by Elin Wyn
Rokul
Conquered World: Book Eight
Elin Wyn
Contents
Tella
Rokul
Tella
Rokul
Tella
Rokul
Tella
Rokul
Tella
Rokul
Tella
Rokul
Tella
Rokul
Tella
Rokul
Tella
Rokul
Tella
Rokul
Tella
Rokul
Tella
Rokul
Tella
Rokul
Tella
Rokul
Tella
Rokul
Epilogue: Tella
Letter from Elin
Sylor: Sneak Peek
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About the Author
Tella
I’ve never believed in expectations.
The way I see it, expectations only guarantee the promise of disappointment.
I approached Rigkon with absolutely zero expectations, yet somehow still managed to be disappointed.
Rigkon was a new town. A bunch of them were springing up all over Ankou as more displaced refugees needed homes. The Xathi had done more damage than I initially realized. Rigkon was near where Fraga used to be.
There were plans in the works to rebuild Fraga, but it wasn’t a priority at the moment. The capital city, Nyheim, was still in the process of rebuilding. Progress was moving quickly, but it was a big city.
Small, currently useless cities, like Fraga, would have to wait.
Rigkon had an identity crisis. It wanted to be an outpost for construction crews when the time came to start rebuilding Fraga. It also wanted to be part of Fraga when the time came.
There was a handful of squat bungalows where the twenty or so permanent residents lived, a sad market with three half-empty stalls, and a long squat building that looked suspiciously like a bar.
I didn’t get my hopes up. I couldn’t live with the disappointment if it turned out to be something else.
If I hadn’t decided to cram this gig in before starting my lab job, I’d never have known this place was here.
Before the Xathi invasion, this area was nothing but thick forest occasionally punctuated by a picturesque clearing that could’ve been lovely for picnics if it weren’t for the aggressive flora. The Xathi had ravaged the landscape as they tore from human settlement to human settlement.
Rigkon’s developers barely had to clear out any trees to make the faint dirt trail that served as the only road, not that anyone here had need of a road. I guessed it was an attempt to make the little outpost look more official.
For all of its faults, Rigkon had one thing going for it.
It was a botanist’s heaven.
That’s what had brought me here in the first place. I saw an ad for a small job and took it on a whim. I needed the extra cash.
I still didn’t have quite enough for my own place, even though I was due to start a stable job soon. It would be my first one since before the Xathi invasion. Since I’d be in the area, I’d promised an old contact a consult on a different project once I got to town.
But that wasn’t until...
Wait, shit.
I checked the date reader strapped around my wrist. It was frozen, like it had been for two days. Rigkon didn’t have any transmission signal.
It wasn’t part of the shuttle system, either. I wish I’d known that before taking the job. I’d been walking along old roads and hitching rides for a day and a half now.
I was supposed to start my new job at the lab today.
Before I came out here, I sent a message to the lab where I’d recently been hired. I mentioned that I’d be coming out to Rigkon on a one-time gig, but should be back in time to start on the agreed date. Now I had no chance of getting a message through out here. And I hadn’t thought to message my contact about the other project.
I couldn’t resist this gig. It was one of the few opportunities offering fieldwork. I lived for fieldwork.
I wasn’t meant to be cooped up in a lab squinting into vials, monitors, and datasheets. It was a pity fieldwork didn’t pay as well as lab jobs.
I would at least be gathering hazard pay.
I pulled out my datapad and checked the info I’d been sent when I accepted the job in Rigkon. It didn’t say much other than I was supposed to meet a man called Gille in a place called Crooked Swiggen.
I squinted against the sunlight, looking for anything that bore such an odd name. Sure enough, that squat little building had a faded C above the doorway. Since I didn’t see anything else that could be the Crooked Swiggen, I made my way over.
The door didn’t fill the doorway. There was about a foot of space between the top of the doorway and the top of the door. There was a similar gap at the base of the door, as well. There wasn’t a doorknob or a handle. I bumped the door with my knee, letting it swing into the darkened interior of the Crooked Swiggen.
I’d never seen a sorrier-looking bar.
A slab of wood lined with mismatched barstools took up the wall to my left. Whoever owned this place had built shelves big enough to hold an impressive amount of spirits, however, there were less than ten bottles on display. Over half of them were empty.
A few mismatched chairs and tables dotted the dirty floor. Only one table was occupied. Two men with skin as dark and wrinkled as tree bark hunched over matching mugs of something or other. They didn’t look up when I entered, leaving me to assume that the lone man sitting at the bar was Gille.
His pants were so dusty, I couldn’t tell what color they had once been. His work boots were splattered with thick mud. He’d obviously been out in the forest recently. Gille’s skin was dark from many hours spent under the sun. His chin was covered with dark stubble speckled with flecks of silver.
Gille had a disappointing face. Nothing remarkable whatsoever. If I saw him in a crowd, I wouldn’t be able to pick him out.
“Are you lost?” he asked blandly when I approached.
“Unfortunately, I’m not.” I placed my bag on the bar and hopped up onto one of the stools. It felt like it was going to fall apart under my weight. “You Gille?”
“Yeah.” He looked confused, yet still managed to give me a once over.
I rolled my eyes. I wanted to order a drink, but Gille likely wanted me to start working right away. I didn’t want to have anything in my system when I went out in the forest.
“I’m Tella Briar, your botanist,” I clarified.
Gille had the audacity to scoff.
I glared at him. “What?”
“I wasn’t expecting a woman, that’s all. Not a lot of female botanists work outside of labs these days.” At least he was honest.
“Yeah, I’m a real treasure,” I quipped. “Tell me more about the job. Your ad was pretty sparse.”
“I didn’t want to scare off prospective takers,” Gilles replied. He took a long swig of whatever foul-smelling drink he had.
“That’s not a good sign.” I couldn’t help but feel excited. This was exactly what I was looking for. “Tell me the details.”
“We’ve had some unusual encounters with kodanos,” Gilles explained. “They’ve been making life hard for us. One destroyed a food shipment last week. We had to live off potatoes and beet stew until the next one came. There’s a particular kodanos out there that’s terrorizing unarmed shipments.”
“That doesn’t seem very unusual,” I frowned.
“It’s hard to explain. They seem angry or something, but this one kodanos has just gone crazy. This guy is terrorizing a
nything and everything that moves.” Gille muttered into the bar. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I’m not giving you the job. It’s too dangerous for a little thing like you to go up against it.”
Without thinking about it, I reached for the hilt of my hunting knife and gripped it hard. I wasn’t going to stab him or anything, but I wouldn’t mind him knowing I could.
“Have you had many replies for your ad?” I asked. Gille didn’t answer, which was answer enough for me.
“Okay,” I shrugged. “Hope you like potato and beet stew.”
“Wait,” Gille said quickly. “If you really think you can handle that kodanos, I’ll hire you. If you get hurt, it’s not my problem.”
“Pay me half now and half when I get back.” I took my datapad out of my bag and dropped it in front of him. He looked at me to see if I was joking. I lifted one brow.
“Fine.” He transferred half of the payment into my account and slid the datapad back to me.
“Thanks.” I smiled brightly and tucked the datapad away. “Any place where I can get some supplies?”
“Market’s in the lot next to this place. There’s a store on the other side of the market.” Gille spoke without looking at me. I knew I’d been dismissed. I left the bar feeling excited. I didn’t know Rigkon had a shop.
This would be easy money. Kodanos were a walk in the park for me. I’d handled dozens, maybe even hundreds.
The supply store was just as grimy and dark as the Crooked Swiggen. Bunches of dried plants hung from the ceiling. Chipped and broken knickknacks lined the crooked shelves. I didn’t see a shopkeeper.
I moved farther into the store, looking for anything that might be useful.
A dented canteen caught my eye. I’d lost mine moving around after the invasion, so I snagged it. I could probably fill it at the Crooked Swiggen. After another loop around the shop, I didn’t find anything besides the canteen. Still, there was no shopkeeper to be seen. I stepped up to the register, thinking there might be a bell or something. There wasn’t.
“Hello?” I called out, though I knew I wouldn’t get an answer. There wasn’t a backroom in this shop. After waiting a few more minutes, I left the shop with the canteen in hand.
The three stalls at the market were occupied. I walked up to the first one, manned by a large woman with a wide, friendly face.
“Excuse me, do you know who runs the shop?” I asked. “I want to buy this.”
“Oh, I run it, dear!” she said brightly. “I saw you go in. I figured you’d come looking for me. I have a good sense about people.”
“Right.” I wasn’t sure what to say. “How much?”
The woman’s smile never faded as she rung me up. I wondered if she consciously forced herself to keep her smile on or if she genuinely was that happy.
“Thanks.” I nodded and walked away.
As I passed the last stall, something caught my eye. Amidst the sparse piece of useless junk was a silver dart. The base of the dart was filled with deep red liquid.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“Toxins from the glands of Narrisiri,” the stall keeper said. My eyes lit up.
“I’ll take it!” I didn’t care how much it cost.
Narrisiri toxin was hard to come by. I tucked the dart into a safe place in my utility bag. After stopping back into the Crooked Swiggen for some water, I marched into the thick forest, eager to be in my element once again.
Rokul
“General Rouhr just called us in for a meeting.”
I looked up. It was my brother, Takar. He had a habit of walking into my room without knocking.
If it was anyone else, it would’ve angered me, but Takar and I had shared a room for most of our lives. In fact, this was the first time we’d had separate rooms.
We lived in a run-down building on the outskirts of Nyheim. It was one of the few buildings in the capital city that still had its original walls. The Xathi just barely missed this one, which wasn’t actually a good thing. The landlady, a tiny human woman named Hellin, was nearly one hundred years of age would be buried up to her frail neck in repair bills making it safe again.
In addition to paying our rent, Takar and I fixed whatever we could for her so she wouldn’t have to hire someone. It seemed like the least we could do. Most of the humans on Ankou weren’t afraid of us anymore, but that didn’t mean they were opening their homes for us to permanently reside.
When Hellin first saw us, two tall Skotan brothers loaded with weapons, she didn’t even flinch. That’s how we knew this would work out.
By now, Hellin doted on us as if we were kin.
I didn’t mind humans, I thought they were fragile, and maybe a little stupid, but not Hellin. I’d kill for Hellin if she said the word.
“What about?” I asked.
“What do you think?” Takar gave me the look he’s been giving me since we were children and he realized he was the smart one.
“Giant killer plant?” Takar nodded.
Yes.
I bet General Rouhr was finally ready to authorize an attack on the gigantic sentient plant we’d apparently awakened during our final battle with the Xathi.
I didn’t fully understand what it was, none of us did. My strike team leader, Karzin, was one of the first people to see it, though he didn’t get a good look. All we knew was that it was incalculably large, secreted a memory-altering gas, and was capable of attacking human settlements without warning from under the ground.
When it first began its attacks, there were sometimes as many as three a day. There were human casualties, but not nearly as many as there had been when the Xathi invaded. Less than thirty humans had lost their lives in these attacks.
Now, the attacks seemed to have slowed.
No one knew why.
And that wasn’t comforting at all.
“When’s the meeting?” I asked.
“Right now.” Takar was ready to go. He made a show of looking impatient while I scrambled to get my gear together.
He might be smarter, he might be more organized and logical, but I was the better warrior. There was no contest.
Takar even admitted it once, though he said it was only because I acted before I considered consequences.
I wouldn’t say he was wrong.
Our lodging was a ten-minute walk from General Rouhr’s fancy new office. Our operation had two floors to itself, as well as a lab. I wasn’t sure what was on the other floors. I didn’t care, honestly.
We were the last ones to arrive. General Rouhr looked annoyed.
“Now that the rest of my team is here,” Karzin gave Takar and me a pointed look, “are we ready to begin?”
“Dr. Dewitt, has your associate arrived?” General Rouhr asked the petite blonde doctor who even I’d be hesitant to go against in a fight.
Leena’s sharp mouth grew tight.
“No,” she said, clearly irked. “Apparently, Dr. Briar left a message nearly two days ago telling the laboratory about doing a quick job in Rigkon, and she must’ve gotten sidetracked.”
“What is she talking about?” I whispered to Karzin.
“Weren’t you listening at the last meeting?” Karzin lifted his brows.
“I must’ve forgotten,” I grinned. Karzin rolled his eyes.
“Leena has a colleague who’s supposedly some kind of botanical expert. The general thinks the botanist can help us understand what we’re up against,” Karzin explained.
“Why are we bringing in some botanist?” I asked.
“Do you have an objection, Rokul?” General Rouhr said.
“Uh.” I stood up straight. “No, sir. I was simply curious. If we’re looking for information about this plant-thing, wouldn’t Jeneva be the appropriate candidate for such a job?”
“Jeneva’s a naturalist,” Leena cut in. “She can tell us everything under the sun about known plant species, but she can’t tell us much about new ones. And brilliant as she is, she doesn’t have much official laboratory training that
could also assist us with this puzzle.”
“Exactly,” General Rouhr nodded, but I could tell there was more to it. There was a hint of worry in his eyes.
“Is that all, sir?” I asked, though it wasn’t my place. Then again, I was never one for staying in my place.
“Since you’re all bound to find out anyway, I might as well tell you now.” General Rouhr nodded solemnly. “Jeneva is experiencing some complications with her pregnancy.”
Concerned murmurs spread throughout the room and I felt guilty for bringing it up. All of us were fond of Jeneva. She was plucky. I liked that in a friend. I suddenly felt bad for not talking to her as much as I should’ve.
“Will she be okay?” Karzin asked.
“Yes,” General Rouhr nodded. “She just needs to be on bedrest most of the day. She is, after all, the first human to carry a Skotan child. There’s bound to be some complications.”
That was most likely a massive understatement. Skotan babies develop their scales in the womb and the period of formation is quite uncomfortable for Skotan females. It must be even more uncomfortable for human females.
With a shudder, I put it out of my mind.
She was a tough woman. She would be fine.
I hoped.
“Did you say that botanist isn’t here?” I asked Leena, who nodded curtly. “Shouldn’t we explore alternate methods of dealing with that thing out in the desert?”
“Do you want to run this meeting, Rokul?” General Rouhr asked. “You certainly seem to have a lot of ideas.”
“We’re restless, General!” I threw my hands up. “We’ve known about this thing for over a week. It’s killing people and destroying buildings, yet somehow, it’s still alive. Why aren’t we out there tearing it to shreds and protecting our planet?”