Bastial Frenzy (The Rhythm of Rivalry: Book 4) (13 page)

Then he remembered his sister fighting against him—shooting him with arrows. It was this image that evoked such anger, feelings of betrayal so strong it felt like his chest was being ripped open and his heart pried out.

“What is it, Krepp?” Hem asked. “You were defending yourself against psyche?”

He had no excuse, just sincerity and the hope Reela could sense it and speak up on his behalf.

“If you can’t tell me why you were choking this young woman, then I must remove you from this army.” Hem pulled his blade from his sheath, the metal singing as it caught the sun coming through the trees.

“Zoke, why do this to Reela?” Vithos imitated choking himself. “Tell us!”

No words came. Hem pointed his weapon at Zoke.

“Wait,” Reela whispered, coughing as she stumbled forward. “Zoke.” She seemed to find her voice, speaking normally again. “In that moment, all I could feel was pure hatred toward me. I thought I was going to die.” Her eyes were glistening as if she was about to cry. “Do you really feel such disdain for me?”

Zoke wanted to spit. “Of course not.”

Reela leaned forward, turning her head as she inspected his face. “You’re being honest…but then what was your thought? It was so powerful, I had no hope of stopping you.”

Vithos nodded. “I no stop with psyche too.”

Zoke was embarrassed to say it in front of all these Humans. They would never understand what it felt like, everything he’d been through to reunite with his sister only to envision her trying to kill him.

“Come on, Zoke,” Reela urged. “Tell me. Don’t I deserve to know?”

“Sister to me. She fights with the Krepps. I was imagining her in Tenred, shooting arrows at me, but I don’t expect any of you Humans to understand.” He spat.

“Zoke…” Reela reached out to touch his shoulder but stopped herself before reaching him. “May I?”

He didn’t know what she was doing, but it seemed like a bad idea to deny her from touching him in front of so many. He nodded.

She squeezed his shoulder and closed her eyes. Chills fell down his back at the feeling of Reela running a hand of psyche through his waterfall of thoughts about Zeti.

Then she opened her eyes and whispered quietly enough so only he could hear.

“I do understand, Zoke.”

Chapter 10:

ZETI

Keenu had been put in charge of the one thousand Krepps sent to defend Tenred. In the six days since leaving their camp, Zeti had remained beside him at the front.

Emerging out of a long stretch of trees that the Humans had named Corin Forest, the massive stone walls of Tenred came into view before them. They were cracked, crumbled in many places from the explosion that killed Grayol. Zeti clenched her claws against her palms. The Humans in Kyrro would suffer for what they did.

She could hear the Krepps behind her.

“How can they build so high?”

“I don’t know.”

“They must have some kind of magic.”

Zeti’s thoughts were far from Tenred, though. She knew Haemon and those that had attacked Kyrro would be returning to the encampment soon. She was thankful she didn’t have to be there when they arrived. It would’ve been difficult to refrain from mocking their cowardice for retreating. Though, she was eager to hear their excuses.

Why did they fail in battle against the weaker race? Did the Humans have weapons the Krepps weren’t prepared for? There must’ve been something. She wondered if there could be more psychics like Vithos.

How many psychics are in Tenred?
Zeti never got the chance to find out when she was there last.

It took them two more days to reach the outer wall, where the King of Tenred met them with a retinue of men in steel behind him. Nebre stood next to him, ready to translate.

Tegry Hiller asked in an incredulous tone, “This is it?”

The King’s hair was of two colors, gold and brown, reminding Zeti of the beach, specifically when grains of sand were darkened by the waves and mixed in with the drier sand around it. It came over the tops of his ears and hung loosely over his forehead, bouncing with the wind. His gray eyes were squinted as he gazed over Zeti.

He said something else in common tongue. Nebre spoke when he was done. “I asked for ten thousand. How many are here, one thousand?”

“Yes,” Keenu said. “Doe needs Krepps. He’ll be ready to attack Kyrro soon. He couldn’t spare any more of us.”

Tegry spoke through white clenched teeth. When he was finished, his thin lips curled in a snarl.

“Kyrro is coming here now,” Nebre translated. “They’ll be here in three days. He should’ve sent more Krepps. I said it was likely we would be attacked.”

They’re attacking Tenred?
Zeti thought.
Could brother to me be with them?
Her heart thumping, she asked, “There’ll be a battle?”

Nebre nodded to her as Tegry spoke.

“Bring your Krepps inside,” Nebre told Keenu.

“We’ll only help defend your walls if you agree to join the invasion of Kyrro when our army is ready,” Keenu said.

“Yes, of course. Let’s go. There’s a lot to discuss before they get here,” Nebre translated.

“What’s to discuss?” Keenu asked. “We fight when they get here.”

“You need to learn our battle strategy.”

“How complicated could it be? We kill the weak Humans with our weapons.”

After hearing Nebre translate what Keenu had said, Tegry held his forehead as if in pain.

“Just follow me and my guards,” Nebre translated. “And tell your Krepps to be ready to listen to instructions.”

Zeti grabbed Nebre’s shoulder to stop him as the rest followed the King and his escorts.

“Do you know if Zoke is with those coming from Kyrro?”

“I don’t know.” He paused to look at her inquisitively. “What would you do if you saw him?”

She gave the only answer she could. “Kill him.”

Chapter 11:

CLEVE

It was morning by the time they neared the river. Cleve was relieved to let his horse finally rest. They’d been riding throughout the night, the moonlight giving the land a silver glow. Cleve figured the sun was just coming over the eastern horizon, but his view was blocked by the surrounding hills.

Trees flourished. Some leaned so far out from the hills they seemed ready to fall from the slightest push. He followed Rek through the trees as they pulled their horses none too gently behind them. Nulya grunted in disapproval, but Cleve couldn’t let up.

They rushed to make it to the top so they could locate the Kreppen Army and its Slugari leader.

“You any good at climbing trees?” Rek asked.

“I used to climb them all the time when I was younger.”

“Good. Because I think we’ve reached the top of this hill, but there are too many trees to tell. Climb this one and have a look.”

Cleve tied Nulya’s reins to a trunk and started up. He’d never been afraid of heights. He trusted his body enough to know he wasn’t going to fall.

The tree was more than a hundred feet tall, so he knew Rek didn’t expect him to climb to the top. It was covered in bumps, giving him good footing as he used the branches to get nearly halfway up. He stopped and looked to the south, where he knew River’s End to be.

He saw some Krepps following each other along the edge of the river, staying as far from the water as possible, as if falling in could mean their death. Cleve wasn’t familiar with this area enough to know how dangerous the river was, but it didn’t seem deep.

The line of thousands of Krepps looked like an enormous snake. Cleve couldn’t see all of them at once. There were too many hills. He searched desperately for the massive Slugari before hurrying down.

“They’re already in the hills,” he told Rek breathlessly. “We have to find a place to shoot the Slugari before they come out onto the flat land. He’s probably in the front.”

“Our horses are exhausted, but we have to risk it. Come on.”

They jumped on their mounts and sped down the hill, avoiding any paths that were littered with stones or roots. Cleve had to duck to avoid a branch. Nulya leapt over a rock soon after, and Cleve nearly fell.

Rek had been riding a few yards beside him, but the Elf must’ve gotten caught on something, for he was no longer there.

“Rek? Rek where are you?”

“Over here.”

Cleve found him on the dirt, Hope nowhere in sight.

“Where’s your horse?”

“Help me up, and I’ll call him with psyche.” Rek was holding his ankle, sucking in air through his teeth. “I fell off.”

Cleve pulled him up, putting his arm around Rek’s shoulders for support.

“Hope, come here,” Rek called as he pushed out his palm.

The horse trotted over from behind the trees.

“Your ankle?” Cleve inquired.

“I’ll be fine, just get me on the horse.”

They rode again and quickly came to the bottom of the hill. With trees no longer blocking their path, they continued north in a hurry. The entire river wasn’t surrounded by hills, only about half of it.

“We’ll get to the top of the last hill,” Cleve said. “They’ll probably turn north and walk beneath us instead of following the river as it twists toward the sea.”

“And let’s hope the Slugari hasn’t already—” Rek interrupted himself with a curse as he bounced against his horse.

“Is it your ankle?”

“It’ll be fine.”

He keeps saying that…but what happens if he needs to use it?

They started up the last hill to the north. It wasn’t long until Rek fell off his horse. Again.

“Bastial hell!” He seemed more frustrated than anything else as he gripped his elbow. “I’m not used to riding through the trees, up and down hills. And I can’t balance myself as well with my ankle unable to take pressure.”

“It’s fine, Rek. But let’s hurry.” Cleve dismounted to help Rek back on Hope. A rush of fear surged through his body when he saw how badly Rek was limping. He couldn’t put any weight on his ankle, needing Cleve to practically carry him over and hoist him onto the horse’s back.

They were silent as they rode up the slope. Cleve didn’t need to be a psychic to know that Rek was just as nervous as he was. They had no escape plan.

The hill turned out to be shorter than Cleve first perceived. He got a clear view of the Krepps and the Slugari—too clear of a view. Reflexively, he jumped off Nulya and pulled her behind the trees. Rek was slow catching up, giving Cleve a chance to warn him.

“They’re right down there. They might’ve already seen me. Can you sense if any have?”

His face became alarmed. “They’re that close? One moment.” He pushed his palm out.

During the silence, Cleve could hear the Krepps speaking to each other in their rough language. His heart was beating too wildly. He had to calm himself if he was going to shoot an arrow.

“I don’t sense any aggression, just weariness.” Rek pointed. “Was the Slugari there?”

“Yes. We have to hurry before he gets too far.” He drew an arrow from the quiver on his back. “Coat this with poison.”

Rek quickly obeyed, staying on his horse as he drew the small jar and lathering brush from his coat.

“I’m going to stay back. With my ankle, I don’t want to dismount.”

Cleve nodded and handed Nulya’s reins to him before rushing back. As the hill started to descend toward the river, there was an opening within the trees, giving his arrow a clear path to his target. But it also meant that he could be seen—he
would
be seen, he corrected himself. As soon as he shot the arrow, thousands of Krepps would chase him.

The Slugari was in the front. He was a disgusting creature, with limp antennae on top of his blubbery head and rolls of fat jiggling throughout his enormous body. His tail was a bulbous stub, swinging back and forth along the ground, pushing him forward. An endless number of Krepps trailed him, twisting out of the crooked path between the hills. They kept a safe distance from the river, walking in a single line.

The Slugari was too far ahead of Cleve for him to shoot the creature in the head.

I hope this poison works.

He loaded his arrow and pulled back, doing everything he could to ignore the fact that if any Krepp decided to turn and look up, he’d be seen.

But just before he could shoot, one of them shouted something in Kreppen. His heart dropped. All concentration was lost. He knew, even before he looked, that he’d been spotted.

Krepps were running up the hill! He had one chance to shoot before he needed to get on his mount, but there was no time to focus. He let his reflexes take over, aiming and letting go of his arrow.

Greed kept him there for another moment as he watched it. The Slugari turned as the arrow flew. He started to lift up his claws, but the arrow was too fast for whatever spell he had planned. It barreled into his side, going so deep into his soft flesh that Cleve lost sight of it.