Page 19 of Null & Void

“You want to fight with me?” I ask, surprised. “Of course we can.”

“It was actually Riley’s idea, but I wanted you to feel settled first. I think that nonsense tonight was his very unsubtle way of trying to get us to spar together.”

“He’s about as subtle as a brick to the face. Anyway, I live and breathe the fight, Bitty. I probably would have settled in faster if you’d asked me sooner,” I joke, as we reach Bitty and Beans’ door.

“Don’t hold back though. The others refuse to fight with me properly when we spar, and I hate it.” Bitty’s dimpled smile widens, and they enter their room waving a polite goodnight.

I shake my head with a small, incredulous laugh. I’m not sure I’ve been asked to not hold back before. Not since I was maybe eleven. I’m mulling over everything I can teach Bitty as I fall asleep like it’s a children’s story lulling me into slumber.

A loud slam wakes me with a jolt. The knives at my wrists are already in my hands before I remember where I am. I sit up, listening to what’s going on before returning my knives. I can hear a man and a woman’s voice in the hallway. I unlock my door and crack it open silently to sneak a peek.

It’s an incredibly drunk Riley and a tall Nemorisborn woman, clinging to each other, stumbling down the hallway. Riley trips and the couple slam into a wall, laughing and shushing themselves as they continue. They pass Riley and Tovi’s room, and I have to open my door a bit wider to see them as they go further down the hall to what I assume must be the woman’s room instead.

I close my door quietly. I’m so confused, are Riley and Tovi not together?

In the morning, I head downstairs to find Beans and Bitty are already eating breakfast and they wave me over to their table.

“The eggs are delicious Mika—you should get a plate before they’re gone,” Beans suggests, and Bitty nods enthusiastically.

I move to the bar to order a plate of whatever the two of them are eating and quickly return to the table. “Have either of you seen Tovi or Riley yet?” I ask, slipping into one of the chairs.

“Not yet, but I’ve heard them both. Riley is, no surprise, hungover and going to be a miserable travel companion,” Bitty complains.

“When is he not a miserable travel companion, Bitty?” Beans laughs with a mouthful of egg and toast.

Then why is he here? I want to ask, but I hold my tongue instead.

My plate of food arrives at the same time Tovi and Riley do, who both order a plate of eggs as well. Riley has a scowl and Tovi looks like she finds his hangover incredibly amusing.

The scrambled eggs are spiced with something peppery, and they taste excellent, especially with the buttery toast. Riley hasn’t said a word, but the other three are chatting away about how much ground they hope to cover today.

It’s no surprise that we don’t cover nearly as much ground today. Riley says his headache has nothing to do with the hangover but none of us buy it. He even seems more annoyed than the rest of us that we didn’t travel as much as we had hoped.

It doesn’t help that we’re constantly dodging a beautiful, but incredibly poisonous flower today. Each flower is probably the size of my head and hangs around seven or eight feet in the air. Dark, almost black, green petals in a bell shape facing the ground, with a long and fluffy purple stamen hanging down a few feet. It looks so soft that you’d almost be tempted to run your hands down the feathery-looking thing. At which point hundreds of hair fine spikes would embed into your skin, causing such a serious allergic reaction that—unless you manage to chop off the affected limb in time—is fatal. Stunning plants to look at though.

We stop in a well-wooded area with the tiniest of clearings. There is enough room for a small fire and our five bedrolls, with Tovi and Riley to my left, and Beans and Bitty to my right.

Taking advantage of the early stop, I ask Bitty if they want to spar. I barely have time to finish my sentence before Bitty is up. They’re bounding toward a slightly bigger clearing we passed earlier but was too sloped to camp in.

Bitty is quick, but not as quick as me. Though they’re stronger, I am never the stronger one, so this doesn’t surprise me. Their moves are predictable and clearly based on choreographed steps.

“When I said, ‘don’t hold back,’ I didn’t mean, absolutely annihilate me every single time!” Bitty announces, panting.

“You basically write your next move on your forehead before you do it—you really are quite predictable,” I tease.

I let Bitty get a few good knocks into my ribs, a kick to my thigh, and graze my face with their elbow, so they’re not totally discouraged. But after two hours, they call it quits.

“Next time, let's actually practice, and I’ll give you tips on how to be less predictable. You need to trust your intuition more and rely less on the steps you’ve been taught.”

Bitty grins and nods, wiping sweat from their brow. We head toward the stream nearby to rinse our faces, and I spot Riley sitting a short distance from where Bitty and I were sparring. I didn’t realize he had been watching.

After a quick dinner, Beans advises that Bitty is on the first watch, followed by himself, Riley, and me, and then Tovi is on last watch. I decide to make some swordmint tea while Tovi and Riley go for a walk together, Tovi’s arm around his waist. Bitty is telling Beans all about our session, sparing no details.

Later, when Bitty goes on watch, Beans thanks me.

“Both Tovi and Riley are too scared they’ll hurt Bitty, and I already have. But it’s counterintuitive because, without training, Bitty is more vulnerable. I usually shove them up a tree during a fight, since they’re good with throwing knives,” Beans says with a grimace.

“Bitty didn’t get training in Osraed?”

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