The light was dimming the sky quickly, going from a warm orange to a cold blue as stars started to appear.

“Finally, Trafka loudly sighed in annoyance. “Come now, we are going back to the caravan.”

“I wouldn’t recommend it, Ikkie advised while the three of them opened up the bag Uccha had brought with them, pulling out a small sack, some wooden skewers tied together, and some big logs. “Without the light, one wrong step will send you plummeting.”

Visibly annoyed, Trafka reluctantly sat down next to Kenneth while keeping an eye on Ikkie, Uccha, and Nokfeka on the other side of the fireplace.

Using flint, Nokfeka got to work lighting a fire.

In the meantime, Ikkie untied the wooden skewers while Uccha sat down, which was apparently a bit of a different process than Kenneth had imagined.

Instead of just spreading their legs out to the four corners of the world, the ends of their feet stayed firmly in place as they lowered their body, Uccha’s thighs, he supposed, bending further back toward their own body than Kenneth could have imagined until their lower half rested on the ground.

As Nokfeka got the fire started, the silence between the six was replaced with the sound of crackling.

Opening up the smaller bag, Ikkie pulled out large pieces of raw meat and pierced them with the wooden skewers before handing them out to everyone. “Fill yourselves on this meat because we don’t have more.”

Nokfeka reached over and handed one of the skewers to Trafka

“Keep it; I’m not eating anything that heretic could poison,” Trafka growled.

“You could shut up and accept their hospitality, you know,” Kenneth sighed in annoyance as he held two skewers over the open flame cooking the meat.

“You aren’t eating it, too, Trafka ordered. “Feed it to the little heretic. I don’t care.”

Continuing to cook the meat, Kenneth responded with disdain, “I don’t care what you say. I’m eating it, and you should, too. Starvation tends to have a myriad of effects on people.”

Trafka growled, “I’ve about reached my limit to your disobedience at my attempts to keep you out of harm. If this stems from that deserter, just forget it and do what I say. Her punishment was just, and she even carried it out herself.”

“Just! Kenneth scoffed as the meat began to sizzle, getting glacéd in its own internal juices. “Your head must be screwed on backwards if you think that.”

Trafka snarled and clutched his hammer, which frightened Nokstellla, making her jump off Kenneth’s lab and hide behind him.

“This is fun to watch… a royal of house Krosk, the brutes of you, Aki, unable to simply overpower someone with strength, Nokfeka said her words those of mocking, yet her tone carried none of the superiority one would expect; instead, it brimmed with anger.“Why is that.?

“Are you just the weakest of the bunch sent here by your lord father to either die or prove yourself useful enough to at least be married off to one of the other royal households.”

The expression striking a nerve was far too minuscule to describe the murderous intent that exuded from Trafka as his tail grew twice its size, and he, without uttering a word or breaking eye contact with Nokfeka, lifted his hammer up above his head with one arm and slammed it into the ground cracking the smooth surface.

The sudden loud noise shocked everyone around the fire.

Ikkie and Uccha both jolted a bit back; however, Kenneth dropped one of the skewers on the ground and held Nokstella close as he reflexively recoiled away from Trafka.

The only one not to show any sign of fear was Nokfeka, who met Trafka’s livid gaze unflinchingly.

“Father...! Never do...! Fight...! I show...! strength of Krosk!” Trafka snarled, his words barely recognisable.

Nokfeka stared back at Trafka, both of her hands clutched, ready for a fight while the meat on her skewer darkened; however, for one brief moment, her eyes flickered over to Kenneth and Nokstella.

“There’s no need for a fight, Ikkie suddenly said, his voice betraying no emotion.

Trafka turned his gaze to see Ikkie on his knees, forehead against the ground, bowing.

The sight seemed to either surprise or confuse Trafka enough that Ikkie could continue to speak uninterrupted. “Nokfeka has the heart’s of a warrior, yet that is no excuse for her insulting words. To hopefully bring amends to this conflict, I offer an apology on behalf of the city.”

Nokfeka relaxed her body, and her scales grew lighter; meanwhile, Trafka’s tail diminished in size as he sat down, but it was clear he was still angry, “That means nothing to me! Keep you stinking apology, traitor.”

With that, a shroud of silence fell over everyone.

Kenneth picked up the skewers he’d dropped and began cooking both once again while Ikkie got up and took the first bite out of one of the pieces of meat he had.

‘That escalated quickly... I wonder what Nokfeka meant when she said he’d be “married off”? Kenneth pondered while inspecting the meat on one of the skewers, deeming it grilled enough and giving it to Nokstella. ‘From what little I know about the capital and its culture, it would seem more like something that would happen to a woman.

‘Well, it doesn’t really matter. I’m not going. It would be best if I stayed here, but I need to know if it’s even possible first. But I can’t just ask now... anything would probably tip Trafka over the edge at this point. I’ll have to wait until I have a chance.’

After a bit of time, Uccha pulled her skewer away from the fire and brought it up to her mouth, the spikey tips of her mandibles quickly tearing off small pieces of meat and shoving it in her mouth.

Kenneth watched in slight fascination, perhaps a bit too obviously, as Ikkie suddenly spoke, “Has my mate caught your eye?”

Kenneth quickly adverted his gaze so as not to be too rude, “Sorry, I’ve just not seen many Sil outside of here, so I’m a bit curious.”

“A fair few here are about Nok, Aki, and Sil when they join, but you should not ask right here; this one is very shy,” Nokfeka said with a smile, much to the apparent annoyance of Uccha.

“Okay, but could you answer a few other curiosity of mine then?” Kenneth asked.

“What plagues you?” Ikkie replied.

“I was just wondering what you meant when you said the heads of the city wouldn’t be pleased if Zagzi was a man?” Kenneth asked.

Taking his time before responding, Ikkie glanced at Uccha for a solid few moments before Nokfeka let out a sigh and answered, “Because there are no men among the Sil. Each and every one of them are women.”

The answer left Kenneth even more curious about Sil biology, as he wondered if all of them reproduced asexually or by an entirely different evolutionary method, but he wasn’t enough of a jackass to prie into matters Uccha obviously wasn’t comfortable talking about.

Trafka, on the other hand, looked completely shocked by the statement, but he remained silent.

Kenneth cleared his throat, “That was interesting… well, the other thing I was wondering was about all of the weapons on the ground.”

“Oh, those, Ikkie said while chewing. “They are the momentum of all the fools who’ve tried to fell the tower, failing in their task until they gave up or their weapons shattered.”

“Why do people try cut tower?” Nokstella piped up.

“No one here has ever attempted it, little one, Nokfeka answered her. “The weapons belong to fools from the capitals who believe they could kill either all, Nok, Sil, or Aki.”

“How would breaking this tower do something like that?” Kenneth questioned.

Ikkie swallowed, “If you cut it like a tree, you could maybe make it fall on one of the capitals.”

The notion of such a thing should have seemed absurd to Kenneth, but the tower was gigantic and even from the top of the mountain, he couldn’t even glimpse the top of it.

Trafka suddenly let out a small chuckle before speaking in the tower tongue, “What... good idea. Maybe I strike tower… make fall… on heretic home.”

Unfazed, Nokfeka pulled one of the meat chunks off her skewer and swallowed it whole, “You're welcome to try, but that fancy hammer of yours is only going to join the others.”

Standing up, Trafka clutched the handle of his hammer and walked over to the tower, stomping on the rusted weaponry until he stood in front of it.

“I no fool… to break… just strike… where weak…” Trafka said, taking a wide stance and grabbing the handle of his giant hammer with both hands. Focusing entirely on where to strike with his eyes, his ears were pointed backwards as if he expected any one of them to stop him.

However, none of them did; they just kept eating as Trafka swung his hammer back, tightening every muscle in his body and struck the tower with tremendous might right where all the cracks originated, the bang reverberating all around them.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Such a strike would easily have killed any of the old black beasts and demolished any sturdy, well-built structure but the tower. There wasn’t even as much of a dent.

Trafka seemed angered, clutching his hammer even harder.

“You can continue to strike if you want, but the only one who ever managed to damage it was the champion Noktato, and once the tower took its vengeance, all that was left of him was his spear,” Ikkie warned.

At the mention of who had managed to leave a mark on the tower, Trafka let out a frustrated growl and, kicked a nearby rusted axe of Aki design and walked back to the bonfire.

‘I guess it was more of a way to let out his anger more than anything’, Kenneth thought to himself.

As the fire ate away at the wood, the dim light at the base began to brighten as the moon peeked out from behind the tower.

While Nokstella ate, she looked up, her eyes reflecting the moon and stars as she uttered one word, “pretty.”

Kenneth glanced down before following her lead and peered upward. Not only was the moon brightly shining down on them, but coming from each and every platform above was soft orange light, which accentuated the star-filled sky above them.

“Do you know how to pray to the gods? Nokfeka asked.

Nokstella looked down and met her gaze, replying, “No… mama scared master see.”

“Do you want me to teach you how to pray to both?” Nokfeka offered.

Nokstella was a bit hesitant, but with a bit of encouragement from Kenneth, she went over to Nokfeka, going in a wide arc around Ikkie and Uccha.

Wanting to avoid any conflict, Nokfeka led her a bit away from the bonfire and Trafka, where she proceeded to teach Nokstella how to pray to whatever gods they prayed to.

“It doesn’t surprise me she’s taken an interest in the little girl,” Ikkie commented while glancing at the pair.

Nokfeka was kneeling, reaching up with both arms, her snout pointing straight up. It didn’t take long for Nokstella to follow her lead.

“Why so?” Kenneth asked as he watched the scene unfold.

“She runs the only orphanage here mostly by herself, Ikkie explained. “Do know whatever thread she’s told you comes from a place of concern. She isn’t easily stopped when children are involved.”

Nokfeka said something just out of earshot and then proceeded to quickly bang on her chest where both of her hearts were.

Nokstella was quick to follow her lead, beating on her chest a bit hesitantly at first, but after a few times, she did it faster, louder, and more rhythmically as her scales darkened ever so slightly.

Kenneth never took his eyes off Nokstella, “I believe we’ve come to an understanding. Though it is surprising to hear she runs an orphanage... she’s definitely protective of children, that much is obvious, but still, she doesn’t really strike me as the type.”

“Warrior blood runs thick in that one, Ikkie replied. “She could have easily become one of the hunter commanders and ventured out to the forest for meat and supplies, but when she learned about the orphaned children in the city, she stopped at nothing to take care of them.”

“She... coward, Trafka interjected, glaring at her. “Runs mouth... then flees...”

“Then why are you still so interested in fighting her then?” Ikkie replied.

Trafka turned his angry glare toward Ikkie, “You ask... lot... here question... why treachery you do... what nasty thing... you do... that makes you... so disgusted... you mate with... Sil...?”

Ikkie went quiet, staring into the bonfire, the flames reflecting in his hollow gaze.

“Hmph... thought so... Trafka sneered. “You traitors here... all same... cowards hid--“

“Quiet! Uccha suddenly snapped, her mandibles clacking together while her pinchers clacked so quickly it sounded like rattling. “Us not stand here and let my mate be attacked by your words! You know nothing of us and have... have...!!!”

Suddenly, in the middle of her angry shouting, Uccha’s mandibles all suddenly snapped open as wide as possible, seemingly as a reflex as opposed to a conscious action.

From her wide open mouth suddenly sprouted a fleshy, pink, worm-like tongue with a sharp tip that, without warning, sprayed a stream of clear liquid, hitting the bonfire and Trafka’s leg.

Taken aback by the sudden development and fascinated by Sil biology, Kenneth wondered if this was how Sil spat, completely oblivious to Trafka’s explosive anger until he shouted.

“YOU LITTLE...! I’M GOING TO SHATTER YOU!!!”

Trafka quickly got to his feet, his tail having grown twice its size in the blink of an eye as he snarled at Uccha, who looked more unwell than anything else.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Kenneth quickly launched himself forward and wrapped his arms around Trafka, keeping him at bay for now.

If not for the fact that Kenneth’s well-being was his utmost concern, there was no doubt in his mind that Trafka would have tried to knock him off with that hammer or shield of his.

However, suddenly, he stopped.

As Kenneth looked up, he was shocked to see Ikkie hold his wooden skewer, still with chunks of meat on it, up to Trafka’s eye while clutching his other hand around the one Trafka held his hammer in.

Yet most peculiar of all was his eyes.

They were no longer hollow but filled with... surprise as his tail moved about excitingly. It was definitely a strange site to behold that went counter to what the situation should have demanded of anyone.

Even his voice as he spoke was filled with glee, “Threaten my mate again, and I’ll make you beg for death.”

Even Trafka seemed shocked by these contradictions. Though clearly still angry, he noticed Nokfeka hurrying over and relaxed his shield arm. Ikkie let go and retracted the skewer as he went back to Uccha.

“Well... that was strange...” Kenneth uttered in disbelief and confusion.

“Let go of me, black healer,” Trafka growled.

“As long as you don’t try that again,” Kenneth demanded, slowly letting go while making sure to keep an eye on him.

By now, Nokfeka had made it over to everyone and quickly surveyed the situation. As her eyes lingered on Trafka’s wet leg and Uccha's exposed tongue, her posture relaxed, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened.

“Nokfeka, I think it's time!” Ikkie said, huddling beside Uccha.

Nokfeka watched for a moment as Uccha’s tongue sprayed a bit more fluid, though with less force behind it this time, as it continuously began to drip, “It could just be bad meat; I’ve heard it happen for some Sil.”

“You're right; we should make sure,” Ikkie said as he hurriedly got up and began leading Uccha toward Zagzi's path, stopping multiple times to let her spray the clear liquid and recover.

“You're just leaving?! Nokfeka yelled. “Wait till the light comes back!”

“We’ll be fine!” Ikkie yelled back, seeming disinterested in her warnings.

“That could have happened at a better time, Nokfeka sighed as she watched Ikkie and Uccha leave as she absentmindedly said. “Brings back memories...”

“Why?” Nokstella asked.

Turning her attention toward the little girl, Nokfeka began to elaborate. “Well, I suppose I need to explain something first. To get to “Tower’s Shade”, there are three paths through the mountain. All of you arrive through the path Aki mostly takes; of course, not everyone knows where the path is, and some end up taking the wrong one, which has led to bloody encounters in the past.

“However, Ikkie and Uccha both arrived together through the Sil path. It was quite a shock when I first laid my eyes on them. Normally, Nok, Aki, and Sil can’t stand one another outside this city, but those two were tightly woven together before arriving.”

“Wh-aaAAAAHHH!!” Nokstella tried to say as a sneaky yawn, striking out of nowhere, got her. As her eyelids grew heavier, another yawn escaped.

“Tired? Nokfeka asked, her mouth slightly agape, showcasing a smile. “Food and prayer does only keep one awake for so long. I’m beginning to feel tired myself, so I think I’ll be heading to sleep.”

“I think I’m gonna follow suit,” Kenneth added as he lay down, placing Nokstella on his chest and using his bag as a pillow.

Looking up at the star-lit sky with the soft orange glow to the side, Kenneth felt a sense of tranquil peace.

Letting out a long, exhausted sigh, he felt the stress of last night’s and today's gruelling ordeals leave his body.

“Kenneth, Nokstella, Nokfeka softly called while lying on her side, half of her body obscured by the fire. “If you want, we can sleep together for warmth. You too son of house Krosk.”

Trafka let out a growl as he glared at her, “Never traitor, coward... I no sleep... so you... strike when weak...!”

“What do you say?” Kenneth asked Nokstella.

“No, Kenneth, warm,” Nokstella yawned as she nuzzled against his chest.

“Sorry, but it’s a no for me as well,” Kenneth replied.

“Just thought I’d offer. It was more so out of habit than anything else,” She explained.

After that, everything grew silent, and the cracking of fire became a calming melody, lulling Kenneth, Nokstella and Nokfeka to sleep quite easily while Trafka stubbornly resisted.

As darkness surrounded him, he weakly opened his eyes, glimpsing light above that slowly moved toward him, getting closer and closer until suddenly he broke the surface of the water.

Floating, he looked around, noticing two things: one, that he was floating in an indoor swimming pool, and two, his younger self, who was currently wearing swimming trunks, stood at the top of a waterslide.

He made eye contact with Kenneth for a moment before jumping head-first down the side.

‘Oh great, Kenneth thought. ‘He’s going to join me, and why couldn’t it have been a beach? I think I’d prefer a shark over those two. She’s probably going to mention abandoning Nokstella or something else.’

Right on cue, the sound of a diving board being jumped on sounded throughout the indoor swimming pool.

Kenneth turned around to see Jasha jumping up and down on the diving board.

She was wearing a seven-piece swimsuit or, more precisely, a two-piece with a lot of tops. “You know, sometimes I can’t decide if you are dumb or not! I mean, planning to stay here by the tower without any forethought!

“Have you gone blind just because you can’t leave that girl like the last one?!”

“Stick a pipe in it and get cancer, would you,” Kenneth growled.

She shot him a smile and jumped off the board, elegantly flipping through the air as she dove head-first into the water, hitting it with a giant...

“Arg!” Kenneth suddenly woke with a jolt and a sharp pain in his leg while Nokstella continued to sleep peacefully on his chest.

Looking around, dazed and confused, he quickly found the source of his pain, Trafka’s hammer, which was lying on top of his leg while its owner was sleeping upright.

‘For all his talk, he fell asleep anyway. I guess young stubbornness only gets you so far, Kenneth thought as he looked around; the moon's light was still present above, but the orbital sphere was nowhere to be seen, and the fire was on its last leg clinging to the embers of the logs. ‘Guess I got a few hours. I should probably go back to sleep.’

However, through Kenneth’s tiredness, he noticed his bladder was quite full, and he needed to take a piss. Slowly and carefully, he lifted Nokstella off his chest, sat up and gently placed her on his bag.

Getting to his feet, he felt his legs and feet burn and ache as he stumbled through the darkness.

In his drowsy state, he hadn’t noticed he’d wandered over to the tower, stepping on top of all the rusted weaponry until his foot got caught in something, making him stumble and kick some of the weapons.

With his gut having sunk a few meters, he looked back to see, thankfully, everyone still asleep.

Glancing down to see what he’d gotten, his foot caught in Kenneth could barely glimpse a strange, perfectly cylindrical hole.

A myriad of questions would have popped into his head if he was fully rested, but in his drowsy state, the thing that crossed his mind was, ‘That’s a good a hole to piss in.’

Unzipping his pants, he drained the old snake, and as the relief washed over him, a thought occurred, ‘Wait, now might be a good time to talk to Nokfeka. I just gotta wake her up quietly.’

Almost done, Kenneth shook the hose, but suddenly, one of the weapons he was standing on slipped from underneath, making him stumble. Acting on reflex, he slammed his hand into the tower to regain balance.

‘Dammit, Kenneth internily sighed. ‘If that before didn’t wake him, that definitely did. Well, on the bright side, at least I placed my hand on the tower.’

Yawning, Kenneth rezipped his pants and pulled his hand away from the tower only to find he couldn’t.

Snapping his head to the side, his tired eyes looked at his hand, only to find that it was gone, or, more accurately, inside the wall of the tower.

‘What the--?!’ Kenneth thought, trying to pull his hand free to little avail.

Adding more strength, he grabbed his arm with his other hand and pushed his leg against the tower, pulling as hard as he could, gritting his teeth and tightening his core.

He gave everything he had, and suddenly, the wall began to ripple like water in a lake as his leg suddenly went inside the tower as though he’d broken through a fine layer of ice.

However, unlike before, when it was just his hand, it wasn’t just stuck; it was being pulled in.

Heart racing and with only one leg to stand on, Kenneth did everything in his power to get free, yet no matter how much he resisted, the ripples in the wall continued to undulate at a consistent tempo.

Having suddenly gone from drowsy and tired to panicked, he hadn’t been thinking clearly, but as half of his body had already been swallowed by the wall, he snapped his head to the side over at the campsite where everyone was still sleeping, oblivious of his predicament as he desperately yelled, “HE--!”

Yet cruelly, before he could even finish the word, the tower swallowed him whole, and the wall returned to normal as though nothing had just transpired.