“If we go by the road, it’ll take twice as long to get to Port Isteel than if we cut through these woods.” Jamil crouched down, drawing a little map in the dirt with a stick. Kit was nearby, but they weren’t paying attention. Rather, they seemed to be practicing their newly manifested powers on a rose-hawk bud they had swiped from Grandrest’s festival décor. Glowing pink like the Nocta moon and giggling like a child, they bloomed the bud then reversed its time to close it back up, then bloomed it again.
Jamil watched them for a moment, watched how their hands shimmered as the flower bloomed, how their hair swirled around in a non-existent breeze. In truth, he was worried, worried Kit’s magic might attract Vendic’s attention, especially after manifesting the way it had. But, no such danger had arisen yet. In fact, in the four days since leaving town, nothing had happened at all. The pair walked, Kit picked flowers and leaves to practice on, and they talked. Kit turned out to be quite the chatterbox, and as they walked they shared all about their life back on Earth.
“So, you’re a guard?” Jamil asked, and Kit nodded.
“Yep. It’s the night shift, though, at a library. So, not very exciting.”
“Why would a library need a night guard?”
“It’s the university library.”
“University? You-nee-ver-sit-tee.” He repeated the word a few times, liking how it sounded.
“Yeah, it’s like…the Earth version of the Mage Academy. Except there’s hundreds of them, not just the one. There’s a lot of different names for it, too, like college, academy and university.” Jamil’s eyes widened slightly as they explained. He had no idea there was so much to Earth.
He listened while Kit continued to talk about their job, about a coworker they didn’t like who insisted on calling them Kit-Kat, which they hated. They had a very animated and lively manner of speaking, using their hands and different voice inflections until Jamil felt like he was watching several people hold a conversation and not just one person talking.
Work was not the only thing Kit talked about. They dropped to a more serious tone to discuss their private life (there wasn’t one) and their family (they were not close). Things became even more serious when the topic shifted to Kit’s gender, something they had struggled greatly with.
“You said you’re neither male nor female, right?” Jamil looked at Kit and they nodded, but they were watching the flower in their hand bloom and un-bloom.
“Right.”
“Which is called ‘non-binary’.”
“Yes.”
“I see.” Kit had stopped short then, looking at Jamil with vague suspicion. He stopped, too, and returned the look curiously.
“What?” He asked. Kit squinted at him.
“You don’t think that’s weird?” They seemed to be challenging him. Jamil laughed softly and shook his head.
“No, why would I? It’s actually pretty common for people here to be like that, we just don’t have a fancy word for it.” He watched Kit’s expression change to open-mouthed surprise and he snorted. “What?”
“I, um…that’s really cool…” They sounded wistful, and Jamil clapped a friendly hand on their shoulder.
“I take it that’s not so normal on Earth,” he said gently, and Kit shrugged.
“I mean, it’s normal, it’s just…not so accepted.” Jamil felt himself scowl, not liking how dejected they sounded. He patted their shoulder again.
“Earth sounds like it sucks,” he smiled, and Kit snorted and doubled over, cackling.
“You’re not wrong!” They howled, and soon Jamil was laughing along with them. Walking on, he felt the seriousness fade and the mood lighten. Watching Kit adjust their cloak, he found himself wondering what they were thinking. That feeling of being drawn in, as though an invisible cord connected the two of them, was only growing stronger the longer they traveled together; the more Jamil felt he knew Kit, the more the cord pulled.
Their destination was closer than ever, only a few days away. The Mage Academy had become the beacon of hope staving off Jamil’s fear and doubt, and his confidence grew with each day that brought them closer. Even his Curse was behaving itself.
**********
Making their way deeper into the woods, Jamil began to feel uneasy. Despite the lush greenery and clear air, the woods were eerily quiet. The only sounds were the leaf litter crunching beneath their boots and their breathing. He motioned Kit to come closer.
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“Don’t wander, I don’t like how quiet it is.” Reaching over his shoulder for the grip of his sword, Jamil almost missed it; this new sword was smaller than his old one, and the hilt was not where he was used to it being. Kit nodded and shuffled closer.
“What is it?” They whispered, but he gently shushed them with a shake of his head.
“I don’t know. Could be anything.”
“I bet you could take it, whatever it is.” Kit seemed to be trying to boost Jamil’s confidence despite neither of them knowing what could be out there in the woods. It did help, though, a little. They slowly continued.
A few hours passed and the duo found themselves very deep in the woods. Little light filtered through the dense foliage and it had become rather difficult to see. Jamil instructed Kit to hold onto the back of his coat as he led them through the growing darkness, straining his eyes to pick out the shapes of the trees.
Soon he could smell dirty water, and the ground became mulchy and began to squelch underfoot. Jamil reached back to find Kit’s hand and squeezed it; as he did so, his own hand tingled.
“Be careful, Kit. I think we’re near a swamp or something. The ground is very soft.” He felt Kit’s other hand close around his, and together they shuffled forward. Kit whined softly and clung tighter to Jamil’s hand.
“Ew, I can feel it soaking through my boots! It’s so cold!”
“Kit, hush! We don’t know what’s out here!” Jamil hissed through his teeth, shooting them a sharp look. They reddened and locked their lips with an invisible key. Something grumbled nearby, a little too close for comfort, and they both froze. Jamil listened closely, attempting to determine where exactly the sound was coming from. The something groaned and it sounded almost as though it was echoing from deep below them. His boots vibrated.
Oh. Oh, no.
“Kit, go back! Go back now!” Jamil pushed Kit to turn around but it was too late. The mire beneath their feet rumbled and began to shake, and slowly they began to rise.
“What is it?! Earthquake?!” Kit stumbled as the ground shuddered and convulsed, Jamil’s grip on their hand tightening to keep them from falling. His other hand drew his sword just as an enormous yellow eye opened up in the mud by his feet, rolling up to glare at him.
“It’s a gigafrog!” They had walked right up onto its head. It lurched forward, attempting to haul its massive body out of the muck. Jamil saw an opening and yanked Kit toward him, locking his arm around their waist before taking a running leap off the gigafrog and tumbling to the sodden ground. The mud softened the impact and Jamil was able to get right back up; Kit squealed and scrambled away on their hands and knees.
A sickly greenish glow illuminated the muddy clearing as the gigafrog excavated itself, the luminescence of its pallid underbelly giving off enough light for Jamil to see what he was up against. The frog itself was huge, bigger than any gigafrog he had seen before, squatting like a great grey boulder in the mud. Its mouth was wider than Jamil was tall, but it didn’t seem to notice either of them yet. It blinked its huge eyes slowly, squelching in the muck. Not typically aggressive, gigafrogs were notorious for trying to eat anything and everything; if they moved, it would devour them.
“Kit, can you put it back in its hole?” Jamil whispered loudly, brandishing his sword, not taking his eyes off the beast.
“I-I don’t think I can…i-it’s too big!” Kit whimpered somewhere behind him. He swore under his breath; he had a feeling that would be the case. Looks like he was going to have to fight it.
“Okay, Kit, I need you to listen to me. These things aren’t that smart but they’ll eat anything that moves. I’m going to distract it, and you’re gonna make a run for the tree line over there, got it? Don’t let it see you,” Jamil glanced back toward Kit. “Kit? You got it?”
“Y-yeah, I got it…”
“Good. Wait til I say go,” he turned his attention back to the gigafrog, its yellow eyes glowing like little moons in the darkness. Slowly, very slowly, Jamil took a step away from Kit. The gigafrog reacted instantly, its massive maw opening and its enormous sticky tongue shooting out right for Jamil. He anticipated this and dodged it easily, and the gigafrog got a mouthful of mud and leaves for its trouble. Now it would have to clear its mouth, leaving just enough of a window.
“Kit, go! NOW!” Shouting in their direction, Jamil could hear Kit stumbling through the mud. In the dim green light, their white cloak stood out like a target. If they didn’t get to the tree line quick enough, the frog would have no trouble spotting them and gobbling them up. Glancing around quickly, Jamil had an idea.
“Kit, your cloak! You’re too visible! Drop it!” He called out, and Kit stopped mid-crawl to look at him incredulously.
“What?! No way!” They shouted back. Jamil groaned in frustration.
“Do you want to get eaten?! Just do it, dummy!” He hissed. By now the gigafrog had cleared its mouth and he would have to distract it again before it caught sight of Kit’s glowing beacon of a cloak!
Before the frog could spot Kit, Jamil charged it. It launched its deathtrap tongue at him but he dodged it again, holding his sword with both hands as he ran toward it as fast as he could. Raising the sword over his head, he swung down hard with an energetic yell. The steel bounced off the frog’s back, the impact reverberating up his arms as he was knocked back. The gigafrog bellowed in annoyance, puffing up to appear even larger than it already was. Back on his feet in an instant, Jamil cursed himself for forgetting how tough a gigafrog’s skin was.
But now the frog was mad. It croaked loudly and heaved its giant body forward, hopping closer to Jamil and shaking the ground hard enough to knock him off his feet once more.
“Jamil!!” Kit shouted and ran back toward him, stumbling through the mud, but before he could tell them to stay back the frog saw them. Almost faster than he could see, its tongue shot out. Scrambling to his feet, Jamil ran as fast as he could, fear gripping his chest when he realized he wasn’t going to reach Kit in time.
The whole scene seemed to slow down as Jamil’s eyes followed the beast’s deadly tongue. He saw Kit, eyes wide with panic, their hands outstretched and shimmering, radiating pink light. Kit’s magic! But how long could they hold it?
‘If I transform, I can beat it,’ Jamil thought, but before he could even attempt it something silver streaked through the air and a sword pinned the gigafrog’s tongue to a tree. Thrashing and bellowing, the beast tried to free itself but was stuck fast. Following the trajectory of the thrown blade, Jamil saw nothing. Keeping a firm grip on his sword, he took two steps toward the trapped frog before someone dropped down from the trees to land right in front of him.
~