I wanted to protest, but my empty belly spoke otherwise. With a long sigh, I turned and resumed to try again. I stared down helplessly into the swamp water, unable to spot anything. Watching Master Dagg, however, he seemed to be catching fish effortlessly. Frowning, I decided to blindly reach down into the cloudy water, in hopes of grabbing at least one fish. After several, repeated attempts, I acquired my first catch. It was but a tiny fish spanning no longer than the width of my palm. I winced as the fish's wriggling tickled my hand and it nearly got away as a result, but I held on to it by its tailfin.
Master Dagg watched my pitiful attempts and laughed. “I doubt that will satiate your hunger, My Dear,” he jeered.
I writhed with humiliation inside. “May I cook this in the laboratory?” I asked.
His smirk faded and he arched a brow at my request. “My laboratory is not to be used for cooking food. You would do well to not have such … particular eating habits.”
I blinked in surprise. “Particular?! I will get sick if I consume this raw fish!”
He rolled his eyes in annoyance and resumed his hunt. “You humans and your ridiculous presumptions.”
“Are you saying I will not get sick?” I asked, my eyes remaining on him.
“I am saying nothing further on the matter,” he hissed.
I watched as he caught another handful of fresh fish and gobbled them down hungrily. Glancing down at the small fish in my hand, which now lay dead, I twisted my face in disgust. Closing my eyes, I slowly brought the fish to my lips, taking a small bite out of its scaly flesh which reeked of the swamps. My body shivered as I felt very close to vomiting, having the slick taste of the fish scales in my mouth. I wanted to chew; instead, I cowered and swallowed the small piece whole, hoping the fishy taste would quickly subside. Another shiver ran through my body as I felt the morsel ease down my throat and leave a small, undesirable aftertaste of the swamps in my mouth. My eyes burned and I felt lightheaded afterwards, looking down to the rest of the fish in my hand.
Master Dagg soon approached me and grabbed the fish in one swoop of his hand before eating it whole.
“The thing will spoil rotten by the time you finish eating it,” he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve. “Perhaps, later, when your hunger is more severe, you will not be so hesitant.”
I stared up at him, dumbfounded. “Are these disgusting fish really your staple food?”
“Fish are more abundant, but that is not all that can be found here,” he explained. “There are crabs, turtles, snails, mollusks, birds, animals … Pretty much any living creature that treads upon my territory is fair game.”
“Even humans?” I raised a brow.
He sneered. “I do not desire human flesh unlike others of my kind. Humans do make excellent test subjects, however.”
“‘Others of your kind?’” My eyes widened in horror. “You mean, there are more despicable people like you?!”
He simply laughed.
Chapter 7
The events following the remainder of the month left much to be desired. Master Dagg was especially critical of me during this time, trying to break me into his own bidding. I was resilient, having still been in a state of shock since witnessing my family's untimely death — and at one point, my own. I never knew how swift death could be in the face of fear. Master Dagg trained me into a normal routine from the time I arose from bed, to the time I shut my eyes for the night. I complied with his terms grudgingly, knowing that this was merely part of the debt I was repaying after he saved my life. However, in the back of my mind, I believed he had other motives.
I awoke to the reverberating sounds of metal clashing with bone in Master Dagg's laboratory. Hungry and still groggy from being roused so early in the morning, I trudged out of bed and proceeded with my usual routine of hunting in the swamps for breakfast. I was gradually becoming more proficient at fishing, but I soon discovered that simply gathering crabs and shellfish from the banks was more efficient. As I headed for the cave's exit, I passed by the laboratory and caught a glimpse of a large, covered object on the center table. The object appeared large enough for an average-sized human to be lying under. My brow furrowed in curiosity at the new addition to the laboratory since the previous night. With Master Dagg apparently gone to gather his daily supplies, I was inclined to take a peek underneath the dirty cloth, but my hungry belly protested. I reluctantly succumbed to the persistent hunger and left the cave to proceed with breakfast.
The swamps were still dark, with the morning sun not yet risen enough to provide its modest light through the blanket of overcast. The air was moist and thick as though it had rained recently. Despite the ideal weather conditions, the crabs and shellfish that usually washed up along the banks were quite scarce this particular morning and I had no choice but to resort to fishing for the remainder of my meal. After a somewhat mediocre catch of trout, crabs and prawns, I retreated back to the cave to eat.
As I passed by Master Dagg's laboratory, I discovered a notable difference. Whatever was on the table before, was now gone. All that remained was the dirty cloth, crumpled in a heap.
Master Dagg must have returned, I thought to myself as I spread out my seafood catch on the kitchen table and sat down to eat. I had quickly grown accustomed to consuming raw seafood after Master Dagg's repeated scolding; even after initially falling ill from it, my belly was soon strong enough to tolerate the food. The cave was pleasantly quiet while I ate in silence and thought about what Master Dagg would have planned for the day.
I suddenly stopped eating when I spotted slight movement in the shadows near the cave entrance. At first, I thought nothing of it and figured it was Master Dagg returning from his daily errands. However, as I resumed eating, the movement seemed far more erratic than Master Dagg's usual steps. Setting the half-eaten fish down, I stared into the darkness warily.
“Who's there?” I called.
The sound of something dragging slowly across the cave floor towards me was suddenly heard in response.
Frowning, I stood up and inched towards the darkness to confront the strange sound, which I had continued convincing myself to be Master Dagg.
“I didn't think you were a man of practical jokes,” I said, narrowing my eyes at the moving shadows.
I suddenly stopped in my tracks when a foul stench hit my nose. My eyes watered from the nauseating smell of acid and rotten eggs as the dragging sounds grew louder. Covering my mouth and nose, I took a few steps back to regain my composure.
Emerging from the shadows in front of me, I caught the wavering image of a human-sized figure limping slowly in my direction. I knew the thing wasn't a human when it suddenly let out a low, guttural growl. I trembled in shock and was rendered immobilized as the creature dragged its way to me and breathed its foul breath in my face.
My skin felt cold to the creature's touch when it grasped my bare arm and pulled itself to me. My terrifying screams for help echoed throughout the caverns, but fell on deaf ears. I was truly alone.
My attempts to fight back against the creature that had overpowered me were futile. As my vision became clearer, I found myself staring at a humanoid abomination covered in rotting flesh.
Within its empty eye sockets were two, similar, glowing orbs of dark magic. It growled furiously as it kept trying to pin me to the ground.
I screamed again and attempted to struggle against the creature's firm grip, though my actions only fatigued me. As my face hit the cold ground, I was momentarily knocked unconscious, but was immediately roused by a sudden sharp pain in the area between my neck and collarbone.