A Place To Bloom

The Shit Pit

Whoever told them, I would skin them alive, dump their bodies into the Lake of Doom, and have tea and cake while the alligators ripped them apart. But I was a captain, which meant I had to be responsible and focus on the matter at hand.

There were seventy-eight new recruits—

"Seventy-seven," Bilal corrected me. "Two of them took a boat outside the castle last night and dared each other to free-climb the outer wall. One of them lost."

And we would choose nine of these men to fill out our team.

I stood with my team in that nook between the archway leading out to the wooden drawbridge and the stone-framed storehouse that smelled... really, really bad. Like a chord of dead animal, mold, and sour milk.

Renou waved his hand in front of his nose and crossed over towards Miyani and Blue, who stood beside the massive gears of the gatehouse.

God, she was pretty. Petite; her shoulder with the white bat's wing tattoo barely came up to Renou's chest, thick muscles graced her nearly-naked body and, damn. I will feed whoever told everyone about us last night to the kitifkani vine.

"Tomorrow morning," I was focused, really, "we need to choose twelve men for a special training out there in the jungle. What are we looking for?"

"Not Borel." Ta'o leaned his back against the outer wall of the castle. His dark-green skin was the same as hers. Same white hair, too, but while she kept hers in that adorable pixie-cut, his fell over his shoulders and down his back.

Miyani closed her eyes and laughed. Renou shook his head and smiled. Bilal asked, "Who's Borel?"

I answered. "Birds ate him."

The lizard squawked, then jolted to the edge of the storehouse towards the courtyard with the torn-up grass and hissed at something around the corner.

Miyani called after him, "'ʊŋe damʌ?"

Blue answered with a layered chorus of clicks, chirps, and squawks, then raced off.

I loved the way her nose crinkled when she smiled at me. "He says is Rolon of Kyfe."

"That guy?" Bilal ran his fingers across the stubble over his scalp and sneered.

Renou chuckled and turned to Ta'o. "How do you say brown-nosing suck-up?"

Ta'o laughed. "'epaxifiyuza."

"Piss connoisseur?" I reeled. "He's not that bad."

"My turn," Bilal spoke up. "Yesterday we started on the mold situation in the barracks. There's this guy, Siddik, who did mold with his father back in Kyoen."

"That's perfect," Renou inserted.

"Last night he took charge of the whole job. We grabbed a dozen volunteers, and he gave me a list of tools and materials we're going to need. I'd like to see how he manages the crew today. Another guy, Rool, big guy, quiet hard-worker."

I turned to Miyani. "Twelve guys for tomorrow. Any favorites?"

She had to know people were talking. "I like Dax."

The fighter responsible for Ta'o's swollen cheek and that bruise in his stomach darker than his skin.

"He has a lot friend."

"I noticed that, too," Renou added. "A lot of guys here seem to really look up to him."

Ta'o added, "he's one of the few conscripts the locals tolerate. Iyemi says Kadelou nearly eviscerated a guy before we got here. The man refused to back down until Dax stepped in."