At the foot of the Seret Mountains there is a town named Karat. Its buildings are formed from rough, red sandstone, and at the center of the town is a most impressive structure. Large and round, and at least three stories tall, within the massive dome is a twisting network of stalls, tables, pits, and even kitchens. To a traveller, this might look like a bazaar or an indoor market. Indeed in most towns it would be, but here in Karat there is only one industry worth mentioning:
Desert Fighting Beetles.
Brilliant, large beetles, in every color and shape imaginable. They are easy to care for, needing almost nothing in the way of food or water, and docile towards most creatures. However, they are extremely territorial against one another, and the people of Karat have been caring for, breeding, and battling the insects for generations.
Kikwi sat within the crowds within Karat’s dome. It had no official name, but was colloquially known as the Battledome. Beetledome was another name, and he much preferred this. He was watching an altercation between two insects with awe. They had been placed in a small arena and were squaring off most menacingly. One was a brilliant emerald color and sported a massive upward-curving horn on its face. The other was jet black, with a pair of pincers the size of Kikwi’s own fingers. They clashed, and the crowd cheered.
Kikwi had been rapidly firing off questions to the man beside him, and much to his delight, the gentleman seemed happy to answer all of his curiosities. “How do you know who’s won?” he asked.
“It used to be battles’d go ‘til one beetle kill’t the other,” he saw Kikwi’s distressed face and waved it away, “but they don’t do that no more. Beetles are too expensive these days, no one wants to risk losing that much coin on a fight! Sure it happens, but it ain’t supposed to. Nowadays its til one can’t fight no more. See this big horned fella?” he pointed to the green insect with the rhinoceros horn. “Them rhinos like to flip their opponents. Sometimes that’s all it takes. If the opponent can’t get up, it’s over.”
Kikwi gulped. These creatures were beautiful, but their ferocity was palpable. “What if they can’t flip the other one over? What if they get up?” he asked.
The man pointed to the arena. “You see them holes in the sides?” he asked, indicating several beetle-sized holes in the short arena wall. “Those are escape holes. Beetles don’t back down easy, but they know when they’re beat. If they hurt too bad they’ll go into one o’ those. If your bug sets foot in there, you’ve lost.” He shrugged, “Better than a dead bug, though!”
“Beetle,” Kikwi corrected.
“What?” The man yelled over the crowd.
“Beetle!” Kikwi repeated, louder. “They aren’t bugs!”
The man looked confused, but shrugged again and went back to the fight.
Sure enough, after a few minutes, the green beetle had put the black one on its back. It flailed its legs uselessly, gnashing its pincers at the air. The rhino began to charge forward, but it was quickly pulled out by a darting hand.
“Mean Green is the winner!!”
Kikwi clapped along with the crowd as the black beetle was rescued by its handler, and watched with interest as it calmly crawled over his fingers and into a small glass container. It seemed that, aside from facing each other, the beetles were actually very peaceful.
Kikwi learned so much that day that even he felt like his head would explode. For instance, he now knew that there were many species of Desert Fighting Beetles, but they were all grouped into three categories: Rhinos, Stags, and Wasps. The green beetle had been a rhino, the black one a stag. He hadn’t seen a wasp yet, but apparently those could fly and sported nasty stingers.
He sat on a low bench eating a delicious something wrapped in pita, listening to the cheers and boos and looking at all of the glittering insects for sale. How he wished he could have one of his own to study, but all the ones here were far too pricey for him.
Then something very exciting caught his eye. At the far end of the structure, in coarse hand-written letters, a sign: Beginner’s League - Loaner Bugs Available
”Beetles,” Kikwi muttered under his breath.
Desert Fighting Beetles.
Brilliant, large beetles, in every color and shape imaginable. They are easy to care for, needing almost nothing in the way of food or water, and docile towards most creatures. However, they are extremely territorial against one another, and the people of Karat have been caring for, breeding, and battling the insects for generations.
Kikwi sat within the crowds within Karat’s dome. It had no official name, but was colloquially known as the Battledome. Beetledome was another name, and he much preferred this. He was watching an altercation between two insects with awe. They had been placed in a small arena and were squaring off most menacingly. One was a brilliant emerald color and sported a massive upward-curving horn on its face. The other was jet black, with a pair of pincers the size of Kikwi’s own fingers. They clashed, and the crowd cheered.
Kikwi had been rapidly firing off questions to the man beside him, and much to his delight, the gentleman seemed happy to answer all of his curiosities. “How do you know who’s won?” he asked.
“It used to be battles’d go ‘til one beetle kill’t the other,” he saw Kikwi’s distressed face and waved it away, “but they don’t do that no more. Beetles are too expensive these days, no one wants to risk losing that much coin on a fight! Sure it happens, but it ain’t supposed to. Nowadays its til one can’t fight no more. See this big horned fella?” he pointed to the green insect with the rhinoceros horn. “Them rhinos like to flip their opponents. Sometimes that’s all it takes. If the opponent can’t get up, it’s over.”
Kikwi gulped. These creatures were beautiful, but their ferocity was palpable. “What if they can’t flip the other one over? What if they get up?” he asked.
The man pointed to the arena. “You see them holes in the sides?” he asked, indicating several beetle-sized holes in the short arena wall. “Those are escape holes. Beetles don’t back down easy, but they know when they’re beat. If they hurt too bad they’ll go into one o’ those. If your bug sets foot in there, you’ve lost.” He shrugged, “Better than a dead bug, though!”
“Beetle,” Kikwi corrected.
“What?” The man yelled over the crowd.
“Beetle!” Kikwi repeated, louder. “They aren’t bugs!”
The man looked confused, but shrugged again and went back to the fight.
Sure enough, after a few minutes, the green beetle had put the black one on its back. It flailed its legs uselessly, gnashing its pincers at the air. The rhino began to charge forward, but it was quickly pulled out by a darting hand.
“Mean Green is the winner!!”
Kikwi clapped along with the crowd as the black beetle was rescued by its handler, and watched with interest as it calmly crawled over his fingers and into a small glass container. It seemed that, aside from facing each other, the beetles were actually very peaceful.
Kikwi learned so much that day that even he felt like his head would explode. For instance, he now knew that there were many species of Desert Fighting Beetles, but they were all grouped into three categories: Rhinos, Stags, and Wasps. The green beetle had been a rhino, the black one a stag. He hadn’t seen a wasp yet, but apparently those could fly and sported nasty stingers.
He sat on a low bench eating a delicious something wrapped in pita, listening to the cheers and boos and looking at all of the glittering insects for sale. How he wished he could have one of his own to study, but all the ones here were far too pricey for him.
Then something very exciting caught his eye. At the far end of the structure, in coarse hand-written letters, a sign: Beginner’s League - Loaner Bugs Available
”Beetles,” Kikwi muttered under his breath.
