-From Canticles: 3:6
Vivex reached Keshka’s side, uncaring of the saliva that slid off her chin as she rushed over, speckling the grass. Her staring eyes locked onto the sizzling slice of meat roasting over the fire. The coals sputtered and popped, flecks of her drool flinging off of her rapidly flicking tongue, making dark spots appear for mere moments before they glowed red once more.
“The Initiate returns.” Keshka hissed, eyes still half-lidded, and the other female growled and snapped, making the subadult jerk back a little. The male tore a strip of flesh off of a femur, chewing and not even taking notice.
Keshka hissed at her female companion and motioned Vivex over.
The little warrior grunted and moved to the far side of the more Tok-ish female, tongue still zipping in and out with her interest, not meeting the other’s eyes. After a moment the adults returned to their conversation, and didn’t seem to want her input.
Good! Learn! Her Instinct hissed contentedly, pulling her snout forward.
There were other aromas underneath the toothsome scent as well. Blood, death, and something sickly sweet that must be the aether.
Vivex looked in that direction, tilting her head. Branches and leaves still sprouted, and it looked even taller than before, and they were still pouring more onto Arubra’s tree. All that growth would have appealed more to Vivex, if it weren’t for the scent of the aether.
Why does it smell so… unnatural? It should’ve smelled normal, a part of the mundane order of the world, as natural as life and death. And yet, it didn’t. It was cloying, harsh, like obsidian shards suspended in thick honey.
She watched for a moment, the wildlife returning finally now that everything had settled down. The birds and insects started to call to one another once more. Tok was inspecting his dead foe, his own tongue flickering out as he did. She looked back to the roots, thinking about where they grew into.
Maybe it’s because it’s supposed to be a part of the rootway?
She remembered that the mage had drank some of the shimmering liquid, and looked at the tree, growing before her very eyes. Had the aether made the mage grow larger as well?
Would it make me larger too?
She couldn’t help but wonder after the interaction with Zegoth, nor could she stop herself from hoping there was an easy way to negate her small size.
Idiot. Dangerous!
That… was fair. Even if it did make her grow, she didn’t know what else it would do to her.
But what is the purpose of collecting so much? What were the Falsescaled planning?
Her stomach gurgled loudly.
Distraction! Consume! Vivex’s Instinct was in her mouth, ravenous.
She squatted next to Keshka and reached for her own slice. The other female leaning against the mono-patterned adult stopped in the middle of her conversation, turning and watching the Initiate. Vivex, paused, noting the intensity of the gaze, then shifted her reach towards a smaller piece, not wanting to start a fight. Trying to minimize any competition.
Her Instinct shifted, uncertain of that.
She could feel the gaze of the other female growing more intense.
Her Instinct growled. Fight. Dominate.
It would be a way to prove her status… She paused, hand hovering near the meat. Would it though?
Need to check the grounds before I start hunting. So she continued to reach for the smaller piece.
Keshka knocked her hand aside! Vivex snarled, confused, angr-
Splack!
She yelped as her tutor slapped the hot piece of meat into her hands with enough force to knock the wind out of her. With a grunt she landed on her rump in the bloody churned up grass, juggling the hot food until she had it in her claws away from the tips of her fingers.
Keshka turned, looking down at the subadult, eyes still half-lidded, except… Vivex couldn’t read her tutor like she could Tok, her eyes unchanging as she looked down at her. The lack of pattern and hue outside of the default green hid her expression as well. There was nothing she could pick up on. Nothing she was used to anyway.
Shit, did I do something wrong?
Fight!
Shut up. She had to figure out what was happening. Her eyes shifted, reading the situation, examining the other adults.
The male had the femur in both hands, and with a twist it crackled, exposing the marrow. He was unhelpfully uninterested in her. The other female, the one who was pressed against Keshka, growled, clearly frustrated. Why?
“You receive food from your superior, Initiate.” Keshka hissed.
It wasn’t harshly said, just a simple statement of fact, but there was an edge to how she was prefixing her patience. The timing of her words implying something. Vivex looked back to the other female. She settled back into her old position, no longer turned to face Vivex, taking on a disappointed hue after Keshka had given the Initiate a portion.
Ready to ‘correct’ my behavior. That’s why. She looked down at the meat. This too is a competition. If an odd one.
Vivex’s Instinct hissed softly in agreement. Not with her observation, but with Keshka’s statement.
Vivex felt her jaw tighten. If it was so obvious, why didn’t I know that before now?
Last thing she wanted was the back half of her mind agreeing with other people who would oppress her. Or taking too long to share important information.
Her Instinct grumbled from her tongue. Unimportant! Eat! Learn.
Do better, idiot hindbrain. This is important.
Is not. Dominate!
“The runt is clearly mentally deficient as well as little, Keshka. I don’t know why we are even bothering with her.” The other female hissed, prefixes radiating hate.
Vivex lifted the meat to her muzzle, sniffing, teeth clenched too tightly to smell with her tongue. Not letting herself respond. Old hate rekindled in her chest. But she remembered what Zegoth had said.
‘Save us all the trouble of dealing with you…’
She remembered Vuthra’s words, coming out of her powerful jaws as a snarl. ‘You can’t be allowed to live through this.’
More of the same. More wanting things to stay the way they have been. Stagnate! Blasphemous.
She could feel that sentiment growing around her.
Figh-
Her fury turned inward.
I am not big enough to just run roughshod over these interactions. It was like the final gathering before the last night of the trial. Posturing and display were critical to navigating these situations. She knew that much. And she knew failure would result in, at best, being officially graded Fodder and beaten into submission. And at worst, I’ll be killed on the spot!
Her claws unclenched, she had torn into the muscle groups of the roast in her anger.
Her Instinct snarled, dismissive of the entire idea. She had proven herself dominant, so clearly that was the new status quo. Vivex had to fight down the gut reaction to agree with her own line of thinking.
It was an emotionally tempting viewpoint to adopt. She picked off a piece of burnt… something on the flesh. Inspecting it, purposely trying to distract herself from her rage. She could see that it was definitely from some sort of plant. A crushed leaf perhaps? She nibbled at it, but it just tasted like char.
Meanwhile, the adults had continued the conversation.
“It is a duty we have been given. That I have been given. And I do not question such things.” Keshka tore a strip off of a steaming femur, “You should not either.”
“Very noble of you Keshka.” The other female hissed, looking right at Vivex, “Only she will slow us down.”
“She got here first though.” The male said, chewing around his words. His prefixes weren’t complementary though.
Meanwhile, Vivex continued the internal argument with the impulsive part of her mind.
Regardless of the illegitimacy of their views, I am small. I need to navigate around these barbs if I want to thrive. She couldn't just disregard them, lest she pick a fight she couldn't win. Especially with part of her having a knee-jerk response to submit to the adults. I hope that changes as I get older. And she knew she would have to learn these things quickly, she would be dealing with such views for the rest of her life.
There was a short pause, but then her Instinct growled, impatient for the food.
Still annoyed, Vivex tore into the roasted flesh in her claws, ripping off a gobbet and chewing.
Her eyes bulged.
Hot grease slid down to her wrists, then elbows, dripping onto the grass. Leaking from the bite, which revealed the center of the meat was still delectably red and juicy. The male started grunting in amusement.
She didn't notice any of that, still processing what she had just experienced.
Amazing!
New flavors sprinted along her tastebuds, each singular and complex, a puzzle to solve in her mouth.
She took another large bite and chewed, trying and failing to slow herself down, moving back into a crouching position and grunting despite her anger at being shoved. Head jerking, jaws snapping to position each piece after minimal chewing and swallowing. Vivex grunted louder as she tore out another chunk, hearing Keshka grunt back as she ate.
Whatever they had sprinkled onto the meat added a unique flavor all its own. Sharp and bright, a contrasting hue that helped accentuate what was already there.
What would have been straightforward, satisfying, and filling had suddenly become elevated as well. Not just sustaining.
Pleasurable…
More and more questions filled her mind, and her chewing slowed. How had they found the plants to add to cause this change in flavor? Did it work with everything? Were there medical applications? This was on top of the other questions she had about the world outside the Belly. But she held her tongue, keeping her inquiries close.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Don’t trust them just because the trial is over.
Always running.
Just to stay in the same space. Her forebrain finished the aphorism.
Even if Keshka had shown herself to be somewhat levelheaded, and had protected her from being corrected by the other female, Vivex could see and hear. The mono-pattern would enforce the status quo. The Initiate needed an advocate, not a neutral party.
And she definitely won't go against Shashk. She swallowed another chunk of meat, tearing free another. It does seem like she could come to her own conclusions though. She would have to figure out how to make sure that the monochrome adult came to the right ones.
Vivex was already licking her claws before she realized it and looked back at the fire, then back to Keshka.
Is that the purpose? To make us rely on those above us? She didn’t like the symbolism there, if true. She already had a Provider.
“You may ask for more, pupil.” Her tutor said, negating the need by handing over another slice and taking one for herself.
At least she doesn’t withhold the food.
Could she?
This is true, need to keep that in mind.
“Hasn’t even learned that yet?” It was the other female, her prefixes dripping with her disdain as juices from the meal dripped down her chin.
She was gorging, though she did take the time to hand the male another large piece, which he chewed contentedly.
So, he is below her…
The female flashed orange amusement, drawing Vivex’s eyes. “Idiot neonate. Probably has a stunted Instinct as well.”
Strike! Attack! Vivex's Instinct had lost all patience with this, leaving her forebrain alone to struggle. She found herself growling deep in her throat, a vicious rumble that she couldn’t contain.
All the peril and death still too fresh, too raw. The hateful derogatory remarks a constant wound to her soul. Her pride.
Vivex’s knuckles popped as she gripped the blade. The male shifted, turning towards her slightly, his yellow eyes focused on her, narrowing.
Then she remembered. They wanted her to lash out. To be given an easy solution to a problem so they could move on with their lives. But they also wanted her to cut off a part of herself. The part with any autonomy.
Hypocrites! The complex emotions and impulses startled Vivex, and she had to reaffirm her forebrain’s control.
But her Instinct wouldn’t budge.
She had passed the trial! She was no neonate, and any that called her a runt would pay with their flesh! This upstart female was not her superior.
None are!
That thought is what rallied her forebrain. Idiot! Of course there are others that outrank me!
The male growled, shifting further. His own black and red flickered around his eyes, along boney ridges along the top of the sockets. Just for a moment. A warning.
He was big, as large as Vuthra with a jaw to match hers, but with a build like Erthung’s, wide powerful shoulders and densely packed muscle that looked meant for an even larger frame. He didn’t have a belt full of axes, but she was certain he didn’t need them. She looked at the thick femur he had split with his bare hands.
She managed to take a deep breath, closing her eyes and slowly opening them again. No, I need a different method. She shoved her Instinct back into its place in her hindbrain.
But what?
She wasn't sure, but if she didn’t find a way to compete in this new situation, she was going to revert to what she knew.
Vivex peeled her fingers off of her weapon, and she sensed more than saw the male relax, heard him chewing into the bone and pealing strips off to swallow. She gripped the steaming meat with both hands, her claws sinking into it. The juice dripped onto the ground, sputtering next to the fire.
The flavor had become quite muted with her anger, but the predator forced herself to eat. No telling when such bounty would be at my disposal again.
“What, nothing to say, runt? Too ignorant to understand how to interact with adults?” Gekki continued, reaching for more.
“Gekki, you were also young once.” Keshka hissed, annoyed, slapping the other female’s hand away from a sizzling slab of meat and taking it for herself. “We all had to learn. Some more than others.” Keshka passed the huge piece to Vivex, eyes not leaving the other female. As she did, she stepped to one side, slightly closer to the Initiate, breaking contact with Gekki.
Gekki hissed and flickered her own black and red, but Keshka stared her down, eyes still half lidded, her own black and red locked in her tiny patches of camouflage.
Radadadadadadat..!
A kingbill rattled in the distance and the subadult’s head whipped around. The others twitched, proving that some lessons remained for decades.
“Why be so lenient to this whelp?” Gekki said, dropping her black and red with a soft snarl. She stepped closer so that she was leaning against Keshka again, flickering a very short apology first when her Tutor hissed at her.
Vivex, for her part, despised being so close together. Not trusting the contact, not liking it. She wished she could have eaten with her Provider.
“Because, fresh Initiates deserve some leeway, Gekki. Or do you forget how idiotic you were fresh out of your trial?” Keshka said.
That was it! A question for the tutor! Maybe if she occupied Keshka’s attention it would force Gekki to be quiet.
Her Instinct shrugged at her.
The male grunted, amused by Keshka’s words, and Gekki backhanded him. He barely flinched, still grunting, orange shifting into his pattern again.
“Let the runt eat.” He growled, words hitched with his grunts, “If there is any growth to occur, it needs to be fueled.”
Vivex needed to think of something fast, one hand gripping her knife tightly again at his words.
“Oh shut up Zathaan and eat yourself.” Gekki hissed, punctuating it with another smack with the back of her hand even as she passed him another large slice of sizzling meat. “Food food, everything is food with you.”
“Makes the world brighter somehow.” He hissed.
Vivex’s eyes landed on one of the butchers, peeling the flesh from one of the Smoothskins, and knew what she would ask first. But she waited for the right moment.
Gekki opened her mouth to continue.
Now!
“I had a question, tutor.” Vivex said, only looking at Keshka.
Gekki sat there, mouth open, then she started to snarl. The mono-patterned female however, only grunted softly, indicating for Vivex to proceed, turning away from her companion. Gekki’s jaw snapped shut, and satisfaction washed over Vivex, though she made sure to hide it from her pattern.
“What is put on the meat to give it such a good flavor?”
Keshka stared for just a moment then the faintest flicker of orange formed around her eyes. “It is a mixture. I can show you tomorrow. Simple enough to make, if you have salt. It is one of the things we trade the smoothskins for.”
Vivex could see Gekki opening her mouth again to force her way into the conversation. Like a fight, don’t let up.
“Why trade? And which smoothskins?”
“The Third genera mostly. They have several salt mines. The Eighth genera have Fodder that collect the salt out of the Salty-great-grand-provider-of-all-water, but we have adapted such methods ourselves.”
“The… what?” She hadn’t heard the word before, and it was one of the longest ones. She also thought that she might have heard of the term ‘salt’ before… but she couldn’t remember where.
“A huge lake full of water you cannot drink, young one. And fishes beyond number,” Keshka said, “The smoothskins call it a sea, or the ocean.”
“It is beautiful. And looks endless.” Zathaan surprised her by speaking up, sliding gracefully into the conversation. “Perhaps that is where you will be stationed once you are judged to be Fodder. Could be worse. Plenty of sun and fish. A chance to be called out to raid a ship.”
Endless? She thought of the temple, spiraling down and down in the dim light of the runes. Then the canopy of the swamp, an endless expanse of pine, cypress, willow, and many others, green all the way to the horizon.
What kinds of trees grow in the sea? But she didn’t want to have to be Fodder to see it.
“That judgement has yet to be made. And more likely she will be sent north to the front lines.” Keshka said, also cutting off Gekki who had flickers of maroon in her pattern again.
Meanwhile, the male grunted, orange heavily displayed across his scales. With a snarl Gekki hit him again, snapping her jaws and flashing maroon patterns even more brightly in Vivex’s direction, though she was only partially aware of that.
Sent to the front lines… A life of constant battle, of constant danger. Injuries that would pile up and chip away at her effectiveness until she was put down and everything down to her marrow was salvaged to feed her fellows.
No more quiet mornings on the river.
No more opportunity to bask.
I can’t let that happen. She felt her inquiries shift as the seriousness of that outcome became real to her.
“How good are the senses of smoothskins?” Vivex asked. It was clear that one way or another, her future lay in hunting them
Gekki flashed heavily saturated orange. “First time fighting them, Fodder?” She could feel the adult trying to regain her dominant position in the conversation.
Redirect, it is a slash, knock it aside.
“Second, actually, though the conflicts were quite different from eachother,” Vivex hissed softly, eyes half lidded like Tok’s and Keshka’s, her words devoid of prefixes. She allowed for a long pause, then added, “Gekki.”
She stared at the other female, making the point to use her name, to highlight that she was aware of the slight and the disdain. Almost but not quite reciprocating.
Obsidian edge. Her Instinct warned, but it didn’t need to. Vivex was aware that she was tossing herself into a dangerous fight without practice.
I’ll just have to learn.
The Initiate let her pattern flutter through several thoughtful colors, letting some of the complexity she could create show. Nothing hostile, that wasn’t the point. The point was to display part of what she could do.
“Enough, pupil.” There was a growl in Keshka’s voice now.
Vivex stopped and glanced at her tutor again, and she could see flickers of red and black around the female’s eyes. Slightly desaturated, but only slightly.
Idiot. Keshka couldn’t blend, and it probably was frustrating to her to see her pupil flaunting her skill with it.
Don’t anger them. Her Instinct hissed smugly as the sub-adult shifted into more simplistic patterns as a sort of apology.
“To answer your question, pupil Vivex,” Keshka continued, words ever so slightly clipped, “it depends on the smoothskin genera. Third genera, for example, have excellent sight in the darkness. Eighths tend to have quite poor sight in the dark though.”
“But wouldn’t they have similar senses, tutor Keshka?” No pause this time, a stark difference, again to purposely highlight where her respect lay. “Aren’t they related.”
“In the same way the Greenscales, Redscales, Bluescales, and Blackscales are related Initiate.”
So completely different. She pondered that.
To give her more time to think of another question to keep Gekki out of the conversation, she asked “May I have another piece of meat?”
Keshka selected another piece, a set of ribs, handing them to the subadult.
It’s working! Vivex was fitting in.
Her Instinct hissed as she stripped flesh from the bones, and she grunted in thanks as Zathaan tossed her a rock to split them open.
Gekki had turned away from them both and was talking quietly with Zathaan, starting the conversation with a slap from her tail that actually made the male flicker apology.
Still insulting. Her Instinct hissed, pulling her eyes to how they were huddled together, the amused flickers of the male’s pattern.
She eyed him. No, too yellow.
Distraction! Focus. Her Instinct snarled.
Keshka spent quite some time describing the various genera in more detail, though some of the information was more interesting to her than others.
“None of them see the same as we do, nor do the other broods.”
“What do you mean, tutor?”
“The range of colors that they can see is not as broad.” She flashed several colors around her eyes, the color of the patterns that buck emperor dragonflies had. “These are only a few of those.”
Vivex paused in her chewing, thoughtful.
“It is because they do not have a need for it.” Keshka continued, as if reading the sub-adult’s mind. “They do not communicate with the hues as we do. Nor do they typically rely on the accuracy of their sight to the same degree.”
Vivex grunted, though she still was unsure as to how to feel about the revelation.
Keshka didn’t know everything about all of the races though. “Fifth genera are too scarce to know much outside of the oldest of us, though their connection to the fauna of the world is well known, and the Barkskin regard them with respect.”
“What ones do you know of?”
“Well, the third genera as I said have excellent night vision. As do the fourth genera, though the Vettar seem to dislike the brightest parts of the day. Unsurprising, given their heritage.”
The adult motioned to the runeslave, which still was being skinned all these hours later. “But the most dangerous of the groups, in my opinion, is still the eighth genera.”
“But, that can’t be an eighth genera.” Unless the aether does create growth.
“No,” The disdainful prefix stung, “The humans made that. It was a thirteenth genera, a Giant, twisted by magics and coopted third-genera runes.”
Thought so. It was good to have that confirmed.
Vivex watched as Tok opened up the stitches of the twisted thing, a powerful reek wafting over everything and making most of the gathering hiss in disgust. He pulled out more earthbone parts, tongue sliding out. His head sank into the cavity, and she could hear the grinding of the corpses bones.
His head pulled back with a grisly tearing sound, his jaw thumping as his head jerked to swallow the flesh.
“There is speculation that the smoothskin Gods created the thirteenth genera to deal with the Blackscale brood.” Keshka growled, shaking her head so that her vertebrae cracked. Compelled, Vivex mimicked her, as did many of the gathered brood. Vivex continued a bit longer than the rest, trying to shake away the smell.
“Is it true?” Vivex found herself asking. It was a little disheartening to think that the smoothskin gods could challenge those of the brood.
“I would doubt it.” Zathaan said, sliding into the conversation again without preamble, ignoring Gekki even as she hit him again. “Their natural range is out of the usual migration of the Blackscales.” He snorted and spat, the saliva landing in the coals and sputtering loudly. “But the eighth’s definitely are trying to find ways to counter the broods.”
“That’s just their pagan warriors!” Gekki hissed, shoving her way into the conversation.
“Where is their natural range then?” Vivex asked, ignoring Gekki’s point, though it did give her even more questions.
“The mountains, far to the north. Where the cold cuts like obsidian jaws. Though that is anything past our boarders. Even Kez’le Skuthamn is to chill for most.” Zathaam said.
Keshka hissed. “Enough, she will not be going there, only the Blackscales can stand those places far beyond our realm for any span of time, and even then not for overly long.”
Another question for Tok. She glanced at him again. His muzzle was dripping with the black blood, which she could see was actually dark red against his scales. It looked like he was eating the liver, the heart in one of his massive hands.
There was just so much to learn! She opened her mouth but Keshka stood, looking down at her.
Gekki and Zathaan left, as did most of the others, consolidating around more hidden fires as Zasa’avi’s eyes started to twinkle open in the sky.
“It is time for rest. If I understand correctly, there is much for you to do tomorrow.”
She felt her excitement wither a little. “But…” She hadn’t realized just how much she had enjoyed the conversation until it had been taken away.
“There is time enough for any other questions to be answered after dawn.”
Damn. She needed to progress and she hadn’t asked much of importance. She needed to keep pushing herself!
“Could… I have the arrows I gathered back?”
Keshka looked at Vivex, then gave an amused grunt. “You plan to practice through the night.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Yes.” There was no point in hiding it.
Keshka hissed, shaking her head. “Come, one last lesson then so you don’t hit one of the brood.”
Even in the dark, Vivex could see the slight tinges of yellow and orange around the archer’s eyes.
PATREON! It is at least 15 chapters ahead, and I am working hard to get it permanently up to 20, with plans to add even more! All money there goes right back into making the series as good as I can, and every cent of it is appreciated more than I can say.