Chapter 20: Chapter 20.0 – Red Crab Soup

“There are too many crabs,” said Karim, leaning over the boat’s deck.

“We’ll just have to wait for them to clear out a bit,” said the captain.

“How many times have you two repeated those exact words?” asked the merchant.

“How many crabs do you think cross a minute?” asked Karim. He took a swig of water from his leather pouch.

“Enough to feed us for a lifetime.” The captain turned around, “Hey Abdul. You catch more of’ em?”

The crew mate yelled from afar, “We’ve filled the cargo yes … yester … yesterday.” The trap door on which he did not care. “Why aren’t we heading back?”

“There are too many crabs,” said Karim. His forehead sported a large sunburn. Yet, even as his skin peeled, he did not change anything. A true stoic he was.

“I’m tired of this.” The merchant sighed. He walked up to the ship’s rails and climbed onto them and balanced himself with care. One wrong movement, one strong wind, one strong idea would push him over the edge.

“Hey! What are you doing?” yelled the captain. He ripped off his white head cover which protected his skin from powerful sun rays.

“I can’t. There is no hope left.”

Tears ran down the captain’s eyes at the words of his best friend. "Then at least tell me what you wish me to tell your family.”

“No, it’s fine. They all died a while back. I am all alone in this world.”

Karim rolled his eyes. “And you are too much of an actor.” He pushed the merchant off the ship. The man fell a few feet and landed face first in the sea of sand and crabs where tiny red legs trampled his back.

The ex-merchant got up with haste. Tiny claws had started to pinch at his expensive clothes and snapped one of its silk strings, loosening his fit’s fitting around his waist.

“Hey what was that for? When we get back, you’re getting paid in crab legs.”

Karim didn’t entertain the man who was already on his way to relieve himself in the bushes.

#

The sun came to pass leaving but a burn on a certain man. Yet, no proof of the merchant remained, say for the anxiety of a certain man’s pocket.

“We should send someone to search for him,” said Abdul, now able to move about as the crabs slept in their cell.

The captain chewed his fingers. “I knew we shouldn’t have left the village. Those fires in the sky were omens.”

“Well, I need to go,” said Karim. “Might as well search for him. Give me a spear.”

#

The captain looked over the edge of his boat. The crabs had yet to disperse.

“I sea someone!” yelled Abdul.

The captain ran over to the other side of the deck. There, in the distance, a solemn figure ran back to the ship. It was Karim, what could make such a stoic man run with such haste? “Everyone, grab a weapon and lower a ramp. Be prepared for anything.”

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The crew of eight ran around with presto and gusto. Throwing down a wooden plank which led up into the boat. They then covered the inland face of the boat with four spears and a sword.

A minute later they could distinguish the man’s features. It was very well Karim, and he seemed to be holding something in his hands.

“ … a baby?” asked the captain, straining his eyes.

Abdul squinted as well. “I believe so. At least I don’t see a lion nor bandits chasing him. Perhaps he’s running because the baby is injured. Those crabs pack a serious pinch.”

The captain nodded, asked Abdul to prepare some medical goods, and prayed that that was all.

Two minutes later, Karim boarded the ship and collapsed to the deck. His breath rapid and eyes crystallized in fear he spoke. “I found Ali, his body at least.” Karim took five breaths in one. “He lay in a pool of blood. His skin was as dry as a date left under the sun for a month. His neck was mauled, and his torso and chin crushed. Something’s out there. I do not know; however, I am starting to think that those fires were indeed omens. We should leave as soon as possible, even if we must haul the boat.”

Although most guessed that a tragic event gripped the merchant, hearing the state of his body left them weak-kneed. Everyone turned to the captain, who asked one last question, “and the baby?”

“I found it next to him. He seemed to have protected it as he ran away from whatever took his life. The baby must have been traumatized as it still sleeps and not once did, I even see its eyes flicker under its eyelids.”

The captain looked down in pity on the child drenched in dried blood. “Then we must leave.”

Under the orders of the captain and the dread conjured by the image of a mutilated merchant, the crew went back to the sea. Through creaking crabs, they sailed back up the sea to their village with the pace of an amputated slime.

#

“Is that another kid?” muttered Abdul. No doubt he had the best eyes of the crew.

The captain who struggled to steer his ship amidst this sea of crabs squinted from afar. In the distance, something covered by a layer of crabs created a hump of red. The bump was long and thin. At the top it formed a circle, and the rest held a vaguely rectangular shape.

#

 

Aidar's POV

A red blob. That’s what greeted me when I awoke. Little hard legs pressed into my legs, up to my chest, and head. Their intertwined red and black bottoms made for my new sky. I took one, then two deep breaths. “Amara!” I remembered and shot up. Only to wobble along for two steps and stumble back down into the sea of crabs. I braced myself, however, when my arms were supposed to crack their shells, I only felt the soft and caressing warmth of sand. The crabs under me had disappeared. An illusion? I wondered. I got up, with care and kicked in a random direction. Only sand shot up. No crabs.

Wait no, I was being distracted, I could deal with this after finding Amara. But why search for her without blood? Only to watch her die in my arms? But should I just leave her there if I find no blood? Sweat formed on my forehead, and I wobbled in place. Stars ran around my head.

A strong pulse reached my heart. I looked to the right. There I saw a wooden boat mired in the crabs yet still, it chugged along. Unlike me it couldn’t dispel the illusion. Probably because working age humans didn’t possess mana. But more importantly from this ship I felt a strong and consistent heartbeat I knew well. Amara, she lived; how she found a meal and a taxi driven by livestock were mysteries, but that didn’t matter.

I was about to transform into a bat and fly over. However, if I were to land there as a bat it would no doubt start a fight and end in a blood feast. Instead, I needed to follow them to their village or town. There I could find a renewable source of blood and could test out ways to preserve or store it for Amara.

I walked over to the boat. It came ashore and a plank slammed down into shallow waters. I climbed aboard.

“Are you alright?” asked a man with a burnt face. His bones showed under his peeling skin and his eyes were a dark yellow. He handed me a bowl filled to the fifth with hot water. “Here, eat some crab.”

 

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