Discovery at Nerwolix

by C. G. Coppola

  “Reid…” I breathe. “Wait…”

  “Here?” he kisses my thigh. “You want me to slow here?”

  I bite my lip.

  “Good choice.”

  “I want to ask you,” I blink, trying to focus on something other than his mouth. “I wanted to know…”

  “Whatever it is…” he kisses higher up my thigh, sending me into blazing dizziness, “yes…”

  “Are you still in love with Allison?”

  The words are out of my mouth before I can stop myself. Reid pauses, his lips inches from my skin. “Okay… not what I was expecting,” he withdraws, sitting back on his heels. “Where uh…” he runs his hands through his hair, “where did that come from?”

  “You never talk about her,” I sit up, my heart in a racing panic. I know it was probably the worst time to ask, but without saying the words to him in a way I want, they slipped out in some form. “…Sorry.”

  “No…” he rubs the back of his neck. “It’s fine. I just…” he exhales, staring at the red bedding. “Uh… we dated for four years…through most of high school.”

  “You were high school sweethearts?” I choke.

  “Uh… sort of. Allison was friends with my sister—she was actually friends with the entire family before we started dating.”

  My heart breaks with each word, but I focus on the positive, on some new information about Reid. “What’s your sister’s name?”

  “Amber,” he smiles. “And my brothers are Adam and Avery.”

  “You have three siblings?”

  Reid nods. “I’m the oldest. Then it’s the twins—Adam and Avery—and Amber’s the baby.”

  “Big family,” I grin, my heart splintering when I think of him never seeing them again. “I’m sorry,” I gulp, wishing I hadn’t said anything. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

  “No—it’s fine,” he runs his hands down his face. “I wanted to tell you about them at some point anyway. And you?” he looks up. “Big family?”

  “Just me and Granny Ruth,” I wrap my arms around my legs, bringing them to my chest.

  “No siblings?”

  I shake my head.

  “Thanksgiving must’ve been so quiet.”

  “You’d be surprised.” My mouth drops to say something, but I’m not sure. What else do I say? After a long, nervous gulp, I keep my words soft, quiet. “I’m sure they miss you.”

  He nods, all humor gone. For a long moment, he stares at the bedding, concentrating on something difficult, something he really has to figure out. It takes a long moment, his eyes traveling somewhere. He starts unexpectedly, still focused on the red linen. “It was them I was going back for, not Allison. I love her,” he inhales, still staring at the red linen, “but Adam and Avery and Amber…I took care of them. They looked to me to handle things,” he inhales, playing it over in his head. “I promised that after I came back from Russia, we’d start planning the wedding.”

  I gulp, wanting to ask a million things, but unable to form any of the words. It was four years ago. Four years of not knowing. With a deep breath, I force out a question. “You’re curious, aren’t you?”

  “Every day. Sometimes… sometimes I want to go back, just to check in on them. See what they’re doing.”

  “You think maybe after all this….maybe Sampson could…”

  “I don’t know. I try not to think about it,” he gets off the bed.

  “There’s nothing wrong with that,” I lean forward, watching as Reid slowly paces. “To see your family. You know that, right?”

  “Until I want to talk to them. Explain why I can’t stay.”

  Technically, he can.

  But he won’t.

  “Hey…” I whisper, getting off the bed and moving for him. I slip my hands in his and he stills. “Hey...” I comfort, keeping my word soft.

  Reid rests his forehead on mine, concentrating on my lips. “They think I’m dead. That I died in that plane crash,” he closes his eyes, pained. “They’ve moved on.”

  “No, they haven’t. They’ve just… said goodbye.”

  “And I haven’t,” he turns away from me. “Maybe it’s better this way.”

  Sitting on the edge of the bed, I gaze out into nothing, preparing myself for the pain of what I’m about to say. “Maybe you should’ve gone back.”

  Reid whips around. On his knees before me, he takes my hand in his. “Fallon, no…” he gulps. “I told you. There was no choice. Yes,” he nods, “I’d been planning to return home, but the second I really considered living without you… I’d be dead if I went back. Married to Allison, I’d dream of you every night,” his eyes shift between mine, scorching me with pain, guilt. “What kind of life would that be?”

  My heart pounds in my chest, the magnetic heat overtaking every powerful inch of my body. I can’t hold back anymore—when he says those things to me, when he looks at me like he is now, like he’d lay his life on the line for me, how could I not? How can I keep the words in?

  “I love you, Reid.”

  He closes his eyes, inhaling. A lump rolls down his throat and he brings my hands to his lips, gently kissing my palms. “I know what you want to hear… and I do…” he opens his eyes, locking onto mine. “I do. More than you know…”

  “I’m not…” I bite my lip, watching as he presses his lips to the inside of my thigh again. Licking my lips, I try not to drown in this melting dizziness. “I’m not… there’s no pressure. I just…” I nearly spasm as his mouth inches higher, “…wanted you to know.”

  “I’m glad you told me,” he whispers.

  “Reid?” I pant, lost in a fiery rush.

  “Yeah baby?” his lips suction a small section on my thigh, just inches from my demanding core. It stings only slightly and in the most delicious way. Finally he releases me, his hot breath nearly sending me over the edge. “There. One to match your neck.”

  “My neck?” my hand flies to my throat.

  “What?” he laughs, crawling up my body, flattening me to the bed. “They’ll see that one… but only I’ll know about the other,” his brows wiggle, eyeing the hickey on my thigh. “Right now, that’s my favorite spot on you.”

  “Your favorite spot?”

  “Oh yeah,” he eyes it again with a wide smirk. “That’s my spot. And every time Walker starts running his mouth, I’ll be thinking about it.”

  “Romantic.”

  “What?” he continues up my chest. “I’m allowed my happy thoughts.”

  “I’m glad I’m one of them.”

  “Oh baby,” Reid brushes his lips against mine, pinching my chin, “you’re all of them.”

  Chapter Nine: Clash

  “So this is the beach,” Walker waves his arm to the cascading shore. “Nothing fancy—your typical surf and sand and what-not,” he moves closer to the water. “The Zingfinolds don’t use it recreationally. In fact, they rarely come down here.”

  “Why not?” Pratt asks.

  “Too exposed.”

  “So they never go for a quick swim?” Mae frowns, eyeing the deep blue. “Seems like a waste. It’s so beautiful.”

  “Then why did they claim it?” Pratt asks.

  “It’s the southernmost tip of Nerwolix’s land mass. It belongs to the Zingfinolds by default.”

  “Does King Thias have a beach up in the north?” I dip a toe in the cool water.

  “Couldn’t tell you. But this is the only one down here and it runs about half a mile in both directions.”

  Arms crossed, Reid stands next to me, focused on the distant blue. “There’s a good possibility they’ll land here.”

  “Possibly…” Walker shrugs. “And they’ll meet little resistance.”

  “I thought Hozfin was widening the perimeter?”

  “But all the way out here?” he shakes his head. “He’ll go as far as a mile out of the city.”

  “And that’s what they’ll be expecting,” Reid frowns as he gnaws on the tip of his thumb. “He needs to ha
ve the beach covered too.”

  “Well good luck convincing him.”

  “He needs to have all bases covered,” Reid inhales, surveying the shore, something ticking behind his eyes. “I don’t see why they wouldn’t start here. It’s open, and they’d have automatic ground—good to push forward into the trees.”

  “If they do invade,” Walker says, “Hozfin is set on protecting the city. He figures if they come, they’ll ambush there. Wants to keep his men close to home.”

  “More reason to stop them out here.”

  Walker shakes his head. “Hozfin thinks he’s already wasting time sending troops around the southern perimeter. Might even pull some back and stick them up in the mountains.”

  Reid runs his hands through his hair, aggravated. “That’s a terrible idea.”

  “Why?”

  “You think they’re only going to come from one direction? If Reuzkimpart’s bringing an army, he’s going to spread them out; choke us.”

  “We’ll be suffocated,” Tucker says.

  “Exactly,” Reid nods. “If we’re going to survive, we’ll need to plan offensively.”

  “Hozfin thinks he is,” Walker sighs. “This is his offensive plan—kill any who come near.”

  “That’s defensive,” he rolls his eyes.

  “It’s what he does.”

  “Well, it’s not going to go well if he doesn’t arm this beach. I’m telling you,” Reid points along the shore, “this is their best bet. Reuzkimpart will have plenty of Vermix positioned around the city, but he’ll bring his strongest force here.”

  “How do you know?” Walker crosses his arms.

  “Because that’s what I would do.”

  A long moment passes as we all stare down the open shore. The waves softly crash onto the white sand, bringing fragments of ocean with them, depositing rocks and broken shells along the smooth beach.

  “But will this be declaring war on Nerwolix?” Mae breaks the silence, looking between Reid and Walker. “Or will they be searching for traitors? Like they claimed in Mybyncia?”

  “This will be war,” Reid says. “Reuzkimpart must know by now that we know what they’re after,” he nods to himself. “He knows he’ll have to deal with the natives while they search… but oh man… this is going to be epic.”

  “That’s if this even happens,” Walker narrows his eyes. “Nothing’s certain yet.”

  “It is,” I say. “I heard Reuzkimpart talk about the invasion.”

  “But you were out of it,” he turns to me. “You might not have heard what you thought you did.”

  “Are you calling her a liar?”

  “No…” Walker looks at Reid, apparently unfazed by the tone. “I’m saying she was in a shitty position she shouldn’t have been in. Who knows what her condition was when she overheard it?”

  “I’m telling you,” I strengthen my voice. “I heard them. It’s happening.”

  “Possibly… but we won’t know until we do.”

  Reid looks like he’s about to snap, but Tucker cuts him off. “What else are we looking at?” he hooks his hands on his hips. “The mountains?”

  “It’s a bit of a trek,” Walker looks over his shoulder, back into the trees. “But we’ll be there in a half hour or so if we keep a good pace.”

  “Then let’s get a move on,” Jace grins, taking the lead as he directs us away from the beach and inward, toward the lush Eckles.

  Reid takes my hand in his. We follow behind the girls and the rest of the Rogues, keeping as far from Walker as possible. Every few minutes I glance over at Reid, finding his eyes cast on the ground, deep thoughts building behind them as he contemplates something. When he catches me looking at him, he either winks or brings the back of my hand to his mouth and kisses it. And every time, there’s a little flutter in my chest that sends fire to the root of me.

  The journey takes a little more than a half hour and we mostly move in silence, taking in the green terrain. It’s layered with Eckles and thick halos of their plump lime Yulu leaves that make navigating a bit of a chore. But Walker leads us around the lush edge and eventually we come upon a rise in the landscape. The green ground grows high, forming massive mounds that tower above the trees.

  “Over there,” Walker points to the narrow brown middle that forms a sort of valley between the green mountains on our left, “that’s where Tucker and I had to go for our second task.”

  “Wow…” Pratt breathes. “This is far.”

  “Yeah,” he glances up, surveying the sky. “Just be on the lookout for Ludins. They’re not known to prey on our kind of meat… but those talons will kill you if they catch you.”

  “Do they come this low?” Mae ducks.

  “Naw,” Able grins next to her. “They mostly stick to the mountain tops.”

  “Well let’s not go climbing any mountains,” Werzo laughs.

  “They’re relatively peaceful,” Able explains. “Like Walker said, they don’t prey on meat like us… but they’ll attack if desperate.”

  “So here you’ve got the Hylas Mountain range,” Walker sweeps his arm across the massive green boulders, “and they pretty much follow the outline of Zinnollo. Once you hop over, you’ll be in Nerwo territory.”

  Reid nods, scanning the massive green wall. “And this will all be covered?”

  “Like I said,” Walker crosses his arms. “Hozfin will put as many men out here as he feels necessary. I don’t have the exact number, but if you want it, you can ask him.”

  “I’m asking you.”

  “Sorry to disappoint, Rox.”

  He shrugs. “It’s not a surprise.”

  “You think Sampson would know?” Tucker turns to Reid. “What kind of eyes we’ll have?”

  “I don’t think anyone really knows, but at least we know what we’re dealing with now. We’ve got more room to fight,” he nods. “This is good. And if they move in for the choke, there’s a tunnel through the mountain there that will lead to the other side. We’ll use that as an emergency escape.”

  “What tunnel?” Walker frowns, following Reid’s stare.

  “Perry told me about it. Last night.”

  “You talked to Perry?” Jace’s brows rise.

  “Last night?” Able echoes, the same surprise in his voice.

  Reid nods, moving closer for the mountains. “Back there—she said there’s an escape route that very few Zingfinolds know about. That’ll be our exit point if we’re forced to retreat.”

  “We won’t be,” Walker says.

  “And that mind frame will guarantee it.”

  “Believing we’ll succeed?”

  “Not planning for the worst.”

  Walker sighs, running his hands up his face. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with here, Rox. The Zingfinolds are trained killers. That’s what they do. Kill anyone who trespasses… well,” his mouth turns into a smug grin, “almost everyone.”

  “And the Vermix are desperate. They’re in the middle of a civil war. They won’t care about who they’re invading, just that they get what they want.” Reid takes a step and hooks his hands on his hips, scanning the green wall. “Perry said the tunnel should be on the north side of that divide. There,” he points to the far side of the brown middle. A narrow darkness opens in the rock, so slight it could be a shadow. “See it? That’s probably it. We should check it out and make sure we can navigate it if we need to.”

  “And Perry just told you about this last night?” Able raises a brow, quickly glancing at me. “Out of the goodness of her heart?”

  “I don’t think there’s any goodness in Perry’s heart. But she didn’t think we knew about it so…” he shrugs, already moving for the tunnel, “…let’s check it out.”

  “I’m telling you, Rox. We’re not going to need it. The Zingfinolds—look out!”

  Pratt screams, followed quickly by Mae and I don’t have time to think. I’m knocked out of the way as two tangled Ludins crash into the treetop above, clawing at each oth
er with long, gray talons. Their enormous golden wings flap low, whipping through the trees and causing debris to fall, showering splintered branches and broken Yulus around us like a fiery hail storm.

  “We have to get out of here!” Walker calls as the wrestling Ludins tumble even lower in the canopy. “Now!”

  “Go!” Reid orders, gesturing for the tunnel in the mountain. He pulls me from the ground and threads his fingers in mine with a hard squeeze.

  “B-but—” Mae stammers as a solid branch crashes in front of her. Pratt jumps over it, followed quickly by Tucker and Werzo. Frozen, she stands in complete shock, staring at the log as debris falls around her.

  “Come on!” Able yanks her over.

  Walker, Jace and Booker fly over next, Reid and I racing behind them. We don’t get far. A loud crack and part of the trunk crashes after Able and Mae, separating us from the rest of them. A huge cloud of dark dust billows from the impact, momentarily blinding me. I can barely make out Walker going for the fallen tree when the Ludins hit the ground with a thunderous smack, rolling and clawing at each other.

  They’re huge.

  With at least fifty feet of an open wingspan, the Ludins flap vigorously, attempting to right themselves and sending the settled debris flying again. I cover my eyes with my free hand, shielding fragments of bark, broken Yulus and dirt swirling through the air.

  Reid yanks me behind him as the Ludins start snapping at one another with sharp black beaks. Still regaining their ground, they rip into each other, clawing with gray talons from thick, featherless legs.

  “This way,” Walker backs up, jetting to the left.

  Jace, Booker, Reid and I take off after him, rounding the Ludins’ fight as we climb over broken tree fragments and through the dust cloud. The others have already made some good distance, racing for the tunnel in the mountain. It’s the perfect shelter from this. We just have to get there.

  Passing the wrestling birds, we take off in a fierce run, Reid squeezing my hand so hard it hurts. Heart pounding, I’m racing alongside Jace, Booker and Walker, jetting through the fallen debris as we soar over broken branches and Yulus. We’ve only made a yard of distance when a harsh rumbling grows behind us. Refusing to slow down, Reid yanks me even harder. I’m fast, but he’s sonic. Pushing my legs as fast as they’ll go, it’s not enough and I end up tripping.