《Djamon》


 First Contact

    Chapter 1


    Dagan pulled in his line for the evening and glanced at his measly catch. It was going to be a hard sell, after all, what kind of fisherman could show off a handful of puny fish and compete adequately with the other sellers. He''d be drowned out by their voices alone.


    He hauled his equipment to the side to begin the arduous row back to land. He bit his lip in disappointment -- he''d even stayed longer than peak fishing hours for the chance to produce a larger yield despite the known danger. Men had been taken by the nightly currents, capsized by sea creatures or simply lost to the sea and never seen again. But he withstood the fear of danger because another larger fear anchored him to stay, the fear of losing his family.


    The sun quickly set under the horizon of the sea, plunged under the water and shimmering its remaining light atop the tips of waves. Under the glistening surface all was still. Dagan was overcome with a sense of peace despite the circumstances. The waves turned to ripples and slowly but surely, turned still until he was the only one causing disturbances.


    He was compelled to stop rowing. A deep, woolly feeling bloomed in his chest and head. His jaw went slack and his arms dangled, letting the oars sink into the oar stops. The blue water illuminated to a algae green as glitters of yellow danced between. Something was approaching.


    As a child, Dagan had heard stories about the sea. Incredible and horrifying creatures dragging screaming people into the depths, supernatural things beckoning the naive dangerously close to the shore and waves as tall as mountains erasing entire shore towns from history. He chalked it up to cautionary tales told to children and reckless men. There was no reason for a man of sense to ever believe these things. He thought of himself as such. But in this moment, where the sun was but a sliver and a swell of seawater ballooned over him, all sense left him. His mouth dried with fear.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    The balloon of water melted into a figure. It''s head appeared a disgraceful cross between a bull and a person and its limbs long and muscular. Dagan did not know what he was looking at. He swallowed.


    "I have family. I have a child, my wife is gone. Please!"


    The creature¡¯s eyes shimmered black, then yellow. It moved closer, as though it was peering at him with intrigue.


    ¡°I had a child too.¡± It said with the voice of many.


    Dagan pleaded ¡°Please!¡± over and over again until the syllables blended into each other. The creature leaned back.


    ¡°I propose a deal. Give me your life when the child is 17. Only your life. Or, I shall take it now.¡±


    It seemed obvious what the answer was.


    ¡°Ye-!¡±


    ¡°Every month, come here. On the fullest moon. Come here.¡±


    Dagan nodded ecstatically. Of all the horrible stories that could have happened to him, he was a very lucky man to experience something so meagre.


    ¡°Yes! I will!¡± He said.


    Dagan felt a burn on his cheek. He clasped and felt that it was wet with his blood. The creature¡¯s gnarled, long nail retreated from him and toward its mouth where a three pronged tongue licked his blood off.


    ¡°I have you. Do not disobey.¡± Though it spoke in short sentences, Dagan knew a threat when he heard one. Whatever this thing was, it had him somehow and there was no escape.


    Before Dagan could get a word out a tornado of water surrounded it and wormed into the sea. The greenish yellow light abated and he was left in the purple twilight of a long withdrawn sun.


    ...

 As Above

    Chapter 2


    Dheg looked out at the lands below and the sprawl of the city he had attracted over the decades. He built himself a sandstone palace, with foreboding walls and pillars so large they seemed in a perpetual state of falling onto whoever walked by. Date palms and coconut trees lined the outer courtyard where common people wandered and enjoyed. In the construction of his palace, he wanted to evoke a feeling of being as small as beetle. He wanted the tall, gaping windows, the incredibly high ceilings, some with art so small you could barely see them, and the enormous halls to strike whoever walked the palace with such incredulity at their mortal and meaningless life, that they submitted all pride and sense of meaning. Not a drop of arrogance would remain in whomever so decided to enter his abode. That, and the security advantage of course.


    Every man was born with his fists grasping for something and in these walls, his fists would lay bare and he would realise, with fear and then with awe, that nothing could be taken except what the Almighty gave.


    The people looked up to him, Dheg, and saw a man beyond comparison. They saw a king though he humbly called himself a leader. They came from far and wide in search of new beginnings, and word in the country was that this city, Shodimo, was a fresh parchment waiting to be filled. Traders, animal dealers, crop sellers, basket weavers, shoe menders and everything of the sort made nests in Shodimo. Come one, come all.


    Dheg felt the presence before he heard the knock He turned his head just as his guard raised his spear to tap the cool tiles. He announced a visitor, an old man by the name of Malsan. His slight frame was eclipsed by the guard and though they both wore the plain white cloths of his palace, the guard¡¯s were shorter and tighter for ease of movement and fitted with leather straps around his arms and ankles whereas the old man appeared to have draped a never ending sheet around himself.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°The balances are fine as I had assured you already,¡± said Malsan. ¡°We have enough to finance twice the army we need. I never miss a coin.¡±


    Malsan was from the south where his people were slightly shorter and more stout, suited to the long workdays on farmland and forest. Though he was old he was a rather cunning man with an astute eye for people. Somehow, he had never really figured out Dheg and joked that he must be a truly evil man to evade any calculated assumption.


    Dheg smiled kindly at his councillor of finances, ¡°Thank you for putting my soul at ease nonetheless.¡±


    Malsan, annoyed before, now relaxed his shoulders and let the indignant frown dissipate from his brow. ¡°Have a peaceful evening Sir.¡± He said and left.


    Just as Dheg began to turn back to the windows he felt someone else approach. Heavier footsteps. Dheg had an idea who he was and what he was here for but braced anyway.


    ¡°Sir how can you expect me to train this many soldiers at once!¡±


    ¡°Would you want to build only one fence for your hens and then turn in for the night?¡± Dheg asked.


    Kungul pursed his lip. Usually a fiery man, Kungul was known for holding his tongue and his enormous fists around the leader despite Dheg himself encouraging him in order to build brotherly camaraderie rather than a submission to leadership. But Kungul always declined and reasoned it was for respect and not fear nor arrogance.


    Dheg walked over to him, his stride long and his head held high. Even the manner in which he walked made others feel like ants.


    ¡°I trust you to train them because you¡¯re my best soldier. If you cannot handle the task then I shall ask you to train a small strike force for me.¡± Said Dheg.


    Kungul nodded and muttered something about tending to the war Camels. Dheg watched his subordinate¡¯s broad shoulders recede into the distance, flanked by the towering halls.


    The day was nigh begun and yet he¡¯d already dealt with two officials of his flock with more to be done later. That afternoon he had a full council meeting and in the evening he would set off to see Kungul¡¯s progress with the strike force. A shepherd was a dutiful job, but the yield in meat and wool was more than plenty.


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