Another day, he was on the list and forced to attend in the mess hall or whatever they really called the room, not that he really cared to ask.

  However, Nokstella had a spring in her step, and why wouldn’t she have? Good and delicious food that you were barred from most other times, even Kolu’s tail twitched slightly each time an excited squeak reminiscent of a word escaped her snout.

  Now it was only a matter of finding a place to sit, Nokstella gallantly running over to the table and pulling a chair out for Kolu. However, as many times before, her plan would fail, though not for the normal reasons.

  Today, right when he entered, he was gestured over to the commander’s table.

  ‘Well, what is this about?’ He wondered, taking a seat, Nokstella perched on his lap, and Kolu ducked under his chair.

  “Black Beak, I hear great news regarding your search,” Nokuji started.

  “Penicillin,” Kenneth corrected her. “Well, for now, everything looks promising, though I must admit, I find it a bit fortunate that it was found so quickly, but I suppose that is to be expected when you know what you are searching for.”

  Though it didn’t sound like it, despite everything, he did feel pride at this accomplishment.

  “Regardless, your knowledge is proving extraordinarily useful in finding and extracting the healing waters from mold of all things,” Nokuji praised.

  “It is a good step, but I do have to add that this, natural Penicillin, is a bit less effective than the one I use, though it’s not a cause for concern, maybe around a hundred or two hundred years in the future. It’ll be more than enough time to create a vaccine for the burning death or any other disease of importance.”

  “A vaccine and what is that supposed to be, have you not already found the healing waters a cure for all?” Nokqotir questioned.

  “True, but it won’t always be around when people need it. A vaccine, if explored and created, would allow nearly all people who are injected the ability to resist the disease on their own,” Kenneth explained, leaving the table in silence.

  “You combat that which you have already defeated with your knowledge?” Nokuji questioned. “All that remains for it to be over is the knowledge spreading.”

  “Defeated...?” Kenneth repeated. “The fight is far from over; I honestly doubt it could ever be. It will go on long after I’m gone, but until then, I will combat it, in a manner of speaking, and any other with proven methods from my people. Of course, I couldn’t make a vaccine until now, when I finally have penicillin.”

  “You have had the healing waters all this time,” Nokmao piped up. “What was the point of making me and my subordinates mere plant pickers if you had a better weapon against the burning death?”

  “Other than what happened when I was out on that hunting trip with you,” Kenneth said, watching her scales flicker momentarily in anger. “Penicillin is a far more wide-ranging method of fighting diseases and infections; a vaccine is a precautionary measure that deals with one at a time. As far as efficiency goes, it was the best choice to focus on one over the other for more than one reason, but it has to be put to the test, and if it interests you, Nokmao, your people can look for something else.”

  “And what would that be? Should I pick up rocks now?” she asked scornfully.

  “No, I need you to bring back the burning death.”

  There was only one moment of confused silence.

  “HAVE YOU BEEN INFLICTED WITH MADDNESS!!!”

  Suddenly, all the commanders at the table exploded in shouting, most of whom yelled the same thing: he was crazy, it would spread, on and on, all except for Noksafgro, who, if Kenneth heard right, was complaining about the food not being bony enough, and Nokqotir, who sat silently.

  All of it scared Kolu and Nokstella to say the least, but Kenenth just calmly held her and shielded her ears and reached a hand under the chair to do the same with Kolu, waiting for the storm to pass.

  Either having yelled all they wanted or out of breath, all of them just glared at him as he said, “Need I remind you all we have a way to combat it?”

  “…”

  A longer silence followed, with not one of these proud people showing any kind of humility.

  “So yeah, anyway, if you happen to find someone or an animal with it, do bring them back, but keep it outside, as they say the cure is found in the poison,” Kenneth replied. “Oh, and if you find one or two animals, could you maybe bring them back alive? I want to see which species around here can be useful.”

  “I am not your errand girl you can order around!” Nokmao offendedly replied.

  Kenneth looked boredly at her and gestured, “No, you are hers. So Lord Commander, what do you say to my request?”

  “What do you need one alive for?” She questioned.

  “The old saying, the cure is found in the poison, holds true literally,” Kenneth told her. “With Sil being rather poisonous, I believe it’s a good idea to divide my attention, creating anti-venom, a counter to each kind, for the use of animals, my kind uses sheep, woolly little ‘baaing’ creatures, very friendly, with freakishly strong immune systems. Inject a harmless amount of the poison, wait a little, then drain some blood from them, and voila, anti-poison.”

  “How it taste?” Nokstella asked.

  Well, they are carnivores. “Cooked right, the meat falls off the bone.”

  She was drooling at the thought of, well, to them, an imaginary creature.

  “You are a never-ending well, it would seem,” Nokuji said with a satisfied smile. “Nokmao, do as Kenneth has requested.”

  “Yes, Lord Obaliy,” Nokmao begrudgingly agreed to.

  “Out of interest, do you have a path you follow in these projects? Once Nokmao has found what you need, what then?” Nokuji asked.

  ‘She really is a slave driver,’ Kenneth thought, uncertain how much of it he would actually have time to accomplish; he supposed he would leave some notes on how it’s done and all. “The Book is almost done, and after, I guess I’ll move directly on to blood.”

  “Blood,” Noqotir questioned.

  “Yes, blood, as you may remember, I did a transfusion between Noksafgro and his sister,” Kenenth gestured to Split, standing right behind him, and Noksafgro, who followed the conversation in silence. “Of those two, I could be certain their blood would match, but everyone else is a guessing game. Which is why, for the time being, I suppose I’ll create a registry of blood types, get a little from everyone see what mixes and what clots, and then sepprate everyone into groups, after that i’ll try and encuarage blood donations, and with the aid of Nokalccha and her glass construction make jars to contain it, adding haprin to prevent it from cloting and make long tern storage possible. Of course, I’ll have to make or more so discover it, luckly, it isn’t too hard to come by, just need to look through a few dead animals, see if any individual organ has it, and then dry it, then use ether and acetone before purifying it using alcohol. Most of that I will have to make, but I’ll write down what I need the hunters to get out in the wild.”

  Nokmao looked far from pleased, being treated like an errand girl so casually; however, she was the only one who looked with an expression other than confusion, Nokuji the best at hiding it.

  “A quite interesting endeavor you are undertaking, certainly you have proved before me the necessity of more blood than within oneself, with the healer being useless on that front; however, if possible, there is another endeavor I would like you to invest your time with,” Nokuji requested. “It is the reason I called you over. I want your knowledge on weapons.”

  She watched him closely as did all others, some who for a moment had an expression of surprise, others either hiding it, or having thought of the very same question themselves.

  ‘Of… of all things… but of course, but I would have been an idiot not to have expected this question eventually,’ Kenneth thought the idea of developing any kind of weaponry, from gunpowder, to… well, everything that went into, revolting him to his very core. “I see… it is a fine proposition, but alas, my knowledge is primarily based within healing, body, and medicine. As far as forging, I am out of my element, so to speak.”

  Nokuji watched carefully, perhaps prodding for any kind of sign he was… well, he wasn’t technically lying; he simply danced around the truth, and more than ever, he couldn’t be caught, and there was no way to know what Split had told her about his apparent tells.

  His hands were one, but he had never asked if there were others.

  “Even the wisest have their limits, but you said yourself that you needed assistance with the fermentation tank,” Nokuji pointed out, Kenneth feeling his gut sink, yet he remained calm. “You would not need to provide much, merely the spark of inspiration. I’m certain my people can handle the rest.”

  “That you can bet on, beaky,” Nokalccha loudly said.

  Nokaljjour simply straightened her back and tried to look more dignified and proper, “With me leading the project, I’m certain it will be finished extraordinarily quickly.”

  “Quickly and an ugly mess, like that hole in the ground and well!”

  “Say that to my fist tipless!”

  Of one thing Kenneth was certain, if those two were to interact with something like gunpowder, the spark would be them blowing themselves up the moment he wasn’t there to supervise, and then finish each other off fighting over who looked worst.

  “What exactly do you expect me to say here?” Kenneth questioned. “That my people know weapons, so fantastical, they could win any battle or war like this.”

  He snapped his finger, the unfamiliar sound drawing everyone’s attention.

  “And yet you have more knowledge of healing, far more advanced than any other,” Nokuji once again pointed out. “Did you not a moment ago explain how to store and alter the very waters in our bodies as if it were mundane?”

  “To me it is mundane, but even so I wouldn't say my knowledge is advanced, more your healing, and pardon my French, it is more so primitive, magical, yes, but nevertheless primitive,” Kenneth answered back. “You all only do one thing, so of course, anything I would pull out of my bag would seem like a new thinking and revolutionary new discovery, when the simple truth is your society in terms of medicine is simply stagnant and unimaginative.”

  “Do you know why I think you are lying?”

  “Do say.”

  “That bag of yours,” her eyes lingered on it. “You claim to have no magic, lie, or delusion, that infusing such a property into an item is beyond any measure.”

  Of that there could be no denial, and it was written on everyone's faces, no one daring to speak.

  “Yes, it is phenomenal, truly magical in every aspect,” Kenneth agreed. “What a shame, it is not of my people’s design.”

  This piqued, not only Nokuji’s but most everyone’s interest.

  “What do you mean it isn’t of your people's doing? Whose is it, the heretics?”

  “Who can say?” Kenneth shrugged. “All I know is whoever made this has a far greater understanding of magic than anyone in this room.”

  “Do you expect me to believe you picked it up by chance?”

  “I honestly don’t expect you to expect anything, but I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, it matters not truthfully,” Nokuji said, not as much surrendering regarding the matter as backing off for now, evident by the predatory glint in her eye. “Your achievements, so far, are prestigious enough, as mentioned before, and you even, by your own admission, have found uses for Crackie poison that up until now are little more than deadly, and even still, you aim to render the deadly poisons less deadly. In terms of your project, I would like a list of the Crackis who poison you deem useful.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Most will soon be matured and then stripped from their shell.”

  Kenneth blinked twice, wondering if he had misheard, “Sorry, did I hear you right?”

  “Soon they will enter their final shed, and before the heretical vermin can multiply too much, we cull the problem, or do you take issue?”

  “I was simply… unaware; I merely… assumed their place here was in producing poison.”

  “Yes, the valuable ones are kept, and you have found more as far as I’ve heard; however, there are quotas to fill, taxes that must be paid in full, and after the incident with the merchant’s daughter, there will be a delay in transport, undoubtedly adding fees due to late payment,” Nokuji explained. “Which is why I ask for the list, pick the five most valuable, those can be spared, the rest, once they have entered the final shedding, their armor, once fully hardened, will be torn off.”

  ‘What a way with words to make industrial slaughter of intelligent beings sound mundane and boring,’ Kenneth thought, sickened by her words and the thought of it all. “I’ll have the list ready soon.”

  From that point on, Kenneth didn't really pay much attention to anything, all of it becoming a blur as he felt trepidation and stress slowly mounting, with each passing thought, time passed by quickly, one moment to the next.

  The food coming in, ripping it apart, trading, eating, getting up, going down below, healing people, going back up, teaching.

  It was only by the end, when class was over and Nokset quickly left, that his focus grew firmer.

  ‘Old habits die hard, I see,’ Kenneth thought with a faint smile, one that he wondered if was fake.

  “Is all well?” Nokoovo asked him. “You didn’t seem yourself in class.”

  “Oh, it’s nothing, just a little sleep deprived, but while you are here, there was something I actually wanted to give you,” Kenneth told her as he went into the other room and came out holding a leather-bound book, handing it to her. “I know as far as gifts go it’s far from the best, but--”

  While he talked, she slowly took the book and read the title, “The body and its innerworking, a barebones basic compendium of Nok biology by Nokoovo Dorktra Obaliy, Nokhavadoo, and Kenneth Nielsen.”

  “Yeah, not the sexiest title I know, but straight to the point,” Kenneth Chipperily said.

  Nokoovo graced her hand over the smooth leather and title, “It is so perfect, every word.”

  “It took me some time to carve all the letters, but a doctor's hand made that part easy enough, I suppose.”

  “It must have taken you long to do all this, especially in the common tongue.”

  “Oh, not that long, Nokhavadoo showed me what I needed to carve.”

  Nokoovo opened up the book and flipped through the pages, coming to the realization that it wasn’t her handwriting, not Nokhavadoo’s or even the common tongue; it was Kenneth's work.

  “Yeah, sorry, I know it isn’t the best gift, I don’t know, I guess I tried something sentimental or something,” He sighed. “If you don’t want it, you can take something from the back room, I mean, after all your hard work, you deserve something more.”

  Silently, she flipped through the pages, only stopping to look at the drawings, making it all the way to the end and closing the book. “Your art skills are terrible.”

  “Terrible really, I thought they were downright awful,” Kenneth joked, getting only a slight chuckle out of himself and her.

  For a moment, both stood in silence. “Kenneth, thanks for this gift.”

  “Come now, I’m sure you want something else.”

  She held the book protectively, then simply turned around and walked right out of class without saying a word while he watched the door, listening as her footsteps grew fainter, and eventually disappeared.

  Yet they were replaced. By the smaller running ones that came up behind him, then hugged his leg.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “Play?” Nokstella asked with puppydog eyes, a sight so cute no man who possessed a will of steel could resist.

  “Of course,” He said, scooping her up in his arms. “What about you, Kolu?”

  He looked at Kenneth with a serious expression. As of late, the game had become more personal, and Kolu, his pride it would seem, wouldn’t have him back down from the challenge.

  Of course, it made sense. When he first started out, it was easy, but slowly the children learned how to get past him, growing in numbers, and all of them knew it, the oldest one that stood behind the line looking at him smugly, as if they had already won before the game began, while the younger ones seemed to simply be excited to play.

  “You are quiet,” Split said out of the blue.

  “So,” He replied, pausing for a moment as the game began, “they’ve gotten better, all of the children.”

  “Good to have them practice.”

  “Yes, they will be good little killing machines when they grow up with all this training.”

  “It saves their lives,” Split argued.

  “Yes, it instills in them the understanding of what Aki are like on the battlefield or something like that, wasn’t it what you said?”

  “Not those words.”

  Kenneth looked at the game unfolding, for a moment, allowing one thought to cross his mind.

  ‘This is nice.’

  He shouldn’t have thought it.

  He glanced at Split, “Well, children should listen, I suppose, but remember adaptation goes both ways.”

  After suffering one humiliating incident in the last game, Kolu had come back with a plan. He had remembered and learned, this time when going after a group, not to attack right away, but instead employing what could be called scaring tactics, almost herding them like sheep and baiting one or two brave villagers to lose the game if it meant taking him down.

  However, Kolu, having learned to keep his distance, simply tapped them out before proceeding to not so much win the round, in a literal sense, since some did make it across the line, but more so in a tactical sense, gloating a little.

  “They must learn then, things change.”

  “You can say that again.”

  For now, the game was more so favored for Kolu, a few kids by the end, looking to take revenge, like they were the Count of Monte Cristo, Kolu egging them on.

  “Remember, Kolu, it’s just a game, win and lose with grace and dignity,” Kenneth said, attempting to instill some good morals.

  “I win, I get to celebrate,” Kolu said, the concepts lost on him.

  “I be base and igntbi, Papa,” Nokstella said, the words too big for her.

  “That’s good to hear,” Kenneth said, getting the warm fuzzies while not understanding a word.

  The game continued each round, shifting back and forth who was winning, but eventually everyone grew tired, and it was time to leave.

  However, they were all in for quite a surprise once they returned, finding their residence, which looked to be in the middle of getting ransacked, not that there was literally anything to ransack, with Nokaljjour looking to be in charge of the whole operation.

  With Kolu and Nokstella close behind, and Split by his side, he approached.

  “I’m guessing it’s not customary to get an eviction notice before I’m thrown out around here.”

  “We only throw traitors out,” Split commented.

  “Thanks, good to know.”

  “Had hoped to get it all done before you came back, but I GOT SLOW LAZY TAILS AS WORKERS,” She had loudly in no uncertain terms, referring to Bitie, Muity, Clingy, and Squeezy, who were helping, by technical definition.

  “So what is actually happening?” Kenneth asked.

  “This way,” Nokaljjour said, escorting them inside. “The commander has seen fit to make this barren nothing place you have been calling home into an actual home and put me in charge.”

  He looked around, the floor partly filled with sand, some furniture had been hauled in, mainly a stone desk, and a coffin bed, which lacked the sand inside.

  “I assume, Nokalccha, doesn’t know about this,” Kenneth guessed.

  “And don’t tell her unless you want tipless to ruin all my work, she has no sense of how a home needs to look.”

  Kenneth looked around. It was still in rough shape, but all of it only left him with one question: ‘Is this a long overdue upgrade, or a bribe? Well, not that it matters, I couldn't care less which one it is.’

  But with their residence under renovation, it was some time before they could stay inside. In the meantime, they could do whatever, but it wasn’t like there were dance clubs around, and even if there were, there weren’t exactly kindergartens for the two kiddos.

  Even if there were, the only person he even halfway trusted not to try anything with Kolu when he was not around was standing right beside him.

  “It will be dark before they are done,” Split said.

  “Assumed as much,” he replied, watching the work underway. “That’s what you get with split-second decisions. Guess Nokuji didn’t really think it all the way through.”

  “It wasn’t her,” Split said assuredly.

  “And what makes you say that?”

  “It’s obvious.”

  “As are your responses,” Kenneth sighed. “Well, not that it matters if it was her or not, but these two will be sleeping before they are done.”

  “Papa, we stay wake,” Nokstella determinedly said while grabbing Kolu’s arm, the face attached, looking like a senior man who had long since lost the will and now went along with all and everything his wife told him.

  “That’s sweet, both of you, but you need your sleep. I’ll figure something out where we can crash for the night. I doubt highly most would say no to me,” Kenneth reassuringly told them while mentally preparing himself, for the obvious reason that no one would say no.

  “You can sleep with me,” Split offered.

  “You sure? I wouldn’t want to impose.”

  “I don’t offer with empty words.”

  “Well, that settles it, we are staying with you.”

  “Not yet, Ki is barely down,” Kolu said adamantly.

  “Okay, yeah, can’t forget about the food, so how about we waste some time, before dinner, enjoying a great view?” Kenneth suggested.

  No one opposed, and so all of them headed up on top of the wall, watching the lush, swampy forest from above, well, almost everyone.

  Nokstella wasn't tall enough to see over the wall, prompting Kenneth to pick her up so she could see like the rest of them. Only the moment he did, she clung tightly to him and closed her eyes.

  He had almost forgotten that she was terrified of heights.

  “It’s okay, I got you,” Kenneth told her reassuringly, though it did little to give her the courage to look, so Kenneth tried something. “Hey Nokstella, did you know, you look ahead, all the trees just look like a field, like the ‘Flatlands’ only it’s bumpy, so the ‘Bumpylands’.”

  Curiosity seemed to be the way to circumvent her fear, as slowly she opened her eyes and looked out across the wall, immediately becoming mesmerized by the wide, stretching forest and distant sights, mainly the tower.

  Perhaps it reminded her of Nokfeka, or touching the tower for the first time.

  For Kenneth, it was only pain, as that image of him getting stabbed through the heart played so intently, the pain fresh even with such a long time passing. On every opportunity, he had avoided looking at it, but now, he welcomed the pain, or only the memory, or fantasy of it.

  “What a sight to behold,” Noksafgro said loudly, walking toward them.

  Kolu quickly scurried behind Kenneth with his claws out.

  “A marvel, yes, from an engineering and architectural standpoint, for something so tall and thin to not just fall over yet stay standing.

  “I wasn’t talking about that old thing,” he replied, gesturing to the tower. “I meant finding you, not pulling something out of someone, or something out of that bag, or doing something unheard of.”

  “Me taking some time off is something I would call unheard of.”

  “I do wish I had subordinates, like you,” Noksafgro said, leaning his back against the railing. “Hard working, obedient, and smart.”

  “If I didn’t know better, I would think you were flirting with me.”

  “Tried men, tastes… decent, but not something I seek out,” Noksafgro shrugged.

  “What a relief,” Kenneth said, staring at the tower, slowly looking up. “I guess it’s clear today.”

  “Today… yes, it would seem,” Noksafgro shrugged. “Good and bad, I suppose.”

  “How so?”

  “Don’t talk,” Split interrupted.

  ‘Oh, right, his voice could set him off,’ Kenneth remembered, unzipping his mask and pinching his nose. “How is this?”

  “Papa sound fun,” Nokstella laughed, while Kenneth put her down just to be sure she was safe if it didn’t work.

  “Are your surprises becoming boring now? Well, at least your voice isn’t as annoying as it was anymore, though you ought to know it wasn’t you she told you to stop, was it, sister?” Noksafgro asked.

  “You know why.”

  “It’s clear, why don’t we try?”

  “You know why.”

  “I don’t know why,” Kenneth interjected.

  “I want you to heal me,” Noksafgro said. “You know the battle… It… it…”

  “Don’t talk,” Split said firmer, walking between him and Kenneth, it seemed partly to protect him, and partly, so Noksafgro only focused on her.

  Kenneth gestured for both Nokstella and Kolu to stand behind and a bit back, and with his nose still pinched, he carefully asked. “What exactly is going on here, and what do I need to heal?”

  Split let out a sigh, “You can’t.”

  “It’s clear, let him try,” Noksafgro said. “You don’t know what it’s like to be in your body, but wonder in a fog, unable to think clearly, and be angry.”

  “Okay, this sounds like something I should take a look at,” Kenneth urgently said.

  “No!” Split snapped.

  Surprised, Kenneth stood there frozen, not stepping back, slightly frightened, with his core chilled, and bladder, having to be clenched shut, but most of all confused.

  “If you look, he won’t control himself.”

  “Okay, I don’t mean to be rude,” Kenneth began, “but between the two of you, a guy who flies off the handle, and a one-sentence perplexing woman, could either of you, maybe, give me the facts straight?”

  Noksafgro stared from behind Split at him, then covered his ears, and gestured for Split to talk. Somewhat reluctantly, she did so. “He was wounded in battle, his eye stabbed, after he hadn’t been the same, angry too easily, more so without the eyepatch, confused at things, even if he is right there hearing it.”

  “Okay, thank you, just one question, why didn’t you ask me to, you know, look at it at any time, like I don’t know, when he was asleep, very easy to inspect the damages then,” Kenneth pointed out.

  “If you think you’ve seen his wrath when he attacked you, it isn’t even close,” Split said ominously.

  “I mean, it took three people to take him down, how much worse—“

  “If he had woken up when you looked at his eye, he wouldn't be stumbling in a fog of the past and now. He would have been here, and he would have killed you and everyone in that room before he calmed down.”

  Her voice was so cold and clean. It left no doubt in his mind that Split believed that to be true.

  “Okay, then how about we restrain and sedate him, should wor—“

  “Put him behind bars and he’ll bend them,” Split cut him off.

  “Ah… well, I’ll take your word for that, but potential counterpoint,” Kenneth reached into his bag, and while he hadn’t ever tried to think of this, it was worth a shot, as he pulled out a stray jacket. “Let him try this on.”

  Some minutes later, Noksafgro had his dashing new clothes on. At Kenneth's instruction, he tried to break free, with a couple of guards nearby in case things suddenly went south

  struggling, and ripping, past the point any sane man would have given up, causing Kenneth to have a moment of doubt that it could hold, he gave up, hunching over and catching his breath.

  “It didn’t rip,” Split said in astonishment and disbelief. “What is it?”

  “It’s a stray jacket designed to restrain even the strongest and most dangerous of individuals,” Kenneth replied, neglecting how he used the bag to make it out of carbon fiber, so Nokuji and Nokqotir wouldn’t get any ideas.

  “Good, now tie the rest of me up and heal me,” Noksafgro insisted, and after a little more creative thinking, his leg, mouth, and even tail were secure, but even so, Split held his face down, gripping his snout while the guards did the same for the rest of his body, dispite the restrains most looking uneasy.

  For the first part, things were fine, nothing to worry about, even as he lifted up the eyepatch, nothing happened.

  ‘His eyeball is nearly completely missing, though the nerves behind are for the most part still there,’ Kenneth inspected, taking a closer look. ‘Just as I guessed, it might be mostly healed, but there is definite damage. Whatever hit him went straight to his brain or at least touched it.’

  At a certain point, Noksafgro’s remaining eyes and his met, and suddenly his body went rigid.

  Split was the first to react, “Eyes!”

  Suddenly, Noksafgro struggled trying to rip his carbon bindings with greater beastly ferocity than before, snarling, growling, and hissing like a feral animal.

  It was only a moment later that Kenenth realized what Split had tried to warn him about. As the old saying went, eyes were the mirror to the soul; unfortunately, his were far too reflective, as he got an eyeful of his own wound.

  Despite his restrained condition at the moment and four people pushing down on his body, it still seemed like at any moment he would break free, stretching the carbon fiber, stray jacket with such brute force; however, his success on that front might very well be due to the guards losing their nerve.

  “These are holding, aren’t they?!”

  “Keep pushing down on him!”

  “Maybe we should run while we have the chance?!”

  “NO!” Split beastly hissed, showing the familial resemblance.

  And while they were doing that, Kenneth, having gotten a syringe containing the dreamer from the bag, injected it into his body.

  However, it did not calm him in the slightest; more so, it angered him to the point that the carbon around his mouth stretched so much he was able to speak.

  “TELL ME HOW THE HERETIC DIED?!! THAT MONSTER, KEPT FIGHTING, NO MATTER HOW MUCH DOKA'S ROBE WRAPPED AROUND THE BODY… YOU ARE SPECIAL!!! AND I KNOW WHY IT’S BECAUSE WE ARE THE SAME, EXCEPT I BET YOU WEREN’T BORN WITH IT LIKE ME!!!”

  “Oh, he's been infected with madness and talking in tongues!”

  “Isn’t that last part Weakie talk?”

  “Doesn’t Black Beak have one around him everywhere?”

  By now, the sedation was beginning to take effect. Not that Noksafgro wasn’t fighting every bloody second. “This is what she said to you. You are special!!! And I know why it’s because we are the same except I bet you weren’t born with it like me!!!”

  Almost immediately, the fierce fight that brimmed in his remaining eyes seemed to quell, and he stopped fighting, or the drug took complete effect; regardless, Noksafgro fell asleep.

  “We need you around all the time if that happens again,” one of the guards said, exhaustedly.

  “I summize all of you have been through this before, so is he going to wake up, remembering all of this, and be just as angry or…?”

  “Perhaps it will be foggy, or clear when he wakes, only the gods decide,” Split explained.

  “Well, guess we can get all of that stuff off him. I, for one, would want to wake, not knowing how I got into that.”

  “He doesn’t forget, he never does,” Split said, watching her brother with a faint gaze.

  In silence with the help of the guards, Kenneth got the restraining gear off Noksafgro and back into the bag.

  “You can’t heal him, can you?” Split asked after he closed the bag.

  “You’ve been listening to my class, I see,” Kenneth replied in a sympathetic tone. “If I didn’t know it was brain damage, I would have guessed Alzheimer’s, but regardless, it's not something I can just root around inside and fix. It will have to heal on its own if it ever does… but.”

  ‘Shut up.’

  “It can be manageable, more so than it shakily is now. There is medication to help improve focus in situations with brain damage, only—“

  “It isn’t safe for us.”

  “Not the version I know,” Kenneth sighed. “Brain chemistry is much too delicate, too just try and see, the only option is to look at nature, vegetation, or Sil. Not too long ago, I wouldn’t have imagined they could carry medicine, but they do, now it’s just about finding the right one. I’m sorry.”

  “He asked you,” she simply replied. “I’ll show you where we sleep.”

  It was rare, but Kenneth had a feeling Split was hiding her emotions. No, she was hiding disappointment, of course, with everything he had done, all the crazy things in their eyes, saying there wasn’t something he could do, must have felt like a slap in the face, only he felt it too.

  ‘Why did I open my mouth? I didn’t need to, I shouldn’t have. I’ll… I’ll be gone soon…. And then…’

  He looked at the tower one more time, feeling the pain, before finding Kolu and Nokstella, innocently exploring the wall before heading back down, into a house, not too far from Kenneth’s, which was still under refurbishment.

  To say not a few hours ago, his home was barren would be accurate; however, even so, somehow, Splits felt even more so despite the fact that there was nothing in the room. It wasn’t cold, but it still felt like it.

  “It's like our home,” Nokstella said, looking around.

  “At least I won’t get sand in my fur,” Kolu added, in a relieved tone.

  “You sleep here all alone?” Kenneth asked.

  “Yes,” She replied.

  Ostracized, to be alone, from what Kenneth had seen and learned, above all, this is a cruel punishment for such a social people; she might like the silence, but even so, even the biggest introverts needed some contact.

  “Sleep where you like,” Split said, before leaving, probably to relinquish the bag, and arriving back with food, something for all three to eat.

  Kolu quickly sank his teeth into; however, Kenneth was a bit slower, knowing she ate next to nothing, which didn’t quite stir his appetite very much.

  However, Nokstella just walked right up to her and handed her meat. “You not eat.”

  Split looked at her for a moment, “I already have.”

  “You not smell meat.”

  “I only swall—“

  “Better give up right now,” Kenneth warned her. “The little lady is a persistent one and quite stubborn to boot.”

  With darkening scales and a serious look, Nokstella wouldn’t take no for an answer; however, Split would be her toughest challenge yet, refusing every time, while Nokstella kept offering, again and again, with all the powers of an annoying child, used for the purposes of good.

  However, Split still did not relent, and when Nokstella’s stomach growled, Kenneth just looked at her, gestured with his hands, and finally she surrendered, “I’ll have some.”

  It was a victory well earned as Nokstella beamed with glee, followed by eating and then drowsiness as all of them went to sleep, Nokstella huddling close to Kenneth, while Kolu slept close to him, but Split kept her distance as all closed their eyes.

  That night, he didn’t get a lot of sleep, if any, his mind so obsessed with the idea of escaping, everything there could go wrong, ‘what if Nokkuoras is watching me, what if not all will leave, what if we are spotted, what if… what if… what… if… I don’t want to escape.’

  It plagued him, filled his gut with ice, and twisted it all around painfully. There would be times when it felt like he would drift off, but Nokstella would bite him in her sleep, an unconscious protest, to a breaking of the oldest laws within their society, a plea for him not to do it.

  “You aren't sleeping.”

  “…no, I’m not, too much on my mind,” Kenneth sighed bitterly.

  “Don’t think.”

  “I can manage that when I’m rooting around inside someone, have to be decisive at times and not overthink, but I’m not currently rooting around inside someone, unless I count.”

  Without a word, she got up and walked over to the door. “Come.”

  Kenneth looked at Kolu and Nokstella, both sleeping peacefully. With a sigh, he carefully pulled Nokstella’s mouth off him and watched as she unconsciously sought Kolu before leaving.

  She closed the door behind him carefully.

  “So what are we doing out here?” He asked.

  “Exhaust yourself,” she commanded.

  She wasn’t wrong; if he was tired, he had to make himself, but he doubted any amount would quell the turmoil inside. But it was better than nothing. So for that reason, he began to walk around with Split following.

  The night sky was clear and brimming with glinting light; it almost made one forget his troubles, making it seem insignificant compared to the infinite cosmos. But while it wasn’t significant to it, it was significant to him.

  With each step he took, wandering around, one new reason popped into his head for staying, every doubt, he’d ever had of it failing at any and all point of time, during the actual escape, but likewise with each step, one more visceral images, of Sil, getting ripped appart, screaming in pain, Romeo and Juliet, being torn from another, if he wasn’t next.

  “All it takes for evil to win is for good men to do nothing.”

  It was what his father had once said to him in church, and never since had he remembered that moment until now. It would be so easy to do nothing, but even if he could live with himself, in some capacity, he would not be guiltless; that list of Sil was a death warrant, and he had blood on his hands, even more so regarding.

  “Hold,” he called him.

  His train of thought came to an end as he looked back to see Split lagging behind. “Something the matter?”

  Of the two of them, she looked the most exhausted. “You keep walking in circles.”

  “Yeah, pretty much.”

  “Are you exhausted?”

  “Mentally, but I doubt a short walk like this will tire me out. I’ll just have to keep going for a while, but I can pace back and forth if you want to take a break, then I guess we can get some sleep in a little while.”

  “Look up.”

  He did as he was told, not quite sure what he was looking for, which lasted for all of five seconds, before he noticed it was the earliest twilight hour. It hadn’t just been a couple of minutes; he’d been walking around for hours without noticing at all.

  “Uh… sorry,” Kenneth apologized. “Let’s go back, so you can get some rest.”

  That, it would seem, was quite agreeable for her as they made their way back, but on the way, a strange sound caught his attention. It was like a rattling splash, like water running, except it wasn’t; all the gates were closed.

  Perhaps he was just looking for something to take his mind off things instead of letting it fester, but as he looked around, he noticed someone familiar. “Wait, is that?”

  His gut tightened as he realized it was Fashik, and worst of all, he was standing out in the open all alone.

  Quickly, Kenneth began walking along the water's edge over to him, ‘dammit, he can't be caught, and suffer whatever cruel punishment, if worst came to worst, I would have to take the fall.’

  As he got closer, he noticed he was looking down at the water and holding the end of a chain, and to his utter confusion, when he was only a few meters away, Nokoovo popped out of the water, freezing halfway out when she noticed Kenneth.

  All of them stood there in silence for a little while, Kenneth not sure what to make of what he was seeing.

  “I didn’t know you were out this early,” Nokoovo said, getting to her feet.

  “I couldn’t sleep,” Kenneth replied.

  “I see,” She kept her head low and didn’t look him in the eyes.

  In the awkward and confused moment of silence, Fashik spoke, “chain.”

  “Keep it as it is,” Nokoovo commanded.

  It was a moment that seemed out of place to Kenneth until the first light of the morning ran over Nokoovo’s body, getting reflected, as it finally dawned on him in dreadful realization.

  ‘The brooch, the chains. She is the slave master, but she’s… You idiot, their king is a woman,’ Kenneth internally kicked himself, keeping face, though as he responded, it was difficult to hide a certain shakiness in his voice. “I didn’t expect this.”

  He barely had any words he could say; he didn’t even know what to say or do.

  “I… I was only doing it for you,” She replied, his confusion further growing. “I know I shouldn’t have, but after I saw you, the marks, and you told me… I… I couldn’t only do nothing.”

  “What are—“

  As they talked, Kenneth's eyes began to notice something in the water under the surface, and for the first time, he asked with urgency in his voice, “Why is he holding that chain?”

  Nokoovo didn’t have an answer as he noticed her fist clenched and shaking.

  Rushed past her, his gut tight and continuing to tense as he looked closer, his eyes widened in horror, as he suddenly snatched the chain and pulled as hard as he could, Trafka emerging from underneath the water, his eyes closed, and his body was unmoving.

  In a moment of utter shock, confusion, and betrayal, emotions that overrode his training and instincts. Kenneth just turned to Nokoov and asked, “What is going on?”