Psychic

8. Consequences

In Laridion, the remaining General, Reno, was laying down in his massive bed. He was staring at the ceiling painted with constellations. A sheet covering him sloppily and there were two female slaves already asleep on opposite sides of him. He would occasionally take the cigarette from his lips and tap the end into an ashtray resting on the back of one girls. Tolaymus walked in, unconcerned with the sight he was faced with.

Reno did not bother speaking or reacting to the intrusion. He knew Tolaymus would not have come to him for nothing. "If the Emperor asks where I went, tell him I had urgent business in another city. I'll be gone a few days."

Reno sat up and took the cigarette from his lips. "Where are you really going?"

"That is not your concern either."

"It could be my head if the Emperor thinks I've lied to him."

"It could be your head now if you don't do what I tell you," Tolaymus growled as he left.

Reno dropped himself back onto the bed after the door closed. He sat up suddenly, pulling on a pair of pants quickly and running out of the door. He glanced up and down the hall. Two soldiers were walking down it. "You seen Tolaymus?" he asked them quickly.

"Saw him going up stairs," one of them answered.

Reno ran toward the stairs and stumbled up them. He arrived upstairs in time to see the door of the Head General's room close. He approached the door, knocking quickly only to receive no response. He knocked harder and called him, "General." He looked at the doorknob, biting his bottom lip. He closed his eyes and banged on the door with the bottom of his fist. He sighed and opened the door quickly. No one was in the room and Reno exhaled heavily, holding a hand to his chest. "Where are you?"

*  *  *

A few nights later in Korrik, Rai was asleep in bed. Jericho was asleep by the door of her bedroom and his pointed ears twitched at the sound of a creaking floorboard. He jumped to his feet and turned to smell under the door, barking twice. "Shut up," Rai groaned. She heard something fall and was instantly awake. "Great."

She left the room, closing Jericho in it and went downstairs. She assumed the twins were still up doing something they were not supposed to. All the lights were off, which was unusual. If the boys were awake, they would have not wanted to be in the dark. She turned the lights on and checked their room. Neither of them was in their bed. "When I find you guys, I'm going to kick your ass. You know how lazy I am and you go and wake me up."

Not finding the twins anywhere in the house, Rai decided to go check the dancota pens. The dancota had dog eyes and noses but goat faces that featured doglike teeth. Their ears were rounded and fluffy ears that stuck up when they became adults. Their front feet were dog paws and they had goat hooves on their hind legs. Their tails were long with a little tuft of fur at the end and they had straight pointed horns. One of the half dog and goat creatures had recently given birth and the twins always wanted to be around them.

Rai took a flashlight from the house as she went out toward the pens, grumbling to herself over how irritated she was at being awake right now. She was about to open the gate to the pens when she heard what sounded like wood breaking and falling.

It came from Kiyo's house and there was a hole in the side of his second story wall where Tolaymus was standing. Rai looked for Kiyo who she saw quickly roll to his feet. Rai switched off her flashlight that neither of them had noticed yet. Tolaymus stepped out of the second story floor and landed easily outside.

"You're not going to lift the guilt from your conscience like this," he said to Kiyo.

"Is that what you came here for?" Kiyo held his sword out to his side and the blade glowed with red magma. "To preach to me?"