Book 3: Chapter 57: Monster
“I <em>trusted </em>you!” Den yelled, his arms outstretched so the jungle mudminnow was as far from his body as possible. He pinched the crime-against-nature of a fish between his thumb and forefinger, all four of its legs undting as they tried to find purchase.
Beside him, Dom stared down at his cupped hands. Not wasting the opportunity, the creature within stood upright and tried to run back to the water. Dom’s face went pale.
“You right, mate?” I asked.
He opened his mouth to reply, but dry-heaved instead. “Why does it<em>—</em>” He dry heaved again, dropping the fish and wiping his hands on his pants. “Why does it feel so <em>wrong?</em>”
Maria and I cackled withughter, leaning against each other.
“<em>I trusted you!</em>” Den repeated, looking both disgusted and amused.
The mudminnow Dom had dropped sprinted past Den on its way to the water, and he plucked it from the ground, scrunching his face at its human-like legs as they kicked in the air. Peering at it must have drawn his vision in, because his gaze went distant. I focused on it too, making words appear in front of me.
<strong>Mature Jungle Mudminnow</strong>
<strong>Unique</strong><strong>This fish is a creation of the followers of Ceto. It is unknown how long the jungle mudminnow has existed within the Kallis Realm, but in that time, it has stabilized itself within the food chain. This fish has be the favored prey of the potent alligator gar.</strong><strong></strong>
<strong></strong>
When I shook my head and returned to the present, utter revulsion covered Den’s face. “The alligator gars eat these? <em>On purpose?</em>”
His incredulity only made meugh harder, my chest starting to ache as the air was forced from my lungs.
“Pass them here,” I said, getting to my feet. “No need to let them suffer.” After two swift movements, I set them down on a rock. “We need to swap out your fishing rigs for something bigger, then we should be good to go.”
After washing their hands for an overly-dramatic amount of time, shooting us judgemental looks all the while, the brothers rejoined us. When they noticed the giant hooks we’d attached, their eyes went wide.
“Trust me,” I said. “The fish are big enough to justify it.”
They nodded, anticipation radiating from their bodynguage and cores both. Not needing guidance, they attached an entire mudminnow as bait each, then strode down to the water.
“In the middle?” Dom asked.
“Duh,” Den said, yfully rolling his eyes. “Do you think giant fish live in the shallows?”
In response, Dom picked up a pebble and rubbed it between two fingers, scowling at his brother. I half expected him to flick it at Den’s head, but he pretended to drop it, instead shoving it into a pocket. “You’re lucky I’d rather fish than teach you a lesson.”
I raised a brow at Maria, wordlessly asking if she’d noticed. But before I got her attention, the brothers cast out their lines. I watched as the rigs sailed over the water, Den’s sshing down to the left and Dom’s to the right, both in the deepest section of theke.
As if in recognition of their perfect casts, the world froze. I hadn’t even realized there was a breeze before, but now that it had vanished, the silence of the surrounding trees was deafening. Tiny ripples spreading from the brothers’ lines were the only movement visible, the pattern beautiful and hypnotic.
When Den’s reel screamed a momentter, I wasn’t at all surprised.
“Poseidon’s silty bottom!” he yelled, holding his rod high.
Its tip bent and bounced with each movement of the fish’s head as it tried to escape, but as with every creature that had faced the brotherstely, it didn’t stand a chance. When it swam toward Dom’s line, I worried that they might be tangled. Before I could tell him to wind it back, he was already doing so, ensuring he didn’t get in Den’s way.
It had only traveled a few meters when the second fish struck.
“<em>By Triton’s stiff conch...</em>” Dom uttered, his tone disbelieving. “It’s <em>big...</em>”
Whilst Den hooted and hollered as he slowly reeled the fish in, Dom remained reserved, his eyes intense as he fought his to shore. When the potent alligator gars approached the shallows, their long, powerful tails made the water churn, giving the brothers their first sight of the fish.
Instead of dashing into the water to grab them, I reached out and grabbed the rods. “What are you waiting for? Go get ‘em!”
Den dove—literally <em>dove</em>—into theke,nding with the grace of a drunken starfish. He was wrestling his alligator gar above water a momentter, holding firm as it kicked its giant tail.
“Watch the mouth!” Maria winced, reaching out a hand as if she could telekically help. “The teeth are deadly!”
Dom was in the water now too, having walked instead of diving like his maniac brother. After a small battle, one which almost saw Dom get bitten by Den’s fish when said maniac got too close, the brothers were walking up the shore.
I slipped forward, dispatching both alligator gar with my trusty spike.
As one, our eyes were drawn into them.
<strong>Mature Potent Alligator Gar</strong>
<strong>Unique</strong>
<strong>This species variation of the alligator gar has evolved through its predation of jungle mudminnows, an unnatural fish created by the followers of Ceto, over thousands of years. Through millennia of evolution, the potent alligator gar has managed to produce a unique kind of chi that only matures when exposed to heat.</strong>
“Unique chi…?” Den asked. “Only after being exposed to heat?”
“How…” Dom licked his lips. “How potent are we talking?”
“One way to find out,” I said, shooting them a wink.
Den’s eyes were alight with expectation when they met mine. “Fire?”
“Fire.” I confirmed.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Before I could even finish the word, Den and Dom were off, setting their fish down and dashing in search of branches.
***
With the smell of smokeing from the campfire and the vor of potent alligator gar lingering in my mouth, I leaned back against a tree. I let out a soft groan.
“Agreed,” Maria said, resting a hand on her stomach and leaning beside me.
Despite having caught two fish as long as a man was tall, we absolutely devoured them. Borks and Teddy had one of the frames each, meticulously removing every possible bit of meat. The brothers were sitting across from us, both looking just as full.
“You gonna eat that?” Dom asked, pointing down at thest bit of fish on Den’s te.
“Yes,” Den replied.
“You sure?”
He gave Dom a suspicious look. “Yes, I’m sure. I’m just letting the rest settle.”
The look wasn’t misced, because a momentter, Dom made his move.
His hand darted out, grabbing the filet with lightning-fast precision. Den, however, was prepared. They say the best defense is a good offense, which was probably why Den aimed his punch at Dom’s head. Dom had to block with both arms, leaving the fish behind for Den to quickly scoop into his mouth.
Den gave him a smug grin as he chewed, taking his time to enjoy every—
<em>Crunch.</em>
Den froze. He furrowed his brow, tongued his cheek, then spat out... a rock? Tiny fractions of one, anyway. It had been crushed between Den’s empowered mrs. I stared at the small pile for a long moment. Had the rock been <em>in </em>the filet? Had I somehow put it on his te when I was dishing up the servings? If so, how would such a mistake slip past my enhanced awareness?
When I felt the victory radiating from Dom’s core, I finally understood.
“Dom!” I barked augh. “That was <em>devious!</em>”
Den’s eyes narrowed as he spun toward his brother. “What did you do?”
“The pebble,” I said, shaking my head.
“Revenge is a… is a … cold dish,” Dom said,pletely butchering the phrase and making me giggle even harder.
Comprehension arrived in Den’s eyes just as violence flowed from his core. He shot to his feet. “You put a pebble in myst bite? You <em>animal!</em>” He turned to Borks and Teddy. “No offense.”
They both shrugged, but Den didn’t see the gestures because he was busy flying through the air toward Dom.
“Dinner and a show,” Maria remarked as the two men duked it out, fighting just as they had in theke.
A smile graced her lips, making me watch her for a moment before returning my attention to the brothers.
Though Den was definitely annoyed by the betrayal, he was equally enjoying their little sparring session. We let them go for a few minutes. Teddy finally stepped in when Dom was thrown toward a tree. The man would have crashed through it, so Teddy caught him and pulled him into a bear hug.
“Truce?” Dom asked from a position of exactly zero power, his legs dangling above the ground as Teddy held him tight.
Den appeared to seriously consider the offer, tilting his head back and forth. “Fine. But only temporarily, and only because there’s more fishing to do. I will avenge my meal.”
“Deal,” Dom said, straightening his clothes as Teddy set him down.
After resting a while as the brothers fought, my full stomach felt much morefortable. I stood up and stretched, letting out a soft groan. “I think I have to do something regrettable,” I said.
This immediately drew everyone’s attention.
“Er, like what...?” Dom asked, unruffling hisst sleeve.
“So, you know how I can sense chi, right?”
“Right,” Maria said, slightly raising a brow.
“Well,” I continued, “I can technically search out fish that have chi in their bodies, right?”
“Ohhh,” Maria said. “To make sure we don’t fish up all of them?”
I grimaced. “Exactly.”
“Wait, why is that regrettable?” Dom asked.
Den whapped him softly on the back of the head. “Because it’s cheating. If you can sense exactly where fish are, and how many there are, Fischer could just throw the hook directly at them.”
“I mean, it’s not really cheating if he’s using his power... is it?”
“He’s not just cheating the fish, you goose,” Den said. “He’s cheating himself. Think about how it feels when your line is in the water. The unknown possibilities, knowing that at any moment, something massive could strike. The excitement thates with it. <em>The anticipation.</em>”
“That’s it, mate,” I confirmed. “But in this case, I’ll have to do it anyway. I don’t want to catch all the alligator gar and make them effectively extinct. If I’m unlucky and there is a hidden species in here, scanning the water will spoil that surprise.”
“Ohhh.” Dom frowned. “Yeah, I don’t like that at all.”
“Don’t worry,” Iughed. “I won’t tell you if there is.” I walked over to the bank, letting out a slow sigh as I stared up at the waning afternoon light. I didn’t want to do it, yet it had to be done. I hesitated a moment longer, gathered my chi, then sent my awareness snaking outward.
It went through the ground first, winding over rocks, earth, and sand. Surprisingly, I felt creatures there, each possessing the smallest hint of chi. Worms, insects, even tiny aquatic invertebrates living around the rocks of the shore. Their life forces were like stars in the night sky, lighting up the darkness behind my eyes. After pausing to appreciate their beauty, I pushed my awareness further, extending into theke’s ck waters.
The first species were something I’d seen before, but not in thiske. They were little guppies, only asrge as the end of my pinky finger. Maria and I had spotted them in one of the creeks feeding into the river, and though I thought there were a lot of them then, it was nothingpared to the thousands upying theke. They swam all around the edge, schooling inrge groups that asionally split apart, only to rejoin once more.
When I saw why they separated, a shiver ran down my spine. From within theyer of silt on theke’s floor, a jungle mudminnow struck. It stood up on its weird little legs, then leaped and darted for the guppies. Each time I’d seen a jungle mudminnow walking, I’d been disgusted. Somehow, witnessing its fleshy legs trailing through the water as it swam was even worse.
I felt a moment ofpassion for the guppies. I couldn’t think of a more unnerving ambush predator to be targeted by.
My awareness sunk into the silt where the rest of the mudminnows waited. There were <em>thousands</em> of them, allpletely still and waiting for a school of bait to swim by. Another involuntary shiver came, running down my entire body. No matter which way you looked at it, there were entirely too many legs in thiske.
Seeking to banish that thought from my mind, I extended my senses further. The bottom of theke grew deeper at a steady gradient. There was a sudden drop off, making me raise an eyebrow. It went down and down for meters, revealing a craterous hole within. When I sensed the life down there, I felt my body jolt.
“What’s wrong?” Maria asked, her voice only barely making it through to me.
I lingered a moment longer at the bottom of theke, my shock not fading. There were hundreds of the alligator gar, so we’d have no issue with supply. They sat almostpletely still, their fins and bodies only asionally moving. But they weren’t what made me have such a visceral reaction. Deep below them, buriedpletely in the mud, something ancient sat. Its power was... old. <em>Really</em> old. The chi within its massive body tasted like the essence that suffused the world.
Maria squeezed my arm, tugging at my awareness. “Come back to us,” she said, her voice soothing.
When I opened my eyes, I slowly turned her way, my body going numb. Borks and Teddy had been resting, but now they were up, keenly aware of my reaction.
“What did you see?” Maria implored, resting a hand on mine. “Is there no more of the alligator gar? I’m sure we can find something else to—”
“No,” I interrupted. “There are hundreds of them.”
“What is it, then?” Den asked, gazing at theke’s cid waters.
“I... can’t tell you.”
“What...?” Hurt apanied Maria’s question, radiating from her core.
I immediately returned to the present, banishing the thoughts whirling through my mind. “I’m not keeping it a secret for a bad reason. It’s...” I trailed off, wondering how to word it.
“You saw something else, didn’t you?” Den asked, turning his attention to the others. “Fischer promised not to tell us if he found a bigger fish, remember?”
Dom shook his head. “I take it back. I wanna know.”
“Aye,” Den agreed.
Borks and Teddy agreed with assenting growls, their ears alert.
I looked at them all. “Are you sure?”
They gave a sharp nod, now staring right at me.
“Calling it a big fish doesn’t really cut it.” I swallowed, my mouth dry. “There is a <em>monster</em> at the bottom of thiske.”