Legends Collide by Alex Stiles

Author:Alex Stiles [Stiles, Alex]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-10-31T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Late in the evening, they trudged back to their stuffy little room. All of them having enjoyed the fresh air and open space of the rooftop.

ShivKel had tried to send them away with a pouch of sprifle as a welcome gift to the newest members of their club. Only members in reality. But they’d convinced her to keep the sprifle by swapping it for the loan of a lamp.

As timing had it, the Pain Cage would be open for business the following night. It was their only lead, and their new friends had agreed to take them.

It didn’t sound the safest place, and Peran found himself in the peculiar position of being glad to be in the company of a wiq. Less than a day before, he would have scoffed at the idea. But Kuuln and ShivKel appeared genuine, and their only other choice was to go on their own, which was not an appealing prospect.

Trust though, was another thing and when they set off late-afternoon the next day, they were armed under their cloaks. Staffs were too obvious. Outside it was a walking aid, inside it was a weapon.

‘You came back,’ ShivKel said as she opened the door. ‘Kuuln, they have returned,’ she shouted, and as he thumped down the stairs, Peran feared they might not hold.

It was a clear day, as they discovered when they went to the roof garden and an orange hue spread across the sky as the sun set.

‘Only gaks, wiq and men fight tonight. No animals,’ ShivKel said.

‘Animals fight?’ Emsin looked aghast.

‘Rarely. And never against each other. Only man, gak or wiq.’ ShivKel didn’t notice Emsin’s concern. ‘Is disrespectful to make animal fight each other. If animal will fight, you must show it respect by fighting person.’

‘Animal normally win,’ Kuuln said. ‘Specially the treskul.’

‘What’s a treskul?’

‘The most fearsome of creatures. Worthy of much respect. Only a gak desperate to improve its caste fights treskul.’

‘That is how to beat the odds, but no one win.’ Kuuln rested his chin on his fist. ‘No one fight treskul for long time.’

‘I’ve never read of a treskul,’ Miles said. ‘What do they look like? Where are they from?’

‘Treskul is bigger than two large klakabies with thick black hide,’ said Kuuln. ‘It has tail for ripping flesh. Blades for forelegs to slice and pierce its prey. No one survive against the treskul, it’s not pretty.’

‘I do not know how the treskul came to be in Rifton. Legend has it someone braved Keening Island. Home of the treskul and stole an egg,’ ShivKel said.

‘We lucky the parents haven’t come for baby.’

When the skies darkened, they headed to the Pain Cage and found themselves in a steady flow of excitable gaks. They’d been there before, Peran realised. The floor had been littered with slips of paper, only this time the folding doors were open.

A cylindrical space opened up before them, abuzz with the shrill chatter of the gaks who swarmed the perimeter walkway. Oil lamps, dotted along the external walls, provided patches of brightness.

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