Discovery at Nerwolix

by C. G. Coppola

  “The Nhazual?” Blovid blanches.

  “Queen Ravan has lost half her city.”

  “The princesses?” he shifts forward. “Chancellor Keller?”

  “No. Although…” Sampson trails off with a frown.

  “What?” Blovid looks from him to Clarence. “What is it?”

  Sampson sighs, hooking his hands on his hips. “The Chancellor, Princess Sansa and Princess Ariana were all exposed.”

  “Tell me they have been treated?”

  “They have…” the Fychu is quick to assure him, “…Chancellor Keller and Princess Sansa, at least.”

  “And Ariana?”

  But before Sampson can explain, Tucker growls. “She was taken. Abducted by Perio.”

  “Of the Muskos?” Blovid frowns.

  Sampson nods. “The chancellor believes she is safe… but our concern is her health. If Perio doesn’t have the antidotal bud…”

  “And you are certain she is with him?” Blovid asks.

  “It is most likely—yes,” Sampson says. “On our first night at the FH, a member of the Muskos abducted one of our younger females to sacrifice for all the bloodshed during the Vermix attack.”

  “Wanted all three of us, actually,” I mutter.

  “Where are the other two?” Blovid glances around our group, as if having missed them. “Were they…?”

  “Oh no,” Clarence shakes his head. “They’re currently awaiting our return to Nerwolix.”

  “So all three did survive?”

  “Oh yes,” Sampson nods. “After a rather impromptu rescue mission,” he glances at Reid, “the Muskos were imprisoned, but soon after the toxin was released, they escaped, though I am still unsure how. And once we returned from Nerwolix, Ariana had gone missing.”

  “That does not prove it was him.”

  “It was him,” Tucker scowls, arms folded as he leans against the wall. “He took her.”

  “I would have to agree with the young Rogue,” Qippert says. “As demented as Perio’s views are on Dellapalania and Nerwolix, he would never harm the princess. He still wants her for his bride.”

  “But where did they go?” Blovid looks around, hoping someone will at least have an idea. “Have they gone off planet?”

  “No, but they still might…” Sampson sighs. “We’re really quite uncertain what his plan is at the moment.”

  “And the toxin? How did it find its way into Pryncbia? The Nhazual is native to Nerwolix—”

  “Perio released it,” I say.

  “What?” Blovid turns his wide eyes on me. “How do you know?”

  “He admitted it. He said, ‘many must die so others can understand.’ He just wanted to be in control. He wanted to create a panic so he could save the day.”

  “But the princess…”

  “If he was planning on releasing the antidote as some great savior, he has it with him. I’m sure the princess is already healed.”

  “As you can imagine,” Sampson paces, “Queen Ravan is in great despair at the moment. The remaining portion of her kingdom is recovering, yes, but she has no idea of the whereabouts of Ariana.”

  Blovid simply shakes his head, his eyes roaming the ground in deep thought. “This is not good.”

  “We will find her,” Sampson nods reassuringly. “But we couldn’t leave you here unattended much longer. Our return to Nerwolix is also imperative—we need to regroup with the others under Hozfin’s protection to discuss the next phase of this war.”

  “And Reuzkimpart?” Clarence directs his question to Blovid. “Do you think he plans to invade Nerwolix soon?”

  “There is no way of knowing... but I would think so. He will chase me across the galaxy if given the opportunity.”

  “Sir…” Clarence starts, shooting an uneasy glance to Sampson, “you do know—you are aware of Reuzkimpart’s other motive?”

  “What motive?”

  Again, Clarence pauses with an uncomfortable look at the Fychu before he focuses back on the Arizal Leader. “His search for the two other Gifts.”

  “What?” Blovid looks between the two, his eyes wide in shock. “And you are certain?”

  “Yes,” Sampson nods. “Reuzkimpart didn’t just strike the North Shore. He sent attacks on the Southern Waters as well.”

  “I knew he was determined but…” Blovid stands, pacing as he scans the floor. “This is not good. This is not just a civil war he has started,” he pauses, looking to us. “He has enacted war within the Three Worlds.”

  “But Mybyncia is against him,” I add, looking for a positive. “And his own World is split in half. Isn’t he biting off more than he can chew if he brings it to Nerwolix?”

  “He knows they sit idle,” Clarence strums his chin. “Nerwolix is known for their pride. He knows they will not prepare for any invasion because no invasion is too great that it cannot be defeated. He’ll use this as his opportunity to retrieve the Gift in ambush.”

  “And what of when he has all three?” Blovid asks.

  “He was unsuccessful in Mybyncia.”

  “But he will go back. He will try and try again and then, once he has all three, then what?” Blovid looks around. “What is his purpose? What does he wish to do?”

  “We think…” Sampson starts but Blovid is already nodding.

  “Yes,” he agrees, his sight lost in the distance, “he wants to kill the Arizals.” He looks up, his eyes full of despair. “This is worse than I imagined. To bring war on his own World, to kill the Leaders—it is a heinous crime in itself, but to rob the other Worlds of their Gift… to actually use them…” he blanches. “This has never been done.”

  The room goes quiet for a long moment.

  “Well,” Clarence claps his hands with an exhale, “nothing’s going to get solved here tonight. We’ve reunited with Blovid, which we’ve planned to do since leaving Harrizel. So let’s relax for now and we can discuss more in the morning.”

  “Are we leaving for Nerwolix then?” Jace asks.

  “What’s the rush?”

  “Heat,” Able laughs. “I know you guys all have your Earth clothes, but I’m rocking the Zingfinold shorts over here, okay?”

  “We can get you some of the Carring hide,” Blovid makes for the stairwell leading up to the second level. “It should keep you warm.”

  “Are you warm enough?” Reid whispers as he leans toward me.

  I nod. “Some Hunnis wouldn’t hurt, though.”

  “Too bad we didn’t bring any,” he inches closer, speaking into my ear. “We’ll just have to find another way to heat you up.”

  Warmth spreads through me as Clarence makes his way around the room. “Does anyone else need a cover?”

  “Uh,” Jace raises a finger, “I’ll take one please.”

  “Me too,” Werzo nods.

  Clarence glances around, Booker and Tucker also nodding a request. Shifting toward us, Clarence makes his way over. “And you two?”

  “We’ll take one,” Reid lifts a finger.

  “Taking advantage of the free sleeping arrangements?” Jace grins as he crosses his arms, his focus shifting to me.

  “Just trying to keep warm, Commander.”

  “I’ll bet,” he winks. “Able,” he spins to the Rogue who’s draping himself in a furry white hide, “know any cute tribe-girls for when we head back?”

  “By cute, do you mean hairy? Because yeah,” he wraps the heavy cloak around him, “I know lots of them.”

  “Okay,” Jace’s smile fades. “The least hairy one? She cute?”

  “She’s a baby. They don’t develop hair until they’re toddlers. But…” he scratches his chin. “I have some ideas for you.”

  “No wonder they call you the Jack of Hearts,” Clarence laughs, passing out the Carring fur. “I don’t think you’ve gone to a place without finding a female.”

  “They find me,” Jace grins, accepting a white cover. “I just like to get the best option.”

  “Think you’ll ever settle down?”
I tease as Reid takes the fur hide from Clarence.

  “Not if we’re always on the move. But maybe one day,” he looks off into the distance. “Settle down with some nice, semi-hairy tribe-girl, or maybe a cute mayan. Who knows, I could shack up in the FH with Tucker once he’s married the princess.”

  “Princess?” Blovid looks from Jace to the Rogue Leader. “Which princess?”

  “He jests,” Qippert shakes his head.

  “No I’m not,” Jace turns to the Arizal Leader. “Princess Ariana. She wants Tucker. Believe me. I’ve been around enough girls. I know that look. She wants him as bad as he wants her.”

  “And Queen Ravan is aware of this?” Blovid asks, glancing between Qippert, Clarence and Sampson.

  “No,” Qippert shakes his head again. “He is merely—”

  “What’s the problem?” I ask. “Sansa is in line to become the next queen, right? Ariana told us that she had more freedom in selecting her future husband.”

  “You guys talked about that?” Tucker raises a brow.

  “It came up… yeah.”

  “What…” he clears his throat, “what’d she say?”

  “It does not matter what she said,” Qippert exhales. “The princess will marry a miyon. It is tradition.”

  “Unless she breaks it and marries a human,” I say.

  “It is not possible. The queen would never allow it.”

  “…unless she does.”

  Sampson and Qippert were about to say something but Werzo beats them to it, making his way back to the spit for another piece of roasting Carring. “But Tucker’s bound to Nerwolix,” he tears a chunk free, “how would it work?”

  “We don’t even know where she is,” the Rogue Leader frowns, pacing the room. “She could be off planet by now.”

  “The princess will be found,” Sampson assures. “On my honor as a Fychu, I will locate Ariana and restore her home.”

  “Just remember I’ll need a place to crash at the FH,” Jace cups Tucker’s shoulder. “I need to bring the mayans somewhere.”

  “Can’t stay with them?” Able laughs.

  “Nope—separate sleeping quarters. Remember?”

  “It sounds like I have missed much this last week,” Blovid looks over at Sampson, “secluded up here in the cold.”

  “We’ll remedy that in the morning,” Clarence winks. “Get you back to civilization. Warm civilization.”

  “I have not met with Hozfin in ages. I look forward to our encounter.”

  “When was the last time you spoke with him?” I ask.

  “Oh…” Blovid sits back, considering, “must be some time now…” he pauses, blanching as he looks to Sampson. “Could it be since…?”

  But the Fychu simply nods.

  “What?” Werzo asks through a mouthful of meat.

  Silence fills the air.

  Finally Blovid starts, keeping his tone soft, easy. “The last major transgression that occurred on Nerwolix. A little over a hundred and fifty years ago.”

  “What happened?” I look between Blovid and Sampson but neither meet my eye. Another long quiet moment fills the space, weighing it down with grief and anxiety.

  “Reid,” Sampson finally breaks the tension, motioning for the tunnel out. “Would you mind making sure the first exit is secure? I’m not certain it was entirely closed upon our arrival.”

  Reid nods and moves to a stand. He extends his hand to me. “Want to come with?”

  “Sure.”

  “You two don’t get lost now,” Jace grins as I’m pulled to my feet.

  With a wink, Reid threads his fingers in mine and leads us back down the tunnel and toward the first small room. The silence behind us continues and once everyone has disappeared into the quiet, I lean close to him. “What was that about, do you think?”

  “Obviously something happened.”

  “Sampson didn’t tell you?”

  Reid shakes his head. “He’s actually a pretty private person.”

  “Did he ever tell you about a girl?”

  “A girl?” Reid laughs.

  “Like… a wife or something? Someone he loved?”

  “No…” he glances to me. “Why?”

  “Vix said something about it once—when we were leaving Camp. He was praying under the Rinzal tree. She said he was praying to find her.”

  “I don’t know,” Reid frowns. “Sampson never mentioned anyone.”

  “Have you ever asked him?”

  “We mostly talk about Arizal stuff. Sampson never gets into anything personal.”

  “I’ve tried bringing it up a few times but he clams up.”

  “Maybe we should stop trying. Maybe,” he spins to me as we enter the first room lined with torches, “it’s not our business.”

  “But don’t you want to know?”

  “Right now?” he smirks, shaking his head as he walks me back to the wall. “Right now I’m focused on something else.” He has me against the rock, his hands on either side of my face. “I’m focused on my girl.”

  I’m lit up, and it has nothing to do with the torch inches from Reid’s hand.

  “Hey…”

  “Hey what?” he lightly kisses my neck, sending my pulse into overdrive. His hands slide to my hips as I place mine on his shoulders, squeezing.

  “We can’t do this,” I close my eyes, growing dizzy as his lips trail down my skin. Oh but I want to. We really haven’t had a moment alone since that night on Nerwolix, when I asked Reid to make love to me. I wish I could do it again, ask him again. Right now. I wish I could feel him inside me, moving like his life depends on it, because I’ve been craving it. Craving the feeling of his hands on me and his breathlessness and the sounds he makes when he’s losing control.

  “Do what?” his mouth moves to my throat.

  “Busted!” Able laughs.

  Reid’s head drops to my shoulder and my eyes jet open, finding the other Rogues in the room with us, smirking. After a long second, he pushes back, meandering toward the boys with a sigh. I try suppressing my blush while Reid runs his hands through his hair, pacing a foot away from me.

  “Sorry, Boss,” Jace grins. “Sampson wants a minute alone with the other Dofinikes.”

  “What more is there to discuss?” Able hooks his hands on his hips under the white Carring hide. “We’re heading back to Nerwolix tomorrow.”

  “Yeah,” Werzo rubs his hands together, holding them over a nearby torch, “not soon enough.”

  “They’re talking about Ariana,” Tucker mutters.

  “About her disappearance?” I ask. “Or about you two?”

  “Both, I think. So…” he gulps, inching closer, “what’d she say about me?”

  “Looking for some gossip there, Rogue Leader?” Jace laughs.

  “I want to meet this princess,” Able says. “I’ve never seen Rogue Leader get like this over a girl.”

  “She’s cute,” Jace nods.

  “And Booker,” Able turns to him, “what do you think? You’re always so quiet. You think this princess is something special?”

  “She’s pretty, yeah.”

  “She’s beautiful,” Tucker whispers, lost in thought as he stares into nothing, some scene playing behind his eyes. He directs his attention to me again. “Well?”

  “Uh…” I stumble, quickly trying to remember what it was she’d said about him. “Yeah… she said you were good looking, but quiet.”

  Tucker winces.

  “But…” I start, feeling obligated to reassure him, “that was only one time and in the beginning, before the toxin was even released. We didn’t really talk much about you after that… sorry. Mae and Pratt were mostly quizzing her on marriage laws and your name came up.”

  “Wouldn’t it be cool if Rogue Leader did end up marrying a princess?” Werzo laughs. “That’d be sweet. All the Hunnis we could drink!”

  “You could make little mer-babies!” Able smiles.

  “Yeah,” Jace turns to Tucker with a huge grin plastered
on his face. “Would that even work? Does she have…?”

  “Don’t go there,” Tucker shakes his head.

  “I’m just saying,” Jace smiles. “How would—”

  A thunderous explosion erupts behind Booker as a herd of furry blue creatures swarm through a hole in the rock wall. They’re scurrying on four legs, skinny wooden devices in hand and already firing.

  Chapter Two: Pweboles

  Reid throws me behind him, blocking me with an outstretched arm. I’m in the closest thing to a corner, watching over his shoulder as the hip-high creatures pour into the cave in waves, aiming their tiny wooden weapons at us and shooting with great fervor. Blocked by Reid’s body, I have nowhere to go, nowhere to move except this tiny space behind him. One of the short blue creatures races for us and just as I take a step forward, I’m pelted in the shoulder, slammed with magnetic force into the wall behind me.

  Whatever hit me stings immensely, but the pain is tolerable. It’s when I try to move that panic sets in. I’m stuck. As in, cemented to the wall. It’s like the Fiminer we used on Harrizel, except instead of keeping me attached to the ground, I’m trapped to the wall behind me. Still trying to pull myself free, more panic rises when the same blue creature pulls out a small blade. But Reid pummels into him, smashing him against the wall before he gets within feet of us.

  “Boss!” Able cries, pinned to the rock further down. “Behind you!”

  One of the creatures launches himself at Reid but he ducks, grabbing the back of the fur and slamming it face first into the wall. He does it again and the thing falls limp to the floor.

  Sampson rushes in, followed by Blovid and Clarence, just as Werzo flies back to the rock. Booker goes to move but is hit in the stomach, drawn to the same wall, inches away from the other Rogue. Just as Tucker starts for them, all three Dofinikes morph into their true form, scurrying around the room, knocking the small blue creatures to the ground in the center of the floor. A few attempt climbing the walls but Sampson—I think it’s him—knocks their legs free, and they fall to the pile with their shaking brethren. Clarence catches the last one which tries rushing for the hole in the wall, but he’s whipped back, thrown into the rock next to me, and it slides down into a motionless lump.