by Narro, B. T.
By the time Zoke delivered the last Krepp to Vithos for judgment, he was ready for his usual meal of starchy, bland kupota. He picked up enough for him and his sister, Zeti, from the resource center, along with some janjin plants to help with her pra durren. Normally he liked to watch the proceedings of judgment day, but first he would see to Zeti in the hut they shared.
Chapter 12: Must Endure
ZOKE
Zoke’s sister was lying in bed but tried to get up when he entered.
“Lie down,” he told her. A quick glance was all he needed to see that the young Krepp who looked up to Zeti wasn’t around. “Where is Grayol?” Zoke asked, sitting at their wooden table to begin grinding janjin leaves. As always, the table squeaked with each shift of his weight.
“I made him leave because he was annoying me.” Zeti grunted in pain and rested her head once again.
“He’s concerned.”
“About himself,” Zeti retorted.
“He knows how tough you are, yet he sees you like this, so he gets scared,” Zoke explained.
Zeti moaned and turned on her side to see what Zoke was doing. “How is it you have answers to everything, but you never know where Father is?”
Zoke grunted. “Only those with him know the answer to that.” He poured water into a wooden bowl and sprinkled the ground-up janjin leaves across the top. “Here, for the pain.” He handed her the bowl.
She sat up with a groan but didn’t take it. “All Krepps say this hurts, but I thought they were just weak.”
Zoke moved the bowl closer to her claws. “It’s the worst pain most Krepps ever feel, but you haven’t gotten to the peeling yet.”
“When does that start?” Zeti’s lemon colored eyes lowered to the bowl for a blink, then shifted back to Zoke. Her pride was palpable.
Zoke held the bowl steady. “It will be sometime tomorrow, probably at night. It’s bad. But once it begins, it’s over quickly.”
Zeti moaned, slumping in defeat. “I won’t even sleep tonight.”
Zoke nodded regretfully. “No one does.”
She looked at the janjin leaves drifting across the top of the water, really looked at them for the first time. Her straight mouth relaxed to match the rest of her body. She reached out to accept the bowl. “Should I save this for the peeling?”
“It won’t help. You might as well take it now. I’ll make more before the night is over.”
Zeti took a breath then started gulping. Zoke waited patiently for her to finish every last drop, taking the bowl once she was done and setting it on the table.
“I’ll be back later, sister. Endure.”
“Endure.” Zeti slid back down to lie flat.
When Zoke returned to the judgment chambers, most of the Krepps he’d delivered had already received their verdicts. Just one still waited to make his case, along with one other Krepp who Zoke hadn’t brought in and didn’t recognize.
Zoke figured it would be a strange scene to any Human, but the conversation between a monstrous Slugari, an Elf, and a scared Krepp was common in Doe and Haemon’s encampment. In fact, Zoke often was the scared Krepp, although he never did anything deserving of punishment. Fear was just a natural part of his task to the tribe.
The judgment quarters was stripped of all the wood that possibly could be removed without compromising the structural integrity of the building. Cold dirt was the floor, large rocks were used as seats, and thin sheets of black metal covered the wooden walls so they couldn’t catch fire. Vithos the Elf always sat to discuss the case against each Krepp and stood when it was time to pass judgment. He was seated when Zoke entered.
“What is your age?” Vithos was asking the nervous Krepp before him.
“Pra durren—one.”
“So you’re an adult at least, but only by one year. Are you really the oldest male in your family?” Zoke’s heart jumped at hearing the question. If the Krepp wasn’t the oldest male, then he’d brought the wrong one.
“Yes, I am the only member of my family,” the Krepp answered to Zoke’s relief.
“Are the rest dead?” It was a cold question, but Zoke had heard it asked so many times it no longer affected him.
“I believe Mother died when I was very young. Father left the tribe two years ago.”
Vithos nodded. “You tell the truth so far, now for the tougher questions.” He glanced at a scroll in his pale Elf hands. “I see your task is to assist a team of Krepps in searching for the hiding Slugari. Your designated search was to take place in northern Satjen, but your team never made it through Kilmar. The leading Krepp reported that you were to blame. I’ve heard his reasons. Now I wish to hear yours.”
The Krepp shifted uncomfortably, scratching his cheek with a claw. “I ate too much of the meat, and we were unable to find enough through hunting, so we had to return early. My portion was smaller than the rest, and I was hungry.”
“Did you steal from the meat locker while everyone was sleeping?”
“Yes.” The Krepp answered with feigned indifference, as if it was an acceptable act.
“Did you know what you were doing was wrong?” Vithos asked—another question Zoke had heard countless times before. Zoke knew this was often the beginning of the end of the trial.
“I didn’t think it was wrong.” The Krepp held the same indifference in his tone as before.
A few spectators grunted. “That’s a lie,” Vithos replied calmly. “Don’t lie again. Did you know what you were doing was wrong?”
The Krepp’s elongated mouth twisted in anger. “It was their fault. If I’d had the same portions as they had, I wouldn’t have needed to do it.”
Vithos folded his arms. “Did you also need to eat all the remaining food while everyone was sleeping?”
The Krepp’s eyes lowered to the dirt between him and Vithos. “No.”
“Was it their fault you did that?” Zoke knew the question was rhetorical, though Vithos didn’t make it clear in his tone.
“Yes. If I wasn’t so hungry…”
Vithos waved his hand and stood. “You’re lying again, and I’ve reached my decision. Your portion was smaller because you’re smaller. You’re also younger and new to the search group. You’re to blame here, and you know it’s true, yet you chose to lie. Because you lied, and because you’re at fault, you will receive double punishments—a burning and an appropriate psychological punishment that I will think of. Stand and Haemon will begin the burning.
The Krepp stood and puffed out his chest. Haemon slithered next to Vithos to face the Krepp. Haemon was a legless, bulbous mass the shape of a slug, with short claws on the ends of two diminutive arms. Being the same height as an adult male Krepp, Haemon was so large and discolored that most wouldn’t guess he was a Slugari.
Generally, Slugari were a third the size of Haemon, and their green, translucent bodies shimmered. However, Haemon’s skin was mud brown, and light did nothing to him except brighten his ugliness. His claws had become jagged and black over the years. His pointed tail had rounded to a bulbous nob. He still had two antennae atop his head like other Slugari, but they’d shrunk while the rest of him had grown, and now they doubled over impotently. His nose hung limply in the same way on top of his head. It came from a long stem between the two antennae and had a fish hook shape.
Many Krepps couldn’t tell the difference between Haemon and Doe, another Slugari just as massive and feared, but all Krepps knew that these Slugari wanted revenge on their own kind. Zoke had heard the tale of their exile from their underground home twenty times at least but never what had caused them to grow so massive.
Haemon motioned for the Krepp to come closer, and he obeyed, moving cautiously forward. The Krepp said nothing—probably the best idea he’d had so far.
“Hold out your arm.” Haemon spoke Kreppen with a hint of an accent, his voice as rough as stone.
The Krepp raised an arm and looked at Zoke with uncertainty. Endure, Zoke thought, nodding to him. The Krepp had said it was h
is first judgment when Zoke had escorted him earlier.
Haemon’s claws glowed until a light exploded from them, brightening the yellow eyes of each watching Krepp in the judgment quarters. After the flash, all that remained was a thin ray so white Zoke could see the reflection of the black metal sheets on the walls as he stared at it. Haemon steered his hands down to navigate the light over the Krepp’s wrist. As it passed, the Krepp’s skin was singed. He quivered and grunted, but his arm remained steady.
Smoke rose from the fresh scar on his wrist and an unsettling silence followed. Each Krepp was waiting to see if he would whimper, Zoke included. He didn’t, just clenched his sharp teeth and breathed heavily.
“The burning is complete,” Haemon announced.
“I have decided on the appropriate psychological punishment.” Vithos spoke nonchalantly while the wound still sizzled. “The problem was your inability to control your hunger. So for one day you’ll feel so hungry even your own kind will appear edible. You’ll still receive the same amount of food from the tribe, and you won’t steal any other food or eat anything inedible, otherwise we’ll see you here again tomorrow. Endure.”
“Endure,” the Krepp repeated, staring at his wrist.
Vithos approached and placed his pale hand firmly on the Krepp’s head. The Elf shut his eyes and sucked in air for several breaths. The Krepp’s eyes closed next while the rest of his face grimaced.
Vithos opened his eyes and dropped his hand. “Your judgment has passed. You may leave.”
The Krepp doubled over and held his stomach for a moment. He quickly rose, trying to walk out with his head high, but he was hunched again by the time he exited.
“There is one more Krepp awaiting judgment,” Vithos said, glancing at a scroll. “Loggur, have a seat.” Vithos pointed toward the rock in the middle of the room.
Loggur sat down proudly and the murmuring of the room died down.
“It says here that you left the tribe, and now you wish to return. Is this true?” Vithos asked.
“Yes.” This Krepp was either far more prepared than the last, or perhaps just better at making it seem that way. He sat straight, keeping his mouth from quivering and his nose from twitching.
“Why did you leave?” Vithos glanced at the scroll as he spoke.
“I thought I could hunt for more meat on my own, and if I found a Slugari in the wild I wouldn’t have to share it.” Loggur kept his eyes ahead on Vithos, making his best effort to ignore the stares of the audience.
“Did you find any signs of wild Slugari?” Vithos asked pessimistically.
“No,” Loggur answered, taking a quick glance at the watching Krepps.
Haemon interrupted, “Because they’re all hidden underground.”
“When did you leave?” Vithos asked, ignoring Haemon.
“Almost a year ago.”
“What other reasons do you have for returning?”
“If the tribe does find the underground Slugari colony, I need to be part of it. I need Slugari meat.” Loggur clenched his claws at his sides.
“We’ll find it in time,” Vithos responded as if reading from a script. “You knew you would be punished upon returning?”
Loggur’s yellow eyes fell to the dirt. “Yes.”
Vithos nodded to Haemon to show the truth had been told.
“We accept your return,” Haemon announced loudly for the audience. “The punishment for deserting the tribe is the same for all Krepps. You will be marked with an ‘X’ on the back of one claw. If anyone asks about the mark, you’ll tell them what happened and make sure they know why you returned.”
Loggur stood, keeping his eyes ahead to avoid looking directly at the enormous Slugari slithering toward him. Haemon was wheezing loudly as he often did before casting magic. Laces of emerald green smoke rose from his small claws and danced toward the ceiling.
He squeezed his claws together with a grunt. Upon releasing them, a cloud emerged of the same emerald color and quickly dissipated. All that remained in his claws was a thin X-shaped object that shone like two blades of grass in the sun.
“Hold out your arm and look away,” the Slugari commanded. Krepps in the audience stood and shifted to get a better view around Haemon’s enormous body.
Loggur did as he was told, keeping his eyes away from his arm and squinting.
With meticulous precision, Haemon grasped the marking stone, aligned it over the back of Loggur’s hand, and dropped it. There was a yellow explosion when it reached the Krepp’s skin, engulfing Loggur completely for a blink. Then it was gone. Loggur moaned, shaking his claw in agony.
“Your judgment has passed,” Haemon said. “Endure.”
“Endure,” Loggur replied, staggering toward the exit. The spectators stood and conversed with each other. Two ran after Loggur. They want to see his new marking, Zoke knew.
While charred skin still smoking after a fresh punishment was a sight to behold, Zoke had seen it before, and his presence was usually requested by Vithos the Elf or one of the Slugari. This time it was Haemon. “Zoke, come.” The Slugari motioned to him. “We need to discuss something with Doe.”
Chapter 13: Chosen
ZOKE
Zoke followed Haemon into Vithos’ quarters, where Doe, the other Slugari leader, awaited. The room contained no more than a bed, a wardrobe, a wooden table with two chairs, and a sullied mirror hanging loosely on the wall.
Doe had the same grimace as usual. It had taken Zoke months before he figured out that he wasn’t the cause of the disdain always found on Doe’s fat Slugari face.
“We have a task, and we believe you’ll be the best fit for it.” Doe’s voice was even deeper and coarser than Haemon’s. “To be sure, we need you to answer the following questions honestly.” Doe glanced at Vithos, who then took a step toward Zoke.
Zoke still hadn’t gotten used to the way Vithos looked at him as he posed questions. Although the Elf was shorter than most male Krepps, he was still taller than Zoke, and would dip his chin toward his throat to stare through the tops of his eyes. Vithos had big, wide eyes that came to a point on both ends. As he stared, the only whites of his eyes that could be seen were under and around his dark brown irises, forming two troubling grins within each socket. His mouth always remained flat.
“Do you wish to harm me?” Vithos asked Zoke.
Zoke jumped back, wondering what he’d done recently that might have given Vithos this impression. “No,” he answered honestly. He almost asked the reason for the question but knew that explanation would come soon enough.
“Do I pose a threat to you?” Vithos’ tone didn’t change. There was no pitch to it, nothing to let Zoke know what he was thinking.
“No,” Zoke said and gladly let his confusion show.
“If your task was to search for Slugari and you found one in the wild, would you kill it and eat it without notifying anyone?”
“No, I would capture or kill it and bring it back. I have no significant interest in Slugari meat.” He knew that Doe, Haemon, and Vithos were aware of his inability to smell, but he’d never been asked about it in a situation like this. Vithos nodded at Doe to let him know Zoke had been truthful.
Doe spoke next. “As you know, we’ve been searching for the hidden Slugari colony for many years now. While there are several teams of Krepps involved in the search, Vithos and I have been leaving our encampment whenever time allowed to contribute to the search as well. Vithos’ ability to sense the presence of the Slugari may be the only way of finding them. However, we can’t use Vithos to search as much as we would like because we don’t have enough time to constantly leave the encampment.”
Zoke noticed that Vithos’ eyes had wandered to the ground, not that he knew what it meant. The Elf looked something between bored and upset. Doe didn’t seem to notice it or just didn’t care. His beady Slugari eyes were focused on Zoke, glaring.
“You and Vithos will spend six days traveling north to Nor. There, you will search for the Slugari.
The southwest corner of Nor is where you should look. Vithos hasn’t searched that area yet. We expect the entire trip to take no more than fifteen days. If you find this task to be more enjoyable than your current task, these trips can become more frequent. Do you understand what we’re asking?”
More enjoyable? It was strange for Doe to even feign interest in another’s enjoyment. “Yes,” Zoke answered, though, he wondered what he could do to help protect Vithos that the Elf couldn’t already do with his psychic power.
“Good. If you have questions, direct them to Vithos. You’ll be leaving tomorrow morning.” Doe started to turn his rotund body, an arduous process it seemed.
Tomorrow…that’s too early. Zoke knew he shouldn’t say anything, but he blurted it before he could stop himself. “Zeti has started the shedding of her birth skin, and I wish to prepare food, water, and medicine for her during this time. I would like to wait one more day before we leave if time allows.” The confidence in his voice startled him, especially as it was the first time he didn’t silently follow an order.
“No,” Doe grunted. “All the preparations are set for you both to leave tomorrow.”
“May another Krepp be selected for this? It’s an honor to be chosen. However, I fear for Zeti.” Again he surprised himself, though Zoke noticed dread creeping into his voice.
Doe growled. “No! Vithos chose you, and Zeti can endure on her own as many other Krepps have done.” His black claws began to glow.
Not another word, Zoke told himself. He turned and found Vithos looking at him with the same dangerous smile in his eyes. Suddenly, everything he’d just heard felt fallacious. Something’s wrong about this…or is Vithos making me feel this way? Doe’s mind was set, though, so there was no point in disagreeing.
“I understand,” Zoke replied.
Should I try to find Father to let him know about Zeti? I may as well after another visit myself. At least I know Grayol will help look after her…not that she’s going to let him be much help.
A small pack of food was thrown to his feet. “This is all you’ll need,” Doe said. “Don’t bring anything else. It’s fashioned to be worn on your back. Meet Vithos here at first light. Haemon and I will then escort you to the edge of the encampment. Endure.”
