Chapter 3

To answer Perditus’ question, his decision to accompany the four Agori had significantly altered things. Kirbraz had already been reluctant to bring two suspicious Agori onboard, and now that Perditus was joining them, even Scodonius was starting to balk. But it was too late now: there was no excuse not to go, for everyone knew the others were heading in the same general direction.

Morning dawned bright across the desert. Breakfast was pleasant, for Perditus shared some of his rations with the refugees as they grew acquainted. This was followed by a moment of panic and confusion as Kirbraz revealed that he had, in fact, accidentally lost the map and had no idea where they were going. Fortunately, Perditus produced a map of his own, and before long they were off.

The names of the two refugees, as it turned out, were Vocta and Kaldii. They disclosed little more about their background than they had already described, yet the more he interacted with them, the more Perditus found himself easing. Because there was little room in the Kaxium for them, the two sat on either side of the Thornatus cockpit, and from there, it was easy enough to chat with them. The Water Agori drove to the side, and since the vehicle engines were specifically designed to not drown out arena banter, they were able to hear everything pretty easily.

“So perhaps you can explain this to me, then,” Perditus said, once more feeling for information. “Why was it that so many of the female Skrall broke from the males on the way down?”

“It’s… it’s a bit of a long story, and even I’m not familiar with all of it,” Vocta responded. “But basically there was a bit of a feud between Tuma, the main Skrall overlord and Cervana, the mistress of the Skrall Sisters. The two were once pretty close, but then they got into a big fight and hated each other ever since. Long story short, it boiled to a head when they were retreating south along the pass between the ranges. Tuma was pretty mad at the slow speed they were going—”

“Wait a second,” Scodonius interrupted. “Retreating? What from?”

“From machines built by the Great Beings,” Kaldii butted in. “The Skrall named them Baterra. They slaughtered every warrior sent to stop them.”

Perditus nodded. Yes, he’d learned of the Baterra in the final days of the Core War.

“Yes,” Vocta said, with an undertone of irritation at the interruption. “Anyway, Tuma was mad at the slow progress—which honestly it was probably more that the Rock Agori were slowing everyone down, trying to carry as much as they could grab when they fled. But Cervena intervened on their behalf, Tuma blew up with her, and the next thing they knew, the Skrall Sisters were abandoned overnight under the claim that they were dead-weight.”

“Sounds like something any of our villages would do, to be honest,” Kirbraz posited. “Maybe the Skrall fit in better than they realize.”

“Oh?” Perditus raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, sure. You Glatorian don’t get much of it since everyone needs you—but if it boiled down to it, I wouldn’t put it past even our own village to leave us out to dry.”

“Everyone’s desperate,” Scodonius nodded. “You should have seen how the Iconox elder shot down Tajun’s proposal of joint-ownership of the Fladuris Gardens.”

Perditus frowned. “Still, I think that’s a bit extreme…”

“Nah, not really.”

“They would one-hundred percent. Again, you’re a Glatorian, Perditus. Everyone needs you.”

“We’re just Agori. We’re lucky Tajun depends on us as much as it does.”

“And even then, we have to work tirelessly to stay on top. Sure a lot of people hate our showmanship style, but at least it keeps us memorable. And being remembered keeps us employable.”

The Fire Glatorian regarded the Water Agori coolly, but as they continued talking, he considered this. Perhaps they had a point. After all, hadn’t even Ackar so frequently confided in him frustration at the same thing? “How quickly they forget,” he lamented so often these days.

He was about to say something when he spied a glimmer of red on the horizon.

Odd, he thought. Someone from the fire tribe this far north?

He veered the Thornatus in the direction of the red spot.

“Wait a minute!” Scodonius shouted after him. “Where are you going?”

Perditus rolled his eyes, but said nothing, content to let them figure it out on their own.

“Where are we going?” asked Kaldii, pensively.

“Going to see what some Fire Villagers need,” Perditus replied. “Won’t take too long.”

From the Kaxium, Scodonius and Kirbraz exchanged glances.

“Let’s just ditch them and keep going,” the latter offered.

“Something I would be quite open to… if someone hadn’t lost our only map.”

So the Kaxium whirled to follow the Thornatus, the sounds of grumbling emanating from it all the way.

✴        ✴        ✴

As Perditus drew within range of the red splotches colored like a Rock Steed’s hide, he seemed increasingly certain that the red was large twisted metal. That in itself was confusing—there were large pieces of iron that seemed twisted and melded together like some sort of patchwork sculpture. Perditus threw a glance around him, but there was no sign of any other such assembly as far as the Skrall River that he could see. He looked again at the twisted form.

“Stay here,” he told the Rock Agori on the sides of his Thornatus as he slowed the vehicle to a halt. “This is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“You’re going to look at it?”

Perditus nodded, opening the cockpit and crawled out. Stepping onto the sand, he felt a tingling sensation on the rear base of his skull—the same he’d felt earlier, upon first meeting the Rock Agori. As he approached the red form, he noted tools and cloth materials thrown all around, as if someone had attempted building some sort of structure out of it.

He hesitated.

Not long ago, some Glatorian friends of his had come along this route south. Had they said anything about encountering anything like this on their trek? Any makeshift shelter or exile? Malum had already associated himself with the Vorox, not that there was any way he could assemble such materials.

Then—a flash of orange movement among the wreckage. Perditus’ heart sank as it clicked.

At that moment, the Kaxium was rolling up beside the Thornatus.

“What do you see?” shouted Kirbraz.

Perditus whirled.

“It’s—”

A massive red mechanical leg erupted from the sand.

“Skopio!” Telluris roared.