Chapter 40 - Belly of the Beast
“It has been too many years, my son.”
“Are you really my father?” Arnest sent his thought back towards the person embracing him.
“Oh right, I almost forgot.” The man stepped back and continued, “I’ll lower my aura so you can sense our blood connection.”
An instant after the thought entered Arnest’s mind, he could hear the Mamalark’s murderous thoughts. The only thing it kept repeating in it’s mind was “I want to eat,” and it grew in intensity with each passing moment. Then he could sense the tiny fish swimming by, who were fleeing the large predator in their midsts. And finally, he could sense the man in front of him.
“Can you feel it?”
Trying to ignore the killing intent of the Mamalark, Arnest concentrated on the man. A sweeping sensation filled him and made him want to gravitate towards the man. This attractive force pulled him forward ever so slightly and he had to steady his feet against the leathery tongue below him.
“Yes, I can feel it.”
“That’s good… I have to rest now.”
“Wait, if you’re my father then where have you been all my life? Why am I only meeting you now?”
”I can’t answer right now… must rest. The Mamalark will take us to Polaras. We can talk then...”
Arnest sensed the man’s steady breathing and slowed beating of his heart. Even though it was pitch black, as a darkness magus, he had the ability to see a bit better than the average person in the dark. He squinted his eyes and peered in front of him, searching for the man. On the ground he was, clearly laying down on the damp grooved tongue with his eyes closed. Arnest plopped himself on the ground and threw himself down on his back in frustration.
“I might as well get some rest too.”
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“Halphy, Halphy! This fishy is so big!”
Halphas looked at Tanya patting her hands in drum-like fashion against the monstrous belly of a fish that probably could swallow a few full grown men with ease. Its fins fanned out, hanging over the edge of the boat and dipping into the shallow banks of the ocean. Other boats along the coast also carried these strange fish, but most were unbalanced and tilted to one side. The only thing that seemed to keep them from sliding overboard was the ridiculous amount of burlap rope tied to them, holding them in place.
“Tanya, don’t touch the fish.” Halphas said, picking up her up from under her arms and away from the fish.
A man holding a frayed folded up net came walking by. “You can let the girl play with it,” he said as he tossed the net into the boat. “We’re not selling these anyway.”
Halphas lowered Tanya, who quickly moved to the fish and drummed against it in a nonsensical rhythm. “Sorry about this.” he said as he turned to the fisherman.
The fisherman wiped his hands against his shirt. “Cute kid you got. Reminds me of mine when she was little.” he said, looking towards Tanya with a gleam in his eyes.
“So you said you’re not selling the fish?”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Yeah, the Zanako got all the fishermen part of the Merchant’s Guild to pick up a bunch of dead fish in the middle of nowhere.”
He pointed towards a few horse-drawn carts that were lining up on the beach. “Those guys are gonna load up the fish and take them to the Zanas Mansion.”
Halphas waited for Tanya to finish with her fun until pulling out a silver coin. He then handed it to the fisherman. “Thanks for letting her play with the fish.”
“Thanks, mister!” Tanya said.
“No problem kiddo. Don’t make too much trouble for your daddy.” the fisherman smiled.
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People were running in all different directions to a dizzying degree. Up and down flights of pearly stairs and through corridors of marble, there were busy people at work. Within the center of a grand room that had ceilings that stretched dozens of feet upwards, stood a single man whose straight blackened hair flowed out to his back. He was unmoving, purveying over the whole situation like a hawk waiting for a chance to strike.
One of the attendants ran up to the statue of a man. “Zanako, the fishermen have arrived with the Devillefins. Where would you like us to put them?”
The unmovable man didn’t avert his attention, but parted his lips, “Take them to the underground chambers.”
“Right away.” the attendant said, before scurrying off into the direction he came from.
Another man, but this time at least twice as old as the attendant, walked up from behind. “Kamu, how is everything going?”
“Well, father.”
“That’s good to hear. If you need anything, know that the entire Aster clan is here to support you.”
“If only the Merchant’s Guild showed the same loyalty.” Kamu said as he watched the monstrous fish being carried in by the fisherman.
“Don’t worry. They can’t refuse us much longer, especially after we grow our army.”
“The Merchant’s Guild won’t ever be truly loyal, even when we conquer Lanex...”
Helvet Aster looked to his son whose fists were clenched.
“But it won’t matter by then since we won’t need them.” Kamu added.
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A loud groaning sound echoed in the cavernous atmosphere. Opening his eyes and lifting himself up, an awesome scene unfolded. Contrast between yellow glowing plants that were growing out of the walls and the sapphire crystalline ceiling that diffused the bright sunlight into a subdued navy blue. It was almost like being placed in a glass dome at the bottom of the ocean, where the waves of azure light danced back and forth.
Arnest turned to his side and saw a man lying to his side and a thought started echoing in his mind. “LET ME EAT!” it screamed which shocked Arnest’s memory. He looked forward and saw flat ground, so he quickly jumped out of the Mamalarks mouth and onto safety. But then he looked back at the Mamalark and saw the man still there.
“Should I go back into the Mamalark’s mouth?” Arnest muttered to himself, shuddering at the thought.
He started scratching his head in ambivalence. After a while, he grit his teeth and hopped back into danger to carry the man out. The Mamalark’s thoughts raged on and encouraged Arnest to complete his task as fast as possible. Less than a minute passed before Arnest and the man were out of the beast.
Heaving a sigh of relief, he laid on his back exhausted. Physically it wasn’t that much of a chore but mentally he was pushed to the brink. Being betrayed by Lajos and the Larks and meeting a man who claimed to be his father contributed to this strain but the biggest factor was being inside the belly of a hungry Mamalark, whose thoughts he could hear.
“Who are you and what are you doing with Concilis Leale?” a thought undulated in Arnest’s mind.
Arnest turned around and saw a crowd of people. “My name is Arnest and this is my father.”
The people’s faces went ghastly white and thoughts shouted out.
“Did you hear what he said?”
“What language was that?”
“He must be a human!”
“A human? Why would Concilis Leale bring one here?”
“We have to get rid of this human quickly!”
The mob of people started to enclose around him. Arnest started to panick and turned back around to escape. But when he turned the rank breath of the Mamalark pressed against him. “Time to eat, time to eat.” the beast thought to itself, as it started to figure out the situation. Arnest turned back around to his sides to look for an escape but he was already surrounded.
“Wait!”
Everyone turned and saw Leale standing, steadying himself against a tall rock. “That boy is my son, none of you are allowed to harm him!”
“His son?”
“Didn’t his son get killed by the humans ten years ago?”
The people looked at each other in disbelief.
“Sense his bloodline and mine. They are one and the same.” Leale said, reaffirming his claim.
One person’s face lit up in shock. “He’s right! Their blood is the same!”’
They started to whisper amongst themselves but Arnest wasn’t able to understand anything of the strange language. It all sounded like garbled words, heavy with consonants and one too many syllables.
“Arnele, quickly come with me.” Leale said, beckoning to Arnest.
“Me?” Arnest thought to himself.
“Son, come.” he beckoned again.
Arnest abided, briskly walking through the crowd that parted with surprised faces.