4. Fenric #2
Hapi huffed an irritated sigh. “They’re going to die regardless of whether or not I do something. The warlock isn’t alive any longer. Stalling just means the rest of them will not die quickly, but rather slowly, writhing in pain. Is that what you wish?”
“Knife. Stabby. Go now,” Rain rasped between pants and moans.
As much as Fenric didn’t like the idea of dying, he really liked this agonizing stomach pain a lot less, along with the growing feeling he was about to suffocate thanks to his rapidly closing throat.
“Get the fucking knife!” Fenric tried to roar, though it came out as another whimper.
He squeezed his eyes shut. There were more pounding footsteps on the hardwood floor, followed by moans of pain and another heavy thud that shook the entire house.
He had a guess that was Belstrom finally falling out of his chair.
He didn’t know how much time passed. It felt like an eternity before a slender hand grabbed his shoulder and rolled him onto his back.
He blinked his eyes open to find Maxie standing over him, tears streaking his young face.
Hapi knelt beside him, a bloodied knife clenched in his fist and a maniacal grin spread across his blood-splattered face.
“Don’t look so happy, asshole,” Fenric rasped with his last breath.
“Doesn’t everyone enjoy what they’re good at?”
The elf didn’t wait for his answer. The knife slammed down, piercing Fenric’s heart. His body clenched as a new pain screamed through him. No, this was much worse than the stomach cramps, melting organs, and closing throat.
But cold black nothingness quickly slid in, consuming everything, wiping away pain and thought. Death…
Fenric sucked in a deep, ragged breath and shot up from where he’d been lying as if a bolt of lightning had crashed into his aching, tender body.
Several harsh breaths rushed through him before the rest of his senses seemed to turn on again.
He was alive! He looked around to find Belstrom, Rain, and Malfas lying on the damp grass behind the house, the sun high overhead and the air thick and muggy from the previous night’s storm.
As he slowly moved, several skelebabies scurried away from where they’d been staring at him through their vacant black eyeholes.
Hapi rarely raised the dead without helpers, and his skelebabies were always his first choice.
They understood his process. As they moved, their white bones clicked and clattered, threatening to give Fenric a headache.
Several feet away, Hapi stood wearing the same pajama pants, now splattered with their blood.
He looked both exhausted and thoroughly annoyed.
Beside him stood Maxie, appearing overjoyed and terrified.
His face was blotchy and still streaked with tears, even as a trembling smile stretched his pale pink lips.
“Really? Outside? Where all the neighbors can see us?” Fenric groused.
Hapi huffed. “There wasn’t enough room in the house to raise you all at the same time. I also hadn’t had enough sleep and was too tired to move the damn furniture. Unless you’d rather have your food poisoning back? I don’t think you gluttons ate everything. Maybe another sausage?”
An icy chill swept through Fenric, and he shuddered. There was no more pain, but the memory of what he’d suffered was still fresh. He also was in no hurry to see Hapi standing over him with a knife and a cold grin. “No, thanks.”
“I’m so, so, so sorry,” Maxie wailed. “I didn’t mean to kill anyone!” Fresh tears poured down the boy’s face and Fenric rethought Hapi’s offer of death. He didn’t handle tears well.
“Puppy! That was amazing!” Rain shouted with a hearty laugh. “You killed us all so easily.” He climbed to his feet unsteadily, clutching his head.
“It was quite remarkable,” Belstrom chimed in. “The food tasted divine. There was not a single hint of poison in the taste.”
“But I didn’t use any poison!” Maxie was quick to argue. He didn’t look afraid anymore, especially when Malfas wrapped an arm around his slumped shoulders, pulling him in for a brief hug.
“Unless someone has a secret they haven’t shared with the rest of the group, our kitchen possesses no poisons,” Hapi stated. He picked up his knife and carefully wiped off the blood on the bottom of his shirt. “All my poisonous ingredients are locked away in my room.”
The warlock chuckled and patted Maxie’s arm warmly. “Then you must possess an innate magic that is unlike any I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of magic in my day. That is very special, indeed.”
“Having a poison specialist would be quite handy,” Rain murmured, stroking his beard.
“I wonder if you could do anything else with your cooking. Do you think you could cook up explosive food? Maybe explodes in someone’s stomach?
Or maybe just explodes when we throw it at them? Wouldn’t that be amazing?”
“I-I-I don’t know. I’ve never tried.”
“You’ve cooked before today?” Fenric interjected, still sitting on the ground. His body wasn’t happy with him about the poisoning or the dying. It demanded he sit in the soft mud and hot sun for a while as punishment.
“Oh yes! Lots of times. Though…” Maxie paused, his face wrinkling in a wince. “Prior to this morning, no one had ever eaten my food but me. My cooking was only a hobby and not good enough to be fed to others.”
“Nonsense! Your food tasted amazing. The very best I’d ever had in my life—”
“Until it killed us all,” Fenric chimed in, cutting Rain off.
“Or how about food that melts their organs after they eat it? Those sausages felt like they were trying to do that. We just need to tweak what you did,” Malfas said.
Hapi rolled his eyes. “I didn’t get enough sleep to deal with this nonsense. I’m going back to bed.” He extended a hand to Fenric. “Not going to sit there all day, are you?”
Fenric shook his head, clearing away the rest of the fog, and took Hapi’s hand. “Thanks for killing me and raising me again.”
A wicked smirk twisted Hapi’s thin lips.
“Well, you’re not totally useless. Plus, it’s not a horrible way to start the day.
” Hapi released Fenric’s hand when the rogue was on his feet again, and his eyes darted over to where the others were escorting Maxie into the house. “Just…don’t eat anything he touches.”
“Yeah. Good idea.”
They might have had to die for it, but they had figured out one thing—Maxie was technically evil enough to join their little group. Not that it was going to happen. Nope. Nope. He needed too much training, and they didn’t need that kind of hassle.