Chapter 15: Old Friends, New Enemies

“More of those strange Murlocs… It’s probably nothing.”

* Syd Saldean, Westfall Lighthouse Keeper

~ Brgllrm

Our walk to Mrgglr’s hut was not as exciting as I hoped. For some reason, getting out of the gawking crowd was much easier than when I first got in. Maybe it was because they had finally noticed me, the Oracle’s apprentice and accomplished healer in my own right.

Or it could be the two murloc bodyguards who looked like they were on steroids. That might have changed the reaction a smidge.

While we walked I gave a brief tour of the village, pointing out the different structures and spots. With the competitions done, the beach had been cleaned up, but there were still outlines and bits of the obstacle course here and there. I learned a few things about our new guests during the tour.

The first was that the two big coastrunners were either shy or mute. Both strapping young lads did not utter a single sound during the entire trip. They seemed interested in the village, constantly whipping their heads around to take in every detail I pointed out. But the only questions came from Slrgl.

I was pretty sure the problem wasn’t language based. Mrgglr had told me about all the different dialects of Nerglish he had encountered throughout his long life. Some of them had changed so much that they were unintelligible. But murlocs had only been living on the Longshore for a few generations. There hadn’t been enough time for the dialects to drift so far apart. Plus I had heard Srlgl giving them orders not to scare any tadpoles, and they simply nodded in response.

What pushed the mute theory over the edge for me was how they interacted with each other. One tripped over a loose log from the obstacle course carelessly left on the beach and had a slight tumble. Nothing major. But there weren’t any profanities or exclamations of surprise. There was only a grunt and the scattering of sand as he hit the beach.

Then the other one helped him up in complete silence. No “are you okay?” or laughing at their friend looking like an idiot. Just a hand outstretched without even looking at the man on the ground.

It wasn’t confirmation, but it was a pretty big clue. What friends, or even just co-workers, would miss an opportunity to take pleasure at the other's expense?

Srlgl was the complete opposite. I’m pretty sure he would talk to a rock if he thought it was listening. The entire trip he kept peppering me with questions about everything I pointed out, and a few things I didn’t. It was understandable seeing as he seemed to be the brains of this particular coastrunner party. He stuck to practical questions. Things like how many hunters were in the village or if we had spotted any gnoll scouts recently.

As we neared Mrgllr’s hut, passing a cluster of rubberneckers gawking at the admittedly unusual trio, Srlgl waved his arm to grab my attention. “So Brgllrm was it,” he said in a tone starkly different from his usual dulcet voice, “why don’t you wait outside with Grrgl and Brrgl while I talk to your master?”

The way he said it was unpleasant. It was slow and deliberate like he was trying to ensure I could understand him. I recognized it as a tone people took on when speaking to children. It carried an undercurrent of arrogance, that I would just do whatever he said. It honestly made me a little angry. I expected my youthful appearance to elicit some sort of reaction, but you would think a coastrunner to be less dismissive of an oracle’s apprentice.

“I’m sorry coastrunner Srlgl,” I said like a retail worker trying not to punch someone who really deserved it. “But Mrgglr instructed me to accompany you at all times. He wishes for you to suffer no inconveniences.”

There was a pause while he stared at me, his face set into a neutral expression. Then he closed his eyes and started nodding. “It is always touching,” he said, moving closer to me, “when a master and apprentice have such a trusting relationship. Do not worry, I take no insult from your refusal.”

He dropped his voice into a hushed tone, leaning away from Grrgl and Brrgl. “But my request was actually for my companion’s benefit.”

“You see,” he continued, dropping the patronizing cadence from before. “They are from a tribe that has recently migrated to the Longshore and are unfamiliar with life outside the ocean. I was hoping you could extend your lovely tour for them, without my presence. I fear they respect me too much to ask what they think are frivolous questions.”

“They’ve never lived outside the ocean before?” I said in my most polite incredulous tone. “I thought there hadn’t been any ocean tribes for generations.”

Srlgl paused, glancing towards the two muscular murlocs behind us. “That is the commonly held belief, but the mural of murloc civilization is grand, and its carvings stretch wherever the water flows. Tribes are always being founded or reincorporated into wider murloc society. Grrgle and Brrgl were part of a small offshoot of the Spotted Scales until they were driven out of their home by a naga raid.”

The Spotted Scales… I had heard of them before. They were in one of Mrgglr’s stories involving a stolen cow, twenty murlocs, and one pissed-off farmer. The moral of that one was that murlocs are lactose-intolerant, understandable given our diet of mainly fish, insects, and plants. It’s weird not being a mammal anymore.

But the tribe in that story was coastal, and Mrgglr had been a strapping young lad then. Their group must have split with the Spotted Scales over 40 years ago to still inhabit the ocean.

While working through the math, a crashing sound captured my attention. Peaking over my shoulder, I saw one of the murlocs, Grrgl I think, picking himself up off the ground. Turning back, Srlgl was shaking his head. A look of pity was on his face.

“Poor things never learned how to live outside of the ocean. It is often hard for the newly surfaced to adapt to life outside the embrace of the Deep Mother. Speaking, walking, even breathing must be relearned.” Srlgl shook his head again as he looked back toward me. “It is especially tough for someone looking to prove themselves. Could you imagine, everything you’ve ever known and loved being taken from you? How powerless would one feel watching their home being defiled and knowing there is nothing they can do to stop it?”

As he spoke, I looked past him to Grrgl and Brrgl. The duo had seemingly noticed our hushed conversation. It was unclear if they understood it was about them, but they had moved further away from where Srlgl and I stood. They were even both looking out into the village instead of at us.

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“Perhaps the only thing they carried out from that raid was their pride and a hunger for revenge. But even that nebulous goal must seem impossible. The transition to surface life has almost broken their spirit. Once consummate warriors reduced to stumbling tadpoles, barely able to walk a straight line.”

I returned my attention to Srlgl. As my eyes brushed across his face, I noticed his teeth. Besides being immaculate (seriously, how did he get them pearly white when toothpaste hasn’t been invented yet), they were also wickedly sharp. They had points on them that wouldn’t look out of place at the end of a spear, yet they seemed to have grown like that. There were no gaps between teeth or damage that would have hinted toward manual manipulation.

He ignored my blatant stares and continued. “But after over a month of constant training, I believe they are ready. The problem is, they do not.”

“Okay…” I drawled out while trying to parse the explanation he had just delivered. “Why would taking them on a tour help?”

“They need a confidence boost. Something to convince them of their reclaimed competency.” Srlgl waved a hand above his head in a circular motion. “Seeing how regular murlocs like the inhabitants of this village live on the surface might be a positive influence on them.”

Srlglg let his hand fall to his side, looking at me expectantly. After it was clear he wasn’t going to move on without an answer, I seriously started thinking about what he had said.

It was a touching story. I was reminded of my previous life when I would read articles about refugees losing everything and having to flee their home country. Often those stories focused on the loss of culture and difficulties with fitting in, especially when they didn’t speak their new country's language. This was a little like that, except they also couldn’t function properly in their new environment. It would be like sending refugees to Machu Picchu, forcing them to deal with altitude sickness on top of all their other concerns.

But one thing bothered me. “If they’ve only been walking on land for a few weeks, why are they coming with us to fight the gnolls? Isn’t that something more suited for… literally anyone else?”

Plus, I’m unsure about the morality of recruiting refugees to fight for you.

“That is a very intelligent question Brgllrm,” he said, reverting to that slow tone he used in the beginning. “Many people would overlook details like that, but you caught it immediately. I can see why Mrgglr chose you as his apprentice.” He said

I waited for him to continue, but he stopped talking and looked vaguely into the distance. “Uhhhhh… are you okay?”

“Hm? Oh yes, sorry I was pondering on your excellent question.” Srlgl said while shaking his head, the action eliciting a rattle from the string of fangs hanging from his neck. “Grrgl and Brrgl are accompanying us because they are highly skilled warriors. Your village may contain a multitude of accomplished hunters, but they are accustomed to simpler prey. Our quarry will be capable of retaliating, which the brothers have experience with.”

I closed my eyes and scrunched my face slightly to show I was considering his request. It was easy to feign interest, mainly because I was genuinely interested in taking the two on a private tour. Not purely out of altruism, mind you. I had another goal in mind.

Srlgl had seemed like an okay coastrunner. A bit arrogant and commanding, but when you are the closest thing murlocs have to a military, egos get a bit inflated.

But I had only known him for all of half an hour. That was barely enough time to get a handle on his personality, much less his composure or competency. If we were going to follow his command during the coming battle, then I wanted to learn more about him.

The perfect place to start? A couple of naive trainees without his oversight. According to Srlgl, they were still unaccustomed to speaking on land, and would probably not know every little cultural rule we had. It shouldn’t be that hard to get them to spill something about their boss. The fact that he also had a hand in their training meant there were insights to pull from them. If Srlgl was abusive towards people under his command, what his usual tactics were, that sort of thing.

I opened my eyes and nodded. “I would love to help. If you could just tell them to follow me we could start now.”

A large smile split Srlgl's face as he waved the two brothers over. “You both listen to Brgllrm here, you understand?”

There was a period of silence where the three just stared at each other. There was no movement or talking, heck I’m pretty sure one of the purple ones stopped breathing for a bit. But after a minute the two seemed to get the message and nodded. I shot Srlgl a smile and started walking away from Mrgglr’s hut.

“Come on,” I said to the two trailing behind me. “I can show you the perimeter we’ve set up for the village. Watch where you step though, I set some of the traps myself and boy are they dangerous.”

Both fell in line behind me without a hint of protest. The last I saw of Srlgl was his tall form hunched over, making his way through the entrance into Mrgglr’s hut.

~ Mrgglr

It had been during my midday breathings when I heard the footsteps ascending the ladder to my hut. I continued my exercise regardless. its calming effects were a welcome relief.

Ever since Old Murk-Eye had mentioned sending coastrunners to prepare for the assault, I had been trying to work out who he would assign to my humble village. Many of the people who surrounded him were… unhappy with the influence I possess, however limited it may be.

Perhaps he would send one of those hardliners to subvert my people, someone to spread false rumors and talk of how much better Old Murk-Eyes rule would be. Maybe a fool would be dispatched, some bumbling idiot who would get good murlocs killed through incompetence.

Or, perhaps he would send a nobody. A reminder of my ever-dwindling presence among the greater Longshore society. A nothing coastrunner for a nothing village.

I was mentally prepared for any of those possibilities. Arguments had been staged in the theater of my mind, I had arranged the hut to exude a sense of mysticism, and emotional exercises long neglected had been practiced once more.

As I continued my exercise, the coastrunner stood upright behind me. I could hear their rhythmic breathing, faint drops of water dripping onto my floor. With one final deep breath, I turned around ready for anything… and was completely caught off guard.

He looked strange. His skin was a light green so vibrant it could be used to hide amongst the grass and leaves. A spear was fixed to his hip by rough spun rope, its gleaming tip made of the deadly metal Old Murk-Eye was so fond of. As I stared at his unblemished face, an amused smile split his lips, showcasing rows of jagged fangs. But despite all that strangeness, I still recognized him.

Standing before me was Srlgl, my clutch brother.

This couldn’t be happening. Srlgl, alive and well after all these years? It was something out of a dream.

As I stared in shock and disbelief, Srlgl stepped forward and spoke in an enthusiastic voice.

“Come now, Mrgglr.” The man said with a tilt of his head. “No greeting at the door? No shellful of shrimp to put my mind at ease? Is that any way to treat an old friend?”

What should have been a bit of friendly banter plunged me straight into suspicion. His voice was different, not the gruff speech of tortured lungs I had listened to all those years ago. It was smooth as a tadpole’s skin, possessing none of the wear I, or indeed any murloc as old as me and Srlgl, experienced over the years.

After I moved on from the vocal change, the content of his declaration surprised me as well.

“That’s who we are then, is it?” My eyes narrowed as I spoke. “Just friends?”

Srlgl flinched at my statement, the smile dropping from his face. “Come now, Mrgglr.” He said in a fake sad tone. “Don’t be like that. A lot can happen in two decades, especially if you’re left to fend for yourself.”

“You told me to leave you, to go find help!” I snapped back.

I take it back, I thought. This isn’t a dream, it’s a nightmare! My regrets coming to haunt me!

The smile had returned to his face, the slivers of light that poured in from above glinting off his polished teeth. “And did you do that?” He licked his lips while I stood in silence. “Or did you run and run and never look back?”

After half a minute without a response, Srlgl sighed and shook his head. He sat down on the floor, running a hand along its rough surface.

“I spoke with that apprentice of yours,” Srlgl said, pausing as I narrowed my eyes. That only seemed to make his smile grow wider. “And I must say, I’m impressed. She uses a lot of large words for someone so young.”

“Yes, she was always bright for her age,” I said in a measured response. “But I would prefer if you didn’t distract my apprentice. She is busy preparing for the… action against the gnolls.”

His smile was back in full force. Smugness radiated off him, from his perfectly white teeth to his lean, muscular build. “Come now Mrgglr, why the suspicion? I simply was surprised you would take on another apprentice after Yrg. Such a shame that was.”

My mind froze at the mention of her name. Old memories bubbled up, painful things I had long since relegated to nightmares. He wouldn’t, would he?

“Besides, she was the one who came to me. Did you not teach her anything about the real world, how things work outside of your little village?” He was looking directly into my eyes, challenging me with his stare. “Perhaps she should stay behind during the raid. It would be a shame if something happened to her.”

I licked my lips while studying Srlgl’s face. He seemed serious, none of the previous attempts at a friendly tone were present. It seemed like the time for pleasantries, however unpleasant they might have been, had passed. Now it was business, and he was already trying to downplay my authority.

As I prepared my response, one thought kept echoing through my head.

This was going to suck.