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Duke never knew a train ride could be so exhausting. After all, trains were means of transportation; they were supposed to make journeys easier, not more difficult. However, the physical exertion Duke saved from taking the train instead of traveling through the spectral jungle, well, he wondered if it was worth the mental toll it took on him to converse with the mercenary he had hired. Simply put, Sam was a chatterbox, and he never shut up or stopped asking questions even when it was time for bed. By the time the train ride to Et Serpentium was over, there were dark bags underneath Duke’s eyes.
“Come,” Vercedei said. “We’ve arrived.”
Duke followed Sam out of the booth with his luggage weighing down on his back. Duke was envious of Sam for not bringing any baggage with him, but at the same time, he wasn’t willing to give up his standard of living for a bit of ease. For goodness’ sake, Sam didn’t even shower the whole time on the train. Granted, the act of showering on the train was simply scrubbing oneself with a wet rag, but still, the man would rather be stinky—for some reason, to Duke, Sam smelled like wet dog.
“Sam!”
Duke flinched as a yellow reptilian rushed towards him. The reptilian was small, only up to his waist, but it was still terrifying to have something with sharp teeth and claws run at him at full speed. Duke stepped to the side but found he didn’t have to; the reptilian came to a halt in front of Sam inches away from crashing into him.
“Hello, Ellie,” Vercedei said.
The yellow reptilian beamed, her green eyes shifting onto Duke. “Is this the human you’re escorting?” she asked. “Wow, he’s a special-looking one, huh?”
Special-looking…, at least, she didn’t call him ugly, right? Duke nodded at Ellie before looking at Sam. On the train ride here, the mercenary had mentioned he had contacts in Et Serpentium that he could use to escort them through the country safely; however, Duke hadn’t expected the man’s contact to be so … vertically challenged. Could this tiny little reptilian actually keep them safe in a country that ate humans?
“He might look special, but you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover,” Vercedei said. “This man”—the illusion of Sam gestured to Duke—“wants to expand the frontier of human knowledge by going to Silva Volucris to conduct research.”
Although that was true, Duke couldn’t help but think Sam was making his goal more noble than it actually was. It was simple, really; Duke wanted to be immortal and handsome, and he figured plants were the way to go. When it came to medicines manufactured to counteract diseases, plants usually held the cure, so for the disease called aging, why couldn’t plants cure it too? Humanity simply hadn’t found the right plant, but mantids, mantids had been manipulating plants for all of their history.
Ellie gave Duke a second glance, and he smiled at her while waving. “Hi,” he said, “My name is Duke. It’s nice to meet you, Ellie.”
The small reptilian narrowed her green eyes at the man. “Don’t speak so casually with me,” Ellie said. “Address me as sundak.”
Duke’s smiled stiffened. “Okay, um, sundak,” he said. Despite her short stature, the way the reptilian had glared at him sent shivers down his spine. It felt like he was staring a tiger in the eyes when she glared at him, and the rumors he had heard about reptilians being a belligerent, carnivorous species floated around his mind. Duke lowered his head, staring at his feet. “I didn’t mean any disrespect, sundak; please, don’t hurt me.”
“That’s better,” Ellie said. “Remember, when you’re in Et Serpentium, you’re just an unenlightened human. Don’t speak unless you’re spoken to, and only do the things you’re ordered to. If you make eye contact with a reptilian, I won’t stop them if they do anything violent to you.”
Duke wondered what he had gotten himself into. “I understand, sundak,” he said, still staring at his feet. On the train ride, Sam had told Duke he had to listen to everything the reptilians said, and Duke wasn’t stupid enough to disregard his bodyguard’s advice—though, the words were more like orders.
“It’s good that you understand,” Ellie said and nodded her head. “You’ll be my pet for now, so wear this.”
Duke’s face stiffened as a collar with a blue crystal on it appeared in his vision, Ellie holding the accessory out towards him with her scaly palm facing upwards.
“Well?” Vercedei asked upon seeing Duke’s hesitation. “What are you waiting for? Put it on. It’ll only shock you if you disobey.”
The collar had a shocking function too? Wasn’t this going a bit overboard? Duke questioned it in his mind, but he picked up the collar before looking at Sam. There wasn’t a collar around Sam’s neck, so Duke wondered why there had to be one around his. As he put the shock collar on, Duke asked, “You don’t need to wear one?”
A sharp jolt zapped Duke’s neck, causing white stars to appear in his vision.
“Call him sundak,” Ellie said, glaring at Duke before looking at Sam. “You didn’t teach him any manners?”
“Hasn’t he learned them all now?” Vercedei asked as the illusion of Sam smiled. Although Sam’s aura didn’t change, the illusion Werchbite had created was thorough, causing the layer of color around his body to twinkle with green specks. “Learning directly is better than learning through listening.” The illusion of Sam made eye contact with Duke. “Don’t you agree?”
Duke didn’t agree. Couldn’t Sam have told him everything beforehand? Don’t make eye contact with reptilians; address them as sundak. It wasn’t difficult, and he definitely didn’t need to be stared down by a predator to take those lessons to heart. Of course, now that he was in Et Serpentium, hadn’t the rules of the land been made very clear to him? “Yes, sundak, you’re right.”
Ellie placed her hands on her hips and nodded her head. “It’s good that he learns fast,” the reptilian said, looking up at Sam. “How long are you staying this time?”
“Not long,” Vercedei said. “It’s my job to escort Duke safely to Silva Volucris, so we’ll only be here for as long as necessary.”
“Don’t be like that,” Ellie said to Sam before narrowing her eyes at Duke. If she broke the man’s legs, she’d have an excuse to keep Sam in Et Serpentium for longer, no? The yellow reptilian stared up at Sam. “What’s the hurry? Is his business really, really important?”
“Well,” Vercedei said as the illusion of Sam turned to look at Duke. “What do you think?”
Duke’s expression darkened. It was clear if he didn’t say what the small reptilian wanted him to say, the shock collar would zap him once more. “It’s important,” Duke said, “but we can spare a couple of days. I’ve only heard about Silva Volucris through human channels, so maybe, here, I can learn more about mantids from other non-human sources?” It wouldn’t hurt to be prepared; after all, he wasn’t prepared for Et Serpentium, and he had turned into a pet. “Respectfully, sundak.”
Ellie nodded her head. “Exactly,” she said. “You have to spend a few days here to better prepare yourself to face the mantids. They’re not as nice as we, reptilians, are.”
“Then, it looks like we’ll be staying a couple more days,” Vercedei said, much to Duke’s dismay.
“Great!” Ellie said and beamed. “Let’s go! We’ll have a great time!”
***
Duke did not have a great time. The reptilian way to play with their pets was a bit too rough for Duke’s health. He didn’t enjoy any combat sports like boxing or mixed martial arts, and that was unfortunate because combat sports were a reptilian way of interacting with their pets. Duke stared at the ceiling of the jiggler, a coffin-like container used to heal his injuries through the power of vibrations. It didn’t help he was claustrophobic. The lid of the jiggler slid off, revealing the warm light radiating out of the ceiling.
Duke sat up and shivered, the layer of sweat on his body making the room colder than it actually was. He glanced down at his clothes; they were torn and stained with blood, but the injuries on his skin and flesh underneath had been mended, not even leaving scars behind. Duke climbed to his feet and stepped out of the jiggler before approaching the wall, which opened up for him, revealing Sam and Ellie on the other side.
“See?” Ellie asked, scanning Duke from head to toe. “You didn’t have to cry. Everything gets fixed after we’re done playing.”
Duke’s fingers twitched as he recalled the sensation of his arm breaking from a rather forceful kick. Anyone would cry when experiencing that kind of pain. Duke couldn’t help but turn his head to look at the mercenary he had hired, Sam; the man was impressive, able to spar with Ellie without receiving any serious injuries. It would be even better if Sam could actually do the job he was assigned and escort Duke through Et Serpentium because, quite frankly, Duke was not enjoying reptile land. “Thank you for playing with me, sundak,” Duke said, bowing his head in Ellie’s direction.
“Of course!” Ellie said. “Don’t look so glum. While you were in the jiggler, Sam and I did research on Silva Volucris.”
Duke looked at Sam, and the illusion Werchbite was projecting nodded its head. “It’ll be much safer for us,” Vercedei said. “Though, that’s not to say the journey won’t be dangerous; it’ll only be less dangerous now.”
“Dangerous how?” Duke asked. When he didn’t receive a response, he added, “Sundak.”
“As you know,” Vercedei said, “mantids and reptilians don’t get along well with one another. There’s a zone between Silva Volucris’ and Et Serpentium’s borders where neither mantid nor reptilian tread. We’ll have to pretend to be refugees escaping from Et Serpentium to cross that zone, and it’ll be up to the mantids whether they choose to be aggressive or not.”
“Out of curiosity,” Duke asked, “have either of you sundaks been to Silva Volucris before?”
“Nope,” Ellie said.
“I haven’t either,” Vercedei said. “Don’t worry. Recently, I made friends with a mantid, and he’ll be our host.”
Duke glanced at Ellie. The contact Sam had in Et Serpentium had turned Duke into a human pet. What was Sam’s contact from Silva Volucris going to do to Duke? Also turn him into a pet? However, for the sake of immortality and improving his appearance, Duke was willing to brave the potential dangers to his health and potential blows to his dignity. As for why he didn’t just get plastic surgery, well, he wanted to make money too. If he could find plants that improved one’s appearance and maintained one’s youth, he could sell them for boatloads of money.
“Did you mention the mantid is—”
“Nope,” Vercedei said, cutting Ellie’s words off. “My client doesn’t know any details about my mantid friend, and it should stay that way out of respect for Gregor’s privacy.”
Ellie laughed. “Wow,” she said. “You’re a bully now, aren’t you, Sam?”
Why would Sam be a bully for withholding details about this mantid, named Gregor’s, personal life? Then again, in what situation would a human meet a mantid and become friends with them? Perhaps … the mantid was a fugitive? Duke shook away his errant thoughts; Monarch wouldn’t recommend him someone who would fail a simple mission. He had to trust Sam because there wasn’t anything else he could do in this situation. If Sam decided he were bored and left Duke here, then Duke would die, and Sam probably wouldn’t have anything change in his life.
“I’m not a bully,” Vercedei said. “I’m just doing my job as best I can.”
“If you say so,” Ellie said. “When it comes time to chase you out of Et Serpentium, I’ll try my best to make it look realistic, so you better pay attention in case I really hurt you on accident.”
Duke’s brow furrowed as he recalled Sam’s words from earlier. They were supposed to pretend they were refugees seeking shelter from the overbearing reptilians, so it’d make sense for Ellie to chase them as they fled the country. As long as he paid attention, he wouldn’t get hurt, right?
***
Duke knew what a bike rental was. So, he wasn’t too surprised when he found out the reptilians had a levistone rental where they could rent levistones, reptilian bikes. Although bikes didn’t really have many safety features like windshields or metal sides or seatbelts, Duke felt much safer on one than a levistone, especially since the levistone was whipping through the streets at a certainly illegal velocity. Duke didn’t know how fast he was going since he couldn’t connect to the levistones interface with his Sahasrara; in fact, since his Sahasrara was locked, he couldn’t connect to any interface the reptilians used.
“Sam!” Duke shouted as he clung to the bench, which really needed seatbelts, with his arms and legs wrapped around the structure like a koala. “Aren’t we going too fast!?”
“This is how fast we have to go,” Vercedei said, the illusion of Sam sitting upright with a lazy look on its face. “If we go any slower, they’ll catch us. We can always go faster. The sooner we escape Et Serpentium, the sooner we’ll be driving at regular speeds.”
As for what Sam was actually doing, he was also like a koala, hugging the adjacent bench while keeping his muscles hardened through the use of Toughen. As for the driver, Birdbrained was standing on the floor of the levistone with its wings held out, the eagle positioned like a man on a surfboard. The eagle leaned forward, its neck craning outwards, its eyes squinting ahead at the road—which was blocked by pedestrians and levistones alike.
Chasing after them were three levistones in a triangular formation; the head levistone was piloted by Ellie. The small reptilian raised her arm and shouted, “Bobby! Come back here!”
“Never!” Vercedei shouted back, the illusion of Sam cupping its hands in front of its mouth. “I refuse to be a pet any longer!”
Duke shuddered as he shut his eyes, the last thing them having seen was the road blocked by all sorts of obstacles, living and inanimate. Was this how he was going to die? In a bike, no, levistone accident? A scream whistled past his ears, starting with a low pitch, to a high pitch, and back to a low pitch before fading entirely in the span of less than a second. Wind roared against his face, drowning out the sounds around him. As someone who had unlocked his Anahata, he usually had faith in his body’s endurance, but he very much doubted he’d survive if anything were to strike his head even if accidentally. It wasn’t like he could get off the levistone either. What would he do? Get caught by the reptilians who thought he was making a break for it? They’d tear off a few of his limbs; it’d be lucky if they’d let him grow them back. Living without limbs or being dead, which one was worse? Well, if he died, he’d have died pursuing his dreams, and that was fate. Duke relaxed his mind, but kept hugging the bench for dear life.
The levistone sped up as Birdbrained leaned forward and squawked, the awful sound disappearing into the wind before anyone could even hear it. There was a thumping sound followed by a jolt, and Duke’s stomach went up and down. Grains of sand sprinkled across his face, feeling much like a slap to the cheek. Duke winced and kept his eyes shut, but he opened them once he noticed the levistone had come to a halt. “Where are we?” Duke asked, looking around but being unable to see anything. It was almost completely black, with a few vestiges of light coming from an entrance behind them.
“Underground,” Vercedei said as the illusion of Sam stood up and walked off the levistone.
“I know we’re underground,” Duke said. Et Serpentium was located underground, so saying they were underground didn’t really help. “Is this the way to Silva Volucris?”
“To get there alive, yes,” Vercedei said as Werchbite’s illusion smiled, not that Duke could see it in the dark. “There’s been a slight change of plans. To get to Silva Volucris, we’ll be going through a system of caves populated by graylings.”
“The reptilians won’t follow us?” Duke asked, looking up at the entrance.
“No,” Vercedei said. “The caves are narrow, and reptilians have a tough time navigating the terrain. We’ll have a tough time too, so I hope you’re ready.”
Duke took in a deep breath and nodded. Since he had made up his mind, gained the conviction to die for his dreams and ideals, he was going to put his all into it. Rather than whining about the upcoming struggles, his time would be better spent on getting ready for them.
“Also, they might send humans after us,” Vercedei said, “so if we’re too slow, they’ll catch us.”
A light lit up the illusion of Sam’s face, and Sam offered Duke a flashlight, much to Duke’s relief. If he had to escape through narrow tunnels while completely blind, he wasn’t sure he would make it. He followed Sam up to a crevice that was barely wider than his shins were long, and Sam came to a halt while gesturing. “We crawl through there.”
Duke eyed the cramped space and swallowed. He wasn’t sure he was going to make it, not with his claustrophobia. However, what choice did he have? He already committed to his decision. Duke got on his knees, then onto his belly, and crawled into what could only be described as a slight fissure in the wall. Despite his flashlight shining ahead, showing the reddish orange rocks above and below, Duke could only see darkness ahead. How long did he have to crawl?