Page 31 of For the Strange and Surprising

He chuckles, seemingly bewildered that I know the absolute bottom level of the basics. I could point out that my dad was a marine with daughters, though I’m not sure if the reference would make sense to Talodus.

Vincent Storm wouldn’t have left his daughters without the knowledge to defend themselves, even if it wasn’t always enough.

“What is she wearing under her uniform?” a female voice curiously questions.

I turn, catching sight of a pixie-like woman hopping the fence into the ring. The sides of her head are shaved, a thick braid of raven hair trailing down her back. She sports the same dress I’m wearing, and I instantly return her inquiry with one of my own.

“What are you wearing under yours? It didn’t come with undergarments.”

She parts the leather strips at her thigh, showing me what looks like tiny black bike shorts. “You didn’t get these?”

“Uhm, no. I didn’t get anything with the uniform, so I made do with my athletic shorts. It was either that or my bare ass.” I smile at her and shrug. “The second option felt a bit presumptuous.”

“Ada, this is Rinya Battlerain. She’s one of Isolde’s personal guards,” Talodus introduces. “Rinya, meet Ada Storm.”

As she shakes my hand, she winks. “I wouldn’t have been the one to complain. Your ass isn’t an issue for me.”

“Good to know.”

“How do you feel about spending some time on your back?” Rinya waggles her brows before she takes the first swing.

It’s sheer luck that I manage to dodge her right hand, but her left connects faintly against my ribs. Talodus has been moving much slower, and I see now that he was holding back more than his strength.

Rinya is fast, faster than any Earthly human I’ve ever met. Her hands fly toward me, and I can’t keep up with her. She never hits hard, but each strike is another point made.

There’s no way she’s like me.

These people can’t be just humans.

Can they?

The question makes me pause. I haven’t seen anything that would lead me to think that they weren’t human—or humanoid. Maybe she’s the Mongrel equivalent of a gold medal boxer.

She sweeps my feet out from underneath me, clasping my left forearm before my back slams onto the ground. The force that she uses to pull me up causes me to stumble. I hold my hand up, and she tips her head. She glides to Talodus, mumbling with a grin on her face.

Training with Rinya is unlike anything I’ve been subjected to in the past. There’s no gym that reeks of sweat and no timer that buzzes every three minutes. We’re not sparring in the garage with boxing gloves or hitting a bag filled with sand.

This is not like fighting my junkie sister…

I glance around, shaking my head to clear my thoughts. At first, nothing seems exceptionally strange about the place or its people. I mean, their clothing and village are weird, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t normal.

If I overlook the storm, kraken, monstrous helmets, and things that I can’t explain with earthly logic, then…

The size of the plants and bugs have been the only things that really make this whole experience hard to swallow.

That’s a lie. It’s all of the above, and the damage on Connak’s back from the attack.

Talodus had warned me, though he wasn’t completely accurate. I don’t need friends; I need someone willing to answer my questions. I can’t keep forcing myself to ignore the things that don’t make sense.

And I can’t survive this place if I have no knowledge to direct me.

10

Talodus

Ada surprises me when she asks to continue training. She had known more than I’d given her credit for, and Isolde had informed me that she’d be a quick study. I would never tell the queen that I didn’t believe her, but she had laughed at my voiceless skepticism.

Hearing and seeing are two very different things, though.