by Narro, B. T.
He grabbed it as gently as he could with his palm, careful to keep his claws away. It was already hot in his hand, and burning hotter with each passing moment. He jumped out from the pillar and hurled it at the four archers and enemy mage as he ran horizontally to avoid being shot. Only one archer released his arrow, missing behind Zoke. The rest held their strings, their eyes shifting to the green ball sailing toward them. The mage must have recognized it, for she was the only one to face the other way and drop her body flat. Zoke had circled around to face them just as it hit the ground at their feet.
Dancing claws of fire four feet high erupted from the ball of energy. Zoke couldn’t say exactly how long the fire wavered there because as soon as the blast happened, a gust of burning air slammed into him like the shoulder of a Krepp running past, spinning him sideways. When he turned back, the fire was out and his enemies were on the ground. Not one of them was visibly burned. In fact, they were all rising quickly. The spell wasn’t for damage, he realized then with dismay, but to give him and the others time to attack. He sprinted at his enemies as quickly as he could. Reela had caught up to him by then.
The five enemies ahead had recovered too fast. They already were loading their arrows, and the mage was aiming her wand. Zoke was too far to stop them.
Reela threw out both hands as if pushing an invisible man in front of her. With it, she gave a raspy shout and their foes grunted, grimacing in pain. Two of them dropped their bows, but it only stopped the others for a breath.
Zoke had pulled ahead of Reela. Her psychic spell had gotten them closer, but he still couldn’t make it in time—that gravely became clear, yet he did not let himself slow.
Strangely without fear, he prepared his body for the arrows, hoping to at least drive his sword through one of them before being felled.
The female mage was able to let off a fireball before any arrows were shot. All he saw was a flash of light, then what felt like a burning rock slammed into his arm and half of his chest. The force of it not only stopped his advance but toppled him.
He tried to lift himself with his arms, but the one that had been hit was numb. With just one arm pushing him up while he was expecting two, he fell over.
He flipped onto the side of him that wasn’t numb, preparing for death. I at least want to look them in the eye before they do it. Give them something to remember. He wanted to spit as well, but it felt as if all saliva had been burned from his mouth.
At first, he thought he must have hit his head during the tumble because it looked like the Humans had drawn swords and turned to fight one another. Zoke sat up, too dizzy to lift himself from the ground. There were two blurry images swirling around each other. As he blinked and focused, they merged into one clear image.
His heart swelled with relief when he saw that Vithos, Alex, and Terren had arrived. Vithos paralyzed their enemies with pain as Alex and Terren drove their blades through each of them.
It was over before he even knew what was happening.
Then Terren’s eyes shifted around and stopped at Zoke. Concern flooded Terren’s face. “Stop!” he shouted.
Zoke thought to look behind him and saw a man in light blue rushing at him, sword first. Zoke tried to hop to his feet to scamper away, but dizziness overtook him as soon as he rose, sending him tumbling to the ground. He crawled away from the man as fast as he could, but his arm was still numb. Again he fell. He felt a boot on his hip. It twisted him onto his back, holding him against the ground.
Zoke could hear Steffen and Terren shouting, “He’s with Kyrro! Stop!”
The man stood over Zoke with his blade aimed at Zoke’s heart. “How do you know that?” the man grunted.
“Because he saved my life,” Steffen answered.
Vithos rushed over and put his hand on the man’s wrist. A blank look came across the man’s face. Slowly, the weapon was lowered, and Vithos cautiously took the sword from the loose grip of the man’s hands.
The first thing Zoke saw was that the smoke had cleared completely by then. Taking more time to look around, Zoke noticed only Humans of Kyrro were left. Many of them were approaching, circling around him.
We’ve won?
“Sorry about that,” the man said, extending his hand with fingers out, just as Terren had done when they’d first met.
Zoke sat up. He extended his hands, straightened his fingers, and shook his hands side to side, figuring this was what the Human wanted. Vithos noticed it and quickly did the same.
“What’s this?” the man asked, seemingly confused.
“We’re shaking hands,” Zoke replied, confused as well now. “Don’t Humans do that?”
A woman behind him burst out laughing. He turned and found that it was Reela. She was shaking her hands again. Steffen joined in, laughing heartily as well. Zoke couldn’t understand what the Humans enjoyed so much about it.
Soon the dancing hands spread quicker than fire, and nearly all of the Humans from Kyrro were shaking their hands and laughing.
“I don’t understand,” Vithos whispered, continuing to shake his hands. “They genuinely find this to be funny.”
The laughter slowly morphed into cheers, then hands became fists thrown into to the air. They hollered together. The noise was high and deep, loud and uplifting. Zoke could hear the feeling in each voice as their pitches stormed together to create one sound. There was no purpose behind it. That became clear. It wasn’t to announce their location or prove anything. They yelled because they wanted to.
Zoke had never seen someone shout for no other reason than to do it. It seemed so pure—an urge acted upon and nothing else. It was unlike any Krepp behavior. It was so new, so fresh.
It’s so Human, he realized.
Chapter 55: Quick Heal
ZOKE
The few mages of Kyrro still standing dragged themselves around and burned the bodies of each deceased Human after they’d been looted.
Soon the whole mountain was lit with the burning of the dead. The many small fires made a soft crackle. Normally the sound was soothing, but in that moment it reminded Zoke too much of the threat from Doe and Haemon: “Reveal their location to us or we will burn Kyrro and everyone within the territory.” The way the soft flesh melted under the heat made Zoke fearful when he thought of the Humans trying to stand against his old leaders.
“At least we have twenty new bows from Tenred,” a man was telling Terren. Zoke found out he was the chief of one hundred men sent from Kyrro to protect the Fjallejon pathway, although the Humans used the word “commander” for him instead. “Not that I would ever trade fifty-one men for any number of bows.”
“That’s the death count for Kyrro?” Terren asked.
“For now. Many of the injured aren’t going to make it through the night.”
Some of the party Zoke was travelling with had gone inside the mountain already. Effie had lost consciousness after the battle ended but looked uninjured. Reela assured them that the young mage was just exhausted. Alex had carried her inside the mountain with Steffen at his side, trying and mostly succeeding in transporting all three of their bags along with the bow Zoke had given him.
Vithos was on his back next to Zoke, dead asleep. Reela was on Vithos’ other side. Her knees were crunched to her stomach with her arms folded around them while she appeared to be listening to Terren and the commander.
The only thing keeping Zoke awake was the pain from the fireballs he’d endured. Full feeling had come back, and the agony from it made him wish his body was still numb. His back, one arm, and half his chest were dark and tender like charred meat. They ached, but at least that was bearable. When he tried to lie down, on the other hand, the stinging pain felt like his shedding all over again.
“How many enemies were there?” Terren asked.
“Only two hundred,” the commander answered. “Though, if there were more, we would’ve seen them long before it was too late. We had two scouts watching, but it turned out they were spies. They snuck in a psy
chic first to find and kill our two pigeons so we couldn’t send a distress message to the castle. Then they took out two of our mages who were on backup watch duty. The poor women didn’t stand a chance, cut down from behind by people they’d thought to be with Kyrro.”
Zoke expected at least one of them to spit at that, but none did.
“It looked like about a hundred enemies were left when we got here,” Terren said.
“Sounds about right,” the commander said. “The battle went half the day. They had archers shooting four times farther than our mages could reach. We got pushed back, trapped behind rocks. It was a series of advances and retreats.” He shook his head bitterly as his eyes drifted to somewhere distant. “They had too many archers set up on the cliffs that hang high above this mountaintop. We managed to take out their warriors who were brave enough to engage us without archers behind them, but that was it. We couldn’t touch their archers. We were going to have our final stand at the tunnel, but I’m sure glad you all showed up. Spirits were low. That could have been it for us.”
“You didn’t have any archers?” Zoke asked. He expected to have misunderstood what the commander was saying.
“The bow has been illegal until just recently,” the commander replied. “We’re making them and training now, but it’ll take some time for our men to make use of them.”
“Ill-eagle,” Zoke repeated. “I don’t know this word.”
“Outlawed,” Reela answered. “Not allowed.”
“Against the laws,” Terren added.
The word law was familiar to him, but he couldn’t remember what it was. His face must have shown it.
“Krepps don’t have laws?” Reela asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “What is it?”
“Basically rules. If you break them, you’re punished,” she said.
“Yes, rules and punishments we have.” Or we did when Vithos was still there. I can’t say what’s happening now. “You break a rule, you get burned here.” He pointed a claw at his wrist. “Why would they burn you for being an archer?” No one appeared to have mentioned the bow around Zoke’s shoulder as they’d brought him through Kyrro. No, they were too busy staring at me to notice the weapon. The Humans’ eyes had lingered. He could feel their gazes, but when he looked back at them most feigned disinterest. Not the little ones, though. They pointed with excitement as if they were the ones to discover him, some even exclaiming, “He looked at me!”
“They don’t burn us. We have different punishments,” Reela said.
“The King’s father was killed by a bow,” Terren said. “Our king was young and scared when it happened, and there was no threat of war. So he considered the weapon more dangerous than good. After the decision was made, he would have looked weak if he’d reversed it, and there was generally no reason to. People took up throwing daggers, got good with them. With psychics, mages, and skilled throwers, hunting was just as easy as it was before with bows, and we have plenty of farms as well. The law was recently changed when it became clear we’ll have to fight Tenred and…” he swallowed the next words before deciding to let them out, “and the Krepps.”
Zoke had no response to that. It seemed like the Humans were waiting for him to speak, but he didn’t know what they wanted to hear. Their eyes lingered, making him feel he was being escorted through Kyrro City again. But this look was different. They want an explanation. He realized. They want to know why the Krepps are going against them. He wanted to spit but held back and dealt with the sour taste. But they’re not going to get it from me. I’m not the one fighting them.
He decided he was tired enough to sleep through the pain at that point, but he wanted some space from the curious glances that were falling upon him.
“I understand now,” he said, referring to the bow while he tried to ignore their eyes. “I’m going to find a place to rest.” Zoke got to his feet gingerly. Even with slow movements, pain surged through his body like a river of daggers running over him.
Feeling responsible for Vithos, he pushed on the Elf’s arm to wake him. “I’m going into the mountain for rest,” Zoke told him in Kreppen.
Vithos had drooping eyelids and a slack mouth. After a slow breath, he pushed himself up, and soon they were walking together.
Neither spoke. Vithos was clearly too tired, and Zoke was exhausted and in too much pain. All was quiet except for the fires of burning cloth and flesh in every direction.
Reela came after them. “Zoke, I was hoping to speak to Vithos with your help.”
Zoke gave her a glance with worn-out eyes.
“There’s a lot he’ll want to hear,” she said, just before he could tell her he was too tired.
He translated for Vithos.
“Whatever she thinks she knows, I’d like to hear it,” Vithos replied, looking at her inquisitively as he spoke. Some of the tiredness in his face already had faded.
Zoke sighed. “I will help.”
The only reason Zoke agreed was because he was interested himself, as this was the Human who’d said she knew Vithos but had never explained how.
“Thank you,” she replied with a smile. It looked as if she was reaching out to touch his arm, but she stopped herself and slowly retracted.
They came to one of the supposed many entrances to the mountain’s carved-out interior. Terren had explained that the Fjallejons lived in these mountains. When the Humans came from across the sea and started expanding, the Fjallejons made an agreement to watch over the pathway leading into Kyrro from the north, notifying the King of any strange incomers. In exchange, the Humans wouldn’t use any resources from the mountains, including the vast water supply flowing underneath it.
The entrance that led them below the surface was a small cave excavated out of a jagged mountainside that reached high into the sky. The air was heavier. Zoke could feel it on his burns.
They had to crouch to keep their heads from scraping against the top of the cave. There were stairs twisting down, maybe thirty of them before the enclosed walkway opened to a cavern so wide and deep it must have been at least twice the size of his tribe’s old encampment. In the middle was a gaping hole half a mile in diameter. There appeared to be no bottom, just thicker darkness as it went on.
Reela gasped as she entered behind Zoke. “It’s enormous. The time it must’ve taken to carve out so much space, and with such small hands.”
They were met by a Fjallejon. “Any injured?” He had the same deep voice and choppy dialect as the few who had stopped Zoke and Vithos that morning.
“No,” Zoke answered.
“Yes,” Reela argued. “I can feel your pain.” She pointed at Zoke. “He’s been struck by two fireballs. Any Human would’ve been killed.”
“We fix it,” the Fjallejon replied. “Follow this tunnel.” He pointed to the second tunnel from the entrance. “Walking injured go there. Dying injured go first tunnel.”
Zoke looked out over the rest of the cavern. There must have been fifty tunnels that he could see, and that was just on their floor. There were layers upon layers of stone wrapped around the gaping hole in the middle that made up countless more floors. Most of the Fjallejons he saw were carrying something as they walked: a bowl, a metal pick, a spear, sticks.
Again, the tunnel they needed to pass through was low, requiring them to hunch their backs. It was the only time Zoke felt tall, and he already was sick of it. The tunnel opened into a square room with unfamiliar letters and etchings on the walls. Some images were diagrams of body parts and plants. The rest he didn’t recognize.
A Human woman was leaving just as they got there. She held one of her arms, her face full of pain. “Don’t take the quick heal if they ask,” she whispered to them.
“Which one hurt?” the Fjallejon shouted from the middle of the room before Zoke had a moment to consider what the Human had told him. When his eyes shifted to the Fjallejon, he realized it was the first female Fjallejon he’d seen. She had long dark hair and a ragged cloth dre
ss that covered her from shoulders to shins.
“He is,” Reela pointed at Zoke.
“Come sit, show me injury,” the Fjallejon replied. She patted her hand on a child-size stool that looked ready to break.
Zoke squatted beside the stool, reaching a claw over his back. “I’ve been burned with fireballs here and here.” His hand traveled around the tender areas.
“You must use stool, Krepp,” the Fjallejon said.
“I’m much heavier than these Humans. It’ll break.”
“No, it strong.” She gave it a hard slap. “Never break. Come.”
He sat upon it. It sang with squeaks but seemed to hold.
“See? Now I fix you.”
She fiddled behind him with something that sounded like leaves. He shifted his eyes to Reela. “I’ll translate whatever you wish to share with Vithos.”
Reela started with a breath instead of words. She, Vithos, and Zoke made a triangle. The two of them stood while he sat. When she spoke, Zoke translated, but she and Vithos remained facing each other. It was clear this would be a conversation between them, and Zoke was relieved. All day he’d been translating, but this was the first he didn’t need to worry about answering any questions himself.
“Do you know about your past?” she asked Vithos.
“My true past, before I was taken by the enormous Slugari?” Vithos replied after Zoke had translated.
“Yes, when you were still with the Elves,” Reela said.
“I know nothing of that. How much of it could you know?”
Reela’s eyes darted back and forth between Zoke and Vithos. “Everything.”
Chapter 56: Words of Death and Birth
ZOKE
Vithos leaned closer to Reela, peering through the tops of his eyes in the same way he used to in the judgment chambers. He’s looking past her words, into the intent behind them. It feels like that was years ago, Zoke pondered.
“How do you know about my past?” Vithos asked warily.
