Death Cultivator by eden Hudson (best books to read .TXT) 📕

“What d’ya say, big man?” Warcry pointed his pizza at Rali. “You in, too?”

“While I’m grateful to the Death cultivator for the thought, I’m going to remain unaffiliated for now.” Rali gave me a seated bow. “No offense.”

“None taken,” I said. “But why?”

He looked out the balcony door into the night. “The Big Five aren’t my first choice.”

Kest shot me a warning look, so I took the hint and minded my own business. Whatever Rali’s reasons, they must’ve been part of the irons in the fire he didn’t want us to know about.

A few minutes after we’d sent our signatures, Warcry’s and my HUDs buzzed with Biggerstaff’s reply.

Be at Heartchamber 2 of the Eight-Legged Dragon in Bogland by night sun high, four days from now. Show up late, and your provisionary affiliation, along with its privileges, will be immediately revoked.

“Must be the second phase of affiliation,” Warcry said, scanning his message. “Proving you’re worth their investment outside the cage.”

“Where’s Bogland?” I asked.

“It’s a peninsula off the northwestern coast of the Wilderness Territories.” Kest found a map of it on her HUD, then held it out for me to see. “I’ve never heard of anyone building out there, though. The terrain’s too unstable to support much. It’s not a huge area, but the bullet train only runs to the edge of it, so we’ll have to find another way into the interior.”

I stood up. “Should we leave now?”

“Do what you want, grav.” Warcry stretched out and laced his hands behind his head, making a big show of squirming down into the mattress. He shut his eyes. “My fights are done. I did me most. I lived. I’m going to enjoy this luxury bed and stuff myself with gourmet food for one more night before I piss off for any boggy wildlands.”

Rali pointed at Warcry. “Here’s a man who knows what’s important.”

I looked at Kest.

“It is only a three-hour train ride from here,” she said. “If we leave tomorrow, we’ll still have plenty of time.”

“Okay,” I said, sitting back down in my spot. “Pizza party tonight, phase two of joining the Eight-Legged Dragons tomorrow.”

So, we hung out and watched tournament recap and ate pizza all night. Rali eventually got his appetite back and stopped looking so lost. He and I made fun of the over-the-top commentators and ridiculous product placements while Warcry yelled at the fighters about all the mistakes they were making. Kest moved over to where I was leaning against her and Rali’s bed and sat with her knee just barely touching the back of my head. Every time she moved, it rubbed against my hair, and this time there was nothing to distract me from how great it felt. Maybe it was just an accident. But then again, maybe it wasn’t. Maybe it meant something. She had scooted over there on purpose, after all, and even when she got up, she always came back and sat in the same spot next to me.

After such a brutal day and with the whole unknown of the trip to Bogland ahead of us, we probably should’ve gotten some rest, but nobody mentioned being tired. I don’t know about the rest of them, but for me at least, it felt like one of those nights you wanted to go on forever. We hadn’t won anything—we’d basically had our butts handed to us—but we had survived, and that felt like a victory.

When the first rays from the blue sun poked into the sky, the party atmosphere started to die down, and things got quieter and more thoughtful. Less yelling at the screen and more looking out the window or checking HUDs. You could feel that outside the rest of the world was moving on with its day.

I got up and stretched. My back popped about a dozen times.

“Train station?” I said.

“With a quick stop to stock up on supplies,” Kest said. She tapped her HUD screen a couple times, then wiggled the band onto her wrist and started trying to fasten it one-handed. “We’re not going to find anybody who sells Coffee Drank in Bogland, and I’m not going without when I have a whole storage ring to carry it in.”

“I’m not getting any meditating done here,” Rali said, shrugging. “Might as well try it on the train.”

Warcry shut off the recap and tossed the remote onto the nightstand.

“Break through that bottleneck, big man,” he said, jamming his foot and prosthetic into his boots. “Then it’s you and me, ya bleeder. To the death.”

That got Rali laughing. “I will never fight you, Warcry. Not as long as I live.”

“We’ll see what happens, won’t we?” the ginger said as he headed for the door.

Rali looked from me to Kest, shaking his head No.

“Yeah, we will,” Warcry called over his shoulder.

Still chuckling, Rali grabbed his walking stick and followed Warcry out into the hall.

Kest finally got her HUD band fastened, then turned to me.

“Got everything?” she asked.

“Let me check.” I made a big show of looking down at my clothes and sneakers. Besides those, the Winchester, and Hungry Ghost, I didn’t have anything in this universe to worry about forgetting. “Yeah.”

She smirked and elbowed me. “Let’s go, you goof.”

Twenty minutes later, the four of us were at a train station ossuary, standing on the platform and waiting for the next bullet train to Bogland. I breathed in the Miasma coming off the bones, filling my Spirit sea and watching the thin turquoise trail leading to Hungry Ghost in my pocket.

I wondered if Gramps was up, too, drinking coffee and getting started with his day. Maybe moving on with his life. I hoped so. I hoped he was okay, like not just physically. Gramps and I had had a lot of crappy breaks, but we kept moving on. Which wasn’t as bleak as it sounded, because a lot of great things happened along the way, and eventually that good break had to come.

The tracks started to whine and clank, announcing the train was