Fantasy Creature Spotlight: Foxen Read online

  Chapter 3: Bloodlines

  Maoh quickly proved handy for the penguins to have onboard. His extended reach and greater physical strength allowed him to haul in bigger loads of fish quicker than the other sailors. He adjusted to life on a ship quickly, learning most of the manned positions and much of the maintenance required to keep her sailing smoothly. His initial seasickness waned after the first week to the point where now he felt born to the sea. Tonny, the boy known as the spirit walker, taught Maoh some of his language at night when they did not work on deck. Mostly Maoh translated things into Foxen for the penguins. After a month on the ocean, the two species communicated with little difficulty.

  They sailed across the northern sea with the currents. Melting glacier runoff provided much of the power for their movement. Small icebergs scraped harmlessly against the well-built hull. The occasional large chunk of ice sent the crew into frenzied action to alter their course. Maoh’s superior night vision lent itself to the midnight shift so even their closest call proved no real danger. He suspected his journey might lead to fewer answers than he hoped.

  The following night proved him wrong again. He lazily lounged in his private post atop the forecastle when he noted a faint glimmer in the water. It danced around so wildly that Maoh dismissed it as a trick of the moon. His complacency allowed the strange fish-men to scale the sides of the ship unnoticed. A cry for help from the navigator launched the crew into motion. Their assailants wielded serrated knives and spears and chatted in guttural gurgling noises. Two bulbous eyes protruded from the top of their heads looking in all directions at once.

  Maoh drew his sword and defended the sailors around him with deadly precision. The sword did most of the work, as if it told him how to move and what to do. Even his moderate success proved futile as the fish-men climbed aboard in overwhelming numbers. Tonny appeared from below and shouted loudly, drawing everyone’s attention. He chanted something to the sky and a bank of fog washed over the deck. The clouds formed animal shapes Maoh recognized as walrus and sea lions. Their new insubstantial allies swatted the fish-men from one side of the deck to the other with ease.

  In all the commotion, only Maoh’s fox eyes caught one of the fish-men acting strangely. He waded through the panicked bodies and engaged the foe directly. The fish-man’s concentration faltered for a moment, allowing Maoh to see his true form. Unlike the awkward fish-men, this enemy’s body possessed lithe curves and a beard of strange tentacles. The squid-man waved one hand and the retreating fish-men all turned to attack Maoh, but Tonny doubled his defenses and drove the last of them over the railing.

  “Spirit walker, huh?” Maoh applauded his friend’s efficiency.

  Tonny explained that the fish-men caused trouble for the penguins from time to time but they never attacked in numbers before. Maoh related his experience with the squid thing and Tonny’s eyes widened in terror. The squid controlled people with the power of their minds. They used their mental power to assume a form capable of earning the trust of those it wishes to enthrall before dominating their victim’s thoughts. Maoh recalled the strange behavior of the animals that attacked his village and wondered if they were connected.

  Further conversation yielded the location of an island where the squid lived in great numbers. Tonny guessed that anyone taken hostage by the squid would end up there as slave labor. Disregarding the crew’s warnings, Tonny ordered the ship to sail toward the island to give Maoh a chance to see his enemy. The island impressed everyone on deck. Its single mountain rose like a fist out of the ocean, smoking angrily with inner fire. A coral of razor sharp rocks surrounded the landmass, preventing them from getting close enough to see if any of Maoh’s people were on shore.

  Maoh decided to risk going there alone in a lifeboat. Its smaller size might penetrate the sharp rocks and reach the island. Unwilling to allow his friend to go alone, Tonny volunteered to go with him. His grandfather sent Maoh to find the spirit walker for a reason. He suspected bringing Tonny along would prove invaluable. Instead of risking the lives against the barrier, Tonny summoned a great eagle out of sea mist. Maoh’s heart raced every second he rode the mystic creature’s back. They landed on the ashy shore a few minutes later and quickly hid in the thick vegetation.

  Once they plotted the layout of the island, they quickly discovered where the squid-men dwelled. Their massive complex spanned several layers into the mountain across the island and into the ocean. The amphibious oddities used other species as slaves to mine a kind of fungus from deep in the volcano where the squid-men’s slippery hide dried out too quickly. The squid-men then ate the fungus as a delicacy. The intense heat of the volcano allowed the fungus to thrive but it burned through slaves quickly. Among the slaves were several sentient races from surrounding regions, including several Foxen from Maoh’s village.

  The headstrong youth wanted to charge in and rescue his people but Tonny restrained him. His penguin companion thought of a better way to accomplish their goal. Together, covered by Tonny’s strange power, the pair snuck deeper into the complex. Magma just underneath the building left Tonny sweating profusely. He could not last long under the volcano. Maoh moved quickly to find his people. The slaves moved listlessly through their actions wearing blank expressions. He spotted his mother shuffling in a corner and raced to her. Mother’s milky eyes stared into the distance beyond him. Maoh grabbed her shoulders and begged her to wake up but the squid’s control over their slaves continued to hold. They could not help them from down here.

  “Only exceptionally strong minds can withstand the squid’s control,” Tonny explained. “Somewhere there will be a resonance crystal increasing their psychic hold over the slaves. We smash it and they will be free.”

  Maoh liked the idea of smashing something right about now. They reluctantly left his mother behind to search for the crystal. From Tonny’s description, Maoh guessed it should be close to the slaves to maximize the power increase. He guessed correctly and they found the purple gemstone embedded in the wall of the ground floor. Just beyond their location, Maoh spied a giant stadium with two people fighting inside. The squid-men cheered loudly at the action while slaves brought them continuous water and fungus.

  “If we smash this now, they will realize their hold over the slaves is broken,” Tonny reasoned.

  Maoh agreed but then recognized one of the people fighting. His brother wore a mask of pure hatred for the strange four-legged creature he fought. The Foxen warrior wielded a broken spear in one hand but his other arm appeared broken. He fought harder despite the wound, but the beast seemed perfectly healthy and far stronger. Maoh had no way of knowing what would happen to his brother if they shattered the crystal.

  “Wait for my signal, then smash the crystal and lead the slaves to the shore,” he said.

  “What signal?” Tonny asked.

  “Probably me screaming,” Maoh remarked.

  He raced through the seats and dove into the arena. His brother barely recognized the stronger and more confident Maoh. Tonny smashed the crystal on cue and raced into the catacombs once more. Maoh and his brother faced the angry bull together. Spear and sword worked to keep the multi ton animal at arm’s reach while the boys attempted to get on opposite sides of the furious beast. Whenever they could, one of them cut into the great horned animal’s flesh with a quick stinging hit. Maoh’s sharp sword sliced deeply into the leathery flesh, causing the beast to whimper in pain. He regretted the senseless slaughter of this magnificent creature but he knew it could not help but attack them. The squid things focused all their collective thoughts on driving it mad. He ended the fight with a clean stroke of his sword.

  By now, the squids realized the cause of the chaos around them. Slaves of many years turned on their master with plates, glass bottles, or bare hands. Maoh used the confusion to flee for the only accessible doorway in the arena. A disturbing silence covered the crowd like a blanket as something very tall and nasty entered through the open door. A squid-man standing nearly double M
aoh’s height towered above everyone present. His tentacles slithered anxiously as if he could hold the entire island in check by himself. Maoh thought that seemed very likely right now.

  Tonny found the boy’s mother tending to the youngest slaves in the bowels of the prison. He related their adventure in abbreviated form and quickly led as many people as he could to the surface. They waited anxiously for any sign of rescue but nothing came. Tonny immediately set about conjuring a pair of enormous whales to carry everyone on their backs. Just as he finished forming the large sea mammals, everyone stopped moving and stared mindlessly at the ocean.

  Now or never, Maoh understood he needed to act quickly, before the big one recovered from seizing so many minds. He leapt forward, leading with his sword and managed to slice off a pair of quivering tentacles. His brother followed Maoh’s lead by thrusting his spear at the squid. A strong buffet of psychic thoughts shoved both boys backward. Maoh remembered Tonny’s explanation of mind versus will and forced himself to his feet. This thing could not use its mind power on Maoh if he stood resolute in his courage.

  Suddenly, the monster found itself standing toe to toe with a creature it could not dominate. It lashed out with its enormous arms but could not find the quick Foxen warrior. Maoh’s erratic dance proved a perfect defense as he maneuvered inside the thing’s reach and struck it with his sword. The giant squid gurgled in pain before falling over limply. The chaos of the slaves resumed instantly.

  “We have to get out of here now!” Maoh shouted above the din.

  The brothers raced through the corridors for the exit. They found Tonny waiting with his odd transportation and eagerly climbed aboard. The whale things swam through the sharp rocks without damage as they turned into fog underneath the passengers. Maoh wished he could rescue everyone on the island but he figured the squids would find the number of slaves rebelling to be more than a match.

  Fortunately, the boat ride back to the penguin port moved much quicker than Maoh’s experience. They made good time without stopping to fish so much. The Foxen agreed to help pick up the lack of a haul this trip by adding manpower to the fishing village through the next season. Everyone seemed happy with the arrangement between the new neighbors. Maoh said his goodbyes to Tonny and the penguin elder then he and his family enjoyed their well-deserved rest returning home as quickly as possible.

  “Grandpa fought bravely against the animals that took us,” Mother explained. “He did not want to flee the village, but the elders felt he held the greatest chance of reaching the shrine and praying for help.”

  “He got help,” Maoh said. “I came a little late, but his call drew me home that day.”

  Several weeks of rebuilding later, and the little Foxen village climbed back to its feet and began preparing for several more seasons of hard farming and honoring the land. Maoh rebuilt the shrine at the entrance to the spirit caves and assumed his Grandpa’s position as protector of the village. After everyone finally settled down, he returned to the cave to speak with the spirit of his Grandpa one more time.

  The warm fire felt like a familiar embrace as he slowly entered his trance. On the other side, he did not find the spirit he sought. Instead, the red fox sat patiently for him and nodded its approval of his journey. Maoh knew then that his journey never truly ended. He would serve his whole life guarding the way of the fox as his ancestors did for generations.

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  A few words about the author:

  Gilbert Peppers is a Sci-Fi/Fantasy author with too many stories in his head and not enough time to finish writing them. Calling himself Peppyroni online, his eccentricities know no bound. He likes anything dealing with mysticism and fairytales especially cats, gnomes, and explosions. His works of fiction are as far flung and farfetched as he is. He lives in a modest home belonging to three cats atop Lookout Mountain.

 

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