Chapter Thirty-Nine–The Squad Run

  Tomi did the one lap and then went to sleep under the meditation tree, using the cushions as pillows. Ames kept up with Gray and Rynn, but Midj remained behind them the entire time. The poor goblin girl was gasping and sweating like crazy.

  With odd dark elf around, Gray couldn’t talk to Rynn about the three other women on their squad. One of the new girls had mentioned something about Settie having a preference for women, but the kiss she’d shared with Gray seemed to go against that idea.

  They were halfway around their second lap when Midj jogged up to them. Mana was coming off her in waves. “Okay, how many times are we going around? It’s been almost five miles now. I’m good for about five miles under my own strength. I’ll have to start burning my pillows, depending...”

  Rynn didn’t respond, and so it was up to Gray. “Our long runs are in the mornings. We generally do nine miles but we can cut it off at six to spar and for weights. I’m surprised Tomi stopped.”

  “You’re lucky you got the three miles out of her. She’s beastkin. They tend to only run when chased.”

  “What do you mean by pillows?” Gray asked.

  Midj laughed. “If you have to ask, you aren’t paying attention. If we’re only doing six, I’m getting this darn run over sooner rather than later.”

  She then burst forward and sprinted forward and ran past the soaring walls of the arena and into the forest and the southern bridge.

  In the shadows of the trees, Gray could see the bright yellow burning off her.

  “What do you think she meant by pillows?” Gray asked Rynn.

  Rynn blushed. “Uh, we shouldn’t talk about them. I mean. Her, um, assets. I’ve heard stories of goblins, but I’ve never believed them.”

  “What kind of stories?”

  Rynn shook her head. “If we’re only doing six miles, let’s sprint the rest of the way. Amaranthis, is that okay?”

  “Yes, Rynnanatha. I like to run. It is food for the feet, and our breath is the finest of wines that one day will run dry.”

  Gray pondered what those strange words for the rest of the run. He didn’t think his feet or his lungs liked to run, but both were necessary. When they reached Midj, she was already walking over to where Tomi rested under the tree.

  The sound of bloodless blades clashing from over in the sand pavilions rang out. A crowd was over there, watching a fight. Even though Pinch had given up on the morning battles, they had caught on. The weights were also being used and even the track was filling up with running squads.

  Rynn frowned. “We had the place to ourselves over the summer, Amaranthis. I’m surprised to see all of these squads here.”

  The dark elf wiped sweat off her forehead. “They think to catch up on lost time. But the time is lost. Soon there won’t be any minutes left, and they must eat the bread of the day.”

  “Gray and I ate here every day,” Rynn said.

  “Food for our feet,” Gray laughed.

  Ames nodded, smiling shyly. “And in truth, breath is finer than any wine.”

  They approached Midj who stood over Tomi, who was sleeping soundly, on her back, mouth open, snoring.

  “That was what I heard all night,” the goblin girl said. “I’ll be a plucked goose if I have to suffer through the day. Now, that’s what I could go for, some goose, potato dumplings, and a nice sauteed cabbage, but I’d want there to be a sweet vinegar on the cabbage, finely chopped apples, and raisins. Now, you have folks who don’t like raisins, but really, I never could understand that. Don’t get me started on people who don’t like oatmeal raisin cookies. They suffer from a lack of imagination.”

  Midj didn’t just look thinner, she was thinner, every part of her. Her face was shining with sweat and she caught him looking. She smacked her thigh, which was solid muscle now. She then threw out her chest, which was several sizes smaller. “Pillows. Do you understand now, Mr. Grayson Fade.”

  “I understand, Midj. So you store mana in your, uh, pillows?”

  “I’m a goblin! Of course! Are you really a nully? Oh, is that offensive? I don’t want to be offensive. I heard some call your kind a voidling, but I doubt that’s much better. You were from Cradleport. Blythe and Sindara said they were in Cradleport forever.”

  “Yes,” Tomi agreed. She went from snoring to stretching, eyes closed, her arms and legs stiff. She drew herself up into a sitting position. “Cradleport is a beautiful place. I spent a week there one afternoon. I’m pretty sure we were there for several months.”

  “But if you were there only for an afternoon, it couldn’t have been months?” Rynn said softly.

  “Now, angel, don’t go ruining my joke by making me explain it.” Tomi stood up. “Do you mind me calling you angel? I know you got it hard in the Crown. I’ve heard stories.”

  “I don’t mind,” Rynn said. “It’s just my hair color. I think you understand what it feels like to be different. I think I know where you’re from, but when I asked before, you changed subjects. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

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  Tomi shrugged. “Then don’t make me run. So what’s next on your nightmare list, chief?” Her eyes were covered by her hair, but Gray was pretty sure she was talking to him.

  “Normally, we’d spar, but all the sand pavilions are being used.”

  Tomii grinned. “Then I guess we should call it a day. I can sleep, you all can do whatever humans, goblins, and elves do in the heat. I doubt it’s sleep. You all have goals and schedules. It kind of nauseates me to tell you the truth. Do we even need to train? There is no way we’re going to be allowed to enter Culling Day with only a squad of five, not with Settie’s reputation.”

  “Why does everyone hate her?” Rynn asked.

  The cat girl tilted her head, squinting at the elf girl. “You really don’t know?”

  Rynn shook her head.

  “Midj. It’s your story to tell.”

  The goblin girl looked nervous. “It’s not…I don’t…we shouldn’t be gossiping. Or if we are going to gossip, we should do it over a big goose dinner. Chances of getting goose and dumplings in the Belly is a longshot, but it’s not a complete wasteland. We have to eat at Gorgonzola’s Counter. That place is legendary.”

  “It is,” Gray laughed. “We’ll eat there tonight. Dinners at the canteen are hellish enough without all these people around, and I don’t want to stand in line.”

  “Worried about them running out of food?” Midj asked.

  “Worried they won’t,” Gray joked. “I have an idea. Follow me.”

  He led the odd collection of women across the grass to where Mana Cinders was cleaning bloodless blades in a trough. “Mama Cinders, I have good news and bad news.”

  “Good news first,” the dragon said with a quirk of her scaly eyebrow.

  “The good news is that our squad finally showed up. The bad news is that with the training grounds so crowded, we can’t find a good place train. You wouldn’t happen to know of some place we can go.”

  Cinders took in the faces of his squad, one after another. “If it were anyone else, Grayson, I would tell them they should’ve come early to train. You and Rynnanatha, however, have been so very diligent. Yes, I think I can find you a place.”

  In short order, Gray found himself and his squad walking the stone hallways of the coliseum. They came out onto a field, half-covered by a series of massive rectangular pieces of canvas above that shaded most of the seats. The place was enormous, dwarfing even the Cradleport Arena. In intervals there were special seating, where only important people would sit. In Cradleport, that would’ve been the sea king. Gray counted seven special sections. He didn’t think that number was an accident.

  The grass was perfectly watered and clipped. He found both the smell of the grass and the humidity in the air oddly soothing. He’d thought he’d never feel such humidity ever again. Big barrels of water lined a running track that circled field. Near the barrels were hoops set in the stonework of the walls. There were three hoops on either side for a total of six hoops. It had to be some kind of game that Gray wasn’t familiar with.

  Cinders led them across to one end of the field where a sparring pavilion stood near a rack of bloodless blades. At the other end were large piles of woods as well as piles of dirt. They were clearly building something over there, probably something for Culling Day.

  The kindly dragon nodded. “Here you are. You can find your way out. If someone asks why you are here, which is unlikely, you give them this.”

  A golden coin appeared in her hand, marked with the symbol of a dragon. “It is my personal chit.” She turned to the three new girls. “You are very lucky to be squad mates with Grayson Fade and Rynnanatha Sereph. I don’t know your future, but if you survive the Testing, and if your sponsor doesn’t fail you, your future is quite bright, quite bright indeed.”

  She then took off and soared away on huge wings, fueled by the mana coming out of her core.

  Midj took out a pouch and shook nuts and raisins into her hand. She shook them before popping them into her mouth. “Are we really in the frickin First Field coliseum on our first day? What is even happening right now?”

  She then went and grabbed Gray, pulling him down so she could hug him.

  She was sweaty, but she didn’t smell bad. He couldn’t help but notice that while her pillows were smaller, she still was chesty. He felt her core, and there was something so open and powerful about it.

  She went to hug Rynn, but the elf girl held up her hands. “No. But thank you.”

  Midj took her hand and held it. “It’s a special thing you’ve done for us, Rynn and Gray. A very special thing. I wasn’t so sure about throwing my lot in with Captain Sevanya, and I still don’t exactly trust her, but I trust you both.”

  Ames walked away from them, let her head fall back, and stood there, staring up at the canvas high above.

  Tomi went over to some seats, laid down, and was soon fast asleep.

  Midj frowned. “I know they’re both odd ducks, and me? Well, I’m the goose among the ducks. While I’m not sure I’ll ever trust the captain, she has been running squads for generations. She thinks this is her year to do something big. What that is, I don’t know, but we can gossip more at Gorgonzola’s. Hey! Tomi! No sleeping! It’s time for fighting.”

  The cat girl woke up. “Your butt is fighting,” she hissed bitterly.

  “Literally,” Midj laughed and picked up a bloodless blade. “I’m feeling good. I’ll go first.” She sang herself a little song as she waddled onto the sand. “Going to fight a little in the coliseum. Going to burn some mana. Burning mana is fun. Hope my new friends don’t mind me winning. Winning! Winning!” She finished off her little song with a dance.

  Rynn smiled. “We’ve been fighting a great deal, Midj.”

  “I’m goblin strong,” the little woman said. “Go my core all juicy and ready to go. Good ironbites in the canteen. I was a bit worried about them.”

  “Gray calls them muffins.”

  “What’s a muffin?” Midj asked.

  Gray grinned. “I want to know where you got the frycake.”

  Midj shrugged. “I’ll never tell. Come on. Let’s spar. How about first to ground?”

  “Yes,” Gray said. “I’m tired of bleeding, and we only have a few healing needles left.”

  Midj looked horrified. “Why does that sound awful? Healing needles? Like, how does that even work?”

  Ames wandered over.

  Midj took a few practice swings with her sword. “Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. Needles aren’t coming anywhere near me. Ames, here, can heal us. It’s why she’s here.”

  The dark elf nodded solemnly. “Bodies broken, souls repaired. The heart, Grayson, the heart is important. You know that better than anyone.”

  “Why do you say that?” Gray asked.

  “I’m in the shack, laughing.”

  A chill passed down Gray’s spine. “How do you know about the shack?”

  “The well isn’t the only thing that weeps,” Ames whispered. “I can fight too, Mr. Fade. I have to fight. Wrath is a virtue.”

  “I think patience is the virtue tied to the Fight Instinct.”

  Ames only stared at him.

  Tomi slept on as if she didn’t have a care in the world.