The Crab Dragon led the way through the water. The currents shifting gracefully along her shell as seaweed and bubbles danced from the wake of her passing. The ocean seemed a waving green amid the rising sunlight above.
My following figure danced amidst the burbling undercurrent and seething foam that rose in her wake.
The reason I followed the hostile female was so she would lead me to her kinds mating grounds. And as she had said they were not far away I found myself curious. Not only because I was interested in the mating rituals but also so I could get an idea what type of creature this male crab dragon was.
We passed through several coral reefs before coming to a steep sandy incline. It rose high in the water till it was almost the size of a small mountain. The coral seemingly corralled the sand around into this hilly place with the currents.
We talked little along the way. But i found out what I wanted.
Her people were known as Tarakians. A special breed made by the gods partly for food and sport. Some god fancied both dragon meat and crab meat and decided to try mixing the two. In the end the Tarakians came about. Their meat was too tough and too rich to be eaten. Even if prepared with the most utter care. So the gods abandoned them to their own devices. But that was long ago.
The Tarakian rose up towards the peak and I earnestly followed her.
When we crested the peak I noticed the mountain of sand had been hollowed out in the middle. As though it was a crater that had formed from a great impact. And what filled it was a seething mass of red shells, blue shells, and glittering substances. Crab dragons of all sizes filled this area.
I saw the female close to my side freeze as one of them pointed at her. It chittered something before seemingly laughing. It's color was a dirty brownish red with murky muddy eyes and a fat nose. It's shell was covered in barnacles and seaweed scraps. It was a truly ugly creature both in color and shape. The surrounding crab dragons let out chittering laughs in response.
The females eyes looked wounded and hollow and she turned to leave. But before she could move I raised a hand stopping her.
"You want revenge right? I will give it to you. Which male is it that caused you harm?" I asked as I felt a burning anger grow in my chest.
She held her head down before answering. "What does it matter. They laugh at my color and how I don't cover myself with sand and weeds. How even barnacles refuse to cling to my carapace. Taking out only one will do nothing." She responded.
"I didn't ask your thoughts. I want to know who it is." I stated.
She could only nod and point with her front left webbed foot. "Him." She said pointing at the ugly creature I saw laughing at the start.
I couldn't help but smile as a trident of earth formed from the sand at my feet.
You know. every opponent I have faced. I faced with pride. Even the King despite my lack of combat with him. Though I replaced that with the spider in his place. But for some reason this one truly bothered me. But why? Why am I so bothered by this? What could possibly make me feel wrong here? I was butting into the business of others right?
But some reason that thinking was wrong. I felt wronged. My fire of rage ignited as the sandy trident burned and turned into ash colored glass. Boiling water emitted bubbles as it hissed against the superheated glass. Even the laughing Tarakians before me stopped laughing in Lew of the heat.
(What kind of thing has the ugly one brought to us?) One thought.
(Have we done something wrong?) Another more innocent one thought looking about fearfully.
But before any could react a shockwave spread through the water. Sand whipped about as an echoing roar was almost emitted. Somewhere among the crowd it continued till it fell into a pained whine.
As the bustling shells turned to see the cause of the noise they shivered in new found fear. There was the ugly male that had made fun of the female. But his limbs were now gone. His head remained but his arms and legs were sizzling stumps where something had cut through almost like butter.
He shrieked as he noticed everyone looking at him.
"Kill Him!" It shrieked.
But not a soul moved. Every one of them was frozen in fear of the thing before them. The male was shrieking and foaming about trying to get the others to follow his orders as they had before. But it did nothing.
And I soon realized why. My form had shifted back. No illusion. No lack of arms or wings. Not even lacking my divine items. My aura was exactly that of a demigod. My eyes were filled with a raging red energy that made all others feel a shiver of cold go down there spines.
I tapped the trident on the ground sending Pure energy through the area making the sands shift restlessly and the waters seemingly calm flow distort.
And when the male finally noticed my change he was even more afraid. His shrieking died down to a dull whine against the pain of losing limbs. Green blood filled the water as his severed limbs exploded from the assault of my energy. The shredded limbs were left as nothing but fragments in the water.
Some of the Tarakians were snapping them up hungrily as their eyes became tainted in red. A blood frenzy being mostly staved off by my presence.
I glared at the male as though it would be I was his judge, jury, and executioner. Suddenly the waters parted and there lay the Tarakian on the ground. His bulbous nose digging into the sands slightly.
The female beside me hovered there for a moment before looking at me realizing I was waiting for her.
"What am I supposed to do?" She asked.
"What do you want to do?" I replied giving her the side eye. My eyes cold and filled with vigor.
"You can kill him, torture him, heal him, bed him. The list is almost endless. All you need is to do it." I said. The waters remained in a bubble around the fallen Tarakian before us. Memories bubbled up about my past in the hospital. The scorn, disrespect, and pure disdain I felt from the other patients and staff. I realized why I snapped at the scornful actions of the Tarakians.
The female that was starting to swim away from me was a version of me in some aspect. She was a kind soul turned bitter when life dealt her an unwelcome hand. Much like myself she had been scorned, shunned, and mocked. And so I watched her next actions with interest.
She swam elegantly up to the bubble I had made before slowly stepping through. The water rose from her in great droplets before joining with my bubble. Her red carapace shimmered like a jewel as she stepped into the air of the bubbles interior and knelt close to the male.
"You were good, protective, and strong once. You protected me when we were young even. Because of that I grew to love you. And you new I loved you. Yet when you became grown you scorned me when others asked. And I bore with it. I put up with the advances of other females as I was told. No matter i tried to do my best. Building a better nest, Gathering jewels, even hunting I am second to none. And yet I was still not good enough. Then you turned your back when I needed you most. Now I will take what I deserve." She said as she swung at the males back breaking the shell and revealing a pearl of some kind.
"I will bear children. And show them that the strong can also protect the weak. And you? You will remain alive. As you are now. If the others kill you I will let them. If they scorn you I will let them. Just as you have done to me. Consider this my mercy. And also a form of penance." She said as she swiped the pearl away leaving his exposed pink meat. No blood trailed out of the cracked shell Neither did the male cry out.
But he definitely looked ashamed.
Even as the female strode back into the water with the pearl I watched in interest.
"You didn't kill him? " I asked. My mind was intrigued as I looked at this previously ferocious Tarakian. Her shell remained a clean beautiful red color and her eyes held no more hurt or sorrow. Only focus and conviction remained.
"No... Death would have been too kind. For both of us." She said as she swam to stand next to me. The pearl was held in her pincers. She slowly took the pearl and swallowed it before growling and a carnal almost sensual hiss escaped from her.
I shook my head as I tapped my trident of the ground again releasing the bubble around the male Tarakian. The water collapsed foaming into the bubbled crashing into the immobile creature forcing him to drift slightly with its force.
"Perhaps I should control my temper better. Even a beast such as yourself is capable of such rational and cold thinking." I hummed as I turned to leave. The glass trident cracking and desintegrating into the sands once more.
I began to swam upward and looked down as I heard an uproar through the waters. Green blood flowed from the pit where the male was. Creatures dive bombed him endlessly ripping him apart as his shell pieces shattered and pieces of flesh began to float about in the water.
The female meanwhile looked on in what seemed to be boredom. And with a nod I turned and shot back into the deep green of the sea.