Bastial Explosion (The Rhythm of Rivalry: Book 3)
Page 31
Then he heard the shouts of thousands of men and women. They came through the Academy like a tidal wave. When he saw that all were adults much older than him, Cleve knew they must’ve been sent from Kyrro City. They were the King’s army.
The Krepps must’ve fled the city, he realized, for the King’s army surely couldn’t have killed every Krepp and then run to the Academy from the time I’d ridden by earlier.
Cleve hurried to his mount, chasing after the Krepps and striking them down before they could climb up a ramp to the wall and jump over. He cleaned up close to ten before realizing that there were none left. All the others had fallen in battle or escaped.
Cheering spread fast. They were victorious.
Cleve looked for Reela but couldn’t find her. Wondering if she might already have started back toward their student house, Cleve rode west.
Among the student houses were many fallen Humans, bloodied by vicious wounds. It appeared that the western side of campus hadn’t fared as well as the others he’d seen.
His pulse quickened as he remembered that this was where he’d found Steffen. He searched the bodies in a panic, hoping he wouldn’t recognize any of their faces.
With all the houses in close proximity, it became difficult to keep track of where he’d looked already, accidentally circling back to find corpses he’d already inspected.
Of the men and women still standing, each seemed to be too distracted mourning a fallen ally to even notice Cleve and his mount.
Then Cleve found him. Great relief allowed him to breathe again as he saw that Steffen was alive. The chemist was kneeling over someone, a girl with red hair.
Cleve dismounted and came to Steffen’s side.
“She’s dead, Cleve.”
“Who is she?” Cleve felt her pulse to make sure.
“Marratrice. The Krepps killed her before I could get to her.”
Cleve put his hand on Steffen’s back, wondering what he could say to make Steffen stop staring at the poor girl’s body. She’d been pierced through her stomach, her limp hands resting over her wound.
“She somehow looks peaceful,” Steffen said, a tear falling from his cheek. Marratrice’s eyes were closed as if she were sleeping. “I keep expecting her to open her eyes and say something.”
“Come on, Steffen.” Cleve helped him up.
Leading Nulya by the reins, Cleve walked beside Steffen until they found Reela and Effie. The two young women were involved in a conversation with Alex, the allied Krepp, and an Elf who looked a lot like Rek—though Cleve couldn’t be sure if they were related or if all Elves looked the same, as this was only the second male Elf he’d ever seen.
Reela ran over, giving Steffen a hug.
“I’m so glad you’re safe,” she said.
Steffen closed his eyes and didn’t reply.
Effie was waiting behind for her turn. “Marratrice?” she asked.
Reela parted from Steffen and waited for his reaction.
He shook his head.
“I’m so sorry, Steffen,” Effie said.
Reela gave him one more hug. When she parted, she stood in front of Cleve, her green eyes calling for an embrace.
He wrapped his arms around her tightly. She put her head on his shoulder as she hugged him back and whispered, “I’ve missed you.”
Soon they were kissing, the feeling of her lips a comfort he’d dreamed of many nights.
It was only then that he realized that he was home.
Effie cleared her throat, and Reela pulled away with a nervous giggle. Cleve felt his face becoming hot.
“We need to introduce you to Zoke and Vithos,” Effie said. “There’s a lot that’s happened. Though…” Effie pointed at the sword on Cleve’s belt, then his mount next. “It seems I could say the same of you.”
Chapter 38:
ZETI
Although Doe moved at half the speed Zeti would’ve liked, it took only a day to reach the base of the mountains in Entja. The massive Slugari’s body jiggled whenever he came to rest, which apparently needed to be quite frequently once they’d started traversing the slopes of what Doe called the Dajrik Mountains.
Zeti had heard the word before, “Dajrik.” Though she couldn’t remember from where. Her first questions about what they were doing yielded nothing but scowls, so she kept the rest to herself.
Doe seemed to know where he was going, sticking mostly to what appeared to be a path into the depths of the mountains. It was littered with boulders that were just small enough for Doe to move with a blast of fire.
They climbed for two days. Zeti went so long without speaking, she forgot the sound of her own voice. She could feel dust in her mouth as they went higher.
There’s nothing here, she kept telling herself. What’re we doing?
In a bag on her back, she carried their food and a bunch of red flowers that Zoke surely would’ve recognized.
Eventually they came to some doorway within the mountain. It seemed to have been made for something more than three times Zeti’s height.
Stepping inside, blackness took her until Doe created light from his claws.
“Hyha, Dajriks!” Doe yelled. “Hyha!”
Zeti didn’t recognize the word, so she assumed it to be Slugaren unless Doe knew a third language she wasn’t aware of…possibly common tongue? The thought made her step back behind him. What was about to come out?
There were tunnels everywhere leading to nothing but darkness.
“Dajriks!” Doe yelled. “Hali esha rujins lu Dajriks.”
Rujins, Zeti picked up the word. Those were the red flowers in her bag. Was Doe offering them?
Zeti thought she felt the ground shake. She squatted to put her palm against it. But then she didn’t need to, for she could hear the sound of stone crashing against stone. It began echoing around them.
She remembered what a Dajrik was. It was Paramar who’d told her. They were giants that looked as if they were made of rock.
“Doe…”
“Quiet,” he said.
“Do you know what you’re doing?”
“Shut your mouth and give me a handful of the rujins.”
She obeyed, moving back behind Doe as soon as she handed them to him.
Two Dajriks emerged from one of the tunnels, their massive bodies coming to a stop for a glimpse at Doe and Zeti. Shrouded by shadow, all Zeti could see was their size and that it was true—they did appear to be made from rock.
One of them grumbled something that Zeti had no hope of understanding. Doe didn’t seem to, either.
“Eh lo huta?” Doe said, his tone questioning.
The Dajrik seemed to repeat the same thing.
Doe became excited. “Rujins! Rujins lu Dajriks!”
The Dajriks came forward, and Zeti tripped over the uneven ground without even realizing she was backing up.
The Dajriks stopped when they were within reach of Doe. There was some sort of conversation between the three of them, though Doe needed the Dajriks to repeat many of their questions. This was the only thing Zeti could understand besides that the Dajriks were interested in rujins for some reason.
What did Paramar tell me about the rujins? Zeti tried to recall. There was something about these giants suffering from nightmares and the Slugari being able to cure them with rujins.
Doe’s claws glowed brighter as he melted the rujins before the Dajriks. He poured the substance into one Dajrik’s hand and then melted more for the other.
Each Dajrik drank, then the conversation picked up again.
Zeti waited silently until Doe said, “Zeti, come here.”
When she was beside him, he pointed at her and spoke to the Dajriks. He used the word “Krepp” several times. It took all of her willpower not to ask what was going on, her curiosity tormenting her.
Finally, the Dajriks turned and walked back toward where they’d come from. They stopped just outside a tunnel to converse with each other.
“They’re making a decision,
” Doe informed her. “But I already know what it’s going to be. They’re going to come with us and fight.”
They’re going to join us? “They can be controlled?”
“Not so much controlled. But in the same way I’ve brought the Krepps together, I have something the Dajriks want.”
“The Slugari?” Zeti risked another question. Doe seemed to be in good spirits, so she figured she was safe for now.
“No, an end to their nightmares. Haemon and I can make rujin necklaces for the Dajriks so they can finally sleep. But we’re only going to make the rujin substance potent enough for one day at a time. We’ll replace the expired substance as long as they stay with us and fight. Then, when we’ve taken over Kyrro, they’ll get a more potent version that should last fifty years.”
Doe sounded so confident they were going to agree, Zeti found herself feeling it as well.
Sure enough, the Dajriks turned and said something, and soon they were following her and Doe out of the mountain, moving Krepp-sized boulders out of their way as if they were small rocks.
“No matter how many Humans survived Haemon’s attack,” Doe said, “there will be none left soon after the rest of our army gets there.”
Zeti could think of nothing the Humans had that could stand up against the rest of the Krepps, let alone two Dajriks. If they really were responsible for Grayol’s death, then Zeti gladly would see them die. There was just one problem.
Was Zoke going to be there when they struck?
Get out of there, Zoke. I can’t stop what happens to you if you don’t.
End of Book 3
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The next in the series is Bastial Frenzy. It begins right where Bastial Explosion ended.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by B.T. Narro
Cover art by Ricky Gunawan
Maps by Annette Tremblay: midnightwhimsy.deviantart.com
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