Bastial Explosion (The Rhythm of Rivalry: Book 3) (26 page)

Effie sat up to a gray forest covered in dew. When she started rubbing her eyes, she noticed the thick moisture on her face and felt as if the forest had slobbered on her.

They spent half the day following Quessa as she sniffed for tracks. Effie knew the woman couldn’t actually be using her nose, but it certainly looked that way. Her head seemed to separate from her body, jerking from side to side as she cautiously walked forward. When she noticed something, sometimes she’d squat over it, other times she’d touch it, but no matter what, she always made the same face. Her nose would wrinkle and her scowl would worsen, as if detecting a bad odor.

It was already too late when Effie realized she should be keeping track of which direction they were heading. By then, they were deep into the forest.

Reela was talking with Vithos about life in the Academy. He asked many questions during pauses, some about Reela, some about Zoke, often with a teasing cadence—like how many people the Krepp had spat on. Vithos had to stifle a laugh when Reela told him what happened while Zoke was being introduced at Redfield.

Vithos always started his questions with common tongue, and usually Reela understood, even when Effie had no clue. But there were some instances when even Reela couldn’t figure it out, so the Elf transitioned to Kreppen and Zoke translated.

At one point, Quessa found tracks that she followed for nearly an hour before finally losing them. After practically growling, she turned and snapped at Reela and Vithos, “Do you want to get us killed?”

Everyone fell silent. Then it became clear that the woman actually expected them to respond to her rhetorical question.

“No,” Reela muttered, clearly making an effort not to roll her eyes.

“Then keep quiet.” Quessa turned back and muttered something under her breath about them being useless.

Boredom settled in fairly soon after that. Effie could feel herself becoming complacent. But when she remembered that they weren’t leaving the forest until they found the enemies from Tenred and figured out what they were doing, she became wary once again.

She was exhausted by the time the sun had begun to set the second day. It was difficult to know how far they’d walked, but her feet were telling her that it had to have been ten miles. She laughed at the thought, knowing it probably was closer to four or five at their pace.

Effie wondered two things then: how long they were going to stay in this forest, and if Quessa’s mood could get even worse.

I should be wondering how much worse it’s going to get instead of whether it will get worse,
she corrected herself.

When it was too dark to see the trees surrounding them, Quessa told them they could rest.

Supine, Effie could see stars in the gaps between the tops of trees. When her mind started to wander, she quickly tried to stop it, knowing that once it started she wouldn’t be able to sleep.

When Reela’s hand came onto her stomach and a tingle washed over her body that left her feeling numb, she just barely managed to whisper, “Thank you,” before falling asleep.

The next morning, Effie knew she needed some cheering up. But not being allowed to talk, she soon gave up that hope, letting out a long sigh.

Her eyes fell on Vithos. When he saw her look, he bulged out his eyes and pushed his lower lip over with the top of his teeth to make a ridiculous face.

Effie laughed. Just like that, she was smiling again. The Elf must’ve sensed her boredom. Effie laughed even harder when she saw Zoke’s perplexed expression as he looked at Vithos.

Luckily, Quessa wasn’t there to scold Effie. She noticed Alex was gone as well.

“Where are they?” she asked Zoke.

“Quessa said to wait here and then she left. Then Alex went the opposite way soon after.”

Effie heard the sound of footsteps behind her. She turned to find Quessa coming from behind the trees, already nearly close enough to touch.

And I thought Cleve was light on his feet.

Quessa had an even worse scowl than usual as she glanced around them. “Alarex didn’t say where he was going?”

But just then he returned.

Quessa pointed at him. “Make sure that’s the last time you leave the group without asking me first.”

“I had to relieve myself when I woke up, and I didn’t know where you were,” Alex argued.

“So hold it until I come back.”

Effie could tell by his face that he wasn’t actually going to do that in the future, but he nodded anyway. “Fine,” he lied.

“I found some tracks we need to follow,” Quessa said. “Let's go.”

Usually, by “tracks” Quessa meant broken sticks, fallen leaves, crinkled bushes, and other clues that more likely were left by animals than men. But this time, Effie soon managed to spot footprints.

No one from Kyrro had set foot in Corin Forest. It had to be enemies from Tenred.
Unless Krepps came through here,
she realized.

Effie looked at the tracks Zoke made for comparison. His foot not only was longer than most Humans, but wider as well and with claw marks at the tip where he pushed off. These were definitely Human footprints they were following.

It wasn’t long before Vithos said, “Stop.” His hand was pointed forward toward a line of trees and bushes that blocked their vision. “I sense person.”

Quessa drew the knife from her belt and eased forward. She was so silent, Effie was right behind her yet couldn’t even hear her footsteps.

There were voices—two men.

Quessa stopped and lifted her arm in a gesture to keep everyone silent. She squatted and seemed content not to move.

Effie still couldn’t see the men through the shrubbery, but they were talking loudly enough to be understood.

“Will you stop?” one man asked. “Just be still.” He was articulate. Although Effie hadn’t met him before, she could tell that the irritation in his tone was foreign to his otherwise calm voice.

“I can’t help it,” the other replied in a low voice that sounded husky. “I should be fighting and killing, not standing guard.”

“You really should lower your voice,” the first man said.

The husky one grumbled something that Effie couldn’t understand.

“What they talk?” Vithos whispered to Zoke.

“Nothing important,” Zoke replied.

Alex carefully made his way over to Quessa. With an urgent tone, he whispered, “What do you want to do?”

Quessa ignored him. Squatting, she continued to listen, but it seemed as if the men were done talking for now. Then Quessa stood and pushed everyone back to create some distance between them and their enemies.

“I need to see what’s over there before making any decisions,” she whispered. “I’m going to investigate and look for other guards who might be patrolling the area. Stay here.” She turned and walked a step before stopping and looking back. “I really mean that. Stay here.” She pointed her finger at them, Alex specifically.

“What if you don’t come back?” Alex asked.

“I always come back.” She smiled. It was the first time Effie had seen her do it, and it looked strange, like her mouth had never done it before and got confused at the command, twisting awkwardly. “Just wait and stay out of sight.”

They watched in silence as Quessa moved quickly between the trees. She didn’t go toward the men, but to the side. Effie figured she probably was going to make a wide circle around the men, which meant it could be a while.

Effie sat on a small hillside and used her eyes to invite Alex to join her.

“I don’t know how long we should wait,” Alex said as he sat down beside her.

Reela, Zoke, and Vithos sat as well. Zoke was translating what Quessa had said.

“We do nothing?” Vithos asked when Zoke was done.

“For now.” Reela patted his hand.

“I don’t like nothing,” Vithos said.

After a brief silence, Alex stood and started pacing. “You know,” he said, “it could be dangerous to stay here for too long, especially if there really are other guards patrolling.”

“It’s too late to move now,” Reela said. “Even if you’re right, it would be worse to separate from Quessa with her not knowing where we’re going.”

Alex bit down on the inside of his cheek. For a while he simply stared at the ground. Then he let out a breath and glanced toward where they’d heard the guards.

“Come sit and try to relax,” Effie suggested.

He obeyed, though reluctantly.

They started quietly telling jokes and riddles to distract themselves.

At first, Alex seemed content not to worry about Quessa or their positioning. But as the humor of the jokes started to dry out and the intrigue of the riddles no longer was of interest, Effie could see his shoulders beginning to tense, his smiles waning.

During a moment of silence, Alex stood and started to pace. “How long has it been, two hours?”

“About that,” Effie guessed, standing as well. “How much longer should we wait?” She looked to Reela, who seemed to be in a calmer mood than Alex and now Effie as well.

Reela stood and stretched. “I’m not sure, but it really has been a long time.”

Perhaps I was wrong about Reela’s mood.

Vithos stood with a relieved grin. “We move now?”

“I’m worried something’s happened to Quessa.” Alex balled his fists. “I had a feeling, but the stubborn crone wouldn’t even discuss the possibility.”

“What do you want to do?” Reela asked.

“Let’s see if those two guards are still there.” Alex tilted his head, seemingly nervous they were going to disagree.

Zoke was last to stand. “And if they are?”

“Well, I have a plan,” Alex said. “But I’m not sure all of you will agree.”

As he told it, Effie kept expecting someone to voice disagreement. But soon she realized that everyone was looking at each other expecting the same thing.

No one did.

The plan wasn’t particularly appealing, but neither was sitting and doing nothing when Quessa could’ve been captured, needing their help.

“They could be torturing her for information,” Alex said when he was done explaining what he thought they should do.

Although Effie doubted that was the case, she knew it was at least a possibility.

That was enough to convince Reela as well, who sighed and then muttered an agreement.

Zoke finished translating. Then Vithos turned and said, “I ready.”

They slowly crept through the layers of trees and shrubbery. They let Alex be their eyes, parting the plants and peering around the tree trunks as he led them.

He looked around one tree and then darted back. “They’re in front of us—two guards as we suspected. Are you ready, Zoke?”

“Yes.” Then he muttered something in Kreppen to Vithos.

Vithos looked intently into Zoke’s eyes and nodded.

Zoke came out from hiding, pretending not to know the two guards were there. “Finally.” Zoke spoke with false relief. “I’ve been looking for you for days.”

Effie couldn’t see the guards from where she was, but she heard the sound of their swords being drawn.

“A Krepp who speaks common tongue?” the articulate one questioned.

“What are you doing here?” the husky one added.

“Relax,” Zoke continued. “I’m with Tenred. I was sent by Doe and Haemon to deliver a message.” He held out a scroll that Effie knew had nothing written on it.

Silence.

“Do you want me to leave it on the ground here?” Zoke asked. “Are you that scared?”

“There’s a Krepp with Kyrro,” the articulate one said with a low voice, speaking to the other guard. “And he knows common tongue just like this one. This could be a trap.”

“I know that,” the husky one replied.

“There’s more than one Krepp who speaks your language,” Zoke argued. “I fight for Tenred.”

“Back away from the scroll and we’ll come and get it,” the husky one said.

“Fine.” Effie watched Zoke place it on the ground and leave it there, walking away from it in a stiff manner. Although he’d done well so far, it seemed as if his nerves were starting to take over.

But that was all Zoke needed to do. The rest was up to Reela and the others.

As soon as the men were close to the scroll, Zoke gave the line they were waiting for—their signal to jump out.

“Wait, I almost forgot something,” Zoke said.

Vithos and Reela came out first, aiming their palms at the men. “Don’t scream and you’ll both live,” Reela told them.

Effie held her wand ready while Alex approached with his sword drawn.

The husky man came at Alex.

Reela and Vithos switched their focus to him, and the man dropped before reaching Alex, grunting as he twisted in pain.

“Psychic bastards.” He spoke through clenched teeth.

The other man was smarter, dropping his weapon and putting his hands in the air. “What is this?” he asked. “What do you want?”

“Come with us,” Alex said. “You’re going to answer some questions, and then we’ll leave you alone.”