Chapter 5. Mog


It was many long hours as Shikha clambered her way blindly into the deep caverns. They were much longer then she had ever imagined. The floors were worn smooth by the centuries of Morlock feet and moving machinery. She had long forgotten about the hungry Fown and now her thoughts wandered over about Mog. It had been over ten years since she had last seen him. She felt a stirring in her heart just thinking about him. Her only friend in the whole world.

The water dripped in rhythm from the stalactites with each other making out almost like simple music. Shikha was also extremely nervous of the outcome. Mog was now a full grown and a probably large male who probably thinks of nothing else but to work and hunt the Eloi. This might just end up being her last night.

"I wonder what Mog looks like now." She thought to herself. "I hope he's gentle but I have doubts. He's no longer a child like in the past. What if he has a mate?" She almost halted but continued on slower then usual. Why did she care so much about that? More then likely because he wouldn't except some random female into his household and most definitely not his mate.

She slunk silently around the working Morlocks and stayed strictly to the shadows of the machines and boulders. Finally she passed into more darkness until a faint blue light shown around a narrow path. Further down was more Morlocks. Only these sounded extremely aggressive. Their great roars bellowed out and echoed throughout the entire cave system. She hid behind the rock formation and crept closer to the group of pissed Morlocks. It was a group of five males having a fuss over a new home. One of them was standing firm in front of the entrance and lowered himself to the ground for an attack. He threw back his head and roared again, exposing his chisel-like incisors and tusks. The other males each took a try to bring him down. The red-eyed male only swung at them. One well-aimed blow landed across the face of one male. A loud crack and a few bloody teeth flinging through the air caused the male to tumble over his rear and down into the darkness.

"Come on and try me!" The triumphant male snarled. "I can take all of you!"

The other males slowly backed off except one charged right for him and came in low. The other male waited for him and met him with equally heavy bulk and threw him to the ground. It was a deadly tussle as fang met skin and slashed. Nails ripped at each other's chest, leaving deep red grooves oozing dark blood. At last one of them threw the other male against the sharp rocks on the walls. The losing male coughed up blood and groaned loudly. No longer did he feel like fighting. He limped down the cave towards Shikha's direction and then collapsed. More blood spouted from his mouth and from his nose. He thrashed about and grabbed at his chest. Something inside had ruptured. A great artery perhaps and now he was drowning in his own blood. Shikha hid her face, not wanting to see the loser suffer.

"Anybody else? You all are weak like Eloi!" The winner bellowed and thumped his stomach. "I claim this home!"

Shikha looked over the rock again, the dying male moved no more. Only a large puddle of blood surrounded him and continued to grow wider. After the males had all retired and the winner disappeared into his cave she came out from hiding. The smell of fresh artery blood alarmed her senses. She wrinkled her nose and felt like regurgitating all over the floor. Such evil males! They fought with no fear of death apparently. She touched the dead male. His once glowing eyes were closed forever.

She peered down the entrance of the cave and without thinking climbed down it. Not a second did she ever think if this was the right male or if this was even a safe thing to do. When she came down she saw the glowing eyes staring back at her in the darkness. It was not till now that she realized what a foolish and deadly choice she just made. She felt her sweat grow cold and her body chilled as if all her own blood had shrunk back into the deepest parts of her body.

"Eloi." The male snarled and slowly approached. Shikha couldn't tell if he was simply checking her out and if he was stalking her.

"Mog?" She finally spoke to him.

The glowing eyes stopped and blinked. For a time being there was silence between them till the male responded. "Shikha?"

The blonde girl felt a heavy weight lift from her heart. She had followed the right male. She gasped and felt her breath go light again. "Mog. I was looking for you."

The male came close to her and touched her face. "Shikha. What brings you here?" He sounded so much more gentle then when he was fighting with the males. She was afraid he was completely aggressive. "Oh Mog, Fown wanted to eat me. Mother told me to find you. I wasn't sure if you wanted to-" She stopped short, realizing that she still didn't know if even Mog was looking at her as an easy feast.

Mog sat down and grabbed her hands to guide her closer to him. "To eat you." He finished for her. "You are my friend and I haven't forgotten about you. I'm sorry it has been so long. I have my own home now as well."

Shikha smiled and hugged him. "I saw you fighting with those other males. You are very strong." Her shirt became damp with warm fluid from his chest. She felt her shirt and realized what it was. "You are bleeding badly."

"Another scar to my collection." He boasted. "It will heal. Don't worry."

The Morlock male inspected his cave from his sitting position. "Why do you want to stay with me?"

"I knew nobody else that was a friend." She tucked her knees to her chin and stared at his glowing eyes. "If you want me to leave I can."

"No it's fine. It's nice to see you again." He reassured with a sweet tone of his low voice. "I'm surprised you are around still. When I never saw you again I thought others might have eaten you. I'm happy to see that's not the case."

"I'm so happy that you remembered me," Shikha felt her heart warm with love for friendship. "I haven't made any friends since you left. I was very much alone but mom taught me all sorts of things including the past."

"It's an interesting subject. Most though here don't really remember it. Nobody here wants to know they are related to the Eloi." He added. "Though when we come down here we learn it anyways. We don't like to forget things nobody if it displeases us or not."

Shikha pulled a few bottles of medicine from her bag that she had stored away just incase. She rubbed the ointment on his wounds. There were many more than she had realized, crossing over to his backside and on his cheeks as well. He must fight a lot to get this many scars. Mog permitted her even though he declined the offer. It did feel soothing and he was happy she wouldn't accept a no for an answer. Blinded by the darkness Shikha had to feel for the wounds. She reached up to his check and rubbed the sap-like medicine across the wounds and drifted her hand across his mouth. His massive front teeth overlapped his smaller bottom ones, so it always made him appear like he was in a fixed snarl. She glided a finger across his odd incisors and around his tusks. They were covered in bloody chunks from biting the other males. Not being able to see them just made her more fearful. She ran her fingers up to his eyes. The large pupils reflected brightly, being fully adapted for living in complete darkness. She hadn't realized how long she had been feeling his face till he broke the silence.

"Are you okay?" He spoke, reaching up and held her hands. "I am fine. You don't have to worry about it."

"I'm sorry. I was just thinking about home." She excused, putting her medicine away. For the first time in her life she had odd feelings. They were like a sort of longing to be close to him. She closed her fingers around his and shuffled closer. "I'm fine though. I'm glad to be here. It's so dark though."

"You can light a small flame I guess." He blinked. "It doesn't bother me much really like other Morlocks."

"A flame?" Shikha asked. She had never used fire before since the Morlocks around her had no use for it. Only heard that it was fierce to the eyes because it glowed so brightly. "Oh that, I never seen one before."

"Oh, well I don't have anything on me to make one for you. We could walk outside though it is near nightfall." He helped her up and lead her outside. The clouds were blocking out the sun despite it being almost completely set. The sky was a mixture of purple and dark blue and colors in between.

"It's so beautiful out here." She found herself still clutching his hand. Out here she could get a much better look at him. He was chunky like a typical Morlock. He stood nearly six foot and was just solid-built. As she depicted he certainly was covered in fresh and old wounds. He turned his head and stared down at her with a smile. His teeth were as scary as she imagined them to be. Killer weapons made just for hacking and gnawing at somebody's flesh. To us they would look like very bizarre rodent-like teeth.

To us and the Eloi the Morlocks would be very ugly. To Shikha on the other hand, being raised her entire life around them, had a totally different taste in what an appealing male looked like. To her he was handsome. Though Morlocks didn't judge looks quite the same as his ancestors once did. A male with a hefty built, nice freaky teeth and strength was considered quite a catch. Not only did Mog have all these qualities, he was also very gentle with her. This also opened her heart.

Despite the lovely thoughts she had doubts he felt the same about her. She was just a frail Eloi who's head just reached his chest. Plus even though they were friends she was sure he probably viewed her as some type of a pet like Fown did.

"It's the night of the hunt." He told her. "I am hungry."

Shikha tensed up at the sound of his starving voice. She wasn't too good at hiding her feelings and her sudden shivering crept up into Mog's arm. He looked down with concern, finally realizing her reason for the sudden fear.

"I would never eat you Shikha. You should know that."

"But I am an Eloi." She reminded him. Those words pained her. The damned Eloi's, why did she have to be one of them. She could be a lovely Morlock but no she had to be some tiny blonde head.

"You may be an Eloi but you are my friend. I won't eat my own friend. It doesn't matter what you are in the end." He cupped his hand around her shoulder and brought her close to his side. "Now I will go out and hunt. I want you to stay here near the bushes and keep out of sight."

Shikha waited for Mog till he came at last came back through the wood with an Eloi draped over his shoulder. It's arms and legs flopped with his every heavy step. The blonde girl followed beside him, ignoring the smell of the fresh dead. Even though she had grown up around such surroundings the breeding in her to fear the Morlock was still deeply embedded.

Inside the cave she kept herself hidden against the corner of the cave while Mog feasted. Pieces of splintered bone and chunks of flesh flung across the barren floor. Morlocks were always sloppy when they ate, no regard for any manners as well. Shikha was no better but cleaner with her face.

"Are you finished?" Shikha whispered. Mog peered up at her and smeared the blood across his lips with his tongue. There was no more bone scrunching so she assumed and crawled out a foot.

"Are you okay Shikha? You afraid?" Mog sat down close to her and stroked her thigh. "I'm sorry if seeing that offends you. I used to eating alone." He gathered her up in his arms like a baby and whispered jokes into her ear. Shikha's face brightened once again and pushed her nose under his chin.