"You always were the best with spear fishing," Mira laughed and gave her sister a one-armed hug. "You are the only one who had the
patience for it."
"That was an impressive catch, Your Majesty," Ideclared.
"Thank you, Ben," she answered with a soft smile. "It is not the most efficient way to catch them, but it is fun. That is why we use the basket.
How do your people do it?
"For sport, we use a fishing pole," Ireplied. "It is a long stick with a line and a hook attached to it. We put some sort of bait on the hook, and
then we wait for the fish to bite the hook and then pull them in. You have to be very patient. Sometimes you can wait all day and not get a single bite."
"That does not sound like it would be very productive," Mira commented with a frown.
"It really isn't." Ishrugged. "It is mostly done for sport and fun." "How do you fish to feed your village?" the warrior asked.
"We use big boats that travel the waters," Iexplained. "They are equipped with huge nets they drop into the water to catchall kinds of fish and seafood."
"Seafood?" Mira tilted her head.
"Yes, like shrimp, crab, and lobster, just to name a few," Isaid.
"These are things you eat?" the queen asked. "Are they nutritious and filling?"
"They are very delicious, healthy, and definitely very filling," I
replied, and my stomach growled in agreement. "One of my favorite things is a seafood stew."
Both women laughed at the very audible sounds my empty belly was making.
"Maybe we should finish up our tour so you can feed that hungry beast." Nerissa giggled as she started to walk again. She stayed along the water's edge, though, and let the small waves roll up to hither ankles and spray her legs as we continued our tour.
"I'm fine with seeing more of the island first," I assured her with a smirk.
"I would like to know more about these nets," the queen mused as she glanced at me. "Do you think you could show us how to make them?"
"Most definitely." Inodded. "Actually, what the women were
weaving at the loom earlier today looked a lot like a fishing net. It would just require a looser weave so the water would run out and the fish would stay in."
"That actually makes a lot of sense," Mira murmured and tapped her chin.
"We could find a way to attach the nets to a sturdy pole for one
person use, or we could design it for teamwork," I added as I hoped to score some more points with these women.
Just as those words left my mouth, the queen stumbled in the
shallows. I immediately made my way forward to help her up, but before I could get there, she was already standing.
"Don't mind me," Nerissa laughed as she turned to step toward me, "I have always been a clumsy one,"
Before I could say anything in response, she slipped again, but this time it looked much less like a stumble and more like someone shoved her.
"Nerissa?" I made to grab for her, but something suddenly yanked her out of my reach.
"Gah!" she screamed, and her eyes went wide. "Something has my dress!"
Mira lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Nerissa in an
attempt to pull her out of the water, but it was suddenly a tug-of-war battle between Mira and whatever had a hold on the queen's dress, and it didn't look like the warrior woman was going to win.
I darted around the struggling sisters and saw a shark-like creature fighting for his lunch. It was roughly six feet long and had green leathery skin with patches of blackall over it. It was like a tiger shark and a leopard had a love child, but I really didn't have the time to think too much about that.
I didn't have any weapons on me, so I did the next best thing I could think of and punched the son of a bitch right between his bulbous eyes. That stunned him a good bit, and he let go of Nerissa's dress.
Mira pulled her sister away from the beast, but he wasn't giving up easily, and his large jaws snapped after his escaped meal.
It was at this point I noticed two very distinct things. First, this
bastard had some serious teeth on it. I clearly saw three rows of menacingly sharp teeth when he tried to chomp down on the queen. Second, the mother fucker had four nightmare inducing limbs about the length of a large dog's legs.
"Run!" I yelled at the women as I ushered them ahead of me.
Mira and Nerissa stumbled in the sand as they tried to run up the beach, but the shark-creature snagged the hem of Nerissa's dress once again.
I hauled my leg back without thinking and kicked the shark square in the side. It made a strange hissing squeal as it let go of the queen's skirt,
and Mira, the queen, and I took off running while it was stunned.
We'd barely made it several yards, though, when I heard something behind me and turned to see the shark was not giving up on his lost lunch. It snapped its freakish jaw with a clatter of teeth, and then it took off at a
sprint.
The shark-beast was moving faster on those legs than any creature had a right to move, and I knew we weren't going to be able to outrun this freak of nature if he kept pursuing us. So,I frantically looked around for some kind of makeshift weapon and saw a piece of driftwood. It was about the size of a baseball bat and had a severe point at the end of it.
It would have to do.
"Keep running!" I shouted to the women as Iscooped up the stick and turned to fight.
I really hoped I wasn't about to get eaten by this monstrosity.
I managed to jump out of the way when the shark lunged at me, and I hauled back my stick and delivered the first blow right behind one of its
pectoral fins. This just agitated the beast more, and it let out a snarl and resumed trying to attack.
That was when I noticed the shark didn't have a wide range of sight and had to turn its whole body to find me. If I could get behind the bastard, I might just be able to garner enough time to kill it.
His next attack came a bit faster, but when I stepped back, the sand shifted drastically beneath my feet, and Istumbled to my knees. Then I hauled up the improvised weapon just in time, and the creature chomped down on the driftwood instead of on my leg. I found out just how strong those teeth were when he bit the end off the stick in one snap, but on the plus side,I now had an even sharper weapon to fight with.
While the shark-thing spat the wood out, I jumped up from the ground and to his side. I needed to keep moving and confuse him.
I probably looked like a real idiot as I jumped back and forth, but it was working to throw him off. Every few jumps,I would go in for an
attack. I managed to get a good blow in, and as I took out his right eye with a stab of my pointy stick, an eruption of blood and slimy eyeball goo spilled onto the goldensand.
The shark screamed in what sounded like a mix between a gargle and a growl, and it backpedaled as it shook its massive head in agony.
I finally felt a little confidence that I might actually win this, so I
stayed on the beast's rightside as it attempted to turn to see me. The shark
was panicked and bleeding a lot, and this caused him to just lash out at anything.
Then he finally made the mistake I was waiting for and stumbled blindly over some uneven earth. When he did,I jumped on his back.
The bastard managed to snap at my leg, and his teeth tore my pants and cut into my calf, but it wasn't much more than a scrape.
"Take this!" I snarled as I drove the super pointy end of the stick down into the soft spot on his head and right into his brain. I rode out his death throes like a cowboy on a bull at the rodeo until he came to a stop.
As the shark finally flopped dead to the sand,I sighed and paused for a few seconds to let my racing heart calm down.
That was fucking crazy. I seriously just battled a damn land shark. And had won.
After a few moments, I lifted my head and caught sight of Mira and Nerissa a dozen yards away. The warrior was partially standing in front of the queen for protection, but both of their eyes were wide.
"It's okay," I called out to the two women, "you can come back over here."
They cautiously made their way over to me, and then they took in the scene before them. They both stood there with looks of shock and awe on
their faces.
"Your Majesty," I panted heavily, and I wiped some sand and green shark blood from my brow, "are you alright?"
"Yes," she breathed, and she sounded just as winded as I was, "I think I am."
"Good," Inodded, "I'm glad. But, and pardon my language here, what the fuck was that thing?"
"A haeye," Mira replied as she stared down at the shark carcass with wide, gold eyes, "a really big one. They typically do not attack in the day, and they also do not tend to attack groups. They mainly like to pick off
lonely stragglers. How strange."
I was comforted by the fact that the one I fought was not the norm for these creatures. I wouldn't wish encountering one of those on anyone.
"Can you eat them?" I wondered out loud.
"Oh, yes," Nerissa smiled, "they are actually a delicacy we don't
often have because they are quite dangerous to catch. Everyone will be very pleased to see this. Thank you, Ben. You not only saved myself and Mira, but now the tribe will be able to benefit from the fruits of your labor."
I smiled at the thought of all the women being surprised by the haeye meal they were in store for tonight.
"Ido have a question, though," the queen added with a tilt of her head.
"Ask away," I replied as I stepped away from the haeye carcass. "Why did you not run?" Nerissa inquired.
"What do you mean?" I asked with a frown. "That thing was fast as shit. If I tried to keep running, it would have caught up to us, eventually."
"Precisely," the queen said as she studied me with those intense aqua eyes of hers. "Your legs are far longer than ours, and you are not
encumbered by a dress. You most likely could have outpaced Mira and myself quite easily."
I blinked in shock. "Are … are you asking why I didn't let the shark monster eat you?"
"Yes," Nerissa answered simply, and her eyes never left mine.
My mouth opened and closed for several moments as I searched for the right words, but I couldn't find anything eloquent, so I decided to just go with the honest truth.
"I could never do that, Your Majesty," I said as I lifted my chin, "it's just not who I am. Like Itold Mira last night, I … I want to help you. That is the honest truth, I swear. I don't knowhow I ended up on your island, and I don't knowhow, or if, I'll ever find my way off it. But you and your
people … you've been relatively kind to me. You could have killed me, you could have dug a ten foot pit, dropped me in it, and left me to die. But you didn't. You've offered me food, shelter, and medicine, and I want to return the goodwill you've shown me. Mira told me about your problems with
raiders. I can help. I know things about defensive and offensive tactics I could teach you. Who knows? Maybe this is the reason I woke up on your island."
"Maybe," Nerissa murmured as her eyes roved over my face, like she was searching for a lie, but she would find none. "You are a mystery, Ben Whitfield."
"But mysteries are kind of fun," I replied with a smirk. Nerissa's lips twitched in a smile. "That they are."
"Should we return to the palace now?" I asked as I motioned back up the beach the way we came.
"Not yet," Nerissa shook her head, "I want to show you the rest of the island and see what your ideas for it are."
"Yes," Mira agreed with a grin, "after seeing you in action,I would definitely like to hear your thoughts on the defenses and how we could
make improvements."
"What about the haeye?" I asked as I gestured to the carcass. "We
can't just leave ithere. Scavengers will tear it to shreds before we can come back for it."
Nerissa and Mira shared a look, and then the queen gave a barely perceptible nod. Without another word, Mira inclined her head, turned around, and began to sprint back toward the village.
"Umm …" Istared at the retreating warrior's back with wide eyes. "Where is she going?"
"She is bringing people to cart the haeye back to the village," the queen explained simply.
"So … we're just going to waithere?" I asked and glanced at the beautiful woman beside me. "Alone?"
Nerissa smiled as she met my eyes. "Do you plan to spirit me away?" "N-No!" I said quickly and shook my head.
"Then I think we shall be fine," the queen laughed melodically, and I grinned dopily at the sound.
It looked like saving the queen from a murderous nightmare shark had won me a little trust. I'd take it.
Nerissa and I stood there on the beach in comfortable silence, and barely a minute later, Mira returned with four women in tow.
Huh. They must be fast sprinters.
The four women gasped at the sight of the haeye carcass, and they spoke quickly to each other in their peculiar clicking language. At one point, they all stared at me with wide eyes, and Mira said something that made their jaws drop.
Then the queen clapped her hands together and gave what sounded like an order, and the four women bowed before they quickly stooped down and picked up the carcass between them. A moment later, they were jogging back toward the village, and a line of green blood trailed in the sand in their wake.
"Shall we?" Nerissa asked as she turned back to me and nodded in the opposite direction down the beach.
"As long as you are sure," Ireplied, "I know you just had a good scare."
Nerissa looked at me with an honest and sincere expression on her face.
"Thank you for your concern, but I am hardier than I look." Then her lips turned down into a frown. "This is why we don't allow any of our
people to fish alone. There are too many dangers in the sea, and there aren't
enough water dragons left to provide protection. On top of that, the ones left are very agitated and have become aggressive."
"Wait … did you just say water dragons?" I exclaimed with wide eyes.
"Yes, water dragons," Nerissa repeated before she cocked her head to the side. "Do you not have them near your island?"
"Um, no," I chuckled nervously as we began to walk down the sand. "We don't have any sort of dragons where I am from. They are
mythological creatures only found in stories."
"Water dragons are a carnivorous creature that live mostly in water, but nest on land," the queen explained in a sad tone. "They are beautiful and sleek, faster than any water dweller, and have a mouth full of very
sharp teeth."
"Why does this sadden you, Your Majesty?" I asked, but I was afraid I was going to find out what had happened to the men of this village.
She sighed and turned to me with tears in her beautiful eyes.
"There was a time where our people bonded with the water dragons and lived in harmony with them," she almost whispered. "We provided
them with food and safety, and they gave us protection and sea glass in return. We also shared companionship with them."
She grew silent, and I didn't press her to continue. This was
obviously a sensitive subject, although I was dying to ask a million
questions. My brain successfully overruled my mouth, though, and I stayed quiet. I wanted to reach out to her, but didn't want to overstep. This was the queen, for fuck's sake.
Then Nerissa took a deep breath to bolster herself and continued to walk. When she spoke next, she was much more in control of her emotions.
"The breed is dying out," she told me. "We don't know why, but we think it has a lot to do with the loss of so many of our own. Our two species were so intertwined, as nature intended, we believe our demise is killing
them, too. They have become increasingly hostile to us, and we have lost the knowledge of how to tame them. Now, we must keep our distance and hope that one day, we will rediscover this knowledge. We search fervently for answers."
"That sounds … very difficult, I'm sorry," I said with a frown.
"In truth, I am not giving the whole thing justice," the queen
lamented. "When a dragon bonds with one of us, it essentially chooses to leave its family and weave its life into ours. When one of the bonded pair dies, the surviving one carries the soul and essence of the departed one within themselves for the rest of its life."
"Wait," Iwondered, "how does that happen?"
"Ireally don't know," she whispered. "My brother and the king both bonded with dragons, but their dragons died in battle when they did. I have never seen neither dragon nor man survive without its bonded companion."
"Do only men bond with dragons?" I asked
"No," she smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes, "but there must be a dragon king, or DragunRi, alive for bonds to happen."
I just nodded my head in fake understanding and let the topic of the dragons slip away. It seemed like a touchy one, and I didn't want to ruin the bit of fellowship I had developed with her.
We continued to walk along the shore, and I noticed we'd avoided the center of the island. I was about to ask why when we arrived at the
eastern shore. There I saw attempts at securing the island, but they likely weren't very effective. The pikes in the sand were too far apart and at the wrong angle to work as they should. There were also no lookout towers or stands to see an oncoming threat and no type of signal in place.
"This is our most vulnerable shore and where most of the attacks come from," Mira said as she gestured to the beach. "Not many make it through the jungles from the north because it is full of predators and
sinkholes. This is where we need your help, Ben. We are working on
replacing the stakes, but there has to be some more effective measures we can take. We have dug pits between the beach and the barrier, those come in handy, but still we need more. We are sure to be plagued by more raiders
and pirates, soon. It has been peaceful for too long."
"I can think of several things we could do to make instant
improvements while we work on long-term defenses," Iinformed the
women as my mind immediately started churning through ideas. "We can get started when we get back to the village. I would like to bring a few more of your warriors in to get their opinions. With all of us working together, we can make this shore much safer."
I walked along the dilapidated barricade and looked for strong points we wouldn't have to replace. The less hard labor we had to put into it, the faster it would go up, so finding solid structures was imperative. As I was inspecting a rather sturdy column burrowed deep into the ground,
something shiny in the tall grass beyond the barrier caught my attention.
I reached down and picked up what appeared to be a large glass
arrowhead attached to an ornamental staff made out of some sort of wood. The staff itself was broken off, leaving the end a jagged point, but the arrow was still brutally sharp and fully imbedded into the rod. Where they met,
braids of thin silver rope or threads were wrapped tightly around the space, not just for decoration, but also to strengthen it.
I stood up with the spear in my hand.
"What did you find, Ben?" Mira asked over my shoulder. "Some sort of weapon," I replied
I turned around to show her what I held, and all the color drained out of her face. Then she gently took the broken spear from me and showed it to the queen.
"My goddess, is that …" Nerissa whispered with wide eyes.
"Yes, look at the markings and tie," Mira murmured in a tight voice.
The scales on Nerissa's face rippled as she warred with several emotions at once.
"This is all just too much today, I must return to the palace," the queen said as she embraced the spear to her chest like it was a beloved child.
Mira put her forehead to her sister's for a moment before they turned back to the village and walked away.
I stood there speechless as I watched them walk away, and I had no idea what was going on. Why was this weapon so special? Did it belong to Arrick or someone else?I also wondered if it was made from theseaglass I'd heard briefly about and what the silver bindings were. I had so many
questions, and the people who could give me the answers were quickly leaving me behind.
So,I did the only thing I knew to do and followed these two women back without a word.
Man,what a day.