Perfidious

by P. T. McKenzie

He opened up the duffle so I could see what was inside.

  “Okay, that’s great.” I saw food that just needed hot water, like instant pastas. “So, we’ll all carry a backpack filled with some food, clothes, a blanket, and the essentials, just so one of us can survive if we get separated. Which shouldn’t happen, but just in case.” I opened up Kalvin’s closet and found some extra blankets.

  Noah started to rearrange his bags. I grabbed some backpacks out of a different closet and set it all down next to Noah. I scanned the supplies out in front of me, but Greyson cleared his throat, catching my attention. I turned around to look at him.

  “Elisia, can I talk to you, um, outside?” Greyson asked. He seemed upset about something, but I didn’t know what it could be.

  I nodded as I followed him and left Noah to work on the bags. Greyson closed the door behind us and faced me.

  His face fell as he put his hand on my shoulder. “What’s going on, Elisia? Are you okay?”

  Did Kalvin tell him something?

  “What do you mean?” I tried to act casual.

  “Yesterday, you showed up late, and you came from the village. Then, your father showed up threatening to take you away. Now today, you’re at Kalvin’s house. Why wouldn’t you just stay at your place?” Greyson asked.

  “I’m sorry, Greyson. It’s just been an emotional weekend, and I didn’t want to talk about it,” I said, not feeling especially fond of being questioned.

  His shoulders slumped. “I just…I want to know what’s going on. I don’t want you to be downplaying it at all. If you're not okay, I need to know.”

  “Greyson, I told you the basics yesterday. I don’t want to go into the details,” I repeated, sounding harsher than I meant to, but it wasn’t easy talking about it. I just wished he understood that.

  Greyson sighed. “That’s not what I meant.” His words were soft as he spoke to me. “I’m here too, though. You know that, right?”

  I curled the side of my lips in a half smile, nodding. It wasn’t that he was trying to force it out of me. He wanted me to know that I wasn’t alone, probably the same way that I did for him after he found out all of the monster stuff. I probably should have apologized, but I didn’t know if I wanted to. I’d talk to him later. It was still too fresh.

  I led him back into the house. Noah had all the food lined up on the table and the clothes they brought in two backpacks. I grabbed a backpack for me and started putting the clothes from my duffle into the backpack. Kalvin had some clothes set out, so I shoved them into another backpack.

  An hour later, we had everything we needed to get to the camp. From there, we could get more supplies from the camp or the village nearby. I carried Kalvin’s backpack along with my own as we started to walk over to Jasper’s place.

  21

  We got to Jasper’s house located closer to town. It looked the same as Kalvin’s on the outside, except for the multitude of plants lining the walkway and crawling up the sides of the cabin. Many of the plants had special properties that Jasper made his powders from, such as healing, gardening, and concealing scent.

  I entered the open front door and immediately heard the irritation in Jasper's voice. “No, Kalvin, for the fifth time. That’s too much. You’ll run out of powder before you get to your destination.”

  “Sure. I’ll do as you say,” Kalvin responded absentmindedly.

  “You moron. I can see your soul. I know you're lying.” Jasper’s back was to us as we walked into the room. He turned around and faked surprise to see me. His white hair swirled around his head with the sudden movement. “Look who decided to grace us with her glorious presence.”

  His eyes were pitch black as they looked into mine. Then, the iris of his eye turned green.

  “Oh, darling!” Jasper rushed over to me and took my hand. “That pain is not how a splendid elf like you should be feeling. Let me ease it, won’t you?”

  “No, but thank you, Jasper. I appreciate the thought.” I took back my hand. His eyes turned back to black.

  Jasper looked behind me with his childish grin. “Hm, who are these new faces? I don’t believe I’ve seen them around before.”

  I pointed to them. “This is Greyson and Noah. They are—”

  Jasper suddenly dropped to one knee and bowed his head in reverence. Greyson looked awkward and uncomfortable.

  “Come on, man!” Kalvin said, running a hand down his face.

  Jasper stood up. “If you would allow me the honor, I would love to join your army, King’s Heir.” Jasper bowed his head again.

  “Uh…” Greyson glanced at Noah, a slight grin on his face. “Sure? Why not?” Greyson shrugged at the question. He looked around at all of us and cocked his head as he turned his attention back to Jasper. “How do you know who I am?”

  Kalvin put his arm on Jasper's shoulder and pulled him away from Greyson. “I told him, hoping he’d give me the stuff we needed for free. But all he gave me was an attitude and a crappy discount.”

  “And you should be grateful.” Jasper said, looking disappointed. “The powder has ingredients that are scarce and hard to get a hold of.”

  “I also told him not to be weird, but he didn’t listen,” Kalvin said, glaring at Jasper.

  Jasper’s eyes turned a light blue, his face brightening. “Sorry, I just can’t believe it. Everyone has been waiting for so long. No one even knew if an heir would appear after all this time. But look, he’s finally here.”

  I watched Jasper. I didn’t always trust him. I could never tell what his eye color meant, and I knew he wanted to keep it that way.

  “Okay, well, we’ll be leaving then.” Kalvin said, walking to my side.

  I handed him his backpack, and he threw it over one shoulder.

  “I’ll see you around. Hopefully, you bring Elisia next time you're cranky and half awake. She really is your better half.” Jasper said, looking at Kalvin with purple eyes. Then, he bowed his head to Greyson. “King’s Heir, I will spread the word of your return, but don’t worry. I will keep it underground so the Council doesn’t catch on.”

  Greyson nodded.

  I wanted to push him out, but Noah beat me to it. He put Greyson in front of him and smiled at Jasper.

  Greyson started walking next to me once we got far enough away from Jasper’s place. “So, what is Jasper? I haven’t read anything that can change eye color like that.”

  “He’s a whisper,” I answered and turned to look at Noah. “Have you read about them yet?”

  Noah nodded. “A whisper is a creature that can read and manipulate souls. The book said they are known to be guides. They like helping people within their communities. They prefer to be alone, apart from any other whispers. I can’t remember why though.”

  It surprised me that Noah learned so much after just over a week. His brow creased as he looked at me.

  “It didn’t say anything about their eye color changing. What do the colors mean?”

  Kalvin answered him. “No one really knows. They don’t tell anyone. The only thing Jasper has told me is that his eyes are black when he’s not using his powers. He usually just uses them to read people. He’s eccentric, but he’s harmless.”

  “I don’t trust these monsters.” Noah kicked some rocks and didn’t make eye contact with any of us. “So many of them could benefit from Greyson becoming the king. I just think they’re gonna either use him or want him dead, right? There’s no in-between.”

  I looked over at Noah with a raised eyebrow. It didn’t occur to me that Noah’s distrust of monsters would be a good thing. It was probably the reason that the Elders wanted us to train him with Greyson. I grew up around monsters and half-breeds, so I had learned to trust certain breeds, but who knows if even they would be trustworthy in a situation like that.

  The king's bloodline returning was going to change everything.

  22

  We would have to walk about thirty-five miles to the camp, and it seemed to take forever. Would Greyson and Noah be ab
le to handle that long of a trip?

  From what I could remember, the way there was mostly safe. I didn’t remember running into any monsters when we were with Aaron, but he also marked a path specifically to avoid any villages or known monster dens. We hadn’t gone that way in so long. It could have changed since then. Hopefully, it hadn’t.

  I looked around while we walked during the morning hours, tracking the sun so I knew the approximate time. It was just before noon. That was something Kalvin’s father had taught me, and it always came in handy.

  But no matter how many times I walked through those woods, I would never get used to the beauty I saw. The path was different compared to the normal green plants, bushes, and occasional flower patches. Heading along the flatlands, more meadows and clearings with blue and white flowers peaked around the corners.

  We came up to a group of moss-covered trees. A black line marked our path, a remnant of Kalvin’s father. Aaron had taken a can of spray paint to all the trees along the way to the camp. It was enough for someone to follow, but not too much for others to notice if they didn’t know what it was.

  By the time the sun passed its peak, everyone was more talkative. Noah wanted to learn more about the different monsters that still existed. So I was helping him go through a book he brought with him from Antheia’s bookstore.

  Suddenly, Kalvin started snickering.

  “I know I’m not the best at explaining stuff, but do you have to laugh at me?” I asked him as he stopped walking to look at something.

  “That tree.” Kalvin nudged me.

  He pointed up ahead. It had a thick trunk with a log in front of it. Halfway up, it split into three separate branches.

  I smiled warmly at him and chuckled.

  “What about it?” Greyson asked.

  I looked away from Kalvin to see Greyson scanning the tree, probably wondering why it was special.

  “Sorry, I completely forgot,” I said in between giggles. “That’s where Kalvin and I first met.”

  I felt bad that I forgot about it. It happened so long ago. I told them about how Kalvin and I met there—how he looked strange to me, and how he didn’t like the way I smelled.

  “I was so mad at him,” I said, finishing my story.

  Greyson and Noah were both cracking up.

  Kalvin protested. “What’d I do to upset ya so much?”

  I grinned at the memory again as I put my hands on my hips, trying to look annoyed. “You said I smelled weird.”

  He threw his hands up like he surrendered. “Ya did when I was younger. Ya were the first elf half-breed I met, and at that time, I didn’t like the way ya smelled.”

  I walked in front of him so he would have to look me in the eyes.

  “And now?” I raised an eyebrow, curious to see how he would respond.

  “Oh…” Noah yelled into the air. “Kalvin, I’d be careful. You’re in dangerous territory here.”

  Kalvin realized what he said and looked mildly concerned. “Now, you smell like Elisia. You don’t smell weird to me anymore.”

  I huffed and crossed my arms.

  He smirked and leaned closer to me. His warmth radiated from him in waves. Kalvin sniffed the air near my neck. His velvet voice reached my ear.

  “You smell similar to vanilla.”

  The moment was no longer than a second, but my heart was racing. I tried to hide my nerves by laughing.

  Greyson sniffed the air in my direction. “It’s more like a spicy vanilla.”

  My jaw dropped while everyone laughed.

  “What do I smell like?” Greyson asked Kalvin excitedly.

  “You smell…” I pretended to sniff the air like they did. “Like a dork.”

  Already several hours into the hike, we stopped for lunch. Everyone continued to joke about smells, and all seemed content. There weren't any Elders to worry about, no parents, no problems relevant at that moment. At least my life was getting back to normal—or as normal as it could be being a half-breed.

  We continued on the trail after packing up the bags. Kalvin changed the subject to fighting techniques. He showed them different movements and told them to repeat. Kalvin had me show them how to defend against it so they learned both offense and defense.

  Even though we were talking about training, we were relaxed. No one needed to worry about anything real. There would be plenty of time for that later. The trip was probably good for all of us to step away from the big serious topics and just focus on the present.

  That night we stopped in an open area in the woods. Because of Noah being human, we had to take it slower than planned. The day and a half hike might turn into two full days or more, but that didn’t seem to bother anyone. We set up camp a little way off the trail so that anyone who walked by wouldn’t find us.

  Greyson healed the minor cuts and bruises from the sparring before dinner. We ate and started getting the blankets out, setting up the camp so that we could go to sleep.

  “I’ll take the first watch,” I said before Kalvin could.

  He needed his rest, especially since I woke him up the night before with my nightmare.

  I started to climb a tree so no one could protest and sat on one of the lower branches, watching as everyone got settled. The horizon darkened, reminding me of the sunset Kalvin showed me. The thought flushed me with warmth.

  Halfway through the night, Kalvin woke up and insisted I get some rest. I wanted to protest, but he gave me a look that told me to shut up and accept his offer. Leaving the blanket on the branch, I crawled down and laid in the dirt where he was sleeping. I watched Kalvin climb up the tree, but I didn’t remember seeing him make it to the branch. I fell asleep before I could.

  23

  The sun woke me up as it peeked over the trees. I looked around to see that the other two boys were still sleeping. I got up and started to pack away my things, wanting to be ready to leave or help others pack their stuff up after breakfast.

  About an hour later, everyone was sitting around the fire, but not everyone was really awake. We ate some pasta and really wished we’d brought coffee. I was used to getting up in the morning, but I never woke up quickly. Kalvin seemed tired but not like the rest of us.

  It would be another long day of walking, yet it was exciting to think about. I hadn’t gone on that long of a trip with Greyson or Noah. Maybe it would give me the chance to get to know them better.

  Once we were walking again, I made sure to walk next to Greyson. I had a question I was curious about.

  “So, Greyson, what would you have done if you didn’t find out what your birthmark meant?”

  “Um, I’m not sure. I was thinking about going into the medical field in college and getting into genetics. I thought maybe I could find answers through that and see if my birthmark was some sort of genetic mutation.” He smiled at me. “Like that would have really done any good.”

  I looked at my hands. “Yeah, I never really thought about the differences of human genes versus elf or dragon genes. You probably would have found out you weren’t human.”

  “Hm,” Greyson frowned as his eyes glazed over in thought. “That’d be interesting to explore. I do like the medical field. Science and history were always my favorite subjects, but I don’t exactly have the best grades to get into a good pre-med school. Noah’s the book smart one. Not me.”

  “You could always talk to Ms. Needham about it. I’m sure she’s done some research, and she could probably help you get into a school. She is a human/monster doctor,” I suggested.

  Noah jogged up next to him. “As long as we still get to go to colleges on the same coast. Right, Greyson?”

  Greyson looked at me and smirked. “That was the plan.”

  But it seemed like there was more in that statement than Greyson was willing to say out loud.

  “I got accepted to all the great Business schools: Stanford, Columbia, UPenn. Greyson is still waiting on his acceptance letters,” Noah bragged. “We were doing research right before all
this happened. We’ll have to get back to that when we go home.”

  “Sure.” Greyson obviously didn’t share Noah’s excitement.

  I decided to change the subject. I jogged up to Kalvin and grabbed his arm. “How about we play Bobcat?”

  “What’s that?” Noah asked curiously.

  “It’s technically a human game. In the human version, people walk on a trail and when someone yells ‘Bobcat’, everyone has to either climb onto a tree or just hang onto the trunk, as long as you’re not touching the ground,” Kalvin explained. “But my father made up a different version after we took Elisia to the camp for the first time so that we had something to do while we were traveling. In his version, there is one ‘Bobcat’. That person hides in the bushes or trees; any abilities or weapons are free game—even wings. They attack someone walking with them. They only get one chance to attack before someone else gets to a turn to be the ‘Bobcat’.”

  A rush of giddiness filled me. “But no one yells ‘Bobcat’ in his version. The ‘Bobcat’ just attacks without warning. It's to practice sneak attacks and defending against them. I learned quickly to not attack Aaron. He was human, but damn…He was so in tune to everything going on around him, I didn’t even make it within arm's reach before he stopped me. And that’s with my elf abilities,” I said.

  A spark flickered in Noah’s eyes.

  “Sounds like fun,” Greyson said. “Who wants to be the ‘Bobcat’ first?”

  I was about to say I would, but I never got the chance.

  My instincts sent a spark through my stomach. I reached for my Tonfa blades at my sides, but I wasn’t fast enough. The earth exploded under my feet, and something scaly threw me into the air.

  Greyson sprouted wings and flew towards me, catching me midair. Below us, the green and yellow scales of a snake slithered out of the ground.

  I scanned the area for Kalvin and Noah, worried about where they ended up. I spotted Kalvin ducking from bush to bush just out of sight of the snake.