Chapter 16: Kreel 2
1005 Words
“I see you wrinkling your nose, weird woman.” The boy looked over his shoulder, then turned back toward the foggy path ahead. “That smell? That’s nature having i*********e with the stench of monster droppings to create a whole new kind of garbage aroma. Learn to live with it. Like the fog, it’s here to stay.”
I grimaced. “The air feels thicker, too.” I touched my dampened hair, my fingers brushing the beads of moisture clinging to it.
“Learn to live with that too,” he said nonchalantly. “You’ll also notice the ground vibrating beneath your feet. That’s the earth whispering to you, weird woman. It never stops.”
“You don’t say?” I limped slightly, having tripped on a sharp stone earlier.
Without a word, the boy had pulled a small container from his cross-bag and smeared a pungent paste over my knee. It stung, but I realized quickly it wasn’t for the pain—it was to mask the scent of my blood.
“You feel it in your belly, don’t you?” he asked, his sharp laughter echoing through the trees.
“Did your parents teach you to be so rude, kid?”
“Watch the branches, big girl,” he said, ignoring my question. “They’ve got acid on them.”
I paused mid-step and reached out to touch a nearby branch out of curiosity.
“Don’t be dumb,” he snapped. “The acid’s poisonous. It burns through your skin, gets into your bloodstream, and—” he mimed an explosion with his hands. “Dead. Just like that. Although, I guess you’d first have to be the nincompoop who touched it in the first place.”
“You could’ve just said it’s deadly,” I said, pulling my hand back.
“Yeah, but I like seeing dumb people flinch. Keeps life interesting.”
“This place is all kinds of messed up,” I muttered. “Killer branches now?”
He smirked. “We poison some of them ourselves. Traps for the creatures who’ve learned to avoid everything else. It works . . . sometimes.”
“What if someone gets hurt?”
“You think we memorize every poisoned branch in Kreel?” he asked incredulously. “Touch one, and you’ll learn quick. Just don’t die before using the antidote. It’s why we all carry one. See?” He shrugged his bag to emphasize his point.
“You could color the poison to make it easier to spot,” I suggested.
“Are you seeing any sunlight down here?” he retorted, gesturing to the ever-present mist. “Bright colors don’t help when it’s always dark. Besides, traps aren’t supposed to be obvious, genius.”
This boy was insufferable, but I bit my tongue. There was no point arguing.
“They say the animals in Kreel are different,” he continued, his tone light again. “Mutated. Bigger, stronger, smarter. Probably why New Comers like you freak out when they see one. The looks on their faces? Priceless.”
“Would you quit trying to scare me?”
“Who’s trying?” He smirked. “Honestly, I don’t think you’ll last long. You look soft, like the kind who should’ve stayed behind. If you’re deadweight, better I leave you here now.”
“Keep. Moving. Child.”
“Call me Gib. And no, my parents didn’t teach me anything. They went beyond the forbidden veil three days after I was born. The Oldlings say it wasn’t my fault, but I know better.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He shrugged. “They couldn’t handle Kreel. Thought it better to disappear than raise a kid here. Guess they loved me in their own messed-up way.”
“You’ve been through a lot,” I said softly.
He ignored me. “Don’t step through those webs. They’ll slice you up cleaner than a blade. Just follow my lead, weird woman. It’s not hard.”
“I’m not weird. Stop calling me that.”
“Can’t. It fits.”
He glanced over his shoulder again, his green eyes so much like mine. A strange sadness lingered behind them, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.
“They say the veil at Kreel’s edge is cursed,” I said. “What’s beyond it?”
“Death,” Gib replied flatly. “The Duwlamareys live there. Creatures that take over your mind with a touch. It’s why the veil is forbidden. One infected i***t could wipe us all out.”
“Why did I come here?” I muttered under my breath.
A sharp pain shot through my chest.
‘Never say that again,’ Naila growled. ‘Or I’ll make your heart burst.’
“I was joking!” I hissed aloud.
Gib turned, watching me warily. “Talking to yourself now, weird woman?”
“Just . . . keep going.”
He snorted. “And you wonder why I think you're weird.”
I sighed, pushing forward.
“The Oldlings will try to make this place feel like home,” he continued. “They’re fools, pretending life here is normal. You’ll see. It’s all fake. I just pray my magic awakens so I can leave this hellhole.”
“They let people leave?”
“If they can survive the Sky Border. Almost there, weird woman. Try not to trip. I’m not carrying you.”
“You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”
He stopped suddenly, his small frame going rigid.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, but he didn’t respond.
“Gib?” I touched his shoulder, but my hand passed through him.
Panic flared as I realized I wasn’t touching flesh, but a long, flat leaf. I recoiled, staring at it in disbelief.
He was gone.
'He’s nowhere nearby,' Naila confirmed.
My breath quickened as I turned in circles, searching the foggy forest.
“Gib?” My voice wavered, but there was no answer.
Only silence.
- Writer
