Chapter 57: Expensive Appetizer
"I stop here," Viper announced, halting abruptly at the edge of the muddy tree line.
Ren looked at him, then at the cove ahead. "We’re fifty feet away. And you’re what? About twenty feet when you transform? You could practically lean over and touch the water from here."
"I am... guarding the periter," Viper lied, his eyes darting nervously toward the dark, stagnant water of Razor-Fin Cove. "The King does not like his guards to get... wet feet."
"You don’t have feet," Ren pointed out.
Viper ignored her, crossing his massive arms and leaning against a cypress tree, looking everywhere except at the water.
Ren sighed, adjusting the woven reed basket on her hip. She was back in her makeshift snake-skin rags—the green skirt slit high up the thigh and the black halter top. It was practical for wading, but she felt exposed.
"Fine," Ren grumbled, marching toward the water. "I’ll get the stupid fish eggs. You just stand there and look...nacing."
"Take this," Viper grunted, shoving a rough object into her hands.
It was a hard-shell ccoop—a dried, hollowed-out gourd the size of a small lon, with a jagged handle carved from the stem.
"Use the shell," Viper ordered. "The rubies are soft. Your paws will crush them."
[System Quest Triggered: The Forbidden Appetizer][Task: Harvest 1kg of ’River Rubies’.][Reward: 500 XP (Bonus for S-Class Ingredient)][Warning: Hostile Environnt. Don’t pet the wildlife.]
Ren raised an eyebrow. "Five hundred XP? Well, it’s not retirent money, but it’s enough to buy back my salt and pepper. I’ll take it."
She stepped into the water. It was surprisingly warm and reached just past her knees. The bottom was thick, sucking mud.
She waded toward the tangle of mangrove roots where Viper had said the "rubies" usually were.
Sure enough, clustered along the subrged roots were thousands of glowing, translucent red spheres. They pulsed with a faint inner light.
[Item Analysis: Eggs of the Parasitic Leech-Fish][Grade: S-Class Delicacy.][Description: Salty, savory, and bursting with umami. Highly prized by carnivores. Warning: The mother is usually nearby and very territorial.]
"Parasitic Leech-Fish," Ren whispered. "Sounds delicious. In my world, we call this ’Beluga Caviar’s evil cousin,’ and it costs a mortgage paynt."
She dipped the hard-shell scoop into the water.
"Alright, babies. Co to mama."
She began to scoop.
It was satisfying work. The eggs were firm and heavy, piling up in her basket like glistening jewels. The primitive gourd was clumsy, but effective.
"Look at this," Ren chuckled to herself, carefully filling the basket. "I’m basically robbing a bank. Syris better appreciate this. This is a million-dollar lunch!"
She had just scooped the last gourd-full when she felt a disturbance in the water.
A ripple.
Ren froze.
"Just a frog," she told herself. "Just a big, ugly frog."
Sothing brushed against her calf. Sothing slimy.
"Okay, ti to go," Ren said, her voice rising an octave.
She turned to wade back to the shore. The mud sucked at her feet, slowing her down.
Swish.
Sothing darted through the water between her legs.
"Viper!" Ren yelled, panic setting in. "I got the stuff! Pull
out!"
Viper didn’t move. He was looking at the water with a pale, horrified expression.
Suddenly, a sharp, piercing pain shot through Ren’s right leg.
"OW!"
It felt like a hornet sting magnified by ten.
Ren looked down.
Latched onto her upper inner thigh, just inches from the hem of her makeshift skirt, was a small, hideous fish. It had purple scales, glowing yellow eyes, and a mouth full of needle-teeth that were currently buried in her soft flesh.
"Get off!" Ren shrieked.
She didn’t think. She swung the heavy, hard-shell scoop and whacked the fish right on its head.
THWACK.
The fish released its grip and splashed back into the water, hissing—actually hissing—before darting away.
Ren turned to scramble toward the shore, clutching her basket of eggs.
"I got bit! I got bit by a fish!" Ren shouted. "Viper, help—"
She took one step, and then the world tilted.
[System Alert: Neurotoxin Detected.][Source: Purple-Spined Leech-Fish.][Effect: Paralysis, Hallucinations, Aphrodisiac Properties, Unconsciousness.][Ti to pass out: 3... 2...]
"Aphrodisiac?" Ren slurred, her tongue feeling heavy.
Her knees buckled.
She didn’t make it to the shore. She fell backward with a massive splash, landing hard in the murky water. The basket of expensive red eggs stayed clutched against her chest—priorities—but the rest of her was subrged.
She tried to stand up.
"Move," she commanded her legs.
They didn’t move. They felt like lead.
Through her blurry vision, she saw the water surface break.
Splosh. Splosh.
Dark, triangular fins rose from the depths.
One spine. Two spines. Three.
They were massive.
The Shredder fish. The sll of her blood from the bite was drawing them in. They circled her paralyzed form, their jaws snapping audibly.
"Viper..." Ren whispered, water filling her mouth.
She saw a large fish shadow lunge toward her face.
’I’m going to die,’ Ren thought, her vision fading to black. ’I’m going to be fish food.’
She waited for the teeth.
They never ca.
Instead, the water exploded.
Sothing hit the surface with the force of a cannonball. Strong arms plunged into the murk, grabbing her waist and hauling her up with ferocious strength.
Ren was ripped from the water, dripping and gasping.
She was pressed against a chest that was heaving with exertion.
Ren fought to keep her heavy eyelids open.
Through the haze, she looked up.
A face hovered above hers. Pale skin. Midnight hair falling like a curtain. Athyst eyes that were wide with panic and a terrifying, beautiful rage.
"Syris," Ren breathed, her voice barely a whisper.
He was soaking wet. The King had jumped into the mud. He looked furious. He looked terrified.
"I got... the fish eggs," Ren mumbled, clutching the basket between them. "For... lunch..."
Syris’ jaw clenched. He didn’t look at the eggs. He looked only at her, his gaze dropping to the small, bleeding puncture wound high on her inner thigh.
"Ren..." a deep voice started, vibrating through his chest against her ear.
It was the last thing she heard before the darkness swallowed her whole.
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