The Last Knight (An Awakening the Lightforged Novel)

Chapter 1: Before the Storm

Survival is not enough. 

C. 27 hours since the assassination of rebel leadership

Uuchantuu frowned at her canned fish ration, nearly spitting it out. It was a ration, however, not a meal, and they were running low.

She forced herself to swallow the bitter, over-spiced and over-salted chunks of fish, then looked across the small table to Koruuksi.

He was making the same face as her, even as he fidgeted, bouncing his heel. His nostrils flared, upper lip curled back as the rest of his mouth tightened, doing everything it could to keep him from spitting out the bite he'd just taken. His light, blue violet skin was paler than usual.

"Ugh," he groaned, taking a quick draft of water from his bottle to wash it down. "We really need to make Svemakuu teach us how to cook. I still don't understand how he's made these taste good."

Uuchantuu nodded in agreement. "We're not allowed to try anything with these next time. They're not great on their own, but we really screwed them up."

Koruuksi snorted. "That's putting it mildly."

He looked down at his can and fork, scratching his silver hair between his antlers, then looked back at her. Uuchantuu frowned, looking down at her own rations. She had to force down her gag-reflex as she remembered the taste.

Uuchantuu looked back to Koruuksi. "On three?"

He frowned, but nodded. "One?"

"Two."

"Three!"

Uuchantuu tried to ignore the taste as she shoveled the food into her mouth. She didn't even pause to let the oil drip off like she usually did. The less time each chunk spent in her mouth, the better.

Once the last piece of salted fish was down her throat, Uuchantuu slammed the can down on the low stone table and grabbed her water bottle. She wanted nothing more than to empty the entire thing into her mouth, washing away the salt and conflicting, powerful spices they had stupidly tried to flavor the rations with.

Instead, she took just enough. They had more water than food down here in the caves, but like everything else, that was still rationed.

Wiping her mouth on her sleeve, Uuchantuu looked to Koruuksi. His face still showed regret for what they'd done to their mediocre rations, but there was a hint of a smile on his face.

"Never again?"

Uuchantuu nodded. "Never again."

Koruuksi laughed, then pulled his small plate of crisped tubers and cooked mushrooms before him—those, at least, tasted good enough on their own that they hadn't tried to improve them. They were bland, but fibrous and nutritious.

They'd had less to work with over the last three years, and it took particular skill and creativity to make their rations taste good.

Hopefully not for much longer, though, Uuchantuu thought, picking up one of her own tubers and popping it into her mouth. The crunch helped her put the slimy texture of the fish behind her. After munching on a few, she walked over to her bunk and picked up her project tray, then set it back down on the table.

"Svemakuu would smack you for that," Koruuksi said through a mouthful of mushrooms. "No work during meals."

Uuchantuu rolled her eyes. "Your brother isn't here. And you're not exactly providing any engaging conversation."

Koruuksi let out an exaggerated sigh, but he was smiling. "I guess as long as you're still at the table, it's fine."

Uuchantuu smiled at that.