Ivy didn't wake up to someone informing her of them having arrived at their destination but to someone gently trying to tug her towel down off her chest.
"Eep!" Ivy smacked the person instinctively, Strike activating without conscious thought. "No touchy!"
The person backed away, and she saw it was a small person with bristly gray fur, only about three feet tall, who also had tall round ears and a slender tail, rubbing at his arm where she’d smacked him. He was wearing a strange combination of sleek formal top that resembled a sci-fi themed tuxedo with some kind of fluffy black kilt that may just be a skirt.
Ivy couldn’t think of words. "Huh?"
"You are the special cargo we were promised?" The person leered, or perhaps not, it was hard to tell with all the fur on his face. "I only want to look." His eyes went to the pale glow at her chest, visible in the dim lighting even through the towel's edge. “I admit, we weren’t expecting someone of your stature. I do hope you won’t give us any trouble.”
Ivy rose to her feet, shifting into a ready stance in case she needed to kick the smug rodent across the hall. “That depends entirely on how much trouble you plan to give me.”
“Oh, no trouble at all, miss. You are our respected guest, of course. And I am Xian, at your service.” His grin was the opposite of reassuring.
“Then your honored guest would like some clothing.” Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she’d never gotten to dinner, and who knew how many hours it’d been since then. “And some food.”
“I doubt anything of mine would fit.” The rodent-man gestured at himself with a shrug. “But of course, you’re welcome to it.”
Ivy considered the waistline on his skirt and grimaced. It might fit around one leg… but that wasn’t really worth the effort. “Breakfast?”
“Yes, I’m sure I can find something. The cook’s asleep at the moment, but I can assure you’ll get first chance when we have anything edible.” He grinned again, and Ivy really couldn’t tell if he was trying to be intimidating or friendly, but it came across as just kind of creepy.
“Are you in charge around here?”
“Me? In charge? No, no, someone like me wouldn’t be in charge. I’m the liaison to interpret to you giants. I wouldn’t be allowed in the council hall even if I could fit.” He shrugged self-deprecatingly, crouching as though to make himself appear smaller. “You know how it is. Mutant, half blood… at least your people know your place.”
Ivy grinned dazzlingly. “Oh? You’re not happy with who and where you are? I know someone who can help you! I would offer my business card, but…” She gestured down at her towel and lack of anything else. “I was taken unprepared. But changing your species is easy enough, or we could adjust your capabilities…”
The creature shook his head and backed away a step before her fervor. “I… you mustn't think that I’m rebellious, I’m not!” he said it extra loudly, as though concerned about being overheard. “I’m content with my lot. I’m just not in a position of authority to do more than translate your requests and bring back whatever you require.”
Ivy made a phone gesture at her ear. “Then once you’re off the clock, call me. We’ll get you what you need.” She winked. “And what I need is some food. Chop chop!”
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Xian scurried down the narrow halls, twisting around tight corners with practiced ease as he moved from the giant cargo bay to the main city. He couldn’t stop the strange giant’s words from echoing in his head.
We can help. Changing your species is easy.
As he walked by five-story buildings not even as tall as his shoulders, doing his best not to shake the ground, the familiar envy for his normal-sized kin rose up stronger than ever.
He shook himself, trying to clear away the nagging thought, but it wouldn’t go.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
We can help. It’s easy.
“Stay in the tunnels, xenth,” spat the person whose balcony he’d just jostled with his careless movement.
“Apologies,” Xian muttered and scurried on his way. He shouldn’t have cut through the city, but this was too important to entrust to anyone else. He needed to talk to Cysee in person. To report, to translate the cargo’s requests… but also to make a proposal.
If changing his species was easy, what else could this glowing giant do?
Perhaps this was one they could drop off somewhere safe instead of taking to market, keep it for themselves. And if they treated it well enough, who knew what wonders it could manifest?
After all, the creature was already doing the impossible. Every other carded person to leave the twin sectors had suffered immediate and fatal deck implosion, making their bodies and cards alike useless to trade with. This was why the Kviri always insisted on voids for their cargo.
And the local governments were happy to oblige. The giants wanted the cards, Cysee knew people who wanted their own pet giants, and everyone profited at the end of the day.
But they’d left the twin sectors weeks ago, traveled farther than any of those weak giant ships could dream, and yet this one lived. And still held cards.
Whatever deal Cysee had made, he could unmake. This one, Xian felt certain, was too valuable to let slip away.
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For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Demron awoke to see something other than a specter of vengeance pressing down on him. He was surprised to be awake at all; the past few times felt like a fever dream or perhaps what hell would be like. Darkness punctuated by terror and suppression any time he dared try to exist.
But now he was lying somewhere that wasn’t trying to stab him to death, and the heavy presence nearby was a familiar one.
For one brief moment, he dared to hope that he’d been dreaming the whole thing, but the fact that he lay in a room open to the sky that should have had several more floors above it made that difficult.
He remembered the ground shaking. He remembered crimson eyes of cold, uncaring destruction. He remembered feeling as though his heart were going to shatter any moment, his deck strained and draining on his class to sustain itself.
No one ever told him that was possible. What kind of power did someone have to hold to force his deck to cannibalize his own experience just to survive?
Why didn’t he kill me?
There was no way he didn’t know. Those eyes demanded recompense. So why? How was Demron alive? Just so he could suffer longer? That had to be it.
The worst part was, he knew he deserved it. He’d been willing to throw an innocent into the worst situation they could arrange, just to get her out of the way for their own ambition.
What had he been thinking?
“You’re awake. Good.” It was Verox. She looked unhappy, but when did she not? She leaned down to stare at him, arms crossed. “I don’t suppose you have an explanation for this disaster?”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I should never have suggested it. I don’t know what I was thinking. Just kill me, don’t send me back to…” he shuddered and trailed off, breath catching. His eyes blurred with tears and he thought he might pass out, but he had to convince her. He couldn’t do that again. His deck would shatter and he’d seen what happened when someone had unformed shards in their heart. He wasn’t sure what was worse, the prospect of what would happen to his body and soul, or the fact that it would be happening while that specter of vengeance watched impassively.
Verox’s expression tightened, mouth in a grim line. “You had something to do with my Ivy disappearing?”
“I did. I…” His mouth was so dry, he coughed and nearly choked. He leaned over the side of the bed, heaving for breath.
When he looked up, Verox was watching with the most disapproving scowl he'd ever seen. A few days ago it would have terrified him, but now it seemed only a pale echo of the face of death.
“What. Did you. Do.”
“I sent her to a Kviri servitor clan. We needed somewhere she couldn’t come back from, and, well, they were just here a few weeks ago to pick up their voids, so…”
“A few. Weeks. You know how far they can get in a few weeks?”
Demron swallowed and nodded. “Up to eighty-seven systems away, yes. That’s why…” His voice a raspy whisper, “it was the perfect plan. We thought she was a nobody, someone’s lame cousin. Not…” He shuddered and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I was an idiot. If I’d known how powerful her family was, I never would have. Please. Just end it.”
“You think I’m going to let you off easily after what you’ve done?” He’d never heard Verox so heated, this went way beyond her usual disapproval.
He flinched back, almost convinced that she’d start carving him apart on the spot. She probably had all sorts of ideas for bio-fusion tech, and his life was already forfeit…
And I thought things couldn’t get worse. Why did I forget who I’m dealing with?
The expression on Verox’s face was suddenly just as terrifying as that of the vengeance god.
“Just one more question, then. Who is ‘we’?”
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