Klef wakes up before I do the next morning, and is taking a shower when I finally come to. I knock on the door and the water turns off. Klef pokes his dripping head out in front of the door. “Yes?”835Please respect copyright.PENANAr1IDgSzaxX
“I’ve got to pee,” I deadpan.835Please respect copyright.PENANAaNdGuyis7K
“Nah, I don’t think you would yet…you went before bed, didn’t you?”835Please respect copyright.PENANAzasXPULMFT
“Nope,” I say, shaking my head. “Dry off in the bedroom, bird brain.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAvvWIwvENzT
Klef closes the door and I’m about to yell at him when the door opens and he walks out in just a towel. I walk into the bathroom, closing the door harder than necessary. I do my business as fast as I can and open the door to the bedroom when I’m decent. Klef walks in, ruffling his hair and feathers. “There a comb in here?” he asks.835Please respect copyright.PENANAmkHKzt0WHx
I toss the brush by the sink toward Klef. “Use a brush, comb might be hard to find when everyone around here is covered in fur.”835Please respect copyright.PENANADQF1YFu2hc
Klef whines. “But brushes are for long hair!”835Please respect copyright.PENANAROcPI72iCk
“I use a brush, and my hair is almost as short as yours.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAGi6qsRgu5z
“But I don’t wanna!” Klef protests.835Please respect copyright.PENANAkiJWB8gEjb
“Use it or have a nest of birds in your hair.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAgQb7XzCkm3
Klef frowns and chews the bottom of his lip. Then he hands the brush back. “‘Kay, I’ll risk it.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAa8ivVgLTbw
“You are ridiculous,” I scoff, running the brush through my own hair.835Please respect copyright.PENANAQklkXd6O4N
“And you love me for it!” he cheered.835Please respect copyright.PENANAAv83Rq3nKg
I look just beyond Klef, to find Dad in the doorway, jaw dropped and looking murderous. “Klef…” I try to warn.835Please respect copyright.PENANA5gQMtUnJRC
“No no, don’t even try to deny it! You know as well as I do that you are smitten!”835Please respect copyright.PENANANSx9z63u6X
“Klef, it’d be best if you shut up, now.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAX13f1RdIDp
“Oh yeah? Why?”835Please respect copyright.PENANAmeO1olIGTl
“Probably because you didn’t lock the door,” Dad growls.835Please respect copyright.PENANAcAY9bJIQMy
Klef jumps up and runs behind me. I roll my eyes. “Really? Treble, you’re 21.”835Please respect copyright.PENANABaFwqxxd7Y
“Sh-shut up!”835Please respect copyright.PENANAJ9VcjLU6hP
Dad frowns. “A good boyfriend would stand up for his girl, you know.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAW3O4r01KMS
“A good father lets his grown daughter stand up for herself,” I threaten.835Please respect copyright.PENANAP1ofeMnHOu
Dad smiles. “Always nice to see you, Iri.”835Please respect copyright.PENANANKCdvDPeiF
“Why are you here, Dad?” I ask.835Please respect copyright.PENANAxsRbW4lHKe
“I need to get you somewhere safe. Out of the way of a siege or an uprising.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAwX5ZjBlj4J
“Oh, come on, what are the odds of me getting hurt out here?” I scoff.835Please respect copyright.PENANALLlGTQW351
Klef tenses behind me and wraps me in his wings. “Get down!” he yells.835Please respect copyright.PENANAj9eMZG5qnG
All 3 of us hit the floor as a flash of light and a loud BANG appear from the main room. Everything in the room is shrouded in dust and smoke. But when it starts to clear, Klef stands up. “Thought I recognized the shape! That was a grenade!”835Please respect copyright.PENANAZDSL8nIG62
“What’s a grenade?” I rasp, even though I dread the answer.835Please respect copyright.PENANAlhEPHMjB5Y
“It’s a bomb. A small, strong bomb.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAA32FeS1zVh
I swallow and cough. “What was it doing in our bedroom?!”835Please respect copyright.PENANAzfTFaNSEl4
“I saw someone throw it in! Crap, I thought you were gonna die!”835Please respect copyright.PENANAkmrvUTPZqM
Dad growls, fur standing on end as he stands up. “And how do you know what that thing was?”835Please respect copyright.PENANAEL40wePAd2
“I-I stole one once,” Klef says, scratching the back of his neck. “You both know my job. It took my buyer until I got the grenades he wanted to tell me how dangerous it was to have them loose!”835Please respect copyright.PENANAWwRffzHDp0
“How dangerous?” Dad asks.835Please respect copyright.PENANAxYphdPzMB8
“You pull a pin, and then throw it or roll it. When the timer runs out, or if it’s jostled too hard, that happens,” he nods at the flames licking the remains in the bed. “Unfortunately, with more technology being spread, weapons are being made more too.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAzCVNBRk3P6
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” I say, standing up. “That had to have come from the doorway. One of the Crusaders is trying to kill us.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAoUaRhkjnbD
~/~835Please respect copyright.PENANAdixFehGOdj
Bunches of Crusaders, attracted by the noise, swarm the bedroom and bathroom after the flames are put out and the rooms are impossible to navigate. I try to find Klef in the chaos after I’ve been furiously questioned, but in all the people it’s impossible to find his wild dark hair. Ama and Dad whisk me out of the room as soon as I’m close to the door and to my relief Klef is waiting outside. I wasn’t comfortable around him at first, but now I find it hard to be away from him. Maybe it’s Stockholm syndrome, maybe it’s just the fact that someone is trying to kill me. But I’m not going to fight it as long as it doesn’t cause trouble. “Hey, pointy ears,” Klef teases. “Meet anyone in there half as great as me? Anyone I need to beat up?”835Please respect copyright.PENANAfmKvWnuyHn
“Not today, bird brain,” I scoff. “If anyone should be beating up anyone, I should be smacking you around for making that grenade thing public!”835Please respect copyright.PENANAFIu1GT56wT
“I didn’t know it was dangerous, all right?!”835Please respect copyright.PENANAbErvrniBc6
“Oh, a likely story,” I say sarcastically. “I told you your thieving ways would catch up with you.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAGB6NlP9ShE
“Lighten up Ride!” Klef retorts. “You and I both know you thieve as much as I do nowadays.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAQoifIbLpb2
“You have no proof!” I protest.835Please respect copyright.PENANA1ZHfsTJmdh
“A testament to how good you are,” he points out.835Please respect copyright.PENANAD9iIuibgtw
I pause. “I am good,” I reason. “Maybe not at thieving, but I am good.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAyy79wLiTRs
“Oracle,” Ama murmurs. “We need to move you.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAX7PqAtObXC
“Don’t,” I snap. “We need to know who wants to kill me before I can leave. They could just endanger me somewhere else if they tagged along.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAiIYhOedlkc
“Much as I hate to admit it, Iri has a point,” Dad grumbles. “If we move her, she could be in even more danger.”835Please respect copyright.PENANA5PIk3VEeq8
Ama bites her lip. “…Fine. But she’ll need a human I know for protection in addition to myself.”835Please respect copyright.PENANALYYIiO4awh
She walks off and I don’t hesitate to follow. “So…can I ask you a personal question?” I request.835Please respect copyright.PENANAqdjM6Ffysk
“I won’t guarantee an answer, but sure,” Ama says, smiling.835Please respect copyright.PENANAAoxCBEqonU
“You seem so sweet. How are you a necromancer?”835Please respect copyright.PENANAZ7lK1mkrRP
Ama’s smile drops. “You wouldn’t like me angry, let’s put it that way,” she mumbles.835Please respect copyright.PENANAAKi8YFwOeq
Someone laughs walking towards us down the hallway. “You lose it again, Ama?” they chuckle. “Bobbi, they/them. Pleasure to meet you.”835Please respect copyright.PENANASGHQjcXfy5
“Likewise,” I stammer.835Please respect copyright.PENANAg6Q0I7sRAt
Bobbi runs a hand through their bright blue hair and fixes me with hazel eyes. “So you’re the Oracle, huh?”835Please respect copyright.PENANAMp7N6ZC23f
I cringe. “Uh…yeah.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAYGsMPUXJW5
“See anything about me?” they tease.835Please respect copyright.PENANAx1j7qecxT4
“Bobbi!” Ama reprimands.835Please respect copyright.PENANAGUW88VgBOJ
I laugh, but it’s too high and sounds more like a choke. “Haven’t seen you that I know of,” I supply. “Sight is sort of finicky. Can’t really control it like everyone thinks.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAmp4M3RhiI4
Bobbi nods. “Wasn’t expecting much,” they chuckle. “I’m not a celebrity like you.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAPjoak24NQX
“Please don’t call me a celebrity,” I ask. “I don’t know you all that well, and it sort of…makes me really uncomfortable.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAcDYOMc0UYQ
“Oh!” Bobbi exclaims. “Sorry. Want to go somewhere quiet? Away from everyone like me who doesn’t know how to make sure you’re comfortable?”835Please respect copyright.PENANAVxE0CgHP9l
“Is there such a place?” I laugh.835Please respect copyright.PENANAHlJ2WoggYH
Bobbi crooks a finger. “Follow me.”835Please respect copyright.PENANA0pCQ0BonZC
I run to keep up with their quick pace. Ama follows behind, slower. “Bobbi is who I was going to look for. They’re my partner in crime, I suppose, the way you and Klef are to everyone around here. I couldn’t think of someone I’d rather have my back in a fight more.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAYkabP2uZpg
“Oh you,” Bobbi laughs, looking back at Ama. “Speaking of, where’s your partner in crime?” they ask me.835Please respect copyright.PENANAu4qB5Zlw11
“Oh, Klef!” I exclaim. “I left him at the bedroom we used last night! I’m not sure if I could find my way back, though,” I say, looking back down the hall we were walking through, upset.835Please respect copyright.PENANAzAhaHlrY6f
“He’ll find us,” Bobbi assures. “He’s that kind of guy.”835Please respect copyright.PENANAeu4zOP9gjP
“He’s really not the best tracker, especially in a concrete jungle.”835Please respect copyright.PENANA7sO2dMxzg7
“True, but he also won’t stop until he finds you. It’s his way of caring,” Bobbi rebuts.835Please respect copyright.PENANAT28nNBFNIO
I smile at that. “He’s a big softie,” I sigh, shaking my head.835Please respect copyright.PENANAyEV9uxhUJn
“Oh, we’re here,” Bobbi says, gesturing to a nondescript door.835Please respect copyright.PENANAC7FGrVXrpe
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The Poison Tree's Fruit
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The Poison Tree's Fruit
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shnuffeluv
ISSUE #4
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The Poison Tree's Fruit
Fantasy
Suspense
Last updated: Nov 27, 2016
Total word count: 44,832
Total reading time: 208 Minutes
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