Bastial Energy by B. T. Narro Page A

hanging loosely on the wall.
    Doe had the same grimace as usual. It had taken Zoke months before he figured out that he wasn’t the cause of the disdain always found on Doe’s fat Slugari face.
    “We have a task, and we believe you’ll be the best fit for it.” Doe’s voice was even deeper and coarser than Haemon’s. “To be sure, we need you to answer the following questions honestly.” Doe glanced at Vithos, who then took a step toward Zoke.
    Zoke still hadn’t gotten used to the way Vithos looked at him as he posed questions. Although the Elf was shorter than most male Krepps, he was still taller than Zoke, and would dip his chin toward his throat to stare through the tops of his eyes. Vithos had big, wide eyes that came to a point on both ends. As he stared, the only whites of his eyes that could be seen were under and around his dark brown irises, forming two troubling grins within each socket. His mouth always remained flat.
    “Do you wish to harm me?” Vithos asked Zoke.
    Zoke jumped back, wondering what he’d done recently that might have given Vithos this impression. “No,” he answered honestly. He almost asked the reason for the question but knew that explanation would come soon enough.
    “Do I pose a threat to you?” Vithos’ tone didn’t change. There was no pitch to it, nothing to let Zoke know what he was thinking.
    “No,” Zoke said and gladly let his confusion show.
    “If your task was to search for Slugari and you found one in the wild, would you kill it and eat it without notifying anyone?”
    “No, I would capture or kill it and bring it back. I have no significant interest in Slugari meat.” He knew that Doe, Haemon, and Vithos were aware of his inability to smell, but he’d never been asked about it in a situation like this. Vithos nodded at Doe to let him know Zoke had been truthful.
    Doe spoke next. “As you know, we’ve been searching for the hidden Slugari colony for many years now. While there are several teams of Krepps involved in the search, Vithos and I have been leaving our encampment whenever time allowed to contribute to the search as well. Vithos’ ability to sense the presence of the Slugari may be the only way of finding them. However, we can’t use Vithos to search as much as we would like because we don’t have enough time to constantly leave the encampment.”
    Zoke noticed that Vithos’ eyes had wandered to the ground, not that he knew what it meant. The Elf looked something between bored and upset. Doe didn’t seem to notice it or just didn’t care. His beady Slugari eyes were focused on Zoke, glaring.
    “You and Vithos will spend six days traveling north to Nor. There, you will search for the Slugari. The southwest corner of Nor is where you should look. Vithos hasn’t searched that area yet. We expect the entire trip to take no more than fifteen days. If you find this task to be more enjoyable than your current task, these trips can become more frequent. Do you understand what we’re asking?”
    More enjoyable? It was strange for Doe to even feign interest in another’s enjoyment. “Yes,” Zoke answered, though, he wondered what he could do to help protect Vithos that the Elf couldn’t already do with his psychic power.
    “Good. If you have questions, direct them to Vithos. You’ll be leaving tomorrow morning.” Doe started to turn his rotund body, an arduous process it seemed.
    Tomorrow…that’s too early. Zoke knew he shouldn’t say anything, but he blurted it before he could stop himself. “Zeti has started the shedding of her birth skin, and I wish to prepare food, water, and medicine for her during this time. I would like to wait one more day before we leave if time allows.” The confidence in his voice startled him, especially as it was the first time he didn’t silently follow an order.
    “No,” Doe grunted. “All the preparations are set for you both to leave tomorrow.”
    “May another Krepp be selected for this? It’s an