(Dyn)

  The m…

  Dyn woke up feeling refreshed. He’d also woken up noticeably thihan before. Something about the fk tightened his loose skin and repaired his sore muscles ht. He was still plump, but the developing muscles underh shifted his appearance from chubby to husky.

  They all gathered on the deck, waiting for Ru to show up so they could start the meeting. Most had already eaten breakfast—Dyn being the exception. W’itney leaned over and whispered something to Hay’len, who shook their head. Dyn had his suspis about what that might be.

  Ru finally appeared, stepping out of the bridge and closing the door behihat room had seen little use sihe ship ran aground. Having cluded her first meeting of the day, she immediately jumped into her sed.

  “The ship is ready, patched up well enough to get us home,” she said, sliding her hand along the railing as she desded the stairs toward them.

  “Now it’s time for us to hold up our end of the escape. Today, we’ll set up the distra by prepping the with the explosive, and then we’ll have the rest of the day to plete our quest.”

  She locked eyes on Athrax, pre-empting his question. “And before anyone asks, no. We won’t be blowing up the infernal arc beetle… We don’t have enough time to set up an ambush, and I don’t want to leave behind any nasty surprises for the eam Nightshade might send out here.”

  Athrax crossed his metal arms and muttered, “Shame to leave that bug’s loot behind. Could be worth something…”

  Ru ignored him and said, “Dyn.”

  His mind ran wild with the possibilities of what W’itney’s gossip had done. ‘Oh no,’ he thought, shooting worried goward Eury, W’itney, and Ru. ‘She thinks I deflowered the princess.’ He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

  “I swear,” Dyn said, gring at W’itney. “Nothing happe night.”

  “That’s…” Ru looked to W’itney and Eury for a clue what he was talking about. W’itney shrugged, and Eury appeared just as fused.

  Ru sighed, shutting her eyes for a moment. “Just… let me know if you get any of your insights today. Okay?”

  “Insights, right…” he said, then nodded.

  Ru opened her eyes and sed the group, making eye tact with each of them.

  “That goes for everyone else, too. Keep a for anything strahis quest has already cimed a life.”

  She paused, hardening her gaze. “And I don’t want it taking any more.”

  “Also, we’re down to o of brothers, so we’ll all be going out as one group again. With some luck, we’ll find the objective and theher way, we’ll only have to ehis Mother forsake o night.” Her eyes drifted up warily as if she could see the wretched humidity hanging in the air.

  One hour ter…

  P’reslen ducked under a tall fern and brought the echo locator to his mouth. “Tome & Key to Ostello.”

  “Mother, you scared me,” Ostello’s voice said through the rock. “What I do for you?”

  “We’ll be heading out tomorrow. Perhaps you’d like to join us?” P’reslen asked.

  “Will Quintehere?” the rock asked.

  P’reslen opened his mouth to speak, but Quinten snatched the stone from his hand before he could.

  “Of course, mate. ’t get rid of me that easily now,” Quinten said.

  “That’s a shame,” the rock said. P’reslen, Quinten, and the rock shared a chuckle. “Figured you’d still be sleeping.”

  “Nah, I got my six. Speaking of which, re yood for another day, mate? Or are ya knackered already?” Quieased.

  “I’ll be fine. Your is toug,” the rock said.

  “Listen, I don’t want to hear anything about toug while you’re aloh that big beauty of a nd crusta. I’ve seen the way you look at seafood.” Quinten pced a hand over the stone. He turo the group and said, “It ain’t right, I tell ya.” He shook his head in mock disgust.

  “Ugh,” the rock groaned. “Why’d you have to mention food? Now I’m hungry.”

  “Didn’t they chuck you a sack of nuts?”

  “I don’t like what you’re insinuating, Quinten,” the rock said.

  “Oh, I ain’t ‘insinuating’ nothing, mate. I’m ht telling ya to—”

  Ru snatched the stone back from Quinten before he could finish his jab.

  “e on,” Quinten said, reag for the echo locatain. “I ain’t seen him in days. Gets lonely out there, ya know. Just trying to cheer him up…” She smacked his hand away and shot him with a stern look.

  She brought the stone close to her muzzle and said, “You two rib each other when we’re ba the ship.”

  “Promise?” the rock asked.

  “No. ry.” She held her hand out to Eury, helping her up and over a rge root in their path. She repeated the gesture for the rest of the initiates before resuming her versation. “But you do what you like after we’re on our way back to Nightshade. Think you teleport to the ship when we’re in the sky?”

  “Long as I’ve got line of sight, but that’d mean the arc beetle could see you too,” the rock said.

  “Don’t worry about that. We’ve found her . We’re on our way now to set up a distra for her.”

  “How do you know she’s a… she?” Quinten asked.

  “Because she’s patrolling a with her eggs,” Ru said.

  “Never know. They might be like gnomes with stay-at-home dads.” Quinten noticed how miserable she looked with her matted fur. “Nah, you’re probably right. She’s out there living her best boss-bitch beetle life.”

  A deep growl rose from Ru’s throat.

  “Listen, I’ve cut ba the puns. Don’t take alliteration from me too,” Quinten said.

  She stopped, holding up the entire group. “How many times do I have to tell you not to use that word?” she asked him ftly, both hands on her hips.

  Quinten winced. “Sorry. Just a bit of careless vernacur, won’t happen again.”

  Her eyes narrowed on him. “You said that st time.”

  “I did, didn’t I?” Quinten pced a finger on his , frowning. “I’ll try harder this round,” he pced a hand over his heart, “scout’s honor.”

  P’reslen came up from behind him. “But you’re not a scout…”

  “Riiight,” Quinten said with a slow nod, and tried again. “Summoner’s honor…” He frowned and shook his head. “Yeah, nah. Just doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

  Dyn leaned in toward Hay’len and asked, “What’s the bad word Quinten said that upset Ru?” They’d always been more than happy to field his questions, and he wao add it to the “No” list before he got yelled at.

  “Oh, the B-word,” Hay’len said, smiling at the attention.

  “Ah,” he hat made sense. Bitch was a derogatory term ba Earth, too, but he wao double-check, given how the transti sometimes worked—or didn’t. Then he realized he’d just beeo.

  He froze with indignation as he stared at Hay’len. “Wait.” He leaned in closer and dropped his voice to a harsh whisper, narrowing his eyes. “I thought we’re not allowed to spell?”

  Hay’len leaned back from the accusation, giving him a curious look. “I didn’t spell, I said ‘the B-word.’”

  Dyn furrowed his brows, his head askew. “How’s that any different?”

  “It’s a euphemism.” They hesitated, gauging their question. “Don’t they have education on Dirt?”

  Dyn raised his shoulders and hands. “Why does everyone keep askihat?”

  “Uh, well…” They frowned, not wanting to upset him further. “Euphemisms are a basiguisticept…”

  He pihe bridge of his nose. “I know what a euphemism is. Well… I—I thought I did?” His shoulders slumped. “I went to public school…” He gnced away i.

  “Here, um.” Hay’len looked at Dyantly before motioning for him to e close. “This is what it sounds like when you spell.” They leaned in, barely an inch from his ear, with breath hotter than the summer jungle air. They gently whispered in his ear.

  All he heard was an 80s metal vinyl record pyed backwards as a chorus of prisoners scraped their nails across a chalkboard, desperately trying to escape the horrid wailing of a banshee i.

  “Stop!” he shouted, quickly c his ear with his hand. “Jesus, that sounds awful!” He’d garhe attention of the entire group. Notig their gazes, he raised a shaky hand to wave them off ahem know he was alright.

  Hay’len rubbed a thumb into the palm of their hand, anxious that they’d upset Dyn. “That’s why we don’t spell. Languages are often vastly different, and the transtion magic tries to replicate the equivalent in yuage. If there isn’t o goes to the closest cept… Which sound anywhere between weird and painful. It varies.” They offered him a regretful smile.

  “But… you’re using a letter?” Dyn asked.

  Hay’len gnced up and chuckled. “All words use letters, silly.”

  That was a hard point tue. His mouth opened and closed wordlessly before he sighed and said, “True…”

  “For example, if I said the people with the big-D, I’m refereng drai.”

  Dyn blinked; absolutely sure the ring got it wrong this time. “Excuse me?”

  “When you hear me talk about the big-D, I’m not actually saying that. I’m saying the equivalent in my nguage, but it’s being transted as the big-D.” Dyn winced every time Hay’leio.

  “Please—please stop saying that.” He held up his hand. “Why doesn’t it just transte what you mean?”

  “Because you’re using a euphemism. The rings aren’t se enough, thank Mother, to tell the differeween a euphemism or a reference.”

  “That sounds… plicated.”

  “It is. That’s why it always defaults to what you said, instead to figure out what you meant. Just say exactly what you mean. If you want to say drai, then say drai. If you want to use the euphemism, then go ahead and use the big-D.”

  “I’d rather not use the big-D.”

  Hay’len shrugged. “It’s okay. Things like that don’t really bother me, and I wouldn’t mind if you used it.”

  Dyn shut his eyes and took a small breath to pose himself. unication wasn’t easy. But at least he’d learned a few things from their awkward, misguided versation. It hadn’t been Ostello’s touch that gave him horny brain—it was merely a lens to see the truth. It’d been the damn ring all along.

  Two hours ter…

  They’d arrived at the . Before Tome & Key could strategize how to go down, pnt the explosive, aurn to the surfa one breath, Quinten volunteered.

  “I’ll go,” a nasally Quinten said, ping his h a smile on his face.

  “Are you sure?” Ru asked. “We’ve all got movement abilities. It doesn’t have to be you.”

  “I’m fih it,” P’reslen said.

  “Me too,” Athrax said.

  Ru frow them both.

  “Yeah, I’ve got it,” Quinten said.

  “I’m not sure I trust one of your summons to—”

  Quinten held up a hand to cut her off. “Nah, gonna do this myself.”

  “Yoing to smell like the Pits for the rest of the day,” she said.

  “I certainly hope so, but no worries, mate. That’s what showers are for.”

  “Wait,” she said, assessing him with a squint. “Is this an Ostello thing?”

  “Yeah…” Quinten admitted with a grin that to no good.

  “I don’t want to know,” she said, waving her cwed hand. “You’ve already got the bomb. Get down there and position it o the egg cluster.”

  W’itney sauntered up to Quinten and asked, “I want to know, what’s an Ostello thing?”

  “Before I got my ste ability, yeah? Ostello went and lobbed a bloody sardine in my travel trunk. Took ages to find the thing, and by then, everything reeked to the Divines. Had to get new clothes and a trunk—it just permeated everything, mate. Been hunting for how to return that favor fes.”

  “What are you going to do to him?” W’itney asked, leaning in with keen i, clearly ner to pranks.

  “I’m gonna go down there”—he poio the gashole—“do my job, get really smelly, and then stuff my clothes in his whe back.” Quinten pihe fabric of his shirt with a mischievous grin. “That way, he’ll have an unfettable memento of his kaiju dy friend.”

  “I thought you said it was a guy?” Hay’len asked, eavesdropping in on their versation.

  “Lad or dy, I don’t think it’ll matter much. He’ll be too busy with the aroma,” Quinten chuckled.

  “Seems like a lot just to prank a friend,” Dyn said.

  Quinten walked between Ru and P’reslen, throwing an arm around each.

  “Mate, I’d do anything for my friends,” Quinten said.

  Ru shrugged off his hug a out a soft growl. P’reslen looked at Quinten and nodded with an appreciative smile.

  “Besides, why should he be the only bloke who hadn’t had a good whiff of yashole?” Quinten asked Dyn.

  Dyn raised a hand, about to point out that just because he found it didn’t make it his, but Ru cut off their shenanigans.

  “Are you going to go?” she asked, raising an eyebrow and tapping her boot impatiently. “I’d like to spend some of the day searg for the objective.”

  “On it.” The door appeared in front of Quinteook a deep breath, ope, and stepped through the portal.

  Amazingly, the stench remained oher side of that door—until half a mier, when Quiepped back through and brought it with him. “Gross.” “I’m gonna be sick.” “Disgusting.” “Ugh.” “Blegh, it’s in my mouth.” These were some of their reas.

  Ru shook her head, holding back a gag. “You’re walking with the initiates in the back.”

  “Good call.” Quinten nodded. “Phew! I am ripe,” he said as his eyes watered.

  “Why are you smiling?” Eury asked him, holding her nose.

  “Why not? It’s a lovely day. The sun is shining, and we’re alive. Also, I’m picturing Ostello’s face when he opens the door and cops a whiff of that stink. Re it’ll look like yours dht now.” Quinten’s grin grew even more.

  “ we get away from this gashole?” Athrax asked Ru.

  “Please,” she said betweehs, motioning for him to head out. “Lead on.”

  “Ma’am, the echo locator says the beetle is that way.” P’reslen poioward the unexplored field, the same dire Athrax wao go.

  Ru’s frown deepened. “They’re ing around. These fields must make a full loop.” She wao tinue c new ground for a better ce at finding the skill book, but now they’d have to backtrad hope they’d missed something before.

  The old soldier grumbled, forced to backtrad cover the same area as before. Something in his eye told Dyn he wao challenge Ru’s decision and go into the unexplored area. But he kept his thoughts to himself.

  The initiates struggled to keep up with the daunting pace Athrax set. Dyn was gd he’d eaten earlier; without it, keeping up would’ve been impossible. As it was, he managed—just barely.

  They took frequent but short water breaks, and Ru gnced back at Dyn to check for any of his ‘insights.’ Thankfully, he didn’t have any and shook his head each time. She aowledged him briefly before they resumed their forced march, searg for the skill book.

  Eight hours ter…

  The day ended ufully; nothing gained, nothing lost.

  Still, it was a quiet trek back to the ship, save for the stant chorus of chirping is that apahem. While they were all grateful to be alive, the increasing likelihood of failing the quest was a bitter pliment.

  Athrax sighed, stopping in the middle of the makeshift ramp onto the ship. He turned back toward the jungle and hung his head. “Sorry, Ma’am.”

  “I know,” Ru said softly.

  “Feels like I’ve failed you lot,” he said.

  “It’s not your fault, Athrax,” she said, notig the sting of defeat on everyone’s faces. Even Quinten wasn’t his usual chipper self.

  She raised her voice to get their attention and address them all. “This is no one’s fault. The quest went sideways before we even started. However, we’re not out of the ju. So I’ll reserve any pliments until we are. Get some rest. Tomorrow will be the st challenge before we head home.”

  Most of the team headed to the mess hell to eat, except for Dyn. The fk would sustain him for another couple of hours, so that wasn’t a . He was more worried about Echo, stu that cell si night and possibly lonely. He hoped she’d appreciate some pany.

  When he arrived at the brig, a ded stood just outside the duarding the ship’s only jail.

  ---

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