Page 11 of A Malicious Menagerie
In direct contradiction to my words, the sound of a familiar voice cursing echoes from inside the cave. I sigh in defeat. If I want answers from John, I either need to wait for him to be done or follow him into the black hole. And if he’s in there and hasn’t been eaten yet, I figure my chances of survival are pretty reasonable.
Taking a deep breath laced with brine, I force myself to shuffle into the dim cave, one hand pressed to the rough, uneven wall to act as a guide. As the white light from the dome outside fades away, my eyes pick up a more subtle source of light—redlight—coming from farther inside the cave. My footsteps slow as I debate the wisdom of seeking out that unsettling crimson glow. When I hear John muttering to himself again, I manage to pluck up the courage to keep going.
Before long, the hallway I’ve been following empties out into a wider cavern, the entire back wall composed of a sheet of thick glass. That red glow emanates from behind the glass in rippling waves, and I realize with a start that the other side of the glass is essentially one big fish tank. In the dimlight, I can just make out the shadows of a dilapidated shipwreck partially obscured by a forest of undulating seaweed.
When there’s no movement from inside the tank, I glance around the cavern, looking for John. Suddenly, the sound of a muffled splash and a rush of bubbles inside the tank catch my attention. I glance back to see something falling from the top of the tank slowly down toward the sandy bottom. It takes me a moment to identify it, but when it cartwheels in the water to turn its flat black eyes on me, I reel away from the great white shark in the water.
When it continues to float innocuously downward, I take a step closer to scrutinize it. After all, Rebecca did joke that I might be looking after a tank full of sharks, and I took the job anyway. I can’t chicken out now.
A dark, swirling cloud trails behind the shark as it sinks, and it takes me a beat to realize that the shark is bleeding. Is it dead? And if so, why?
Before I can wonder for too long, a shadow cuts in front of the red light, plunging the cave into darkness. My heart plummets to my feet as icy fear prickles my skin and crystallizes in my veins. Then, just as suddenly as it vanished, the light returns, just in time to illuminate a gaping maw full of needle-sharp teeth. I scream, lunging backward so quickly that I stumble and fall on my ass. Still, that vicious jaw keeps coming for me… before instead snapping up the shark carcass and shaking it like a rag doll.
More blood blooms in the water, and I slap my palm over my mouth to keep from shrieking again. I can’t look away as the massive serpent makes quick work of its meal, tearing the former predator to pieces and gobbling them down. The beast’s long, sinuous body is covered in alternating bands of black and red scales, and jagged obsidian spikes adorn the length of its spine. As it lashes its tail, I notice a set of barbs at the end that could easily impale a decent-sized whale with one powerful swing.
Overall, the stuff of my nightmares.
“What the hell are you screaming about?” a voice calls from the other side of the cavern. I flinch again as I whip my head toward the sound. John stomps toward me, the irritated look on his face easy to interpret even in the anemic light.
Feeling shaken and not too generous myself, I push to my feet and snap, “Oh, I don’t know, maybe the massive creature that just ate a shark in front of me?!”
“Massive?” John squints at the serpent and sizes him up. “I mean, he’s relatively small for a sea serpent. He’s not fully grown yet.”
My jaw drops. “Not fully grown? He must be forty feet long!”
John shrugs. “Last one Mathis had was prob’ly sixty feet before he traded it out for this one. No idea how big they canactuallyget.”
My forehead furrows in confusion. “Why would he trade it out?”
He looks at me like I’m being purposefully dense. “Got too big for the tank. Had to kill it and sell it for parts.”
I just stare at him incredulously, my stomach roiling as I process those callous words. “It’s not acar. You can’t just scrap it.”
“Sure you can. Rich ladies like the scales for jewelry, and the meat is a delicacy.”
I press a hand to my stomach, willing back the bile. “That’s just wrong.”
He glares at me. “You eat meat?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Yes?”
“Then there you go. No different than a cow.”
Somehow, it feels different from a cow, but I have bigger fish to… I mean, bigger issues to discuss. “Okay, for the sake of argument, we can say eating a mythical water monster is the same as eating a cow. What about the centaur?”
John frowns. “Don’t think anyone would want to eat them.”
“Because it comes a little too close to cannibalism?!” I splutter.
“They’re not human,” John argues hotly. “Can’t call it cannibalism if they’re not human.”
“Okay, maybe they’re not human, but they arepeople.”
He waves away my words. “I wouldn’t say that.”
“I would. He spoke to me—in his own languageandin English.”
He suddenly grins. “What did he say?”
