Bastial Explosion (The Rhythm of Rivalry: Book 3) (2 page)

Another fireball came from Doe’s claws, again striking Paramar.

The weakened Krepp was slow to move this time, completely dazed. He tried to push himself up, only to fall flat on his stomach.

“Would you like me to finish him?” A Krepp came toward Doe—it was Keenu!

What are you doing?
Zeti wanted to scream at him. The chief of the Kreppen scouts was friends with Paramar. How could he offer to kill Paramar with such indifference?

“No,” Doe answered with a scowl. “Zeti will do it.”

To her horror, Doe turned his body to face her. She couldn’t breathe in that moment, violently sucking in air to no effect.

“You
were
going to prove your loyalty by killing your traitorous brother,” Doe said. “But he escaped. So now you’ll kill this traitor.”

She managed to take in a quick breath as she glanced at Paramar. His eyes were locked to hers as he came toward her. He staggered, barely catching himself as he started to fall.

Closer he came, refusing to look anywhere but right back at her. Everyone was silent. She could feel their gazes.

“Do it,” Doe commanded.

She drew her arrow. Her hands were shaking.

If Paramar still had his sword, he could’ve reached her with it by the time she was ready to shoot. Instead, he extended his claw peacefully and fell to a knee in pain.

“Come here,” he muttered, powerless to trudge forward any farther.

She did, helping him to his feet.

Unable to keep his head up, he let down his neck to rest his forehead on the thin black hair atop her head. She could feel his sweat.

“You fear what other Krepps want,” he whispered. “That’s the weakness I found in you when we first fought.”

He kissed her forehead—a sign of goodbye. Then he stepped back, extending his arms from his sides to show he was ready.

“Goodbye, Paramar,” Zeti muttered. Then she wiped away the tears clouding her vision and aimed at his heart.

Chapter 2:

EFFIE

When Effie found Reela still at the pig farm, disappointment wrapped around her heart, the extra weight now causing it to sink toward her stomach. She couldn’t believe it. Reela was even in the same position as before, sitting alongside the fence with her head resting against it, an empty look in her eyes.

Effie took in a deep breath, put on a smile, and forced herself to try a joke. “You like the smell or something?”

Reela turned to show Effie the tears running down her cheeks, her mouth dead flat.

“Oh, Reela.” Suddenly Effie felt tears forming in her own eyes. She still hadn’t gotten used to seeing her friend cry. “I’m so sorry.”

Reela nodded forgivingly, then turned back to the pigs.

It had been ten days since Vithos had been killed—stranded in the Slugari colony with hundreds of Krepps blocking his only exit. No one had seen him die, but Effie knew better than to hope he could’ve made it out of there alive. Since then, Reela’s mood had gotten worse each day.

Effie desperately wanted to see some of Reela’s old smile, even expected it once they’d returned to the Academy. But they’d gotten back hours ago, and Reela hadn’t even bothered to move after plopping herself down along the fence of the pig farm.

The sun was setting, night quickly approaching. Effie’s worry for Reela now trumped her sadness for the loss of Vithos. Her friend barely had eaten anything during their trip back from the Slugari colony.

Effie had never known Reela to be thin throughout her life, not that she was heavy, either. But she’d lost a lot of weight recently, and her pale skin looked to have lost some color. Even her green eyes, usually vibrant with joy, had become dull. They were red and splotchy, as if stained by blood.

Effie came behind Reela and thought to run her hand down Reela’s light brown hair to comfort her. But then she remembered how particular her psychic friend was about people touching her hair. The few times Effie’d tried when they were younger, Reela had snapped at her like an animal being rubbed the wrong way.

“Why stay with the pigs?” Effie asked.

Reela lifted her hand to the fence. “Pigs don’t show emotion through their faces like we do. But I can tell they’re very sensitive creatures.”

Effie would’ve mentioned that her question wasn’t answered, but she was content just to hear Reela speak—a rarity on its own these days.

Reela took a slow breath as her fingers gripped the fence harder. “The farmer told me the two pigs in front of us are brother and sister. I’ve been interested in how they interact with each other. They realize there’s a connection between them. Pigs are smarter than people know.”

Effie studied the animals. They were sniffing the ground in curiosity, lifting their noses to touch every so often. She would’ve thought their interaction was purely coincidental if it hadn’t been for Reela. But now that she had the psychic’s insight into the situation, Effie found it adorable.

“So you find it comforting to watch them?” she asked, still unsure what this had to do with losing Vithos.

Reela stood, turning to face Effie. From her serious glance, Effie could feel that her childhood friend was about to tell her something important.

“Eff, I can’t keep this to myself any longer.”

Reela’s tone made Effie take a step forward. “What is it?”

“Vithos wasn’t the same to me as he was to you.”

It felt so strange speaking about Vithos in the past tense when Effie still could picture his smile so easily.

He was always smiling, just like Reela.

“You had romantic feelings for him?” Effie assumed. It was a thought she’d already had.

Reela’s face showed a hint of a smile. “When did you come to that belief?” Her tone said it all—Effie couldn’t have been more wrong.

Reela continued. “I’m locked on Cleve.” She put her hand on Effie’s shoulder. “You know that.”

“I thought you might’ve fallen for the Elf,” Effie admitted.

Finally, Reela let out a true smile, both ends of her puffy lips bending upward. “No. Vithos was my brother—my half brother.”

Has the depression caused Reela to lose her mind?
“Reela, what’s with you?” Effie asked. “He’s an Elf. You’re not…your ears aren’t…” Effie tried to picture Reela’s ears but couldn’t do it.

Have I ever seen them?
A chill ran down Effie’s spine that only got stronger when Reela lowered her head, giving Effie a knowing look from the tops of her eyes.

Suddenly it struck her—the reason Reela never let anyone near her hair. It was covering her ears. Reela claimed she never knew her father. Lies. All of it lies.

Anger overwhelmed Effie. She gritted her teeth. “You’re half Elf?” For some reason she knew not to shout this information, though it took all of her strength not to.

Reela nodded with a relieved grin.

“Why keep this from me? We tell each other everything.”
At least I thought we did.

“It wasn’t my decision. My family made me keep it a secret for my own safety.” Reela balled her fist. “But now that I’ve proven my loyalty to Kyrro. I don’t see why I need to keep hiding it. The King would never exile me now.” Reela’s head sank, her eyes sliding to the ground. “I’ve already lost both my brothers and Cleve. I don’t see why this side of me has to be lost as well.”

“Both brothers?” Effie was confused.
Who else could there be besides Vithos?
But then she gasped as it came to her. “Do you mean the Elf who left with Cleve? He’s your brother as well?”

Reela nodded, taking in a deep breath that seemed to provide great satisfaction.

Effie felt the opposite. She was wound up tighter than a ball of string, feeling betrayed that Reela hadn’t trusted her with this information before now.

Before she knew what to ask, the deafening Redfield stadium bell was struck.

Ding!

One ring,
Effie counted.

Ding!

Two rings.

Effie grabbed Reela’s hands as she waited to hear if the third would come.
Please no, we’ve just gotten back.

Two rings meant their presence was required at Redfield. But more than two…Effie wasn’t ready for battle, didn’t even want to think about it. She wondered if she ever would be comfortable with the idea.

Seconds passed in silence.

Reela seemed to be the first one between them to breathe again. Effie let out a breath next.

“I’ll explain the whole thing later,” Reela told her.

Effie nodded and they walked to Redfield. She began to wonder how well she really knew her closest friend.

But when Reela extended her hand for Effie to hold, she knew it was a silly thought. Reela was still Reela.

Chapter 3:

ZOKE

Zoke stood next to Marie Fyremore in the center of Redfield as thousands of young Humans sat along the rows of wooden benches. Most of them didn’t even hide their stares. With open mouths and confused chatter, it was clear many still didn’t know Zoke was an ally.

That was the point of this introduction, Marie had told him, following with, “And to inform everyone about our new Slugari allies as well.”

But with Vithos gone, Zoke wasn’t sure who his allies were anymore.

Marie was the oldest Human Zoke had seen yet, her papery skin ruffled with wrinkles. Still, there was strength to her. Perhaps it was the way she stood, or the arrogance in her smile, but Zoke didn’t find himself questioning why the other Humans would listen to her. From the wand on her belt, Zoke knew she was a mage even before she’d introduced herself as the head mage of the Academy and acting headmaster until Terren returned.

Once everyone was seated, Marie raised her arms and waited for silence before speaking.

“Rain is coming, so let’s make this as brief as we can.” Her voice carried well. It seemed to catch everyone’s attention, even though there was nothing fearsome about it—like Doe or Haemon’s voice.

Zoke certainly didn’t miss them. But he couldn’t escape the feeling he would see them again.

“Terren has returned,” Marie continued. “But he’s meeting with King Welson Kimard in Kyrro City to share this good news that I’m about to tell you: The Slugari have agreed to ally with us against Tenred and the Krepps.”

A startling noise erupted from the stadium. It was a thunderous sound that came at Zoke from all directions as he stood in the center. He couldn’t figure out what caused it at first until he looked closer at the Humans’ hands. They were slapping their palms together, all of them.

He tried to remember if he’d read anything about this behavior, but nothing came to mind. He figured it was some sort of agreement to the news being favorable.

“Some of you have already met Zoke.” Marie gestured toward him. “Unlike the other Krepps, he has allied with us and already killed enemies on our behalf, including his own kind. You’ll be seeing him around the Academy. His skill with the sword is exceptional, so he’ll be joining the Group One warriors for battle training. Welcome him as you would anyone else.”

Hot frustration started burning within Zoke’s chest. Why was this woman making such an effort to make sure he was accepted? It made him look weak, like he needed her help or had even requested it.

Someone ahead of them stood, his pale hand raised toward the darkening sky. It was a Human male in the first row of benches.

Marie pointed at him. “Yes?”

“Sawdar Shayper, of the Group One warriors.” The young man’s voice was low with pride, his shoulders wide with muscle as he stood with his arms folded.

“No introduction is needed,” Marie said with a smile.

The man continued with the same proud tone. “My question is this: When this Krepp came through the Academy weeks ago, an Elf was with him. The Elf performed the most powerful psyche I’ve ever witnessed, but where is he now? Shouldn’t he be here…isn’t he our ally as well?”

Voices of agreement fluttered from the crowd. Marie showed one eye to Zoke before turning back to Sawdar.

“I’m sorry to say that he fell during battle,” she said.

A blast of noise came from the crowd, a mixture of indiscernible sounds of shock.

“What happened?” Sawdar’s tone was demanding.

Anyone who spoke like that to Doe would be punished with fire. Zoke looked to Marie to see what she would do, but she simply looked back at Zoke in silence, a blank expression on her face. Then she turned to answer Sawdar.

“That’s all Terren told me,” she said. “He can give a statement when he returns.”

“Wasn’t the Krepp there?” Sawdar pointed his blunt finger pointed at Zoke.

It made Zoke want to bite it off.

“And we were told a group of first years went as well,” Sawdar continued. “If they’re here, and the rest of us are here as well, it seems pointless to return to Redfield later for the news from Terren. Why not have them tell us?” He looked behind him.

At first Zoke thought it was to search for Effie, Steffen, Reela, and Alex—those who’d returned with him to the Academy, who also knew what happened to Vithos. But then Zoke realized that Sawdar was searching for the support of the crowd.