Bastial Energy (20 page)

“That would help me feel better about all the scratches I’m getting from running into them clumsily, but they have no conscious mind I can detect, so I don’t believe so. At this rate I’ll bleed to death before we make it there.” Vithos held out his arms.

Zoke was surprised to see the Elf was hardly exaggerating. He was covered in cuts, most of which were deep enough for blood to show. Although it had been only four years since Zoke’s shedding, it was a clear reminder that his skin was far tougher than the Elf’s. Vithos had told Zoke that his skin, and so the skin of all Elves—Vithos assumed—seemed to be as frail as that of a child Krepp. It seemed like a terrible disadvantage, like wearing paper into battle instead of armor.

“How long will we need to travel before we reach the Elven village?” Zoke asked.

“My understanding is that it’s near the center of this forest, maybe twenty miles from where we are now. We could easily reach it tomorrow on open terrain, but it’s tough to say with all these trees. I have no experience with this land. It could be two days, it could be five, especially if I’m wrong about its location. Finding food will be easy, though, as I can lure any animal to us, so try to keep your spirits up.”

Vithos had been right about the north; nature still owned it, so there was much more to see. A few plants in particular caused Zoke to stop for a closer investigation. There was one type he noticed more frequently than others. It stood with a lean, always toward him, reminding him of the way Vithos would lean over him as he listened for lies. Impossibly so, it somehow felt even more otherworldly than when the Elf peered into his mind.

The tall plant had wormlike legs that wrapped around its body. They connected it to the dirt, where the legs trailed off in all directions like a cape twice too long with shredded ends. Its head was always composed of six to ten long leaves that never hung in the exact same shape, but they always created the image of eyes or a mouth, and sometimes even both. Zoke noticed that this particular plant only grew near trees, liking to lean out from behind them, as if to spy.

He poked one with his stick and it seemed to reply with an annoyed shake, moving just a bit too much and too long for his light touch. That’s when Zoke decided he didn’t like this forest.

“How will we find the village?” Zoke asked. “These trees stretch on forever.”

“Signs of intelligent life are easy to spot, even after years have passed since anyone inhabited the area,” Vithos answered cheerfully. “Look for trails, markings on trees, or even a river or lake. They couldn’t have lived too far from water.” Vithos sounded as if he was quoting something he might have read or heard. “I wouldn’t expect to find anything today, though, as we couldn’t have traveled far from the edge of the forest.”

In their time through the forest, Zoke saw more creatures and plants than he had in his whole life. He’d heard or read about some of what he saw, mostly because of the danger they posed, so he recognized a snake when it hung from the limb of a tree and hissed at Vithos.

“Look out!” Zoke warned.

The Elf knelt and shot a hand at the wiry creature. It slipped from the branch like a rope coming loose, falling onto Vithos’ shoulders and knees. Instead of pushing it off him, Vithos balanced its weight across his shoulders and continued walking.

“Snakes will bite. Their poison can kill you!” Zoke said, completely shocked the Elf didn’t know or didn’t seem to care.

Vithos turned and flashed a grin. “This one won’t, not while I’m conscious.”

Zoke felt his eyes go wide. “Why carry it with us?”

Vithos shrugged. “For fun.”

The snake slithered around Vithos’ arms and neck as he walked, its forked tongue shooting out to dance at lizards and birds they passed. Sometimes it would wrap around Vithos’ body to stare at Zoke, its head nodding back and forth silently with each step the Elf took it’s. He didn’t understand the fun it gave Vithos, but it wasn’t his place to judge.

The nights were freezing. While Zoke, at least, could sleep through them with some difficulty, the Elf could not, even with his blanket. Zoke was awakened the first night by the frigid wind. He heard Vithos making an odd sound, like his teeth were rattling against each other. It was too dark to see him, but it sounded like he was shaking against the dirt he lay on as well.

“What’s wrong with you?” Zoke whispered and sat up. Just as he did, he heard something scamper away from him. It gave him quite a startle, as it appeared to be within spitting range before it ran off. “What was that?” Zoke jumped to his feet and readied his stick, though he saw nothing but black of the thickest kind. His heart went wild with fear.

“What did you say?” Vithos whispered back. When he spoke, the sound of his shaking grew louder. “I think I may have somehow been asleep finally.”

Zoke waited for a few breaths, listening, but heard nothing except Vithos. He lowered the stick and felt himself calming. “You’re making a strange sound. Are you sick?”

“No, this happens when I’m too cold.” The Elf’s teeth were chattering very loudly now. “My body and teeth tremble. I don’t know why.”

“Must be an Elf thing.” Zoke thought for a moment of how he could help with the cold but came up with nothing. “In this dark, it would be impossible to gather the supplies to make fire. To make matters worse, I think some creature is waiting for us to sleep. When I spoke, I heard something move that was nearly on top of me.”

“There are creatures all around us, but I’m not sensing anything aggressive right now. Maybe it was just curious what could cause such an appalling stink.” Vithos gave a shaky laugh that cut off early from the clacking of his teeth. “I don’t think I’ll be getting much sleep anyway, so I’ll keep guard. It may be impossible, but I’m going to try to start a fire. At least it’ll get me moving.”

“If that suits you.” Zoke didn’t want to waste his efforts on the impossible when he was able to sleep.

He woke again maybe two or three hours later to the squeak of sticks being rubbed fiercely. He stayed up with Vithos until the fire was lit.

On the fourth day, they finally discovered a trail, but it didn’t prove to be as useful as Vithos had implied. It was only visible where the dirt was bare. Otherwise, it wound through piles of leaves, even going under bushes and clusters of plants at times. They lost it more times than Zoke could keep track.

The light within the forest grew dim, and the sound of rustling from behind them became louder. It gave Zoke a growing panic he couldn’t shake.

At last Vithos stopped. “Look.” He pointed ahead.

There was an open gateway made of wood. On top were letters in a language Zoke didn’t recognize.

“Elvish?” Zoke asked. He knew how to read common tongue, so he could tell it wasn’t that.

“Must be,” Vithos said as he studied it.

Although there didn’t appear to be anyone around, Zoke spoke quietly once they passed through the gate. He felt as if he didn’t belong here, that he was an intruder. It only made his panic worsen.

“It’s late.” Zoke could hear his tone was nervous. “We should find somewhere to rest. You can look around in the morning.”

“It’s fine, Zoke. No one is nearby.” Vithos chuckled. “We’ll find a good place to rest as we look around.” The Elf’s eagerness was palpable.

Chapter 25: They Must Die

ZOKE

The path split into three, each leading to clusters of ornate houses in wide areas where trees had been cleared. Every house was touched by streaks of black from fire, some burned so badly they were no more than darkened, incomplete walls.

“Doe and Haemon were here,” Vithos said. He touched the scarred wall of a nearby house. “And it looks like they won whatever battle occurred.”

As they continued on, Zoke no longer could find the sun piercing through the trees as it had an hour ago. A light mist appeared to be seeping into the forest from the treetops. The sky was colored a deep blue, turning everything below into black silhouettes. Even Vithos, with his pale skin, had grown dark gray like a Krepp.

They checked the inside of each house that still had four walls and a roof, but there were no signs of Elves. “There’s a smell,” Vithos commented. He sniffed, then grimaced. “It’s a terrible stench of rotting flesh.”

Zoke had no way of empathizing. Being a
gurradu
, he knew not what rotting flesh smelled like, nor anything else for that matter.

They continued farther northwest through another one or maybe two hundred yards of destroyed houses. Their pace had slowed to a near crawl.

“It’s getting worse.” Vithos held his nose and coughed. “How I envy you right now.”

“I think we should go back. It’s becoming difficult to see.” A troubled feeling was seeping through Zoke’s body. It was heaviest in his stomach, making him feel sick with worry.

Vithos gagged and stopped for a moment to compose himself. “We’re close to whatever it is.”

Zoke’s heart started thumping against his chest. He thought he heard dried leaves crackling underfoot. There were hundreds of places to hide. Someone could be within spitting range without him knowing. “Is anything near us?” he asked.

Vithos extended a palm but quickly shook his head. “I can’t tell. The smell is too overpowering.”

Fear gripped Zoke.
Something bad is about to happen,
a voice told him, a voice he trusted. “We need to go, now.” He wrapped his claws around Vithos’ wrist, but Vithos shook free.

“What’s wrong?” The Elf finally looked worried.

Two yellow eyes connected to what could only be the body of a Krepp stepped out from behind a house. It appeared to be holding something, lifting it in front of its chest.
A bow!
Zoke could see it now. Zoke pushed Vithos behind a wide tree as an arrow zipped by and scraped the side of his shoulder.

They pushed their backs against their only cover, each panting nervously. “How many did you see?” Vithos asked.

“Only one.” The sting of pain surged through his shoulder. With a finger he found a small gash that didn’t concern him.

Vithos aimed a hand to his side. A second Krepp dropped a bow and fell to his knees with a groan of pain from the psychic spell.

Zoke and Vithos ran back the way they came, but an arrow cut them off, flying just past Zoke and glancing off the edge of Vithos’ hip. The Elf fell with a quick grunt, but Zoke grabbed his arm, popped him up, and pulled him into the nearest house four steps away.

“There’s at least three,” Zoke whispered, “probably more.” The house was like Zoke’s hut but bigger. It had two beds, a table, and a dilapidated chair. Everything was charred or covered in soot. Most of the roof was missing, but worst of all there was no door. They stood just behind the wall that connected to the doorway. “Did the arrow pierce you?”

Vithos checked the wound. “It’s fine.”

“Can you use your psyche on them?”

“Not unless I see them. I can’t sense their presence because of the stench. They must have been sent by Doe. He knows about this weakness.” Vithos drew his dagger, keeping his eyes on the doorway.

There were two open windows. “We can’t stay in here or they’ll shoot through one of those.” Zoke pointed at the gaping holes in the wall. Vithos checked and grumbled under his breath.

“How good are you with a bow?” Vithos asked.

“Decent. Much better with a sword, though.”

“Let’s get you one. We need to take them out, all of them. They’ll track us wherever we go. Doe wouldn’t let them return without proof of killing me.”

“Fine,” Zoke agreed while monitoring the windows. Surprisingly, he no longer felt afraid. His mind was clear. A plan came to him—possibly the only option they had. “Can you run?”

“I’m not leaving you,” Vithos stated firmly.

“No, are you
able
to run? When we dash out of here to fight them it needs to be at full speed.”

“Yes,” Vithos answered confidently. “I can do that.”

“Get ready to follow me. If you see any Krepps, mesmerize them with psyche. I’ll engage the closest one I see.”

Vithos nodded. “Endure.”

“Endure.” Zoke dug his claws into his only weapon—the stick from Lake Lensa.
I will not die here
, he vowed, thinking of Zeti. He waved the stick in front of the door and around the edge of the doorway. Arrows zipped past it, some even whizzing into the house and sticking into the back wall with a humming
thump
. “Go!” he shouted and then sprinted out with Vithos behind him.

Two Krepps with bows faced them. Luckily, each needed to reload his arrows. To his side Zoke detected movement—a Krepp stepping out from behind a tree with an arrow already strung. But before the Krepp could pull the string back, he twisted his head in a disorienting lurch and dropped the bow.
Good, Vithos
.

“Look for more behind us and to our other side. I can take care of these two!” Zoke screamed, still running as fast as his legs could carry him.

The two Krepps must have realized they wouldn’t load another arrow in time, so each dropped his bow and drew a sword. Zoke’s strength had always been underestimated because of his small size, so he knew to use that to his advantage. He leaped into the air and brought down the stick over the head of the Krepp who dared to stand farther forward. The Krepp held up his sword for protection, but it was not enough. Zoke felt the blow connect to more than just steel but couldn’t take another second to see if he would rise because the other Krepp was thrusting a sword at him. Zoke swung the stick back around, swatting the sword clean from his attacker’s grip. Zoke took a quick glance to the first one—he was lying motionless. The other produced a dagger, so Zoke jabbed him hard in the stomach with his stick. It created enough distance between them for Zoke to trade his stick for the nearby sword from the unconscious Krepp.