Free Sleeper Of The Wildwood Fugue (Book 7) by Charles E. Yallowitz Page A

a flicker of understanding in her violet eyes. “The curse might be focused on certain mental abilities that differentiate us from wild beasts. It’s possible that the griffin is immune if she’s in full control of the body. Can you give her instructions and open your sound sight to her while she becomes the primary, little brother? Her senses are a lot more acute than any of ours.”
    Luke relaxes and closes his eyes, letting his mind drift to the griffin’s consciousness. The elegant beast yawns and gives him the sense that she has been waiting for him to pay her some attention. He stands with his mouth moving, but no words come out. The internal conversation gets heated, causing the half-elf to stomp his foot and shake his finger in the air. When he turns his head toward the ground and growls, they can only assume that Stiletto has joined in the discussion.
    “That might take some time,” Delvin says, turning away from the bizarre display. He reaches out to touch the forest tracker, but pulls back when the half-elf tries to bite him with a mouth full of sharp teeth. “If Luke can give the griffin control then we can put all of our rope together for the other part of my plan. We bind ourselves together and trust the griffin and Fizzle to guide us. The hallucinations will cause trouble, but we won’t be able to wander off.”
    “That is very risky,” Timoran points out while checking the edge of his great axe. “Is it possible that there is a magic item in Rodillen that we can use?”
    “Are you actually pushing for the use of magic?” Nyx asks in surprise.
    “Magic will be involved no matter what, so I merely want a more solid plan.”
    Delvin shakes his head and puts his hands on the barbarian’s shoulders. He lets go as soon as he realizes how foolish he looks in front of the larger man. “I don’t think we have the time to hunt for something that might not exist. Besides, we’d have to deal with the thieves’ guild and that’s more trouble than it’s worth.”
    “I understand, but-” the powerful warrior argues. He stops talking and everyone follows his gaze to Luke. “That does not look good.”
    Where the half-elf once stood is a grotesque combination of fur, feathers, scales, metal, and limbs. They can only watch in horror as Luke struggles to sort all of the parts, his body becoming more deformed every second. Spurts of venom fly from his mouth where long fangs grow and pierce his lower lip. A pointed tail erupts from the middle of his back and splits into a golden fan that flaps like a useless wing. Unleashing an ungodly noise from his throat, the forest tracker pulls himself back into his true form.
    “What in Zaria’s name are you doing?” Nyx asks, carefully approaching her friend.
    “If I combine multiple spiritual auras into one being then I’ll be immune to the curse,” Luke gasps, wiping some remaining venom from his healed lips. “She said it’s called a chimera. It’s risky, but she thinks we can pull it off and confuse the curse. If it goes for the mind, it’ll be cast out by the other psyches before it can enthrall even one. The only problem is that two of the spirits are being difficult. The griffin and Stiletto aren’t getting along with them either. That’s saying a lot since those two are always arguing.”
    “You only have Stiletto and the griffin,” Sari says, pulling Nyx away in case Luke tries again. “Who or what are the other two?”
    “A snake fiend whose tail spike I have as a trophy and the Sword Dragon I bonded with once,” the half-elf casually replies. He avoids the worried stares aimed at him, focusing on the spirits churning within his body. “I promise that I have this under control. I’m not giving the Sword Dragon much of a foothold and the snake fiend isn’t smart enough to take over. They’re just being difficult. Trust me on this.”
    Delvin sighs and turns away, unwilling to watch the transformation. “You’re going to do this no