Luna's Tale

Thanks Pen. Glad you like it. I have more plans for most of them, especially Crimsna,Mike and Luna.

Alright. After a long wait, here is chapter 5. Hope you all enjoy.

Luna’s Tale V –

Destra’s chieftain, Nergüi Khan; The Boat that sails across the Sands of Time

Laughter came down from a corridor, as Mike and Luna walked to meet someone. The nagaling smiled while the human talked, making some sort of joke causing the child to laugh. They each enjoyed the other’s company, but they were more than what seemed to be friends, they were father and daughter. The young man pulled a chocolate bar out of his sleeveless jacket before handing it to the girl. The child grinned, unwrapping the candy bar, and started munching on it. Her ears twitched as she hummed, savoring the delicious chocolate. The human smiled, patting her on the head while the two walked down the corridor, moving into a mutual silence.

The nagaling looked up at the human, asking, “Father... you said something about two days. What did you mean?”

Mike glanced at Luna before scratching the side of his face, saying, “Er, well. How should I put this. You were asleep for about two days, mostly due to everything that had happened. As for me um... About a day and a half, mostly having my body worked on and having the nicest dream.”

“Oh... I... I’m glad you are alright,” she said, looking down at the ground.

“There is no need to cry. Of course, you injected a boat load of your ‘venom’ in me which did also speed up my recovery, except if I didn’t get medical attention I’d well... yeah,” the human stopped talking before taking a chocolate bar out of his jacket and broke off half of it before munching on his half.

“O-Okay... I guess my venom is pretty weird isn’t it,” she stated with a small giggle.

“Wha? Well yes it is weird. Venom that can heal instead of poison. Though be careful, someone may see you as a money maker and try to use you to make more venom for ill profit,” Mike teased, smirking.

“Hey, that’s not funny, Papa,” the child said, puffing out her cheeks.

“Haha, sorry, sorry. Just making a joke is all,” Mike apologized with smile.

Silence soon fell over them as they continued on. It was becoming an uncomfortable silence. The nagaling looked up at the human before looking away, pondering what to say. She had so many questions to ask him, but didn’t know which ones to ask first. Though, one question spark her curiosity. She heard Drenv mention a Nergüi Khan and found the name strange. She decided this was something to ask her father.

Looking up at her father, Luna asked, “Papa, who is Nergüi Khan? He must be important to have a funny name.”

“Heh. Yes, it may seem funny, but he is a good and strong leader of this village. Plus, he is also good at a few fighting styles and well, he makes a mean roast and tasty drink,” Mike explained grinning, “Don’t worry, he is a kind and caring man. Though, I don’t know if his definition of caring is similar to mine.”

Luna titled her head, wondering what her father meant, but didn’t put any thought to it. She looked down at the remain piece of the chocolate bar she had in her hands and was about to stuff the rest of it into her mouth when a hard, metal clanking sounded on the stone floor. Looking up, she saw a hooded figure standing in front of them. The being had his face hidden behind a blacken sliver mask with only his yellow cats eyes glowing from the slim, diagonal eye slits. Metallic, spiked, triangle ears floated a couple centimeters from the hood before the being shifted his gaze down to the nagaling.

“So, this is the child who was having nightmares for the past night. Fufu, interesting, very interesting. I did not know you took in lost lambs, Michael,” the being said in a slight demonic accent.

“Humph, no comment, Ripper,” Mike commented, staring at the demon, crossing his arms.

Ripper chuckled as he moved a metallic hand before tapping a finger on Luna’s head. He chuckled once more, saying, “Your dreams won’t be plagued by nightmares anymore, child. Nergüi Khan is waiting.”

He looked down at the nagaling before looking at Mike. They both stared at each other until the demon walked past the human as his metallic, clawed feet clicked on the cool stone. The child watched the being go, seeing a silver tail flow behind him. For some reason, the demon made her feel uncomfortable, but not scared for some odd reason. The human sighed before walking away, rubbing the back of his head. Lune blinked and followed after her father.

“Papa, who was that? He looked creepy,” the child asked, looking up to the young man.

“That was John Ripper. A demon construct that was banished to this realm by his former master. Feh, just a hunk of junk with a cursed soul powering it,” Mike grunted, “He’s the Khan’s familiar and bodyguard. Plus, he does have the odd talent of entering one’s dreams.”

“A demon construct? What’s that?” Luna questioned, unsure what he meant, “Um, you mean like a golem?”

“Yes, exactly like a golem, but he differs because his body was built in hell by some succubus and had his soul, instead of being eaten, placed within the body,” her father stated, approaching a large, ornate double-door, “Alright, we are here. Now Luna, since you are a child, you don’t have to worry about accidentally offending him. He knows that kids only live in their innocent years once and that gives them leeway to being forgiven.”

Before the child could speak, the human opened the double-door that lead into a large room. Carved, decorated stone pillars, about four in all, lined the sides of the room with a long table and a fireplace at the left while a couple sets of armor lined the right. A large throne laid at the back of the room, with its master sitting in it, his chin resting on his right hand. On the pillars were torches, a lit with white flames, that bathed the room in a clear light while the light from the sun washed over the man, creating an illusion of a golden halo forming behind him.

The man himself was clothed ornate armor, possibly bronze scaled armor with some fur clothing segments. On his head rested a silver horned helm that was open in the top-middle, revealing his slick hazel hair. His bronze eyes seemed to glow within the torch light like a blazing hearth as he watched his two guests approach his throne. With a bright smile the man stood up, spreading his muscled arms in a welcoming gesture as he stepped down from the throne and towards his two visitors.

“Ah. GC! Welcome back from the frozen lands my friend. It is good to see you well and not with a hole in your chest,” the large man said, placing both hands on Mike’s shoulders, laughing.

“Nergüi Khan. It is an honor. I completed the task I was sent to do, however, I do believe the most important thing from Frost Peak is right next to me,” Mike humbly said, motioning a hand to Luna, whom was starting at him with a confused look, “Luna, say hello to the leader of Destra, Nergui Khan. Also, before you ask Luna, GC means GoldClaw.... um, kinda pen name from a... spell mishap.”

Luna looked at her father with a questioned look, but simply nodded to his brief explanation. She shifted her gaze to the larger man, somewhat in awe by his presence. He had a majestic air about him that made her feel to be in awe and in a peaceful state of mind.

“Haha! Those golden claws were very useful while they lasted. Now let us see this child nagaling,” the chieftain said before squatting and stared at Luna, “Hm. Quite young she is. A few more years and she may grow big and strong. So you’ll be taking her as your own child, GC? I look forward to see how she becomes an active member of our village.”

“I have never raised nor had a child, or a nagaling in fact. How hard could it be to raise a child that saved my life and is very polite?” Mike stated with a rhetorical question, smirking before patting Luna on the head, “Well then Khan, I must bid you farewell for the day.”

“Uh... um... It-It is nice to meet you Mister Khan sir,” Luna said bowing, feeling oddly embarrassed.

“Haha. Do not be embarrassed child. It only makes you look like a little angel. Oh, one last thing GC, Crimsna was very displeased when she heard that a harpy friend of hers almost got knocked off because of a strange metal bird that was very fast and loud, almost hit her,” Nergüi Khan explained, “Be careful when you visit her place later on.”

“R-Right... I’ll be careful,” Mike said before walking out of the throne room with Luna in tow, but not before he stopped to watched the child turn and wave goodbye to Nergui Khan..

When the two left the room and closed the door, the chieftain sighed, going back to his chair. Once he sat down a figured appeared next to him, chuckling. The Khan looked at the being and smiled before looking at the door with a pleased face.

“Things are going to be interesting from here on out,” he mused, stroking his hazel beard, “I look forward to the years to come.”

“Indeed. I will keep a close on those two and... intervene if they get into any trouble,” Ripper said, “Though, I doubt they will venture beyond the desert unless Michael decides to head to Negav, in which case I would not be able to follow in fear of being either killed or being chased by a crazy group of scientists there.”

“Hm. I see. Well when they do pass the desert, Crimsna will go with them since predators are skittish around her kind,” Nergüi Kan smirked, “Ah, this will be a fine day. Hm, now that I think of it, I wonder if he’ll go fishing today.”

“Fishing...” the demon grimaced, hearing the Khan burst out laughing.

****
“Mr. Khan is a funny man, papa,” Luna said looking up at Mike, smiling.

“I wouldn’t say he’s funny, but he is a good man,” the young man stated, returning the smile.

“Can we go visit Crimsna, papa? She seems really nice,” the nagaling asked humming a cheery tune.

“... *sigh* Alright. We can, though if I know her, she’ll be at that boat, getting ready to go fishing,” Mike sighed, placing his hands in his pockets before slouching his shoulders, “I know she is going to curse me, I just know it.”

“What do you mean?” the child asked, looking up to her father.

“She’s a demi-chimera, meaning her race can, to a certain extent, alter the flow of luck and probability. More so with karma and luck. Word of advice, never get one mad or anything that could go wrong, “will” go wrong. I have had enough experience to know when to not make Crimsna mad,” Mike explained, “Course... it was Ali’Vads fault that he almost clipped a harpy.”

Luna looked at him with a confused face before asking, “Papa, you said something about fishing. We’re going fishing?”

“Yeah... You’ve never been sand fishing before,” the human said looking down at his daughter, “You’ll... I think you’ll find it fun.”

“If you say so papa,” Luna mumbled giving her father an unbelieving stare, “Though, papa you need a boat to go fishing.”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Mike said stopping in front of a door, “In fact, we are here.”

Before Luna could speak, her father pushed open the door that lead into a large, spacious room with a small boat in the center of it. The room looked like a dock, except this dock was a land dock instead of one that was on the water. The boat itself was big enough to have a crew of five to six people, maybe even seven. It had a center sail in the middle and looked like a combination of a sail boat and a pontoon boat. There was also a semi-long and a down sized version of ballista towards the bow of the ship. Crimsna, Drenv, and Ali’Vad were already on the ship, putting supplies on, checking things out, and making sure that the sails were in good condition.

The demi-chimera flickered her ears, looking over to Mike before coming over to the young man, flicking a hammer in front of his face. She glared at him and slide the tool into a tool belt she was wearing. Lifting her hands up, she formed strange gestures to the human, causing him to sigh.

“Alright, alright. I’ll make up for it, but you should be angry at Ali’Vad since flew the hunk of junk,” the young man stated.

Crimsna puffed out her cheeks, forming more gestures before she looked down at the nagaling. She noticed that the child was staring at her with an inquisitive and confused gazed. Placing a hand on her face, the woman took out a notepad and a pencil and soon began writing on it. The small girl continued to gaze at the woman before the chimera turned the pad around which had writing on it that said, ‘Sorry little one. Forgot that you cannot understand sign language. I cannot produce human words, but I can still write and do things like anyone else.’

“O-Oh. I didn’t know miss Crimsna. I guess Papa will have to teach me it so I can understand you,” Luna said with a big smile.

The chimera flipped a page and scribbled on it again before turning it around, showing, ‘It is alright child. Very little is known about my kind since we mainly don’t travel, except for me since I wanted to explore. I am... an odd ball of my kind, possibly.’

“Your kind is rare? Um, you don’t seem odd to me Miss Crimsna, but kind and really nice," Luna giggled.

The demi-chimera wrote more on the pad, ‘Thank you. And yes we are rare, but do not worry about it. And you can just call me Crimsna, Luna.’

“Okay Crimsna,” the nagaling chimed.

“Well, glad to see you two bonding,” Mike muttered as he walked past the two.

Crimsna’s tail grabbed the back of the humans head and with a strong and quick tug brought the young man slamming into the ground. The demi-chimera turned around, walked over to the human, and sat down next to his head. She made several hand gestures, gazing down at her friend.

“... Fine. After fishing, I’ll go get you what you want from Negav,” Mike grumbled as his left eyebrow twitched.

Luna looked at the two, confused before she blinked in surprise and shock when the demi-chimera latched the end of her tail to his face. The human laid there motionless for a second before he lifted his arms, trying to get the tail off and thrashed about. The woman smiled and got up after a few seconds, releasing her hold on the young man, walking away. The nagaling slithered over to her father, seeing a big red mark around his face and what appeared to be some sort of glistening liquid.

“Do not ask what just happened. You’ll sleep better at night,” Mike said getting up and quickly wiped his face with his shirt, “Alright, lets get on board Luna.”

“O-Okay, papa,” Luna replied, wondering what Crimsna did to her father, though taking his advice, she pushed the thoughts out of her mind and slithered onto the boat.

The young man got onto the boat, glaring at the demi-chimera whom smiled at him. When everyone was on board, Ali’Vad went to the back of the ship and began chanting. Blue tendrils of wind gathered around his hands as he formed the spell. In one swift motion, he flung his arms forward, launching a blast of air that sent the ship soaring across the sand and out of the enclosed hanger. He turned around and sent a smaller blast of air into the sail, prompting the ship to begin moving while Mike used a modified rudder control to steer the ship. Soon the wind picked up as the ship sailed past the oasis and into the endless tan sea.

The nagaling held onto the mast of the ship, surprised by the sudden movements for this was her first time to ever be on a boat of this type. Soon the sudden motions stopped as the ship itself gently glided through the sand. The child let go and watched her friends checking various things or looking out into the endless ocean of sand. She slithered to the bow of the ship, right next to what she now see is in fact a small cannon. Looking over the side, she watched the sand go by in faceless waves. This trip was starting to become an interesting one that she herself would find enjoyable, or so she thought.

After a couple hours of sailing, Luna had a nagging question in her mind and turned, asking, “Mr. Ali’Vad. Are there any more boats of this kind?”

“I am afraid not, Lunaria. This is the only boat in all of Felarya that can sail across the sand and not be affected by the time magic that still plagues the desert. Course, most everyone use stilts to travel, except for some that can’t use them, meaning Drenv and Mike,” Ali’Vad explained with a smile, “Everyone was surprised when Mike himself started building the ship and even more of a shocked when he sailed it and came back an hour later.”

“Bah! You can keep yer stilts Ali’Vad. I am glad that Mike built the boat. Have ya ever seen someone like me try and use those confounded toothpicks and fail each time when using them? It ain’t a pretty sight I’ll tell ya that much,” Drenv retorted, taking a swing from a flask, “Just be glad this ship still be around.”

Mike didn’t say anything as he continued to pilot the ship, though the look on his faced said that everything was true. Luna stared at him, watching her father as he merely stared out into the distant, not getting involved in the conversation. It was strange for him not to be talking, even after two hours of sailing. Though her thoughts were soon interrupted as Crimsna let loose a loud, musical cry.

“Here we go. Get the harpoons ready, the net prime, and the harpoon ballista loaded. It time we be fishin’,” Drenv said jogging up to the bow of the ship, before rotating a small wheel, drawing back the strings of the ballista.

Ali’Vad placed a barbed harpoon on the center slot of the pivoted turret. He then grabbed a harpoon that was near the projectile weapon, holding it in his left hand, waiting. Even Crimsna herself had a harpoon ready and flicked her tail in anticipation. Silence fell upon the boat as everyone waited, watching, listening to for the faintest sounds. The demi-chimera’s ears flickered before she hurled her harpoon up high and out into the desert.

At that moment, Drenv pulled the trigger lever and with a loud thwang, the harpoon soared across the air. The second that it landed in the sand, it began moving wildly before a large, strange looking fish jumped out into the air. The harpoon that Crimsna had thrown impaled the fish before the chimera yanked on a string, bring the fish to the ground, dragging it to the boat. Ali’Vad then threw his, impaling the fish as well, before helping with the pulling process.

“Looks like we got a twelve footer,” Ali’Vad called out, “Drenv make sure to keep that thing loaded in case any of those fish try to ram into us.”

The Froan'tarian did not reply as he reloaded the ballista, turning it on its stand, keeping an eye out for any odd shifts in the sand. He pulled the lever again, sending another harpoon out into the distance. When it landed in the sand, it merely moved slightly before flopping into the gritty soil. Cursing, the small man started pulling on the rope attached to the harpoon, reeling it back in. He then noticed a bulge in the sand as it came straight for the boat.

“Oi! Fishy on a ramming course!” Drenv shouted.

Mike left his post in an instant, opened a small long chest and pulled out a rifle. He took aim, following the moving bulge in the sand and pulled the trigger. The gun let loose a loud bang, sending its payload straight into the moving wave of sand. There was a sudden movement of sand before another fish surfaced, thrashing about on the white soil. Another loud bang echoed and a small hole appeared on the head of the fish before it stopped moving except for a couple post mortem twitches.

Luna watched the events, wondering if this is what her father meant by ‘fishing’. It didn’t look like fun in any shape or way. She peered over the side, blinking at a small patch of sand moving before she flickered her ears. Something grabbed the back of her shirt, pulling her back just before a gawping mouth shot out from the ground. The child stared right into the eye of a fish, terrified that at the though of it eating her. Her voice caught in her throat as she wanted to scream, however she kept staring into the large eye before a series of cracking echoed.

“Luna!” Mike called out as he grabbed the child, causing her to stare at him. It was right then he noticed that her eyes had changed to a velvety-red color before his own vision blurred and felt something formed on his body instantly.

The nagaling stared at her father before she blinked, confused to what had happened. His face was distorted, looking as if he was behind a wall of glass or something. His hand felt oddly cool as well before the girl realized something. Her father was encased in a slab of crystal though he was still alive for a muffled groan sounded from within.

“Well, looks like the fishes are leavin’ for some odd-What the blazes happened here!?” Drenv shouted seeing Mike encased in a block of crystal.

“I believe our nagaling passenger has a few surprises left in her,” Ali’Vad said, placing a hand on the child’s shoulder.

The child looked up at the tall man, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes before she asked, “D-Did I do that to p-papa? Is... is... h-he...”

Drenv walked over to the crystal, faintly hearing, ‘Mine. Me. Out. You. Fat. Stubby. Dwarf-midget.’

“He’s still alive and still calling me short... I am not one of those hogs!” the Froan'tarian huffed, taking out a chisel and a hammer from his belt.

Drenv placed the chisel on a section of the crystal that wouldn’t harm the human. With a quick, hard slap of the hammer on the backend of the tool, the crystal cracked before the entire slab began cracking and soon fell apart, setting Mike free. The young man sat down, gasping for air, staring at the fragmented crystals.

“That... was the weirdest experience ever,” Mike breathed, picking up a piece of crystal looking it over in wonder.

“I-I’m sorry p-papa. I-I didn’t mean to... I’m so sorry,” Luna sobbed, slithering up to her father.

The human looked at his daughter before he smiled softly, saying, “You did nothing wrong. It was an accident. Though, you are one peculiar creature, Luna.”

“Indeed. A naga that has healing venom and can turn things into crystals with just a look of her eyes, sounds like one of those gorgons,” Ali’Vad speculated.

“Right, well let us head back for the day. The trip to Negav can happen another day,” the young human said stretching his arms.

“Agreed,” both Ali’Vad and Drenv said in unison.

Crimsna sat down next to Mike, smiling before she spread her wings out and drew both the young man and the nagaling into her embrace. The child looked up at the demi-chimera whom smiled down at her. The girl returned the smile as she snuggled against the warm, soft feathers. She lifted her hands up to the dark skinned human, forming symbols with them. The Akaptor nomad chuckled, nodding, and used his wind magic to get the ship moving again before he took up controlling the ship, steering it back towards the small oasis village.

The Froan'tarian checked to make sure their catch was secured and sat down, taking out a pipe before lighting it. He looked over to Crimsna who had her wings partially enveloped around her body. Mike’s head was resting on the chimera’s left shoulder, covered by one wing while Luna was had her head on the woman’s lap, fast asleep and with the other wing draped over her. The small man chuckled as he thought that this was one of the most interesting fishing trips yet.

Felarya belongs to karbo.

Characters and Destra Village belong to me.