Once a God drowned here

Part 11

The trail of fish goes as far as the cliff side. Inside the cliff is a cave build to provide a mean of movement onto the beach behind it.

"We should get down and see what all the fuzz is about." By the help of James and his partially transformed arms we glide to the ground. Ready to fight the fish we enter between the kneeling monsters. But to my surprise no one even bats an eye. We walk among the fish towards the cliff. The cave leads through the cliff were we fought on before to reach the lighthouse, until you reach the natural beach. The fish do not seem to care about us walking among them. Again they chant this strange music of theirs. The cave is filled to the brim with fish praying. Is is actually extremely hard to pass through without touching the oily fish. Something on the beach must be responsible for the strange behaviour. Appearing behind the many fish I can glance onto the beach. A whale has stranded on the beach. The largest sea creature we know of lays dead on the shore. Fish people have gathered around it where they bow to to their knees. So this must be what the Mirelurks have dragged from the ocean. The hooks and ropes are still wrapped around the dead whale's body. This is what the fish are so frenzied about? Just a dead whale? Around the whale kneel many fish people. Alongside them stands the hooded figure I have spotted many times. The hooded one is doing something in front of the whale. It is lifting its red metal staff up and down again and again. Splattering blood over the dead carcass some ritual is fulfilled. A rumble moves through the animal. The whale should already be dead by now but some how it still moves. Out of the abdomen of the whale crawls a slender white silhouette. Still resembling a humanoid form, the newborn is taller than any man, taller than any animal. It crawls out of the whales fat and flesh onto the wet sands. After it dragged its whole body free it instinctually tries to stand up. It takes some attempts but eventually it finds its balance. Ripping away its afterbirth and coming to appearance by this being covered in blood the first sound of its young life becomes audible. Leaving the accompanying substances from the birth behind it the pale one erects its full body. It protrudes external gills from its neck, unveils its claws and opens its mouth displaying many rows of small and sharp teeth. The fishmen as well as the preacher bow down before the pale figure to return into the prayer-like chanting I have witnessed back in the town. The pale one may be a newborn but it seems to possess enough consciousness to comprehend what is happening around it.

"James what do you think or feel about the pale one?" The feel he may have about the new opponent is much important. People of James' kind are capable of measuring the strength of individuals by just glancing at them.

"Difficult. It possesses abilities but the full extend of its strength is clouded in fog."

We can not wait any longer. I reach for my rifle. I fire a single bullet waking up the fish around us. The bullet aims right at the newborn pale figure. Impacting in its head the hairless head flinches back but is left with no direct wound.

"Go!" I whisper to James who charges out of the cave alongside me. As we engage into combat the hooded figure as well as the subordinate fishmen remain in their praying position, still chanting.

"James! You take on the newborn. I will deal with the others!"

"Got that, sir!" The young man is thrilled to fight. James jumps right away into combat. He begins with his notable fire punch. Against every single other fish this attack has proven to be outermost effective but the opponent we are faced with now possesses much more powers similar to those of James. His flaming fist is countered with a punch from the pale fish man. No shock and no fire comes even close to the worshipped fish. James prepares the next attack. His free left hand form three protruded feathers of flames. These hot burning knifes of scorch are thrown into the chest of the pale one. As the first pain this newborn must feel another blood-curdling scream is let loose. The voice of the pale one is strong enough to cause me and James to cover our ears in protection. James has to deal with the pale one. I focus on the hooded preacher. Preparing a spirit imbued attack with my sabre I lunge out. The hooded figure is seemingly shocked by my strong attack. For the first time on this mission the spirits are in my favour. They decide to match with my weapon and grand me a far greater attack strength than I have aimed for. As a last ditch effort the hooded one guards itself with its staff made from this strange red metal-like substance. Though the attack is so much stronger than what I could spend the staff proves resistant. Beneath the hood that has hidden the preachers identity a shift in expression becomes visible. Fear! Or at least acknowledgement for my strength. The movement of my attack comes to a close and I sink to the ground. From the corner of my eyes I see James putting up his best fighting ability. While still in motion, the young soldier keeps on his attacks. James arms transform into feathered wings coated by bright flames. Rising into the air he build up his next attack. He rises and rises to tumble as he reaches a highpoint to gain extra momentum as he falls to the ground. Right before landing he changes his direction to fly close above the ground with all the speed he gained to crash into the pale fishman as a burning projectile. The pale one has observed every single motion and analysed what he is attacked with. Before James could hit he reached for James leg, gabbing it and slamming James into the ground. The thing is not yet finished. It lifts James of the ground to throw him across the sand into the cliff wall. The Newborn takes no rest from pursuing the fight...