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Sasha jumped slightly as Grime opened the door to her room without knocking. “Are you ready?”
She sat up behind the desk, folding the map she’d been studying. “For what?”
The toad Captain snarled, flashing a mouthful of yellowed teeth. “I called for you an hour ago and told you to prepare for an outing.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t tell me where we’re going.”
“It doesn’t matter where we’re going! You and I have a mission to carry out. If you’re not at the stable and ready to depart in five minutes, you’ll spend the night in your old cell!”
The wooden door slammed shut and rattled the hinges, leaving Sasha alone and in silence again. With a frustrated sigh, she scooted the chair away from the desk and stood. Though she figured it was best to do as ordered, she hardly expected Grime to go through with his threat. In the month that’d followed her prison break and the heron attack, she’d earned more and more of the Captain’s respect. Though he’d never stated that, she could tell from the way he no longer shouted at her and called her names, and from the way he always seemed to smile at her.
It wasn’t always a friendly smile, but it was a smile nonetheless.
Sasha crossed the room and returned the map to the shelf on the other side. Her new room was large and well lit, but most unfurnished aside from a bed, a rug, a couch, a desk and a bookshelf. The windows were covered in handsome drapes, and banners emblazoned with a maroon S hung from the walls, but otherwise it was just another dank, smelly chamber in the Southern Toad Tower.
Grime had promised Sasha that as she climbed the ranks and aided his tower’s missions, he would supply her with more and more comfort. And as of yet, he’d been truthful. The couch and rug were gifts for her rescuing a number of toads from a crimson mantis, and the drapes and banners had been installed just last week, when she’d helped a scout party escape from a doom tree. Grime had even agreed to have his chef prepare Sasha’s favorite foods from the human world if she so desired.
And that she did. She could only tolerate roasted bugs and slug gruel for so long.
In addition, Grime had promised to have his men round up a zapapede or two and use their electric properties to try and charge her phone. Following her capture by the toads months ago, they’d curiously studied her phone all afternoon until it died. She had a lot of Suspicion Island to catch up on.
As Sasha replaced the map, she checked the other maps piled on the shelf, hoping to find one she hadn’t already checked a dozen times. Grime had encouraged her to study the maps to get her bearing in Amphibia, but she had taken the task to greater lengths than he’d probably anticipated. She wanted every advantage over the alien creatures around her. And studying the maps would help her find Marcy and Anne.
She looked down at herself to judge her appearance. She currently wore an oversized, rusty breastplate over a tunic and trousers. The toads didn’t have any armor that fit humans, so she’d been forced to make do with the heavy, ill fitting breastplate until Grime could afford to have something custom made for her. She wore a sheath from a leather belt, in which hung a plain steel sword. She’d sparred daily with Grime every day since he’d presented her with the weapon, and she was getting pretty good with it, though she still hadn’t managed to beat the Captain in a duel.
Maybe today was the day.
Sasha exited her room and descended the cramped stairway, reaching up to adjust her ponytail as she meant. She’d not gotten used to the musty, moldy tower and she doubted she ever would. The cracks between the discolored stones were filled with moss and slime, and the whole building stank of roadkill. There was a shower in one of the lower levels, but the water pump hardly worked, and as a result, few of the toads used it. Life at the Southern Toad Tower was like a neverending stay at the world’s worst motel, inhabited by the smelliest, grumpiest people on the planet.
Sasha passed by many doors and flickering torches, eventually reaching the ground level and stepping off there. She saluted lazily to the red-eyed toads standing guard in the hall and strode out into the stable. The pavilion’s straw roof rustled in the early morning breeze, slightly muting the light of Amphibia’s crimson moon sinking below the swamp horizon. Various critters snoozed or grazed in their pens. Mostly hairy, burly tarantulas, but the tower had a few snails and a hermit crab as well.
It still unnerved Sasha to see the creatures the toads used as steeds. She’d grown slightly accustomed to the human-sized amphibians, but she couldn’t quite wrap her head around truck-sized spiders or snails. Why did Amphibia only have creepy creatures, and why were they all so big?
Grime stood at the far side of the table, beside a cart bridled to a bulky black tarantula with hair like cactus needles. He was speaking softly to another toad, one of his high-ranking officers. Bog, Sasha thought his name was. The heavyset orange toad had a crest of horns and a generous underbite, and he wore a silver warhammer at his side and the Amphibia emblem on his sash.
“A frog running for mayor?” Grime grumbled, shaking his head in befuddlement. “These peasants are forgetting their place. Keep in contact with Toadstool, but don’t move out until I give the word. Newtopia will be on my back in a day if we don’t try to find a diplomatic solution firsthand.”
Bog saluted and slouched off, and Grime turned to see Sasha approach. Though the Captain had lost some of his intimidation factor after Sasha had taught him some anger management, she couldn't deny that he looked the part of a military leader. His bronze armor was polished to a spotless sheen, and his scaly arms and legs bulged with muscle. He carried himself with the self-importance of a billionaire by the carefulness of a spy, and the dark cape he wore draped over his left side gave him a vampiric aesthetic. And of course, with one eye aglow with acid green light, and the other eye pale and slashed with a scar that trailed from his forehead to his chin, he looked worn from battle but hardly done with it.
“Sooner than I expected you,” Grime greeted eagerly, clapping his meaty palms together. “Shall we be off, then?”
“You’re not going to tell me where we’re going?” Sasha asked suspiciously, folding her arms.
“And ruin the surprise? My dear, I wouldn’t dream of it.”
<>
Half the day had past before they were halfway toward their destination. Riding in the back of the cart, as far from the tarantula pulling it as she could get, Sasha spent most of the trip listening to Grime. Now that they’d established a friendlier relationship, she’d quickly learned that the Captain made for good conversation when he wasn’t in a dour mood. It was while listening to his entertaining stories that she could forget the fact that he was a ruthless military Captain who would almost certainly stab her in the back the second the opportunity presented itself.
They’d traveled north from the Southern Toad Tower, and once they’d reached a large canyon, they traveled west along the edge. According to the maps Sasha had studied, Frog valley was made up widely of common swamps, forests, plains, and the occasional mountain range. With the exception of the unusually wealthy frogs or those that worked unique careers, the valley housed the majority of frogs in Amphibia. And the Southern Toad Tower was positioned strategically there so that they would be kept in line, a task they seemed to be currently failing at, given the reports Grime was constantly receiving.
“The old girl knows this road well enough,” Grime said, giving the tarantula a pat before easing himself into the back of the cart, sitting across from Sasha. “She’ll get us there by the sundown.”
“What’re we going all this way to do?” Sasha asked, her eyes on the nearby treeline. She didn’t trust the environments of Amphibia. From her experience so far, something big, mean and creepy lay in ambush everywhere the eye could see, and especially where the eye couldn’t see.
“Are surprises a foreign concept to you humans?” Grime asked with a shark-like grin. “I’m not telling.”
“Why?” Sasha whined, through her head back and glaring at the sky. “I was really busy at the tower. You couldn’t have taken Braddock? Or Mire? Or anyone else?”
“I chose you for a few reasons,” Grime admitted. “One of those reasons is part of the surprise. The other reason is, I feel we’ve not gotten much time to talk.”
Sasha blinked, sitting up and leveling a suspicious glare at the old, sinister toad Captain. “What?”
“Am I wrong?”
“Are you saying you want to talk to me?”
“I just said so. You’ve been here for months, and it seems I still know close to nothing about you. Now that we’re allies with a common goal, it could do well to know and understand one another.”
Sasha’s eyes narrowed, flickering back and forth between Grime’s luminous working eye and his cold dead eye. Though the toad Captain had certainly warmed up to her over the past few weeks, this was the first time she was hearing any of this talk from him. What was his angel? He’d never shown any desire to get to know her in the past? As well as back home, it was rare that anyone openly approached her with a desire to learn more about her. Even with Anne and Marcy, Sasha was only the center of attention when she claimed the position. It’d never been offered to her.
“Look, just tell me what you want to know,” Sasha sighed, leaning back in her seat.
“I just told you what I want,” Grime said, frowning. “I would’ve thought you’d want the same.”
“To get to know you? Why would I want-?”
She stopped herself, realizing too late that she was probably sounding insensitive. She cleared her throat and slowly reiterated. “I never really thought about it. I’ve just been focused on getting home.”
Grime gave a sideways nod. If he’d been at all wounded by her harsh words, he didn’t show it. “That seems a suitable talking point. Tell me about your home. Is everyone from your world a human?”
Sasha scowled. If the toad had an ulterior motive in asking his strange questions, she couldn’t detect it. She decided she would answer them, but remain weary. “Yeah, kind of. We have amphibians too, but they’re tiny. They don’t talk, wear clothes, use weapons or live in buildings.”
Grime snorted, looking both disgusted and amused. “Primitive. I’ve heard tall tales that our society is a shadow of some glorious civilization that fell centuries ago, but from the sound of what amphibians in your world are like, I’d say we’re doing pretty good. And all humans look like you?”
“Meaning?”
“Tall, skinny, frail . . . no tails, no tongues, no slime, weirdly colored hair . . .”
“I do too have a tongue,” Sasha retorted, sticking it out at the toad for emphasis. “And what’d you mean by weirdly colored hair? It looks fabulous.”
“It looks like a banana. Is it fake?”
Sasha huffed and turned away. She wondered in the back of her mind if Grime had any idea how many people back home had questioned her about the color of her hair. “Well, it’s better than being bald!”
There was a stretch of silence. Sasha went slightly cold and slowly looked back at Grime, who stared back at her without expression. Maybe she’d taken it too far . . .
Grime laughed like a hyena with a sore throat, showing Sasha every tooth in his mouth. He laughed for longer than the petty jab warranted, slapping one hand down on his thigh as he regained his composure. “Can’t argue with that, can I? I feel like I’m talking to my sister again. I can’t wait to introduce you to her. When she sees you in action, she’ll be sick with envy.”
“You have a sister?” Sasha blurted. It always caught her off guard when people she didn’t know that well, especially older people, revealed details like that. Somehow, Grime’s nature as a creepy talking toad only made the effect stronger. How could he possibly have relatives?
“Captain Beatrix of the Western Toad Tower,” Grime affirmed. “Been nestmates since birth. She’s the only other toad I know that can best me in combat. Always been trying to one-up me. I’m promoted to Lord of the Southern Tower, so she goes and takes the Western one. She even copied my scar.”
Sasha nodded in interest, her eyes moving to the long, thick scar writhing over Grime’s face. “You know, I was actually wondering . . .”
“Keep wondering,” Grime snapped with a wide smile. “I’m not telling where I got it. Not until I know more about you, at least,”
Sasha rolled her eyes, though she couldn’t help but smile herself.
“Come on, Sash, you’ve gotta give me something. What’s your family like?”
Sasha gave a slight start at the name. She’d only ever really heard it said that way by Anne or Marcy. And years ago, her parents had called her that before they . . .
“It’s nothing special,” She said dismissively, hoping Grime would be able to read her demeanor and change the subject. “I honestly prefer my friends to my parents.”
Grime’s expression fell slightly. “Hm. And what are these friends of yours like?”
Sasha brightened. “They’re the only people that really get me. Anne’s super nice and is always willing to have a fun time with me. A bit of an airhead, though, but it’s alright cause Marcy more than balances her out. Marcy’s basically the nerd to end all nerds, but a real clutz. I don’t get how she can remember so much useful information but not remember to look where she’s going. We’ve been jumping in and out of the principal’s office all years.”
Sasha’s rant petered out as her thoughts returned to that last day of school. Anne’s birthday. The day everything had gone off the rails. “I need to find them. I need to make sure they’re okay.”
Grime nodded gravely. “A noble cause. Unfortunately, while the mountain pass is barred, there’s not much you can do.”
“I know,” Sasha said, her hands curling into fists. “But you don’t get it. They rely on me for everything, they don’t stand a chance on their own! Without someone there to grab her shoulders, Marcy’s gonna run into a wall or fall down a flight of stairs. And Anne . . . I can’t remember the last time she made a decision without me. She’s a goner, and I have no idea where she is!”
“I’m sure they’ll be fine, Sasha-”
“You don’t know that!”
Grime recoiled, his sympathetic expression hardening. “And you don’t know that they’re dead. It’s the first place your mind jumps because you’re scared for them. But a true warrior doesn’t show fear. He or she spits in its face and presses forward. Your worry is understandable, but there’s no reason letting it consume you when you can’t act on it. Let us wait for the mountain pass to clear, and I will help you find your friends. Can you do that?”
Sasha didn’t answer. Folding her arms and looking away, she made it clear that the conversation was over, at least for a while, and thankfully, Grime didn’t push it. She sat in silence for the next stretch of the journey, wondering where Anne and Marcy might be and if they were okay. From what she’d seen on the maps, Amphibia was a huge place, and it wasn’t like earth. There were no security systems or protected communities where they could hide from wild animals. They were at the mercy of nature.
As much as she wanted to instinctively worry for them and wish she was there to guide them, she had to acknowledge they both had their own talents. Assuming Marcy could walk ten feet with pulling out her Swap game, that big brain of hers would help her weasel out of tight situations. And Anne was unusually good at talking to strangers, so as long as she encountered actual people rather than a giant mantis or a water snake, she’d find a way to survive.
But gosh, it was terrifying to think about. Between Marcy, who spent day and night playing games and geeking over fictional novels, and Anne, who hated the outdoors and any animal other than cats with a passion, their chances of making it in the wild were frighteningly slim.
Even Sasha was going through living hell to adapt to Amphibia. Though she’d begun to carve out a life with the brutish toads, she was still widely afraid of traversing the world beyond the tower. The forests teemed with oversized fungus and poisonous plants. The lakes and rivers were adrift with dangerous snakes or crabs, and the caves and crevices between were crawling with insects, bats, and whatever other creatures preferred the dark. She gave a start every time she saw a firefly bob in the sky, a swarm of hybeenas hover over the woods, or a mantis tromp across the plains.
“Remember those herons we fought?” Sasha asked distractedly, making conversation for the first time in hours.
Grime looked up with an expression as if she’d just guessed his phone password. Not that he had one. “How could I forget? It’s not every day you survive an encounter with the Wartwood herons.”
“The Wartwood herons?”
“Yes. Those two herons, either siblings or mates, have nested in Frog Valley for years. They’re infamous around these parts for their attack on the town of Wartwood some years ago. They nearly destroyed everything there. But you were saying?”
“Are there any creatures more dangerous than herons?”
Grime frowned and tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Due to their drop in numbers over the last decades, herons aren’t considered too big a threat anymore, but they’re still monstrous. They are known as the Amphibia’s Birds of ill omen. All but the strongest warriors would cower before them. Even so, there are a great deal of creatures that could give them a run for their coppers. Ever heard of the Scorpileo? Or the Narwhal Worm? Or the Chicka-lisk?”
Sasha shook her head. Even the names of these monsters gave her the chills.
“Well, Amphibia’s full of deadly predators like them. You might’ve heard the other week when the Tax collectors tackled the eastern villages. Fens and Mire claim they saw a coastal kill-a-moth in the forest. I won’t believe it until I see it with my own eye, but for everyone’s sake, I pray they were mistaken. I’ve been- eh, I mean, everyone with sense is terrified of them.”
Sasha’s lips twitched. “Is the almighty Captain Grime scared of some little moth?”
For the first time since the heron incident, Grime shot her a death glare and snarled like a jungle cat. “Like I said, anyone with sense is scared of them. They can skin a corpse in as little time as it takes to clean out your web crusties. Happened to my uncle Magnus years ago.”
Sasha shivered, suddenly cold despite the humid swamp air. She could only hope that wherever Anne and Marcy were, they weren’t being skinned by moths, or eaten by herons, or crushed or mangled by whatever other ludicrous abominations lurked in Amphibia.
“Though, I’ve never seen a kill-a-moth in a fight with a human,” Grime remarked, the proud tone in his voice indicating that he was trying to cheer her up. She’d long since mastered influencing emotions and learned to recognize the skill in use. “Even if the beast did triumph in the end, you’d put up a good fight, I reckon. You’re a lot stronger than you look.”
Sasha shrugged. “I’m just lucky.”
“Luck doesn’t scare off herons,” Grime countered. “Luck doesn’t save Braddock and Brian from a river kraken. And luck doesn’t convince me to show Percy an ounce of respect. Between your unexpected athleticism and your silver tongue, you’re the most promising warrior I’ve had the privilege of commanding in all my life.”
Sasha felt her face grow warm. Was she really letting the toad flatter her so easily? She couldn’t think of anything to say, but thankfully, Grime cleared his throat. “Aha, we’re here!”
The toad sat up and navigated to the front of the cart to reign in the tarantula. Sasha straightened in her seat and examined their new surroundings. They’d reached the end of the canyon and were now traveling down wide switchbacks that descended to the bottom. Grime carefully and slowly guided the cart down the path until they reached the ground. The canyon stretched on for a long way, but instead of leading them further through it, Grime dismounted the cart and gestured for Sasha to follow.
As Sasha jumped down from the cart, putting as much distance between herself and the tarantula as possible, she watched as Grime approached a crevice in the canyon wall just large enough for him to squeeze through. Bewildered, Sasha paced closer, watching Grime vanish into the darkness inside. Was this some sort of trap? Had Grime lured her out to the middle of nowhere so he could slit her throat in secret?
Timidly, she approached the mouth of the tiny crevice and peaked inside. Once her eyes adjusted to the lack of light, she realized that there was a full cavern within, the rocky walls and ceiling far enough apart to fit a house inside. She spotted Grime trudging down the tunnel, and there seemed to be light at the end of it. Biting her lip, she ducked into the crack and carefully made her way through the dark cave.
Pebbles crunched under her boots, and she walked slowly to make sure she didn’t kick on or trip over anything. The light ahead got brighter with every step she took toward it. Was there a fire down here? She rounded a bend in the cavern and discovered that the light was coming from a droopy yellow mushroom corkscrewing out of the rocky wall. It lit up a portion of the tunnel, which extended further forward and branched off at various intervals. An old wooden sign dangled from the ceiling on rusty chains, dubbing the cavern Spadefoot Mines .
Further down the tunnel, another mushroom lit another junction in the cavern, where Grime stood and beckoned her. Sasha took another step. Something darted in front of her from the dark and she screamed and pressed herself against the left wall of the path. A round, furry creature with crimson eyes and a long needle-like mouth fluttered by, bat-like wings batting the dusty air as it flapped down a neighboring tunnel. Grime paused and threw an amused look over his shoulder.
“Just a bat-squito. Nothing to be afraid of.”
“I’m not afraid,” Sasha snapped, flushing. “It just startled me. What is this place?”
“A secret toad mine,” Grime explained, waiting for her to approach before leading the way forward. “Several of them were created to supply the tower with ore for our weapons and armor. You see, we need a mine or two close by, as the road out of Frog Valley is impassable throughout most of the year.”
“Right,” Sasha said with a nod. That was one of the main reasons she felt staying at Toad Tower was the best decision for her at the moment. There was no way out of the valley anyway. “So you brought me all this way to dig in the dirt?”
“Of course not. I sent a messenger bat to the Quarrymaster with a request for an ore pickup. The ore’s already been unearthed, we’re just here to carry it back home.”
Sasha blinked. “You’re just here to pick up groceries. Why the Frog did you drag me along?”
Grime gave her a pointed look over his shoulder. “Did you not enjoy our conversations on the way here?”
“I . . . that doesn’t explain-!”
Sasha trailed off as she followed Grime into a large room carved into the cavern, and she saw they were not alone. Lit by several luminous mushrooms, the room was lightly furnished with chairs and tables, and pickaxes and lanterns were racked on the walls. Two toads lounged in the room, one with his feet up on a table, sipping from a large mug. The other, a bearded toad with knobby horns and yellow skin, stood near the entrance and was greeting them before she knew what was happening.
“Captain Grime, sir,” The toad said in a gravelly voice, giving a short bow. “I received your message, and I have the ores ready.”
“Perfect. Thank you, Quarrymaster Hurg. Show us the merchandise.” Grime turned to Sasha with a grin. “Well, this is where you come in.”
Hurg gazed at Sasha suspiciously as he led them to another table, as did the other toad in the room. One of the other things she’d yet to get used to was how novel her appearance was in Amphibia. Even months after she’d landed outside Toad Tower, everyone she met looked at her like they were seeing a ghost.
Ignoring the stares, Sasha followed Grime and Hurg to a table lightly colored with a number of burlap sacks. Each one was open to reveal the contents- chunks of ore with varying colors and textures. Sasha was hardly a geologist, or even someone that had paid attention in any class delving into the subject, so she didn’t recognize any of them by sight. Some were dark while others were pale. Some had more earthy tones while others were more blue, red or yellow.
“I have here some of the standard selections,” Hurg explained, gesturing to the sacks on the left side of the table. “Iron, lead, bronze, steel, zinc, brass, the usual. And on this other side are some of the rarer, uncommon options. Bauxite, azurite, magnesium, obsidian, jade, tungsten . . .”
Grime nodded curiously and fingered his chin. “What do you think, Sasha?”
“Me? Think of what?”
“Which of these substances catches your eye? Regardless of its durability, I intend to alloy it with other strong metals. Which one do you like, purely from a visual standpoint?”
Sasha glanced back and forth between Grime and Hurg, sure she was being punked. This had to be some sort of test or game. But neither of the toads were giving anything away. Frowning, deciding to play along, Sasha turned her eyes downward and studied the minerals. Some of them, notably the ones that just looked like plain rock, were easy to eliminate. The ones on the right side of the table were all far more eye-catching. The translucent green jade made her think of Marcy, and the sparkly blue azurite reminded her of Anne. But there was one in particular that piqued her interest.
“What’s this one?” She asked, gesturing to a sack at the edge of the table. The bag was filled with chunks of sparkly, coppery ore that gave off a pink hue when they light caught them at the right angel.
“Rose gold,” Hurg declared, moving around the table to remove a chunk and show it to her. “A unique ore. It forms where veins or gold and copper overlap and intermingle properties. It is reasonably durable, but it is most known for its color and its use in jewelry.”
“I like this one,” Sasha said with a nod, glancing at Grime.
The old toad nodded in satisfaction and waved at Hurg. “We’ll take it. Three pounds at least, along with twelve pounds of bronze, some steel and a pinch of titanium.”
Hurg nodded and returned the ore to its bag, then bound it with some rope and handed it over to the toad Captain. He waddled over to the corner and removed some pouches from a shelf carved into the wall, then handed them over as well. Grime exchanged some Amphibia coins with the Quarrymaster, then gave a salute and wordlessly returned to the entrance. Her confusion growing, Sasha hurried after him, glancing back at Hurg and his silent friend, neither of whom offered explanation either.
“What was that about?” She asked as she and Grime traversed the dark tunnel.
“I wanted your opinion on what to include in the alloy I’m making. Rose gold is an excellent choice.”
“But . . . wait, this was your surprise?”
“Yep.”
“You brought me all this way just to pick some stupid rock for you?”
“More or less.”
Ssaha rolled her eyes, withholding a frustrated grown. “You’re the worst, Grimesy. You know that, right?”
Grime chuckled and glanced over his shoulder at her, a twinkle in his good eye. “If you say so.”
<>
Sparks flew and illuminated the courtyard of Toad Tower as Sasha exchanged blows with Fens. The large green toad advanced with wide, heavy swings of her sword, easy to telegraph but difficult to dodge or parry. Sasha angeled herself accordingly each time to either catch the blade with her own or else dodge it entirely. Every time the blades made contact, the metallic clang was drowned out by the cheering of the toads gathered around the sparring circle. Percy and Braddock were chanting her name, as were a few others.
She was sweating and panting from the effort of dueling the larger, stronger opponent, but the crowd’s praise kept her going.
Sasha raised her sword horizontally to block a downward slash from Fens, then adjusted her stance when the blow nearly sent her reeling. She backed up, parrying the next two attacks before lunging forward with a swing of her own. Fens didn’t dodge properly, and the sword slid against her breastplate and nicked her arm. She howled and leapt back, but the injury didn’t ail her for long. She whirled forward, her sword extended, and Sasha stumbled back and nearly tripped avoiding it.
“Finish her!” Bog cried jubilantly, pounding his fists over his chest. The encouraging words were probably meant for Fens, but Sasha decided to take them as meant for her.
She strode determinedly forward, breaking Fens’ next attack with a sharp horizontal slash and jabbing her sword toward her hand. The toad dodged, but Sasha didn’t give her time to change her stance and attack. She lunged and twisted her blade in the air, forcing Fens to raise her sword upward to defend her head, and while the toad reeled from the force of the blow, Sasha withdrew and aimed another slash at her knee. The feint worked- Fens began lowering her sword to block the attack, and Sasha quickly jerked her blade upward, catching the toad’s sword by the hilt.
With a strangled gasp, Fens lost her grip on her sword, and it sailed up and out of her grasp. Sasha aimed a kick at the toad’s stomach and sent Fens stumbling to the ground, where a few seconds later, her sword clattered to the stone ground beside her.
The toads roared with approval, Braddock surging forward and shaking Sasha by the shoulders. Smiling through her exhaustion, the human lowered onto her knees and dragged the back of her hand over her forehead, coming away wet and warm with sweat. She merely waved in acknowledgement of the compliments loaded upon her in the minutes that followed, too tired and thirsty to talk much. Percy must’ve seen her needs immediately, because he came up to her side with a mug of water. She accepted it with a grateful nod in his direction and down it half in one gulp.
“What’s all this racket?” A familiar, gruff voice demanded. “Do you fools want to attract another heron attack?”
The toads went silent as a graveyard and parted away from the circle, eyes on the door to the tower. Grime strode from the open doors, wearing a disgruntled look as he fixed the toads with his disapproving gaze one by one. His eyes finally came to rest on the sparring circle, finding Sasha and Fens both on the ground, exhausted.
Sasha waited, expecting to get the bulk of the reprimand. Then, Grime’s eyes found Fen’s sword on the ground, and his lips curled in a satisfied smile.
“Excellent work, Sasha. That’s what, twelve victories this week?”
She just shrugged in response, still breathing heavily. She’d lost count.
“Well, the show is over, you lazy slugs. Get back to your positions and don’t move again until I send someone to check you all off for the night. Once your night shift replacements arrive, meet in the banquet room. I’ll be there shortly for some announcements. Dismissed!”
The toads saluted in unison and departed, scrambling away for the tower, stables, or outer walls of the fortress. Bog and Mire helped Fens to her feet, the former giving Sasha an approving nod as they went. Sasha remained where she was as Grime sauntered up to her and reached down a burly arm. She accepted his hand and rose to her feet with his aid, swaying slightly as she sheathed her sword and drank the last of her water.
“Did you bet anything on the fight?” Grime asked, folding his arms.
She shook her head. “That’s allowed?”
“Probably shouldn't be, but where would the fun in that be? Betting on duels is what gambling was invented for! Do you think I toiled away in the Newtopian Colosseum for as long as I did just for the thrill of battle? Partly, but the winnings were a big part too. Anyway, follow me.”
“We’re not going shopping again, are we?” Sasha asked waspishly. They’d arrived back from their errand the day before at midnight, and she’d failed to get a proper night’s sleep as a result.
“Nothing like that. Trust me, this you’ll like.”
Grime trudged back into the tower, giving her no further commands or glances, but clearly expecting her to follow. Chucking her empty mug into a corner of the courtyard, Sasha trailed after the Captain at a slower pace, enjoying her last breaths of fresh air before entering the tower and greeting the dank stench within. Grime paused at the stairs for her to catch up, and together they advanced up several floors, climbing nearly the entire tower.
Sasha’s legs ached with every step she took, but she was getting used to the pain of constant exercise. She’d been quite athletic before arriving in Amphibia, but she hadn’t exactly encountered daily life-or-death situations like she had ever since. The sparring provided the exercise she needed to get used to running and fighting on a second’s notice. If it would keep her alive, it was more than worth the pain. She just hoped Anne and Marcy were likewise doing what they had to in order to survive.
Grime exitted the stairway on one of the highest levels, giving the nearby toads a few orders before leading Sasha down the hall. She gave a start, realizing that he’d just led her back to her own room, and she grew even more surprised when he opened the door for her. A heavy, ironbound chest lay on the floor, and a mirror was propped up against the wall. Neither object had been present when she’d awoken earlier that morning.
“Ooh, I hope you’re excited,” Grime said theatrically, a sort of giggle underlining the sentence. She’d never seen or heard him so gleeful.
“Did you drag these up here yourself?” Sasha asked, eyeing the chest and mirror in turn. Neither looked light, or small enough to easily fit through the door. “I would’ve liked to see that.”
“Still your smart mouth for a minute, will you? Any guesses what’s in the coffer?”
She looked the chest up and down. Was he being serious? How was she supposed to guess what was inside it from its outward appearance? “It better not be those stupid rocks you bought.”
Grime grinned and tilted his hand. “Well, kind of. Step back.”
Sasha moved out of the way, and Grime came around the front of the chest and eased it open. He lifted several objects from it and placed them on the desk one by one. A bronze breastplate, pauldrons, greaves and boots, and a cloak not unlike the one he wore. Sasha realized with a delayed jolt of surprise that all of the armor was her size. Designed to fit a human.
“What is this?” She asked, glancing at Grime wearily.
“What’s it look like? I had armor forged and fitted for you.”
“Why?”
Grime’s eager expression faltered. “What do you mean why ? The armor you’ve got now doesn’t fit at all. You need to be well equipped if you’re going to serve in my toad army. What’d you think?”
Still uneasy, Sasha approached the table. The glistening, bronze metal of the armor was far more appealing than the rusty, secondhand armor she now wore. And the fact that it was made to fit her body meant it wouldn’t jostle around when she moved, and actually serve the purpose armor should. She clearly understood what the armor was for, she just didn’t understand why Grime had gotten it for her. She couldn’t think of a reason for Grime to be rewarding her, so this must’ve been bribery for something he wanted her to do.
“That’s not all,” Grime said, his smile broadening, and he returned to the chest. The next thing he pulled out was a sword.
Sasha’s heartbeat fluttered and her eyes widened. It was a narrow sword, small enough for her to easily wield but tall enough to contend with the likes of a toad weapon. The narrow blade blossomed from a crossguard shaped like a bird, a folded tail fanning from one side, and a beaked head rising from the other. The smooth handle ended in a pommel like a pearl, and there wasn’t a single scratch or inch of rust to be seen. The entire sword, handle and blade, were made of a bright, hot pink metal.
“Rose gold was a fantastic choice,” Grime approved, holding the sword in two hands, the blade in his palm. “I wouldn’t have gone with it myself, but it suits you.”
Again, Sasha didn’t immediately register what was being said. “That’s for me?”
“Of course. It’s why I brought you along with me to select the alloy. What do you think?”
He nodded at the sword and held it toward her. Hesitantly, Sasha took it by the handle and tested it in her hands. It was lighter than a standard toad sword, but still heavy enough to feel dangerous. She stepped back and swung it a few times, feeling the blade’s keen edge cut through the air with a soft rush of wind. This wasn’t like fumbling and clumsily wielding a toad sword. This weapon felt like an extension of her arm, a natural tool she was already accustomed to.
“It feels good,” She admitted, performing a downward arc, eyes on the strangely shaped crossguard. “What’s with the bird?”
“It’s a heron. It is considered a mark of dominance to wield the imagery of the beasts one has conquered. Wielding the symbol of the heron will no doubt give you credibility. Few can say they’ve fought and survived the Birds of ill omen.”
Sasha hummed in thought, twirling the blade in her fingers, her gaze moving from the crossguard to Grime. “Why are you giving me all of this?”
“Consider it a gift,” Grime said, folding his arms and nodding appreciatively. “Besides, you’ll need proper armaments if you’re to accept your promotion.”
Sasha halted, the sword mid-swing. “What promotion?”
Grime’s grin broadened. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I lost some men the night the herons attacked. One of them was Beelze, my former Commander. I’ve been meaning to replace him, but I’ve waited this long because I wanted to test you out for the position. Will you accept it?”
Sasha lowered the sword, her eyes leaping between Grime’s mismatched eyes, searching for his true intent. This had to be some game. The ruthless toad Captain wouldn’t just give her such a high rank, nor present her with such trinkets, without an ulterior motive. But she couldn’t put her finger on it. She couldn’t figure out how his gifts could somehow end up stabbing her in the back.
“Think of it, Sash!” Grime egged. “The whole valley will know your name! Commander Waybright, enforcer of the South Toad Tower, wielder of the Bird of ill Omen! A modest bit of fame could certainly help your chances of finding your friends.”
Sasha locked her eyes on Grime’s good eye. It all seemed too good to be true. “Are you being serious? You’re just giving me all of this?”
“You’re the best soldier I’ve got, Sasha. And even if you weren’t . . .” The toad glanced away sheepishly, snarling softly through his grin. “I’ve taken a liking to you. There, I said it. Happy?”
Sasha blinked, bewildered. Did Grime actually think that way? And did he actually think she reciprocated his feelings? She put forth a satisfied smile, preferring to let Grime assume his assumptions were correct. She'd be six feet under before letting him see her true colors.
And though she’d never dare say it, she’d gradually grown to like the toad back as well. Maybe he really wasn’t just the big, mean military Captain he tried to look like. And if it turned out he was, she would be more than happy to be his big, mean Commander.
“If you insist,” She said with a shrug, lifting the heron sword up and admiring her reflection in the blade. “Commander Sasha. I like the sound of that.”
“Perfect!” Grime laughed, rushing forward and clapping his hand down on her shoulder, making her whole frame buckle. “Let’s get downstairs to the banquet hall and share the good news with the others. I’ve stocked up on enough beetle mead to put half the tower out of commission for a day. I normally don’t condone such revelry, but today is a special occasion.”
Sasha chuckled at the idea of Grime drunk on the job. She wasn’t sure if the idea was amusing or terrifying. “Grimsey . . . do I look old enough to drink?”
Grime winked at her. “You’re a Commander now. You do what you want.”
Sasha’s smirk grew as she sheathed the Bird of ill Omen at her side and followed her Captain downstairs. I do what I want . If this whole Commander promotion really wasn’t a trap, she could get used to this.