Chapter 92 - Squid Tales

"It's moving away," Rowan told Sebastian as he stepped out of the carriage.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's follow," the mage replied.

Lucien disembarked right after Rowan. The excitement on his face had erased away the cranky furrows that Red had put on there. "How are going to catch it?" He asked the anti mage.

In response, Rowan waved his gloved hands in the air. "Let's hope that they're correct about their theory on its magical energy."

"You won't get hurt will you?" Luci asked.

"There's no guarantee I won't suffer some scrapes, Lucien, but I'll be real careful," the anti mage replied. "And If something goes wrong, you'll have to turn around and run."

Luci frowned as he shook his head at Rowan. "No! I can't abandon you if you're in trouble."

"Luci, if Rowan says to run then you run. No questions, just run like the wind. This creature has killed plenty of mages and we know next to nothing about it. I doubt Rowan would have trouble with it but if that does happen, your best bet would be to not get in the big man's way."

The redhead nodded.

"Before you get to it, I want to meet the creature on my own," Syryn informed the anti mage. "Don't show yourself before I'm ready to let you have it."

"I don't like it," Rowan replied. "From what Sebastian has told me, mages are most susceptible to its attacks."

"I'm no ordinary mage."

"I know."

"But," Syryn sheepishly added, "if it looks like I'm getting killed, you have my permission to intervene." There was something very comforting about knowing that the anti mage had his back.

"You're putting me in a difficult situation," Rowan responded after a light sigh.

"Rowan is right, you know. Can't go in solo like that, S'ryn."

"But that's what you did last time. You chased after it alone."

"Last time was different. Now that we know what it might be capable of, how will you stop it from jabbing you with its tentacles?"

"I'll be okay. Right, Rowan?" Syryn turned to the blond who was suddenly being pressured unfairly.

"Syryn, just be careful," Rowan chose to say. "There's only so much that I can do."

"Are we going to keep talking all evening?" Red interjected. "If Syryn gets killed, it'll be a result of natural selection so let's move it."

Rowan watched the redhead walk beside Sebastian, thoughts heavy on the little information that Syryn had offered up about the boy. He hoped that Lucien would not remember what had been planned for him, at least not till Rowan could find a way to help.

----

Rum district had turned into a ghost town after the mage hunters had evacuated the entire place. Disobedient and careless mages had continued to visit the area, never imagining that they'd be victimised next. People were like that. Everyone believed they wore a shield of imperviousness that would protect them from becoming the next victim. Their invincibility would shatter when confronted with the monster stalking the district but it would be too late.

Syryn heard the flat hollow sounds of his footsteps echo down the road that Rowan had pointed him to. The smell of sewage wafted up through the metal grills of a gutter where dirty water flowed in a long course past the entire length of the rum district. He concentrated on the sounds of the night but there was no suspicious activity to be heard.

Syryn wasn't seeing anything that remotely looked like a glowing squid. But when he squinted into the darkness of an alleyway just opposite where he stood, the alchemist made out the silhouette of a tall stationary man. He had found the bait.

This time, there was no calling out for him. Perhaps the creature recognised Syryn, perhaps it knew that Syryn had been looking for him - the silhouette just stood at its place like a marker for the convenience of the alchemist.

"You're probably very hungry aren't you? The mage hunters have deprived you of your meals," he spoke out loud into the alleyway. There was no movement from the shadowy spaces. "Here I am mister squid. I'm a tasty, strong, fattened up mage full of mana. I'm not sure if you can understand me but surely, you have to be able to. You communicated with me that day."

Syryn saw a quick flash of movement, a darting shadow that disappeared behind the corner of the wall. The silhouette melted away and Syryn gave chase. Casting his senses wide, the teen was alert for a potential ambush.

{You- come me?} A crystal clear voice sounded out inside his head. It was finally talking to him. {Why? Kill?}

"Not sure what you're trying to tell me," he spoke at a patch of darkness that was denser than its surrounding. His actions so far were unplanned. Hunting down the squid was their objective but Syryn had wanted to speak to it first - a silly whim he hadn't expected to be rewarded for.

{Why? Come? You me- kill?}

"I'm not really here to kill you. Is that what you're asking about?" The patch of darkness moved. It was so black that Syryn speculated it was absorbing all the light that fell on it.

{Hungry} he heard in his mind. {Give me.}

"No. You're not allowed to attack me. You can try and get killed for it. If you'd rather stay alive and sate your hunger though, answer a few questions I have." Syryn wondered if Rowan was hearing just what he was saying. The anti mage was probably panicking just a little bit.

{Help me} the creature replied. {You me help.}

"Okay, I can help you. I'll feed you magic but you'll have to answer my questions first."

{Yes.}

"Where did you come from?"

The mass of darkness swirled just a little bit. Syryn waited patiently for the creature to say something, anything that it could with its limited vocabulary.

{you're no- not home.}

"My not home?" It was going to take forever to communicate with it, he realised.

{Hole.}

Syryn was patient when it came to figuring out puzzles. He turned the answers over in his mind but couldn't come to a logical connection of its words.

"Are you saying you came through a hole?"

{Hole yes.} They were making some progress now.

"And where's this hole you came from?"

{Hole not- not hole.}

"What? What are you saying?"

{Hole- no hole.}

It was frustrating. "Can you take me to the hole?"

"No hole."

"Oh! Are you saying the hole is gone?"

{Gone.}

What hole was this creature talking about? Syryn wondered. He needed to get inside the hole and see where it led to.

"Who closed the hole?" He asked while drawing out a circle in the air with his finger.

{Hole.}

"The hole closed the hole?" Syryn wanted to laugh at how ridiculous they must have sounded to their listeners.

{Yes, hole.}

"So the hole closed itself. Interesting." The most probable explanation for the hole was the existence of a portal. The implications of its words suddenly made the squid an even more interesting subject to Syryn.

{Close yes. Hungry.}

"Not yet. Show me what you look like first. And then I promise to feed you."

The dark mass shifted and curled restlessly. {Hungry}

"Like I said, I need to see the goods first. Then you get the payment."

{Danger}

"What? Rowan? He won't hurt you as long as you remain far from me."

{Rowan}

"Yep. And I'm Syryn."

{Syryn}

"Yeah so do your glowing thing, squid. Show me."

The darkness was suddenly pierced through by rays of blue light. Syryn's eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness and he was taken aback by how ethereal and beautiful the squid was. Sebastian had been right about its form. It had a bulbous head the size of a carriage wheel. Below it dangled multiple tentacles that varied in length. There were no visible eyes on it but through the almost transparent layer of its skin, Syryn could make out gel sacs and other strange shapes compacted inside it.

"Are there others like you?" He asked the creature.

{Home} it answered.

"Where is home?"

{Hole.}

"I guess we'll have to first teach you more words. You need magic right? I can give you some but you're not allowed to attack me. Do you understand?"

{Yes}

"You're being really cooperative," Syryn grinned at it. "Good thing too. Someone is waiting to suppress you." He bit into the skin of his finger and squeezed out a drop of blood. Syryn then held his finger out and waited for the squid to make a move.

{...}

"What?"

{Small}

"Tsk!" Syryn jabbed his finger out at the squid. "That's all I can do for now. If you'd rather starve then be my guest."

The squid tentatively reached out and tapped at Syryn's finger with the end of his thinnest tentacle. It was a gentle tap that felt icy cold. Syryn had injected a lot of magic into that drop of blood so he could not afford to give it more.

{Small}

"Keep saying that and I'll abandon you to the mage hunters." Syryn wasn't quite sure what he wanted to do with the squid. Curiosity had led him thus far but he hadn't really expected to speak with it.

"I have no idea what to do with you. If you stay here, you'll eventually get caught by the mage hunters and I won't have a magical squid to talk to anymore."

{Home?}

"Your home? I dont know where it is."

The squid visibly wilted just a little bit.

"But you can come home with me if you want to. Actually, no. I've got mages at home. You can't come with me. You've killed many mages. Who's to say that you won't attack my friends?"

The squid floated before him silently. It had attacked the mages for its own survival. How was it any different from any other animal that killed to eat? There was no malice in its attacks. But Syryn knew that its existence was a threat to every mage he had befriended. He could not allow it to live. That was the right thing to do, wasn't it?

{Syryn}

"Yeah?"

{Syryn hungry?}

"I dont eat magic."

{What? Syryn- magic hungry?} It was starting to sound annoyed if that was even possible.

"I don't think we'll make much progress tonight so I'll just go home. I've got travel plans to make, letters to send. It's too bad I can't stay here much longer."

{Home}

"Don't get caught by the mage hunters. I'll return after a month with many more questions for you. If I dont find you here, I'll assume you're dead."