CHAPTER TEN The Curse Fulfilled
Jli 25th 1261
As Kathren sits on a rock in the middle of the ocean she wonders what time is like on K'ha'dum? Kathren knows there is 265 days in the sun calendar. Kathren knows that K'ha'dum is divided into three sections, winter, summer and fall. Kathren wanted a more precise calendar, so she would use Numenorean pregnancy calendar, for all life is a sum of 8 + 27 35 days of creation. Meaning that Numenorean's and Kathren's people will only become creation worthy during the end of summer, beginning of the fall and the last few days of fall, three chances in a year.
Even though there are 13 months and four sub months, each season is divided by 25 and the remaining days are considered as the sub months. So for K'ha'dum, the winter season is 95 days out of 365. The summer is 110 days out of 365, and the final season, fall has 160 days out of 360. So the winter has three months and two sub months . The summer has four months and one sub month and the fall has six months and one sub month.
So as Kathren continued to feel the heat of the sun, she must be in the late summer months, probably on the forth summer month. Kathren wanted to write the calendar down, so with memory of time, this exact year to Kathren is 1261. So Kathren wrote a workable calendar: Glanuary has 25 days, Webuary has 25 days, Arch has 40 days, Aseal has 25 days, Gil has 25 days, Flune has 25days, Jli has 35 days, Mucust has 25 days, Sepmar has 25 days, Agmar has 25 days, Novmar has 25 days, Murmar has 25 days and Sabothmar has 40 days.
When Kathren thought about the day, it had to be Jli, probably the 30th day. So Kathren writes down on the paper: Jli 25th 1261.
Kathren smiles to see the calendar, she packs all her papers for she knows the curse is still upon her and she needs to put these papers on land for the Prophecy to find.
As Kathren swims to the north, she enters the shores of Angmar. Kathren comes upon land, she feels the daunting energy of Er Murazor's curse upon this land. As Kathren finally enters Carn Dum, she finds a wall with slots in it, so Kathren removes her maps, she puts them in the crack along with her diary, her calendar and her ring from the Lord Arson.
As Kathren turns she is confronted with Lord Er Murazor. Er Murazor looks at Kathren. "What brings you here Kathren?" Says Er Murazor is a menacing voice.
Kathren looks at Er Murazor, her blood runs cold. "Lord Er Murazor."
Lord Er Murazor restates his question. "Why are you here, I will not ask again!"
Kathren looks back at her map. "You must understand, I am soon going to be forced back to the sea."
Er Murazor looks at Kathren's webbed hands. "You went into the Cursed Swamp?" Kathren nods, "You better be going…I can't undo what you've already done!" Kathren turns and heads for the doors. Er Murazor's spirit leaves Carn Dum.
As Kathren enters the ocean and as the cold water hits Kathren's skin, the scales creep down her legs. As Kathren shutters from the pain, the bones in Kathren's legs are changing, but soon stop and the transformation ended as fast as it began.
Checking the changes, every inch of her legs have changed, and a loose, five foot, in width webbing connects her legs, but does not connect Kathren's legs into one solid tail, but more like a sail; which aloud Kathren to osculate her legs back and forward, side to side.
Feeling the cold, Kathren swims violently along the rocky shore, feeling the sail-like, thin-pale flesh propelling her faster in the ocean.
It takes Kathren half the time to travel back to the South Aqua, and tired she emerged out of the ocean and climbs back onto the island in the South Aqua.
Panting from her journey, she lays upon the rocky shore of the island breathing the salty air. As Kathren tries to relate to the speed of travel she is amazed, no wonder why her family preferred the aquatic life.
When Kathren studies her webbing on her legs, the bluish-green skin hangs like a old drape between her legs. She can't even recall any of her family ever going through this!
As Kathren sat there, she hummed a song to herself trying to accept the curse as a gift. The song then flowed from Kathren's mouth through words. The words would not make since to others, for it was strictly Kathren's own feelings.
The beauty, and terror of the words echoed off the rock, into the shallow depth of the South Aqua. "Whose arm hath bound the restless wave." Kathren pauses, thinking about the lost of Numenor. "Who bides the mighty ocean deep?" Kathren pauses once more, she wonders, why it's she who bides the mighty ocean deep, but then finds Davy Jones who was the Lord of the deep. "It's own appointed limits keep!" Kathren looks at the shimmering turquoise blue water. Then she reciting those words again without pause. "Who arm hath bound the restless wave. Who bides the mighty ocean deep, its own appointed limits keep. Oh, hear us when we cry to thee, for those in peril on the sea!"
Kathren shakes her head, she has never sung before, she really had nothing to sing about, but this song ached her heart. She remembered Davy Jones, the crew, even her mother. She was in peril on he sea!
"O mother, whose voice the waters heard, and hushed their raging with a word! Kathren's eyes well up in tears, she still can't control her crying when her mother comes to mind.
Kathren wipes her eyes and looks at the smooth, soft sand under the restless waves. "Who walked on the foaming deep, and calm amidst its rage didst sleep?" Kathren pauses again and relates to herself.
"Most grateful spirit who didst brood, upon the chaos dark and strong." Kathren hears a noise and stops abruptly to listen, but it must been only a stone falling in a pond of resting water. As Kathren focus back on the water, the words of the medley begin once more. "And bid its angry tumult cease, and give, for wild confusion, peace. Oh hear us when we cry to thee, for those in peril on the sea!"
As Kathren stands up on the rock, she shakes violently upon her two webbed legs, her frustration wells deep with the fact that she can't walk no more and soon will only be able to navigate the mighty deep. As Kathren looks up to the heavens, she cries out to the blue sky. "O ocean of love and power, our family shield in danger's hour, from rock and tempest, fire and foe. Protect me whosesoever I go." Kathren turns to face Khazad'dum. "Thus evermore shall rise to thee, glad hymns of praise from land to sea." Kathren leaps into the surf and begins her swim to Alquarious.
It must not have taken Kathren more then twenty minutes to cross to tricky Tsiegret'lop Channel to Alquarious.
As she approached land, the sea shimmered, something was flying overhead of her, as she surfaced she saw it, it was clearly alien to K'ha'dum, not of this world.
It was black, and shimmered against the sun. As it slowly passed overhead, Kathren heard it, it screamed in her head! It screamed with hatred for life, hatred for all of the impurities of life!
Kathren at first wondered if this was a vessel of Asron's, but something told her it was not, something told her to go hide, like an ancient fear implanted in all generations.
As Kathren submerged again, she swam as quickly to the entrance of the Great River to see where this ship was going. It was obvious that this ship was heading directly to Khazad'dum.
By the time Kathren arrived to the mouth of the Great River, it was already dusk. Night came quickly to K'ha'dum. As the water became shallow, Kathren surfaced once again, but the dark night sky was lit up by bright flashes of purple and pink.
Kathren has seen lightening storms, but this was indeed the oddest lightening storm she ever witnessed. As the water tasted ionic, Kathren did not stop, if she could pass Khazad'dum, she knew a few remaining fresh water ponds she could reside in.
Closer she got to Khazad'dum, the more acidic the water became. At one point the water was so acidic that Kathren could no longer respirate underwater. As Kathren passed Khazad'dum's swamp outlet, the water became more breathable!
As Kathren's river became a muddy bath, Kathren prepared to slowly walk to shore, but with being at the mouth of the Curse Swamp, the transformation became instant.
Kathren tried to get up, the mud was just too deep and every attempt was met with failure. Kathren was unable to get up, so with failure at the stream level, Kathren swims to the stream bank and she climbs out of the mud and water successfully.
As she emerges out, Kathren feels as if something is wrong. Kathren's legs are being sealed together. As the skin pulls Kathren's legs together, the two leg bones connect to from Kathren's tail section. As Kathren wriggles about in agony and pain, the two leg bones at the co coaxial begin to fuse restricting Kathren to only forward and back movement. The next movement is her small toes, the tiny toe that Kathren always disregarded seemed to stretch to great length, followed quickly by the other four toes on each foot.
As Kathren feels her mobility leave her, she knows her land dwelling years are over. Kathren feels her newly formed tail, it's unbelievable that legs could turn so easily into one gigantic tail. Kathren explores her surface anatomy, she notices quite a bit of changes, number one, her feet have become the very tip of her dorsal fin. Kathren, once being a ten toed creature, is now a no-toe creature.
Scales now cover all of Kathren, directly to Kathren's face to the base of the tail, all flowing comfortably downward from Kathren's head for rapid speed underwater.
As Kathren also explores the rest of her body, she notices that other fins have grown out of her hips and a small fin trails down the middle of Kathren's back like a nerve-line. These fins make Kathren very sensitive to her surroundings; feeling of danger; Kathren reenters the cursed waters and enters the Cursed Swamp. Kathren does not run because of Asron or the dead lords, but because of the new comers…something makes Kathren feel dreadfully sick!
With this feeling, Kathren skids into the Cursed Swamp, knowing that entry into these waters would change her beyond comprehension, but at times like this, nothing matters except for survival.
As Kathren skid through the moisture like a lava flow, Kathren enters into a slimy lake in the Cursed Swamp and immediately feels the curse enter her. It enters every open pore, every microscopic hole in and on her body.
Kathren presses on, she is faced with her first pond. The slime of the pond sends heat throughout Kathren's body and remodels Kathren's digestive system. Once before she had a recognizable object Human's call a butt, but now Kathren's butt is flat as her back, making her speed underwater quicker.
The curse continues, it entered Kathren's mouth, and destroyed her vocal cords and rebuilt a second gill system and developed two nasty, lumpy tentacles which can be used for feeding. But Kathren's change would not end there yet! With Kathren remaining in the Cursed Swamp, Kathren's digestive system became squid-like and threatened to burst through her belly. Massive amounts of tentacles developed and made her more capable to protect herself and produce many live offspring at once. She was becoming a deadly species called a Universal Breeder, which died out eons ago.
Kathren came to the end of the Cursed Swamp, the curse weakened, but one final change was in-order. With Kathren reaching the mouth of the Cursed Swamp, Kathren emerged with her final reformation, her body became interchangeable, regarding gender, soul and life, she had the ability to make others into what she was. Kathren was now able to transfer her soul to another if she was killed and had the ability to transform others into what she was…and beyond. It was final…the curse was fulfilled.
Even though the curse was over, and no longer could the curse further change her, Kathren still felt a dark shadow linger upon her. A cold hand touched her soul, and as Kathren trembled in fear, a dark entity fell upon Kathren and thus Kathren went to find a place to hid, for no mortal soul can resist the thrill of being harmed.
As Kathren took refuge in a water cut mini-cave or rock, dirt and tree roots, the sky was becoming light with the new day sun, but some dark cloud shimmered in the distance and began to shot fire from its mouth.
At first Kathren could not understand what this ship was firing at, but as her fluid-filled eyes focused on the sky, she saw dark hooded riders on winger beast flying all around the enemy ships.
As these creatures kept terrorizing the ships, the ships continued to fire and missed. It could only be best described as trying to throw a loose string through a needle's eye…impossible!
The only thing Kathren knew was that all this misfire was landing on the land and blowing holes on Kathren's beautiful Alquarious. Kathren watches as trees, rocks, fire, mud and any other debris fly into the air…this keeps Kathren in awe. As one explosion showers her with debris, Kathren realizes how much trouble she is in. As Kathren remains in the cave, sheltered from the fallout, the ground begins to shake.
As the ships leave Kathren's viewpoint, another ship appears and joins the dogfight, but as the fight intensifies with seven ships and nine riders, there is an odd feeling in the air, the air is actually being sucked quickly towards the south. As the air rushes back across the land in hurricane force, there is a blue wave with it. As the wave hits Kathren, it causes time to pass by quickly…everything, except for her is aging.
With everything aging, the ships actually disappear and the winged creatures fly normally back to Khazad'dum in this blue-storm. Even the cave Kathren is in collapses and the river widens, then shrinks, burying Kathren to her waist in dirt. As trees grow around her, roots grow near her and threaten to enter her body. Even Kathren's body is now beginning to age, and actually change slightly. Her once silky skin becomes deformed, bluish color. Kathren's fins grow to unprecedented size and scales grow, and then flake off, adding a layer of dead scales around her body. As Kathren looks at her hands, they are stretching, growing, then stop and the fins begin to shrink and then the tips of her fingers grow, followed then by five separated fingers made of calcium, and flesh. Then her fingernails grow and widen into claws and scales begin to redevelop on the top of her hands.
As the years fly by, Kathren can feel pain in her legs, but can't see what is happening to them for they are buried in twelve inches of river sand, which consumes over forty-two percent of Kathren's body. Gravel buries Kathren up to forty-eight inches and consumes only eighteen percent of Kathren's body. The organic peat buries up to fifty-one inches and covers four percent of Kathren's body. The last layer, the calcium carbonate scales make it fifty-five inches and covers Kathren's metamorphosing body of four percent. All total, sixty-eight percent of Kathren's body is covered at fifty-five inches(which is roughly four feet and seven inches).
As Kathren watched the time slow back down, K'ha'dum was free of its great enemy…but what has changed?