The Rhino was snoring. It sounded like a chainsaw cutting through wet gravel.
Ren sat with his back against the stone wall of the Gatekeeper's guard post, shivering. The fight was over, the adrenaline had drained away, and now the cost of his power was coming due.
He was starving.
It wasn't a normal hunger. It was a cavernous, clawing emptiness in his gut. His body had burned through days' worth of calories to knit his shattered arms back together in seconds. His hands shook, not from fear, but from hypoglycemia.
"Catch."
A dark object sailed through the air. Ren's reflexes, sharpened by the Wild Soul, snatched it out of the air.
It was a tin of military-grade meat rations.
Ren looked up. Kaira was sitting on the unconscious Rhino's chest, rummaging through the beast's pockets. She looked completely at ease, as if sitting on a two-ton monster was a normal Tuesday afternoon.
"Eat," she said, tossing a canteen of water to him next. "Regeneration burns fuel. If you don't eat, your body starts digesting your own organs to fix the damage. Trust me, you don't want to feel your liver being metabolized."
Ren shuddered and cracked the tin open. He shoveled the cold, salty meat into his mouth with his fingers. It tasted like heaven.
Kaira hopped down from the Rhino, holding a small pouch of coins and a heavy iron key ring. She jingled them happily.
"Not a bad haul. Gatekeepers always hoard the good stuff."
She walked over to Ren and slid down the wall to sit next to him. She pulled out a strip of dried jerky for herself and took a bite.
The sun had fully set now. The only light came from the bioluminescent fungi beginning to glow in the Savage Garden ahead of them, casting eerie blue and purple shadows through the twisted iron gate.
"So," Kaira said, chewing thoughtfully. "You're a Scribe. Which means you can read. Which means you're probably smarter than you look. Which is good, because you look like a wet sock."
Ren swallowed a mouthful of rations. "Thanks. And yes, I was an apprentice at the Spire. I spent my life copying old maps and royal decrees."
"Boring," Kaira decided.
"It was safe," Ren countered. "I liked safe."
Kaira looked at him sideways. Her sea-green eyes caught the faint light. "Safe is a lie, Ren. The Wilding proved that. You can be safe in your tower one minute and falling out of it the next."
Ren wiped his mouth. The food was helping. The shaking in his hands had stopped.
"Why are you doing this, Kaira?" he asked. "You talk about gold, looting jewelry shops. You're strong enough to rule a district if you wanted to. Why risk your life going to the Sanctum?"
Kaira went quiet. She stopped chewing. For a moment, the tough, cynical shell cracked just a fraction. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the silver locket she had stolen earlier. She turned it over in her chitin-plated fingers.
"I have a sister," she said softly. "Elara."
Ren waited.
"She's a Norm," Kaira continued, her voice hardening. "The Aether didn't change her. But it didn't leave her alone, either. The radiation… it made her sick. Her lungs are turning to glass. She can barely breathe."
She snapped the locket shut and shoved it back into her pocket.
"There's a healer in the Sanctuary District. A Pangolin type. He says he can cure her, but his price is astronomical. I need the Royal Treasury, Ren. I'm not going to the Sanctum to save the world. I'm going there to buy my sister's life."
Ren looked at her. He saw the desperation hidden behind the violence. She wasn't fighting for greed. She was fighting for love.
"We'll get it," Ren said.
Kaira snorted. "Optimist. We haven't even entered the Green Zone yet. We have to get past the Lions, the factories, the sky-raiders… and whatever is waiting in the throne room."
"We'll get past them," Ren said. He leaned forward, using his finger to draw a shape in the dirt between them.
It was a circle with a star in the middle, surrounded by five towers.
"This is the Sanctum," Ren said. "I memorized the blueprints three years ago when the King ordered a renovation of the sewers."
Kaira leaned in, interested.
"Everyone thinks the only way in is the Grand Staircase," Ren explained, drawing a line to the front. "That's where the Chimera guards will be. It's a kill zone."
He tapped a spot on the side of the drawing.
"But there's a ventilation shaft here. It connects the Royal Kitchens to the Throne Room. It's too small for a normal person, and definitely too small for a Lion or a Gorilla."
He looked at Kaira.
"But you're a Mantis Shrimp. You can tunnel."
Kaira looked at the drawing, then at Ren. A slow grin spread across her face.
"And you're an Axolotl," she said. "Which means you like wet, dark, slimy places."
"I don't like them," Ren clarified. "I'm just biologically adapted to them."
"Same thing." Kaira stood up, dusting off her pants. She offered a hand to Ren. "Alright, Scribe. You have a brain. I like that. Maybe you're worth more than just spare parts after all."
Ren took her hand and stood up. He felt stronger. The fear was still there, lurking in the back of his mind, but it was quieter now. He had a mission. He had a partner. And he had a map.
Kaira turned toward the jungle. The bioluminescence was brighter now, painting the trees in neon hues. Strange, clicking sounds echoed from the canopy. Shadows moved in the underbrush—shadows that were far too fast to be human.
"Welcome to the food chain, Ren," Kaira whispered. "Stay close. If something grabs you, scream. If I don't answer, it means I'm running away."
"You're joking," Ren said, adjusting his satchel.
Kaira didn't answer. She stepped through the broken iron gates and into the Savage Garden.
Ren took a deep breath. The air smelled of orchid perfume and rotting meat.
He followed her into the green.