Book 2: Chapter 20 (1/2)

Carl hummed as he sanded the shaft of his new spear. It was tipped with a leviathan tooth and enchanted by its bone powder. Beside him, George was doing the same thing. “It’s a good thing they didn’t want the teeth, huh?” Carl asked, admiring the sun glinting off his spear.

George grunted, causing his gills to flap. “As strong as they were, they didn’t need the teeth. I don’t think they even needed the armor.” George sighed and rested his palms behind him, disturbing the sandy surface. “He killed a leviathan while naked. No weapons. No armor. Nothing.”

Carl shuddered as an image of a golden-eyed human appeared in his mind. “Yeah,” he said and sighed. “If he wanted to attack us… I don’t think we would’ve made it.”

“Right, well, we’re still here and that’s all that matters,” George said. “And there was even the nice benefit of uniting all our tribes together. Maybe we could even join the assembly and overthrow some of those taxes aimed at us.”

“Huh,” Carl said, his brow furrowing. “That’s really possible now, isn’t it? Should we go ask the elders?”

“I’m sure they’ve thought of it,” George said and nodded. He squinted at the coast and frowned. A massive shadow was approaching the beach from underwater. “Uh, Carl. Look.”

Carl followed George’s finger and shielded his eyes from the sun. “What is that?” he asked. He stood up and cupped his hands over his mouth. “Hey! Get away from the water!”

The fishmen children, who were running about, stopped and glanced at the water. They screamed and ran towards the grassy border as the shadow came closer and closer, a dorsal fin as large as a palm tree emerging from the surface of the ocean.

George’s face paled. “D-do you think leviathans avenge their brethren?” he asked as he gripped his spear and retreated backwards while keeping his eyes on the approaching beast.

“I don’t know,” Carl said and shook his head, “but you should go inform everyone and have them move deeper inland.”

“And you?” George asked.

“I’ll keep an eye on it.”

George nodded. “Alright,” he said. “You’re much braver than I am. Children, follow me!” He gathered the terrified kids and headed into the jungle, leaving Carl behind.

Carl gulped as he waited by the grassy border, watching the leviathan. The water bulged as its head emerged, its eyes glazed over and focused on nothing in particular. Its mouth hung open, dangling as water poured out of it. Strange white and yellow objects were clinging to its teeth and body, squirming with the current. Blood poured from the beast’s body from hundreds of cuts lacerating its skin. Carl dropped his spear as the leviathan wriggled onto the shore. “It’s … dead?”

“Phew! That was a real tough one,” a gravelly voice called out from beneath the leviathan. “The things we do for the mistress, eh?”

Hundreds of voices rang through the air as skeletons dropped off of the leviathan’s corpse. “For the mistress!”

***

Grimmy hummed as he flew through the skies with Leila beside him and Lindyss sitting on his snout. He stopped for a moment and raised an eyebrow. “Did you feel that?” he asked, crossing his eyes to look at Lindyss.

“Feel what?” Lindyss asked and smacked his scales. “Hunger? Yeah, I felt that a long time ago. Can we kill and eat something already?”