Bastial Explosion (The Rhythm of Rivalry: Book 3) (12 page)

His new question seemed to upset her even more, for Marratrice took in a shaky breath and then let out a loud wail. Still, she seemed reluctant to stand.

“I don’t know what happened,” she managed between tears. “Bastial hell, I never cry like this.”

Steffen wondered what he should do. She seemed to be in need of consoling, but he wasn’t sure if it was words or an embrace that would help. So far, his questions had only made her react worse. So he decided to try a hug.

He knelt down and put his arms around her stomach, pushing his cheek against her back—it felt awkward with her being on all fours…like he was squeezing a dog. Still, he stuck with it.

“It’s alright,” he said. “I’m not mad.”

It was the truth. He’d completely forgotten about Leonard anyway. How could he hold a grudge? But he did need to know what happened.

“What could’ve caused you to kill him?” Steffen let go and stood back up. His awkward embrace hadn’t improved her mood.

“He’d always been so mellow,” Marratrice said, her voice unstable, as if the words were wobbling their way out. “So I’d been opening his cage to feed him. But yesterday he attacked me. I think he wanted to kill me.” She shook her head. “I know it doesn’t sound possible. I mean, what kind of rat wants to kill a person? But he wouldn’t stop biting me, even when I kicked him. My roommate heard my screams. She came to help me, but we didn’t know what to do to stop Leonard from trying to bite me. He obviously wasn’t afraid of us. So we…” Her hands flew to cover her face. “It was so terrible!”

“Unrelenting aggression…this must be a side effect of the growth potion,” Steffen realized. “He was calm because of a powerful psychic spell from Vithos, but it must’ve worn off.” Steffen didn’t know enough about psyche to be sure that was correct, but now wasn’t the time to speculate. “Was your roommate hurt as well?” Steffen asked.

“No, fortunately. The rat was only after me.”

Blind rage, another side effect.
“Anything else Leonard did that was unlike other rats?”

“I don’t know…” Marratrice muttered to the ground.

Steffen studied the side of her face to find her eyes squinted. He decided to put himself in her position. What would he have done if Leonard had attacked him and showed no signs of stopping? How would he have killed Leonard?

“Did you feed him a sleep potion to stop him?” Steffen asked.

“No.” Marratrice seemed as if she wanted him to keep guessing so she wouldn’t have to say it aloud.

Steffen was quiet as he thought. A terrible image came to mind. He couldn’t even suggest it. His stomach was starting to turn in on itself. His appetite was gone.

Finally he managed to whisper, “You killed him with your feet and hands?”

“We had to.” Marratrice started to weep again. “He was biting me so hard. We had to stop him.”

Leonard was huge.
The thought of crushing the rat was too much for him to consider, so he decided not to.

“I’m truly sorry,” he said.

“Me, too.” Marratrice wiped away her tears. “Do you want to come by and get his cage?”

“I will, although I’m not going to be buying any more rats for experiments.”

“I think that would be wise.”

Chapter 11:

STEFFEN

By the time lunch service was open, Steffen’s appetite had returned. After waiting in line and receiving his food, he found Zoke sitting with Alarex. It was impossible not to notice the shirtless Krepp amid the dining hall packed with Humans. Zoke was the only one with dark gray skin and a long head that nearly came to a point at its front, just like a lizard’s.

Steffen often forgot how different the Krepp really looked compared to Humans, especially when Zoke was speaking their language. But being the only Krepp in the room made him look like a fish on land.

Still unused to the Krepp’s natural musk, Steffen sat next to Alarex instead.

“Hi, Alex,” he said. But then Steffen noticed the cuts all over Zoke. “What happened?”

“Sneaky Human bastards.” Zoke grunted and went back to his food, as if expecting Steffen to understand what that meant.

Looking over to Alex, Steffen saw he was smiling. “Zoke had some trouble on Warrior’s Field.”

“Only during team combat,” Zoke added. “I can beat anyone when it’s just them and me.”

“You haven’t fought Cleve yet,” Alex said. “They say no one has scored even a point against him.”

Steffen nearly choked as he jumped from the bench. “He’s back?”

“No…” Alex’s voice slowly faded, as did his grin. “I was just—”

“But do you know that he’s coming back?” Steffen asked.

“You misunderstand,” Alex stated calmly. “I know nothing more about him being sent to or coming back from Goldram than you do.”

“Oh.”

“This isn’t the first time I’ve heard you Humans talk about Cleve,” Zoke said. “All I know about him is that I’m staying in his room. Who is he?”

“Remember Terren, the head of the Academy and the one who led our group when we traveled to the Slugari colony?” Alex asked.

“The one with yellow hair,” Zoke added. “Of course.”

“Cleve is his nephew.” Alex tilted his head. “Do you know this word?”

Steffen always smiled when Zoke tried to remember a word. The face the Krepp made was so Human that it was eerie to see it on another creature. His lipless mouth would purse, a vertical line would form in the middle of his hairless brow, and he’d often grumble as he thought.

“Nephew is a sibling’s son, right?” Zoke asked. “So Terren has a brother or sister, and Cleve is their son?”

“That’s right,” Steffen said, “except that Terren’s brother died a while back. Cleve has been living with Terren instead.”

“You might like Cleve,” Alex said with a laugh. Steffen couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. “Sometimes you remind me of him. You two can be quite similar.”

Zoke motioned like he was about to spit onto the floor next to him, but he stopped himself just before releasing the saliva. He made a disgusted face, then said, “No Human is like me.”

After lunch, Steffen met with Jack Rose at the master chemist’s house.

Expecting questions about his experience within the Slugari colony, Steffen was shocked when the first thing Jack said was, “You have to stop all experimentation with growth potions. Do you understand?”

His tone was so serious, Steffen immediately agreed. “I will.”

“Good.”

It was during the following silence when Steffen’s curiosity began to prod at him like a sharp stick, creating questions that needed to be answered in order for it to stop.

“What’s changed?” Steffen asked. They’d spoken frequently of growth potions, but mostly about the specific ingredients Steffen had been using.

Jack had worn a skeptical expression during those conversations. At first, Steffen thought the master chemist didn’t believe him. But later he realized that the grimace was a sign of unvoiced disapproval.

And now that voice finally has come out.

“I’ve done enough research to make a decision,” Jack answered. “And the potential that your research will lead to harm is far too great, even during times of war.”

Steffen remembered what Jack had told him the first time they’d met: “Potions can be far more dangerous than weapons. We chemists have to be very careful. Some mixtures could change the world forever.”

He had fear for what I was doing, even then.
But what had Jack found in his research that made him ignore the obvious advantage a growth potion could give them against the Krepps? What could be so bad?

“There’ve been experiments,” Jack continued. “All of them ending badly, many resulting in the loss of lives.”

After what happened to Marratrice, Steffen saw how this could be the case. “I understand,” he said.

“Do you have any rats left that you’ve used for experimentation? If so, bring them to me and I’ll take care of the extermination.”

“You have a poison?” Steffen asked before he realized what he was implying.

It was against the rules of the kingdom to make or possess poisons of any kind.
But are the teachers and the King’s staff exempt from this rule?

“I can’t answer that.” Jack had a stern look in his eyes. “Do you have any rats?”

“Not anymore. The last one died.”

Jack took in a slow breath. “Very well, on to other business.” He wiped his hands on each other and then offered one for Steffen to shake. “I want to offer my congratulations for the success of your trip to the Slugari colony. I know the Elf fell helping the rest of you safely retreat, and we’ll hold a memorial ceremony for him later. Because of him and the rest of you, we’re now allied with the Slugari. Thank you.”

Steffen shook the man’s hand. It felt wrong to be alive and congratulated when Vithos wasn’t, but the firm grasp of Jack’s grip was somewhat calming and helped alleviate the grief twisting within him.

“But communication with the Slugari has just begun,” Jack continued. “I’m sure we’ll need to meet with them again, and you’ll most likely be chosen to join whatever group is sent. They know you, and you speak their language. I just wanted you to be prepared for that.”

“Thank you, but there’s little I feel unprepared for anymore,” Steffen said. He wasn’t intending to boast, only admit a fact. “I didn’t mean to imply—”

“No need to explain,” Jack interrupted with a wide smile. “I’m proud to see you’ve become more confident. These days, we expect confidence from everyone, because without confidence all we have is hope…and hope is never enough on its own.”

“But we must always have hope as well, right?”

“Yes—oh, how does that phrase go that my father used to tell me?” Jack drummed his fingers along his cheek. “That’s it: What has a beginning but never ends? It thrives on itself, needing no other friends. It wavers and swells, like the sea. Sometimes more stubborn than a king’s decree.”

“Hope?” Steffen guessed, figuring that had to be the answer.

“A drunken warrior trying to recite a poem.”

Steffen laughed.

“Yeah, I like that joke.” Jack halted his grin to gesture with his finger in a serious manner. “But hope is the real answer.”

Chapter 12:

EFFIE

Battle training hadn’t changed much since Effie left. Fireballs, fireballs, and more fireballs. They were the most useful spell. Although, Effie hoped her instructor, Marie Fyremore, had something else she could teach the mages that was more likely to kill a Krepp in one cast, which Effie had told her within the first moments since training had begun.

“I don’t care how tough their skin is,” Marie retorted. “There’s no way a Krepp can survive one of my fireballs.” The old woman grunted and whipped her wand at a metal training dummy, releasing a fireball that had to have been at least five feet in diameter. It exploded into the dummy, leaving a hiss as the metal sizzled.

“Keep training, and eventually you can cast with the strength that I can,” Marie concluded, turning to address the class before Effie could comment.

And how many years will that take?
Effie wondered, her snide inner voice louder than usual.

She hadn’t given up yet on convincing Marie. Even if one fireball had the potential to kill a Krepp, there must be other spells the master mage knew that could be more effective.

Meanwhile, Effie followed the routine as instructed: shoot a series of fireballs, get pointers from Marie on how to improve, and then shoot more fireballs. Effie became bored the first hour into it, taking her time as she drank from the water basin during a moment of rest.

While holding her half-filled cup, she let her mind wander.
Did Reela let her ears show when she left the house?
What are people going to say? I’ll bet she gets more stares than Zoke.

In a blink, the cup was blasted from her hand and she let out a scream. The water sprayed everywhere, some of it finding her face and hair.

She knew it had to have been a fireball, a small one at that. First she noticed that a few students were laughing, and then Effie quickly found Marie’s glare among a group of them.

“Why didn’t you block my fireball, green mage?” Marie taunted, referring to Effie’s focus on Sartious Energy.

“Try that again now that I’m ready.” Effie took the wand from her belt and began to focus the arduous task of drawing in heavy SE.

But she knew as soon as she’d spoken that her pride had gotten the better of her. Effie was nowhere near skilled enough to stop one of Marie’s fireballs, and the old woman knew this, showing Effie a mocking grin.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Marie asked.

Effie stepped away from the water basin, wondering how she was going to talk her way out of this one without embarrassing herself.

She wouldn’t actually put her full strength into it,
Effie thought.
She wouldn’t kill her own student.

But Effie started to question herself when Marie’s mouth became level and she sucked in a deep breath.