Chapter iv.
There was a light padding on the sand behind us. I had barely noticed it, and when I did notice it, I was too enraptured by my conversation with Band to pay it any mind.
It was the hideous, snarling gargle the creature belched that broke us from our concentrated conversation and whirl around. It was a sea creature of some kind, about half my height, but just as stocky as I, and built quite sturdily. Its body was shiny, with algae-green and blue scales covering its head, back and limbs, leaving only a slimy cream underbelly unprotected. It had a brown streak from the side of its blank eyes that run all the way down its body. Its head was akin to that of a fish, with jagged unaligned pointed teeth similar to the piranhas that Pagle kept in a small pond on his island. Fiendish little creatures they were, and could devour a calf's leg in a few seconds of bloody froth and bubbles. The glassy eyes stared ferociously. The lines of fins on its head, vibrant and menacing with livid colour, stood erect and signalled that the creature was aggressive and defensive.
The body was of more of a humanoid structure. It had a pair of arms and legs, with scaly claws and opposable thumbs. The hands were red with blood and gripped a crude wooden lance, which it aimed ahead of it as it swept towards us. The hideous gargling continued, and I could see trails of green saliva fly from its wide toothy mouth. It was issuing a war-cry, and the sound undoubtedly was rallying any more of these creatures within earshot.
Band was ready and attacking before I even had time to react. He had yanked the turtle-shell shield out of the ground, and deflected a glancing blow from the lurching creature. The wooden lance made a hefty clinking sound as it came into contact with the tough turtle hide. The creature recoiled in pain as the collision had reverberated all the way up the lance and through its arm. It didn't drop the lance. Band used this fractional moment to swiftly twist the shield so it was horizontal and use the base end to ram into the things' face. The thud was heavy and dull. The creature had blood between its eyes and blinked furiously. Band held the shield in one arm and swiftly withdrew the knife from his ankle. He sprang his arm forward towards the temporarily blinded sea-creature. It snarled and sensed the oncoming attack and swung the lance in a wide arc. The wooden lance caught Band's hand and sent the trajectory of the knife away from its face. It ducked and repositioned its stance, wiping the blood from its eyes. Band withdrew too and both stood in an aggressive defensive stance, locked in a tense standoff.
The creature looked stupid. Yet I saw a flash in its eye that betrayed a mysterious intelligence. He broke the deadlock and made the first move; a tame blow that struck Band's shield squarely. I realised what he was doing; he was testing the shield for weaknesses, without expending too much energy. He struck it again, higher this time. Band relaxed a little and began toying with the creature, allowing it to meekly strike the immovable shield. I was about to warn Band that the creature was lulling him into a false sense of security, but it was too late. The pair of fighters reactions were much faster than mine so I stood there, mouth agape, unable to conjugate the words needed. The thing made to strike the shield again, but feinted right and volleyed his lance behind the shield, straight to Band's side. The lance struck his thigh square on. It was not a strong enough weapon to pierce the thick chain leggings that Band wore, but it was forceful enough to knock Band off-guard and he fell to the ground. The shield crashed down on him, knocking his cheek and giving him minor concussion. The creature had the upper hand now, and it leapt upon the dazed Band and sought to thrust the spear into Band's eye. But Band was a warrior whose reactions were innate, and although his mind was spinning and his eyes unfocused, he swiped the knife at the creature's arms, and made a neat slice across its fingers. The thing howled and jumped up, nearly dropping the lance. Yet it held firm, and I saw him grip his wooden spear even tighter, forcing the strange viscous blood to seep harder through the razor-thin wound.
Whilst the creature was in mid-air, Band had regained a little composure and swung his leg deftly towards the airborne thing and booted it sweetly sideways. It travelled a fair few feet and crashed against a rock, dazed. Band was up on his feet. He dropped the knife in the sand, held his shield aloft and reached behind him, withdrawing a mighty sword, almost the size of the creature itself. He charged the creature, which was still coming to, and aimed squarely for its soft underbelly, which it had left exposed. The thing sensed danger and coiled itself. The sword clattered against the grizzling sea beast's head, shoring off a few of its vibrant fins. The creature squealed and gargled in terrible pain. The sword had not penetrated its intricate woven scales however.
The thing spat and reared its head, and lunged for band, teeth bared. It leapt high over him, and was about to come careering down on Band's head, when he adroitly lifted the shield above him so that it came between him and the creature.
The snarling brute crashed down onto the shield. It impaled itself upon the many spikes of the Mudrock turtle's shell and lay motionless. Band held the shield aloft for several seconds, but the creature did not move. It merely gurgled and spat as the life drained out of its body, and its fluids spilt over the edge of the shield, dripping off the edge like rain from a flowing gutter. The spikes had mostly found its soft squishy underbelly and the force of it clattering onto the shield had run them through its body. The spikes did not penetrate the scaly back of the thing, but left grotesque protrusions underneath it, as if the creature had a bad case of warts and boils. It breathed its last and the eyes dulled.
"Murloc" Band said. "They inhabit many coasts far from here. I must say I was not expecting them here, so close to Theramore. Looks like a Tiderunner to me. I could be incorrect, however"
Band tilted the shield downwards and the Murloc slid ungracefully off the shield and crumpled onto the sand. Band searched it. He pulled out a lace bag of coin from its waist, and a large clam from a pouch. It was slimy and covered in a fishy-smelling oil. The coin purse contained two pieces of silver. He handed one to me, and also the clam shell. I took it, and the slime on it seeped through my fingers.
"What was it doing attacking us?" I asked, prizing open the clam.
"They are creatures" he said, "of a volatile nature, and, I believe, are very territorial. Not many beaches are safe when Murlocs set up camp. What is that you have found?" He gestured towards my clam. I had pulled away the tangy meat (discarding it in the dwindling stew) to reveal a glowing, iridescent pearl. It shimmered and seemed as if the light source was inside the pearl. Band and I studied it. It was not reflective of light, and it appeared as if clouds were forming and whirling inside it.
"May I have it?" he asked.
I was enraptured by its power. I didn't want to part with it. Whenever I had found a pearl I had sold it for over twenty silver pieces at the market. Its value was constantly increasing. I pulled myself away from its seductive shimmer and faced Band. "I would not like to part with it, but as you have saved my life I shall give it as token of my appreciation." I handed it to him. "What are you going to do with it?"
He placed the pearl in a knapsack. "I am seeing a craftsman who will imbue it on this shield you have so kindly allowed me. Its properties should enhance the shield in mysterious ways. The craftsman himself is a very mystical man, and I am sure this is just an ingredient he needs to add certain powers and forces to the shield."
Band was talking in his airy, mysterious way, so I let the incident pass without comment. If someone wanted to nail the pearl to the shield, so be it.
"What are you going to call this shield?" He asked me. I was unsure. A few names passed through my mind.
"Either a Mudrock mauler, or a Murloc mauler. I am unsure." I turned to the dead Murloc. Its foot was twitching unpleasantly.
In the end we decided on Mudrock Mauler. Band promised, once his quest was complete, that he would return to the garrison and enquire about me. I was not too enthusiastic about working for the army again, as I had carved out my niche in the world as a fisherman in the last few weeks or so. I was happy with it. What I wasn't happy with was the fact that this beach no longer felt safe for me, and that I should best prepare myself if I were to come back again tomorrow.
I bid Band farewell, and he uttered a small chant which was barely audible to me. Dunafalore the sabre came bounding out the forest, as if from nowhere. How long had she been waiting for him? He leapt on her back.
"Elune be with you" he said, and saluted. "I shall return."
"And to you also" I said, but Dunafalore had already sped off down the beach, and my words were lost to the disturbed clouds of sand.
