Heretical Fishing
Author: Haylock
Book 5: Chapter 38: Betrayer
I winced at the sound of two gigantic pans colliding. Barry had clanged them with such vigor that they’d flattened against one another and now looked more abstract-art than functional-cookware. Claws wobbled on the spot, her upright-yet-catatonic state starkly contrasted by Barry’s booming laughter.
Her furry familiar chose that moment to strike. RPM recovered from his dazedness by… stealing it from himself? It didn’t make sense, but when did he ever? He rocketed forward, eyes twinkling, grin malicious. I could have easily stopped him, but I found myself entirely distracted by the item his dextrous digits were even now reaching for.
The gleaming weapon drew my vision in.
I understood the words, but the full depth of their meaning was yet to hit me. I scarcely had the chance to wonder what the distinction between ‘concentration’ and ‘amplifcation’ was before RPM reached his target. With speed only possible due to his nature and ideal, he swiped the dagger right out of his master’s paws and released a villainous little squeal as he turned for the treeline.
Before RPM got there, Barry slapped Dodge on the shoulder, flinging him forward. Dodge slid across the grass, his feet somehow dodging friction. He easily outpacing the lightning-fueled raccoon. Rather than collecting RPM by the scruff, he grabbed the blade of the dagger in the raccoon’s closed fist and yanked it away.
Sans prize, RPM whirled, body aglow with anger as electricity shot from him, changing his trajectory. The momentary delay had allowed another to recover from her shock. Corporal Claws headbutted him with everything she had. His elemental body lost its form for a fraction of a second as it wrapped around her noggin, then he rocketed away, somehow flickering through trunks and branches rather than obliterating them.
Claws turned to glare at me, her fury seeking a new outlet now that she’d already hit her familiar hard enough to defy physics. Chi arced from her eyes as she took a step forward. Another step, her face contorting into a snarl. All at once, her anger disappeared.
“Master!” cried Claws, zapping into my arms and staring up at me with a quivering lower lip. “
?”
“Don’t give me that.” I reached out to scratch behind her ear. She retreated from it, but only for a moment. My fingers soon found their mark on her fuzzy neck. “This was fair game after the sheer amount of pranks you’ve subjected Barry to.”
She leaned back to meet my eyes again, some of the heat returning to her gaze. “Really? This was for Barry’s sake? You didn’t rob me of my satisfaction in exchange for winning his forgiveness?”
“Oh, I absolutely did, but only because I know you love a well-executed ruse. Even if you’re on the receiving end of it.”
She gave a haughty sniff, crossed her arms, and twisted away from me—but not enough to stop the slow scritching I was still delivering to the back of her head.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“I’m sorry if it went too far. We might have gotten a bit carried away once the kids got involved—they helped us pick the perfect moment for maximum impact. But that just shows your genius, Claws.” I stroked from the top of her head to the base of her tail. “It took an entire party of cultivators to sneak up on you. Even then, it wouldn’t have been possible without Dodge’s new ability.”
Mentioning the man made Claws’s predatory stare flick over toward him. Knowing better than to antagonize her any further, he offered the multifaceted dagger on his open palm. She snatched it, retreated to the top of the closest tree, and cast one more warning glare everyone’s way before looking directly at her creation.
Her eyes went distant, and I fought to suppress my smile. Because of its rarity, the System would give her a redacted version of its description. Only my status as a Maker allowed a complete inspection of its stats. The seconds stretched. I blinked and cocked my head. What was taking so long?
Power pulsed high above, then echoed within Claws. Realization had only just started worming its way into my consciousness when the words arrived in my field of view.
Banishing the notification, I stared up at Claws; she stared back.
The message was almost identical to the private one I’d received from the System upon my ascension as a Maker. Based on the others’ reactions, only she and I had seen it. Even Maria had been left out, the System doing something to suppress our connection.
Confusion swam across all present, but its currents were strongest in Claws, threatening to overwhelm her fatigued mind. Her bewilderment was suddenly swept aside by the return of fury.
“Betrayer!” she screeched down at me, her dagger leveled in accusation.
I raised my hands in supplication, my diminished chi failing to untangle what agrieved her so. “I’m sorry I snuck up on you, Claws. I really thought you would apreciate a good… Why are you frowning?”
“I don’t care about that! Stop trying to change the subject!”
It was my turn to be confused. “Uhhhh. I’m not. I don’t—”
“Master is cruel!” interrupted Claws. “Master is selfish!” She suddenly sagged and folded backwards, her spine draped over the trunk with the dramatic flair only an elemental otter can wield. “He understands me not.”
I blinked as my chi obeyed my command and I tried to read her aura, but she’d shut me out completely. She started muttering. All I caught was: ‘dagger’, ‘description’, and a string of hissed expletives.
Realization struck me. “Oh! I inspected it before you!”
“So you
know what you did!” Her fury returned, re-inflating her body. She leaped to her feet and leveled the dagger at me once more, chi roiling. It danced through her, arcing across her limbs, and…
Its faceted blade shone with the blue-white brilliance of her element, begging to be released.
“I’m sorry, okay? It was instinctive. I didn’t mean to. It just sorta happened.”
My apology made some of the fury leave her. Or at least I thought it did, but then she poured more chi into the weapon, a devious smirk forming on her face.
“Uhhhhh, Claws?”
“Master is cruel,” whispered Claws. The shining dagger illuminated her face from below, making her look even more malevolent than usual. “Master deserves
.”
I gathered the essence I still held. “Punishment, sure, but that’s starting to feel a little deadly. I don’t have all that much power to defend myself with. Why don’t you put it down so we can talk—”
An inhuman scream tore through my awareness. Like a banshee’s wail, the high-pitched screech was filled with hatred. It seeped into my body, etched itself into my bones, threatened to boil my marrow with each second the howl dragged on.
When it abruptly ended, I gasped for breath. Claws’s dagger thudded against the forest floor. Nobody said a word. The scream had come from the far edge of my Domain. It’d been unleashed by a divine being, and they sought the destruction of any who would stand in its way.
They were coming to Tropica.
They were coming for
Her furry familiar chose that moment to strike. RPM recovered from his dazedness by… stealing it from himself? It didn’t make sense, but when did he ever? He rocketed forward, eyes twinkling, grin malicious. I could have easily stopped him, but I found myself entirely distracted by the item his dextrous digits were even now reaching for.
The gleaming weapon drew my vision in.
I understood the words, but the full depth of their meaning was yet to hit me. I scarcely had the chance to wonder what the distinction between ‘concentration’ and ‘amplifcation’ was before RPM reached his target. With speed only possible due to his nature and ideal, he swiped the dagger right out of his master’s paws and released a villainous little squeal as he turned for the treeline.
Before RPM got there, Barry slapped Dodge on the shoulder, flinging him forward. Dodge slid across the grass, his feet somehow dodging friction. He easily outpacing the lightning-fueled raccoon. Rather than collecting RPM by the scruff, he grabbed the blade of the dagger in the raccoon’s closed fist and yanked it away.
Sans prize, RPM whirled, body aglow with anger as electricity shot from him, changing his trajectory. The momentary delay had allowed another to recover from her shock. Corporal Claws headbutted him with everything she had. His elemental body lost its form for a fraction of a second as it wrapped around her noggin, then he rocketed away, somehow flickering through trunks and branches rather than obliterating them.
Claws turned to glare at me, her fury seeking a new outlet now that she’d already hit her familiar hard enough to defy physics. Chi arced from her eyes as she took a step forward. Another step, her face contorting into a snarl. All at once, her anger disappeared.
“Master!” cried Claws, zapping into my arms and staring up at me with a quivering lower lip. “
?”
“Don’t give me that.” I reached out to scratch behind her ear. She retreated from it, but only for a moment. My fingers soon found their mark on her fuzzy neck. “This was fair game after the sheer amount of pranks you’ve subjected Barry to.”
She leaned back to meet my eyes again, some of the heat returning to her gaze. “Really? This was for Barry’s sake? You didn’t rob me of my satisfaction in exchange for winning his forgiveness?”
“Oh, I absolutely did, but only because I know you love a well-executed ruse. Even if you’re on the receiving end of it.”
She gave a haughty sniff, crossed her arms, and twisted away from me—but not enough to stop the slow scritching I was still delivering to the back of her head.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“I’m sorry if it went too far. We might have gotten a bit carried away once the kids got involved—they helped us pick the perfect moment for maximum impact. But that just shows your genius, Claws.” I stroked from the top of her head to the base of her tail. “It took an entire party of cultivators to sneak up on you. Even then, it wouldn’t have been possible without Dodge’s new ability.”
Mentioning the man made Claws’s predatory stare flick over toward him. Knowing better than to antagonize her any further, he offered the multifaceted dagger on his open palm. She snatched it, retreated to the top of the closest tree, and cast one more warning glare everyone’s way before looking directly at her creation.
Her eyes went distant, and I fought to suppress my smile. Because of its rarity, the System would give her a redacted version of its description. Only my status as a Maker allowed a complete inspection of its stats. The seconds stretched. I blinked and cocked my head. What was taking so long?
Power pulsed high above, then echoed within Claws. Realization had only just started worming its way into my consciousness when the words arrived in my field of view.
Banishing the notification, I stared up at Claws; she stared back.
The message was almost identical to the private one I’d received from the System upon my ascension as a Maker. Based on the others’ reactions, only she and I had seen it. Even Maria had been left out, the System doing something to suppress our connection.
Confusion swam across all present, but its currents were strongest in Claws, threatening to overwhelm her fatigued mind. Her bewilderment was suddenly swept aside by the return of fury.
“Betrayer!” she screeched down at me, her dagger leveled in accusation.
I raised my hands in supplication, my diminished chi failing to untangle what agrieved her so. “I’m sorry I snuck up on you, Claws. I really thought you would apreciate a good… Why are you frowning?”
“I don’t care about that! Stop trying to change the subject!”
It was my turn to be confused. “Uhhhh. I’m not. I don’t—”
“Master is cruel!” interrupted Claws. “Master is selfish!” She suddenly sagged and folded backwards, her spine draped over the trunk with the dramatic flair only an elemental otter can wield. “He understands me not.”
I blinked as my chi obeyed my command and I tried to read her aura, but she’d shut me out completely. She started muttering. All I caught was: ‘dagger’, ‘description’, and a string of hissed expletives.
Realization struck me. “Oh! I inspected it before you!”
“So you
know what you did!” Her fury returned, re-inflating her body. She leaped to her feet and leveled the dagger at me once more, chi roiling. It danced through her, arcing across her limbs, and…
Its faceted blade shone with the blue-white brilliance of her element, begging to be released.
“I’m sorry, okay? It was instinctive. I didn’t mean to. It just sorta happened.”
My apology made some of the fury leave her. Or at least I thought it did, but then she poured more chi into the weapon, a devious smirk forming on her face.
“Uhhhhh, Claws?”
“Master is cruel,” whispered Claws. The shining dagger illuminated her face from below, making her look even more malevolent than usual. “Master deserves
.”
I gathered the essence I still held. “Punishment, sure, but that’s starting to feel a little deadly. I don’t have all that much power to defend myself with. Why don’t you put it down so we can talk—”
An inhuman scream tore through my awareness. Like a banshee’s wail, the high-pitched screech was filled with hatred. It seeped into my body, etched itself into my bones, threatened to boil my marrow with each second the howl dragged on.
When it abruptly ended, I gasped for breath. Claws’s dagger thudded against the forest floor. Nobody said a word. The scream had come from the far edge of my Domain. It’d been unleashed by a divine being, and they sought the destruction of any who would stand in its way.
They were coming to Tropica.
They were coming for