171 Doub

The group "unpacked" their things and allowed their aching bodies to slow down. While Thomas had pulled out almost everything in his spatial ring- paper, ink containers, clothes, etc. - Doevm had only pulled out a giant spool of string, walked to the many thick trees outlining the camp, and began to tie the string around each tree at ankle height. He moved plants and dead leaves on top of it, making sure to keep it as disguised as possible.

"What are you doing?" Thomas asked more out of boredom than interest. He sat down near the center of camp and hugged against his knees.

"I am lining the camp," Doevm responded. "If anyone tries to come in, even if they are on an Amphiboard, they will hit the string. It is not the best alarm system, but it is quick to set up. The person on watch duty will have to watch it and the surroundings."

"I've heard about that trick," Elero said as she untied her Amphiboard from the row of five trees and pulled it to the center. "My family use it often when traveling, although they usually have bells."

Doevm let go of the thread. "A bell would jingle with the swaying caused by the wind." Elero shrugged. Doevm resumed his work.

Elero stored her armor in her spatial ring, wrapped herself in a blanket, then sat down on her Amphiboard as if it were a bench. Her gears clicked as she stretched out her mechanical legs, took out a towel, and began wiping them down. Every now and again, a firefly would land on her leg, and she would gently brush it away.

Thomas raised an eyebrow before glancing down at the mud: "That's a good trick." He hoisted himself off of the ground and felt a cool breeze against his backside, which was covered in mud. He sighed, realizing dry stone was inches from where he had sat. "Can I borrow your towel after you are done with it?"

"This?" Elero asked as she held out the towel. Now that she held it closer to the light of the many fireflies, Thomas noticed that the fibers weren't like a regular towel, but in closely knit patterns. "You want to use the specially made towel, which I was given for the sole purpose of cleaning these tiny, delicate gears holding my legs together, to wipe your muddy ass?"

"It was just a question," Thomas mumbled to himself as he used some nearby dry leaves to wipe as much mud off of himself as he could. After grabbing and sitting on his own Amphiboard, he let out a long sigh. For a moment, the sounds of the swamp and its cold air became only an afterthought to the dozens of fireflies' blue lights, which flickered on and off. He let his mind wander. 

A faint grumbling brought his mind back to the present. He glanced down to his stomach, the source of the noise. "I didn't bring anything to eat. What are we going to do about food?" He turned to Elero. "Is that question offensive to your precious gear-" He choked as Elero threw the towel into his open mouth. After coughing it back up, he sent a glare her way. "You can kill me like that you know."

"But I didn't," Elero shrugged as she snatched the towel back and began rubbing the dirt out of it. A smile wider than a demon's crept on her face. "But that's probably not the worst thing to enter your mouth today." Frey coughed several times and put his hand in front of his face to hide his smile.

Thomas alternated his gaze between them. 'I take it all back. This is horrible and I hope they faceplant into mud.' "Food can wait. Seriously, what happened while I was passed out?"

"We have food," Doevm called out as he returned to the center of the camp, having tied the string around each tree in the perimeter. He looked to Elero. "You still have the Bullfrogs, don't you?"

Thomas grimaced: "Are any of those Bullfrogs even safe to eat? Surely you can't be serious. We can just ask Owen to…" Frey almost physically winced back as Thomas's voice trailed off. He lowered his head. Elero pulled one of three Bullfrog carcasses out of her spatial ring. The four held their noses as its smell flooded through the camp. "Nope," Thomas backed away from the Bullfrog. Its slimy skin glistening with the blue lights of the fireflies. "I would rather starve."

"We aren't going to eat it raw," Doevm said as he pulled his dagger from his spatial ring. "First, we skin both its legs, remove the legs, cook them, then we eat it." He ran his dagger through the skin. "And we'll probably need extra portions for the future. Since food doesn't decay in our spatial rings, I'll make enough for the rest of the week."

"Frog for a week?" Thomas put his face into his hands. "Can't we go ask for more food from the generals? Can we go back to the Capital for a day and buy some food? What about what they gave you during the war. Do you think they'll give us rations?"

Doevm put a hand on Thomas's shoulder. "I say this having tried the worst things imaginable, fed to me by my parents when I was little, nothing is worse than those dry, flavorless, powder-like, barely-edible grains called rations. Nothing." Frey nodded.

"Fine," Thomas said. He glanced behind Doevm, to a stick which he had driven into the ground. Tied around the end of it was the same string which looped around the camp. "Why did you tie the string to a stick?"

"If it falls out," Doevm said, "That means that a creature is approaching or I didn't tie it right. Keep an eye on it at all times." He turned back to the legs and finished skinning them. After he was done, the skin slid off like a piece of clothing. The raw meat hiding underneath caused Thomas to drool a little. "Frey, can I use your Kopis?"

Minutes later, the Bullfrog's legs were severed. The meat placed on the skin, which was laid down flat like a plate against the mud. There were barely any marks on the skin, not even a trace of fat, like he had done this countless times. Throughout this entire process, Thomas couldn't turn his gaze away.

"Doevm," Elero said as Doevm handed Frey the Kopis back. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen, why do you ask?" Doevm ran his dagger down the middle of the muscles and worked at separating the bones. Blood splattered against his hands, but he didn't seem to mind.

"You don't act your age," Elero said. "You seem to have a lot of knowledge in a lot of areas, the skill to utilize that knowledge, and maturity. If I only heard about what you did today alone, I would think you would be as old as the Generals. If it is not too much to ask, do you mind telling me how you got this way?"

"Well," Doevm flipped the dagger around and went into the second leg. "I get that a lot to be honest with you. I just read a lot of books and try a lot of things." Thomas and Frey rolled their eyes.

"Reading huh?" Elero put a hand to her chin. "I happen to read a lot myself. What are your favorites? Do you suggest anything?"

"All," Doevm responded. "Anything I can get my hands on I'll read. I do not typically have any preferences, not anymore."

"Of everything, you haven't read one book that stood out among the rest. You just read normal books. Was there anything unique?" Elero stood from her Amphiboard and circled around him. "My favorite book isn't really in any category. I usually read about the human body and how it all works. My favorite, if I had to pick one, would be a book on the findings of Sir Marble. Specifically, it is the text he found in a burned down library and everything discovered from that point onwards. You must have read it as well because you used a resuscitation technique from it. Isn't that right?"

Doevm halted. The light bugs slowly flew away from him, darkening his face as he let the frog leg drop from his blood-covered hands. "Yeah, I've read it," he said. "It was all very interesting. Like I said however, it was not unique."

"And how did you come across a rare book such as that one?" Elero asked. "It's a little strange for someone of your background to acquire something so rare. Did you find it by some unbelievable odds, steal it, or, are you hiding something?" Thomas wore a smile as he looked from Elero and Doevm. Frey, who was sitting on tree roots in the corner, lifted his gaze from the ground. "Because I really meant it. You do some unbelievable things."