The Son of Thunder

Chapter Twelve

 Walking was Rhysya's joy and she forced Lightening to join her daily. Their journeys were long even though they were only a few miles. She was picking petals off a flower she had found on the path. The flower was bristling with petals. Thundonia was just a dot in the background when Rhysya began to prattle.

"I'm bored."

"I don't care," Lightening said.

"You could talk to me," she said.

"I could also cut my fingers off one by one, but I'm not going to do that either."

Rhysya said, kicking the earth, "You tried to talk to me that first night in Thundonia."

"A stupid mistake."

Rhysya folded her arms over her small breasts, ambled along the path. "I'm at least affable."

Lightening stopped cold and belted out a laugh that woke the birds in the trees. "You arrogant little—"

"You're an—"

"Dunce?" he interrupted, pausing in his gait.

She repressed the chuckle. "Yes. You're an dunce."

"Should use idiot," he mumbled under his breath, dragging along the path again. She was illiterate. She knew nothing of grammar and cared not at all. Lightening kicked the dirt in the path as they walked. "I thought Star Children couldn't stoop to name calling."

Rhysya's cheeks colored. She fluttered her eyelashes, defended herself with: "I'm usually a wonderful person to be with." Picking at the flower, "I miss my home."

In his most sarcastic tone, "I hear it's magnificent. Everyone is happy all the time. No wars, no famine, no crises."

"Oh, stop it," she said, hitting him with the flower. The heat from her fingers was making the stem limp. The petals had been almost completely stripped from the pistil. "You were likable for half a lapse."

Lightening moved his eyes over the forest. So much was around them, but so much of it was the same as it had been last phase. Rhysya concentrated on her flower. It looked more like a dead lizard or worm. The sun was warm through the leaves that moved in the wind. Patches of grass grew wildly at the edge of the path and trees with smooth and ridged bark surrounded them. Only a few kinds of flowers littered the forest. Lightening didn't know their genera.

"So, why don't you ever talk to me?" she asked.

Lightening burst into tears, he was laughing so hard. "You just told me to shut up."

"Well, yes. But you were being cruel. Why won't you talk to me nicely?"

Lightening groaned. Frustration and amusement pulled him in opposite directions. He reminded himself that Shawna had it much worse than him. Eternity would have tried the patience of a Magdella monk.

Rhysya walked into the clearing and observed the ground. "This looks like a nice place. Do you want to stay here for a while?"

He didn't care what they did. He was her indentured servant for the duration of the war. If only they could make headway with the Acidonians. His mind wandered to an encounter a few days ago.

In the conference room, he, Warrior and Beast all gathered in front of Shawna. Even though it was only the four of them, Lightening had been ordered to wear his mask.

"We need to make a frontal attack," Lightening said, tossing the strips of the "lion's mane" behind his shoulder.

"Out of the question," Shawna said.