The Godling Staff_Book Three

by Shanlynn Walker

  She swam to the mermaid village, but found it deserted. Not a single fish could be found. Distraught, with tears still streaming from her now murky orbs, she went in search of her sisters, eventually finding them lounging quietly at the water’s edge.

  “What has happened?” she asked. “Where is everyone?”

  Her sisters looked at her, but there was no joy in their eyes, only disgust at her ugly appearance. “They have left, dear sister. Nothing lives in this lake anymore,” one said, idly making shapes in the water with her finger, refusing to meet her eyes.

  “But… why?” she asked.

  “It’s too salty to support life now,” another nymph answered. “Your tears have polluted it over the years, and now only we remain.”

  “We were just getting ready to leave but wanted to tell you first. We go to find another lake to make beautiful, where we can once again dance and bring happiness. We didn’t want to leave you behind, but as you are no longer one of us, we cannot take you with us. Farewell, sister.” And with that, the nymphs who remained got to their feet and began walking away, leaving the nymph-turned-monster to herself, alone in the salty lake.

  The former nymph watched as her past sisters rose, marching off, not even looking back at her. Her rage bubbled back to the surface and before she realized what she was doing, she lunged and grabbed one of the few remaining nymphs, squeezing her until her eyes bulged from her beautiful face, and her blue tinted skin turned grey, then purple.

  “You will not just toss me aside like I don’t matter!” she hissed in the nymph’s terrified face. “Do you understand? You will stay here with me! You will not leave me alone!”

  As she ranted, she drew the nymph closer and closer to her face, shaking the small woman to emphasize her point. Uncontrollable rage shook through her body at the nymph’s struggle to be released. She could smell the fear rolling off the little blue frame, and it excited her. The former nymph inhaled her sister’s fear deeply, intoxicated by the smell of a mortal emotion emanating from an immortal body. Her mouth began to water, and without thinking, she bit the head off of the struggling nymph, drinking deeply of the dying creature’s blood, clear as the water she once danced upon.

  When the tiny body was drained of blood and her hunger wore off, realization of what she had done washed through her, and she gagged in disgust at her own actions. She had killed and eaten a living creature! And, not just any creature, but a nymph, her sister! What had she done?! Horror and despair overcame her, and as her eyes spilled tears, the lake became even more polluted.

  Alone, and with nowhere to go, the former nymph retreated back to her underwater cavern, hiding from the world. Eventually, however, her hunger came again, and she remembered the way her sister’s blood had tasted, the way the fear and terror had smelled. She left her cavern and swam to a nearby bed of algae. This had been her favorite algae to eat when she had been a nymph. They hadn’t needed to eat, but the algae had been so good, and you could taste the sunshine caught within. She brought a handful up to her mouth.

  She choked down a mouthful, but was unable to stomach any more. It no longer tasted like sunshine; it tasted like cold, dank sludge in her mouth. This would not satisfy her hunger.

  The sound of a twig snapping caught her attention, and when she spun around she saw a tree dyad gathering water from the lake for her precious tree. Quickly, she slipped beneath the surface of the water and swam towards the dryad, meaning to talk to the little lady and hopefully make a friend. Now that her sisters were gone and she knew no one else lived in the lake, she felt very alone.

  Swimming to within a few feet of the dryad, she waited for it to dip its bucket into the lake again, then she leaped from the water, catching the small, green woman up in her claw-tipped hands. The little lady saw her empty, black eyes and pale skin and began to scream, struggling to get away.

  “It’s ok, it’s me, I’m a nymph,” she tried to explain, but the dryad wasn’t listening. It screamed in its tiny voice. Fear was emanating off its green body, the smell intoxicating to the former nymph. She found herself poking the little green being with her claws, just enough to puncture the skin, to heighten her fear. Saliva flooded her mouth, and when she could no longer stand it, she bit the head off the dryad and drank her blood, then tore the little corpse into bite-sized pieces and devoured the rest of it.

  When her meal was finished, reality set in once more. Although she still cried, it was more from habit than sadness now. The immortals were little more than food now, and she understood they could not be her friends. Her sisters had been right; she was no longer a nymph. She was… something else. Something that fed on nymphs. Something twisted and deformed that should never have been.

  As time passed and word spread, fewer and fewer creatures visited the salty shores of the lake whose real name was long forgotten. Now it was known as Salt Crystal Lake, a place to be avoided… a place devoid of life. But unbeknownst to any but the oldest living residents of Darkenfel, there was one that still lived on a small island in the center of the murky waters, though it slept. Over the years it had devoured anything living surrounding the lake until it became a white, sandy wasteland.

  Now its sleep had been disturbed. Rising, it sniffed the air, funneling out the putrid smells surrounding it. It peeled its lips back in a smile, revealing sharp, grotesque teeth. Its eyes ran with tears, leaving dark trails down its somewhat humanoid face. Quietly, it slithered into the brittle water and swam swiftly towards the southeastern shore, cutting through the thick water effortlessly. Visitors had come once more to her shores.

  And she was hungry.

  Chapter Nine

  There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them.

  ~ Andre Gide

  Drakthira awoke from a light nap. It had been at least an hour since she had spoken to Dax through their shared bond and her first thought was that something had happened to him, causing her to unexpectedly awaken. She felt for her bond-mate ever so lightly, not enough to even make him aware of her presence, but more like a whispered touch. He was still looking for a suitable place to camp and seemed untroubled. He was not the reason she had awakened.

  A slight turn of her head revealed Trakon slouched over Sylas’ prone body, both of them snoring loudly. Smirking, she concluded their snoring must have been what had disturbed her sleep, and was preparing to go back to sleep when she felt it again.

  Rising, she walked to the edge of the glass, careful not to allow even a single claw to disturb the salty sand, and stared off towards the west. Something was out there. Something powerful. It called to her in a distant voice, as if it were only now awakening fully, only now aware of her existence. She felt its presence focus on her, heavy and lingering, for just a few moments. And then it was gone.

  Growling low in her throat, Drakthira searched for the presence again but was unable to find it. She couldn’t sense whether it was friend or foe, but she was reasonably sure that each of them was equally aware of the other’s presence. More than that, she was sure it had come from the west, the direction Dax had gone.

  Her scales clattered in agitation as she paced back and forth along the edge of the glass, trying to determine what to do. Daxon didn’t seem to be in danger, and she didn’t want to leave Sylas and Trakon alone. She could wake them and allow Trakon to ride upon her back, but she didn’t know how much farther it was across the desert and she feared having to land in the bug infested sand if she grew too tired.

  A small skittering noise caught her attention and she looked down at the glass under her feet. The little white bugs were following her movement from underneath the glass, their bodies sliding along it as their legs searched for purchase. She could see where her heavy footsteps had squished some of them against the glass, but their companions were quick to devour all trace of their deaths. Fascinated by their mindless persistence, ‘Thira walked slowly across the glass, watching as the swarm of hungry insects felt her movements and followed her step by step.
After a few moments, she became bored by this distraction and once more her gaze turned west.

  The presence was gone and if she had been human, she would have questioned if it had simply been her imagination, but, being a dragon, she had no such doubts. It troubled her to think it may still be out there, shielding its presence from her, for how else could it have disappeared so quickly? It hadn’t felt like it was particularly close, but that did little to quell her worry. A being able to make its presence known across a vast distance must truly be powerful indeed.

  ‘Thira found herself pacing once more. She was so focused on her thoughts she didn’t notice Sylas until she almost walked right into him. He was standing at the edge of the glass, as she had been just moments before, gazing westward out into the night. He turned his head to look at her, his small, stubby tail wagging slowly for just a moment before he turned away again, his ears alert for any sound.

  The young dragon turned her head to stare in the same direction as the dog, also listening. Now that she was no longer pacing, she could hear a slight swishing sound coming from the darkness. She hadn’t been able to hear it before over the sound of her claws clicking on the glass. Now that she did hear it, she realized it didn’t sound like something walking on the sand, but more like something moving through it or over it in a swimming or slithering motion.

  She looked down through the glass beneath her feet. The small, white insects were gone. She expected at any moment to hear the sounds of a struggle as they attacked this new intruder, but as the moments passed the only sound she heard was the swishing getting closer.

  The creature circled the group which lay upon what looked like a flat pane of glass. Although she was no longer a nymph, she still retained some of their powers, including the ability to glide through water faster than thought, and with a slight adaptation, through sand just as quickly. It had not taken her long to arrive at the eastern edge of the lake, her keen sense of smell leading her straight to the human, dragon, and dog she now regarded. Her shriveled, grey tongue peeked out from her lips and ran over her lips in anticipation of the taste of blood. It had been so long since she had tasted fresh meat.

  Circling cautiously, she remained hidden in the darkness. The air surrounding the party smelled of fire and magic. The fire she easily chalked up to the dragon and it explained why the insects which lived in the surrounding sands had not devoured the intruders. The dragon must have created the glass by melting the sand, a clever trick.

  She knew the insects would not bother her, would have, in fact, fled from her presence. As the lake had dried up and the salt from her tears had created the vast desert, the bugs had just appeared. At first, they had attacked her, and more than a few times she had fled from them, back into the salty, brittle waters of the lake. But, over time, she had learned they could not tolerate water and remained a healthy distance from the shore. The last time they had attacked her she had nearly killed the entire swarm simply by calling forth water and allowing it to run down her body and into the sand, an easy enough task for a water nymph, even a former one. After that, they had fled from her.

  Focusing her attention back on the group, she saw the dragon and dog looking in her direction, following the sounds of her movement. She didn’t know if they could actually see her, but it was obvious they were aware something was out in the darkness. She had never fought a dragon, had not even seen a dragon in many, many years. Nor had she ever seen a dog like the one she now watched. Whereas the dragon smelled of brimstone and death, the dog simply smelled like clouds laden with rainwater, but she was sure there was more to him than that. The former nymph had never been away from the lake and the smell of the Myste’s magic coursing through Sylas was foreign to her, but she knew instinctively he was more dangerous than he appeared.

  The human would be the easiest target. He was still asleep, close to the edge of the pane of glass, although far enough back so he wouldn’t accidentally touch the sand in his sleep. She was sure if she could just distract the dragon and the dog long enough, she could drag the man away and once in the water, they would have no chance of catching her.

  Just as a plan began to form in her mind, the night sky seemed to catch on fire, and a tremendous roar shook the ground underneath her.

  ‘Thira and Sylas traced the progress of the thing out in the sand by the slithering sounds it made. After realizing the meat-eating bugs in the sand were not going to attack it, they waited to see when it would show itself. That it was dangerous was not in question. And although neither knew exactly what it was, they could smell its foul stench of decaying meat and brine.

  Briefly, Drakthira wondered if this was the presence she had felt earlier, but she pushed the thought aside. Even if it was, she would not back down from the threat, would not allow it to harm Trakon or Sylas if she could stop it. She drew in deep breaths, allowing her fire to burn up through her belly, feeling it gather in the back of her throat. Her spine spikes stood at full attention along her back, and the trident-like set of blades on her tail also made themselves known. She was ready.

  By her estimation, the creature had already circled the glass one full turn and was currently on its second. The waiting was infuriating, especially when waiting on something unseen and unknown. The fire within her was seeking release, it felt like a hot, tight knot in the back of her mouth, but still she breathed deeply, feeding it and allowing it to grow larger, burn hotter. When it felt like she could no longer contain it, she took a last deep breath and with a roar like rolling thunder, she spewed the white-hot fire in an arc in front of her, in the direction she knew the creature to be.

  The sound woke Trakon and he sprang to his feet. The fire’s glow allowed each of them to see for the first time the grotesque beast stalking them. And grotesque was a kind word indeed, for the creature’s body was covered with dull, gray skin which culminated in a distorted, shark-like tail. The mysterious swishing sound ‘Thira had heard earlier was the creature’s tail moving back and forth like a snake, propelling it forward. Now it stood, frozen, with lifeless black eyes that contained no light to reflect back to the fire. Thick, watery tears rolled from the black pools, down its cheeks until they fell, heavily, to the sand below. Its lips were peeled back to reveal razor sharp, triangular teeth, stained from years of subsisting on decayed matter.

  Trakon felt like he was back in the Myste once more, his still sleepy mind trying to comprehend how this monstrosity had managed to escape and follow them here. Trying to grasp some sense of reality, his eyes kept going back to the creature’s nose, which was pert and very human-like and seemed completely out of place on such an ugly visage.

  Drakthira launched herself at their stalker, but was quickly taken aback when the thing burrowed under the sand as if it were water. For a moment, she could see a triangular fin cutting through the sand like a finely-honed cleaver before it, too, disappeared. She searched for some sign of the creature in the sand around her, but all seemed quiet. She kept her back to the pane of glass Trakon and Sylas were still standing upon, confident they would shout out a warning if the creature reappeared, while she searched the sand in front of her.

  Minutes ticked by and still the slithering creature did not show itself. Drakthira was reluctant to lower her guard, knowing the beast was still out there somewhere. She started to walk back to the safety of the glass in case the carnivorous insects decided to come back. She had only taken a few steps when the sand suddenly shifted beneath her front foot and, looking down, she saw the thing’s eyes looking up at her, its lips peeled back in a snarl. Before she could take a breath, its arm appeared out of the sand and a hand clasped over the front of her muzzle.

  A bubble of water instantly formed over her mouth and nostrils, immediately cutting off her ability to breathe. ‘Thira tried to pierce it with her claws, but the mucous-covered bubble was very strong, and her feet only managed to slide down the surface. Desperately, she tried opening her maw, but the bubble stretched with the movement and water began to fl
ow down her throat. She quickly snapped her mouth shut and shook her head viciously from side to side in an attempt to dislodge the bubble from her snout. Nothing worked.

  Trakon, seeing ‘Thira’s distress, ran out onto the sand to help her, all thoughts of the white sand bugs forgotten. He tried to grasp the bubble and pull it off her face, but like her claws, his hands simply slid away. Deciding to try a different tactic, he reached out with his magic and tried to pierce the bubble or at the very least, dislodge it, but his magic seemed to simply fizzle whenever it came close to the watery orb. It was apparent to him the creature’s magic was quite powerful, and there simply wasn’t enough life energy in this barren place for him to gather force sufficient to combat it.

  In a desperate attempt to help his dragon friend, Trakon searched for a sharp stick or a shard of glass to try and puncture the bubble, knowing in his heart it wouldn’t work, but unwilling to give up. He saw Sylas out of the corner of his eye standing between the now fully revealed creature and Drakthira, growling and snapping ferociously. The beast didn’t seem to know how to get past the huge dog. Trakon watched as the beast lunged at Sylas, who instantly dissolved into his mist form. The dog’s form held a greenish tint to it, and when the creature’s clawed hand came in contact, it instantly snatched it away, but not before Trakon saw the flesh being stripped away. It reminded him of when Dax had first met Sylas and the dog had tried to play with him, but had inadvertently stripped his arm of flesh within seconds. The creature’s flesh was not as easily devoured as Daxon’s had been then, but it was obviously vulnerable to Sylas’ Myste magic.

  Seeing the reaction the creature was having to Sylas, Trakon wondered if the large dog’s magic could destroy the watery bubble. He opened his mouth to shout out to his companion, but before he could speak, chaos broke free.