15.

The Sphevil of Sphen

B olt wasn’t quite sure how they managed to climb down the mountain. But they did, although twice Bolt had to grab Annika’s arm to keep from falling.

At the very bottom of the mountain was a dirt path. Bolt took a deep breath. The air seemed to curdle from the harsh odor of dead fish. It was so thick, Bolt’s eyes watered, and so did his mouth. He longed to run into the city and start licking things, basking in the rich fishy-ness.

“I forgot how much this place stinks,” said Annika, pinching her nostrils.

“Isn’t it wonderful?” asked Bolt, licking his lips. The delightful stench almost calmed his fragile nerves.

Bark! Bark!

Two penguin soldiers approached, their tall bearskin caps wiggling on their heads as they waddled closer. Bolt froze, as did Annika. Bolt’s heart thundered inside his chest. Pygo was too busy sniffing a flower on the ground to notice.

“Just act like you belong,” Annika whispered to Bolt. Bolt nodded and smiled. He whistled merrily. Annika jabbed him in the ribs. “What are you doing?” she hissed.

“Acting like I belong?”

“Then don’t whistle. People in Sphen don’t whistle, and especially not merrily.” The soldiers neared, Bolt’s fear ebbing thanks to Annika’s cool facade. Bolt smiled and Annika again jabbed him in the ribs. “What are you doing? People in Sphen don’t smile either.” Bolt frowned as deeply as he could. “Better.”

The penguin soldiers glared at Bolt, and also at Annika and at Pygo, who had stopped sniffing flowers and now stared at the soldiers, her face seemingly frozen in terror. One of the penguins barked, viciously.

You didn’t need to speak penguin to understand what the soldier wanted, although Bolt did speak penguin:

What are you doing here? Humans aren’t allowed outside the city. And neither are penguins. And why is this penguin sitting like a puppy dog?

The other penguin barked, just as viciously. Let’s throw them all in the dungeon. I don’t like puppies.

Annika stood, ready to pounce, her hand moving to the knife in her belt. But Bolt reached inside the heads of the two soldiers, to calm them. Unlike Pygo, they did not have impenetrable walls in their heads.

But Bolt sort of wished they had.

The hostility! The anger! It was so thick! Bolt had to peel back onion-like layers of hate inside their heads, each layer revealing another layer of terrible thoughts. These penguins would do anything for the Earl: maim and pummel; spit and snort; ransack seafood stores and fisheries.

Bolt couldn’t peel past the oniony layers fast enough, layer after layer after layer.

There. A soft lining of warmth, of true, natural penguin-ness. These penguins were still penguins underneath everything. With enough time, he could dice those oniony layers and restore their peaceful natures, but for now, he just needed these soldiers to leave them alone.

You are wanted back at the castle. Go!

The penguins looked around, as if trying to determine who spoke to them. But they didn’t move.

They are having a fish stick party at the castle! Hurry!

That seemed to jar them. The penguins looked at each other, barked, and turned. In an instant they were waddling back toward the city as fast as they could.

“Nice job,” said Annika, removing her hand from her knife.

Bolt wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. “That was more difficult than I thought it would be.” He smiled, so as not to show his worry. If he struggled controlling two penguins, how could he stop a horde of them?

Annika had already taken a step forward and Bolt followed. “Let’s go, girl,” he said to Pygo. He didn’t hear a response. Bolt spun around.

Pygo was gone.

Bolt scanned the area looking for her, but saw no sign of their penguin friend. “She was just sniffing a flower a moment ago.” He closed his eyes to sense her, but felt nothing.

“Maybe she ran away?” Annika guessed.

“Maybe.” Bolt couldn’t shake the memory of that look of terror he had seen in Pygo’s eyes. It was the same terror he had seen in the eyes of the waitress at the diner. “Should we look for her?”

“No. It might be better if Pygo stayed away,” said Annika. “She’s a penguin deserter. I don’t know what they do to runaway penguins in Sphen.”

Bolt nodded. He and Annika would be locked up if they were caught, but Pygo’s penalty could be far harsher. “I just hope she’s OK.”

“We’re the ones entering Sphen,” said Annika. “I think we have more to worry about than Pygo does.”

Bolt nodded, ignoring his trembling legs as he followed Annika down the path and toward the cruel, sad city of Sph-Sph-Sphen.