Interlude Two
More had filtered into the Great Hall.
Some had passed their ‘first visits’ and were well into their first
or second cycles. As more and more kept
‘popping’ in, the hall became quite crowded. The one’s arriving
late were quick to hear of the encounter with
the boy who ‘eat’s his own’. They would stare at the ‘one’ who
brought back this tale, as it sat in it’s
corner listening to their whisper’s. It could feel their eyes upon him,
pink with curiosity.
It looked up to see a pair of eyes glowing
a bright pink only inches from it’s face. “What will you do if he
shtill ‘eatsh it’sh own’
when you go back?” was the question. This one asking was beginning it’s third
cycle,
which was obvious by the
hint of a nose beginning to form in the middle of it’s face.
It stood up on It’s perch to reply. With a
deep breath, it replied loud enough for all in the Great Hall to
hear. “I will take him all at once!”
There were ‘ooh’s’ and ‘aahh’s’ from all
over the hall. They echoed off the slimy walls. Urged on by
the awe It had inspired, It added, “Hish
birphday will be hish lasht day!”
There came howls and shrieks across the
hall. Some of awe, some of astonishment and jealousy,
and some of pure ecstasy at the thought of
such an act. Thousands of tiny, slimy feet began to stamp
on the floor. To take ‘all’ in one night had
only ever been tried once, as far as any here could recall. Two generations ago. It was told that the
‘one’ who tried went ‘mad’ and vanished from this and the other
dimension. But such a tale never kept those
who lacked patience from dreaming.
It stood on It’s perch, stamping It’s feet
along with the others It had stirred into a frenzy. One had started
Chanting “All at once”
and the rest had chimed in. All eyes in the Great Hall were now glowing bright
Purple with euphoria and
frenzy. The racket threatened to bring in the very ceiling. Then, a voice cried
out above it all. One of authority, much
deeper and larger than all the others.
“NO!”
All fell silent in an instant. The eyes
that had been bright purple all turned to a submissive mauve,
and their light dimmed. From it’s perch, It shook as it stared
towards the one who had spoken so loudly.
It
saw the eyes that belonged to the voice. Large, wet, and black as pitch. It was
the ‘One”.
The One spoke again. “You will do no thuch
thing!”
All stepped aside as the One began to cross
the Great Hall from where the One had appeared, to where
It
cowered on It’s perch. No one ever saw the One actually enter a room, the One
was just always ‘there’.
The
One was at least a foot taller than all the other’s. Where their skin was blue,
the One’s was a deep
magenta. Where their eyes had iris’s and pupils,
the One’s eyes were just black. There wasn’t even any
sign of there being a white to those big
black eyes.
As the One approached the other, the other
leapt from it’s perch in the corner and fell to It’s knee’s in
A
position of complete submission. It dared not to even look up at the One.
When the One reached the other, the One
looked down at the other kneeling before it and spoke. The
One’s
voice was softer, but still held it’s authority. “What you shpeak of ish
forbidden.”
All in the Great Ha;; bowed their heads
and repeated, in a whisper..”Forbidden.”
The One spoke again to the other. “When
will tish boy be ripe?”
Without looking up, the other replied.
“Tonite.”
The One rubbed at it’s own mouth with the
back of it’s hand. “Well, if you return to find he shtill eatsh
hish own, you will know that he ish shpoiled
and not for you.”
The other tensed, trying to hide what it’s
true feelings at this statement. It swallowed and asked “What
doesh thish one do then?”
All in the hall tensed for the response.
As horrible as it would be for the one kneeling, there could be
only one response from the One.
“What do you do?” The One said. “That ish
shimple. You will have to wait for the nexsht hatching
to reshieve a new one.”
‘Fifty years!’ It screamed in it’s tiny
brain. The other’s eyes began to change to orange. A fiery orange.
‘That ish not fair!’, the
other thought. ‘All because he he eatsh hish own!’ The other was so angry, the
orange
began to glow brighter,
and those close, could see the light they cast upon the floor and reaching
the feet of the One. The
One saw this as well, and took a step back from the orange glow, so it would
not illuminate it’s feet.
When the other saw what it had done, ‘casting’ anger upon the One, it shrieked
and covered it’s eyes
with it’s arms. “I am sho shorry! Shorry! Thish one ish shorry!” it cried.
The one reached down and put a soothing
hand on the head of the other. The other became quiet,
as the One spoke.
“Deshpair not, hatchling. If shuch ish the
cashe….if you musht wait for the nexsht hatching…” There
was a pause as all eyes and ears were upon
the One. “If you musht wait….you have my permishion
to kill him”
Without even thinking, the other looked up
at the One. The other’s eyes were wet and a cool green
With amazing and
overwhelming gratitude. “Oh..” the other whimpered, it’s wet lips forming a
crude grin. “Oh…thank you. Thank you, sho very much.”
The One patted the head of the other and
smiled as well.
And all in the Great Hall began to stamp
their feet in perfect rhythm, building, going faster and faster.
‘Kill him. I will kill him for making me
wait.” The other thought to itself.
‘I will kill him sho shlowly.’
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