Renegade Reprisal (The Renegade Series)

by J. C. Fiske

  “Don’t worry, I won’t, I just want some fresh air. Come on, Fao,” Gisbo said as he picked up his sword and wiped the grease from his rabbit across his pants. He heard Falcon’s familiar snores echo through the cave, and watched as his tiger Akila snuggled up to him and fell asleep, purring with comfort.

  “Come on, girl,” Gisbo said, throwing his sword over his shoulder, and both boy and wolf walked out of the cave and into the open night air of Flaria. Gisbo closed his eyes, breathed deeply, and looked up into the crescent moon. Ever since he was a little kid, Gisbo had a facination with the moon, especially when it was full. Maybe it was because everyone called him some form of teasing dog name growing up. After all, his name meant dog in the old Flarian tongue. Fao loved it, too, and she howled deeply and stared longingly at it.

  “Just a little flight, girl, then we can go get some sleep. You can follow beneath me, I don’t plan on going too high,” Gisbo said as he ruffled his wolf behind the ears. Now that Gisbo had become quite in control of his essence, skeeting was something he absolutely loved. He was still a bit shaky while flying and couldn’t go all that fast compared to Falcon, but the freedom it represented was glorious to behold.

  Gisbo ignited his essence, hopped atop his sword, and took off into the twinkling sky. The cold night air brushed across his face and ruffled his hair. He could hear Fao barking as she ran beneath him.

  “I hope Karm’s guys can see me. I bet I could trounce ‘em now! WAPOW!” Gisbo said aloud as he made punching gestures in the air.

  Gisbo flew a good distance away over the multitude of cave structures until they reached Gisbo’s favorite part of the desert, the end of it, where the great Aquamarine Ocean connected Flaria to the tropical land of Aquaria. Gisbo landed a bit roughly and sprawled out across the sand with a satisfied stretch and listened to the soothing sounds of the waves crashing before him. Soon Fao caught up and lapped at Gisbo’s face and snuggled up beside him. Gisbo breathed a deep sigh of contentment, relishing in the peace of the moment, and averted his gaze to the glittery stars over the ocean’s horizon.

  So I’m Vadid’s grandson, Narroway is my uncle, and Ranto is my cousin. Everything but the last part is pretty awesome, Gisbo thought to himself. He would have pondered the thought even more when something interrupted him. Gisbo felt his body suddenly go limp and the world around him turned black. A broad hand stretched from the darkness of his mind and grabbed him. Within an instant, Gisbo was back in his dorm in Heaven’s Shelter with Rolce seated across from him, decked out in his new Renegara uniform. Gisbo looked down to see that he, too, was garbed in his uniform.

  “So, how are ya?” Rolce grinned. Gisbo got up to look around. Sure enough, everything was just how they had left it. Even Gisbo’s dirty underwear was hanging on the cleansing room doorknob with a fierce brown stain down the middle. How it got there, he still had no idea.

  “It’s been a while, stranger. I see you’ve been practicing . . . this is crazy . . .” Gisbo said, pacing around the room. Rolce shrugged.

  “I don’t know if it has been practice or simply that my Sybil powers have sort of just evolved on their own. I’ve only been focusing on my Naforian, Nazarite abilities, afterall. On a hunch tonight, I wanted to see if I could contact you. And it worked!” Rolce said with glee.

  “This is still freaky. Everything’s the same as we left it,” Gisbo said as he went to draw the shade on the window to look outside, only to see white blankness. Gisbo turned to Rolce with surprise.

  “As you can see, my Sybil abilities aren’t one hundered percent yet. I wanted to choose an atmosphere that would be comfortable for us both, so naturally, our room, exactly the same as my mind last conceived it to be,” Rolce said. Gisbo shook his head.

  “Stop right there. I know that tone in your voice. Don’t start getting off on some philosophical tangent. I’ve had enough for one day and . . . something tells me you already know how my day went,” Gisbo said. Rolce threw up his hands.

  “I couldn’t help myself. Once the mind-link is activated, your first thoughts came to my mind. I don’t like it any more than you do, but there is something else you haven’t tied together, based on what Falcon revealed to you,” Rolce said. Gisbo lifted his eyes to the ceiling.

  “Great . . . I missed something else? And what would that be?” Gisbo asked.

  “That Warlord Karm is also your Uncle,” Rolce said. Gisbo shook his head.

  “So the whole time at Oak County, I did, in fact, have some family, and because of that family member, my life sucked. Fantastic news,” Gisbo said.

  “I wonder if he knew you were his nephew. Something tells me he didn’t,” Rolce said. Gisbo put his hand in the air.

  “Just stop. My brain’s had enough for one night. I’m not like you, always pondering crap you can never know the answer to just for the enjoyment of feeling your brain stretching,” Gisbo said. Both sat in an awkward silence, not knowing where to go next. Finally, Rolce spoke.

  “Do you feel weird calling Falcon, ‘Dad?’” Rolce asked. Gisbo thought for a moment before answering.

  “A little bit. I tend to stray back and forth between both names. It just feels sort of weird to never have a father, then all of a sudden you do. How about you and Shax?” Gisbo asked. Rolce leaned back in his chair.

  “Well, I haven’t seen him in a while, but yeah, it does feel a little weird. We were in kinda the same boat on the father issue, and I wanted your opinion, is all,” Rolce said. Gisbo nodded.

  “Yeah, I got ya. I think for me it feels weird because I’ve never called anyone ‘Dad’ before. You at least had your adoptive parents, heavy on the ‘at least.’ I wonder if they miss you,” Gisbo said with a bemused grin. Rolce chuckled.

  “They don’t miss me personally, just miss their easy, lazy lifestyle. They probably went bankrupt by now. I wonder how my spoiled sister is doing without the money for all her designer clothes and jewelry. She must be out of her mind,” Rolce said.

  “Moordin pushing you hard?” Gisbo asked.

  “Like you wouldn’t believe. He shouts out philosophical questions while we are fighting, so by the end of the day, my mind’s about as sore as my body. He’s nuts. Naforia is really a beautiful place, though. We are out deep in some rainforest right now, staying in some cave behind a waterfall. I’ll take you here someday, it’s great. Apparently, we got one more month to go here and he is going to take me to some of the native tribes to train under some of the Naforian elders. How about you?”

  “Believe it or not, the desert is really pretty. Pure white sand everywhere and the stars come out more vividly here than anywhere else I’ve been. We’re staying in a series of caves way out on the outskirts where Karm’s men can’t find us. The caves are as black as coal and some of them have hot springs inside them, so it’s actually nicer than you think,” Gisbo said.

  “I bet Falcon’s been pushing you hard these past three months,” Rolce said.

  “Psh, like you wouldn’t believe. I blacked out four times just in the first week from exhaustion, and puked about twelve times so far. He tells me it will put hair on my chest, which is just what I need, right?” Gisbo said. Rolce laughed.

  “Sounds like something he would say. I haven’t even been able to hit Moordin once this entire time. He tells me by next month I should be able to at the rate I’m going. I’m getting faster,” Rolce said proudly. Gisbo smiled.

  “Funny you say that; I hit Falcon tonight,” Gisbo said. Rolce’s jaw dropped, then he formed a smile.

  “No way, man! Wow, really? Were you fully powered up?” Rolce asked.

  “Fully powered up,” Gisbo said.

  “That’s awesome! Now I just want to know if you were able to hit Falcon because he’s weaker than Moordin, because I know you aren’t up to par with me yet,” Rolce said. Gisbo cocked an amused grin.

  “Well, listen to you! You wouldn’t have said something like that last year! And to answer your question, Falcon could kick Moordin’s ass, and I could
kick yours. Just face it, Rolce. I hit my Class Master first, so I’m better,” Gisbo said, crossing his arms. Rolce laughed.

  “Well, don’t forget about those Man-Phoenix powers of yours. At least now I know what happened to you when you fought all those wolves and survived,” Rolce said. Gisbo shook his head,

  “Believe it or not, I’m not in control of those powers. Hell, I don’t even know what being the new supposed Man-Phoenix even means! I’ve tried to use the powers again, but nothing ever happens,” Gisbo said.

  “Well, I’m sure you’ll find out soon. Oh, and when you see Kinny, tell her muffin says hello,” Rolce said. Gisbo grimaced.

  “Um, no, you can do your mind-link on her and call her muffin all you want, you freak,” Gisbo said.

  “No! I can’t do that! It’s too weird, me linking up with her! I can’t read her thoughts, that just isn’t right. Just tell her for me, please?” Rolce pleaded.

  “Hell no! I’m not gonna play messenger pigeon for you two love birds! Just wait till she comes back and . . . wait, what do you mean when I see Kinny?” Gisbo asked.

  “Oh, Falcon hasn’t told you anything?” Rolce asked.

  “He treats everything on a day to day basis,” Gisbo said.

  “Oh, well, soon I’ll be meeting up with all the Naforians from our class and you’ll be meeting up with all the Flarians for training,” Rolce said. Gisbo’s eyes lit up at the thought.

  “Oh, cool! So I’ll get to hang out with Grandfield then! YES! I’ve missed that kid and, oh . . . damn it, that means that I got to be with Rake and Glinda, bleh,” Gisbo said, sticking out his tongue.

  “And Kinny,” Rolce reminded. Gisbo rolled his eyes.

  “And Kinny,” Gisbo repeated.

  “But yeah, same for me. I’ll be training with all the Naforian bunch,” Rolce said with a grin.

  “Ah, nice! Tell Knob and Crass I said hi! You’ll have to figure out how to get a four-way conversation going with those powers of yours,” Gisbo said. Rolce shook his head.

  “Remember, Gisbo, it’s a secret I have these powers, just like it’s a secret you have your powers, too. Another reason why I can’t do the mind-link with Kinny,” Rolce said.

  “Oh yeah, sorry, I forgot. I wonder how Jackobi’s doing being a lazy ass around Heaven’s Shelter. Not that he certainly doesn’t deserve it for all the crap he’s been through on my account,” Gisbo said. Rolce shrugged.

  “Who knows? All he told me was that he has some sort of secret training,” Rolce said. Gisbo sighed.

  “Sounds just like Foxblade. Jerk,” Gisbo said. Rolce nodded.

  “But yeah, every race has its own unique method and ancient hand-to-hand fighting style, you know. The Naforians excel at a martial art known as Sumo. Their traditions go way back and their politics used to be governed by who would win such bouts. It’s a style that’s heavy on grappling, strength, and defense to beat our opponents. Renegaras are supposed to glean off our race’s methods over the rest of the year and apply it to what we already know. They never want us to get adapted to any one style. Trust me, you’ll be in trouble once I learn some things off them,” Rolce said with a grin, and cracked his huge knuckles.

  “What is it that the Flarians specialize in?” Gisbo asked. Rolce smiled.

  “Well, from what Moordin tells me, bare-knuckle boxing is their speciality, but that’s a loose term. Most just simply dub it dirty fighting since it includes kicks as well as anything in the environment to be used to their advantage. Their roots are very much grounded in unorthodox methods from one too many beers and bar fights on a nightly basis. Anything goes in their eyes to win the fight, making them totally unpredictable and absolutely formidable warriors. Sound familiar?” Rolce asked.

  “Sounds a lot like how the Renegades fight,” Gisbo said. Rolce nodded.

  “That’s because the very first Renegades were Flarians. From there, they branched off and allowed other races into their fold and learned from their styles, as well. I’m told that certain styles are stronger against others, so we are to learn two of our choice to counteract any glaring weaknesses and, eventually, morph the styles into something all our own. If that makes any sense at all,” Rolce said.

  “Maybe that’s why Falcon hasn’t let me pick up my sword yet. We’ve just been duking it out and training all these months, without even a walk or crawl stage, and he tells me I’ll get it right by getting it wrong. Trust me, I got about a thousand bruises to remind me of mistakes. There’re kicks and weird stances involved, though, it’s not just straight-up boxing, and man, he does fight extremely dirty,” Gisbo said.

  “Not one Flarian bare-knuckle style is exactly alike, hence it’s potency and ability to adapt to nearly any given situation with ease,” Rolce said.

  “How do you know all this stuff?” Gisbo asked.

  “Moordin. All he does is drill me with lessons on just about everything. No subject is left amiss,” Rolce said.

  “That’s funny. Falcon says I shouldn’t bog down my brain with useless information. Instead, I should find out what I want out of life and focus all my strength and ability into only those areas. He says when I fight, I shouldn’t think about anything and only let a calm instinct take over, saving my battle rage when needed. Either way, I guess he’s right. My life will go on, even if I didn’t know that Thera spins clockwise,” Gisbo said. Rolce shook his head.

  “Thera spins counter-clockwise,” Rolce corrected with a sigh.

  “Whatever. Alright, Rolce, it’s probably getting late. Let me outta here,” Gisbo said.

  “You do remember we are on a different plane of existence? Not even a second has gone by where you are. But very well, I’ll let you go. Now I know we can do this, I can check in from time to time. Later, buddy!” Rolce said.

  In a flash, Gisbo’s dorm room dissolved and turned back into the night sky of Flaria. Gisbo smiled. He couldn’t help but remember how far he had come or where he was at at this point in time just one year ago. He went from a society that loathed him and shunned him, calling his spirit of adventure violent and wicked, to one that embraced who he was and let him channel his warrior spirit into the adventure he so desperately craved. Even out in the outskirts of the desert in the middle of nowhere, training to the point of blackouts and puking, Gisbo truly felt at peace and at home.

  Gisbo glanced down at Fao and ruffled her behind the ears again. Suddenly, they twitched and Fao jumped up.

  “What is it, girl?” Gisbo asked, looking in the direction Fao was facing. He saw somebody’s head peeking around the corner of the next cave over, watching them.

  “Hey, you!” Gisbo yelled as he jumped from the rock and began to charge, followed by Fao. As he yelled, the head peeked out of sight around the cave. Already cursing himself for being so blunt, Gisbo arrived behind the cave to see nothing but a pair of footprints trailing off into the desert. Gisbo and Fao followed them only to find the trail stopped cold. It was as if the person disappeared into thin air. Gisbo looked all around and scratched his head.

  Only a Soarian could have disappeared into thin air like that. Whoever they are is probably hovering above me right now. I’d better play stupid for now. Which is something I seem to be very good at, Gisbo thought.

  “Well, looks like nothin’, girl, probably just some stupid bird. Let’s head back and hit the sack, eh?” Gisbo said, winking at his wolf. Fao barked in response. Both the boy and his wolf began the return trip to the cave when suddenly an idea struck him. Maybe hanging around Rolce for so long did brush off at least a little intelligence, Gisbo thought. Both he and Fao walked back to their home base, but instead of turning into the cave where they normally slept, they decided to set up camp in a cave ten down from where Falcon currently slept. Whatever it was that was watching him, dangerous or not, Gisbo had no reason to let it know where he and his Class Master currently called home.

  Chapter Two: Stalkers and Spikeslithers

  “No sudden movements and don’t say a word. Just one loud word
could be the death of us,” Falcon whispered in Gisbo’s ear.

  Gisbo awoke only to have his father cover his mouth. From what Gisbo could see, judging from the look in his father’s eyes, something serious was going on. Falcon retrieved his hand from Gisbo’s mouth and placed a finger over his lips for silence as he calmly rose to his feet, sword in hand. Gisbo got up, but not as silently. A massive fart careened off the cold stone floor as he stood and it echoed across the cave. Falcon’s eyes went wide.

  “Damn it . . .” Gisbo said. Suddenly, the cave around them began to rumble. His class master palmed a hand down his face.

  “Out of the cave, move!” Falcon bellowed as he turned and sprinted. Gisbo hurried behind him with Fao by his side, bouncing left and right to dodge falling stalagmites.

  “When are you gonna learn to listen?!” Falcon yelled back.

  “Sorry! It slipped!” Gisbo yelled as they reached the front of the cave.

  “Quick, get your sword and stand ready,” Falcon ordered as he spun around and ignited his blade in a fiery red. Gisbo reached for it and found air.

  “Um, yeah, that might be an issue,” Gisbo said. In the rush, he had forgotten his sword back in the cave. Falcon rolled his eyes.

  “You amaze me, child,” Falcon gibed. Suddenly, a set of red, glowing eyes could be seen from the darkness of the cave. They moved forward at an incredible rate of speed with an unpleasant grinding noise. Gisbo tightened his fist and unleashed the essence within him.

  “Get ready to jump,” Falcon yelled as the rumbling grew louder.

  “What?” Gisbo yelled back.

  “JUMP!” Falcon screamed. A giant worm, with spikes adorning its body, burst from the mouth of the cave. Upon its entrance into the morning sun, it sent sand, rubble, and dust everywhere.

  Gisbo had just enough time to grasp Fao in one arm and dive to the side as the worm rushed past him. He landed rather roughly and spun around on his back to face the creature. He watched as the worm’s body kept stretching from the cave as if it didn’t have an end. The worm didn’t come all the way out of the cave, partially because it didn’t need to. It easily stood taller than two full-grown oak trees stacked on top of one another and was as wide as a castle tower.