The Wilder World

by Jeff Hook

  “Take it out of tomorrow’s payment,” said Hishano.

  “You’re going out tomorrow?” H’raldri asked in amazement. “Don’t lie to me. I really do need that money. That’s already at a discount for friends.”

  “We don’t have a choice,” said Ishū. “If we keep going at our current rate we won’t even get enough money for boarding that ship. Doing that and paying off Seth’s interest will be basically impossible.”

  “We’re going to do both,” said Hishano. “Ishū, can you come with us tomorrow? That should help. H’raldri, tell us every ingredient you need. We’re going to go get as much of it as possible in one day.”

  “You’re already almost dead!”

  “But we’re not completely dead,” Hishano said grimly, “and we have people to protect.”

  ——

  Karugo was able to stumble out of the town mostly without help. Sometimes Hishano would give his shoulder to lean on. Ishū walked on ahead. If Hishano wasn’t here, would Ishū help? Probably. With even more sighs and a deeper frown than he was wearing now, but he would still help.

  Probably.

  It was already getting dark — Karugo must have been knocked out for many hours! He desperately didn’t want to go back out tomorrow. As much as he loved adventure, and as much as he looked forward to the love and acclaim that would come from helping Seth and Tandoku Island, he wasn’t quite ready to face such danger again. He was even more sure of that every time his feet turned numb for a second and he tripped over them. At least he had enough control to catch himself or grab Hishano before he fell too far.

  Seth’s farm didn’t have the cheerfulness they’d come to expect. While Audrey was still out front playing, she was now swinging a stick in rote patterns, face grim as if she were facing down a sworn enemy in battle. Martha bustled in the kitchen alone, her usual dinner helpers nowhere to be seen.

  John walked toward them across the yard, clothes even dirtier than normal. He tensed up and his face turned to anger when he saw Ishū. “What did you do?”

  His walk turned into a march, feet stepping decisively, bringing his clenched fists closer and closer to Ishū.

  “We almost died, that’s what. What are you talking about?”

  “Why did all the farm animals go crazy today?”

  “I don’t know! I wasn’t here!” Ishū had been in town, and then had come to rescue them, and then spent time in town again waiting for Karugo to wake up. He hadn’t had time to make any disturbances. Then why was John looking at Ishū as if he was in trouble? Why did Ishū look so guilty?

  Then again, Karugo had been in that situation before. A lot.

  John wasn’t satisfied. “You, Mr. Talk-To-Animals, have no idea why the cows got so nervous they started running into the fence? Why the snakes got so close to the farm that Anna had to run for her life? Why a long-tongued frog was in the yard, where it caught my ankle and slammed me against the barn? You’re saying you have nothing to do with that?”

  “I don’t know!” snapped Ishū. “Maybe it’s because someone caught the bamboo forest on fire. That would cause some nervousness, wouldn’t it?”

  “He did that to save me!” said Hishano.

  “And they were already stampeding when I did it!” said Karugo.

  “Maybe it’s because you were in the bamboo forest in the first place,” muttered John. “There’s a reason people don’t go up there.”

  “Because of all the deadly animals?” suggested Karugo. “Yeah, we did that to save your stupid farm.”

  “Maybe that’s not necessary,” said John threateningly. He flexed his muscles, showing a strength beyond even Tandoku Island’s most formidable laborers. “Maybe we make you give up your island. Then our entire debt is paid.”

  21

  Temptation

  Dinner didn’t go well. Everyone ate in a stony silence that was only interrupted by glares and short outbursts. Seth, with Martha’s hand on his shoulder giving him strength, had declared that they wouldn’t sell out their friends. John had frowned and crossed his arms, and Audrey had copied him movement for movement.

  But if the Knyn came again and really took his farm and pushed his family into poverty, would Seth’s will hold? If Martha’s resolve to not sell them out weakened even a little, would that mean Seth would feel free to cave? And what about John? He didn’t know what the boy’s power was, but he was physically much stronger than any of the islanders. What if John decided to make them give up the island’s location?

  Karugo walked outside. The animals had calmed down and mostly gone back to their usual places, so he felt safe being out there in the dark. It was certainly better than the oppressive atmosphere in the farmhouse.

  He’d thought he’d made it out. That the feeling of Tandoku Island had left him forever. But it seemed as if he’d brought it with him. Had he been foolish to hope that it was all their fault? That the reason his fellow islanders had rejected him was because all of them were wrong? Much more likely was that he was broken. His hair was a testament to that.

  The sound of strange birds and insects filled the air. If he had been on Tandoku Island those sounds might have been a comfort, however small, but now they just reminded him that he didn’t fit in anywhere.

  Footsteps.

  “Go away,” he growled instinctively.

  A warm feminine voice came from the trees. From the wrong direction. The farmhouse was on his other side. “What did they do this time?”

  “They—” Karugo caught himself. He couldn’t just go complaining to a random stranger. “Who are you?”

  The Knyn stepped into view. Worse than a random stranger. The one who’d caused all this mess in the first place. “I’m Nata,” the thing said and extended its hand.

  “They’re trying to pay you money, that’s what they’re doing,” Karugo bit off. He stared at the hand for a second, then looked away.

  “You’re more powerful than the others,” said Nata. She let the words hang in the air for a while, giving him time to think on it or comment. He didn’t deny the charges.

  “How can you tell?”

  Nata ignored the question. “Is that why they fear you?”

  “It’s not fear,” he said. He might be angry with Ishū and the others, but this thing couldn’t go around insulting them.

  “Oh? Your power is reading minds? Then what is it, if not fear?”

  Sometimes he did things that were out of the ordinary and surprising, and they were scared that one of those might be harmful. And John was just stupid. And Ishū blamed him for things that weren’t his fault at all. And the Elders hated him just for existing.

  Was that ‘fear’?

  “We’re different than the others, you and I,” said Nata. “We both have immense power. Yours is more immediate, and mine is more strategic, but it is power nonetheless. And so people hate and fear us for that fact alone. Not everyone, but the quarrelsome, the weak. The jealous. Those always looking for someone else to blame.”

  Hishano, who was strong, kept defending Karugo. Was that it? Was Ishū mad that his power wasn’t as strong? And the farm family… Audrey, the youngest and weakest, was the one that had promised the strongest vengeance.

  But wasn’t that deserved? “Didn’t you threaten to take away Seth’s farm?” he asked.

  “I came to this island to give it life,” said Nata. She somehow made her voice sound innocent as she said it. “There is not unlimited land, and Seth is not the only one who wants to farm on it. The people of this island deserve their land being farmed by someone who can produce the most and best food from every acre. If we could save ten families from hunger by sacrificing Seth, don’t you think we should?”

  “How do you know it’ll be better?”

  “There are a dozen farming families on this island, and Seth’s is the eighth most productive per square foot. We could sell it to the farms that are more productive, or let other families have a try. Then Seth can do other things, things more suited to h
is talents. His family won’t starve… not if he’s willing to work hard.”

  Karugo wasn’t used to doing such calculations, but it made sense. The best person should be working on important jobs like growing food and if they didn’t have a Council of Elders the decisions had to be made somehow. But something didn’t seem quite right. “Then why would you keep him on the farm if we gave up our island? Wouldn’t that hurt the people of this island?”

  Nata smiled dreamily. She almost looked happy. “Because whatever harm Seth brings to this island by being unproductive would be tiny in comparison to how much good we could do your island.”

  “But we already have a Council of Elders,” said Karugo.

  Nata seemed confused by the statement, but she recovered quickly. “These Elders,” she asked, “are they wise? Do they treat you fairly?”

  She emphasized the ‘you’ as if she already knew the answer. The Elders had treated him like a thunderbeast dropping. He had no loyalty to them. He shook his head.

  “I see,” she said. “Many an unwise tribal chieftain resists progress. They value their own power and security over the wellbeing of their people. When we come to an island the leaders may grumble, but the people are happier.”

  “We?”

  “Knyn merchants. The Mezazi Empire. Sometimes people become angry at us because they forget how bad things used to be. They blame us for problems that have always existed. But it is our duty to stay and continue the work.”

  Karugo couldn’t imagine Tandoku Island without the Elders, without the protective shield. Life would be better for him, certainly. Being able to feel again, able to use his power… but what chaos had been unleashed during that short time without the shield! Could such a thing really be good?

  “How would life improve if you found our island?” he asked.

  Nata smiled, then pulled out a white cube from her pack. “Here’s one example. Have you ever had suda?”

  He shook his head as she handed him the cube. It was like sand, but stuck together and a far purer white. “What’s it do?”

  “Put it in your mouth,” she said. She took out a second cube and demonstrated. “Don’t chew, let it sit on your tongue and dissolve.”

  He hesitantly licked the cube and found a surprising sweetness. More like fruit than like sand. He stuck the entire thing in his mouth and sucked on it, bringing the sweetness to the surface even faster than licking it. His body experienced a rush of energy, which made the pain of the bad day and the tense dinner seem to fade. “It’s amazing,” he said.

  “It is, isn’t it?” Nata smiled widely. The cube must be having the same effect on her. “That’s just one of the many things trade can bring your island. You could experience this and so many other wonders every day. All you have to do is tell me your island’s location.”

  This could solve all of their problems. Seth would be happy with him. The people on Tandoku Island would be happy with him… probably. He kept thinking back to the brief time after the shield fell. His classmates’ powers manifesting dangerously. The crying mother he’d seen on his way to the House of Elders. Things might be better out here, but could his old island take the shock of transition?

  Karugo paced nervously, unsure. The suda had given him a strange sort of excitable energy, unlike anything he’d experienced before.

  Maybe he could sell the island’s location, then if anything bad happened he could fight off the Knyn merchants and the Mezazi Empire. He’d be a double savior.

  But then he thought of Hishano cutting himself in half to save him. Of Ishū staying awake for two days so he wouldn’t drown. They were intent on keeping the island away from outsiders — that was the point of this trip. Surely Hishano and Ishū and all the Elders couldn’t be wrong!

  But what did the Elders know of outsiders? If they saw these outsiders, maybe they would be okay with it.

  He tripped on an overgrown tree root, and Nata moved quickly to catch him. Her fur was soft and warm; she smelled of earth and metal. Her muscles were surprisingly strong, although after she’d sent Hishano flying the other day he really shouldn’t have been surprised.

  The very pleasantness of this felt like a betrayal.

  Eventually she put him back on his feet. “Consider it, okay?”

  He thought of his father, who’d been so kind to him despite not understanding. His grandfather, who’d sacrificed everything to create a hero.

  “If we can’t get the money in time,” he said. They could probably get it from H’raldri, and it would give him time to think. “If that happens, then we’ll talk.”

  22

  Pack It Up

  Ishū smiled, even when a branch full of leaves whacked him in the face.

  “Sorry!” Karugo whisper-yelled back at him. Could that kid learn to be quiet?

  Still, Ishū smiled. The stress and suspicions of yesterday had faded. Today they were all going together to find as many rare potion ingredients for H’raldri as possible, and he was going along to help mitigate the animal threat. With only six or so days left until the ship’s estimated arrival, this was their best hope.

  It felt good to walk through the forest.

  After being in town so long yesterday, with its artificial order and even more artificial chaos, being out in nature felt amazing. These woods, so close to the farm and the town, felt more natural than anything on Tandoku Island.

  It was so good that he could almost ignore the silent dread creeping through the minds of the forest animals. How they shied away from him. How they refused his questions. How a few, especially those who were in groups, seemed geared up to attack.

  There were three animals off to their right. They were either snakes or wolves; the long-tongued frogs didn’t travel in groups, buffalo were in herds, birds were either alone or in larger flocks, and the smaller animals and insects didn’t really show up on his power. If they were standing still he could see from their eyes and figure out what species they were and if the animals would talk to him he could infer it from how they talked, but all the animals either ran away or attacked.

  “Let’s go left,” he said. It would be better to avoid these, just in case they were the attacking kind. Hishano still had little shadows of bite marks from when two wolves had attacked them ten minutes ago.

  “There’s swamps if we go any farther left,” complained Karugo.

  “There’s animals off to the right,” said Ishū.

  “Animals we can fight?” Karugo asked excitedly. Since that first victory he’d been far too eager to engage in battle again.

  “Animals that might kill us if we don’t fight well? Yes, that type of animals.”

  “Our tactics worked! What’s the point of coming up with these if…”

  Ishū stopped listening as a new voice cut in. He can only control one of us at a time. With three we can take him down.

  Why did they keep on accusing him of that? There was definitely something strange going on here, something that wasn’t caused solely by Karugo.

  He didn’t have time to think because the animals were getting closer. Wolf forms appeared through the trees, three spreading out to flank them.

  “Tactics, everyone,” said Ishū.

  Karugo laughed giddily. “Let’s do it!”

  ——

  Karugo grabbed a big thick stick and sent fire racing up it. This trick made him feel so awesome, so powerful. It took concentration to direct the fire to an object he was touching, but it was pretty easy once he’d figured out the trick.

  They’d stayed up late into the night figuring out how to complete today’s objectives. Aside from guiding Karugo in exploring and learning a bit more about his power, Seth and his family had also taught them the basic behaviors of each animal. From there they’d come up with tactics for fighting them all.

  The one thing Seth and his family wouldn’t do, however, was go with them. Not even John, whose strength would have come in handy.

  “There’s a reason H’raldri is paying
so much,” he said. “Better to risk living in town than to risk going up there. I can’t heal or protect myself with fire like you guys.”

  All this combined meant that he and Hishano were awesome. Even a big muscly guy like John didn’t dare do what they did.

  Hishano also picked up a stick and Karugo touched it in the middle, sending flame to the tip. It might go out as Hishano swung it, but it would still help protect him for a little bit longer, and if the flame went too far toward his hands he could just drop the stick and then heal. The underbrush was damp enough that it wouldn’t catch so quickly that it burned the forest down.

  The wolves circled them, keeping their distance, their rainbow markings bright in the sunlight. This was a pack of three males, so they all had the neon splashes on their coats. They separated, intending to flank the humans, but that would just backfire. Each of their group could hold off one wolf for a while, but would eventually lose. Two of them against one wolf, however, would mean a quick victory.

  Ishū had a stick, but refused to catch it on fire. His role was mostly to tell them what was going on in the battle and so as long as he could hold off his wolf long enough, things would be fine. He was bigger and more muscular than both Karugo and Hishano, so that helped overcome his lack of skill and his non-combat power.

  The wolves approached at about the same speed. This made things harder, but Karugo had learned a new trick just for this occasion. Wait for them to approach… Hishano’s wolf was almost in range. Wait for it to engage… and now.

  Karugo held his flaming stick aloft in his right hand, then reached down with his left to touch the ground. From there he sent a quick wave of flame toward his wolf. An ephemeral flame, touching just the tip of the grass and not lasting long enough to catch anything on fire, but enough to spook the wolf pretty badly. It whined and pulled back.

  That gave Karugo room to act. He turned toward Hishano’s wolf and slammed his stick down into its side. That was all he needed. Instead of pulling back for another strike, he held the stick pressed against the wolf and spread the flames across its fur.