Chapter 21

After some time, she finally spoke. Her voice was low, almost absentminded.

"By Bastet's mangy tail... we have stirred up the spider's nest now, know it true."

Spider's nest, that sounds terrifying.

The Kobold let out a long sigh and the tension left her shoulders. Fox turned to Oskar and gave him a wink, which reminded Oskar, embarrassingly, of getting caught staring at her the first night they'd met.

That felt like a month ago, but it was just days.

The Kobolds really were a stunning people. Their deep purple fur was something that didn't exist on Earth, at least to Oskar's knowledge. This close, the orange streaks in her undercoat were more noticable, They looked tiger-like, and after seeing her fight, he had to admit it was fitting.

“You alright, Fox? What did she hit you with?”

“Oh, that?” she smirked. “I am not sure exactly, but my body was effectively doing the opposite of what I was telling it to do. It only lasted a minute or so.”

Oskar's eyebrows rose.

“I’m surprised you even managed to stand.”

She laughed darkly. “Is that what you would call that? I seem to recall falling in every direction I could manage. And then, I was certain Vulk was going to end me. Know that for a truth.”

She looked at him seriously.

“Listen, Oskar… What you did was dangerous. I understand why you did it, but you have no control over the wind. I don’t know how long you have spent working on your magical control, but you should not have put yourself in such danger. It is possible I could have dodged the actual strike.”

“This whole magic thing is new to me. I didn’t even know I could do that. I’ve never used magic before,” he said simply.

Fox watched him for a moment and called him a dry boned fool under her breath before continuing, “Wind Walking is dangerous, there are two types of Wind Walkers- Kinetics who specialize in speed and power and Controls who specialize in directional movement and aerial dexterity. Like many powers, there is a slower but more careful path like Control, or an immediately powerful, and dangerous, path like Kinetics,” she sighed, “and unfortunately, that move you used was that of a Kinetic,“ she stopped as Oskar lifted a hand. "I should not have needed saving, Oskar."

“I know, Fox, but... in for a penny, in for a pound,“

Fox tilted her head in confusion. Penny poked her head up as well after hearing her name. Oskar smiled and explained that it was a saying and that he just meant he was fully committed to their little group. They needed to trust that they’d have each other’s back, no matter what.

“Fighting is so much easier when you can trust someone enough that you don’t have to fight while trying to focus on 360 degrees. Be aware of everything you can, but trust that I’ll have your back. I’ll be there every time.”

He felt like it was time to explain a little more about his training so that she could understand why he fought the way he fought. He started further back than he’d intended, even telling her a little about his time in the Marine Corps, expanding on the earlier conversation they’d all had about Marines being a respected group of warriors on his planet.

There wasn’t much purpose in going into detail about Earth. Oskar knew it would only lead to more questions, but he did make it a point to reinforce that magic, in his world, was the stuff of stories and legend. There was no tangible proof it had ever existed outside of those legends.

Oskar spoke of his older brother, Erik, and about how he’d allegedly drowned a year and a half ago doing contract work off the coast of West Africa.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"They were attacked by pirates, actual pirates, and his ship had been sunk. All hands lost."

After a reflective few seconds, he’d briefly explain what pirates were, but luckily Fox didn’t get too hung up on it and allowed him to continue.

Losing Erik had been impossibly tough on Oskar, who’d been sick of losing people close to him almost his entire life. Unlike Erik, he didn’t really remember his mother, and it had just been him and his brother after their dad passed away the year before Erik’s death.

After that, he was truly alone. He knew that didn’t make him special. No one wanted to lose people close to them, but he’d had so much more than his share of it.

He sat there in the respectful quiet that Fox gave him as she sat beside him, deep in thought herself.

Oskar realized it was the first time he’d said it all out loud.

Talking about it hurt, of course, but when he’d mentioned his brother had died, he was relieved that the statement rang false to him. He didn’t want to come across as delusional or in denial, so he just told the story. Delusional or not, he really believed his brother was alive. That gave him a strange comfort, and after a deep breath, he continued.

He glossed over much actual wartime experiences and his own injury, only to say it was because of a large explosion and began telling her the story of how he'd been just north of a place called the Badlands, alone, when- after walking through a door in the middle of nowhere and being swept into a strange frozen hellscape- he’d suddenly woken here.

Looking wistfully into the sky, Fox smiled and said, “Badlands. That is the snow place, yes?”

Oskar didn’t want to ruin her apparent daydream about a wonderful place with freezing water falling from the sky, but surely, she had to know it wasn’t a paradise with a name like Badlands. He let her have the moment before he replied.

“Yes. It was the snow place. I don’t think Touwon believes it to be true. Which is funny considering he understood ice, and you were the skeptical one. I suppose he has trouble wrapping his mind around that much of it all in one place.”

Fox shrugged. “Touwon’s cautious nature has served us both well. It has saved our lives on multiple occasions. We are from the same… well, Tribe would be the best word, if such things existed still.”

Raising his eyebrows in interest, he remained quiet, letting her continue. “I barely remember it, but Touwon is a little older than I and aches for the old ways. We Kobolds are resourceful. We work together. We trust one another.

Her face took on a much more intense look, the ponderous look she'd had imagining the "snow place" was gone.

Fox was quiet for a time, and Oskar watched the sky grow brighter in silence as the streamers of sand flowed directly overhead. The steady sound of wind was a constant background noise that felt peaceful in their volatile world. Her silence carried a weight, though, and Oskar looked around to make sure they were safe and to give her time.

Oskar had learned that many of the predators in this world were opportunists. Fox had previously mentioned that it surprised her that water seeking predators hadn’t attacked them, but admittedly, it had been just her and Touwon before the Vulk Collective captured them. She wasn’t sure how long ago that had been, exactly, but it must have been close to a year now. Before, they’d lived in a community of survivors, and they’d taken the Vulk Collective on a merry chase to draw them from the shelter that held some of the remaining free Kobolds.

It seemed likely having a third was the sweet spot between being able to find enough food and water and still being threatening enough to scare off all but the most desperate of predators. With Oskar around, finding water and food was going to be much easier. Penny was the one coming through with the food, though to be honest. Oskar didn't even need to point them out.

There were lizards and some egg-colored thing that looked like an armadillo and was apparently better dried than cooked, which was convenient. There weren't many ways to keep a fire going. The surrounding land was pretty barren. He'd only ever seen a few small, leafless trees that were shoulder high and usually only had a single branch. It seems that the wood could burn, but it required a significant amount of effort to ignite. Fox said the wood was tough, though, and was used to make short spears that were used by some of the smaller races like themselves.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Fox spoke again, her voice was more somber than he’d ever heard it.

"It means much that you shared your story with me. I do not think I am ready to share everything, but I do want to explain to you a little bit about what happened to my people. We called it the Culling."

Oskar was completely quiet, giving her the time that she needed to explain this at her own pace, and after a long moment, she continued.

"They summarily killed us, thinking that we had some great mystical secret. All because we could survive in larger groups… as tribes who lived in loose family units. The families that made up a tribe all lived in proximity, while other races struggled in any groups larger than three because of their greed.

We all did our part, and that collective effort of the Kobold people was the reason for our survival. Our independence was such that we could form groups of ten or even more, with minimal contact with the surrounding tribe. That… was both our blessing and our curse.

We lived spread out enough that many of us escaped, but close enough that the collectives who hunted us for our resources butchered us before we could even attempt to organize. Their sudden cruelty scattered and ruined us. Even now, we are in danger.”