Heretical Fishing

Book 2: Chapter 58: A Friendly Chat

As we strode beneath the crescent moon, I frowned at the load of iron ore now covering the tabletop.

“These rocks are way uglier than the lizard, Fergus.”

He grinned at me.

“True, but you can’t turn a lizard into cages, can you?”

“Certainly not with that attitude,” Maria replied, trying to give a snooty look but falling short.

Duncan pouted with just as much theatric failure as Maria, his smile peaking through. He turned to Fergus.

“No one appreciates our hard work, boss. I told you we should have branched out into making jewelry—maybe then the simple-minded would have something shiny to catch their attention.”

Maria’s answering laugh lilted freely over the surrounding sands, just as breathtaking as the memory of the lizard’s scales.

“A smith calling a farmer simple minded?” she continued, arching a brow between the part of her sandy hair. “Talk about throwing stones from a glass house.”

The back-and-forth ribbing continued for the next couple of hours, especially when Theo joined us, stating he couldn’t sleep. By the tenth trip, however, the late hour and monotonous work caught up to us.

“Should we make this the last load?” I asked, seeing the haggard look on everyone’s faces.

***

From the first trip to Tropica with the dangerous-smelling lizard, Borks was there, running along the sand and padding silently over cobbled streets. All the while, he bathed in the conversation. It mattered not that it wasn’t directed toward him—simply being around a pack again was an unspeakable joy. Coming to Tropica hadn’t been a mistake.

He had kept trying to find opportunities to help, but short of carrying a chunk of ore in his jaws each time they made a trip, he just got in the way. Though he was stronger than many of the humans helping—stronger perhaps than everyone but his master—his padded paws were ill-suited for carrying the plank of wood they used for transporting rocks.

He’d tried to get under and lift it atop his back, but Fischer had stopped him and pointed out that he might make the load lopsided. He was correct, of course, but Borks still wanted to help. Maybe he could use his ability—tear a portal open with which to transport the ore... but no. The moment he reached for that power, he knew his reserves were still depleted. It had taken him weeks of gathering power to step back into the mortal realm.

As the night got later and the conversation grew sparse, his desire to help only increased. He wanted to show his thanks, wanted to demonstrate just how joyous an experience it was being accepted in this odd yet tight-knit pack. So, he reached for the power anyway. It didn’t answer. He closed his eyes, focusing harder on the nexus of chi buried within his abdomen.

Brigadier Borks delved deeper, focusing on what he wanted to accomplish while feeling out his partially filled core. He wanted to help. He wanted to contribute. Above all else, he wanted to be... accepted. This realization hit like a pickaxe striking stone, and his core answered. Borks’s eyes flew wide, as did the gates to his power.

***

“Should we make this the last trip?” I asked.

I got a series of blank faces in response. Fergus stifled a yawn.

“I think we have enough ore for the next couple of days. To be honest, we don’t have much more room in the smithy to store more. It might not be enough for the amount of cages Barry wants, but it’s certainly a good sta—“

Bwooom.

Air exploded from behind me. With it, came shadow. Inky tendrils of black slithered everywhere, only noticeable because of my enhanced awareness. In the blink of a regular human’s eye, the entire cavern was plunged into darkness.

“Protect Fischer!” Theo yelled.

Maria was at my side in a second, holding my arm with strength that would likely terrify anyone else.

“Relax, everyone,” I said, projecting my voice. I still couldn’t see a damned thing, but I knew there was no need to worry. After all—the power had come from Borks.

I could feel his touch in each of the shadows that swirled around us. Within every tendril, his will was present. It was lovely and tragic. He wanted to help, his desire to do so enough to manifest an advancement. I could also feel his need to be one of us—to prove his worth. I took a step toward him, aware of his location despite the pitch-black darkness engulfing us. I lowered a hand to the top of his head and rubbed it softly.

“You are such a good boy, Borks.”

Fwip, fwip, fwip, came the sound of his tail wagging and hitting the rocky floor. Just as fast as they had expanded, the shadows withdrew, pouring back into him.

I kneeled down and pressed my shoulder into his, hugging him tight.

“You are accepted, buddy,” I whispered so only he could hear. “You don’t need to earn your place.”

The speed of his tail increased, striking the floor at a faster rhythm.

“What... what is that?” Theo asked, pointing at the rift I could feel beside me.

“No bloody idea, mate,” I replied, letting go of Borks and turning to face it.

A black circle hung in the air just above the ground. Around its edges, tiny black cracks extended that pulsed with abyssal energy. Borks walked over to it and put his head inside. I raised an eyebrow and leaned to look behind the portal. His head wasn’t there; the black rift led elsewhere. The hellhound’s neck moved around as he inspected whatever he saw. He stepped back, whirled to face me, and let out a joyous bark.

The meaning was clear: it was safe.

With more than a little trepidation, I put my head into the portal. As I looked around inside, Maria rested a hand on my back, then her head popped in beside me.

“Where... where are we?”

“I have absolutely no idea....”

The portal led to a spacious, cube-shaped room. It was bare of... anything, really. The walls, roof, and ceiling were constructed of inky shadow and lit by a purple-tinged light that came from everywhere. It was around five meters in every direction, its corners vaguely rounded. Borks squeezed in beside us, jumping through the portal and into the room. His tail wagged as he walked to the back and dropped a large chunk of iron ore. He sat down, his tail once more striking the ground with muted thumps as he looked at the ore, at us, then barked.

My eyes went wide with realization.

“It’s a storage room—like a pocket dimension?”

Yes, he barked.

We stepped inside, peering around from within. I reached a hand out and touched one of the swirling walls; it was solid and cold.

“Well, I guess that solves our transport and storage issues.” Borks walked to my side and sat down, also looking around the room he’d created.

“You did this, Borks?” Maria asked, her voice full of awe.

He barked with excitement, his pride clear.

“I was wrong before, buddy,” I said. Borks looked up at me, his head cocking to the side as his ears perked up. “You aren’t a good boy—you’re the best boy.”

He stood up, rubbing his body against our legs as he wound around us and whined happily.

“Holy frack...” came the voice of Theo, his head poking inside. “Is this what I think it is...?”

“Certainly is, mate,” I replied, beaming a grin at him. “What do you say we load in some ore?”

Excitement-fueled effort swept away the fatigue of the day as we piled the space high with iron ore. I dual wielded pickaxe heads, chipping away at the wall with careful strikes. In only an hour, we’d filled a quarter of the space, and I wiped my brow as we all stood inside, admiring the fruits of our labor.

“That’s probably enough for now, right?” I asked, looking at what had to be tonnes of ore.

“Way too much, if I’m honest,” Fergus said, wiping a brow. “We’ll put it to good use, though...”

I reached down, petting Bork’s head. His golden fur slipped through my fingers, a welcome sensation after swinging two metal picks through stone for an hour.

“Let’s get back to Tropica and make sure it works before we rest for the night.”

As we approached the village, Maria cleared her throat.

“I might split off and head home. Dad will no-doubt be waiting for me to return before he goes to bed.”

I winced.

“Sorry for keeping you out so late.”

“It’s okay!” She smiled at everyone and bent down to scratch behind Borks’s head. “It was my pleasure.”

“I’ll walk you home.” I looked back over my shoulder. “I’ll meet you at the smithy soon.”

As Maria and I split from the group, we walked in silence. With each passing day, it had been growing colder. Tonight was no exception. My hand twitched as it went to hold her hand of its own accord, but I held it back, noticing Maria’s closed-off posture. Both hands were clasped before her, and though her eyes looked at the ground, her gaze was distant.

I wanted to say something, wanted to voice the question burning to escape my throat. Try as I might, it never came. While most of my time with her was still as comfortable as ever, it was flecked with moments of tension, fractions of time in which there seemed to be a physical wall between us. One such barrier was firmly between us right now, and the longer it lingered, the more my brow crinkled.

If only I could...

My thoughts cut off as a cold hand grabbed mine. I turned to Maria, the tension held in my body slowly melting away as I took in her moonlit face. She was smiling at me, her head tilted and her sun-bleached hair hanging to one side.

“Where were you?” she asked.

“Sorry?”

“You were elsewhere.” She reached up and tapped a finger on my forehead. It made my skin tingle, and my hand drifted up to rub it. “What were you thinking about?”

“It’s nothing,” I said, both of us knowing it to be a lie.

She nodded, giving me a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“Well, we’re here. Thanks for escorting me.”

She darted in and planted a kiss on my cheek. Her lips were as cold as her fingers. As fast as she came, she pulled away.

“Sweet dreams, Fischer.”

“You too...” I said, watching her tiptoe across her porch and open the front door.

She froze.

“Dad, you didn’t have to wait up for me.” She closed the door, cutting the rest of their conversation off.

I turned and strode away before I could overhear anything else, focusing on the sounds of shifting leaves and the sand beneath my feet so that my unchanced ears didn’t accidentally eavesdrop. It was a needless precaution; thoughts consumed my awareness.

***

The following morning, I woke up to a warm ball of fur curled up against my side. I reached down to pet the chihuahua-shaped hellhound, delighting in the muffled thumps of Borks’s tail as he woke up. A second later, he emerged from the blankets, letting out a soft whine as he stretched and yawned.

“How did you sleep, buddy?”

Good, he yapped.

“Happy to hear it.”

I got up and reached to the sky, my body and brain feeling similarly fatigued. Unlike my doggy pal, I’d had a fitful night. After finding the pocket dimension open at the smithy, I helped them unload part of it, then Borks and I had headed home. I’d hoped that the physical labor would help sleep steal my consciousness away. It didn’t. Instead, I’d lain awake for hours, unable to fight off my worries for long enough to pass out.

It wasn’t all bad news, though. Forced to be present with my thoughts, I’d reached a decision, one that would hopefully help me process the complex emotions haunting me.

“Wanna come for a walk, Borks?”

He barked, shifting into a golden retriever as he leaped from the bed.

“All right—let’s head off.”

Forgoing caffeine for now, we made my way over the sand. The sun rose at my back, its rays doing nothing to banish the cold of last night. Borks loped ahead, sniffing the rows of sugarcane after we reached them and turned west. Anxiety sprouted its ugly roots as I stepped up to the door. I swallowed, my mouth feeling as dry as the sand we’d just crossed.

A snout nudged my leg, and I looked down at Borks, smiling at the compassion held in his eyes.

“Thanks, buddy.”

I took a deep breath, sighed it out, and knocked on the door.

“Morning, Fischer!” a voice came from behind me.

I just about jumped out of my skin as I whirled around.

“Frack me, Barry—a little warning next time!”

“A warning for saying hello?” He raised an eyebrow, giving me a smirk as he looked between me and the wooden facade he’d secured to the church’s gilded entrance. “I didn’t expect to see you this early.”

Borks trotted over and gave Barry a sniff. The farmer reached a hand down, rewarding him with a pat on the head. The door swung open behind me, and Danny stepped out.

“Morning, Fischer.”

“G’day, mate. Have you seen Theo about? I was hoping to speak with him.” I turned to Barry. “Are you free, too? Any chance I could shout you and Theo a coffee and croissant in exchange for a bit of your time?”

“I always have time for you, Fischer. You don’t need to buy me breakfast, though.”

“I went and got enough coffee and croissants for everyone,” Danny said. “There’s more than enough for you, too—Keith only went to bed as I was waking up, so you can have his.”

“You’re sure?”

“Of course. I’ll go get Theo.”

He disappeared inside, the door closing with a soft click. Barry and I made small talk as we waited, and less than a minute later, the door swung open again. Theo held a small tray in hand, three coffees and croissants atop it.

“Good morning, mate!” he said, giving me a smile. “Coffee?”

“Bless you,” I said, grabbing a cup and pastry. “Do you have a moment?”

“Always! Danny said you wanted to talk to me. What’s up?”

“It’s, uh...” I trailed off, not knowing where to begin.

“Is everything okay?” Barry asked, still petting Borks’s head.

“Yeah, mate, I just...” I let out a sigh. “I’ve had some stuff on my mind, and I just need to talk it out with someone. I can’t think of anyone better than you fellas to give me good advice.”

Barry’s hand stilled atop Borks’s head, his eyes narrowing on me.

“This wouldn’t have something to do with a certain young lady, would it?”

I paused mid sip, then slowly lowered the coffee.

“How did you know?”

“Because I have eyes, Fischer.”

I sighed.

“Is it that obvious to everyone?”

“Not to me…?” Theo said, looking between us. “I don’t know what the frack you’re talking about.”

Barry gave me a kind smile.

“I knew something was up, but thought I should wait until you wanted to talk about it.”

I rubbed the back of my head, feeling awkward despite seeking them out.

“Come on.” Barry grabbed a coffee and croissant, then started walking away. “Let’s head down to the beach. It’s a lovely morning.”

“Yeah, all right.”

As we wandered east, I tried to organize my thoughts.