Harvey Logan

The conman couldn’t be sure what had happened. The Royalblood had almost fainted after he’d managed to lead them off the dirt road, somehow, narrowly missing the guards from Cape Town. After he’d dropped on the ground, Harvey Logan thought that he and the innkeeper were on their own from now on. Eventually, Giliad got up and went back. It didn’t make sense.

The heavy rain didn’t help Harvey Logan think. The water was too oppressive. Honestly, how can these people live in this climate? The Red Cities were massive conglomerate spanning for hundreds of miles, but they were dominated by the pleasant front from the bay. Harvey glanced up at the innkeeper. Their red-tinted skin made them stand out in the Fifth Region dominated by the dark-skinned population. Some fellows at the University of Sagena believed that the sun was directly responsible for the skin color. Alchemists from the underground that Harvey had met, thought that there was more than this. In Harvey’s and Zuma’s case the reddish hue could be explained by the red dirt that was ever-present in the Red Cities. They’d been named of this valuable commodity after all. Harvey missed their comforting presence that banished the jungle and dangerous animals.

What drove the innkeeper out of there? How did he end up here? We’re more than a thousand miles from the Red Cites, Harvey thought grimly. He didn’t feel like swearing in Garhala’s name. This was new. Was this the sign of growing old?

Suddenly, the thunderous sound of rain was overpowered by the cracks and snaps. Zuma looked sharply at Harvey, then they rose slowly. A smudge appeared out of the trees, grabbed them, and then Harvey’s senses went haywire. The rush of wind, the pelting of rain, and crashing sounds filled his world for a brief moment. Harvey opened his mouth to shout but only more water got in as if they fell into the lake. He kept his hands, covering his face. The twigs and bushes they cut across assaulted him, preventing from seeing more than a green blur.

What’s happening?

In response, a powerful boom and stronger force shoved them to the side. Harvey’s body was so numb that he didn’t notice the moment he impacted against the ground.

“What… ah,” the innkeeper’s voice trailed off. The conman saw the fellow man rise. He didn’t look good though. Shallow cuts trickled blood. Who and how fast carried them? Then Harvey looked to the side and his face went cold. Giliad stood there, shirtless, with his forearms tattoed and few other strange graphic designs on his neck. Not a single cut or bruise was present from where Harvey could see. But this wasn’t what made the conman tremble with fear.

Not far away from Giliad stood the tri-horned rhino. Was this the same that had chased them away from Yucca? What was it doing here? And the destruction around? Splintered, broken trees, and flattened foliage. What caused that?

“That’s bad timing,” Zuma said. He wasn’t surprised to see the rhino.

“What’s the matter?”

“This,” Zuma pointed at the tri-horned rhino. “Is the challenge Giliad accepted a long time ago.”

“What challenge?!” Harvey asked.

“Urusa was brought and raised by Tenoch-Ling’s father, Honetah. One day, Sull-Tizoca showed her to Giliad and it’s started. They call it a challenge and have been fighting each other since then. Without the doctor, there is no way to stop them.”

“But he’s a Royalbood! Such an animal shouldn’t present a problem for him!”

Zuma fell silent. These people weren’t comfortable that one of theirs had turned a Royalblood. Harvey didn’t blame them. The Empire was strict about the bastard Royalbloods. Though the conman believed it unlikely that the Imperials would do anything here. He’s been thinking all this time…

“Yes. Maybe he’d always pretended to run from it. Or maybe, the tri-horned rhino was kept by the mayor to deal with him? After all, doctor Charcot knew who Giliad is.”

“You’re saying … they sent it after us?”

The rhino made slow side steps to her right, huffing and puffing. The way she was positioning herself, would put Harvey and Zuma in her direct path. Harvey looked around, hoping to find a tree they could climb up. Seeing the damage that damned animal had made, made him realize that these trees might not be enough. Then he glanced at his hands and yelped in terror. His skin turned green and swelled with smaller bubbles growing on it. Panic seized the conman as the rhino charged. Giliad moved toward it, but the sonic boom that erupted from three horns sent him flying. It flattened nearby bushes and both men fell. Harvey even on the ground kept staring at his hands. He didn’t care that voices joined the fray. The guards were here.

Zuma

His body suddenly lost the will to rise. What Giliad did was utterly irresponsible! The hunters had drilled into them the fear of the jungle where even the smallest leaf could kill you. Giliad cut through the bush without regard for their lives. Then again, Urusa was even less careful with their lives. How had we missed that Giliad was a Royalblood? This rhino’s strength and speed were out of the charts. She’d never challenged anyone except for that idiot and without him around had been the peaceful creature.

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Angry voices came from one side. Zuma recognized them. Guards from Cape Town. Did they use Urusa against us? More specifically, against Giliad. They think that Urusa is stronger than Giliad because he’s never defeated her. But if that was a ruse? No ordinary human could beat a four tonnes creature.

It was not a ruse.

Giliad was sent flying again, this time Urusa nudged him with her three horns and shoved to the side. The guards were closer and the only thing that slowed them down was the heavy rain that cut through the thick canopy of the trees and veiled the world around.

“Zuma!” Didn’t that voice belong to Iria? One of his regular visitors who never used his full name, claiming that it went against the law of the jungle.

The innkeeper ignored him. Instead, he glanced at the bandit, and before his eyes, he saw dying Izin-Pil. I should kill him. But he claimed to be forced to work for Butcher, Zuma understood this, though dealing with the truth wasn’t easy. Not hating this man seemed like a wrong thing to do, like betraying Izin-Pil’s name.

Giliad crashed against the tree between the two men. He seemed fine, though the tree cracked. Red Sand preserves me. How durable are these Royalbloods? Because the Royal Houses rarely mingled with the commoners, it was difficult to spot the lie between so many claims. Giliad raised his head and growled, then jumped high above the charging rhino.

Bolts and arrows zapped in the air, narrowly missing him.

“I thought you went back to beat them up!”

“Someone set Urusa free,” Giliad replied, not seeing that Urusa had been set free exactly for this. Wait. If Urusa had been kept locked then what … what had chased the bandits?

Zuma glanced at Giliad, but the Royalblood was no longer there. He moved between trees with astonishing speed, knocking the guards out.

“We don’t need to do this, Giliad!” Yamil shouted. “That other bolt that got you, must have had a weaker moonflower extract. Those, I have here, will drop you dead in an instant!”

Giliad didn’t reply continuing to pick off the guards and occasionally guiding Urusa toward them. Where was Yamil? The head of guards wanted Zuma. The innkeeper dropped to the ground, feeling sick. He knew that once Ling had him back, they’d never let him go. Terrified by the thought, Zuma buried himself in the foliage, forgetting his cuts or the hunters’ warnings. His hair plastered to his forehead. He didn’t care that most of his clothes were torn.

A hand that dropped on his shoulder scared the shit out of him. Zuma squeaked then his nightmare came true. Yamil strong hand seized him. The guard didn’t smile, he never had.

“Move.” The command was quiet but forceful. When Zuma didn’t rise, Yamil pulled him up with surprising ease.

“My hands. My hands,” the bandit walked toward them, staring dumbly at his swollen hands. Zuma used the moment of distraction and attacked the guard. He wouldn’t be taken! But the innkeeper miscalculated his skill and Yamil used Zuma’s weight against him, throwing the man on the ground. Zuma gasped as the air was knocked out of him.

“Am I going to die?” Harvey asked, not paying any attention to them.

“Help … me!” But the bandits only stood there staring at his sickly-looking hands.

“Don’t struggle or I’ll break your legs. We only need your hands and head.”

“I know what you’re doing!” Zuma shouted, letting Yamil pin him to the wet ground. He didn’t want to think about everything that lived between the branches and leaves beneath his face. “It’s Yellow Sand!”

“Yellow Sand?” Harvey asked dumbly. “You, lot, are making Yellow Sand?”

“Shut up, innkeeper,” Yamil drove his elbow into Zuma’s back. The innkeeper grunted.

“Help me get him back to Cape Town and we will introduce you to the business,” Yamil said to Harvey who showed his swollen, greenish hands. What was this supposed to mean? “Other—”

Something swept off the guard from Zuma. The innkeeper pulled himself up. The wet ground, full of slippery leaves, was tricky. After he gained a proper foothold, he saw what happened. One of the guards landed on top of Yamil. The strength of the throw must have been substantial because the two men seemed unconscious.

“We aren’t out of the woods yet.” Giliad came running, not giving Zuma a chance to ask a question. Giliad was almost two heads taller than Zuma and his shoulders were wider by a significant margin, and so when he grabbed Zuma, the innkeeper felt like a doll. Or am I imaging things? But Giliad seems larger than usual. The Royalblood zapped to where Harvey stood like an idiot. The world suddenly blurred and they were carried through the forest. We’re going the wrong way. Soto lay to South West, not South East. But each time Zuma opened his mouth, things got inside, forcing him to keep it shut.

Despite their incredible speed, the tri-horned rhino remained on their tail. We can’t stop it without doctor Charcot…

From the side came another hulking mass, larger than Urusa! Another tri-horned rhino. It charged so fast that Giliad narrowly avoided being skewered by its horns. However, unlike Urusa, it didn’t mean to attack them. The rhinos collided, from their horns came two massive sonic booms that pushed sheets of rain up, making the bubble of dry air.

When the heavy rain returned, Zuma groaned. But the time wasn’t on their side. With the huge rhino came havoc in the form of damned monkeys. They threw stones and hard-shelled fruits at them.

“That’s them! Garhala take those evil spirits!” Harvey called from the ground, keeping his swollen hands above his head. It looked painful to watch.

The monkey cheered and leered, jumping above and attacking them from every possible angle. Giliad shot to his feet and swung at the monkeys. The annoying creatures fled higher onto the trees. So Zuma’s friend picked some of the fruits and stones and threw them. Those monkeys that were too slow, dropped into the bush.

We got you, bastards! Wait…

The rhinos stopped their duel and their eyes locked on Giliad who was focused on the monkeys.

“Giliad!” Harvey and Zuma called panicked. This wasn’t good. If both rhinos decided to give them a chase. This is a disaster.

“Not now,” Giliad replied, he was now dodging the fire from the above. The monkeys weren’t as timid as he thought.

“The rhinos!” Zuma shouted just a second before the larger rhino swept his horns through the place where Giliad had stood. For the love of red sand, how fast are they? Giliad landed on the back of the larger rhino and continued throwing the stones at the monkeys. Urusa came at him with all the impetus…

Though Harvey and Zuma stood twenty feet away, the two sonic booms that followed the impact sent the two men flying. Forces unleashed in this brawl between rhinos and Giliad were mind-numbing. Zuma had never seen Royalbloods fight, though many fought for sport and money, but by watching Giliad now, he began to understand how a handful of them conquered the entire world.

Harvey groaned, then a coconut hit him in the head, dropping the man unconscious.

We’re so screwed, Zuma thought as he dipped his head, avoiding a volley of hard fruits. At the same time, Giliad began his offensive against the rhinos. More than screwed.