Tales of the Herd - An Under Gods Story

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Corpal Maruungun," Master Corpal said, introducing himself with a short bow.

"Maruungun? I'm guessing that's not a family name." Grace crossed her arms and leaned against the wall.

"So you've heard of us. That makes this a bit simpler, I suppose." Corpal pulled the chair out from the vanity and sat. He gestured towards one of the beds, offering Grace a seat.

Grace walked over, eying the old man closely, especially the eyepiece he wore. If Grace looked hard enough, she could see directly through the carnelian stone. There was no eye inside, just tubes lining the man's socket like circuits as they reached towards the back of his skull.

"Wait," Gremmi cut in. "You know each other? And what do you mean 'Maruungun' isn't a family name?"

Grace sat down on the edge of the bed, not breaking eye contact with the old man. "I didn't think a neohman would live long enough to still use that name and still be stuck on a planet like that."

"You'd be surprised how long we can live if we have the will," Corpal replied.

"Can somebody answer me?" Gremmi shouted.

Corpal shot daggers with his single eye, and Gremmi's whole mood changed. His head dropped, his eyes pointing at the floor and nothing else.

"You mind telling him?" Corpal asked. "I knew this day'd come eventually, but I'm not sure how he'd take this from me."

Grace sighed, then looked at Gremmi. "Alright, so the world you lived on isn't your world. That's why nobody knows I built that temple. Your master here is so old, he remembers when your people arrived there. And, well, he's not a very good person, if he is what he says he is."

Gremmi's face perked up, his eyes wide and watery. "What are you saying?"

"This old man is a pirate."

"Pirate, mercenary, and anything else that paid," Corpal added.

"I don't know how he ended up on that planet, but I know what kind of stuff his people used to do. When he adopted you, well, that was something they'd do when they saw powers they liked. Buy people, exploit them, then scrap them when they weren't useful anymore. It got pretty messy, sometimes."

Tears rolled down Gremmi's cheeks. He turned to his master in disbelief. Corpal shrugged but didn't make eye contact.

"Yeah, I did a lot of dirt back in my day. But I did some good, too. My crew guided refugees to that backwater."

"Oh, so helpful," Grace mocked.

Corpal shot her a hard glance. "They didn't stand a chance anywhere else. Hell, they just crashed all their ships the moment they found that place. They needed us to survive. We kept them out of that temple, we kept them away from those things, and we gave them a fighting chance when it all went south."

"So, you knew about the Elohimians, right?"

"I know more about them than I'd want to. See, it's a long story."

"You worshipped Marchosias," Grace cut.

"Well, I wouldn't say 'worshipped'. Studied the teachings of, sure. But that's it. In my studies, I heard all about these guys. I knew they knew about ink, and I knew it interested them. I should've known what role we played in that. I wasn't in this kid's village at first. Where I lived, I saw all kinds of things. At first, those things just preached at us, told us how cursed we were. Then they started 'purrifying' people. Some people survived and lost their powers, at least for a while. Others died, with no corpse left behind for a burial. I thought they were just harvesting us for ink if we didn't want it."