He was stationed on the sofa with his duraga, plucking along to half-mumbled lyrics throughout the days. Violet was usually off working; Eva stayed at home alternating between tidying up and reading a book while her sons were at school; and Kali sat on the floor, leaning her back against the sofa, listening to Puk play.
“I know it’s long overdue,” he started, “but I took your advice.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yep. I came up with a metaphor for myself to go with ‘the flower.’ You ready for this? ‘The frog.’”
“How creative!” she giggled.
“Hey, it’s apt,” he said. “I’ve been reworkin’ the song, too. Wanna hear?”
Kali nodded wordlessly.
Puk began to play, strumming mostly the same chords as the last time, though some had been changed and refined. In between some plucks he smacked his hand on the duraga’s face like a drum beat.
“For days they searched, each night a hopeless slog
Years and dreams long lost, the Ribroad pierced the sky
Each night of his far gone with spit and song
And hers far trod along the path well-plod
Their paths converged, the flower and the frog.
He stumbled through the streets, seeing no one, like a ghost town
His vision blurred, steps uneven, one then two into a swerve
Pockets hollow as he fell, the same inside, an empty shell
In his eyes, there spoke a ghost who said he’s right
That it was true, he was accursed.”
Puk abruptly stopped strumming, stopped beating the makeshift drum, and blurted out, “That’s all I’ve got.”
“You wrote one more half-verse than last time.”
“And I revised all the rest! I’m makin’ progress over here!”
Kali chuckled. “It’s good!” she said. “Kinda sad, though. Is that verse true? Did you really think you were ‘cursed’ or something?”
Puk shrugged. “I mean, I’m exaggerating for some dramatic effect,” he said, “but maybe it’s true to an extent. I dunno.” Speaking on his feelings was awkward. Even with Kali. Though there was no one else in the world he would feel more comfortable opening up to. He said, “I guess I just forgot for a long time that I was worthwhile. That the things I can do are worthwhile.”
He didn’t dare glance at Kali as he said this. It was too uncomfortable, opening himself up so unabashedly.
“Well,” she said, “I’m glad you remembered.”
Puk curved his stalks to look at her. She was leaning back on the plush lavender, her red hair spilling over the cushion, her eyes closed and facing toward the ceiling. He smiled at her.
- -
It was great seeing Puk finally up and about. Another small victory to add to the list. Unfortunately, it seemed their list of victories was much shorter than the list of screw-ups, but at least it wasn’t utterly empty.
Later that night, while Eva and Violet were busy cooking dinner for everybody, Puk asked her how it had felt to burn the book.
“I didn’t,” she replied, surprised it had taken him this long to ask about Malum. She hadn’t wanted to broach the subject before he was ready, before he’d recovered his strength. She scooted away to retrieve her knapsack and returned a minute later, showing him the untarnished book.
“Why the fuck not?” he hissed, keeping his voice low so as to not invite the women’s wrath. “That was the plan. Let’s light a fire and get rid of that thing once and for all. Go throw it in the stew, for all I care!”
“Well,” she started, “I had a thought about that…”
“Ah,” Puk nodded. “You’ve been enticed by the idea of limitless power. I get it, it’s fine. Won’t hold it against you. When you become a malevolent overlord and commit a qarmish genocide, are you gonna let me live?”
“No,” Kali laughed.
“Harsh.”
“I mean no, no enticement. I think we should bring it to the Repository.”
She had the idea when she was walking around Restick before encountering Zara, and had been considering it ever since. She had devised a way to tell Puk about it while counting up the crescents they’d gotten from Haratti, splitting it into two piles for herself and the qarm.
Kali wanted to make up for the wrongs she had committed in pursuit of her own selfish gain. While thinking up ways in which to do that, she had recalled what Lissia told her when visiting the Repository; about how closely guarded the centript scholars kept the knowledge within, and how they tirelessly worked studying texts from all over the world, countless years old, concocting methods in which to improve society, both magically or otherwise.
It was possible the scholars at the Repository could study Malum and formulate ways in which some of its magic could be beneficial to the world. The book would be confined to the centripts, who would not be tempted to indulge in the darkest aspects of the tome, given that they were unable to cast magic anyway. And if nothing came of their studies, or if the magic was deemed too dangerous to work with in any capacity, they could simply destroy the book like Kali and Puk had planned to in the first place.
As Kali explained her thought process to Puk, he stared at her on the couch, slack-jawed.
“We went through all that trouble—I got turned into a slug and got a hole in my hand, and we had to steal the book twice—and you just wanna turn around and give it away again? Keep it in the world?”
“Well, yeah,” she nodded. “Something positive might come from all this. Wouldn’t that be nice? For people besides us to benefit from all this nasty business we’ve endured?”
“‘People’ didn’t endure that shit. We did! Why not just us benefit?” Kali was about to protest, but Puk spoke first. “Look, I ain’t gonna lie and say I totally get it, but I’m behind you on it. If that’s what you feel is best, then I trust you. Let’s do it.”
“Really?”
“Really. When have you ever let me down?”
“Oh, probably never,” she grinned.
It was a relief that Puk was on board with her idea. She was thrilled by what they had accomplished, and excited for what they were still to do. Maybe it wasn’t quite the same as studying for years and years like her sister, but it was something, and she was proud of it.
She couldn’t wait to deliver the book and finally set foot on the shores of Atlua.
“But how far is the Repository?” Puk asked. “I ain’t tryin’ to go on another grand adventure so soon,” he grumbled.
“It’s not close,” Kali laughed.
“Well, at least we’ve got Bella, I guess. Unless you’re still plannin’ on setting her free and buying that dumb ayote back home or whatever you said before.”
Kali shook her head. “Nah. Bella’s staying with us.”
She had grown awfully attached to the spunky animal over the course of their journey.
“But we’ve gotta go to Seroo’s Eye first, anyway. We can relax at the inn for a while. I’m more than ready to get to Atlua, but I sure could use a week in bed too.” To her surprise, the idea of taking a break did not consume her with guilt like it usually did.
“A week of bed and free food sounds perfect to me,” said Puk.
“Who said anything about ‘free’ for you?” Kali teased him.
“You and I are a team!” Puk objected. “A package deal!”
“Nah,” Kali said, tossing him a pouch filled with his share of the job’s profits. “I know you’ve got the money for it.”
- -
A few days later, Puk was feeling well enough to travel, although he was severely not looking forward to it.
Kali had told him she’d secured voyage on a ship bound for Atlua in a few weeks, after their jaunt to the Repository, but that he’d have to work onboard during the trip.
“Can’t I just pay more and do nothing?” he complained. “I just want to lay down. For the love of all things Waranexian, please just let me lay down.”
“You’ve been
laying down for almost a week straight. You were asleep for, like, two days.”
“And yet I crave more.”
They said goodbye to their gracious hosts (with Puk being sure to profusely thank Eva again for not letting him die on the street), then headed to the Restick stables to pay for and retrieve Bella.
Puk uselessly stood by and watched Kali saddle up the ayote and attach all their belongings to her. With Bella’s outrageous speed, the Ribroad would take them practically no time to traverse. It might be his last ride with the trusty ayote. He would miss her.
That realization struck him. He really liked this ayote.
Maybe they ain’t all the same.
“You ready to go?” Kali asked, tightening the strap on her knapsack that held Malum. It would be a terrible irony if, after all this time, the bag slipped and was swallowed by the desert for any chump to stumble upon.
Puk nodded, standing up on the tips of his toes to scratch Bella behind her ear.
The shade of the Ribroad was a welcome reprieve from the open-air desert travel they had undertaken on their journey to and from Pontequest. Puk felt a pang of sympathy for the miserable people stuck there, brainwashed by Kleus into keeping themselves in and keeping newcomers out. Being stuck in that wretched town was a fate worse than being transformed into a sapient slug.
“We should tell someone in the Repository about Pontequest, right?” he said. “So that maybe someone can be sent there to, I dunno, knock everyone’s brains loose? Get ’em out from under Kleus’s thrall?”
“That’s…a very good idea, actually,” said Kali. “I’m embarrassed that it did not occur to me. I bet the scholars there would be thrilled to learn that the town still actually exists, too.”
Puk was pleased with himself. They rode on down the Ribroad, with Bella moving at a nice clip but not fast enough to send him flying like usual. Her gait was calm enough to maintain conversation at a reasonable, respectable volume, for which he was grateful.
“You’re gonna be doin’ a lot of traveling once you’re over in Atlua, aren’t you?” Puk asked. His arms were wrapped tight around Kali’s waist to keep him on the ayote’s back. He bounced up and down with each of the animal’s bounds. Even with her slower pace, he was a small creature, and he was worried about falling.
Kali nodded. “Yeah, of course,” she said. “I’m gonna try to see everything I can. Take in all the beautiful sights, the different cultures, the tasty foods…the best part is that it’ll not only be fun, but also really good for my work. I think this is gonna finally help my business take off, if I can start importing and exporting some goods exclusive to each country. I’m sure I can learn a lot from Zara and her shipmates.” She then added, “I need to find some noxspring, too. Bryieshk will want me to cut him a good deal. And maybe I can cut Vonoshreb a bad one.”
Puk didn’t have the faintest clue who Bryieshk or Vonoshreb were, but the scenario Kali had just painted in his head sounded marvelous.
“You don’t think you’d…”
He felt nervous asking. He didn’t know why; he was perfectly comfortable around Kali at this point. But still, he didn’t know how she’d react to his question.
He started again, “Once we’re over there, you don’t think you’d maybe need some help, do you?”
“Help?”
“Sure. With, like, carrying shit or haggling with stubborn idiots or whatever. If you think you’d need some help, I, uh…”
“I don’t need help,” Kali answered succinctly.
“Oh,” Puk whispered. “Alright.”
It made total sense. Kali was fully capable of operating her business on her own. On this adventure of theirs she had repeatedly proven how capable she was, how well she could handle herself. And regardless of all that, she had been a merchant for a while now; she was only looking to expand outward. She already knew how to barter, how best to transport goods, how to—
“You can come along if you want, though,” she said, knocking him from his daze.
He blinked, curving his stalks up to look at her. She was peering down over her shoulder at him, grinning.
“You don’t wanna work for me. I know you don’t,” she said.
“You’re right,” Puk confessed, laughing. “Bein’ a merchant sounds shitty. No offense.”
“A little taken. But I’d be glad to have your company, if you feel like tagging along.”
It sounded nice. There was no denying that.
“I’ve been thinking about maybe starting to write some more,” he told her. “Now that I’ve got my own duraga, and all. There’ll be plenty of bars and inns on the road looking for some nightly musicians to play, I would think.”
“Undoubtedly,” Kali said. “I think that sounds like a great idea.”
Puk nodded. “Maybe we can make that work,” he said. “Travelin’ the roads together, you sellin’ shit to people while I sing ’em songs. The flower and the frog, on the road together again!”
Kali laughed merrily at the moniker. Puk knew she would love the cheesiness of it, and he joined in her laughter.
“Back on the road,” she said. “But before that, a week in bed.”
“Hell, let’s shoot for the stars. Make it two.”
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the book. It’s tremendously helpful for indie authors when people leave reviews, so if you had the time, I would truly appreciate it!
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also by travis m. riddle
Ustlian Tales
Balam, Spring
Standalones
The Narrows
Wondrous
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First, I’d like to say a long overdue thank you to my stalwart beta reading team who have been with me since the first book; without Jenna Jaco, Tyler Gruenzner, and Emily Cummings, none of these books would be what they are today. As well as Dave Woolliscroft, Steven McKinnon, Cat Skinner, and John Bierce for providing their feedback and insight into how to make Puk and Kali’s adventure the best it could be. Of course I’d be remiss not thanking Tim Simmons, Barry Riveroll, and Dean Thomasson for their input on previous books. How have I not done acknowledgments before? What is wrong with me?
A special thank you as well to the bloggers who have helped champion my work and have brightened my days on more than one occasion: Calvin Park from Fantasy Book Review, Ella from The Story Collector, Jordan from Forever Lost in Literature, and the countless other kind souls who have spread the word and left reviews on their blogs or r/fantasy, my favorite place to hang out.
One of the best aspects of joining the indie writing community has been getting the opportunity to become acquainted with so many great, friendly authors. People like Jon Auerbach, John Bierce, Angela Boord, Josh Erikson, Barbara Kloss, Devin Madson, Steven McKinnon, Richard Nell, Kayleigh Nicol, Carol A. Park, Clayton Snyder, Aidan Walsh, Phil Williams, and Dave Woolliscroft. Thank you all for your endless advice and support and for being great people to vent with when this whole venture gets to me, as I’m sure it does every author.
And finally, thank you to everyone who has bought this book and any book in the past. I’m thankful for the opportunity to share these stories with you, and grateful every time you leave a review, tell a friend about the book, or gift a copy to someone in your family. Your support and encouragement mean the world to me, and I hope I can continue sharing these weird stories with you for as long as possible.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TRAVIS M. RIDDLE lives with his pooch in Austin, TX, where he studied Creative Writing at St. Edward’s University. His work has been published in award-winning literary journal the Sorin Oak Review. He can be found online at www.travismriddle.com or on twitter @traviswanteat.
Table of Contents
The New Usual
Buy-In
Swallowed by the Sands
Sweet Sheri
Pay-Out
Warmth
A Trade
The Egg Heist
Surely an Extremely Bad Idea
A Lie Somehow
Outside Hire
Civilized Discussion
In a Loop
Juice First
Hum
Seeing Things
A Plan of Sorts
Flicks of the Wrist
One Step Too Far
Meetings
Harmless
The Flower and the Frog
Spit and Song (Ustlian Tales Book 2) Page 44