Katrina

Chapter 7- The Contract

The balls entered the water at full speed and after Eanar, and Katrina entered with a gasp. You couldn't see anything inside the dirty water, and she felt herself more and more descending which made her afraid. She looked with desperation towards all sides looking for Muuqe and Aerdnah and couldn't find them. She felt anxiety was taking hold of her, and suddenly she saw a shadow around her ball. She didn't know what was stalking her, and she was very nervous. Suddenly, she saw a species of fish of considerable size trying to attack her. The fish tried to break the ball by biting and hitting it. She could see that the tail of that animal was long like one of the curtains that she had in the living room of her house. The fish surrounded her, trying to explode the ball that she was in. Katrina felt how the ball moved several meters from where she was descending, and she screamed and cried inconsolably. She thought she was going to die when suddenly, another shadow appeared out of nowhere and with a headbutt pushed the fish away. Was it Eanar?

"These are my clients! I told you that those who come down in the colored balls must be respected!" Katrina heard.

Indeed, it was Eanar. She was surprised that he could talk underwater. His voice was similar to when she had tried to talk underwater in the pool with her friends, but more clearly. The fish disappeared and Eanar swam towards the other direction as the ball followed him. They entered a kind of cave under the water; or so Katrina thought because now she couldn't see anything. Katrina was still in panic, crying and with anxiety. She felt that her heart was going to explode at any moment. They continued to lose themselves under the dirty waters of the pond when suddenly, Katrina saw a kind of light in the distance. Was she far from that light? She didn't know exactly how far away they were or could even see anyone else. Suddenly she felt the ball slow down as she got closer and closer to that strange light. It was the light of a room. They had arrived at Eanar's house. The balls stopped when they arrived inside that place, and Katrina had been the last to arrive. Aerdnah and Muuqe were already out of their balls. Eanar approached Katrina's ball with her still inside and with his disgusting and long nail; blew the ball up. Katrina fell to the floor on her bottom and gave a moan of pain. Only the floor of the room was a bit flooded, compared to the outside of his house.

"Katrina, are you okay? What happened? Why'd you take so long?" Muuqe peppered her with questions.

Katrina got up crying and grabbed the horse.

"Selibidercni thought it was food." Said the giant frog. "That stupid fish is always disobeying me! Don't worry, it won't happen again. But I'll have to give his due, because he knows he shouldn't attack customers who visit me inside the balls. Apparently hunger is more powerful than the deals... Since Xer is getting minions from this area of ​​the jungle, it's deserted. There's nothing and nobody around. The creatures hide, since they are afraid that this forces them to join him. Some come together just for convenience, and Xer provides them "security and food", while the other creatures that try to follow the right path and live here are hungry." He explained.

Aerdnah, Muuqe and Katrina swallowed.

"Well, let's get down to it." The frog went to some kind of shelves made in the same stone wall and picked up a piece of paper that looked old. It had corners eaten away by time and was yellowish in color.

Eanar brought a medium sized bowl and, to the surprise of Katrina, it was empty. He brought it towards Aerdnah. It was the prettiest bowl she had ever seen, made mostly of white diamonds and other precious stones. Aerdnah drew out one of her long nails and made a shallow cut on the left side of the chest, where the heart is located. Eanar pulled her close and Aerdnah's blood dripped inside the bowl. She gave a small moan of pain as the frog smiled. Then they sat around a small table. Eanar sat in a normal-sized chair. Katrina was surprised how the frog could sit there, as it was too small for a creature of that size, but Aerdnah sat on her buttocks. She stuck her long fingernail into the bowl with her blood and began to write.

"I, Aerdnah, daughter of Arash and Metrof, promise that Elcaro, heart of this island, will return its original form to Eanar, becoming again Surodec. Being able to live outside the waters of the Sucal pond and recovering all his rights in exchange for the silver potion. If for some reason I do not complete the agreement, I commit myself to become the same creature as Eanar. Living with said subject in the same way, until the end of my days in the Sucal pond."

Muuqe didn't leave his amazement as he kept shaking his head. Aerdnah didn't even look at them.

"Good, Aerdnah." Said the smiling frog. "Now all that's left is to sign. Wet your paw, and sign." He laughed.

The panther obeyed without saying a word. She put her paw into the bowl with her blood and pressed it firmly on the paper. There her signature was imprinted. Eanar threw the excess blood from the boat and rinsed it in the water that flooded the room. Then, he made a cut with his sharp fingernail on his chest and did the same; dropping the blood into the container and continued sinking his fingernail inside. With his blood, he signed. "Eanar."

"Done." Said the creature. "Well, I'll see you soon. By the way, you have a deadline... I give you a week."

"A week?" Aerdnah and Muuqe asked at the same time.

"That's not fair, we have many things to do to save our world from Xer!" Muuqe said angrily.

The frog looked at him, still holding that evil smile.

"It's not my fault that your human son has betrayed us." He said, and invited them out with a slow hand gesture toward the door.

"Well, give us at least the colored balls, right? To see if now your dear friend confuses us all for food." Answered the horse in an annoyed and sarcastic tone.

Eanar took another three balls from a basket that was on the shelf. He did the same ritual, brought the balls one by one to his mouth and blew. They went inside and he took them to the surface and with a headbutt he took them out of the water one by one.

"Are you going to leave us here forever or what?" Muuqe asked, still in a sarcastic tone. "You want us to introduce ourselves to Elcaro in these balls? Well, yes, he's going to take us seriously, yes!"

Eanar said nothing and approached the shore, and with his fingernail, exploded the balls.

"I'll see you in a week, Aerdnah..." He said.

No more words were exchanged between them and the frog disappeared into the depths of the pond. The creature had not removed that stupid smile from his face during the entire meeting. Katrina shuddered, just thinking about it.

"It's time." Said Aerdnah without making any comment about what had just happened. Muuqe didn't look away from her. "Drink it."

So she did. Katrina opened the small jar with a kind of thick silver liquid inside and drank it in one gulp. The walls of the container were silver.

"Let's go now, it smells putrid here." The panther commented, and they left without saying anything else.

The horse was walking a few steps behind them and was still watching Aerdnah. Suddenly, she turned around unexpectedly.

"What, Muuqe!? What!?" She shouted. "Are you going to say something or are you going to stay there looking at me like a badass the entire time!?"

"I'm sorry, Aerdnah...but... I just want to know why the hell you did that!" He answered. "Why? We would've found another solution!"

Aerdnah ducked her head down and approached Muuqe, her eyes were full of tears. "You know just as I did that there was no other solution."

"If I hadn't opened my big mouth... I'm a loudmouth! I should've signed that contract, not you!" Muuqe cried.

"Muuqe, he would have known sooner or later, and imagine his anger then. He would've cursed us and sent spells until the end of the days. It would've been much worse. Trust Elcaro, Muuqe. He knows what is best for the island. What has to be, will be." She said with a slight smile. "Now, let's take Katrina home. I'm sure she wants to sleep for a while, right? And I don't think you can save an entire dimension when you're tired. Get on my back." She said to Katrina and smiled.

Katrina didn't hesitate for a moment and jumped up. They started walking and Katrina began to feel bad. She felt like her heart was beating faster. What's wrong with me? She thought. She couldn't even utter a word when she suddenly fell from Aerdnah's back to the ground.

"Katrina!" Cried the horse. And it was the last thing she heard.