Chapter 20: Splash Damage

Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Splash Damage

"Okay," Jared said. "Aim at that rock by the gate."

Zoey followed his finger. Near the front gate sat a lumpy gray boulder, roughly the size of a watermelon, half buried in the dirt.

"That one?"

"That one."

She nodded, took a breath, and crouched beside the lizard. "Alright, girl. See that rock? Let it out."

The Poison Lizard turned her head, flicked her tongue, and opened her jaws. A thin, glistening spray of greenish liquid shot across the yard and splattered against the boulder.

For a second, nothing happened.

Then the rock began to hiss.

A thick white smoke curled upward. The surface bubbled and blistered, then split, and a wet, smoking crater started to spread across its face. The stone melted like candle wax. In a few seconds, half the boulder was a steaming puddle of gravel and slag.

Jared grinned.

"There it is. The ingested water became corrosive. I knew it."

"It’s actually corrosive," Zoey whispered. She stared at the ruined rock, eyes wide.

"So you have a general application. A default setting. Whenever she eats something that isn’t blood, she can still produce this." He nodded, quietly proud. "That’s useful. That’s genuinely useful."

She smiled at him, small and surprised, and then at the lizard.

Then she let out a long sigh, and her shoulders drooped. A line of sweat had broken out across her forehead.

"Oh," Jared said. "That’s right. It takes a toll."

"It’s like running up a hill."

"It gets better. Trust me."

He didn’t have much experience himself. But the original Jared had months of it, and somehow, those months had settled into Jared’s bones like a half remembered song. He knew the ache. He knew the way it faded, until it became a dull, familiar hum.

"I just know," he said. "It gets easier."

"Okay." She wiped her forehead with the back of her wrist and managed a tired smile. "I’ll trust you."

He sat down on the stump the gorilla had abandoned, watching her pat the lizard’s side. The wheels in his head were turning.

"I wonder how this will work with you being a beast master," he said. "Like, are you now able to ingest things and fire their poisonous counterparts? Can you like just do what she does? I wonder. "

Zoey laughed. "I doubt it."

"Why?"

"Beast masters don’t suddenly have their anatomy change. I’m not going to wake up with a forked tongue." She scratched the lizard’s chin. "It’s a spiritual relationship thing. It’s more about the gems. I’m guessing I can probably emit the poisons, once I’ve bonded enough. But I’ll never be able to create them."

"That makes sense."

"For now, at least."

"For now," Jared agreed. "Who knows. Maybe eventually."

"Yeah." She smiled faintly.

They sat for a moment in the quiet.

Jared tilted his head.

"Do you want to test her durability?" he asked, completely earnest.

Zoey raised an eyebrow.

"You just assumed my lizard is a her."

"You called her a her first."

"I did?"

"You said ’girl.’ Like four times."

"That’s different."

"Forgive me for thinking so, then," he said, holding up both hands. "You’re a her. I assumed it ran in the family."

"That’s not how this works."

"It’s a terrible assumption. Your ground dragon is a her yet you’re a dude". She looked towards his crotch." Although I find it hard to believe sometimes ." She rolled her eyes, but her mouth twitched.

"Fine. Yes. She’s a her. How would you have us test her durability?"

Jared stood up and brushed off his pants, grinning.

"Easy. I have the Ground Dragon blast her with a gust of water. See how she handles it."

Zoey stared at him.

"That’s cruel."

"It’s a test."

"It’s cruel. She just got here. She’s been alive with me for 2 hours."

"She’s a B rank."

"She’s a baby!"

"She’s a beast with corrosive saliva."

"She’s my baby."

Jared opened his mouth to argue, then closed it, scratching his neck.

"You’re probably right," he said. "It was a dumb idea."

"It was a dumb idea."

"We’ll find another way."

"Thank you."

She turned to pat the lizard’s head again, and Jared’s gaze drifted to the Ground Dragon, standing quietly at the edge of the ring, waiting for orders. Her eyes met his. She tilted her head.

’Just a small one. Just a tiny gust. To see.’

It was a harmless thought. A tiny, curious spark. What was the harm?

He didn’t speak. He didn’t raise his hand. He simply thought it, clear and quick.

The Ground Dragon’s throat glowed orange.

A thin tongue of flame shot across the yard, bright and silent. It struck the Poison Lizard in the side, and before Zoey could even look up, the fire flashed blue, then clear, then dissolved into a rolling surge of water that burst across the dirt.

The wave hit the lizard like a hammer.

She went over with a squeal, her legs skidding out from under her. The water shoved her across the yard, spinning, scrabbling at the dirt, and slammed her against the stone wall with a wet slap. A second surge broke over Zoey, drenching her from head to toe.

"Wait," Jared said. "Stop. Stop!"

The Ground Dragon cut the blast instantly. The water drained away.

For a moment, the yard was silent, except for the dripping, and the thin, pitiful squeal of a lizard pressed against a wall.

Then Zoey coughed.

She bent double, hands on her knees, and coughed up a mouthful of water. Her hair was plastered to her face. Her jacket hung heavy and dark. She wheezed, spat, and wheezed again.

’I messed up.’

The realization landed hard. His stomach turned over. He had meant to be careful. He’d meant it to be small. But he’d done it without saying a word, without warning, without Zoeys permission.

[Oh.]

[That was...]

"Zoey," he said, taking a step toward her. "I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to..."

"Get away from me."

Her voice was low and shaking. She didn’t look at him. She stumbled across the yard, slipping in the mud, and fell to her knees beside the lizard. The little beast was still pinned against the wall, squealing, her legs scrabbling weakly.

Zoey held her close, murmuring something soft and broken.

"Zoey, I..."

"Don’t talk to me."

"I wasn’t trying to hurt her."

"Thanks for nothing." She rose slowly, clutching the lizard against her chest, her eyes red and furious. "You’re such a bully."

"I’m not..."

"You are!" Her voice cracked. "You said it was cruel. You said I was right. And then you just did it anyway!"

"It was a test. I thought she could handle..."

" ENOUGH, Jared!"

His mouth hung open.

Zoey turned and stalked toward the house. The back door was twenty paces away. She walked quickly, shoulders hunched, dripping on the grass. At the porch steps, she stopped. She didn’t turn around.

"You know what’s funny?" she said, her voice thin and shaking. "It’s funny when shy boys get powers. They think it makes them outspoken. They think it makes them loved."

Jared flinched as though she’d slapped him.

"You stink," she said. "I wish you’d never gotten that SSS rank beast."

"Zoey..."

"You bully!"

She flung the door open and went inside.

The yard went silent.

Jared stood in the middle of the ring, soaked to the knees, staring at the closed door.

[Well,] the system said quietly.

Jared closed his eyes.

[That went well.]

’Please.’

[You were so careful with the rock. So careful with the water. You thought it through, step by step, like a scientist. And then the moment you saw something helpless, you couldn’t resist.]

’I wasn’t trying to.. that’s not what ....’

[Rex.]

He fell silent.

[You spent your entire life being the kid nobody noticed. The one who got pushed around. The aid who mopped up other people’s messes and never complained. You know exactly what it feels like to be on the wrong end of someone stronger.]

His hands curled slowly into fists.

[And yet you just did it to a girl who was happy to train with her brother for the first time ever. ]

The wind died. The yard felt very large and very empty.

[She isn’t wrong, you know.]

He didn’t answer.

[You are a bully.]