‹ Prequel: Ninety Days of Water
Status: Active.
Tundra
Chapter VI – Blood – Part IV
Aais twisted, flailing limbs and raking claws at his attackers. When violet spewed into the water, he cried in dismay, for he had not wanted to hurt his brothers and sisters from the same hatching. Nevertheless, the water was soon stained with a purple that would not dissipate.
‘Brothers and sisters!’ he rifled his gills, fanning the message out desperately. ‘Don’t hurt me! Don’t hurt me! Hassis! Hassis, help!’
But Hassis wasn’t listening. The water had a cold feeling, devoid of all god and elder currents. It unnerved the fish man, whose body was gouged and scratched, and whose blood was draining into the vast and heartless ocean.
Then, finally, it happened. Claws lunged through the water, and a karakos was stunned, floating sideways, limp as a ragdoll. He did not twitch, nor did he swim anymore. Aais released a cry of anguish, which turned to a cry for mercy and a plea of despair when he saw that the liquid leaking from his corpse was not purple. It was red.
‘Brothers and sisters!’ he rifled his gills, fanning the message out desperately. ‘Don’t hurt me! Don’t hurt me! Hassis! Hassis, help!’
But Hassis wasn’t listening. The water had a cold feeling, devoid of all god and elder currents. It unnerved the fish man, whose body was gouged and scratched, and whose blood was draining into the vast and heartless ocean.
Then, finally, it happened. Claws lunged through the water, and a karakos was stunned, floating sideways, limp as a ragdoll. He did not twitch, nor did he swim anymore. Aais released a cry of anguish, which turned to a cry for mercy and a plea of despair when he saw that the liquid leaking from his corpse was not purple. It was red.