A little creature that would barely reach Felix’s waist was doing a masterful job of steering the thing. If it weren’t for the swarm of enormous fish trying to throw the little guy off the boat, he’d probably be doing an even better job of steering.
As matters stood, he had to balance steering the boat and yanking out the paddle to swat the fish jumping at him out of the water.
Felix immediately realised that this was his chance. If he was going to cross the river, he would need the little creature’s help. Even just having the boat wouldn’t help. Learning to steer the thing in the violent rush of the river would take Felix far more time than he had. Not to mention that there’d be no way for him to fight off any attacking fish if he were steering.
If he managed to convince the owner of the boat to steer while he dealt with the fish, however, they might just stand a chance of crossing.
Still, Felix was in a bind. If he was going to seize the moment, he’d have to be fast. The boat was rushing down the river at an impossible speed. If he didn’t do something immediately, he’d lose his chance. He very much doubted the Ways would give him another. If he failed now, he’d have to start the challenge from the beginning.
Scrambling around, Felix managed to find the stick he used to reach the river and clamber over to one of the stones that jutted deeper into the river.
Climbing the jagged thing in such a rush left him with gashes all over his body, making his already poor condition even worse. As soon as he reached the top, he tried waving to the little creature on the boat.
“Over here! I can help!”
Felix knew he probably didn’t inspire a lot of confidence looking the way he did, but there was little else he could do. There was also no chance the creature could hear his shouting over the cacophonous noise of the river.
Much to his relief, the boat steered in his direction, and as soon as it got close, Felix prepared himself. It might not be the best plan, but if he could jump over to the boat, he could swat the fish away as the little guy steered the boat.
Felix waited with his muscles tensely coiled, ready to act. He focused so intently on the boat that the deafening noise of the river faded into the back of his mind. As soon as the boat was close enough, he acted without hesitation.
With a resounding yell, Felix lept.
The last thing he saw before blacking out was a rather surprised-looking fish jumping out of the water at the same time he jumped. The next thing he knew, he slammed headfirst into the aquatic projectile and lost consciousness.
Some time later, Felix woke to the smell of roasting fish, with a pounding headache.
“Oh! It's awake!”
The excited voice did nothing to relieve his pain. Sitting up with a groan, Felix took in his surroundings.
He was in a clearing in the forest, and by the sound, he could tell that they weren’t far from the river. Even the carpet of moss he sat on was damp from the constant spray of water the violent river kicked up. Still, the trees blocked out just enough sound that he’d be able to carry out a conversation if he raised his voice a little.
On a small fire, one of the massive fish was roasting, carefully being tended by a small creature. The creature was strange. It had a large flat head with a huge smile stretching across it. Two little beady eyes were spaced far apart, making him look a little silly. Its skin was pure white, with a texture that reminded him of an eel or a catfish. In fact, the whole creature looked like something in between a fish and a lizard.
On either side of its head, it had three pointy ears poking out with a slight swoop backwards. Its voice made it sound young, younger even than Felix. An intricate box sat to his side, a complicated mechanism folding out several little shelves. All of them were filled with little glass jars containing pastes, liquids and powders.
“That was such a strange way to hunt! I’ve never seen anyone try to catch a knucklehead using their own head! You must be a master hunter in your shoal. To have the courage to challenge yourself like that! Then you trusted an outsider to care for you.”
Feeling too embarrassed to correct the little guy, Felix just ignored the comment.
“Ah, you saved me then. Thank you, I definitely wouldn’t have made it if you had left me to the river. It’s a little embarrassing, really, here I was trying to help you, but I ended up needing help instead.”
“Haha, don’t worry. Because of you, we secured our prey, though I’m afraid the taste is lacking. I’ve tried my best but this won’t satisfy the elders. Here, try this. It's the best I could do.”
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The little thing waddled over to Felix on stubby little legs, giving Felix a chance to notice its large tail. It handed Felix a stick with delicate little cubes of fish skewered onto it. A dusting of bright yellow powder covered the white flesh. Little purple berries separated the pieces of fish.
Already starving, Felix didn’t hesitate to take a bite. The fish was a little chewy, but the spice created a complex aroma that filled his mouth with a delicate touch of heat. When the juice of the little berry hit his tongue, it cut through the spice with a lovely sweetness. It had just enough acidity to balance out the fish while the sweetness transformed the complex aroma of the spice into something altogether wonderful.
If it weren’t for Felix dining on Agrona’s dishes since arriving at the crossroads, the dish might have qualified as the best thing he’d ever eaten. Unfortunately, he’d grown spoiled over his time with her. The fish worked as an ok vehicle for the other flavours, but it was definitely a let-down. It was too tough to be pleasant to eat and left a strange, soapy feeling in his mouth after eating it.
Felix couldn’t help but scrunch up his face, though his hunger wouldn’t allow him to stop eating.
“Thank you. Your cooking is amazing, the spices and the berries go so well together! It’s just... The fish is quite bad.”
The little creature nodded as if he’d received the response he was expecting.
“Please, don’t sully your palate with the rest of that trash. I shared it only so you may learn what I’d come to know while you rested. I’ve already found an opportunity to secure a true delicacy.”
The sparkle in the little thing's eyes told Felix that it was moments away from dashing off somewhere. It’d already started packing up its little kit of what Felix now realised was probably various sauces and spices.
“Ah, I didn’t catch your name. I’m Felix by the way.”
The creature looked at him in something that looked like shock and admiration.
“You’ve been granted a name? You must tell me of the dish you served your elders to earn it!”
It took Felix’s addled thoughts a moment to catch up, but once they did, he realised he knew what was going on. One of the more interesting topics in the academy, even before coming to the Crossroads, was on interacting with other races.
With his mind affinity helping him bridge the gap between seemingly unrelated knowledge, he quickly realised what was happening. Clearly, the creature’s culture was focused on hunting and cooking.
“Ah, I think you misunderstood. We’re assigned names from birth, we don’t have a naming ceremony. Uhm, if you don’t mind, is there something I can call you to make communication easier?”
Felix was pretty happy with that. He was pretty sure that line was straight out of a textbook on meeting with unknown cultures.
When the little creature burst into tears, Felix was a lot less confident. It took a lot of cajoling to finally understand what had upset the little fellow.
“To think you’re such masters of the arts that you can produce a dish worthy of a name from birth. Truly, I am honored to be in your presence.”
“Ah, no, that’s not it. Please, calm down. We don’t get our names based on food.”
Explaining the concept of names unrelated to foods ended up being an exhausting experience. Eventually, it seemed to understand that he’d gotten a name without cooking a dish, but the creature was still confused by the practice.
“I don’t understand, why would you not be named after food? What else would you be named after?”
“We aren’t named after anything, well, sometimes we are. Often parents just pick a name that sounds nice, and they give that to their babies.”
“But you are made of what you eat, surely you must be named for what you are?”
For a moment, Felix sat there dumbfounded. It actually made a lot of sense if he put it like that.
“Uhm, I guess not. Anyway, do you mind if I call you something just to make talking easier?”
“Your customs are strange. If you must call me something, then you can call me by the name of the meal we shared.”
“The name of the dish, you mean the knucklehead skewers?”
“Yes, until the next meal we share, you may call me, Knucklehead Skewer.”
Felix stared.
Knucklehead Skewer started.
“You can’t be serious?”
“This is how things are done in my shoal for those who have yet to earn a name.”
“Wait, but wouldn’t everyone in your shoal have a different name for you then?”
“Huh? Don’t be silly, everyone eats together. Otherwise, how would we learn from the meal?”
“Wait but then wouldn’t everyone have the same name?… You know what, never mind.”
Curious as he was, Felix didn’t want to get bogged down in the details of Knucklehead’s culture. Ultimately it wouldn’t help him with his goal. If he was going to pass the trial, he’d have to get a move on.
“Uhm, look, I was wondering if you could help me cross the river with that boat of yours. I was thinking I could help swat the fish away so you could focus on steering?”
“Oh, yes, that would be wonderful. As soon as I earn my name, we should do that.”
“Uh, why do you need to earn your name first?”
Knucklehead looked at Felix like he was missing something obvious.
“You can’t cross the river without a name, silly. If I go back without a dish, I’d have to stay nameless.”
“Ah, I see. So how do we earn you a name?”
“I just need to cook something worthy of one. Don’t worry I already have an idea. While you were resting from the hunt, I heard the battle of two great beasts further into the forest. Their battle shook the trees and earth. I’m sure we can find something good if we go.”
“Wait, you’re suggesting we steal prey from a beast that strong?”
“C’mon, it’s this way!”
“Wait! We should talk about this!”
“We can talk later, the taste will be off if we don’t treat the meat quickly.”
Felix stared after Knucklehead. Maybe the name suited him after all.
With no other way to cross the river, Felix was forced to follow. The little guy was surprisingly quick, even carrying his collection of spices. His strong tail helped him manoeuvre with an agility you wouldn’t guess at by just looking at his stubby limbs.
Before he knew it, he was pushing himself just to keep up physically. Knucklehead was far more used to the environment and crossed with ease what took Felix concerted effort. Before he knew it, he’d stopped paying attention to his surroundings, fighting desperately to keep up with Knucklehead.
As they rushed deeper into the forest, Felix could feel the earth shake with the occasional impact. It made him remember that this was still a challenge gate. Knucklehead’s friendly demeanour and help when he passed out lulled him into a sense of security. The Ways wouldn’t give him something so easy to handle. He’d have to stay on his toes to handle whatever was ahead.
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Oh yes, I’ll join the Discord server of my fave author, meet awesome people, and become super famous, right? Well, that was the idea ’til everything went sideways, and now my life is upside down and inside out.
Who can I trust? What is real? Is anyone on Discord actually a person? Or is it all just some whack game designed to drive me mad? I’ve got one friend who I sorta count on, but dare I confide in him my deepest, darkest fear: what if no one on Discord is actually real?
How far down the rabbit hole did I go in my quest for fame and fortune? There’s only one way to find out, so you know what to do. Yeah, click Read Here.
What to Expect:
- Female lead.
- Sapphic characters, no romance.
- An innocent, lovable gal with quick wit who gets in over her head on Discord.
- Comedy turned psychological thriller without violence or physical peril.
- Character driven. Found family. Slice-of-life moments.
- This stand-alone book is a spin-off from my series and is a Royal Road Write-A-Thon Participant for Fall 2025.