The Rifts of Psyche, Kyle West [i love reading .txt] 📗

of metals in this place, outside the guards’ bronze shockspears. And why bronze, anyway? Maybe this world was iron-poor, or maybe they didn’t have the capacity to get their fires hot enough.

They had now arrived at the bonfire, the flames about twice Lucian’s height. There were around twenty people gathered so far, and all conversation went silent at Lucian’s approach. He stood still for a moment. Should he wave or something?

“Your seat’s over there,” Kieron said in his deep voice, pointing a meaty hand at the opposite end of the flame. There was a wooden chair, separated from the rest of the assembly, while the rest of the seating was arranged on the other side.

He watched in silence as the village filled the chairs up, including the two girls he had seen earlier. He kept his eyes far away from them. Captain Fergus, along with some of his guards, stood right outside the meeting hall entrance just a few meters away. From within that building, Lucian could smell spiced meat and the aroma of freshly baked bread. His stomach rumbled. He hadn’t eaten since Serah had shared some of her breakfast, and that hadn’t been much at all. He was so hungry that he was feeling somewhat lightheaded and nauseated. Hopefully, this was over and done with quickly.

His eyes flicked back to the pretty, dark-haired girl, who he guessed to be Kieron’s daughter. Why was he looking at her again? Exhaustion and nervousness were a poor combination.

At last, the murmuring of the crowd died at the sound of approaching footsteps. It took every ounce of will for Lucian not to turn. He wondered whether he should stand, but decided to remain seated. There were still five empty chairs, placed slightly in front of the rest. Elder Ytrib and another elderly man with a long, gray beard sat down, along with three women. All the women wore their hair long, their bone jewelry clanking on their necks and from their ears. Lucian noticed what looked like the tip of the wyvern fang he’d given to Ytrib was now part of the Elder’s necklace. That might be a point in Lucian’s favor.

The following silence was thick, and the only thing that could be heard was the crackle of flames and the rush of the stream. Lucian wiped a bead of sweat trailing down his brow. The heat of the flames was almost unbearable. Or was that only his nerves?

At once, Elder Ytrib withdrew his spear, which made Lucian go stiff in his seat. But he only rapped it three times on the rocky ground beneath.

“Rise, Outsider. Your Accounting has begun.”

Lucian swallowed the lump in his throat and rose. He hoped he hadn’t missed a spot shaving. Is that why the blacksmith’s daughter was smiling with the mischievous eyes? He needed to stop looking at her.

“You may begin your address.”

Instantly, a hundred pairs of eyes went on him. Lucian cleared his throat, hoping that whatever he said, he didn’t sound stupid. He wasn’t good at being judged, as his fatal audience with the Transcends had clearly shown.

“First, my name is Lucian. Lucian Abrantes. In case you didn’t already know. I’d like to thank you and your people for your hospitality. I landed two days ago way up in the Upper Reaches. Um, I crashed, to be more accurate. Hopefully, all of you will allow me to stay here until I get my bearings.” He gave a nervous laugh. Everyone remained silent. “Well, I’m honored to be here, and would be happy to answer any questions you might have.”

“The Elders will be asking the questions,” one of the female Elders said, primly. Her long gray hair and hawkish gaze reminded him too much of Transcend White, and of course, Vera. Like those two, he got the sense that she was a powerful mage indeed. “I will begin. Are you frayed, Outsider?”

“No,” he said. Why were they staring as if he were lying? “At least, not to my knowledge. I’ve been told it’s hard for a fray to know they are fraying until the signs are obvious.”

“And are they very obvious?”

“Err . . . no. Not by my estimation. There’s no rot, and I can still think straight.”

“We shall soon see about that.”

An icy silence followed this statement. Lucian tried to ignore all the eyes on him.

Elder Ytrib was next to speak. “Give your Accounting, Outsider. That was only an introduction. Choose your words well.”

As if he wasn’t already trying his best to do that. “I will, Elder.” He licked his lips. “As I said before, my pod crashed two days ago in the Upper Reaches. It took me a couple of days before I could find my way down—”

“How did you find Kiro?” one of the other female Elders interrupted. Of the three women, she had the most bone jewelry around her thin neck, adorning her hair, piercing her nose, ears, and mouth.

“A fray led me here. A girl.”

Elder Ytrib held up a gnarled hand, and Lucian stopped speaking at once. “You need not name her. We know the details.”

Some in the crowd started whispering at that. There was something he was missing. Serah was known here, which made sense, considering she used to live here. That meant these very people had exiled her once upon a time, and associating with her might be a point against him.

The other male Elder, who had a long, narrow face and dark skin, broke his silence. “Why don’t you tell us some of your history, Outsider. Who you are, where are you from, and what brings you here?”

“Yes, I should have done that at the start. My name is Lucian, as I said before. I’m from Earth.”

That made the crowd whisper even more, as if Earth were some mythical place that people only heard rumors about. In this backwater of a backwater, he might as well have said he had come down from heaven itself. If only these people knew that Florida was closer to a drowned,