Book 3, Chapter 68 - The Volcano Dwellers (2/2)

Coal found a fire salamander’s nest and stole in for a meal. But there were no lizards, instead there was something else he’d never seen before. It was alive, like a salamander, but different. It was scavenging around, digging through the ash and comparing things it found. Clearly it was a creature of some intelligence.

Coal had seen nothing like it. It was new, interesting. He crept closer to try and get a better look. It wasn’t very large, about his own size, with black coarse hair sprouting from its head. It’s skin was fair, soft… rather like the stories the chief used to tell.

And then…

The creature realized Coal was standing there, nearby. Just as Coal was mesmerized by the strange thing, Coal’s own hulking frame froze it stiff. It recovered and pulled out a tool, something like a bow though there were no arrows. But when the creature pulled back on the string and release, a shooting beam of light struck him in the chest.

Pain!

Terrible pain!

Once Coal trained his body to tread lava, no creature had caused him this much pain. When the strange beast pulled back the string for a second shot, Coal was afraid. He curled his fingers into a fist and prepared to strike back.

His enormous fist slammed into the ground, leaving behind a crater several meters deep. Yet when he pulled his hand back the nasty beast that stung him wasn’t there.

Behind. Coal tried to turn around but he wasn’t fast enough. The creature had a stick with it too, thick and black, which it used to whack against his body. Coal reeled backward from the strength of it, filled with fear and surprise. This was all knew, unexpected. The blows of this tiny creature hurt terribly. Flee. That was the only thought in his mind.

Desperately he swung his palm to swat at the smaller thing. It struck rocky ground, sending shards of rock into the air, but not the creature. It split apart into many more creatures that looked just the same. Coal kicked and punched and slapped, not knowing which way to turn.

The outsider with the black fur brought its stick down on Coal’s head so hard he thought he might fall over. He clutched his head and cried out for mercy in his people’s tongue.

Hearing his wailing cries, the creature stopped in confusion. It put away its terrible weapon and warbled something.

“What sort of creature are you? A mutant? Can you speak?”

Coal paused. Those weren’t words from his language. This was… the language of the outside, that the chief had taught him.

Coal struggled to remember what he was taught. He could understand a fair amount, but speaking was hard. He did the best he could. “Coal no fight… Coal! No fight!”

It was a misunderstanding!

Cloudhawk had found the awful mountain range by following Adder’s map. When he turned around and saw the giant sneaking up on him he thought he was being attacked. Only terrible monsters could possibly live in a nightmare expanse like this. Cloudhawk, true to his nature, attacked first before asking questions. He was surprised to find that the giant was tough, like mountain tough. It took a shot from his bow and two blows from the exorcist rod to make the critter hurt. But he didn’t see any wounds.

Was this thing supposed to be human?

If he was to judge by appearance alone, the thing looked more like a demon.

Cloudhawk struggled to communicate with it, eventually learning that he called himself Coal. The Warden was here looking for the Dark Atom, but the mountain range was tricky and easy to get turned around in. He was getting ready to retrace his steps when he ran into one of the Blisterpeaks’ natives.

Coal came to know that this creature was an outsider, just like the ones the chief spoke about. He was excited, but nervous. He wasn’t sure how to properly treat his new guest, so he did what he thought best. Coal charged through the lake of lava to snatch up a fire salamander hatching. It was some of the best fair available in the Blisterpeak ranges.

When Cloudhawk saw him jump and walk through it like nothing his jaw almost hit the floor. What the actual fuck was this guy made of?! Thousands of degrees of heat and he was wading through it like a goddamn hot spring!

Coal presented Cloudhawk with the salamander, riddled with oozing poison glands.

Was this thing even edible? His stomach could be made of cast iron and he wouldn’t be able to handle this thing’s rotten meat. The poison coursing through it would lay him out, no question, but the mutant seemed to love it.

Cloudhawk shook his head, then produced a hunk of beef and tossed it his way. “Try this.”

Coal looked at the fresh chunk of meat with wide, captivated eyes. Fresh… food? He’d never seen the like, but he was not worried. He and his people could eat rocks if they needed to. From the look of it the food was tasty. He tenderly snatched it up, took a tentative bite, then trembled all over from delight like a child tasting candy for the first time.

The chief wasn’t lying.

Things from the outside were even better than he imagined!

1. The name is ‘worried mountains’. ‘On tenterhooks’ is a phrase meaning to be anxious about future events. Tenterhooks also look a little like mountains. Except I’m just kidding. I translated a few chapters ahead and took another look at the characters, only to realize the word 焦灼 can mean both worried and ‘blasted’ or ‘seared’. I’m leaving this note here as an interesting example of how I can screw up. I still think Tenterhooks was clever, too.