by Narro, B. T.
“I must.” Zoke sounded apologetic. “There’s much the Krepps need to do, and I wish to help them.”
“These Krepps in Merejic,” Effie asked. “Did any of them fight against us?”
“No,” Zoke said. “They abandoned the army at the risk of death.”
“What’ll the Krepps do who stayed with Doe but didn’t come fight?” Steffen asked.
“I don’t know,” Zoke said. “Probably split into tribes like they were before Doe and Haemon.” He turned to face Vithos. “Are you sure you don’t wish to come? I’ll be very sad to leave without you.”
“I very sad also,” Vithos said. “But I stay with Reela. She my blood.”
“I understand,” Zoke said.
Chapter 43:
STEFFEN
Steffen was just finishing mixing a potion when Cleve came into his room.
“Can I talk to you?” Cleve asked.
“Of course.” Steffen carefully set down the vial. The wound on his leg stung, but it could’ve been much worse. The arrow hadn’t been fired hard enough to go deep into him. “Cleve Polken, Beast Slayer,” Steffen said with a grin.
Cleve smiled. “Steffen Duroby, Beast Slayer.”
“What do you want to talk about?” Steffen asked.
“Do you remember me asking you about a plant that absorbs Sartious Energy and you told me of the evesal vine?”
“Yes.”
“Now that we have permission to visit our families, I was hoping you could go with me to the Slugari colony. I’ve already told Terren, and he’s allowed it.”
Steffen was going to visit Gabby and his mother after breakfast. He knew Effie and Reela were walking to Oakshen as well.
“You can go on your own, can’t you?”
“Oh,” Cleve said, looking down. “I can, but I don’t know their language, and I’m not familiar with plants like you are. I was hoping you would go with me.”
“I want to go. I doubt the evesal vine grew out of the seed Marratrice brought, but there’s still that little bit of hope I can’t ignore. How about we do it tomorrow?” Steffen asked. “I was going to go to Oakshen with Effie and Reela.”
“Go ahead,” Cleve said. “Unfortunately, I need to go today.”
“Why today?” Steffen asked.
“I’m…” Cleve fell silent. “I’m leaving tomorrow.”
Steffen laughed, figuring Cleve was accidentally misleading him. “It sounds like you’re about to tell me you’re leaving Kyrro.”
“I am.”
“What? To go where?”
“Goldram,” Cleve replied softly.
“But that’s across the ocean!” Steffen nearly shouted.
Cleve nodded.
“Does Reela know?”
“She does,” he said even more quietly. “We talked about it at great length.”
Steffen took in a long breath. “You were just in Goldram.”
“Yes, and I need to go back. There’s still war there. I need to stop it from coming here.”
Steffen could feel guilt beginning to change his mind. Gabby and his mother could wait one more day. Cleve was leaving everything behind that he’d just fought for, not giving himself more than a few days to even enjoy it before rushing off to battle again. The least Steffen could do was accompany him to the Slugari colony.
“I’ll come with you,” Steffen said.
“Thank you. I truly appreciate it.”
“Is Reela awake?” Steffen asked, grabbing the potion from his desk.
“Maybe…” Cleve said hesitantly, examining the potion in Steffen’s hand. “Why?”
“I would like to give this to her before we leave.”
“I don’t think she’ll want that,” Cleve said, his eyes squinting as he shook his head.
“You don’t even know what it is.”
“I know it’s a potion you made. And I’ve heard the stories from Effie.”
“Damn Effie,” Steffen said. “Well, at least let Reela decide on her own.”
Cleve grumbled and then knocked on his bedroom door. “Reela, can you come out here?”
She stumbled out rubbing an eye. “Yes?”
Steffen showed her the potion. “Jack Rose and I have been working on this ever since you came back from Tenred with that scar.” Steffen pointed at her cheek. She turned away and grimaced, making him realize there was no need to point. But he found solace knowing he was going to make it better soon. “We wanted a potion that could restore burned and otherwise marred flesh. With everything else going on, we couldn’t spend as much time on it until recently.”
Steffen was interrupted by the front door opening and Effie and Alex coming through.
“What’s this?” Effie asked.
“Steffen’s trying to experiment on me,” Reela said.
“Don’t take that!” Effie exclaimed.
“None of you even know what’s in it,” Steffen complained.
“Alright,” Alex said. “So what’s in it?”
Steffen could feel himself making a sour face as he realized the answer would only hurt his argument, especially with Effie in the room.
“A mixture of caregelow and—”
“Don’t take that!” Effie screamed again and pointed. “And it’s so thick, it doesn’t even look drinkable. Trust me, Reela. You don’t want to go through what I did.”
“She doesn’t drink it,” Steffen said. “She applies it to the area.”
“Hold on a moment,” Alex said, stroking his chin. “What’s it supposed to do? Maybe Reela will want to take it.”
“I don’t think she should,” Cleve said. “Don’t you remember what Steffen did to those rats?”
Reela began to laugh. “Bastial hell, I can think for myself. Steffen, what potentially dangerous concoction have you come up with?”
“It wasn’t just me. The master chemist, Jack Rose, has been working with me this whole time.”
“But am I the first test subject?” Reela asked.
“No.”
“Besides a rat?”
Steffen sighed. “Yes. But it’s not going to hurt you!”
“No, Reela, you’ll be hurting yourself when the caregelow starts affecting you,” Effie said. “Steffen, you really think she would take that before going to Oakshen to visit our families? It’s a terrible idea.”
“There’s hardly any caregelow in it. She won’t feel anything.”
“I can tell you’re not certain about that,” Reela said.
“I strongly believe you won’t feel anything!” Steffen corrected himself. “Don’t you want to know what it does?”
“You basically told me already,” Reela replied. “You think it might heal my scar.”
“Yes,” Steffen said. “I thought you hated it.”
Reela grazed her fingers along her cheek. “I do, and it still hurts.”
“One potion isn’t going to fix it. But if you use it every day, Jack and I believe your skin will be completely restored in less than a week. You should see great progress by each evening if you take it in the morning.” Steffen held it out to her. “Rub it on your scar. Use all of it.”
Cleve pushed it away from Reela. “You don’t have to do this,” he told her.
“I know,” she said. “But I want to.” She took it from Steffen’s hand and turned the vial over to let the thick, silver liquid run out onto her palm. Then she used the other to dab it and rub it along her cheek and neck as she grimaced.
“You’ll be happy you did,” Steffen said. “I’ll make enough for a week by the end of the day. Now who hasn’t eaten breakfast yet?”
Alex and Reela raised their hands.
“Will you be leading us to the dining hall, Beast Slayer?” Reela teased.
“I will, if you’ll follow.” Steffen went along with the joke by speaking with facetious bravery.
“I will,” Reela and Alex both replied, smiling.
Someone knocked just before they left. Steffen opened the door to find Zoke with Zeti. Each was wearin
g a backpack. Zeti’s bow was around one shoulder. Zoke had his sword on his belt.
“I wanted to say goodbye,” Zoke said. “Zeti and I are leaving now.”
“I’m going to hug you,” Reela warned him.
“I had a feeling when I came here that might happen.” He reluctantly opened his arms, and they embraced each other.
Steffen was next. “I want to visit Merejic when I can,” he said. “You’ll make sure I’m not killed when I get there, right?”
“Yes, but bring your weapons just in case,” Zoke said.
Then Alex shook hands with Zoke. “I don’t know what to say,” Alex said. “We’ve fought well together. Is there something we can say to each other in Kreppen that would be appropriate for what I’m feeling?”
“There is something,” Zoke said. “Leka kylo lu rah.”
“What does it mean?” Alex asked.
“Basically that the way you act is an example others should follow. It’s a common phrase.”
Alex repeated the line. “Leka kylo lu rah.”
Cleve shook Zoke’s hand when Alex was done and repeated the same thing. “Leka kylo lu rah.”
Zoke said it back to him with a smile.
Effie hugged him, her arms barely getting around his shoulders. “We’re going to miss you, Zoke. Everyone would’ve thought differently of Krepps if it weren’t for you. You’ve changed our lives for the better.”
“I’m humbled by what you say. I’ve learned much from you Humans as well. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye,” Effie said.
They watched as Zoke and Zeti turned and walked away.
“Come on.” Reela said. “I’m sure Vithos is sad and needs some company. He can join us for breakfast. Effie and Cleve, come with us.”
“But we already ate,” Effie said.
“So you can sit and play with your fingers. I know you want to come.”
She smiled. “I do.”
After breakfast, Steffen and Cleve walked to the north gate while their friends headed south to Oakshen. The guards were expecting them, and soon they were making their way toward one of the—now many—entrances to the Slugari colony. The Dajrik had come through this one, retreating back into it when he’d taken too many arrows. Steffen’s next breath felt constricted as he realized he didn’t know whether the Dajrik had survived after making it back.
There was a thin stretch of Raywhite Forest behind the Academy to the west. The entrance to the Slugari colony was in the middle of it, surrounded by trees. It was nothing more than a gaping hole in the side of a hill, transcending deep underground. Two guards were there, seated on rocks. They stood at the sight of Cleve and Steffen.
“We wish to visit the Slugari,” Cleve said.
“You two are from the Academy, aren’t you?” one man said.
“We are,” Cleve replied.
“Then go right ahead.”
The tunnel was so wide and straight that sunlight reached its base, where the glow of caregelows took over.
Slugari were wiggling everywhere, but many stopped what they were doing to come over and greet Steffen and Cleve by running a warm claw along their arms.
Steffen asked one of them in Slugaren if they knew of the evesal vine. The little Slugari’s black eyes doubled in size. He told Steffen that he must try the fruit. Then he grabbed Steffen’s hand and started wiggling deeper into the cavern.
“Bastial hell, it really exists,” Steffen told Cleve.
As Cleve gawked in every direction while they followed the Slugari, it came to Steffen that Cleve hadn’t been in the colony before. It was strange to think about, as Cleve had always been close to his thoughts. He was going to be sad to see him go once again, this time maybe for good.
They’d had such a good time at breakfast, Steffen hadn’t wanted to bring it up. Though he was extremely curious what Reela had to say about it.
He wanted to yell at Cleve, but the man’s reasons were too noble to be upset with him. He was leaving to stop war from coming to Ovira. And Steffen hadn’t forgotten about Cleve’s friend with nightmares. It was the only reason for Cleve’s interest in coming down here.
The Slugari led them through the twists of the wide cavern, bringing them deeper and deeper within.
“Steffen?” he heard a female Slugari call.
Turning, he saw it was Queen. She told the other Slugari that he could get back to work and she would take over.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. “We’re not leaving for another five days.”
“Leaving?” Steffen inquired. “Where are you going?”
Her eyes shrank. “Terren hasn’t made the announcement yet?”
“About what?” Steffen asked.
“Sumar,” Queen replied. “We told him yesterday about it.”
“What about it, if I may ask?” Cleve said.
“Queen, this is Cleve Polken, Terren’s nephew.”
“What a pleasure to meet you.” She grazed her claw along his arm.
“Do I bow?” Cleve asked.
“Just your smile is fine.”
Cleve tried to smile, but he looked more like he was relieving gas.
“You should work on that,” Queen advised him. “Before the battle we found an underground path between the deep mountains of Sumar. We dug for miles, and the stone does end eventually. We found a way up, though we haven’t been above ground yet. We were going to flee to Sumar if the battle was lost, so we didn’t want to tell any Humans because the Krepps might’ve gotten that information from you. But now that we’ve won, we told Terren, and he told your king. They want to send a group with us to explore Sumar above ground. When I saw you, Steffen, I figured you were early and the rest of your group was somewhere nearby. But I see now that you must be here for a different reason.”
“Yes, but I would like to explore Sumar. No one has found a way through the mountains yet. This is very exciting. When did you say you were leaving?”
“Terren is the one who wanted to wait. He scheduled the exploration group to get here five days from now. I’m happy you wish to come.”
“I look forward to it.” Steffen smiled and nodded. “Cleve and I have come to see the evesal vine and if possible to take some of its seeds with us.”
“Of course. I’m surprised it’s taken this long for anyone to come get its seeds…unless Marratrice just now told you about it?”
Steffen didn’t reply, not knowing how to word it.
Queen continued. “She was very secretive when she gave me the seed. Did she come down here with you? I’ve been waiting for her to visit. I would like to thank her.”
“She fell in battle, not this last one, but the one before.”
Queen let her claws drop. “It’s a shame. I’ll take you to the evesal vine. It’s just ahead. Let’s eat its fruit and think of Marratrice.”
Queen brought them to a section of the colony where one wall was completely covered by the vine. It looked like soft, round wood and was about as thick as Steffen’s forearm. It had crept and twisted up the pillars near the wall as well. Along the sturdy plant, pink and gray flowers had burst out in clusters. Among them was the circular fruit, a healthy green color and quite plump.
“We need the Dajrik to pick the higher fruits,” Queen said. “Still haven’t found a way to get it ourselves.”
“Is he alright?” Steffen asked.
“He’s still recovering from his injuries, but he’ll be fine.” She lifted her claw at Cleve. “Terren’s nephew, you’re very tall. Would you like to pick three evesals for us as high as you can reach?”
Cleve nodded and yanked three of the round fruits from their vine. He handed one to Queen and the other to Steffen.
“To Marratrice,” Steffen said. Then he took a bite.
There was a thick yet soft skin to the evesal fruit. It was sweet and fluffy, like a pastry. On the inside, the flavor changed to savory. The consistency was softer, like a fine cut of meat. Together, the textures and flavors mixed to p
erfection.
“Amazing,” Cleve commented with his mouth full.
As Steffen finished the fruit in his hand, he looked at the massive evesal vine. A solemn feeling came over him, yet he found himself smiling even as he fought back tears.
Wherever you are Marratrice, I hope you can see this. Rest peacefully.
“There are plenty of extra seeds,” Queen said, giving a handful to Steffen. “Just plant them in the dirt and water every day. Once they sprout, they’ll start to need Sartious Energy as well as water, more of both as they get bigger. You can trim the vine if it becomes unmanageable.”
“For your friend,” Steffen told Cleve, handing off half of them. “What’s his name?”
“Jek Trayden,” Cleve answered. “Thank you.”
“Jek?” Steffen repeated. “What an odd name. Did you know it means ‘fight’ in Kreppen?”
“I didn’t.”
Chapter 44:
CLEVE
When Cleve was back above ground, he thanked Steffen again and headed south, giving his pocket containing the evesal seeds a comforting pat.
It was time for the last thing he needed to do before saying his goodbyes. Terren had been speaking to King Kerr through messages on Cleve’s behalf, and he needed to finalize his trip in person.
Guards outside the castle greeted Cleve and brought him inside. One of them took the stairs to check on Kerr. Not long after, the guard leaned over the banister from the second floor and whistled to Cleve. “He’s ready to see you.”
The old man’s face immediately brought a smile out of Cleve. “Glad to see you,” Kerr said.
“I’m sorry about Welson.”
“Yes, tragic. I’ll miss him. He had a good heart and a strong mind. The last thing I wanted was to be king. Still—I’d rather control Kyrro than let the Takarys take over again. I assume that’s why you’re here?”
“Yes. Thank you for letting me use a ship and some of your men.”
“It’s nothing. If you weren’t volunteering for this, I’d have to send others for the task. I should be thanking you…but are you certain you wish to take Captain Mmzaza? There are others who can captain a ship besides him.”
“I’m sure there are, but I already know he’ll get the boat there safely. I can deal with his personality.”