The duelist 7, p.11
The Duelist 7, page 11
“So very pretty,” I agreed with the appropriate amount of enthusiasm.
“I wear it for the wedding,” she said matter-of-factly like toddlers do. “We’re getting married.”
“We are?” I asked and then grinned up at both of her exasperated parents. “What a surprise!”
“It is a super-prise!” she agreed and clapped her hands. “And there will be cake!”
“Perfect,” I said as I patted her on the head. “Please save a dance for me at the party.”
She looked at me with those big innocent eyes and whispered out a hopeful, “Really?”
“Really, really,” I replied and tapped her nose one more time.
She let out her trademark high-pitched squeal and then ran behind her mom so she could bury her blushing face in the deer-woman’s skirts.
“Come, daughter,” Dawn said in her gentle voice as she picked her up. “We have a lot to do before the party tonight. Say goodbye to Alex.”
“Bye-bye, Alex,” she said politely and waved her chubby fingers.
“Milady,” I said and bowed at the waist before kissing the back of her hand.
This caused her to giggle shyly again before she tucked her face back in the shelter of her mom’s shoulder.
“I shall see you later, my loves,” the ram-lord said and then kissed his wife and daughter before they left.
“Don’t play too hard,” she warned with a wink, and then they were gone.
“Alright,” I said as I rubbed my hands together. “Let’s gather the troops, and then I will show you the glorious ways of dodgeball.”
It took a little doing to get everyone together, and to cobble up some makeshift dodgeballs out of pillows and cloth, but once everyone was amassed outside in the airship’s courtyard, it was simply a matter of explaining the rules and then dividing the teams into two groups of five.
Pretty much everyone on the airship except for Vela and Bodin joined in to play. This meant on one team there was Rylan, Zoie, Anwaar, Arvid, and Mec, followed by Horace, Amaya, Jenner, Shay, and me on the other.
Each team was pretty equally balanced as far as skill and dodging ability, so we were pretty closely matched, and out of the three rounds we ended up playing, it was neck and neck until the last round.
The strategy Mec’s team were employing was to use Arvid as much as possible, which was actually rather brilliant.
Since the sloth-man was the biggest thing on the other team, it was almost impossible not to hit him within the first few seconds of the round. However, since it took him foreverrrr to walk off the playing field, the other players had plenty of time to dart behind him for the occasional shelter.
It made getting them difficult.
However, Arvid also posed a disadvantage to them early on due to being so slow. There was no denying the Big Boy was a perfect shield, but the fact he was such a big obstacle caused a problem for the other team if they needed room to leap out of the way.
Using these things I’d observed about my competition during the first two rounds, I was able to help my team whittle the others down to just Lord Mec against Horus and me.
The battle royal that ensued was epic by all standards, and the formidable ram-lord proved once again why he was the king of Nata Isle by pulling out every trick in the fucking dodgeball bible in order to avoid getting hit.
At one point, he took to hoarding all of the projectiles until he could gather them all up in his large arms only to fire them at us like a goddamn gatling gun.
Horus didn’t survive that one, and he took a ball to the knee as he tried to dodge.
Then it was just me and Mec.
The good news was I had the advantage of having all the balls he’d fired over to my side.
Every single one except for the small throw pillow currently in his hand, which he used to deflect all of my shots until I was also only holding only one ball.
The standoff continued like this for a tense while until something finally gave.
In this case, that something was a psych-out by Mec that I was prepared for, and when he attempted to take his shot for real, I crouched down and fired my projectile for his legs.
There was no time for the ram-lord to recover, and before he could make a choice on whether to dodge or jump, it was too late.
My ball bounced squarely off his thigh.
“Yes!” I hollered as I thrust both of my fists into the air. “Victory for us two-to-one!”
The rest of my team who’d been sitting out on the sidelines came rushing toward me so they could join in on the cheering, and the other team even cheered along with us until we had all collapsed and sprawled out on the hard ground.
“So, this is going to be your gift to Sskern and Griss?” Rylan asked. “I don’t understand how this is considered practical.”
“It’s simple, Rylan,” Zoie explained. “Once Alex teaches balldodge to the Terrans, they can use it as a training exercise. Picture playing this game again, but instead of soft projectiles, picture actual weapons like knives.”
“Ohhhh, I see,” he said.
“And if you wanted to teach the kids a little something, you could switch back to the fluffy stuff,” Horus added before he demonstrated by firing a pillow ball at Rylan’s face at a near point-blank range. “See?”
“Hey!” the boy yelled, and he wrenched his arm back in order to fire the projectile back where it came from but was stopped by Shay.
“This has truly been one of the most enjoyable ‘training exercises’ I’ve ever been involved in,” Mec said as he got to his feet and dusted himself off. “Thank you for having me be a part of it, but next time, we definitely need to be on the same side.”
“You got it,” I said as I clasped forearms with the other man. “We’ll get our chance soon enough.”
“Very true,” he laughed. “For now, I will say goodbye so I may prepare myself for the evening’s festivities, and based on the sun in the sky, I suggest you all do the same.”
“Gavlain is right, you guys,” I said as I clapped my hands together once. “We all need to be getting ready. I didn’t realize how long we’ve been playing.”
From that point on, the Crew and I scattered back to the airship and to our separate corners in order to prepare ourselves for the big event.
“I wasn’t sure what all to bring from Nata,” Jenner chattered to me as I attempted to tuck a frilly white shirt into my black trousers without much success.
“Definitely not this,” I said, and I shucked the shirt that could have starred on Seinfeld once upon a time ago. “What else have you got?”
“Try this,” he instructed, and he tossed a light-gray tunic over the privacy screen I was using to change in one of the lower-level storage areas while the ladies took over our bedroom.
The only time I peeked my head in to check on them and grab my good boots, it looked like a bomb had gone off consisting of dress fabrics and accessories.
Not something I had any advice on whatsoever, so I made myself scarce.
“Are Shay and Zoie planning a theme, do you think?” I asked.
“Aren’t they always?” Jenner asked, and I heard him wrestling through a few more boxes. “How about this one?”
The tunic and light armor combo that came flying over the privacy screen a moment later was definitely new since I didn’t recall ever owning anything lavender-colored in my entire life.
Of course, this purple could be tolerated because it contrasted beautifully with the silver armored breastplate and armored belt he handed me. It was striking, and it looked powerful when I had it all on.
“This is excellent,” I said as I smoothed my palms down the front of my surprisingly soft tunic. “Hopefully, whatever those creative beauties come up with goes along with this, because I'm not changing again.”
“Regardless,” the koala-man said as he came around the screen and helped me adjust all of the buckles and straps along my shoulders and chest before arming me with my blade. Since it was a relaxed event, I decided to forgo the whole kit and caboodle and left my crossbow behind. “I am to tell you the Lady Zoie wishes to see you in the parlor so she may tattoo your skin with the designs of the evening.”
“Okay, but what are you going to wear, Mr. Jenner?” I asked him as I bent down to tie up my boots. “Anything special you have set aside for such an occasion?”
“I did buy myself a nice new coat similar to this lovely blue one Zoie gave me,” he said proudly as he rocked up on the balls of his feet. “Only the new one is in a nice emerald green.”
“Snazzy,” I remarked and then stood back up to my full height. “Thanks for helping. Now, I’ll leave you alone so you can go get ready.”
“Anytime, Mr. Alex, I’ll see you shortly in the courtyard,” he said and then bustled off to ostensibly get into his new green coat.
Seeing that simple joy on his naturally wizened and serious face made me glad I demanded he accept a wage for all of his services.
All of my Crew deserved to buy themselves nice things if they wanted, and Jenner was no exception. In fact, I was thinking about giving him a little extra since he was so agreeable about returning to his Cursed Homeland on the off-chance there was a magic library that can solve all of our problems, yet again.
It wasn’t often, but every now and then I found myself missing certain creature comforts from my world, namely anything that had to do with Wi-Fi or the internet.
If only Aventoll had something like Google, maybe we wouldn’t have to keep searching out all of these underground, forbidden, or really, really hard to get to libraries for the information we needed.
Such was life.
“I heard you wanted to see me?” I asked Zoie when I entered the parlor and found my cat-wife sitting on one of the plush sofas with her sketchbook on her lap.
When she stood up, I could see she was in the stunning blue dress she wore to the very first party we went to together. She was just as breathtaking then as she was now in that sexy two-piece halter with the thigh-high slits on either side of the skirt, but when I gazed at her, I was struck with how strange it felt to be looking at her in this outfit.
So much time had seemed to pass in between then and now, and yet it also only felt like a blink of the eye.
“Alex?” Zoie asked with a look on her face that told me this probably wasn’t the first time she’d called my name to get my attention.
“What?” I asked, and I focused on her face instead of the delicious dusky V plunging between her perfect breasts. “What did you say?”
“I asked if you were ready for me to paint you,” she repeated as an amused smirk flirted around her lips.
“I’m always ready for you to smear stuff all over my body,” I said, and when she blushed, I placed a kiss right on her forehead. “What do you have in mind?”
“I really loved the colors from Lower Terr, and I want to experiment with some of the natural designs we saw down there,” she said and then went over to a small circular table where her brushes and dyes were all set up and organized. “Will you be my first?”
“I’m honored to lend my face as your noble canvas,” I said just to see her smirk again, and this time I was able to catch that smirk with my own lips.
“Don’t be such a rogue,” she purred only inches away from my mouth. “Or else I’ll never get this done, and we will be dreadfully late to the Regent and Asher Lord’s weddings.”
“See, I know that’s bad, but I can’t help picturing all the other things we could be doing instead,” I teased and then waggled my eyebrows.
“Hush, you, and close your eyes,” she instructed as she made me sit on the small stool across from her.
I chuckled a little at her bossiness, but I did as I was told and let her work her magic in silence.
To be honest, I was soaking up all the relaxation I could get before we had to go. Even though I had an apparent knack for the social schmoozing that went on at these things, I didn’t exactly look forward to all the attention, small talk, and sometimes even awkward questions I tended to field at these events.
So sitting back with my eyes closed and letting this beautiful woman caress her magnificent art into my skin was just the respite I needed to gear myself up in order to be Ambassador Alex Brightwood.
I could definitely tell from how tense I already was that a good meditation session would sorely be in order after this, and I honestly couldn’t wait to be off to our next adventure, even though it was in the opposite direction of home.
“That feels nice,” I mumbled after she put the brush down and then switched to just massaging my temples while the ink dried on my face. “Don’t stop. Don’t ever stop. Let’s stay here forever.”
“I agree,” Horus’ voice shattered the moment and brought me back into the present. “Let’s just stay in. Maybe tell some stories or play some cards.”
“It doesn’t work like that, Horus,” Anwaar said, and she floated into the room behind the falcon-man. Both of them were dressed to the nines in matching black ensembles that went well together. “Now, go over there and let Zoie do your face.”
“Are the ladies getting their faces tattooed also?” the falcon-man asked as he glanced around.
“According to Terran custom, only the men adorned themselves with makeup,” she said as she came into the parlor next.
“What do I look like?” I asked as I looked around for a mirror or some type of reflective surface I could see myself in, but there weren’t any.
“I’ll do Horus the same way as you, so you may see what you look like,” the cat-woman said, and I mouthed a thank you to her.
“Hey, does that mean I get face makeup, too?” Rylan asked as he came in next.
“Sure, if you want,” Zoie said and smiled at the kid.
She was almost through with Horus, and I could see some of the lines and shadowing she’d used made his face look a little more reptilian in certain lighting.
“Woah, is that really what I look like?” I asked as I came around fully to see what she was doing with her clever brush. She’d somehow transformed the falcon-man’s humanistic features into a dinosaur hybrid like the rest of the Terrans.
“It is to pay homage to them,” she answered and then indicated Horus could go dry on the sofa so Rylan could take his place.
“It’s very cool,” I said, and then I watched her give Rylan the lizard treatment with her talented fingers.
Finally, he was done, and the rest of our party trickled in.
Amaya appeared to be dressed in a soft green dress with a high collar and a short flowy skirt that matched quite well with Mr. Jenner’s new forest-green coat and large brass buttons. He seemed to be her escort for the evening, and the pair of them looked so dapper.
Then there was Shay, who always looked stunning in a gown that started as a deep red at the bodice and then faded into a pale yellow at the long hem. The dress would have seemed rather conservative had it not been for the long slit directly up the center and stopping mid-thigh.
With her at the helm starting with red, and with Rylan’s light-blue tunic and tan breeches thrown in, I realized our entire group spanned the whole spectrum of colors.
“I see what you did, you clever boots,” Horus said as he wiggled a finger in his sister’s direction.
“Do you like it?” Shay asked with a proud expression. “I couldn’t really decide on a theme, so I just wanted color.”
“We look amazing,” I assured her. “Way for us to represent Nata.”
“I’m still trying to figure out how Shay knew we would all be in something different,” Anwaar said. “I switched my decision at the last minute from red to black.”
“It’s a secret.” The phoenix-woman grinned a mischievous grin, and it caused all of us gathered to break out into laughter.
Laughter that was spoiled a moment later by a loud wail tearing throughout the corridors, followed by what sounded like two sets of feet running rapidly down the stairs.
“No!” Vel-Rala burst into the parlor with her coal-like eyes opened so wide I could see the whites from where I stood. She heaved several breaths, and when Bodin came up behind her to try and coax her back upstairs, she flung his arm off almost violently.
“Vela--” he tried, but she shook her white-feathered head.
“No,” she gasped again, and her eyes landed directly on Zoie. “Noooo.”
The croak that left the cockatoo-woman’s throat when she moaned this last word was enough to set my teeth on edge, and the previously light-hearted atmosphere withered and died at the sight of Vel-Rala’s haunted face.
Chapter 10
“Vela.” The worn-down raccoon-man attempted to get the deranged cockatoo-woman’s attention, but Vel-Rala’s eyes seemed to be seeing things the rest of us could not.
Horrible things, if the growing look of terror spreading across her face was anything to go by.
“You,” she said and pointed at Zoie. “You must be careful, milady. You must.”
“Do not worry, dear Vela,” the cat-woman said in a mellow tone. “I will be just fine.”
“But you have to prepare yourself,” Vel-Rala urged with a note of distress still high in her voice.
Zoie put her arm around the cockatoo-woman and stood beside her. “What must I do?”
Bodin gave my cat-wife a grateful yet exhausted smile for playing along with the poor confused woman.
Vel-Rala seemed just as relieved someone was listening to her, and before she could do anything else, she threw her arms around Zoie’s neck in a giant hug.
“Thank you,” she sobbed brokenly before she pulled back, wiped her face free of any tears, and marched over to a vase filled with indigo flowers.
Then we all watched as she painstakingly picked just the right blossom to her invisible specifications and brought it over to the cat-woman.
“Vel--” Bodin tried again, but Amaya gently stopped him from saying anything more with a hand on his arm.
“Please,” Vela said to Zoie as she wove the blossom into her ebony hair. “Keep this with you tonight. It will keep you safe.”
