The Untamed: Untold Lies

Chapter 12: Rematch in Prison

   That night, Clyde put out the candle with ease. Using this ability had become almost second nature by now. His arm no longer went numb when he attempted it and the candlelight went out almost immediately. Although he had mastered it by now, Clyde was only too sure that taming an actual, living thing was going to be several times harder. Come to think of it, he still wasn’t exactly sure what Oskelo’s weakness was.

   During the Taming Exam all those months ago, Clyde imagined some sort of wind to subdue the smoke – but looking back it was obviously not the best plan of attack. Furthermore, the terrain of the testing grounds had actually come to his aid. This time, however, he was going to have absolutely nothing but solid concrete at his feet.

   The entire night and into the next day, he crossed off all possible types of elements that could extinguish a smoke as thick and sticky as Oskelo’s. Was it even worth going down there again tonight if Clyde literally had no plan of attack? Perhaps he could hint at it with the girls today. At least Anya would be pleased that he was “preparing for the exam.”

   On his way to the palace, he ran into Felix who had been gazing out into the little pond in front of the palace. For whatever reason, Felix had “special permission” to enter the palace now, even though he didn’t even live inside.

   “Please don’t tell me that this is a new hobby of yours or something,” Anya groaned as she opened the door to her room.

   “I hope you don’t say that to Kassy and Jassy, too,” said Clyde.

   “Well, what do you want?” she said bossily. “I’ve got like loads of work to get done for my stupid English class…”

   “Is she…stupid by any chance?” Felix asked Clyde.

   It was an honest question. No insult intended. But Anya, didn’t seem to take it that way: Without warning, she swung a slap straight across Felix’s face and yelled, “I’m right here you dunce!”

   “You better learn to lower your voice,” Clyde whispered to Felix who was now rubbing his face in absolute confusion. He then looked up at her and smiled weakly. “I was wondering if you could help me with something. Do you, by any chance, know how to get smoke to disappear?”

   Anya’s jaw dropped and she looked at him incredulously.

   “Please don’t tell me you set your apartment on fire –”

   “It’s for the exam,” Clyde said quickly. “It’s because Oskelo is like a smoke type user and I want to know what I could use to beat him.”

   At once, her expression changed from shock to suspicion.

   “Why not ask mister smarty pants over there?” she said. “Why’d you come all the way here to ask that?”

   For obvious reasons, Clyde did not disclose his true motive. Instead, he smiled broadly and said, “He doesn’t know.”

   “Actually –”

   “Can it, buster!” Anya snapped at Felix. “I can figure this one out.”

   The boys watched as she paced back and forth in deep thought.

   “I know when it rains it washes smoke away,” she said finally.

   “I don’t think I can change the weather, Anya,” Clyde replied. “I could use water, but knowing him, he’ll just turn into a cloud of smoke and dodge all of my attempts. Last time, I used mud to keep him in place.”

   “So then just use mud again.”

   Clyde shook his head. “No, I’m sure he’s planned against it…”