by Rosie Scott
The soft sounds of fabric rustling and bare feet stepping over hardwood echoed behind me before Koby walked up to the aperture, his black eyes glassy with morning fatigue. He ran a hand through his hair, pulling it out of his face. Though he watched the outskirts of the city with me, he didn't pull his hood up. The broody weather was a relief to his eyes.
“Morning,” Koby greeted, his voice rough from sleep. He chuckled. “I'm beginning to sound like you.”
I smirked. Ever since Neliah noticed my voice roughened from chain-smoking moons ago, it was impossible to miss. Everything I did that utilized my voice was edged in gravel: talking, laughing, even grunting in exertion.
Koby nudged my side. “Cigarette?”
I took out another cigarette, lit it with mine, and handed it over.
“Thanks.” Koby took a puff. “We need to stay at Vallen's more often. I think that was the best I've ever slept.”
I glanced back at Vallen's apartment. Given his importance in Tenesea, it was one of the nicest domiciles in the tree. Other than Vallen's bedroom which was separated from the rest of the massive space by a curved wall, the apartment had an open floor plan and was equipped for entertainment. Worn plush couches surrounded tables still cluttered with pieces of board games and cards from the night before. Bookshelves lined the northern wall from the balcony to the door, packed full of texts and trinkets. A kitchen with a bar and stools sat beside the exit. Glasses, loose ferris, and rolling papers sprinkled over the counter like damning evidence of our party. Even more damning were the passed out idiots on Vallen's couches. Hassan slept on one, his long dark locks tangled over his face as he drooled into the fabric. One lavender arm hung over the side to the floor, fingers brushing the bottom of a spilled mug. Jaecar slept on the opposite sofa in a much less embarrassing state, his stomach rising and falling peacefully. Kali left the scene during the night, likely to go across the hall to Jayce's apartment. Sage joined us for games in the evening, but he retired early. Koby and I had taken two other couches, and the impressions of our bodies still marred them. Vallen's bedroom door was closed, but he and Hilly disappeared through it late the night before.
“I wouldn't mind staying here every night,” I finally agreed, turning back to survey the land. “I have no recollection of anything between falling asleep and waking up, and normally I'm tossing and turning something fierce.”
Koby huffed. “Yeah. You seem contemplative this morning.”
“I was wondering whether that little girl knows her father,” I admitted, motioning to the children playing in the rain. Even though the half-Alderi girl was only one of them, Koby immediately understood.
“Probably not,” he replied. “Unless he lives and works around here, there'd be no reason to stay.”
“That sounds so callous.”
Koby shrugged. “If you got someone pregnant, would you settle down to raise the child?”
Just the idea made me feel claustrophobic. “No. Maybe I'd...I don't know. Leave gold. Something.”
“Spoken like a true surface-dweller,” Koby teased with a chuckle. “I'd probably do the same, Cal. Even though parenthood doesn't come naturally to us, we should do what's considered right and normal on the surface if we want others to respect us. Let's focus on not having that problem to begin with, though.”
I laughed roughly. “Let's.”
Koby sobered as he took another drag. “Do you ever...” he trailed off, hung his head, and shook it as if to rid himself of an idea.
“What?” I asked, more curious about his question now that he shied away from asking it.
“Sometimes I fantasize about Alderi women,” Koby admitted in a rush. “And I don't want to.”
I frowned and blew smoke through my lips.
“I'm sorry if hearing that upsets you, but it's something I deal with that I thought you might relate to.”
I couldn't deny that many Alderi women were beautiful, but it was something I didn't think about often on the surface where Alderi were rare and the women rarer. Rather than confront the uncomfortable truth, I deflected with a question. “Do you think there are any tamed sisters?”
Though half-Alderi women existed in the wildlands, tamed referred to escapees of the underground that rejected its culture, no matter their sex. Full-blooded Alderi women controlled the underground; why would any want to escape?
“Vallen told me there have been a few over the years,” Koby replied. “Some are tasked with assassinations and never go back, whether they find the job too difficult or are just fascinated by the surface. Evidently, there are also sisters who disagree with the underground's inequality and come with after helping men escape.”
That was good news, but that Koby sparked up conversation with Vallen about the underground indicated his hopes of returning hadn't faded.
“Where were these tamed women when we were slaves?” I pondered, unable to keep resentment from my tone.
“Overshadowed by the hateful sisters, evidently,” Koby murmured. Sensing my discomfort, he changed the subject. “All this peace and quiet doesn't feel right to me.”
I settled my gaze on the broken skyline of marsh trees, exhaling in a rush until smoke clouded and dissipated into the rain. “You're thinking of Cale?”
“Yeah.” Koby handed me his cigarette, done with it. I tossed the tiny butt of mine over the aperture before continuing to smoke his. “He's planning something long-term, Cal. Don't you think? There's too much risk in coming here repeatedly just to steal ferris from people who will learn to expect it and fight back. Not to mention that's time-consuming.”
“Maybe, but they're arrogant enough to risk it,” I argued. “Vruyk clearly assumes he owns the seas. He won't think twice about challenging the wildlands. Despite its size it has few settlements, few people, and no government. He might think it's ripe for control.”
“You think he'd try to establish some sort of base here?” Koby asked for clarification as Vallen's bedroom door opened with a squeak behind us.
“He will have to if he wants to deal in ferris without working with the growers. Cale will probably look to steal the plants themselves so they can grow ferris in bulk without risking their men to challenge the wildlands repeatedly.”
“Ferris only grows in the marshes,” Koby pointed out. “And the only marshes are in the wildlands.”
I threw the second cigarette over the aperture and stood up straight. “Exactly.”
“G'morning, Captains,” came a bubbly greeting to my right, where Hilly stopped beside me. She stared at the wooden wall just below the glass-less window and said, “Sure wish I could see the view.”
I turned, grabbed a side table, and dragged it closer. Hilly took my hand for balance as she climbed up on it. Sweeping my eyes over her frizzy and disturbed head of copper hair, I commented, “I guess you had a great time with Vallen. Your hair's a mess.”
“I know,” Hilly replied, letting go of my hand and swiveling around to sit on the table and look over the aperture. “Glorious, ain't it? You boys sure like tuggin' on it.”
“Don't flatter yourself,” I teased dryly, swiping a hand past my bald head. “I only pull on yours because I miss mine.”
“You? Long hair?” Hilly ogled me for a moment. “I almost said I couldn't imagine it, but I can. Ya could be standin' on yer head covered in dirt and ya'd still easy to stare at, Captain Handsome.”
“Appreciate the compliment,” I purred, reaching over to pinch the fat just above Hilly's hip. She burst into a giggle fit so intense she nearly toppled off the table before I caught her.
“Ya bastard,” Hilly breathed, grabbing the window ledge to steady herself. “I told ya I'm ticklish there.”
“That's why I like touching you there,” I retorted playfully.
“She's ticklish where?” Vallen asked, walking up beside Hilly while lighting a cigarette with a match. His eyes were glassy with sleep and his voice rough.
“Right above her hips, both sides,” I replied.
> Vallen grinned. “Good to know.”
Hilly sighed, though it overjoyed her to be the center of attention.
Vallen leaned down to kiss Hilly's cheek and murmured, “You are a delight.”
Hilly chuckled. “I know.”
Vallen stood straight and watched the rain caress the soggy land. “Jayce is still bothering me about wanting to fight you in the arena, Calder,” he informed me. “She'll probably try to drag us down there today.”
“I'll go, but I don't want to participate.”
Vallen nodded with understanding. I'd shared with him how the pain of shapeshifting still affected me; the last thing I wanted to do was transform for trivial reasons.
“Then we'll find a different fight to watch or make excuses that we have other things to do,” Vallen suggested. “Jayce is persistent, but she's also easily distracted. Once someone's blood is spilled she might forget all about spilling yours.”
I chuckled low. “That's a relief.”
Knock-knock-knock.
The four of us glanced back at Vallen's door. Because violent vibrations and shouting didn't accompany the knocking, his visitor likely wasn't Jayce. Vallen stepped over and around party debris to answer the door. Waiting on the other side was an unfamiliar and beautiful Vhiri woman with bronze skin, a mane of dark golden hair, and bright green eyes. Her gaze exuded power and control, though it was troubled. She glanced around the messy room and groggy occupants, her nonchalance indicating she knew Vallen well enough to expect his apartment to be in perpetual disarray.
“Cyrene,” Vallen greeted with familiarity, pulling her into a hug immediately. When the two parted, Vallen turned to us and said, “This is Cyrene Chase from Misu. Cyrene, these are my friends and business partners.”
Cyrene smiled politely at us, though she quickly returned her attention to Vallen. “Misu needs your aid.”
Vallen frowned with concern and backed away from the entryway, non-verbally inviting Cyrene into his apartment. He closed the door behind her and asked, “You're not having trouble with pirates, are you?”
“What? No,” Cyrene replied with some bafflement. Amusement brightened her face as she asked, “Did you already forget we have no harbor, Vallen? It's only been three years since your last visit.”
Vallen motioned to the rest of us. “Pirates have been moving inland to chase Calder and Koby's crew here.”
“Yeah? Why?” Cyrene watched us for answers.
“They had the gall to try to exert control over us,” I replied, “and that kind of thing makes me homicidal.”
Cyrene laughed abruptly, though she decided not to ask for details. “We've had no trouble with pirates in Misu. Just wildlife. We're in over our heads this time, Vallen, which is why I asked for aid. If you could send us an experienced hunting party, we have supplies and goods for trade.”
“What's the frisky critter causing problems?” Vallen asked, walking over to his kitchen to pour a few glasses of ale.
Cyrene sat on the armrest of a couch as Jaecar yawned himself awake on its other end. “Critters, plural. Some children went missing in Red Moon after going out to play at the lagoon. I sent an eagle-kin out to scout the area, but he found nothing save for a baby afanc, and it didn't seem big enough to digest one child, let alone a few. Some days later, fishers left for the lagoon and didn't return. Five full-grown adults, two of them beastmen.”
“They disappear, too?” Vallen asked, offering her a glass of ale.
Cyrene stared at the glass with bewilderment and protested, “It's a little early to be drinking, Vallen.”
“It's never too early for drinking,” Vallen argued lightly. He walked over to offer the ale to Koby, who accepted it. He gave me the other glass and went back for more.
Cyrene watched Vallen hand out ale to the others as she replied, “To answer your question, yes, the fishers disappeared. This time, I went out to scout the area myself. Picked up a heavy stench of blood that led right to the water's edge. I went for a swim. Ended up in a fight with a baby afanc.” She lifted her shirt, showing off a deep scar from her bottom rib to her navel. The wound was still pink with newness and light infection. “I gutted the damn thing before it could do the same to me. Tugged out its intestines and stomach, and what do I find? Half-digested body parts of Vhiri children.”
“Are you a beastman?” I asked. “Or can I assume you wrestled with a bloodthirsty animal as a woman?” Admittedly, I was aroused by the latter prospect even though it was preposterous, but I understood that flirting with a woman talking about dead children was a bad idea, so I held my tongue.
Cyrene chuckled dryly at my jest and crossed her arms. “I am jaguar-kin, and yes, I transformed for the fight. I hate to disappoint you, but I can't track days-old blood by its scent as a woman, either.”
“Seems to me that you solved the problem with only that pretty scar to show for it,” Vallen commented, finally taking a seat next to Jaecar. Hassan still slept obliviously on the opposite couch.
“I didn't solve the problem,” Cyrene argued, “I only exposed it. One baby afanc did this to me. Baby. What does that indicate?”
Jaecar raised his hand with gusto and exclaimed, “Parents!”
“Right.” Cyrene laughed humorlessly. “You should've been there, Vallen. I was counting severed hands to figure out how many children it ate when Momma bursts out of the water, so big it'd take multiple beastmen to bring her down. She was tailed by four other chomping kits. The situation is already beyond us. There were only five beastmen left in Misu after the tragedies of the last few years, and that includes me. Considering two of them were with the fisher group who are still missing...” she trailed off with an exasperated sigh.
Vallen met my gaze from across the room. “You up for some afanc hunting?”
“I don't know what an afanc is, but if you think my blood-kin's ideal for killing it, let's go,” I offered. For as long as our ship was still being built in Silvi, I planned on doing all I could for Vallen to repay him for his aid.
“An afanc is the horrific love-child of a beaver and crocodile,” Vallen informed me, “and yes, you'd do well against them. Water-based armored beastmen have the greatest chance of surviving such a scuffle.”
“Will any of us regular fighters stand a chance?” Koby pondered aloud.
“If you stay on land and avoid getting dragged underwater,” Cyrene replied.
“Where's the dam?” Vallen asked.
“The western side of the lake island,” Cyrene answered, “so we'd have to draw them across the lagoon to shore if you want to rely on warriors rather than beastmen.”
“Is the dam their home?” Koby asked for clarification.
“Yes,” Cyrene said, “and this one is gigantic. Made out of wood and spreads out into the water for a long strip of the island.”
“Then I should bring some calcint,” Koby suggested, motioning to Jaecar, “and you could transform and drop it from overhead. Coat the dam and have Neliah light it on fire. We could coax them out and have warriors and beastmen work together.”
“Why do you always want to destroy things with explosions and fire?” I blurted with amusement.
Koby retorted with a smirk, “It works and it's fun.”
“It's a good idea,” Cyrene agreed. “The afancs are already coming to shore to feed. Burning the dam before picking a fight will ensure they can't retreat and might even kill one or two of them.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Vallen announced. “Guess I've already gathered that hunting party for you, Cyrene. I'll get Jayce to tag along and with the warriors in Calder's crew, we'll handle this.”
Cyrene exhaled audibly with relief. “I appreciate this so much, Vallen.” She met my gaze. “And all of you. Misu is in your debt.”
Nine
We stayed two more days and nights in Tenesea to finish up business. Ecstatic about the chance to fight and kill worthy opponents, Jayce insisted on coming along after overseeing the import of a particularly dangero
us shipment of creatures from the north. She explained that while many relied on tranquilizers to subdue animals, she often subdued them herself to save on supplies and because she found it entertaining. As crocodile-kin, she excelled in fast grabs, crushing jaw pressure, and what she called death rolls, where she pulled creatures underwater and spun until they drowned and were dismembered by the force. Jayce's advantages to us in the upcoming lagoon fight could not be understated.
Thankfully, the greatsword I ordered for Sage was completed when I checked the night before leaving. The Celd was so overwhelmed with gratitude that his gray eyes glimmered with emotion before he regained his composure. He thanked me profusely and kept the weapon close to him every moment he was awake. By the time we arrived in Misu after a half-moon trip, Sage would be recovered from surgery and able to fight. I looked forward to seeing him battle with the giant weapon.
Our trip to Misu was rife with inconveniences in the form of fights with unreasonably large insects. Many of the bugs were half our size and fluttered unbalanced in the air, running into plant and person alike with meaty, shelled bodies. Although they swarmed us in groups, they weren't enough of a threat to require transforming. While not in beast form, Vallen fought with a sword and Jayce used the ax she'd committed her crimes with in Eteri. Given my clumsiness with every weapon I had ever held, I focused on supporting the others with magic, utilizing paralyze the most. Neliah was once again our greatest warrior, however; her fire magic not only killed the insects, it often pre-cooked their meat.
I used this subject as a reason to attempt conversation with her as we ate a meal and prepared to rest for the night before reaching Misu. The southern marshes were harsher than those near Tenesea; the water was deeper, stinkier, and the trees sparser. There were few places dry and level enough to camp on, but Cyrene knew the locations of wooden man-made campsites by heart. The one we occupied now was the last before Misu. The campsite was a simple structure, comprising multiple wooden platforms that were held in place above the ever-changing water levels by ropes attached to trees and pilings that stretched from their corners into the mushy underwater earth. Cyrene set up a portable campfire fashioned out of rough iron that she carried during her travels, and we put up tents and bedrolls on the platform. Even though the campsite was elevated over the marsh, its wood was still moist to the touch due to the choking humidity.
