The Forgotten Island

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO:

FISH OUT OF WATER

“Say that I’m crazy or call me a fool

But last night it seemed that I dreamed about you

When I opened my mouth what came out was a song

And you knew every word and we all sang along

To a melody playing on the strings of our souls

And a rhythm that rattled us down to the bone

Our love for each other will live on forever

In every beat of my proud Corazon”

“Proud Corozon” – Adrian Molina/Germaine Franco

-Arya-

I ran through the forest at a break-neck speed, pulling energy from the trees around me whenever I felt myself tiring. The new technique fascinated me, as did the myriad of other things I found myself capable of over the last thirty-six hours. The Krill ran with me, our combined footsteps barely making a sound. We were like ghosts in the shadows, and even those seemed to shrink back at the bloodlust we emitted as we passed. The sun sank and the moon rose, and still we ran.

We came upon the cannibal settlement a little before sunrise, though it was anything but serene in the morning light. I split the war party into three, planning to hit the encampment from all sides, leaving no exit for the enemy to run. The village centered around the entrance to a large cave, the flicker of flames illuminating the interior walls. The cave was surrounded with houses made of chopped wood with dried foliage as roofs. The structures were decorated in various skins and bones, the variety of which was startling. In the center of it all was a small dirt clearing with a firepit at its heart, two small bamboo cages bordering a tall wooden pole beside it. Neither cage held Fish. I sucked in a large intake of breath when I noticed Darnell tied to the bottom of the pole, rope around his waist keeping him upright against it. Darnell was missing both his legs, and one of his arms, the ends black and burnt from cauterization. He was limp, and gave no indication of still being alive, his one good hand covered in a type of brown plaster preventing the use of his powers.

I crouched low, the Krill copying my movements. With a signal, we launched our attack. All three groups of the war party moved in sync as we quietly infiltrated the village. I had instructed the Krill to leave no survivors, and although I didn’t think it could be in their personality, they obeyed as if it was. Perhaps they had received a cold-blooded part of me, though I hadn’t known it even existed before now. The Krill silently crept into the domiciles, killing the inhabitants while they slept. I made my way in the shadows to where Darnell lay slumped against the central pole. The smell greeted me long before I reached him, the stench of burnt and rotted flesh burning my throat. “Dar” I whispered, trying to keep the alarm from being sounded for as long as possible. I shook his shoulder when he didn’t move “Dar!” I hissed. Finally, his eyes crept open, bloodshot and empty as they looked at me. At last recognition shined in his eyes as he rasped out a reply “In de cave. In de cave” he repeated it several more times, sanity seeming to seep out of him a little more with each word. I didn’t know how he had survived this long by the looks of him. As his eyes drifted closed once more, I moved away and back into the early morning shadows. Although Darnell may be lost, his message had been clear; Fish was being held in the cave. As I flitted from wall to wall, a shout broke the silence, bringing a cacophony of noises with it. With our cover blown, I ran full speed towards the cave, the Krill’s calls for vengeance filling the air. As I approached the caves entrance, warriors came running out. They came to a screeching halt as the spotted me, surprise in their eyes. I didn’t waste the opportunity, bringing forth my first weapon of choice. The vines around my torso shuddered before springing to life. They grew up and outward, curving in the air as eight deadly tentacles coming from my back. They were my extra arms, and I used them as such, using them to pierce eight of the cannibals right through their skulls. They barely had time to register what I had done before I ripped the tentacles from the skulls of their brethren and impaled the remining six. Brain matter slashed against the dirt, the dying warriors twitching as I ran past into the darkness of the cave.

I found Fish quickly, laid out on the cold floor completely nude. Bruises marred her beautiful pale body, blood and fluids caking her inner thighs. My vines made easy work of the cage, splitting it into a thousand pieces as I tore through it and ran to her side. I rolled her towards me, my heart shattering as I heard her whimper in fear. Her face had a deep cut across the cheek, both eyes bruised and swollen. Her small breasts sported still more bruises, her body telling the story of repeated rape. Rage boiled within me at the sight of her abuse, deep and bottomless.

Laughter came from behind me, and I turned to see a woman staring at Fish and I. Dressed nicer than the others I had seen, I felt safe in assuming she was a figurehead for these vile people. She wore multiple necklaces of bones, fingers and ears; her gray ashy body clothed with skins sewn together with what looked like human hair. Bile rose in my throat as I looked at the piece of skin above her breast, a familiar tattoo standing out: A peace lily with a date in roman numerals. It was the tattoo Tammy had on her forearm which she had gotten when her mother had passed away. The woman was wearing Tammy’s skin. I launched myself straight at her, a scream ripping from my lungs as I did.

It lasted only seconds and it was clear she knew it was over. She offered no resistance as I shot my vines straight through her throat, beheading her somewhat slowly so she would feel the pain. Her laugh still echoed through the cave as her head rolled to a stop at my feet, her body landing with a heavy thud in the dirt. Lifting a foot, I smashed her skull; wishing it had taken me longer to kill her. Walking up to the headless body, I ripped the piece of Tammy’s skin from its chest. I walked back through the thick puddle of blood and gore to where Fish still lay. She had witnessed the whole thing, watching with pain filled eyes. I squatted down beside her, using the tentacles to hold up most of her weight beside me.

We exited the cave into the main village, Krill and cannibals fighting in earnest everywhere we looked. I watched as my sweet Ethel sliced through the throat of one of the cannibals before running towards another whose ear had just been bitten off by another female Krill named Julia. Bracing Fish, I moved back towards the inner circle where Darnell still lay slumped against the pole. I placed Fish softly down beside him before I knelt by his other side, undoing his bindings with swift movements. Fish grasped at his hands as I did so, tears flowing in torrents down her dirt smeared face. At her touch Darnell seemed to have a moment of clarity, looking into her eyes and making a quiet plea. “Let me. die wit. Dignity, sea goddess.” Fish began to cry harder at his words, her shoulders heaving with her sobs. She gave an almost imperceptible nod, and he closed his eyes with a relieved sigh.

I stood and kept watch, protecting the lovers from the death surrounding us, trying to buy them some time. Fish crawled to one of the corpses nearby, grabbing a stone knife out of its hand. With great effort, she came back to Darnell’s side, his shallow breathing seeming louder than it should. She gripped the knife in her shaking hand as she laid beside him. Finally, she lay the point of the knife at Darnell’s chest, and pushed.

Darnell’s eyes shot open as the knife cut into his heart, gasping as he took his final breath. Fish’s sobs grew in strength as she leaned over his now lifeless body, and the air around me began to feel tighter somehow. The hairs on my arms began to stand up as Fish continued to wail. An unearthly sound started flowing from her lips, the villagers and warriors dropping their weapons and beginning to cry with her. I didn’t understand what was happening, only that it began and ended with Fish. I watched as she rose to her knees, a single high-pitched note resonating through the very airwaves around us. Droplets of water rose from the ground and began to circle her kneeling form like ballet dancers. I was mesmerized, unable to look away from my friend.

With a note so high it could have been mistaken for a whistle, she pulled every ounce of water from every man, woman, and child in the village. Only when the last of them fell to the dirt in a mummified husk did she end her siren call, returning to her cold lovers' arms, tears still streaming from her eyes.