Malik the Bard

by Moore, Scott

  Mollie looked down at the claw, not moving her hands away from the sides.

  “I can feel it moving the rest of its body in there,” she said. “Its legs are kicking, and the egg is warm,” she added.

  Malik felt uncomfortable knowing that the creature was still trying to work its way out. Khris looked greedily towards Mollie. Malik wondered if he would try to force his hand with the egg. The sword on Mollie’s back would probably go a long way in deterring him.

  “What are we going to do with it?” Malik asked.

  He wanted the answer to be ‘chuck it away, far away.’ He had no delusions that Mollie had carried it this far to do that though.

  Mollie was silent, while her eyes roamed over every inch of the egg.

  “Khris said there was a man who would know where the Crystal Dragon was.” Mollie turned to Khris.

  Khris snapped out of wherever his mind had taken him. “That is what the book says,” Khris answered.

  “Good, that means he should be able to tell us more about these creatures. I think that if he sees we have one, then he will be more apt to listen to us,” Mollie said.

  “You really sent us into a cave just to get evidence for an old man we don’t even know exists?” Malik was running out of stability. He felt like he was teetering on the edge. There was something completely wrong with what had happened the last few days, even longer if events were thrown back to the day he met Mollie.

  “We were lucky enough to find this egg.” Mollie was back to caressing the shell.

  “Lucky? We almost died. All we got was this stupid egg, this was completely pointless, and we risked our lives for it,” Malik yelled. He did not know when he had started yelling, but once he started it was hard to stop. “Not to mention we have a friend out there with Sweet Tongue and who knows who else from the Tempre Warriors. He could be dead, dying, or being tortured and we are sitting here cave exploring with a village boy,” Malik took a deep breath.

  “Are you done?” Mollie asked, calmly.

  Malik had nothing else to say. “No I am not done,” he said but did not add anything.

  Mollie let the silence hang for a few more tense moments. “Well then,” she started. “If you have it all out of you, then you can listen to the process I thought of. We can’t beat Sweet Tongue, the mercenaries, and whatever other Tempre Warriors show up without some help. We have nothing to offer anyone for help. You remember how well that turned out for us the last time in the Green Markets?” Mollie paused.

  Malik did not feel like answering. He knew all of this, it still did not warrant running blindly into a dark, monster filled cavern.

  “This time we have an egg to offer as proof. Anyone who does not listen to us, can be shown the egg and they will instantly know we are not telling a lie,” Mollie said.

  Khris jumped at his opportunity. “Starting with my village,” Khris said.

  Mollie grimaced. Malik could tell she was not going to let Khris take the egg to his friends and family.

  “That is a little different, Khris,” Mollie said. She did sound sorry.

  “How is this different?” Khris asked desperation painted across his face.

  Mollie sighed. “Your family, your friends, the others in your village are not soldiers or warriors,” Mollie replied.

  Khris looked dejected. “They can still help,” he said, but did not sound confident that they would help.

  “If they are smart, they would not even want to see the egg. This thing is going to be more trouble that it is worth,” Malik said.

  He meant every word of that statement. He felt that the egg was going to bring them all kinds of bad omens. Starting with the mother monster who would be wanting her baby back.

  “It will help us, Malik, I feel that something about this egg will be the key to getting Abrie back and killing the Tempre Warriors who hurt our families,” Mollie did sound like she believed every word of her own statement.

  Malik wanted to believe with her. He wanted to believe deep down that they had some sort of chance, but he had seen Sweet Tongue’s mercenary friends. He knew that Sweet Tongue had more friends in the fellow Tempre Warriors.

  “Your plan is to kill the Tempre then?” Khris asked.

  Malik hated hearing those words out of other people’s mouths. They reminded him how reckless and futile the mission sounded. Malik imagined that Abrie had seen this exact image every time Malik had mentioned killing the Tempre. He had seen a young boy, with no experience talking of killing an elite group of mercenaries.

  Malik laughed, now he could understand all the teaching Abrie tried to give to him.

  “Is that not what you said?” Khris asked, thinking that Malik was laughing at his expense.

  Malik continued to laugh but held up his hand to stop Khris from furthering the question. “It is what we had said. However, when you say it, I realize now how funny that actually sounds,” he replied.

  Malik looked to Mollie who was not sharing in his reverie.

  “Do you really think we can defeat any of the Tempre?” Malik asked her.

  Mollie looked down from his eyes, back to the egg on her lap. “I believe we can with the assistance of this egg. We will talk to the old man, gather his knowledge, and then use the egg to gather people to our cause. It will work, this was a lucky day,” she replied.

  Malik stopped laughing. Mollie really believed in the plan she had formulated in her mind. For some reason, Malik latched on to that belief.

  “If we are going to die anyhow, we may as well die trying to do what is best,” Malik said.

  “Khris can you guide us back into the village. We will gather the mules and be on our way,” Malik said.

  Khris had been listening to them, but Malik noticed that his full attention was elsewhere. “Sorry,” Khris said, coming back to reality.

  “Just to the village, if you would,” Malik reiterated.

  Khris nodded his head. “Sure, then we can get the book before you go,” he added.

  Malik nodded his head. “Yeah, that would be great.”

  Malik got to his feet, turning to reach out to help Mollie, but the Mollie’s eyes were drawn wide and downcast at the egg.

  Malik slid his eyes down her to the black egg in her lap. His eyes too fell wide. The egg was cracking all along the white circle on the top. The claw that had been dormant was now moving across the cracks. The small clicking sound of the claw tapping the shell was followed by several snapping sounds.

  “Is it hatching?” Khris sounded nervous now too.

  “I think it is,” Mollie said. Mollie’s eyes were wide, but unlike Khris and Malik she looked like she was anticipating something grand.

  “Do you think you should be holding it? Malik asked.

  He knew what he thought the answer was. They should leave that creature right there under the tree and make a beeline back for the village. If they gathered their mules quickly, they could be out of the village before nightfall was on them. Then they could travel far as they could, getting away from that mother monster and her child.

  Mollie was not so eager to follow through what that plan.

  “Oddly, I am not afraid of this baby creature,” she said.

  Malik thought that the word oddly was very appropriate here. Nothing about this was normal.

  “Are you sure we can’t just dump it and run,” Malik urged. “What will we even do with it once it hatches? What if it tries to eat us?” Malik did not notice it, but he had been pacing while he threw the questions at Mollie.

  Mollie had not noticed it either, because her eyes, like Khris’ were glued to the hatching egg.

  The claw turned into two claws, each longer than Malik’s fingers. Mollie reached down pulling at the shell near the holes, her hands came back slimy from the goop on the inside of the egg. She lifted the egg placing it on the ground, but still hovering over it. Another claw protruded from the hole that Mollie’s fingers had made.

  She reached down, pulling more of the shell
away in a large chunk. The membrane of the egg pulled away in long oozing strings.

  “That is disgusting,” Malik said.

  Mollie did not hear him or chose to ignore him. She was busy pulling more of the egg away with her bare hands. The entire arm of the creature shot through the new opening. It was long and black. Across its claws were the white stripes prevalent on the older monsters. Mollie pulled another chunk away; a bigger one this time and Malik could see down into the egg from his vantage point. His stomach roiled at the thought of this creature pouncing from the egg and latching onto Mollie’s face for a food source.

  The creature’s actual body was no bigger than a common house cat, but its two legs were spindly, and as long as Malik’s forearm. Its head tilted, tracing the goo across its eyes, which popped open showing stark white pupils, surrounded by black. Mollie reached her hands into the egg, touching the creature in a reassuring manner.

  “You do realize this thing will try to kill us,” Malik reminded her.

  Malik turned to Khris for some back up, but Khris was stunned into complete silence.

  “I don’t think it will hurt us,” Mollie said.

  “Oh yeah? What gave you that impression? The other three times we met one they were not exactly huggable,” Malik said trying to jog Mollie’s memory.

  “This one is just a baby still,” Mollie said, as if that made all the difference in the world.

  “A baby will still want to eat, and we are still a good source of food,” Malik argued.

  Mollie wrapped her hands around the creature’s body and lifted it gently from the rest of the shell. She placed it on the ground beside her. The creature did not try to bite or attack Mollie at the present moment. It was busy using its black tongue to lick the remainder of the membrane from its body.

  “What does it feel like?” Khris finally broke his silence to ask.

  Mollie glanced up at him. “Almost like the hide of a horse,” she answered.

  Khris moved toward Mollie and the creature. The creature was still not paying attention to anyone nearby. Malik decided that he would keep his distance. If the creature attacked both Khris and Mollie, maybe he could still provide some form of assistance. Malik looked around for a sharp rock or a heavy stick to fend it off with when things turned for the worse. He found neither of them. He would just have to use his hands and hope that the creature was weak from birth.

  “Can I touch it?” Khris was bending down next to Mollie now.

  Mollie looked at the creature and then at Khris. “Gently,” she answered.

  Malik felt like she was talking about a dog and not a man-eating beast.

  Khris reached out tentatively; when his fingers met the little monster, the creature stopped its incessant licking and looked up.

  Malik noted that its eyes were huge, much too big for its face. If Malik did not know what it would grow up to look like and that it would eat him, he may have even believed it to be a cute creature.

  “It feels exactly like a horse,” Khris confirmed.

  The creature used its long arms, topped off with long clawed fingers to push itself to its feet. Standing tall it was nearly as high as Malik’s knee. Its arms hung down to its feet and the claws scraped the ground. The creature was not built for power, speed, or accuracy at this stage in life. The beast walked two steps and fell into Mollie’s outstretched arms. It latched onto Mollie’s forearm with its hands, holding on for dear life. Mollie picked it up and stood to her own feet. The creature nuzzled into the nook of her arm and closed its eyes.

  “I don’t think it wants to hurt us,” Mollie said.

  “It will when he gets older,” Malik replied.

  Mollie shook her head, “I don’t know about that,” she said.

  “What are we going to do with a miniature monster attached to your arm?” Malik asked. “There is not a real big chance of hiding that or talking it away,” he said.

  Mollie looked back down at the creature. “Well then I guess there is a change of plans. We are going to use this creature to gather people to help us. If they can see the creature maybe they will listen to us.”

  Mollie turned to Khris, “I guess we can see how your village reacts first,” Mollie said.

  Khris’ eyes lit up like he was just given the world on a silver platter.

  “Let’s go,” he said, urging Mollie forward with a hand on her shoulder.

  Mollie did not give protest and followed along with Khris. Malik looked at the shambles of the egg on the ground and then to Mollie and Khris. He gave a last sigh, resigned himself, and took off after them.

  Chapter 20

  Unwelcome

  The trip back to the village of Twin Rocks was much more interesting and thusly it went by much quicker. The creature stayed nestled into the arms of Mollie. Malik could still see the outline of its sharp pointed teeth in the thin mask of its lips.

  Focused solely on the creature, he was surprised to find himself back at Vee’s tavern. No one was lined outside the establishment. No one had stopped them on their way in. No one gave an interest to them at all.

  “Your town keeps to themselves well,” Malik noted.

  Khris looked around as if he had never noticed that fact before, “I doubt everyone does not know we have traveled to the Grazer’s Paradise. They are just formulating what they will say to me when you both leave. They probably have not noticed the creature here. Either that or they are ashamed of all the names they called me, thinking I was lying about its existence and they don’t want to come apologize to me for being wrong.”

  “Should we start with the tavern then?” Mollie asked.

  Khris looked up at the sign. He did not look as excited as he had when the prospect of showing the village had been granted. Now he just looked nervous. Malik wondered if he would throw up before they even entered. He held his food though. He pushed open the door to Vee’s tavern and ushered Malik and Mollie in after him.

  The bar was just the same as when they had left it hours ago. Men and women sat intimately in the booths, while others drank at the ends of the bar. Vee was back behind the counter, in her spot, counting through her books again.

  She glanced up hearing the door shut behind them. At first, she did not notice the sleeping monster in Mollie’s arms, but she did a double take and noticed it the second time.

  “What in the Saint’s Hell is that thing?” she asked, sounding curious and appalled all at once. She placed her pencil on the books and took a few steps back, away from them.

  Mollie stepped forward, trying to show her that the creature was friendly. Vee did not look pleased that they had brought the creature into her place of work. Malik could not blame her. He wanted nothing to do with the beast. Cute as it was while it slept, at some point it would wake up and that would not bode well for anyone nearby.

  “It won’t hurt you,” Mollie explained.

  Malik had no idea why she believed that so fully. What evidence was she basing her assumption off?

  “It is the monsters from my book. The ones I have told everyone about. The monsters that everyone has called me crazy for. Here it is in the flesh, not a figment of an overactive imagination at all.” Khris let the emotion spill from him.

  Others were poking their heads from the booths to see what the commotion was about. Malik wondered how many bar fights they got around these parts. He guessed that the number was relatively low on account that Vee did have one guard posted in her doors.

  “I don’t know what that abomination is, nor do I want to find out. I just want you to take it back out the doors. Wherever it came from, you take it back now. If no one else is the wiser then that is for the better,” Vee said.

  Malik felt that Vee’s eyes looked much too afraid of the small creature. Did she know what the monster was?

  “It won’t hurt you though,” Mollie said again.

  If this was how everyone reacted, then Mollie’s plan would not garner much of an army for them. Vee looked like she needed help no
t running the opposite way. She did not look like a person who would be rallying troops to stand with them. Malik should have guessed as much. He was in the same boat. He could not blame others for feeling the exact same way he did. It was Mollie who was the odd person out.

  “I can’t imagine that you believe this creature is safe to be around humans. However, if you do believe that you clearly do not have any idea what you are doing. That creature needs to be taken back, or better yet killed.” Vee had the look of an animal backed into a corner.

  Malik knew then that Vee had more information than she was letting on. How many people had actually believed Khris’ story? Malik stepped forward beside Mollie.

  “What do you know about the monster?” Malik asked. Mollie’s face dropped at the word monster, “I mean creature,” Malik amended to keep Mollie appeased.

  Vee was shaking her head. Whatever she knew about the beast, she was not willing to talk aloud about it.

  “If you can tell us anything it would help us,” Malik urged.

  “I don’t know anything about that thing,” Vee said, trying to keep the tremor from her voice.

  Others now had come over from their booths. All their eyes were wide, with alarm. Malik looked to each in turn and knew that this entire village knew more about the creatures than they had previously let on.

  “Khris are all these people scared based only on your stories?” Malik asked.

  Khris had been silent since entering the establishment. Malik looked to see him, head down, staring at the wooden planks of the floor. Malik reached out a hand and gently pressed against his shoulder. “You awake over there?” he prompted.

  Khris’ body was lightly shaking and when he spoke his voice quivered. “The stories say very little about the monsters. Just that they are trackers,” he answered.

  Malik looked again to those surrounding them. None of them were staring at anything but the creature hooked to Mollie’s arm. Malik did not feel like those glares would lead to a friendly conversation about helping them against the Tempre. Each of the villager’s eyes was filled with hostility and fear.