NOVEL NEXT Chapter 52: Dinner [II]
There was something unnervingly familiar about his voice, about his smile. He wasn't in Yulia's slideshow. I breathed in deep, trying to determine whether Uxtish was my enemy on pre-shift Earth.
Something pricked at my senses, a faint, unsettling resonance that tugged at the edges of my Scrutimancy. I focused, inhaling deeply, reaching out with my Astral senses, and then… recognition slammed into me like a physical blow.
Those eyes… that smile… that predatory charm… the Phase-shift.
A Skinwalker.
I tried very hard to stay calm even though I was freaking out on the inside, my heart hammering into the stratosphere. An electric zap rushed up my hand.
[What's going on?] Vespera's mental static-voice asked.
[Enemy,] I thought back through the Resonance between us. [Very dangerous enemy. Outsider!]
"No, I didn't come here to see you, Ux," Cinder said. "I… ummm…"
Uxtish, oblivious to the silent alarm bells ringing in my head, turned his charming smile to Cinder, his amber eyes gleaming with what could pass as affection, but to me, screamed calculation. "You know, I didn't take you for a fox," the Skinwalker said. "Thought you'd go to the dragon house or join me here. Is that why you're sitting here? You wanted to see me?"
Cinder bristled, her silver feathers ruffling defensively. "I can eat wherever I damn well please, Ux," she retorted, her voice sharp. "And these are my… friends." She emphasized the word 'friends' with a pointed glance at our mismatched group, a possessive edge creeping into her tone.
"Friends, of course," Uxtish chuckled, his smile widening, not quite reaching his eyes. He fixed his amber gaze on me, a slow, deliberate scan that felt like a physical probe. "And who is this… charmingly… diminutive creature?" His gaze lingered on my fox-makeup face, a flicker of something unreadable in his amber depths.
"My kobold," Cinder replied.
"A new… acquisition, Songbird? A rather… unimpressive low level Kitsune specimen, even for a pet."
My hackles rose. I slammed my fight or flight instinct down. The monster didn't recognize me under my makeup. Or maybe he did and wasn't showing it.
"Pleased to meet you, Scion Uxtish," I said, lowering my eyes and projecting submissiveness. "I am… Cinder's… kobold servant."
Uxtish's smile tightened, a subtle shift that only I, attuned to the nuances of his predatory charm, could detect. "Servant, is it?" He tilted his head, his amber eyes narrowing slightly, still fixed on me.
"Yes. He's mine," Cinder interjected, her voice hardening, a protective growl rumbling in her chest. She placed a possessive clawed hand on my shoulder, sending a reassuring warmth through me. "Don't you worry about my 'bold', Uxtish. He's well… trained." Her blue eyes flashed a warning at the wolf-man.
"Are you a well trained, obedient 'bold? Why don't you fetch me a mana wine and clear this seat for me?"
"Screw off," Vespera said. "He ain't your 'bold to boss, ya fleshknob. Also, I'ma give you fifteen seconds to lay off the pretty-face Phase-Shift, you're startin' to piss me off. Thirteen..."
Her hand rose in the air, pointed at Uxtish, wings spreading wide and humming with deep Electrofractal charge building up.
"Such impoliteness," Uxtish shook his head. "You do realize if you attack me at dinner you'll be expelled from the hall, yes?"
"Like I give a shit," Vespera said. "We can always order takeout from the town. 'Sides, you're using hostile mental magic on us. Trying to adjust your appearance to our preferences to manipulate us is just as magically potent as me frying your ass with a lightning bolt. Seven. Six."
Uxtish stepped back, his body wolfing up and becoming pale and gray, the pretty human face dissolving away.
"Such a temper, Thunderbird. It's… almost endearing. But entirely unnecessary. I was merely testing the… dynamic here. Observing the hierarchy." His eyes flashed to Cinder. "Are you not in charge of this group, Songbird?"
"I am," Cinder said with a weary sigh. "Vee, please don't zap my fiance."
"I'll zap whomever I wanna," Vespera huffed, not lowering her sparking hand. "I don't trust this fleshface in the slightest. One wrong move, fleshfold, and you'll be eating lightning for dessert."
Uxtish chuckled again, a low, rumbling sound. "Duly noted, Thunderbird. I wouldn't dream of crossing you… or my darling Songbird." He turned his attention back to the Quetzalcoatl, his smile widening again, the predatory charm turned up a notch. "Are you really slumming it with the Gorefield crowd? Don't tell me you've developed a sudden appreciation for… dark practicality?" He gestured dismissively at the muted colors of the Gorefield robes around us.
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Cinder shifted uncomfortably, her silver feathers bristling slightly. "We're… just visiting," she said, her voice a little strained.
"How… touching. Gorefield and Silverfox, fraternizing. Truly, the Celestorm has wrought wondrous changes," Uxtish laughed.
"Just leave us alone, Uxtish," Cinder said, her voice losing its forced politeness, hardening into a growl. "We're eating. We can talk on Omnigram and hang out… later."
"Of course, of course," Uxtish raised his hands in a gesture of mock surrender. "Wouldn't dream of interrupting your… inter-house bonding session. Just wanted to check in on my fiery fiancee, make sure you haven't forgotten about me in your rush to join the silver den." He winked at Cinder, then his amber eyes flicked over our group one last time, lingering on me for a moment longer before he straightened up, his smile still fixed in place. "Enjoy your… meal. And do try to stay out of trouble, Songbird."
With a final, almost mocking bow, Uxtish turned and strode away, disappearing into the Gorefield section, leaving a palpable tension hanging in the air.
"What the shit, Vee?" Cinder growled at Vespera. "Can you not go five minutes without starting a fight?"
"That bone-knob is a creepshow! He smells like… like… fake charm and bad intentions. And Phase-Shift pheromones, ugh. I felt like I was drowning in a bucket of oily charm-juice," Vespera growled. "How can you stand him?"
"Same way I can stand you," Cinder crossed her arms. "You're both at my tolerance threshold."
Vespera huffed. "Please. You like me. And you tolerate him because… reasons I will never understand." She glared in the direction Uxtish had gone.
Cinder's face, already flushed from the encounter, darkened further. "Look, he's my arranged Prima. It's… family stuff and therefore none of your business." She snapped, her voice sharper than necessary.
Mags, who had been silently observing the exchange with wide red eyes, finally spoke. "Arranged… like a sacrifice?" Her gaze flicked between Cinder and the direction Uxtish disappeared, as if she could see something we couldn't. "Or a… binding?"
Cinder flinched. "Shut it, Mags," Cinder hissed, her voice losing some of its bluster. "You and your… your scrutiny is not needed here."
"I think that this is exactly where it's needed," Mags said coldly. "He's bad news, Ci. Very, very, bad news. Gorefield is a house of Omnids aligned with darkness. And he's… incredibly dark. Murderously… dark. Stab you with a bone knife in the heart dark."
Cinder shuddered. "Stop that!"
"Did you knobs come here just to insult my house?" Katherine growled.
"Nah," I said. "You're the good kind of dark. Uxtish is a bad kind of dark."
"You don't know me," Katherine said. "I'm not a good person."
"I'm going to have to disagree with this statement," I said.
"And you're basing this… expert assessment on what? Your vast experience with bad kinds of dark?" Katherine asked.
"I'm not alone here in my ability to sense the overwritten past. Magdaline is a Scrut too," I waved a hand towards the shark-girl who was still radiating an aura of unease. "She can smell dangerous individuals."
Magdaline nodded. "His scent is… wrong. Tainted. It's not just… Gorefield darkness. It's something else. Something… ancient and hungry."
Cinder shivered, despite herself. "Maybe he's a bit… intense. But he's… he's connected. Important. Legon family and Clan are… well off." She trailed off.
"Connected to stabbing you in the heart," Magdaline said.
"Mags, seriously, stop it. You're freaking me out," Cinder growled.
"You should be freaked out," Magdaline said. "It is my assessment as a Scrut that you should avoid that Omnid."
"I can't freaking avoid him!" Cinder slammed her fist into the table. "We're soul-bonded. He's my fiance! I… I can manage him, okay? I'm a dragon! I just have to get stronger, that's all!"
"A Psychopomp can carve out a soul bond," Vespera offered.
"This bond doesn't smell like it can be… carved away easily," Magdaline shook her head. "And I don't think that you'll be able to control Uxtish, Ci. He smells… dangerously high level and Outsidery."
The waitress arrived with our drinks. Cinder grabbed a bottle of mana-restoring wine and chugged half of it, glaring at us.
"There you are!" A deep voice boomed. "I was looking for you!"
"Effin Abyss," All of Vespera's feathers turned black. "Knobs are really askin' for a zappin' today!"
I turned my head, noticing a rotund frogman in gold and red robes staring down at us. He was flanked by a lanky, antlered Wendigo and a bulky, muscular Lagarfljót Worm.
"The fuck you want, Zheng?" Vespera growled.
"Vee, Vee, my fiery blossom! There you are, hiding amidst the… gloom of Gorefield? Are you lost, my little thundercloud? Surely, you know Pyroclast tables offer far more… invigorating company," Zheng boomed, his voice echoing across the Gorefield section, drawing the attention of nearby students. His beady froggy red eyes, fixed on Vespera, but his wide smile seemed strained, almost forced, as if he was trying too hard to project confidence.
Vespera's wings twitched violently, sending sparks flying around "Get lost, before I vaporize you, Frogface. I already told you that we're done!"
"You have," Zheng shrugged. "Repeatedly. Alas, we cannot be done. The merger of Golden Star and SimmiTech is inevitable according to our Probability Engines. You must accept your fate with grace, my thundercloud."
"How about you accept my fist up yo ass if you don't vanish within the next ten seconds," Vespera growled, standing up and humming like a transformer about to explode. "Nine…"
"Your family will hear about this insubordination," Zheng retreated behind the Lagarfljót Worm. "I simply wished to… check in on my fiancee. Ensure she wasn't succumbing to the… subpar ambiance of this section." He gestured around the Gorefield tables with a wave of his webbed hand.
"I was perfectly fine before your green ass showed up, Zheng," Vespera snapped. "And I'm not your 'fiancee'. We're just… contractually betrothed. A temporary situation that'll be resolved as soon as I fully take over SimmiTech. Now I suggest you vanish before I fry you and your Sixies! Five. Four. Three. Two…"