Discovery at Nerwolix (11 page)

“Definitely.”

“Her scars are nearly gone,” Reid motions to
my cheek.

“Not bad,” Sampson agrees. “I’m glad to see
you up and moving. Reid wanted to let you sleep for the entire day,
but I do believe it’s important that you tell King Hozfin what you
overheard while it is still fresh.”

The king sits tall in his wooden thrown, his
furry knuckles hanging off the arm rests. He narrows his blue eyes
with curiosity, a brow rising as he turns to me. “What you
overhear?”

“I heard Reuzkimpart talk about an invasion
and that—”

“They say Zingfinolds?”

I shoot a quick glance at Sampson. “No… not
specifically.”

“They say
Hozfin
?”

“No.”

The king readjusts in his throne, his
fingers strumming the wooden post. “Then why we told this?”

“Reuzkimpart said that once they secure the
Floating Ruby, they would try for the Shadow Bag again. He’s
planning to obtain all three gifts to end Dellapalania’s
prophecy.”

“He will no find Nerwolix Gift.”

“He will come looking for it,” Sampson
sighs. “You must know this.”

“He will fail.”

“The point is that he will
try
.
Reuzkimpart will bring his forces sooner or later and based on what
Fallon heard… it should be soon.”

“He will no succeed. He will perish.”

“But that’s after how many Zingfinolds must
fight and die? King Hozfin,” Sampson gets to one knee before him,
“please understand—an army of Vermix
will
come. Waves of
them will wash up on Nerwolix and—”

“But no Zingfinolds. Not here. You not hear
this.”

“But they will come to Nerwolix,” I say.
“They’re coming, and they’ll make landfall wherever they think the
Floating Ruby is hidden. It’s not about invasion. It’s about
thievery. That’s all they want.”

“That’s right,” Clarence nods.

“We prepared for invasion—we
always
prepared,” Hozfin strokes his silver-brown beard, considering,
“…but humans… maybe training for humans.”

“Us?” Walker’s brow furrows.

“No,” the king motions to the Rogues and me.
“
New
humans.”

“No offense, your highness,” Clarence clears
his voice, “but I think it’s going to take more than just training
the humans. We need to prepare for the invasion and it will be on
your doorstep sooner than you think.”

“If Reuzkimpart wishes fight,” the king
grumbles, “he die.”

“King Hozfin,” Blovid starts, “I
wonder—might I have a private word with you?”

He nods, motioning the rest of us away and
with Reid’s fingers still laced in mine, he leads us out of the
king’s home, the rest following. On the outside dock, Sampson and
Clarence simultaneously exhale while Qippert sports a frown and
Jothkore and Vix simply look disheartened.

“Well that didn’t go as well as I’d hoped,”
Sampson shakes his head. “I figured if you told him about the
invasion, he’d take it more seriously. It’d be more than theories…
it’d be proof of what’s to come.”

“I hate to say it,” Clarence sighs, hooking
his hands on his hips. “But Queen Ravan was right. His pride will
be his downfall.”

“What does he mean train humans?” Reid
asks.

“He doesn’t know about
your
training,” Sampson shakes his head and glances to the other Rogues,
“or what any of you have been through, but it does make sense to
learn their defenses. Zingfinolds are masters of stealth and silent
deaths.”

“But will that help us with a Vermix army?”
I ask.

“Couldn’t hurt,” Clarence shrugs.

“And who’s going to train us?”

“I will,” Walker meanders past the red
curtain, arms folded. He stops between Werzo and Booker, scanning
the group. “And it
would
be smart to learn what the
Zingfinolds do. They’re skilled assassins…wouldn’t be bad to learn
a thing or two.”

“Like what?” Reid glares.

“Like they attack from above,” Walker
shrugs. “Took you guys down real easily.”

“So we’d just be sitting around in trees?”
Jace asks. “Waiting to ambush
their
ambush?”

“We don’t even have a scope of when they’re
coming…” Tucker runs his hand through his hair. “Or where…”

“It will be here,” Sampson says. “That’s
what Hozfin doesn’t understand. Reuzkimpart suspects the southern
terrain. It’s always been hinted that the Gift was placed somewhere
outside of Thias’s Kingdom, long before the Zingfinolds seceded.
Walker,” he turns to him, “I’m going to need you to continually
convince him of the invasion. It is coming and we need to be more
prepared than this. We need to have a plan in place.”

“Like what?”

“Something,” Clarence shrugs. “But right now
we’re sitting ducks.”

“Just keep reinforcing this invasion. Keep
it in Hozfin’s thoughts constantly. The more he hears about it, he
may wish to do something.”

“Hozfin has never met a foe he has not
defeated,” Blovid moves past the curtain, standing between Sampson
and Clarence. “I have explained again and he still does not
understand. He
cannot
, because it is unfathomable to
him.”

“What?” Reid asks. “Defeat?”

Blovid nods, looking at Sampson. “He will
not prepare for this invasion.”

“Then we must prepare for him. Walker,” he
turns to him, “if you could instruct the others with what you know,
I think that would be very beneficial.”

“Of course.”

“Able will attend when he’s feeling better,”
Sampson glances to us before locking eyes with the other Dofinikes,
“and we will figure this out. Let’s retire to my home for now,” he
heads off the only bridge, Clarence, Blovid, Qippert, Vix and
Jothkore following.

“Alright,” Walker rubs his hands together,
“who’s ready to train?”

“Let’s start with the basics—this is an
Eckle tree.”

Walker gestures to the massive trunk on his
left. Only part of the rope-like texture is visible past the
low-hanging lime green leaves. They fall in different degrees, some
hanging high, lost in the shimmering green canopy above while
others dip low to the ground and some, mere inches from touching
it. The leaves are everywhere, bulging from the swollen trunk like
a glistening lime halo. They collide with other halos to create a
shield of green curtains that offer glimpses of the brown bark
beneath and sometimes, when the leaves hang higher, the bit of
space between the Eckles.

Like ahead, where they thin out and reveal a
wide clearing in the center of the forest. It’s the same area that
Tucker fought Zeed. And then, after returning from the second task
with three Ludin bones, it’s where he fought and killed the Horrop.
It’s also the same place where we celebrated his victory of
becoming a tribesman by eating the cooked Horrop and mingling with
the Zingfinolds.

Walker rubs his hands together. “They’re
your quickest way up and down. You can use them in the daytime, but
they’re more beneficial at night, so you can drop in on your enemy
unaware and in complete darkness.”

“Like you did to us?” Jace raises a
brow.

“Like was done to me,” Walker nods. “Now…”
he strolls, hands behind his back. “How do they work?”

“Why don’t you tell us?” Reid crosses his
arms.

“What’s the fun of that?”

“They have some sort of magnetic power
thing?” Pratt asks.

“Nope,” Walker smirks. “But good guess.”

“Elasticity? Or some sort of
sensitivity?”

“Very good,” he smiles at me. “Someone gets
an A.”

Standing rigid, Reid lets out an annoyed
exhale.

“So how does it work exactly?” Mae asks.

“Don’t you know?” I frown. “You’ve been here
about a week.”

“We haven’t used them yet…we’ve basically
been in our homes or using the bridges. The few times we came down
here we used the posts.”

“Why?” I turn to Walker.

“Hozfin wanted to wait until Tucker
returned. I was surprised how lenient he was with letting the girls
stay instead of him—I’ll be honest. That doesn’t mean he’s
extending all the secrets right away. Don’t get me wrong, the girls
were treated fine, but some rights, they held off for. So,” he
glances around the group, “who wants to go first? How about…” he
pauses in front of Mae and offers a charming grin. “You?”

“S-sure…” she steps forward and Walker
scoops a hand around her hip.

“Alright,” he reaches up, grasping the top
of the leaf, where it starts to narrow into the long, rope-like
material. “This is a Yulu. You want to grip them here. Once you
have a good grasp, you give it a little tug and it’ll take you
right up.”

“Why?” Pratt asks.

Walker shrugs. “I think it’s a defense
thing. Once they feel a pull, they jet back up to the canopy. After
a while they’ll drop back down, but slowly. That’s why they’re all
at different heights. So,” he looks at Mae. “Ready?”

“Uh-huh,” she glances at me as Walker
lightly yanks on the Yulu. They jet up, disappearing into the lime
green shield which sways for a few seconds afterward.

“What do you think they’re talking about?” I
look around. “Sampson and the others.”

“What else can be done about the invasion,”
Reid says.

“Think they’re coming up with their own
plan?”

“Wouldn’t surprise me. Sampson wouldn’t
leave the Zingfinolds so vulnerable.”

“But you heard what Walker said,” Jace
crosses his arms. “About the Zingfinolds being like assassins? If
that’s true, then this army’s ready to go. We just have to sit back
and relax until they arrive.”

“An army of assassins
does
sound
pretty awesome,” Werzo agrees.

“But Reuzkimpart will be bringing a huge
force,” I say. “He’s not going to chance it like he did with
Mybyncia. And now, with Sampson and Blovid having escaped twice,
he’s driven. He’s not going to hold anything back.”

“And that’s why you need to pay attention,”
Walker drops to the ground, gently gripping Mae next to him. “It
can save lives. Anyone else want a go? Fallon?”

Reid exhales again, cracking his neck to the
side.

“It’s only a short ride, Rox. Let her enjoy
herself for a change.”

“Let Pratt have a go,” I say quickly, “then
the Rogues. Come on, the quicker we do this, the quicker we can
train and retire for the day.”

Reid motions to Pratt. “You go, then the
rest.”

Pratt makes her way over, switching places
with Mae. “How did you get back down here?”

“When you go up, you give the leaf a little
tug. When you want to want to get back to the ground, you give it a
light stroke,” he demonstrates running a finger down the long green
rope and it descends, the bottom of the rounded bulb just brushing
the dirt. “Releases something, I guess. Relaxes them and they sail
back down. Alright, hold tight, kid,” Walker wraps his hand around
Pratt’s waist as he tugs on the same hanging leaf. And just like
before, they jet up, the two gone in seconds.

“Way for not going off,” Tucker claps Reid
on his shoulder.

“I’m this close,” he pinches his fingers,
moving in a sharp turn for me. Unsure of his intention, I step back
until his hands slip around my face, bringing it up to his. His
lips pull at mine, hot and heavy, warmth stirring in the pit of my
belly. Deepening the kiss, his fingers gently cup my jaw, holding
it for him. I’m dizzy, about to fall from the magical heat swirling
all around me—
in
me—when he suddenly pulls back.

“Nice…” Jace laughs somewhere in the
distance.

I nearly collapse, my heart racing in a
fevered hurry as fire flushes my lit body, enflaming every pore and
hair. With my knees about to give way, I focus on them, demanding
they remain strong since I know everyone is still staring at
me.

“What was that for?” Mae’s sweet laugh fills
the air.

Reid shrugs. “Figured a good kiss wouldn’t
hurt.”

“Think you paralyzed her there, Boss,” Jace
snickers.

Following the others, Reid looks back to me,
an adorable grin crossing his lips. “Oh yeah?”

Wiping the expression free, I try to remain
as impassive as possible. But I can’t help it. With his powerful
eyes fixed on me, amused by my embarrassed silence, I give in and
blush an even darker scarlet.

Reid nods, his smirk widening. “Good to
know.”

Walker drops back down with Pratt. “What’d I
miss?”

“Nothing,” Jace shakes his head, fighting
off a smile. “Uh… I’ll go. My turn.”

Walker and the Rogue Commander disappear
like the first two pairs and after about ten minutes of every Rogue
getting a turn, Walker turns to me. “Ready?”

“You already took me,” I step back.
“Remember? First time we were here.”

He shrugs. “Practice makes perfect.”

“She said no,” Reid crosses his arms. “Now
what’s next?”

“
Well
…” Walker rolls his eyes, “I was
thinking everyone could try going up by themselves. We could pick a
target, like fifth branch up or something, and make sure everyone
can get there. That’s how the Zingfinolds move so swiftly. They’re
able to manipulate the Eckles.”

“Sounds smart,” Tucker nods. “We will need
to know how to do this.”

“Good,” Walker rubs his hands together.
Craning his neck back, he squints into the canopy and then drops
his focus back to us. “There’s a big branch up there. It connects
this tree with that one,” he points to the trunk behind Booker. “I
want everyone to get to it, but we’ll all take different
trees.”

Pratt glances around us, then back to
Walker. “How do we get over to it?”

“You’ll have to swing yourself. From one
branch to the next. It’s how the Zingfinolds move,” Walker heads
for a trunk some feet away. “If you guys really think the Vermix
are coming, you’ll need to know how to navigate this terrain.”

“This is good,” Jace nods, heading for a
tree. “Walker’s right—we need to know this.”