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Description
Chapter 11

We stayed in that area for about two days. Two long days. Being the only one of the kiceka not exposed to the creature’s poison – though none worse then poor Chace - Ray brought water to the others from a nearby river he had found and they ate the berries he brought from the restaurant along with some scarce fruits the trees. He also used his shirt – the only clean cloth to be found - to soak up water to clean wounds. An act that Rods wasn’t very appreciative of. It wasn’t until around the third day when the young guards were able to stand and move on their own without their bodies complaining. Rods stayed determined to continue the journey, though the rest of us primarily paid his demands no mind. Ray tossed Rods more of the soft berries, clicking his tongue at the blonde’s single-minded persistence.
“We’re losing time. We have to leave now.” Rods insisted, rubbing the bruise on his shoulder.
“Rest your mouth. Aalexander gave us no time limit.” Garay looked to Chace to confirm that. “We could spend the turn of a season searching for all it’s worth.”
“Shut up Fairen, no one’s giving you any authority in the matter. We’re leaving.”
Rods got up, pausing a moment to steady himself, then began heading in the direction we had been traveling with less of a limp than should have been possible. Lance and Chace stood as well giving us a helpless shrug, they followed their stubborn cohort. They didn’t have much choice in the matter. Eventually Ray and I ran after.
“It’s about time you caught up.” Rods snorted “Does anybody know the area beyond the forest?”
Everyone was silent. It seemed like at least one of them should have some clue what the kingdom’s layout was But then again, they were all still, technically, kids.
“Our brother does.” The twins stated at once.
“Which one?” Rods asked.
“Curston.”
Rods took a long fall flat on his face.

*
“We do not need his help.” Rods bellowed for the seventh time. Literally. His face was red with agitation and persistence.
“Who is Curston?” I asked.
“Curston is our eldest brother.” Chace answered simply. “He’s the turn of a year older then Rods and whenever they’re together they argue. It’s become too common. Expected.”
“We’ve told him much about you so there will not be any… surprises.” Lance put in, saying the last word as if he could not think of a better one.
The kiceka had been having a long conversation about whether or not this Curston man should come. The vote was set: the twins wanted him; Rods said no; I was undecided and Ray wouldn’t be part of their bickering. We got Curston.
I stared hard at Lance for a second or two. This man knows about me?
“He knows about you.” Lance stretched out on the ground like an oversized cat and cocked his head at my confused expression. “Don’t you speak to your sisters or brothers since you’ve been here?”
“How am I supposed to do that?” I asked.
“You don’t have any?”
“I do.” Where was this going? “I have a sister.”
“Older?”
I nodded, already wary of their questions. The two of them kept at it until I started to answer their questions automatically. There wasn’t much I could say that would effect the situation, so there was no reason to monitor my answers. In hindsight, I should have been watching my words more carefully.
“Do you miss anyone, Mayla?” This time it was Ray who probed.
My answer was honest to a fault. “I miss my son.”
They were quiet and I realized what I had said. Rods stared. Ray began to choke on a berry he’d just put in his mouth. The answer had taken all of us by surprise.
“You have a partner?”
“No, Ray! I don’t have a partner.”
Ray stifled a sigh.
“How do you talk to your brother?” I turned to Lance desperately wishing to change the subject before they could further probe. “Like through the mind or something?”
“It’s something like-” Lance stopped. His pupils dulled to a hazy pink. I looked around but no one else thought it was odd. Lance shook his head causing the dull to return to its normal shine and he smiled. “He will be here by tomorrow at the earliest.” he announced.
“If he comes I’m leaving.” Rods snapped.
“Rods, if you leave then we will need a replacement for you.” Chace reasoned. “You are the one strict with protocol and if we must turn around then all our traveling would be worthless.”
“Why do you think she’s here?” Rods pointed at me. “Have the human pick up the slack.”
“She is carrying the item for Crisis.”
“Then why is he here?” Rods yelled pointing at Ray.
Everyone was silent.
Why did they need replacements for anybody? It seemed like a huge waste of time. And a carrier? It sounds like I was going to be handing over some new illness. Thanks guys for making me feel important.
“Why are you here?” Chace turned to Ray.
“Because you three can barely take care of yourselves let alone a survivor human.”
And here we go again with this survivor stuff.
“I have a name.” I said looking at the ground.
“Sorry Mayla, but there’s not really much of humans here.” Lance rolled on his stomach allowing the sun to heat the back of his shirt. “I mean there are a lot of them but they are just pets.”
“Easily trainable.” Chace’s voice piped in absently. “Or food for the Fifteenth celebration.”
“Of course. Just wait until we turn fifteen. A duel celebration.”
They were talking to each other now. Guessing at ideas for an event almost two years away. Soon Rods joined their conversation saying something about how mixing humans with other foods makes them taste better. Ray joined as well, quickly adding in his two cents. He was explaining to the twins what happened the first time he had one. The four of them were in their own little zone and it didn’t seem like they would come out of it anytime soon. Whether I was their heritage or not it was appalling to hear them going in to so much detail.
My stomach turned. I felt dizzy. Stumbling back a bit I turned and ran into the line of trees shading our backs. I couldn’t breath and my eyelids seemed heavy. I could understand them talking about it - something so natural to them - that wasn’t something I could complain about - but in front of me. I felt sick, that was the word. One of them called out my name and my stomach lurched. I kept going. If I stopped my whole view of them could be warped for the worse. So I couldn’t stop. Not until I could clear m head. Was the earth spinning? My feet pounded it anyway. Was it getting darker? I didn’t need light to run. Were those clouds? It had better not rain on me. I kept on, not able to stop until I fell in the dirt. Beyond the trees, just in view, was a large curving of water surrounded by a U of beach. I picked myself up and headed for it.
“Don’t go out there.” Hands crashed around me trying to grab me.
That made me run faster. I reached the beach as thunder struck. I winced, sidestepping from the flash of light in my peripheral vision. The ground fell from underneath me and I landed in the bottom of a pit on a bed of sand. The walls were smooth leaving me trapped in the sand. Lightning flashed overhead. The rain had begun to pour damping the cell floor. The pit began to fill fast with water. Somewhere inside me I was screaming for help, though my mouth stayed silent. I heard my name. And again. I tried to figure out whose voice that was. The water rose higher, the voice grew louder. Rods. He yelled again and it was unmistakable. Thunder and lightning and rain took over the sky, louder than my beating heart, and for a brief moment I was silently begging for Rods to come save me. But seeing his figure appear above made my stomach twist. Worry mixed with the rain water on his face. The water made its way higher in the pit. The way it inclined almost made it feel as if the floor was sloping, moving. Almost, until the pit reopened and fell further down. I screamed reaching for Rods. My lungs filled and sank. I reached and grabbed the first thing that touched my hand. I held on tight being pulled up. Rods wrapped his fingers around me as soon as I was out of the water and I happily let the darkness consume me.

“Rods?” I yelled. “Rods where are you?” The darkness was horrible, but the silence worse yet. “Ray, Lance, Chace!”
I started to run. I didn’t know where, not that it mattered with nothing but a dome of blackness everywhere. I called for the guys as I did but never got an answer. That added to the building fear. Something to my right caught my eye stealing my focus, causing me to trip.
“Rods!” I yelled.
Pushing up I ran towards him. I stopped when I was close enough. That wasn’t Rods. Whoever it was he was human. But he looked exactly like him. I sucked in a breath. The sounds of sword blades colliding filled the air. Then a roar; an all too familiar sound. I flinched slightly as the ground started to shake. Whatever was happening was horrifying.
“Rods?” My voice echoed.
The male stepped closer, a smile growing across his face. He pulled a sword from a belt at his side with amazing elegance. Before I could move out of his way he thrust the blade into my stomach. I froze. I couldn’t do anything else. Using one hand to hold the weapon in place he put his other arm around my shoulders. He then pulled me as close as he could, leaning his head forward and gave me a gentle kiss.

I woke breathing heavily and drenched in sweat. There was a sharp pain in my stomach. I closed my eyes for a few seconds. Then felt a thump on one side of my head. That’s all I needed, my head throbbing. Some seconds passed then another thump. I opened my eyes. Looking straight up, I could see Rods’s head dropped over to one side, soaping wet, asleep. One of his hands was beneath me, cradling me to his chest. A button from his vest was pressing into my stomach.
“Are you awake?” Rods opened his eyes, obviously feeling me trying to move.
“Yeah,” He shifted and I gasped. “Rods, your vest.”
At first he didn’t understand, then with his other hand he felt along his vest until he came to the right button. “Oh, this one.” He pulled it off easily. “The back is chipped.”
“I see that.”
He smiled apologetically. “It must have hur- Ouch!” He dropped the button, shaking his thumb. A drop of blood fell and I stared in awe at the light coloring of it. “Is something wrong?”
“Your blood - the color…”
He looked it over for a brief moment. “Human blood makes ours turn that color.” He sucked on his thumb. “It’ll turn back to normal fairly soon.”
Thunder roared. I looked around. Situated in the back of a sandy alcove, Rods was leaning against a huge boulder. We faced the entrance with a perfect view of the sparkling splatters of rain. The beach was visible right outside, though in the storm nothing about it was welcoming. It was dark with the exception of the occasional burst of lightening. The shelter’s grain floor was damp. The kiceko’s weight pushed in the ground like a reluctant pillow.
“Ray’s blood is the normal dark red.” Lightning flashed white yellow around us. “He’s fifteen.”
“It takes a while for your blood to spread throughout our bodies.” Rods used his other hand to message the back of his neck. “That Fairen boy possibly just turned fifteen no sooner than a week ago.”
“I see.” I lied. I climbed out of his hand onto his leg. “How old are you?” I asked.
“Seventeen.” He cocked his head. “Why?”
“The twins look older than they really are. I wondered if you were the same case.”
He made a noise in the back of his throat. “No they don’t…. Not by much.”
I shrugged.
“…And you are sixteen, I hear?”
“Mmhmm.”
The night rolled on in silence for a very long while. Rods watched the lightning and I listened to the rain and thunder. The latter intruded what little peace the sound of raindrops brought.
“Were you having a nightmare earlier?” The guard asked exaggerating concern into his voice.
“You plunged a sword through me and kissed me.”
Rods’ body jerked with shock.

Description
Chapter 11

We stayed in that area for about two days. Two long days. Being the only one of the kiceka not exposed to the creature’s poison – though none worse then poor Chace - Ray brought water to the others from a nearby river he had found and they ate the berries he brought from the restaurant along with some scarce fruits the trees. He also used his shirt – the only clean cloth to be found - to soak up water to clean wounds. An act that Rods wasn’t very appreciative of. It wasn’t until around the third day when the young guards were able to stand and move on their own without their bodies complaining. Rods stayed determined to continue the journey, though the rest of us primarily paid his demands no mind. Ray tossed Rods more of the soft berries, clicking his tongue at the blonde’s single-minded persistence.
“We’re losing time. We have to leave now.” Rods insisted, rubbing the bruise on his shoulder.
“Rest your mouth. Aalexander gave us no time limit.” Garay looked to Chace to confirm that. “We could spend the turn of a season searching for all it’s worth.”
“Shut up Fairen, no one’s giving you any authority in the matter. We’re leaving.”
Rods got up, pausing a moment to steady himself, then began heading in the direction we had been traveling with less of a limp than should have been possible. Lance and Chace stood as well giving us a helpless shrug, they followed their stubborn cohort. They didn’t have much choice in the matter. Eventually Ray and I ran after.
“It’s about time you caught up.” Rods snorted “Does anybody know the area beyond the forest?”
Everyone was silent. It seemed like at least one of them should have some clue what the kingdom’s layout was But then again, they were all still, technically, kids.
“Our brother does.” The twins stated at once.
“Which one?” Rods asked.
“Curston.”
Rods took a long fall flat on his face.

*
“We do not need his help.” Rods bellowed for the seventh time. Literally. His face was red with agitation and persistence.
“Who is Curston?” I asked.
“Curston is our eldest brother.” Chace answered simply. “He’s the turn of a year older then Rods and whenever they’re together they argue. It’s become too common. Expected.”
“We’ve told him much about you so there will not be any… surprises.” Lance put in, saying the last word as if he could not think of a better one.
The kiceka had been having a long conversation about whether or not this Curston man should come. The vote was set: the twins wanted him; Rods said no; I was undecided and Ray wouldn’t be part of their bickering. We got Curston.
I stared hard at Lance for a second or two. This man knows about me?
“He knows about you.” Lance stretched out on the ground like an oversized cat and cocked his head at my confused expression. “Don’t you speak to your sisters or brothers since you’ve been here?”
“How am I supposed to do that?” I asked.
“You don’t have any?”
“I do.” Where was this going? “I have a sister.”
“Older?”
I nodded, already wary of their questions. The two of them kept at it until I started to answer their questions automatically. There wasn’t much I could say that would effect the situation, so there was no reason to monitor my answers. In hindsight, I should have been watching my words more carefully.
“Do you miss anyone, Mayla?” This time it was Ray who probed.
My answer was honest to a fault. “I miss my son.”
They were quiet and I realized what I had said. Rods stared. Ray began to choke on a berry he’d just put in his mouth. The answer had taken all of us by surprise.
“You have a partner?”
“No, Ray! I don’t have a partner.”
Ray stifled a sigh.
“How do you talk to your brother?” I turned to Lance desperately wishing to change the subject before they could further probe. “Like through the mind or something?”
“It’s something like-” Lance stopped. His pupils dulled to a hazy pink. I looked around but no one else thought it was odd. Lance shook his head causing the dull to return to its normal shine and he smiled. “He will be here by tomorrow at the earliest.” he announced.
“If he comes I’m leaving.” Rods snapped.
“Rods, if you leave then we will need a replacement for you.” Chace reasoned. “You are the one strict with protocol and if we must turn around then all our traveling would be worthless.”
“Why do you think she’s here?” Rods pointed at me. “Have the human pick up the slack.”
“She is carrying the item for Crisis.”
“Then why is he here?” Rods yelled pointing at Ray.
Everyone was silent.
Why did they need replacements for anybody? It seemed like a huge waste of time. And a carrier? It sounds like I was going to be handing over some new illness. Thanks guys for making me feel important.
“Why are you here?” Chace turned to Ray.
“Because you three can barely take care of yourselves let alone a survivor human.”
And here we go again with this survivor stuff.
“I have a name.” I said looking at the ground.
“Sorry Mayla, but there’s not really much of humans here.” Lance rolled on his stomach allowing the sun to heat the back of his shirt. “I mean there are a lot of them but they are just pets.”
“Easily trainable.” Chace’s voice piped in absently. “Or food for the Fifteenth celebration.”
“Of course. Just wait until we turn fifteen. A duel celebration.”
They were talking to each other now. Guessing at ideas for an event almost two years away. Soon Rods joined their conversation saying something about how mixing humans with other foods makes them taste better. Ray joined as well, quickly adding in his two cents. He was explaining to the twins what happened the first time he had one. The four of them were in their own little zone and it didn’t seem like they would come out of it anytime soon. Whether I was their heritage or not it was appalling to hear them going in to so much detail.
My stomach turned. I felt dizzy. Stumbling back a bit I turned and ran into the line of trees shading our backs. I couldn’t breath and my eyelids seemed heavy. I could understand them talking about it - something so natural to them - that wasn’t something I could complain about - but in front of me. I felt sick, that was the word. One of them called out my name and my stomach lurched. I kept going. If I stopped my whole view of them could be warped for the worse. So I couldn’t stop. Not until I could clear m head. Was the earth spinning? My feet pounded it anyway. Was it getting darker? I didn’t need light to run. Were those clouds? It had better not rain on me. I kept on, not able to stop until I fell in the dirt. Beyond the trees, just in view, was a large curving of water surrounded by a U of beach. I picked myself up and headed for it.
“Don’t go out there.” Hands crashed around me trying to grab me.
That made me run faster. I reached the beach as thunder struck. I winced, sidestepping from the flash of light in my peripheral vision. The ground fell from underneath me and I landed in the bottom of a pit on a bed of sand. The walls were smooth leaving me trapped in the sand. Lightning flashed overhead. The rain had begun to pour damping the cell floor. The pit began to fill fast with water. Somewhere inside me I was screaming for help, though my mouth stayed silent. I heard my name. And again. I tried to figure out whose voice that was. The water rose higher, the voice grew louder. Rods. He yelled again and it was unmistakable. Thunder and lightning and rain took over the sky, louder than my beating heart, and for a brief moment I was silently begging for Rods to come save me. But seeing his figure appear above made my stomach twist. Worry mixed with the rain water on his face. The water made its way higher in the pit. The way it inclined almost made it feel as if the floor was sloping, moving. Almost, until the pit reopened and fell further down. I screamed reaching for Rods. My lungs filled and sank. I reached and grabbed the first thing that touched my hand. I held on tight being pulled up. Rods wrapped his fingers around me as soon as I was out of the water and I happily let the darkness consume me.

“Rods?” I yelled. “Rods where are you?” The darkness was horrible, but the silence worse yet. “Ray, Lance, Chace!”
I started to run. I didn’t know where, not that it mattered with nothing but a dome of blackness everywhere. I called for the guys as I did but never got an answer. That added to the building fear. Something to my right caught my eye stealing my focus, causing me to trip.
“Rods!” I yelled.
Pushing up I ran towards him. I stopped when I was close enough. That wasn’t Rods. Whoever it was he was human. But he looked exactly like him. I sucked in a breath. The sounds of sword blades colliding filled the air. Then a roar; an all too familiar sound. I flinched slightly as the ground started to shake. Whatever was happening was horrifying.
“Rods?” My voice echoed.
The male stepped closer, a smile growing across his face. He pulled a sword from a belt at his side with amazing elegance. Before I could move out of his way he thrust the blade into my stomach. I froze. I couldn’t do anything else. Using one hand to hold the weapon in place he put his other arm around my shoulders. He then pulled me as close as he could, leaning his head forward and gave me a gentle kiss.

I woke breathing heavily and drenched in sweat. There was a sharp pain in my stomach. I closed my eyes for a few seconds. Then felt a thump on one side of my head. That’s all I needed, my head throbbing. Some seconds passed then another thump. I opened my eyes. Looking straight up, I could see Rods’s head dropped over to one side, soaping wet, asleep. One of his hands was beneath me, cradling me to his chest. A button from his vest was pressing into my stomach.
“Are you awake?” Rods opened his eyes, obviously feeling me trying to move.
“Yeah,” He shifted and I gasped. “Rods, your vest.”
At first he didn’t understand, then with his other hand he felt along his vest until he came to the right button. “Oh, this one.” He pulled it off easily. “The back is chipped.”
“I see that.”
He smiled apologetically. “It must have hur- Ouch!” He dropped the button, shaking his thumb. A drop of blood fell and I stared in awe at the light coloring of it. “Is something wrong?”
“Your blood - the color…”
He looked it over for a brief moment. “Human blood makes ours turn that color.” He sucked on his thumb. “It’ll turn back to normal fairly soon.”
Thunder roared. I looked around. Situated in the back of a sandy alcove, Rods was leaning against a huge boulder. We faced the entrance with a perfect view of the sparkling splatters of rain. The beach was visible right outside, though in the storm nothing about it was welcoming. It was dark with the exception of the occasional burst of lightening. The shelter’s grain floor was damp. The kiceko’s weight pushed in the ground like a reluctant pillow.
“Ray’s blood is the normal dark red.” Lightning flashed white yellow around us. “He’s fifteen.”
“It takes a while for your blood to spread throughout our bodies.” Rods used his other hand to message the back of his neck. “That Fairen boy possibly just turned fifteen no sooner than a week ago.”
“I see.” I lied. I climbed out of his hand onto his leg. “How old are you?” I asked.
“Seventeen.” He cocked his head. “Why?”
“The twins look older than they really are. I wondered if you were the same case.”
He made a noise in the back of his throat. “No they don’t…. Not by much.”
I shrugged.
“…And you are sixteen, I hear?”
“Mmhmm.”
The night rolled on in silence for a very long while. Rods watched the lightning and I listened to the rain and thunder. The latter intruded what little peace the sound of raindrops brought.
“Were you having a nightmare earlier?” The guard asked exaggerating concern into his voice.
“You plunged a sword through me and kissed me.”
Rods’ body jerked with shock.