5. Chapter 5 #3
Levi had thought he would be more curious about Luccite’s findings, especially if Braxton had been consulted in the end too, but hearing Ashmedai say that… he couldn’t imagine a better answer.
Like many times before, Ashmedai walked Levi home.
If smoothing stitches felt too intimate in front of the tower, then stealing another kiss there would be impossible.
Therefore, Levi snuck one while they were halfway down the path, feeling content enough afterward that parting from Ashmedai wasn’t nearly as bittersweet.
The next day, Levi didn’t even mind that he started his morning by heading into the wood again with Grillo.
Well, he started by taking his draught. He didn’t need daydreams. He didn’t like them anyway and was glad when Braxton said that the new batch of draught should be stronger. Whatever those visions were seemed far less important than the coming festival or when Levi would next see Ashmedai.
This would be their last trek into the wood, Grillo had said, and Levi was surprised to find he felt saddened by that.
He wasn’t as wary of the wood or nearing the barrier as he’d been in the beginning and looked around at the surrounding trees in pleasant wonder as he and Grillo traveled to where they would gather lumber.
There were several glider monkeys following them today.
Since Levi and Grillo used the same path each time, the monkeys had grown used to them, bolder.
Occasionally one would even drop down into the lumber cart.
The monkeys stopped following, however, when the first of Levi’s crystals began to flicker.
Clever creatures.
Levi and Grillo turned left. They would be going farther today, having cleared most of the trees in the first area they utilized.
“Would you like to assist with building the final stalls?” Grillo asked, close at Levi’s side. “I also need to add a stage to Klarent’s, as you know. I hear you’ll be up there yourself at some point.”
“I will,” Levi said with a dip of his head. “And I would be honored to assist you. I am sure construction will be far easier than performance.”
Grillo chuckled. “Klarent roped me in too, so you won’t be alone.”
“Really? What is your talent?”
“Poetry reading,” Grillo answered with a wink. “Don’t tell Yen. I wrote it for her.”
The sweet sentiment of romance—still strong in a long-standing marriage between Grillo and Yentriss, the promise of it budding for Dreya and Luccite, and the progress of Levi’s own with Ashmedai—filled him with a warmth almost as blissful as being in Ashmedai’s arms.
Almost.
“You and Yentriss were married before the curse?” Levi asked.
“We were. I was a carpenter. No surprise there, I’m sure.
And Yen, naturally, was a soldier. We were peaceful with the other kingdoms, so it was more a precaution against highwaymen.
Most days she was a city guard, walking the streets.
Since I was often out on the streets myself, working on various projects, well, how could I possibly ignore the seemingly indifferent, statuesque guard? ”
He smiled with a fondness that again warmed Levi’s heart.
“What about you?” Grillo asked. “Your talent for the festival?”
“Oh! Klarent asked me not to tell anyone, since it’s part of his performance too, but I can say it involves my illusion magic. Ash said the crowd will be more focused on that than me. I hope he’s right.”
“I’m sure you’ll do splendidly, and Kenner will be pleased. Rest assured you’ll have a few friends in the crowd with my family.”
“You and Kenner, perhaps. I don’t know if Yentriss likes me very much.”
“Nonsense. She acts tough with everyone. Save me, of course. Just you wait. She’ll be a blushing mess after my performance.” Grillo laughed again, and Levi chuckled with him.
He wondered how a blush would present itself on green and gold scales.
“She’s always been serious-minded,” Grillo went on, his mirth lessening as he was drawn into memory, “but I suppose the curse enhanced that with the scales she grew like natural armor. When the curse first happened, there were many people who tried to flee. We lost dozens, and Yen was crucial in trying to prevent more, but she could only do so much. She saw more citizens… erased than anyone else. She and Ash.”
Levi had grown so used to the people here that he hadn’t considered how many more there might have been if history had gone differently. “That must have been very difficult.”
Grillo smiled again, never without one for long. “And that is why we celebrate what we have each year instead of mourning what we lost. ”
They reached another edge of the barrier, and Levi set down the glowing crystal where there was a gap in the perimeter.
He pulled out a second as they veered once more toward their destination.
By the time they stopped and Grillo started felling trees, Levi had no crystals left, though there was a larger gap near them that made Levi wary.
There were no glider monkeys here. No jackalopes or gazellians either. There weren’t even tracks to indicate there ever had been animals near these trees. The stillness was eerie, but Levi tried to keep his mood light by thinking of the next time he would see Ashmedai.
The king would walk Levi home again once the day’s work was done, and Levi had every intention of stealing another kiss.
Grillo was onto a particularly large tree that, even for the minotaur, would take several minutes to topple.
Levi knew better than to wander, content to organize the cart with the lumber they had so far, but when he looked up, scanning the nearby trees, he noticed an area close by with disturbed dirt.
Perhaps there had been animals through here.
Curious, Levi moved toward it. The earth was definitely disturbed, dug into, maybe even freshly, or something had been recently buried there. By a rollhound perhaps? While mostly domesticated, there were some in the wild.
The area seemed distorted in a way. Levi knelt to better inspect the upturned dirt, reaching out to gently smooth some of it aside. Was that… cloth?
A boom startled Levi, and he looked back to see the large tree on the ground. Grillo was wiping the sweat from his brow and started to move toward Levi, heading slightly north and around the trees to come up parallel to him.
“Last one. I don’t know about you, but I am starved—” The sound cut off abruptly from Grillo’s lips, his body going rigid and eyes snapping wide as he looked to his left… and howled.
His arm up to his elbow had vanished .
“Grillo!” Levi rushed to him, not thinking of his own safety or how close he too might be to the barrier. He grasped Grillo’s still-whole arm and pulled with all his might to drag the sizable minotaur from where the barrier must be.
It was horrifying and fascinating to watch where Grillo’s arm had been, the wound seemingly frozen, not yet bleeding, only to suddenly gush and make Levi’s head feel woozy. Never had he been so grateful that Kenner wasn’t with them.
Struggling to not let the gory sight fell him like the trees, with nothing else to stop the bleeding, Levi tore his tunic off over his head and swiftly began to bind it around the stump.
Grillo stared in mute shock as if the pain had also been frozen—but then he howled far louder than before as that too caught up to him.
“ Grillo .” Levi forced the minotaur to look at him and not the missing arm. “We must get you to Luccite. Can you make it?”
It was awful to see such pain and fear on the face of a man usually so strong. Grillo nodded, pulling on a brave face despite feeling what must be agony, and held a shaky hand to the already blood-soaked tunic, applying more pressure with a grimace.
Levi looped his arm through Grillo’s uninjured one, supporting the small of Grillo’s back to better catch him should he pass out or stumble, and swiftly led them back down the path, leaving everything else behind.