magic?” I ask Leeha quickly.

“Yes, you can bind his hands together so that the Elemental can’t come into his palm, and you can also gag him.

“Bridget, Earth. Use vines to tie his hands and put a wooden gag in his mouth.”

“Yes, Alex,” she says gleefully. As we watch, vines grow quickly out of the ground at the Water mage’s feet then run up his leg and yank his arms together, palm to palm. Then another vine goes up, lashes across his mouth, and then turns into a stick, with more vines sealing his mouth shut.

“Just in case, ground him so he cannot move,” I tell her.

As soon as I say it, the mage’s feet sink into the ground. Just in time, too, as the stun wears off of him. He brings his hand up, I am sure to try to cast a spell, but then he notices they are tied together. He turns to try to run, but then he realizes he can’t. He looks down at his legs and then looks up at me quickly, and there is fear in his eyes now.

“Oh, you fucked with the wrong person today,” I tell him with a growl.

Chapter Thirty-Three

The Water mage is struggling now, trying to break out of the vines that are binding his hands together, and vainly trying to pull the wooden gag out of his mouth.

I walk up to stand in front of him and he stops struggling and looks at me with terror in his eyes. Good, be scared you fucking shit, because it’s about to get scarier.

“Now, I am going to take that gag out but first, I want you to understand something. If you utter a spell or try anything, you’re dead. Do I make myself clear?” I growl at him.

He nods quickly but I don’t trust him, so let’s make sure he does what I tell him. “Fire. Fire Arrow.” I repeat it six times until around us are thirty-six flaming, burning Fire Arrows, and every single one of them is aimed at him.

You have used the spell Fire Arrow. You have used 10 points of power.

You have used the spell Fire Arrow. You have used 10 points of power.

You have used the spell Fire Arrow. You have used 10 points of power.

You have used the spell Fire Arrow. You have used 10 points of power.

You have used the spell Fire Arrow. You have used 10 points of power.

You have used the spell Fire Arrow. You have used 10 points of power.

I didn’t think it was possible, but the Water mage’s eyes get even wider. “Remove the gag,” I say in English, so Bridget knows I am talking to her.

The vines at the back of the Water mage’s head loosen, and the stick falls out of his mouth and to the ground. He slowly licks his lips, looking around desperately. For what, I have no clue.

“You can cast more than one type of Elemental Magic?” he asks me quickly.

“Sorry,” I tell him with a smile, “but I am the one who will be asking the questions. Let’s start with who are you?”

“No! you need—” he starts, but suddenly all the arrows move closer, and he closes his mouth quickly, looking at them worriedly.

“No, I think you misunderstood me. I wasn’t asking you for permission. Open your mouth for anything other than what I ask, and one arrow goes into your leg. Understand?”

“But you can cast—,” suddenly his questions cut off