Lux

I stretched as the morning sun entered the cave; several rocks cracked beneath my claws as I flexed them. I stretched in the other direction, feeling several things pop to my satisfaction. Nearby, Ikol was also stretching. If I recalled correctly Hoggdin was returning today, so that should be fun. Ikol shot next to me and saluted, sitting at attention. What does this musclehead want? Was he itching to lose again? As I looked at him, that was not his dueling face. Eh, might as well just ask, he wasn’t the biggest thinker, or that he ever thought much in general. That mind of his was a blank void where only the echoes of thought existed.

“What do you want, Ikol?” I asked him point blank.

“What are we doing today, Chef?” Ikol shot back. I took a deep breath.

“For the last time, I showed you how to roast fish one time! Stop calling me Chef!” I yelled at him. Ikol's was smiling like an idiot as he saluted.

“Yes Chef!” Ikol bellowed back with no hesitation.

“It is Lux. Not Chef.” I tried again. Maybe if I kept it to a few number of words his brain would process it better.

“Yes Chef Lux! I understand Chef!” Ikol stated, still saluting.

“Come on idiot, we need to go workout.” I sighed, knowing it still hadn’t stuck. What would Nil say, he needs percussive maintenance? I might accidentally swat out the last part of his brain clinging for dear life.

“Yes Chef!” Ikol agreed as he followed me out of the cave. Do not hit him.

We began our morning workout which involved lifting boulders, mining into the mountain, and running a few laps around the base. Ikol was as usual trying to find the heaviest object he could lift. My stomach grumbled so I looked at Ikol, and he immediately sprinted off to go hunt us breakfast. Good musclehead. I checked my body a bit, seeing how much muscle I put on. Not a lot when compared to Ikol, but I got a lot lither and toned than I used to be; I preferred building my endurance and rather than muscle. Ipnerslei launched a small burst of light to signal she wanted to talk to me. I let out a sigh before using to materialize next to her; that was such a convenient for covering distances. It was one of my favorite for sure. Being honest, a lot of the Ipnerslei taught me was pretty useful.

“What did you want to talk about?” I inquired, curious as to why she wanted to talk.

“When Hoggdin returns, you will have a decision to make. Do think through what he is going to ask you.” Ipnerslei informed me.

“What decision?” I probed as I had no idea what she was talking about.

“There is a tradition on Phestia for young , and Hoggdin is going to ask would you like to partake in it. You are more than welcome to if you want.” Ipnerslei told me.

“Even though I am from Tenebrae? Do I need to worry about the other trying something?” I checked. I knew a few had mixed feelings about the guests of Hoggdin.

“They are not allowed to interfere at all in the tradition, and begrudgingly did concede you could join.” Ipnerslei explained. That was reassuring, but it did beg a question.

“Why are you pre-telling me?” I asked, not grasping why Ipnerslei was telling me in advance.

“Just so you have a bit of time to think about it because you may not have a lot of time once he returns to decide. The catch is you likely won’t see Nil for an entire year if you say yes.” Ipnerslei answered. Ah, I’d have to stay away from Tenebrae for longer than usual.

“That’s fine; I’ll think about it. Will it be an additional year from now or will I get to see him and then not for a year?” I inquired, making sure I understood the timeline.

“You’ll still be seeing him tomorrow regardless.” Ipnerslei confirmed. That wouldn’t be too bad then. I’d miss a check-in or so if I said yes. At this point, Ikol ran up and presented me with my fish; Ipnerslei glared at me when he did that as I looked away from her.

“Here is your fish, Chef.” Ikol announced proudly. Not helping you moron.

“Thank you for getting me fish today, Ikol. That was so kind of you.” I tried. Ipnerslei’s glaring light did not lighten up at all.

“You gave the hunt stare, Chef. I did as ordered, Chef.” Ikol stated matter-of-factually. Ipnerslei’s gaze got more disapproving.

“I thought I told you to stop ordering him around.” Ipnerslei lectured. That might have been said to me a few times.

“I didn’t. He jumped to his own conclusions.” I defended myself. He’s a useful musclehead.

“I didn’t jump Chef; I ran to get the fish so you wouldn’t attack me. You get cranky in the morning when you haven’t eaten. You even gave me the ‘I need food’ stare.” Ikol added on while nodding his head. He remembers the different stares but not to call me Chef. Ipnerslei was glaring at me even more now.

“Lux.” Ipnerslei snapped in a highly disapproving tone.

“Ipnerslei.” I deflected. I was totally innocent. I was avoiding looking at her because the cave wall was super interesting. Yes, rocks.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Do not boss around Ikol.” Ipnerslei ordered, putting emphasis on each and every word.

“But Chef won the last one, two, three, four, five…” Ikol began as he counted out my victories on his claws.

“He’s going to be busy for a while.” Ipnerslei quipped as Ikol kept counting on his claws.

“No, he won’t. He’s going to get stuck when he runs out of claws.” I sighed. Ikol was on his back feet now.

“I’m out of claws. How do you count without claws?” Ikol asked, sounding distressed.

“See what you did, you need to be nicer.” Ipnerslei snapped at me.

“You’re the one who made him count.” I shot back, looking at her again. Ikol was still trying to figure out how to keep counting.

“It’s okay Ikol. We don’t need an actual number.” I comforted him.

“Yes Chef!” Ikol cheered. Luckily, he was easy to cheer up.

“On a different topic, I will be going to Tenebrae tomorrow.” I told Ikol. Ipnerslei stopped glaring at me finally, but I had a feeling this was not over.

“Can I tag along?” Ikol probed. I looked at Ipnerslei as he never wanted to tag along before.

“I don’t see why not; it’s not like there’s a rule against it. Why do you want to go, Ikol?” Ipnerslei answered.

“I want to see where Chef is from. Plus, the time to have a soon.” Ikol explained. Huh, what inspired that?

“Why do you want to see Tenebrae?” I checked as I was caught a bit off guard by his sudden interest.

“Chef is strong, so there should be strong people on ten and braid.” Ikol stated. Maybe I could get him pronouncing Tenebrae correctly in a day.

“Have fun Lux.” Ipnerslei told me before using to leave us. I let out a deep breath.

“Ten-uh-bray.” I enunciated for Ikol.

“Ten and bread.” Ikol replied. Hitting him is wrong. Hitting him is wrong. I had to keep chanting it to myself.

“Repeat after me. Ten.” I began. Please work. Nil would have a field day with Ikol.

“Ten.” Ikol repeated. Good. Strong start.

“Uh.” I continued. Easy syllable.

“Uh.” Ikol said correctly. So far so good.

“Bray.” I finished. This should work.

“Bray.” Ikol said. Fantastic. We got each syllable pronounced correctly.

“Now, all together. Ten-uh-brae.” I tried. Please say it correctly. Maybe we could tackle Speranza if this went well.

“Ten and bread.” Ikol declared, looking pleased with himself. I felt my paw curl up as I fought every instinct to swat him hard. He looked at me, not grasping my irritation.

“What?” Ikol asked as he seemed to notice me fighting the urge of trying to swat sense into him.

“Ten-uh-brae.” I repeated, glaring at him. Ikol looked like he was beginning to panic as the last several seconds clearly hadn’t had time to process.

“Tenebrae.” Ikol squeaked. I gently pet his head.

“Good Ikol.” I praised him. He did a little fist pump in celebration.

“I got it!” Ikol cheered. He could do it when he tried.

“Next word. Speranza.” I told him. Ikol’s eye went wide as his brain was trying to grasp the word.

“Tenebrae.” I tested. He looked confident again.

“Tenebrae.” Ikol repeated. That stuck at least. Hopefully getting him to say Speranza doesn’t push the previous information out of his head.

"Now. Spur.” I prodded Ikol. Please catch on quickly. It was possible once in a while if you broke it down for him.

“Spur.” Ikol followed along.

“On.” I continued. Hopefully this was not going to be as much effort as I thought.

“Speranza!” Ikol completed on his own. I pet his head again. Good musclehead.

“Repeat them.” I challenged him.

“Tenebrae! Speranza!” Ikol chanted. I’d take this. We were stopping while I was ahead.

“Good, let’s go run some more.” I suggested now that we got the names down.

“Can you tell me about Nil? Or Krahinn, the one allegedly stronger than Boss?” Ikol requested. I guess giving him a little forewarning and explanation would be smart. Still wouldn't stop Nil from having a blast with Ikol.

“First, Krahinn will bully you if you try to fight him; that blasted bird’s strength is matched only by his crankiness.” I warned Ikol. Ikol pouted a little. Krahinn doesn’t do friendly spars, he does I can undo the damage gip beatings.

“What about a friendly see how strong he is?” Ikol checked with a bit of a begging face. What am I going to do?

“He will brutally beat you for that based off his track record.” I informed him. Ikol looked like he was crushed by this news.

“Okay.” Ikol pouted. Of course, he wanted to duel the one I said was stronger than Hoggdin.

“Nil would gladly duel you though.” I pointed out. Granted, I didn’t think Ikol stood much of a chance against Nil.

“Really?!” Ikol pressed having lit up.

“Oh yes. Nil loves fighting.” I assured Ikol. Ikol began celebrating.

“Is there anyone else to fight?” Ikol probed with his face so full of hope.

“Start with just Nil. Ein and Riva are not allowed, and Luna might be up for it. Nautilus would be a fun duel but you would definitely lose.” I answered. Ikol grimaced a bit.

“Is everyone there strong?” Ikol checked, not grasping my warnings.

“No, I don’t think so. We can’t just duel anyone and of those who are okay to duel most of them are powerful adults. Stupid Nil being a hazard to his siblings.” I explained. Ikol sounded excited at that.

“I’ll just have to see.” Ikol said happily as his tails were wagging. I had a question I was going to dread asking him, but he was currently my only source of information.

“What’s a ?” I asked Ikol. Ikol mulled it over for a second.

“You walk around.” Ikol answered. Really, I wouldn’t have guessed a involved walking.

“What else do you do?” I probed. Baby steps. Small bits at a time would eventually yield me the answer.

“You see things.” Ikol added on while nodding like it was the greatest answer. I stared at him.

“You also smell things!” Ikol tried as my stare got sterner.

“There are tasty fish.” Ikol attempted. I wasn’t expecting much, and his answer still was disappointing.

“What is the purpose of a ?” I questioned him. There had to be some usable information in that head of his. I just had to dig deep for it.

“To gain per… I got this word… it’s… uh… perspective.” Ikol informed me, sounding out perspective slowly. Good idiot, we were making progress.

“So, you just go sightseeing?” I checked, making sure I understood what he was saying.

“Yes!” Ikol told me. I needed to ask Hoggdin for a better answer, or Ipnerslei could probably give me a decent one.

“I see.” I quipped. We at least got him to say Tenebrae and Speranza correctly; take the small victories.

“How does Nil fight?” Ikol probed. Was? Was Ikol? Doing research? He was thinking of an event in the future?

“His style is more ranna ranna than my akka akka.” I informed Ikol. I felt some part of me die inside as I realized I was starting to understand his dumb sound explanations. No, I don’t want to understand them. The side-effect of being around this idiot for three years.

“Ohhh, ranna ranna. I’ll need to think.” Ikol quipped. How long would that take?

“Don’t think too hard, you might hurt yourself.” I suggested sarcastically as he looked like he was trying to process this information.

“You can think too hard? It can hurt you?” Ikol checked, looking worried.

“No, you can’t think too hard. It won’t hurt you.” I reassured him quickly. No. Please just not realize.

“What happens if you think too hard? Does my brain melt?” Ikol pressed with a bit of distress in his voice.

“It is an expression Ikol. You cannot think too hard, nothing will happen.” I tried, hoping this was the end of it.

“It can! Oh no! What about that can make me overthink?!” Ikol pleaded sounding on the verge of tears. Great, now I had to explain to him he couldn’t think too hard on something.