The following days aboard The Saber Chaser were enjoyable if a bit boring. Zell spent a great deal of time the first four days shadowing Ruthar, hoping to spy some more beast communication magic. On the fifth morning, the wild mage finally hailed him.
“I sense you chasin’ me around Mr. Zell!” He said loudly over his shoulder as he inspected a knot tied near the ship’s figurehead which led down to the harnesses secured to the underside of the ship.
“Sorry about that.” Zell rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment as he left the cover of the cabin wall. “I don’t want to miss your magic.”
“No need to be shy about it. It’s no big secret after all.” He finished inspecting the ropes and turned as he spoke.
“I’m not allowed to cast proper spells until I have control over my mana, but I’ve been keeping a journal of all the things I’d like to try someday.” Zell explained.
“This type of magic won’t go out of control and blow you up if that’s the worry.” Ruthar chuckled. “It’s true your mana is pretty heavy, even a weak senser like me can feel it after all. The worst case is that you’ll get the attention of something you don’t want attention from. Even then, almost nothing in the sea would approach four grown saberfins.”
“Really!?” Zell clenched his fists with wide eyes in excitement. “You’ll show me how?”
“You bet. Meet me here after dinner tonight. I get bored too you know.” He clapped Zell on the shoulder and gave a wink before walking away.
“What for?” Agitha responded to Zell’s excited news that Ruthar would teach him beast communication magic. They were in their cabin. Agitha was swinging gently in her hammock with a book in her hand while Zell paced anxiously.
“Are you kidding!? You don’t want to know how to talk to animals?” Zell was struggling to contain himself
“Hells no. Can you imagine if he could actually tell you every time he wants a bone or a walk?” Agitha pointed at Merc. “That branch of magic is such a giant load of work for such a low payout. Very few animals can communicate with it, and of the ones that can even fewer have anything to say beyond ‘feed me’ or ‘hump me’. That wacky water druid probably spent his whole life learning how to steer those sharks. Either way not my goat, not my barn. Go nuts.” She ended the conversation by looking back down at her book.
“Thanks Teacher!” As usual Zell completely ignored the jaded Agitha’s negativity and took her blessing to pursue it with enthusiasm.
Zell barely tasted the stew and bread later that afternoon as he raced to finish his food. As soon as the last bite was safely in his cheeks he bolted to return the wooden bowl to the dish tub near the end of the small dining room.
He was still chewing the bread as he bounded up the stairs to exit the cabin. The sun was just about to touch the sea horizon in the west as he hustled to the ship’s front to wait for Ruthar. He didn’t have to wait long. The smiling mage appeared soon after with a strange furry shape sitting on his shoulder.
“My assistant, Peanut.” Ruthar explained of the critter which resembled a cross between a tiny fox and a tree squirrel. It was the size of a house cat with red and white fur. It’s huge tufted ears continually rotated and flicked while it studied everything around it with big yellow eyes, occasionally pausing to groom a stray piece of fur back into place. “He prefers to stay in the cabin but he agreed to help me out today.”
“Thank you Ruthar and Peanut.” Zell bowed deeply. “This means very much to me.”
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“Don’t mention it, no promises as with any magic of course.” Ruthar replied.
“First I’ll describe the process. The beginning spell is just a simple greeting that any creature within your range and compatible with your magic will recognize. It’s a bit like knocking on a door. Controlling and directing your greeting will make sure you don’t get any unwanted animals and increase the likelihood of your intended audience making a connection.” Ruthar stopped to make sure Zell was keeping up. Zell was paying rapt attention but something in his expression told Ruthar to stop. “Any questions about that?”
“What creatures are compatible with my magic?” He asked.
“That’s something you’ll have to learn for yourself. Common land mammals are usually the easiest to connect with as long as you understand their motivation. Peanut is a veteran so I should be able to at least get a hello between you two.” Said Ruthar. “I’ll show you the gesture and phrase.”
“I think I remember it.” Said Zell, eager to impress. He drew the symbol he had seen Ruthar use on the first day and said the phrase as he remembered it.
“Wait!” Ruthar exclaimed trying to catch Zell’s hand before it completed the rune. He was too late, and a tone of such low frequency that it was inaudible erupted. The sound waves could be felt in the bones, and all aboard the crew stopped for a moment and wondered if they were imagining things.
“What did I do!?” Zell asked in a near panic.
“Most likely nothing way out here, but just ringing the welcome bell like that can be very dangerous. Please be more careful.” He admonished.
“I’m very sorry!” Zell bowed his head. “It won’t happen again, I promise.”
“It’s alright, and you actually had it pretty close for only seeing it once.” Ruthar complimented after he calmed himself. “Now when you cast the spell you need to be solely focused on your target with a calm and above all sensitive state of mind. If you’re successful peanut will reply with a greeting of his own. You won’t be able to mistake it but it’s likely to be very brief.”
“Also you spoke the word ‘Nectura’, which carries a command to move or awaken. The correct word is Nectera which means to connect.” Ruthar emphasized each syllable, making sure Zell understood it clearly.
Zell nodded slowly, not blinking. With a deep breath he stared at Peanut, capturing every one of his features clearly in his mind. He crystallized the image and tried his best to make his mind receptive to messages though he wasnt totally sure what that meant.
“Nectera.” He said calmly as he traced the symbol in the air between him and the curious Peanut.
“A belt pouch?” Zell’s face was crinkled in confusion over the odd black and white image that had flicked across his thoughts.
“Haha you actually did it!” Ruthar congratulated him heartily lifting up the side of his long vest to reveal the same belt pouch from Zell’s vision.
“Why your belt pouch?” Zell asked, no less confused.
“Because this belt pouch is pretty much all he thinks about apart from female canopy foxes.” He explained as he unsnapped the button on the pouch, causing Peanut to make a loud string of excited chirps and odd growls.
Zell smiled ear to ear as Ruthar pulled a few whole peanuts from the pouch and handed them to the critter on his shoulder. Peanut stuffed one in each cheek and made short work of the third.
“I get why you named him that now.” Zell laughed.
“Oh he named himself that. He was very adamant that he be named after the most holy thing in the universe.” Ruthar replied.
“So that’s beast communication? Just pictures of what they’re thinking about?” Zell leaned on the rail going over it again in his mind.
“That’s all communication isn’t it? It allows you to understand a creature’s motivations which means you have an opportunity to curry favor or avoid conflict. If you expect a human level of conversation you’ll be disappointed. Most creatures are just after the simple comforts of a favored food or attention from a mate.” Ruthar explained.
Zell smiled at the explanation. Of course Agitha had been right, but Zell still felt she was underestimating the skill greatly.
“I admit I don’t know what I was expecting. It makes sense how you describe it and it’s still really amazing. You got these sharks to work for you just by trading images and food.” Zell could scarcely imagine how such a simple tool could accomplish something so complex. “It must have taken incredible dedication.”
“Climb the mountain and plant the flag, or wish for wings and die in the valley.” Ruthar said.
“That might just be my new favorite sentence. Can I steal it?” Zell asked with a grin.
“Might as well, I stole it from the captain.” Ruthar laughed back. “How about some more practice?”
“Aye!” Zell answered smacking his fists together.
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About thirty nautical miles southwest, and twelve thousand feet beneath the surface of the sea, a great leviathan of the deep was disturbed by a pulse of discordant magic. The mythical monster resembled a colossal sea snake with the head of a dragon and a tall spiny sail along the length of its back. The agitated beast oriented its three hundred feet of scaly bulk into position to rise and hunt down the source of the strange signal.
Before it could an eye snapped open nearby, an eye that hadn’t opened in sixty years. A coral encrusted crab like claw which dwarfed the leviathan reached through the silent blackness. The leviathan reacted too late as the massive appendage engulfed most of its body and crushed it with enough force that a cloud of inky blood erupted from its dragon like maw. The former apex predator was then dragged down helplessly toward the titanic orange eye and the hungry jaws beneath it.
The attacking creature, a primordial aspect of the sea known as the Coral Titan devoured the three hundred foot sea monster headfirst, then sucked the leviathan’s remaining bulk in like a human slurping a long noodle.
It then began to excavate the rest of its unearthly sized body from the ocean floor. The struggle of extracting itself sent massive tremors through the water which rapidly formed great swells as they approached the nearby coast.
Something had woken it prematurely, and now it needed to consume enough meat and kelp to fuel its next century long nap. It finally freed itself a few hours later and began taking one great step at a time toward the fertile coastline, devouring anything that swam in its path along the way.