CHAPTER 36

“Everything And The Kitchen Sink”

     

September 12th, 2040, The Pacific Ocean

 

Throughout history, he and his sister had been given many names aside from their god-given ones. Zungon, Vervun, Xeizei, Irqek, Aqua-Vermis. Each had their own unique meaning, but the message remained the same. Stay away from deep water, or you will be consumed by the waters themselves.

 

Of course, you had the brazen bunch who, once in a blue moon, would tempt fate and venture into open waters. Only to never return… and those who did, retold stories that would make any emperor shiver in fear. A creature so vast that it could swallow an entire fleet whole.

 

Yet, even this did not stop everyone. The vessels made of a strange steel-like material were unlike anything he had seen, and the weaponry they employed! He had been struck by arrows, spears shattered against his scales, even cannon balls cracked. But these weapons were different. It… tickled, every time a shell landed on him. The accuracy at such distances! Fascinating advancements! But this was far from the only weapon these newcomers had. From screaming cylinders in the sky that breathed fire behind them, to slender and sleek cylinders in the ocean itself. And even these were not everything, the steel wyverns had also come to the fray, launching their own unique weapons at him before turning around and flying back with great haste to their parent ship. 

 

Of course, none of these attacks did any real damage to him. His heart--a white gemstone, a gift from the gods themselves, made it so he had unparalleled regenerative abilities. Even when he went after one of these steel fleets head-on. The fearless mortals didn’t stand a chance against him, yet they continued until their dying breath as they were swept beneath the waves.

 

Just as he thought this was all the newcomers could do, it happened. Silence, then, a white flash, followed by unprecedented heat and pressure against his body. It was absolute torture. Every time his heart tried to regenerate his burnt flesh, the heat would just scorch it again. Over, and over, until it finally dissipated into the surrounding air. He knew it came from the newcomers--it had to! The gods wouldn't smite him for carrying out his divine role, would they?

 

Yet whatever this new weapon was, it did not stop. Everywhere he went, a heinous ticking followed, and his entire body ached. It was only when he made a good examination of himself that he saw the massive gash in his body, but even more apparent, his heart. Either by blind luck or fate, they had landed the weapons right on top of his heart. And with it, the white gemstone was considerably dimmer than it ought to be. The deep, slow pulses of light emanating from it unleashed a wave of magic into the air that most mages would die from. Yet it did not heal him, only causing deep crimson-red veins to slowly branch out from the wound.

“These newcomers are more trouble than they are worth.” He mused.

 

Yet even with the interminable ticking around him, he couldn’t fail to notice a much softer noise from high above. A low-pitched hum from something he could not see but it was very much there. Watching him.

“Hmph, another toy from these mortals.” As with all attempts after they injured him, he drove his head into the water at a steep angle, and rapidly began to swim to the bottom of the ocean. With the light from the sun quickly fading, he leveled himself out once it was near darkness. 

 

However, unlike every other time he had dived and was met with no response by the newcomers, this time he could hear multiple splashes at the surface. Then, an ear-piercing ping rang through the water; followed by many more loud high pitched pings. 

“I grow tired of these games, mortals.” Turning his head upwards, he focused on one source of the multitude of pings and rapidly ascended. 

 

With enough momentum, and his mouth wide open, he breached the ocean surface with his entire head completely out of the water, then snapped his jaws shut. 

“Hmm? This is no vessel.” Feeling like he just ate a mouthful of seawater, he fell back into the water. Only then did he see what had actually been causing the high-pitch sounds as it bounced around under the surface. Suspended in the water by a piece of metal cable attached to a yellow buoy, a light brown cylinder released the sound every few seconds.

“How… annoying.” Once again opening his mouth, he bit down on the object and shredded it into multiple pieces. “Now… where are the rest of you?” With the high-pitched pings becoming more aggravating by the second, he meticulously dismantled the objects one by one. However, upon reaching the second to last one, multiple splashes in the distant water behind him flared his anger even more. At the same time, the high-pitched sounds started again in that direction.

“What creature dares defy me?” Tilting his head up to the clear sky he couldn’t see anything, and now, with the ticking and incessant pinging, he could no longer hear whatever creature was dropping these noise producers. 

 

Thoroughly annoyed now he destroyed the final two noise makers close to him before accelerating toward the next batch, although after reaching the mid-point between the first and second cluster, sounds of even more objects colliding with the water's surface to his distant left and right made him slow down for a moment. 

“Hmm… more distractions.” Continuing to swim forwards with the unceasing noise in front and to his left, he paid no mind to the lack of noise to his right… until it struck him. Not a high-pitched ping this time, but a deep, loud bong resonating from his distant right; yet it was loud enough to feel like it was on top of him. Just as it faded away, it would return--akin to the rhythmic beating of a heart. 

 

The mingled sounds created a never-ending nightmare for his hearing and combined to the point that the sounds began to blend together in a chaotic cacophony, making it impossible to accurately pinpoint their location.

“Enough of this!”  Unable to withstand the abuse his perception was taking, he darted to the surface and held his head high above the calm ocean. Though the low-frequency ping was still vibrating his body with every pulse, now he could at least think clearly. 

“Now, time to--hm?” He paused. Hearing a new noise above, a faint roar. Just as abruptly as it had started, it stopped. Continuing to look toward the noise, he could see a small black mass rapidly falling from the sky. Still disorientated, he failed to react in time as the object made a direct hit to his now-exposed heart, detonating on impact. Looking at the impact, he froze.

 

Pain. Unyielding Torturous Pain.

 

Releasing something more akin to a shriek than a roar, his body went limp and he collapsed back into the water. As his head submerged, he was once again blasted by noise from all sides. Writhing around in pure agony, he continued to shriek.

“You… mortals dare… defy me!” Feeling the wave of magic pulsate faster from his heart, the pain began to dull.

“I will not… bow to such futility''  As he started to regain control through all the noise, a low, rhythmic, swirling sound began. With everything else going on, it was almost undetectable.

“How… clever, mortals.” Remembering what that tone came from, and locating the rough direction of the sound, he once again rose to the surface. “I, Ka-mat-ef, The Great Equalizer, will not be defeated. Prepare for death, mortals.” Raising his head high out of the water, he immediately noticed four small black dots on the horizon. “Your tactics will not save your vessels…” 

 

With all the force he could muster, he forged ahead. Reflecting on all the battles he had fought, never had any race been such a nuisance to him. Not even the attuned magic wielders in the far west were this annoying to fight. Yet these mere mortals, wielding no magic of their own, were beating him with simple contraptions.

 

The four dots got closer and became more defined as ships. Streaks of white smoke billowed out from one of the ships, an attack he had seen before and knew exactly how to counter with ease. 

“Futile…” Diving back beneath the ocean surface he fought through the pain of the deafening sounds to keep moving forwards. Yet it seemed the newcomers still had some tricks up their sleeve. The lowest-frequency noise hit him again and this time it was far, far too intense for him to ignore. Letting himself come to a natural stop, he turned his head right to face whatever was making the mind-melting sound. At first, he couldn't see anything. Then he looked more closely at the surface. A very small vessel, seemingly parked just off to his side, was the culprit of the low-frequency sound. 

“How… unfortunate. I shall still give you the glory of seeing me devour you however.” With a burst of speed, and nearly half of his body out of the water, he turned his head down and mouth open to finish the tiny vessel. Then, just as he was lowering his head, he could hear one of the minuscule humans yelling.

“Fire Zumwalt! What the fuck are you waiting for!”

 

The next thing Ka-mat-ef saw was… nothing. Plunged into a complete void, he swiveled his head to view his body. To his great surprise, it was completely healed.

“Ka-mat-ef” A male voice echoed in front of him. Immediately snapping his attention to the source, his eyes widened in awe. In all his burnt and injured glory, Kvdur smiled. 

“Father… why are we here? In the space between realms?” 

“Because I believe it is time for you to finally move on. To explore what is outside the waters of that simple game.” As Kvdur spoke, the void around them dramatically shifted into a breathtaking image of a galaxy. “You’ve done enough for me, it’s time for you to write your own story.” 

“I… do not understand.” Confused, Ka-mat-ef began to move around. Going from the boundaries of water, to free space was indeed a different experience. Looking back to Kvdur, Ka-mat-ef watched as he summoned a one-way mirror. Placing his right hand on the glass, the cloudy mirror began to shift and transform into a clear aerial image of the battle that had just unfolded. 

 

Four steel vessels encircled Ka-mat-ef’s unmoving body, pumping shell after shell into his heart. With each hit, it pulsated a bright whitish-blue light. 

“I… lost… I failed you.” Hanging his head in shame, he turned away from Kvdur. Who in turn merely laughed.

“You weren't fighting just any mortal nation. These humans come from The First Realm, and you gave them a run for their money.” Ka-mat-ef stopped to process what had just been said, then turned back to the mirror. 

“A… First Realm Power?” Taken aback by this revelation, Ka-mat-ef followed up with a low chuckle. “Then I leave here… with my dignity intact. I am… honored to have fallen to such a… prestigious… group of humans.” Feeling much less sorry for himself, he turned to face the billions of shining stars around them. “Until fate brings us back together… I bid you a final farewell… father.”  Turning to Kvdur for a moment, as his father responded with a smile and a nod of approval, Ka-mat-ef launched himself into space, set to explore its vast wonders. Looking back to the mirror, Kvdur’s expression turned sour.

“Giving the Americans a white gemstone. I sure hope you know what you’re doing Gamult. For everyone's sake.”