Dumbass, Puk thought and nearly said aloud. So his filter was not entirely broken.
“Let me get you a refill,” said Gael, either not noticing her contempt or simply not caring. He snatched Kali’s glass from the table before she could respond and marched back over to the bar with a swagger in his step.
Kali immediately said, “This is a bad idea.”
“Yeah, he’s a bit of a dickhead,” Puk conceded. “Let’s just try to get the ayote from him and be done with it. We’re using him, that’s all.”
Kali sighed, clearly displeased. But she said, “Alright. Let’s just get to the point fast.”
Puk nodded.
Gael returned to the table with a tall glass of water, which Kali eyed suspiciously. Puk would be surprised if he caught her taking even one sip of it.
He pressed on with their business. “Look,” he said, drawing Gael’s attention away from Kali. “I called you over ’cause we wanna ask you somethin’.”
“Yeah?” He winked at Kali. The man truly had no shame.
“I wanna ask you somethin’,” Puk then emphasized. Gael looked less intrigued by this notion. “I was hoping we could borrow your ayote tomorrow. Head out early in the morning, then we’d have it back by nightfall. Nice and fast.”
Gael let out a low whistle. “I dunno…” he muttered, making a real show out of it. “I’m on a pretty tight timetable here. I’ve gotta get to the Peaks and cross those to get to Lyukashi…”
Now Puk wanted to roll his eyes.
Instead he said, “That shipwreck ain’t goin’ nowhere. You’ve got plenty of time to cross the mountains and find your treasure.”
The man smiled, knowing how much leverage he held. He wanted to milk this for all he could. He said, “I’m not so sure about that. Lots of treasure hunters are surely converging on the wreckage, and if I get there too late…”
Puk couldn’t stop himself from groaning. “The only other people who’re gonna be down there are centripts from Lyukashi, and I doubt there are many of them who care enough about whatever was on that ship.” He added, “Plus, getting across Vanap’s Peaks ain’t an easy task. Might do you good to have one more day of rest.”
Gael put a hand to his chin in theatrical thought. He considered Puk’s words, but they were evidently not enough to convince him.
“It’ll be a huge dent in my profits,” he said. “Of that I am sure.”
Kali kept her mouth shut. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was ignoring the glass of water in front of her. She stared daggers at the man to her right.
Gael continued, “I could propose a trade, however.”
“What kind of trade? We ain’t got much,” said Puk.
“Oh, you have what I’d like,” Gael said, sliminess dripping from every word he spoke. He turned his gaze from Puk over to Kali and grinned wide. He then reached a hand underneath the table and placed it on her leg, saying, “If you—”
She shot up from the table before he could finish the sentence. “Fuck off,” she told him, and retreated upstairs.
Somehow, Gael appeared genuinely shocked by what had transpired.
“She’s got a lot of spirit,” he said once she had totally disappeared from view. “I like fiery women. Don’t you? Especially on a faif. There’s nothing I love more than a rambunctious faif woman, with their colorful skin, their flat chests, their silky hair...”
Puk was appalled by the man’s gall to do and say all of this to him, a complete stranger. He was opening his mouth to echo Kali’s sentiment and storm off himself before he realized that he could use the type of man Gael was to his own benefit.
“Yes, love those flat-chested faifs,” Puk said, which was probably the biggest lie he’d ever uttered, given qarms’ asexual nature. “Tits sure are great, big or small.”
“I hear that,” Gael nodded, kicking back some of the beer he held in his hand. Puk did likewise with the last of his chocolate delight.
“Know what else I love? Aside from great tits?” Puk asked, nearly retching from the vocabulary he was using.
Gael perked up, awaiting the reveal.
“Fire-spit.”
The man’s wide grin returned, though it had hardly faltered even when Kali declined his gentlemanly offer of the ayote in exchange for sex. Puk wondered what in the world it would take to deter him.
“I hear that!” Gael beamed. “You got any on you, friend?”
“I do,” said Puk. He extracted the pouch he had unconsciously slipped into his pocket earlier and plopped it onto the table.
Gael gawked at the pouch with longing.
“To be honest,” Puk said, mumbling all three words as one, “I don’t need it. I’d be willing to give it up if you let us use your ayote tomorrow.”
Gael tore his eyes away from the baggy and leaned back in his chair. “I don’t know,” he said, still trying to drive a bargain. “Maybe your friend would reconsider…”
“She ain’t gonna reconsider,” Puk said definitively. “You can get that outta your head now. This is the trade.” He edged the pouch closer to Gael.
The man considered the offer, his eyes darting back and forth between Puk and the drugs. He then reached forward and plucked the bag off the table, securing it in the breast pocket of the tight vest he wore.
“Glad we came to an agreement,” Puk said, trying his best to smile at the vile man.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Gael grumbled. “Just have the dumb animal back tomorrow night. And let your friend know my offer still stands, if she changes her mind.”
Puk refrained from saying anything to spoil the deal and got the stable number from Gael, as well as a written note stating he was allowing them to borrow the ayote to present to the stablemaster.
“Pleasure doin’ business with you,” Puk lied, getting up from the table with the slip of paper in his pocket.
His stomach sank at the prospect of giving away his entire stash of spit, but it was for the good of the mission. He hoped Kali wouldn’t hold a grudge against him for dealing with Gael, who had turned out to be even worse than he anticipated.
Back in their room, he found Kali already changed into nightwear and tucking herself into bed.
He knew she didn’t need to eat dinner, but he was going to grab something from the kitchen soon. He wanted to tell her the news first.
“I got us the ayote,” he said.
Kali turned to him with disgust in her face. “His ayote?”
Puk nodded.
“How’d you manage that? Are you gonna fuck him?”
“No.”
“Hmm. I’m not sure what else he could want.” Her tone was understandably sour.
Puk sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said, doing his best to enunciate. “I knew he was a fuck, but I didn’t know he was that big of a fuck. I wouldn’ta suggested him if I did. Trust me, I didn’t like him any more than you did.”
“Still made a deal with him though, it sounds like.”
“Well, yeah,” Puk said, and he did feel grimy about the whole thing. “But we need a ride, or else we’re screwed, according to you. And you’re the expert. So I convinced him.”
“Yeah? How?”
By giving him the rest of my drugs. His filter caught the sentence before it escaped his lips.
“Guy is just a dumbass, and he’s drunk too, so I talked him into it. Got a note right here for the stablemaster saying we can take the ayote tomorrow.”
Kali shook her head. “I don’t want anything to do with him. We can figure something else out. There has to be someone else down there who’ll let us borrow their ride. Talk to people when you go down there for dinner. You’re good at talking, apparently. Well, sometimes.”
Puk knew the last bit was a barb at how much he’d been slurring his words. He ignored it and said, “Yeah, maybe someone else will let us borrow an ayote, but there’s no one else down there I wanna fuck over.”
There was a pause before Kali asked, “What do you mean?”
“What’ll we do with it? If—”
He cut her off. “Who cares! We can keep it or let it go free in the desert, where it’s from. Or better yet, we can sell it to someone in Restick. Let Gael deal with not having a ride to the coast and having to pay more money for another mount. Win-win for us, lose-lose for him. I don’t give a shit about double-crossing someone who’s obviously an asshole. Do you?”
“No,” she replied without thinking about it.
“So it’s settled then,” said Puk. “We’ll borrow his ayote and then forget to return it.”
Kali considered it for a few seconds, then nodded. A sneer snuck its way onto her face. “Okay.”
“Perfect!” Puk smiled. “The plan is back on track.”
CHAPTER VIII
THE EGG HEIST
The next morning, they woke up bright and early to head down to the stables to get a head start on their arduous day, and to ensure they got to Gael’s ayote before he rescinded the deal.
Kali had been fuming as she pounded her way up the stairs after the man’s insane suggestion that she sleep with him in exchange for a favor. It was hardly past dark, but she changed into her pajamas and threw herself into bed, too angry to interact with anyone else. She wished she’d had room to pack a book to read. Even Your Canary would have been better than nothing.
After Puk barged in with his news then left again to eat dinner, it took her a while to fall asleep in spite of how tired she was from their long walk.
A piece of her was still irritated with Puk for forging ahead with Gael, but a larger piece was undeniably excited to screw him over.
Kali felt refreshed after a good night’s sleep, putting the dining room’s events behind her. Unfortunately, her companion could not count himself so lucky. It took several attempts at waking him before he finally stirred, and he was lethargic in gathering his few belongings and trudging down the stairs, complaining about a headache the entire way.
At the foot of the stairs, she double-checked that he still had the note from Gael. Once confirmed, they stepped outside.
The stablemaster was a kind, elderly faif man. His skin was a faded green with streaks of blue and red like multicolored lightning strikes. He wore a loose-hanging thin green shirt that was frayed at its edges and perpetually dirtied by his work. He gave the two of them a warm smile and a hello as they approached. Two horses, a surprising sight to Kali, whinnied behind him.
“Good morning!” he said to them, setting down a large sack of dried bugs at his feet. “What can I do for y’all? Just getting in?” He leaned to look behind them, though if they had an animal to stable it would’ve been clearly visible regardless. The old man was puzzled.
“The opposite, actually,” Kali smiled back. “We’re getting an early start today.”
The stablemaster frowned and said, “My apologies, but we don’t rent here, unfortunately. All these beauties are already accounted for.”
“We know,” said Puk, stepping forward. He pulled the crumpled note from his pocket and unfolded it before handing it over to the man, who took it with a quizzical expression.
Puk stepped back to stand beside Kali, and they waited as he slowly read the note.
“I must say, this is peculiar,” the stablemaster muttered, more to himself than to them. He looked up from the wrinkled paper and said, “I should check the signature against my sign-in records, to make sure it’s legitimate. I’m sure you understand.”
“Of course,” Kali said before Puk could say anything snippy. The qarm rubbed at the space on his head between his two eyestalks, obviously still grouchy from being awoken so early.
The stablemaster shuffled into a makeshift office, a small rectangular wooden structure with a door emblazoned with a symbol of a crescent moon and a star in its curve. A misshapen square sign hung on the door under the carving with the word IN painted blue in a messy scrawl.
He emerged a minute later with the note still in hand. “It matches!” he declared, still confused but coming to accept the situation. “It looks like Mr. Berei’s ayote is in the fourth stall.”
They followed him to the correct stall, where Gael’s ayote was standing awake and perky, munching on a pile of dried bugs and slices of cactus scattered on the ground.
The animal looked far from crummy to Kali, with a healthy sheen to its shell and a long, curved snout. It looked like it could give Bango a run for his money.
“Do you know its name?” she asked.
The stablemaster nodded. “Her name’s Bella.”
It was a pretty name. Kali smiled and cooed, “Hey, Bella!”
The ayote’s ears perked up and she momentarily ceased munching on her breakfast to look up at the person calling her name. Her tail wagged slowly, sweeping up sand in the back of the stall.
The stablemaster swung open the stall door and led Bella out to greet her new riders. She immediately took to Kali, but was more dubious about Puk. After a few minutes, though, she began warming up to him.
They continued getting to know Bella while the old man hitched up her saddle and attached some extra bags on either side, explaining that it was all equipment Gael had included when checking in to the stable. One bag was empty, but the other contained a packet of dried bugs, three slices of cactus, and two tall, thin glass jars that were filled with water.
“Gael paid for all of this already,” he told them with a smile. Kali wanted to laugh out loud, but she refrained.
With everything taken care of, the friendly stablemaster asked if there was anything else he could do for them. Kali gave it a moment’s thought, but nothing came to mind, so she told him they were fine.
She helped Puk up onto the ayote’s back, much to his annoyance, but given his stature he had to concede that some assistance was necessary. Kali then pulled herself up into the saddle and thanked the stablemaster again.
“No problem at all!” he said. “Have a pleasant day. See you tonight!”
Kali again resisted the urge to laugh. Puk did laugh.
And with that, they were off.
She directed Bella around the corner of the outpost, heading in the opposite direction of the shaded Ribroad, which surely was causing the aged stablemaster further confusion. Nothing about their entire interaction was ordinary.
They were headed north in the open desert, in the direction of the Loranos Gulf. There were no towns in the sands between the outpost and the coast, where the disreputable city of Toralas was situated on a small peninsula jutting out into the sea.
Somewhere in the sands should be the pack of cordols she’d spotted migrating. The beasts were fast under the dunes and should have had no trouble reaching their destination by now.
As Kali mapped out the geography in her head, she suspected they might be pushing it trying to reach Restick before the desert grew too cold, but they would certainly be able to reach the Ribroad’s second outpost.
It was a bumpy start to their journey as Bella raced through the sands with excitement. Kali could tell the ayote was young and somewhat inexperienced with riders, showing little consideration for the people she was jostling on her back. She did her best to slow the animal down, but Bella was too energetic after being cooped up in a stall all night. She wanted to run.
Kali feared the ayote’s voracious appetite for speed would buck Puk off her backside, and it seemed the qarm shared her concerns.
Up to this point, he had been grasping the sides of the saddle as best he could, but he leaned forward to ask, “Is it okay if I hold on to you?”
She nodded and then felt his stubby arms wrap around her waist, clutching at the fabric of her shirt for support. She looked down at the chunky blue fingers holding on to her and giggled.
They bounded through the de
sert for close to an hour before the sun started showing its face over the horizon. It crept up slowly, its yellow ink spilling across the sand ahead of them, which glittered in the light.
“It looks pretty,” Puk half-shouted over the wind whipping at their faces and the enthusiastic huffs of their mount. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the sunrise in the desert before.”
Kali was glad to hear his mood was improving. A nice sunrise could help anyone in that respect, she figured.
“It’s really pretty,” she agreed as they raced onward.
For a few joyful minutes, watching the sunrise as she bounced up and down on this delighted creature’s back, Kali was able to forget the questionable nature of everything she had agreed to do.
She simply enjoyed the ride.
- -
Riding on an ayote was not nearly as majestic as riding horseback in his childhood. Puk considered that perhaps he was romanticizing the memory, and back then it had been just as bumpy and uncomfortable and he had been a dumb kid who didn’t care.
As the heat bore down on them, Puk was thankful for swindling a ride out of the asshole mage. Another full day of walking would have proven to be quite a chore for him. In fact, he thought it might kill him.
Spit and Song (Ustlian Tales Book 2) Page 18
