Viqualeth

Chapter 1

"Hrrrkkk. Crnchhh. Shhhnk." The sounds were raw, wet, tearing, unnatural. They sliced through the salty wind of the sea, coming from a big boulder near the shoreline. A silhouette seemed to be the source of the noise. A blueish, shimmering, translucent cap, reminding one of a big jellyfish, hid the unpleasant view of what was happening beneath. Many differently formed tentacles draped down from the giant cap which had some white dots sprinkled on it. Through the always twitching tentacles a face was present, though barely seeable. The face was caught between anguish and rage, tears tracing down the skin which looked like blueish sea-glass. But it was not the crying that made your stomach knot.

It was the chewing. The tearing. The creature gnawed on its own fingers. With each bite, bluish tissue, veined and semi-transparent, peeled from the fingers. After dropping the tissue off its mouth, it slowly dissolved on the stone and ran down towards the sea.

Eventually it stopped. The tears still kept going, but the expression changed to being vacant and empty. The creature stood up and slowly climbed from the rock. Wide orange eyes, bright like Citrine, scanned the surrounding before settling on a lone palm tree. Slowly the creature started walking towards the tree. They wore a white ruffled blouse, loose but ornate, with big puffy cuffs. Billowing bloomers with beige accents fluttered faintly in the sea breeze.

When reaching the palm tree, they lowered themselves into a tight, curled up position. Knees pulled up beneath their chin. But the tree suddenly began to move. With a whispering rustle, its trunk twisted. A gaping, spike-ringed mouth opened where none should be, and the fronds stretched down like claws and moved towards the being.

Before they could reach the creature though, their tentacles reacted. While the being themselves did not even move their head, the tentacles were lit up by veins of lightning and danced through the tendrils, crackling with blue energy. Every hit from the tentacles left a burn mark on the palm until at some point it started to burn. The palm hissed and moved in agony, while the creature did not even look at them. The tentacles calmed down again, and the palm tree slowly burned to ash. That's when I decided to step forward, slow and cautious. Before I could speak, their voice met me. Soft, brittle, like breaking glass wrapped in velvet. "What do you want?" They didn't even look at me. "Leave me alone."

"Who are you? You know not anyone can just wander this territory, as a guard it is my duty do patrol here." They finally tilted their head towards me. For a second the lifeless look in their eyes got replaced by a fierce flame. It seemed like they would lunge at me at any moment. But as fast as the change happened as fast it faded again, and the depressed look returned. They lowered their head slightly. "I'm not going to hurt anyone. Just leave me alone." "I have three questions for you, if you answer them, I will let you be. Do we have a deal?". Truthfully apart from my orders I was also very curious about this being. After they did not answer and just stared at me, I continued. "Who are you and why are you here?" "I am Viqualeth and I ended up here by chance, I did not plan to come here. That is two questions down, what is your last one?" "Why did you bite off your fingers?"

Viqualeth flinched. Their whole body seemed to tense up as if I had stung them directly into the heart. The fierce look in their eyes returned, fury building up in their face, a scream trembling just behind their lips. But they did not scream. As fast as these changes came as fast, they faded again. "Because I hate them." The last sentence was more a whisper than anything else. They turned away, hiding their face between their knees again. I left with a bitter feeling. I probably should not have asked that last question. But at least now it is clear, Viqualeth is not dangerous. That is unless you try to save them.