Bastial Energy (9 page)

“Does Father know about this?” Gabby asked.

“Obviously not,” Effie answered. “You just mentioned how Father said there would be no more battles.”
He would’ve stopped me from signing the contract as well.

“Your father may still be right,” Steffen said. “If war had really started, I’m sure we’d hear of it from the King or someone on his council. We shouldn’t assume anything yet.”

“You talk as if you knew of the possibility of war before signing the contract,” Effie observed.

“The possibility of war has existed for as long as the peace treaty has. It’s been nearly seventy years, and I knew of nothing recent that would suddenly spark a battle, so there was no reason for me to even consider it. However, even if I did know we’d be at war, I’d still sign the contract so I could come here, wouldn’t you?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet,” she responded sullenly.
Why is everyone so confident about that except me?
Steffen had never shown signs of bravery before. Of course, the first time would be in response to something that frightened her.
This contract I signed is even scarier than a marriage contract.

“Who better to protect our families than those trained to do so?” Steffen asked rhetorically, speaking of course about students of the Academy.

“The King’s Guard,” Effie answered tight-lipped, refusing to give him the answer he wanted.

“Most of whom graduated from the Academy. They’re required to fight as well.”

“And if someone refuses?” Gabby asked.

“That would be treason.” Steffen’s voice grew quiet. “Punishable by death.”

Gabby’s mouth dropped open. She stared wide-eyed at Effie. “And this contract is for the rest of your life?”

“Yes,” Effie grunted. Her sister’s dramatic mannerisms suddenly made her aware of the anger pumping in her heart. She tried to ask Steffen a question but it came out more like she was demanding to know. “Why
hasn’t there been more talk of the possibility of war?”

“We aren’t privy to the internal and external affairs of the King. The only reason we’re even discussing this now is because of what you heard from Alex. Did he tell you where this information came from?”

“From his brother, the commander of the King’s Guard.”

“So, that’s why.” Steffen rubbed his chin. “For what we know, the threat of war could have come and gone many times, and the only reason we hear of it now is because we know someone who’s connected to the information passed around the council. I don’t think we should speculate without any facts.”

Effie heard the door to the party open behind her. She turned and brushed some hair out of her face to find Reela approaching them.

“This is where you all went. Steffen, what do you know of Slugari?”

“What’s going on at that party?” Steffen asked with enthusiastic curiosity. “First Effie comes out asking about war and now you with Slugari?”

“It’s all first-years in there,” Reela said. “They like to talk of news from their hometowns, rumors and such. I met a chemist who told me that he heard the Slugari have been discovered, wondered if I heard the same. He seemed strange, though. I only spoke to him for a moment, but I am curious what the Slugari are. I figured you’d know.”

“You and Effie should borrow some of my books,” Steffen said indifferently, clearly not meaning it as an insult.

“The Slugari are green creatures roughly half our size,” Gabby answered, delighted with herself.

My sister knows something that I don’t. The world is coming to an end!
Under different circumstances, Effie would’ve thought of a joke. “How is it you know that?” she asked instead.

“You haven’t heard of them?” her sister asked in return. “Steffen’s right, you should read more.” Gabby had to take her victories whenever she could, Effie understood that, but she still wanted to smack the smug grin off her sister’s face.

Reela spoke before the thought became more tempting. “That doesn’t tell me why they’re important.”

“Most chemists have heard of the Slugari because of their connection to the caregelow flower,” Steffen explained. “It’s a remarkable form of nature that’s rumored to be a necessary ingredient for a few treasured potions. Evidence suggests that Slugari colonies exist in Ovira. However, they’re hidden underground. If that’s true, then the only way they could possibly survive is with caregelow plants. Find the Slugari and you find the caregelow plants.” Steffen jerked up his head. “I just thought of something. Effie asks of war, you ask of Slugari. It is possible they’re related! Oh, but I said we shouldn’t speculate on it any further.”

Effie rolled her eyes and found Reela doing the same. “Why don’t you finish your thought, at least?” Effie asked. “Then we can be done with these topics.”

He nodded submissively. “Someone told Reela that he’d heard we’ve discovered the underground colony of Slugari. If we really did, this information would be invaluable to the Krepps, worth going to war for even.”

Unlike Slugari, everyone knew of the Krepps. Effie had seen drawings, even read about them. She thought of them as reptilian men because of their lizard-like heads and their scaly skin. The Krepps had been scattered along northern Ovira long before Humans arrived, and that’s where they’d remained.

“Why would the Krepps care about a bunch of small Slugari hiding somewhere?” she wondered aloud. “The Krepps are taller and stronger than Humans. They can’t possibly be threatened by something half our size.”

“Krepps aren’t threatened by Slugari. Krepps eat Slugari,” Steffen said. “They hunt many animals, but nothing compares to their hunger for Slugari. It’s an urge incomparable to anything Human, from what I’ve read—some instinctual craving. The Krepps’ sole purpose of living is to eat Slugari, which is why the Slugari have resorted to hiding deep underground. If we know the Slugari’s location, the Krepps would surely fight with us in exchange for it, but…” Concern suddenly made his mouth go flat. He took a breath before continuing. “But by revealing the hidden Slugari colony to the Krepps, we’d be assisting in the extinction of an entire species of intelligent beings. The Slugari aren’t just some brainless animal. They talk, read and write, and they live and die by rules within their community. I’d even argue they’re more civilized than the Krepps that hunt them.”

Effie shared a solemn glance with Reela.

“Talk of war and massacring a species to extinction—this party certainly has been fun,” Reela quipped, sounding a bit annoyed.

“It’s merely a theory,” Steffen muttered, lowering his head. “I don’t wish to upset you. This is why we shouldn’t speculate.”

“The encyclopedia is right,” Effie concluded, hooking her arm around Reela’s to comfort her friend. Reela placed her free hand on Effie’s wrist, giving it a light squeeze that sent a wave of relaxation through Effie.

This wasn’t the subject matter Effie was used to on a night out. It reminded her of the history lessons her father had subjected her to as a child. Nothing was more sobering than hearing about Kyrro’s past, which was basically just a cycle of battles for kingship:
First this guy was king, but everyone hated him, so this guy formed an army and took over, but he was hated even more, so someone else formed his own army and took over.
She could never remember the specifics or the names of the kings a week later, so she found no point in it.

“Where is Cleve?” she asked in an attempt to change the subject. “That was a lot of sakal. We should keep watch on him.”

“He nearly got in a fight with Alex,” Reela answered.

It was Effie’s turn to joke. “This just keeps getting better.”
At least he’s finally acting like a warrior.
It wasn’t that she wanted him to, though. It was more that it was strange to expect something of someone, only to find he acted completely different.

“It may have had to do with what I told him,” Reela continued, “but in the end he and Alex appeared to resolve whatever it was. They hugged like you would expect two drunken men to hug.”

Rough and sloppy
, came to Effie’s mind, which regrettably reminded her of the night she’d lost her virginity.

“What could you have told him to cause a fight?” Effie asked. Usually Reela caused men to get upset with her, not each other.

“I got the sense that Alex desperately wanted to tell Cleve something when they first met, and that desperation never faded. So I pulled Cleve away to let him know about it. Later, I watched him confront Alex while that chemist spoke to me of Slugari and other chemist-like subjects that I didn’t care for. Whatever Alex said, it must have shocked Cleve because he became quite aggressive, at least until they talked more and resolved whatever it was.”

“That’s stranger than a chemist with a sword,” Steffen said. Gabby smacked him in the stomach with the back of her hand. He gasped and wheezed as a result.

“I told you not to use that stupid line,” Gabby told him.

“It’s funny,” he replied defensively, regaining his posture and fixing his shirt.

“But you’re a chemist. It’s insulting. You should say something like, ‘That’s stranger than a warrior making a potion.’ ”

“That’s terrible,” Steffen said.

“It truly is,” Reela agreed.

Effie unhooked herself from Reela. She decided to check on Cleve, catching some of Steffen’s explanation to Gabby as she walked back toward the house. “There are many problems with it,” he argued. “Some chemists actually do try using a sword, only to look awkward and strange. Warriors don’t care for making potions…”

Once inside, Effie found Cleve asleep in a chair. She shook his shoulder, yet he didn’t awaken. It felt like trying to shake a tree loose from the ground. She faced him to grab each shoulder and shook hard enough so that his head fell to his chest then bounced back to life.

He groaned. “I feel dizzy.”

“Too much to drink. I’ll help you get back home. You need to get up, though. You must be twice my weight at least.”

He pushed himself upright. She put an arm around his torso to help him balance, but he must have misjudged how much weight she could support because he leaned on her with what felt like more than a hundred pounds. She screamed as the floor came at her. But in the blink of an eye, a disorienting yank on her arm pulled her upright.

It took a few frantic breaths while she stumbled to realize that somehow Cleve had managed to stop his own fall and catch her as well. She glared at him in disbelief, for he looked to be having difficulty staying afoot.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you fall,” he mumbled. “I won’t put that much weight on you.”

Reela came to his other side with an excited smile. “I saw that. In a moment he was more sober than anyone here. Yet look at him.” She laughed and put an arm tightly around his torso. “Can’t even stand straight.”

Now Reela’s touching him?
Effie couldn’t remember the last time her friend had thrown an arm around a man, especially a warrior. Sure, she would give a friendly touch to Steffen every so often, but the way Reela looked to be holding Cleve as close to her as possible made Effie wonder.

Cleve mumbled with a wide grin. “Let’s go home.”

Outside, Steffen and Gabby joined them. They directed a few questions at Cleve, only to be answered with, “Let’s talk tomorrow” in the same mumbled voice.

Effie tried asking, “What happened between you and Alex?” With that, Cleve’s grin faded and there was no reply.

By the time they’d arrived at their door, Cleve had pushed himself away from Reela and was at least stumbling on his own.

“No more sakal,” Effie heard him whisper as she watched him flop face first onto his bed.

Something caught her eye before she passed his room. Even in the darkness she could see that it was the floorboards under his bed—they had been removed. She used Bastial Energy to create white light from her hand for a look.

There’s no bow
, she realized.

“Cleve, your bow is gone. Did you move it?”

The only response was the sound of his breathing flowing in and out. He was already in a deep slumber.
Tomorrow is going to be a bad day
, Effie thought.

Chapter 11: The Army of Krepps

ZOKE

It had been two years since Zoke was given the task of overseeing discipline against all Krepps. In that time, he’d grown no more than an inch, coming up only to the shoulders of other adult Krepps around his age of
pra durren
—four, which meant it had been four years since the shedding of his birth skin, the painful transition into adulthood.

Besides Zoke’s height, however, he looked like any other Krepp. His face was longer than it was tall. His nose consisted of two holes above a lipless mouth that wrapped nearly around his entire head. His scaly skin was dark gray and tougher than the old leather that the Krepps wore to cover their privates. The claws on the ends of his ten fingers and toes were short and sharp. He walked with two legs on bare feet, and his body was thick with muscles, even at each bend of bone.

The Krepps had lived in Ovira longer than their limited history books had to tell. The Humans had appeared nearly two hundred years ago, Zoke had read. In that short time, the Humans had built cities and grand castles behind the mountains to the south. It was written that some could even cast magic. But history had no tales of battles between Humans and Krepps, and for good reason. Krepps towered over most Humans and weighed almost twice as much. Luckily for Humans, the Krepps had no reason to travel as far south as Kyrro.