Jacob was given some clean clothes, his shirt was slightly fish and stained. Ulitka tossed them on the floor in Jacob's spot near the corner of the room. "Change into these. If you're here, you might as well smell better." She turned her nose away and returned to Shortie's side.
"Great Ancestor, we have many gifts and women waiting to receive you. Whenever you feel the need many of our tribe would carry your seed." She bowed and watched as the many servants cleaned up Shortie's hair, brushed him clean and cleaned his paws.
A train of people carrying gifts arrived, a great many of them were fresh kills, beasts that gave off wonderful smells. Shortie got up, ignoring everything else and started to sniff through piles of meat, soft things and pelts of various trophies were chucked around in every direction while he scratched and dug his way through things. His paws were big, Shortie was iconic in that he had already grown much bigger than he was use to. The consumption of energy was dramatically increased, he burned off what little food he would eat pretty quickly.
Jacob pulled out the gargoyles and placed them down at the edge of the pile. Their bodies would decay after a bit longer, they had already begun to ripen.
Shortie didn't stop for formalities, he breached like a whale and came crashing down onto the corpses. Smothering his fur in their blood. The Gargoyle bodies were a little tough, what surprised Jacob the most was that each of them had another ball in the center of their brains. All three of the Gargoyles had contained a monster core. When they were exposed to the Elder's sight, they even lurched out to stop Shortie from eating them but it was impossible. They were the size of tennis balls, swallowed like pills.
A mighty howl crashed out into the night, it by compulsion, created a stir in the bloodlines of the people. A series of howls followed, the entire area was thundering. Shortie grew bigger, the stone stage that once supported him was now like a tiny pillow.
"Whoa! That's a little big." Jacob was still standing at the edge of the room. 'How come he keeps growing? Everything he eats turns him into this?' Resigned to grow stronger himself, Jacob stuck his hand in the gargoyle blood. He licked it.
The headache returned. Underneath Jacob's fingernails dust and crust started to accumulate, he went into a cold sweat. He felt slightly rigid before and after washing his face, the towel looked filthy. There was a sense of expansion in his mind, he could see clearer, further and the headache vanished.
'My mind expanded? Why does this feel like a comic book come to life? Jacob wondered if he gained some sort of super power, he struck the wall with his fist. A yell, a scream really, came from Jacob and he thrust his hand in the water nearby to hide his shame. The expression on his face was strange as he looked around the room, he was an awkward child, in an awkward situation. So many of the Elders in the room were in a stunned daze after watching Shortie eat two cores. They waited in anticipation, as if something was about to happen.
Shortie had already grown significantly. 'How much bigger could he grow?' was the question on so many Elder tongues. They questioned only the magnitude of the greatness that would become, Shortie stared at everyone in confusion and started to lick his balls.
The room tilted, explosive comments made it around the room.
Jacob had gone unnoticed except for the scream, he felt relieved and looked at the many bodies of beasts that laid on the ground. None of them looked familiar, except for something that looked like a Deer, it had knobby horns and pink spots. Asking the Elder's about the beast was all he could do. He approached Elder Coalser and asked, "What sort of deer is this? I've never seen one like it." He played innocent, and he was, but he wanted to know why it was so interesting to him. Jacob waited.
"The Rose Snow Denendo, they are particularly rare. I'm surprised to see one, to have it gifted shows great affection. It is the prize among these offerings." Elder Coalser seemed intrigued and passed a book on the animals within the valley. "You will need to read this."
The book not written in English, Jacob sighed and passed it back. "I can't read your language." he was preparing to leave when the Elder threw a small bottle over. "Inside is a Mimic. They are small demons, benign and useful. They repeat what they've heard to the host. It doesn't matter the language. They live in the eye, they will translate for you."
"Demons?" Jacob looked at the bottle in his hand and shook it slightly. There was a tremble from inside, the small being didn't appreciate the rattling of its cage. "I can't let a demon into my body, possession? I can't do it. It goes against God."
The rest of the Elders in the Counsel Chambers looked over, they were high words. "To make use of and subjugate the demons and devils of the world, is it not the work of Gods? To eliminate Evil, it doesn't require the death of such life but the nurturing and lessons they carry. Shame, if not a tool to change, what is it? Choose, you can allow yourself believe that God will help those with closed hands, or you can reach out and enjoy the gifts of God, for the gods created all things. Without darkness, what is light?"
Jacob listened to the lecture, it was interesting but ultimately he was confused 'a demon in a bottle, oh god, why make me go through this? Why?' He stared at the bottle while he listened and when Elder Coalser was finishing his rant, Jacob opened the bottle.
A small black fog caught the lip of the jar and was starting to seep out, Elder Coalser stopped his conversation and placed the jar lip onto Jacob's eye. It burned for a moment and then the pain was gone. Like the headaches, there was a sensational overload for a moment. The eyeball equivalent of a ringing in his ears was happening, his vision staggered and struggled to focus. Jacob wiped his face with his hand and saw the details of his fingerprints, then the desk in front of him.
He stumbled backward, catching himself against a wall. "Ooph, that was a lot." Jacob's eyeball twitched for a few more moments. "I never felt something like this, it hurt so much. Felt like my eyes wanted to explode out of my head." He covered the eye with his hand. When the lights stopped flashing Jacob slowly opened his fingers and regained his focus.