Bastial Explosion (The Rhythm of Rivalry: Book 3) (42 page)

That was enough for Cleve not to question his loyalty. Although he didn’t understand, Alex and this Krepp clearly needed saving. They were backing up in haste as five or six Krepps closed in on them. Cleve saw two more Krepps stop fighting a warrior when they noticed the allied Krepp. One pointed and said something in Kreppen. They kicked away the warrior and ran toward him.

Cleve galloped over, amazed to find Alex and this Krepp not only defending themselves but managing to injure and even kill some of the Krepps attacking them.

Nulya seemed to know by now when Cleve wanted her to storm through Krepps instead of around them. He could feel her muscles stiffening, her speed increasing.

Cleve drove his weapon through one Krepp’s back as Nulya knocked over three in her path. Turning his horse for another charge, Cleve saw that Alex and the allied Krepp had taken advantage of his surprise attack and killed two who’d fallen.

The remaining Krepps were lost, not knowing who to focus on. Cleve charged again, this time directing Nulya to the side because there were some Krepps with their weapons pointed toward him.

Not wanting to risk an injury to Nulya, Cleve kept her out of distance as he passed by. Two Krepps tried to swing at her but missed.

When Cleve turned Nulya around again, one of them was dead, killed from behind by Alex. The other Krepp was charging at Cleve. Seeing that he was much faster than Alex and the allied Krepp, Cleve dismounted and stepped forward.

He sidestepped his enemy’s lunge, but this Krepp was quick. Before Cleve could counterattack, the Krepp already had brought his weapon around for an upward swing from his hip.

Dodging his attacks took more time than Cleve wanted to spare. This enemy was in the background of his worries compared to Reela, who he still hadn’t seen.

Soon enough, though, Cleve found an opening and sliced his weapon across the Krepp’s stomach. It was enough to knock the enemy off his feet. One more swing of the Bastial steel sword and the fight was over.

“Cleve!” Alex yelled. “Bastial hell.”

“I need to find Reela,” Cleve said, now on Nulya’s back and continuing toward the north wall.

But on his way there, Krepps were outnumbering Humans everywhere and quickly taking their lives. Cleve ignored the nagging voice that urged him to continue forward, and he killed every Krepp in his path instead.

He didn’t have time to check the sun, but light was dim. It was becoming difficult to see more than a stone’s toss ahead.

Finally he found Reela. She was fighting beside Effie, both of them doubled over in exhaustion. Reela managed to get her palm up at a Krepp, and he let out a howl but continued toward them. Effie aimed her wand and cast a fireball. It was meager, striking the Krepp in his stomach and knocking him down for a mere breath.

Reela had her dagger drawn in anticipation. But she had better hope of throwing it at the Krepp than fending off his sword.

The Krepp turned at the sound of Nulya galloping toward him, but it was already too late. Cleve slashed hard, his blade running up the front of the Krepp’s chest and face. He wasn’t getting up.

“Are either of you hurt?” Cleve asked.

Effie and Reela were sucking in air, their gaping mouths stuck open, their eyes unblinking.

“Cleve?” Effie finally asked.

“Cleve!” Reela shouted, but then panic struck her face. “Where’s Rek?”

“In Kyrro City, fighting the Krepps there.”

When he and Cleve had gotten off the boat, they’d ridden northwest to cross by Kyrro City. They noticed then that not only was it under attack, but the Academy was as well. Each wanted to ride to the Academy, but both agreed someone needed to stay and help protect the city. The Krepps were tearing through it at an alarming rate.

Rek suggested his psyche would do better in the city, and that was all Cleve needed to hear.

Cleve had been riding so hard since leaving the boat that Nulya was sweating. He knew he couldn’t keep pushing her much longer. Otherwise, he would’ve pulled Reela onto the mount to share his saddle.

“Is Rek safe?” Reela asked.

“Yes.”

Cleve noticed a major battle between hundreds of Krepps and Humans about fifty yards from them. The size difference was disturbing, the Humans looking like children in comparison, especially the shorter female mages whose spells illuminated the chaos.

After Cleve saw that Effie and Reela were looking in the same direction, he said, “I’m going over.”

“We’ll be right behind.” Reela smiled at him. He nearly lost his balance as tingles swam through his body. Her light hair was a mess. Sweat lined her brow. Dirt streaked her face. Still, she was as beautiful as she’d been in his thoughts. Her half-Elf ears were peeking out from her hair, and her eyes were brilliantly green.

Cleve regained his composure, turning Nulya and galloping toward the battling Humans and Krepps.

“Last push,” Cleve reassured his mount.

Nearing the fighting, he led Nulya behind the dining hall. Cleve couldn’t help but notice it had been damaged by fire, though the burns seemed to be old. The building had received repairs as well.

Is this not the first battle within these walls?

“Stay,” Cleve told Nulya, then rushed around from behind the dining hall to join the battle.

The Humans were losing. The mages’ fireballs weren’t incapacitating the Krepps long enough, and the psychics’ spells of pain weren’t enough to stop the Krepps from swinging their weapons. The warriors were the ones mostly being slain, though, as they tried their best to halt the Krepps’ forward momentum.

Cleve came running in from the side, killing two Krepps with two swings of his Bastial steel sword before any others knew he was there.

He quickly found that the Krepps did not fight well together, bumping into each other, their blades sometimes cutting their own kind by accident. He ducked and weaved through them, the Krepps targeting him becoming entangled. This was when he would strike, continuing to kill two at once in most cases. His sword was too fast for them to block or dodge.

The fight raged on, and soon Cleve found Reela and Effie beside him. Although exhausted, they fought hard, Reela aiming her palm to knock Krepps onto their knees with pain, Effie holding something in her hand—a green ball that seemed to be glowing.

She tossed it into a heap of Krepps. For a breath, nothing happened. Cleve had to take his focus away from it, cutting off the head of the Krepp who’d stumbled from Reela’s psyche.

Then he heard the sound of the explosion. It came from where Effie had tossed the green ball. The burst of fire knocked over ten Krepps.

The Krepps’ momentum had stopped. Those left standing were forced to defend themselves, tripping over their fallen comrades behind them.

Cleve and the others washed through their enemies, competing with each other to finish them off.

When no more Krepps were standing nearby, Cleve took the time to glance around him. He noticed Krepps everywhere were running south—they seemed to be fleeing, avoiding Humans in their path.

Then he heard the shouts of thousands of men and women. They came through the Academy like a tidal wave. When he saw that all were adults much older than him, Cleve knew they must’ve been sent from Kyrro City. They were the King’s army.

The Krepps must’ve fled the city,
he realized,
for the King’s army surely couldn’t have killed every Krepp and then run to the Academy from the time I’d ridden by earlier.

Cleve hurried to his mount, chasing after the Krepps and striking them down before they could climb up a ramp to the wall and jump over. He cleaned up close to ten before realizing that there were none left. All the others had fallen in battle or escaped.

Cheering spread fast. They were victorious.

Cleve looked for Reela but couldn’t find her. Wondering if she might already have started back toward their student house, Cleve rode west.

Among the student houses were many fallen Humans, bloodied by vicious wounds. It appeared that the western side of campus hadn’t fared as well as the others he’d seen.

His pulse quickened as he remembered that this was where he’d found Steffen. He searched the bodies in a panic, hoping he wouldn’t recognize any of their faces.

With all the houses in close proximity, it became difficult to keep track of where he’d looked already, accidentally circling back to find corpses he’d already inspected.

Of the men and women still standing, each seemed to be too distracted mourning a fallen ally to even notice Cleve and his mount.

Then Cleve found him. Great relief allowed him to breathe again as he saw that Steffen was alive. The chemist was kneeling over someone, a girl with red hair.

Cleve dismounted and came to Steffen’s side.

“She’s dead, Cleve.”

“Who is she?” Cleve felt her pulse to make sure.

“Marratrice. The Krepps killed her before I could get to her.”

Cleve put his hand on Steffen’s back, wondering what he could say to make Steffen stop staring at the poor girl’s body. She’d been pierced through her stomach, her limp hands resting over her wound.

“She somehow looks peaceful,” Steffen said, a tear falling from his cheek. Marratrice’s eyes were closed as if she were sleeping. “I keep expecting her to open her eyes and say something.”

“Come on, Steffen.” Cleve helped him up.

Leading Nulya by the reins, Cleve walked beside Steffen until they found Reela and Effie. The two young women were involved in a conversation with Alex, the allied Krepp, and an Elf who looked a lot like Rek—though Cleve couldn’t be sure if they were related or if all Elves looked the same, as this was only the second male Elf he’d ever seen.

Reela ran over, giving Steffen a hug.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” she said.

Steffen closed his eyes and didn’t reply.

Effie was waiting behind for her turn. “Marratrice?” she asked.

Reela parted from Steffen and waited for his reaction.

He shook his head.

“I’m so sorry, Steffen,” Effie said.

Reela gave him one more hug. When she parted, she stood in front of Cleve, her green eyes calling for an embrace.

He wrapped his arms around her tightly. She put her head on his shoulder as she hugged him back and whispered, “I’ve missed you.”

Soon they were kissing, the feeling of her lips a comfort he’d dreamed of many nights.

It was only then that he realized that he was home.

Effie cleared her throat, and Reela pulled away with a nervous giggle. Cleve felt his face becoming hot.

“We need to introduce you to Zoke and Vithos,” Effie said. “There’s a lot that’s happened. Though…” Effie pointed at the sword on Cleve’s belt, then his mount next. “It seems I could say the same of you.”

Chapter 38:

ZETI

Although Doe moved at half the speed Zeti would’ve liked, it took only a day to reach the base of the mountains in Entja. The massive Slugari’s body jiggled whenever he came to rest, which apparently needed to be quite frequently once they’d started traversing the slopes of what Doe called the Dajrik Mountains.

Zeti had heard the word before, “Dajrik.” Though she couldn’t remember from where. Her first questions about what they were doing yielded nothing but scowls, so she kept the rest to herself.

Doe seemed to know where he was going, sticking mostly to what appeared to be a path into the depths of the mountains. It was littered with boulders that were just small enough for Doe to move with a blast of fire.

They climbed for two days. Zeti went so long without speaking, she forgot the sound of her own voice. She could feel dust in her mouth as they went higher.

There’s nothing here,
she kept telling herself.
What’re we doing?

In a bag on her back, she carried their food and a bunch of red flowers that Zoke surely would’ve recognized.

Eventually they came to some doorway within the mountain. It seemed to have been made for something more than three times Zeti’s height.

Stepping inside, blackness took her until Doe created light from his claws.

“Hyha, Dajriks!” Doe yelled. “Hyha!”

Zeti didn’t recognize the word, so she assumed it to be Slugaren unless Doe knew a third language she wasn’t aware of…possibly common tongue? The thought made her step back behind him. What was about to come out?

There were tunnels everywhere leading to nothing but darkness.

“Dajriks!” Doe yelled. “Hali esha rujins lu Dajriks.”

Rujins
, Zeti picked up the word. Those were the red flowers in her bag. Was Doe offering them?

Zeti thought she felt the ground shake. She squatted to put her palm against it. But then she didn’t need to, for she could hear the sound of stone crashing against stone. It began echoing around them.

She remembered what a Dajrik was. It was Paramar who’d told her. They were giants that looked as if they were made of rock.

“Doe…”