Liquid Diamond (21 page)

Sticking his head under the water, the Elf let out a scream powerful enough to send a wave three inches high throughout the lagoon surrounding the waterfall.

He raised his head from the water with blood running down his face, staggered to his feet and ripped his pant leg to wrap around his head and cover his empty eye socket.

Seething with anger and hatred, coupled with the pain flowing all over his body, the Elf set off after Natalia and Catalyst.

#

As Natalia and Catalyst continued their walk across the plateau toward Ghost Mountain, they came upon Kaylec the Basajaunak/Human hybrid. Catalyst sneaked up to try and scare him.

“
I can hear you, Catalyst,” said the fellow as he stood up and turned around.

Natalia just burst out laughing, for there standing before her was a man six feet, five inches tall with the face of a Human and the body of a Basajaunak with a bald head, big lips and a fat bald stomach but covered everywhere else from cheek bones to toes with shaggy white hair.

Laughing so hard she could hardly stand it, Natalia fought to get the words out.

“
I'm sorry!”

“
Here we go again,” said Catalyst as he looked at Natalia and then Kaylec. He was embarrassed by Natalia laughing at his friend.

“
It's okay, little girl. I get that all the time when people first meet me,” replied Kaylec.

“
How are you, Kaylec? This is Natalia. Please forgive her. She's never seen a Hybrid before,” said Catalyst.

“
I'm fine, how are you? And it's okay, I can see she's Human and I well remember what they can be like,” replied Kaylec.

“
What brings you this way?” asked Kaylec.

After explaining their mission, Catalyst put down his fitsall to rest for a moment and the pouch of tea fell out.

Kaylec picked it up and smelled it to make sure, then looked at Catalyst.

“
Did you let her drink some of this?” asked Kaylec.

“
Yes I made tea this morning for us both,” replied Catalyst.

“
I see, well that explains her behaviour. You can't give Humans this stuff, Catalyst. For you and me it's a simple tea, but for Humans it's like ale. All you did was get her drunk,” laughed Kaylec, handing the pouch back to Catalyst.

“
I didn't know. Besides my Father, I've never met a Human before her,” said Catalyst in his own defence.

“
Well now you know and since she's drunk I can't very well let you leave now can I? Come on, let's get her back to my place,” said Kaylec.

As Natalia walked along with Kaylec and Catalyst she noticed just how much more alive the trees and plants seemed to be. Then all of a sudden she puked.

“
I don't feel so good,” said Natalia as she crawled into Catalyst’s arms to be carried.

When they arrived at Kaylec’s home he picked up a jug, dusted it off and handed it to Natalia. She drank from it and almost instantly felt better. In just a few minutes she was back to her old self.

“
Don't ever give me that stuff again,” said Natalia as she smacked him right in the arm.

“
Kaylec, I'm sorry for laughing at you,” said Natalia, looking ashamed.

“
Don't let it bother you, young lady. I think we all know whose fault it is,” replied Kaylec, looking at Catalyst.

“
Yeah, the woman from the Gallows. I didn't know it would do that to her,” said Catalyst.

Natalia was now sober. Kaylec didn’t want any unnecessary guests so he pointed out the fact that they had more than enough daytime left for travelling. Taking the hint, Natalia had to agree.

“
But not to worry, children, I'll walk you out to the end of the plateau,” offered Kaylec. He wanted to make sure they left, but hid it behind kindness.

“
Besides, you might run into Blemmyes,” continued Kaylec, not wanting that for them no matter how much he wanted them gone.

“
Blemmyes, Catalyst? Were you even going to mention that?” asked Natalia, feeling worried but not surprised.

“
Look, Natalia, I don't see the need for you to worry about something that might not even happen, so I thought it better not to say anything, that's all,” replied Catalyst trying to sound as though he had it all under control.

Natalia was suddenly flooded with memories of her father saying almost the same thing to her mother time and time again. Without realizing what she was about to say, Natalia turned to Catalyst and yelled, “Ya dink!” just like her mother would yell at her father when he hid things from her.

“
Okay, that'll be enough of that potty mouth, young lady. Can't have you swearing around here,” laughed Kaylec, turning away.

Catalyst had never heard that word before and he just stood there thinking nothing of it.

As they walked away from Kaylec’s home neither Natalia nor Catalyst had any idea that the Elf was catching up to them or was even chasing after them. They thought they had left him buried beneath the mud hut and as far as they were concerned it was over and done with.

“
What about these Blemmyes?” asked Natalia.

“
They don't actually live here. Those of us that do are outcasts. We don't fit in with either side of our kind, not the Human side or whatever else it is that any of us is a part of, so we come here and live out our lives. As for the Blemmyes, they don't fit in anywhere, not even here. Somehow they figured out it's just us up here, so they make their hole in the ground caves on the other side of the plateau and exist there for the most part. Every once in a while they try hunting us for food, but so far we've managed to beat them back. Those things are pretty awful. They’re born pregnant and when it's time for another one to come into this world it chews its way through the back of the adult. Since they carry four or five babies, each adult can live up to seven years. They’ve got to grow a bit before they can have babies and they only have one a year, anyway, so the last one out of its parents back is so small it can't survive on its own. So it stays behind and eats its parents alive. Awful creatures those Blemmye spawn, mouths full of germs that cripple you as well as infect you, making you easier to eat,” replied Kaylec, making sure Natalia knew everything about them whether Catalyst liked it or not.

“
Am I to take it by the look on your faces that you've met the Blemmye before?” asked Kaylec.

“
Yes we did and can I ask one thing, Kaylec?” asked Natalia.

“
Sure, what do you want to know?” replied Kaylec, smiling at Catalyst hoping to repay him for troubled days gone by.

“
How did you happen? I know we have the same basic shape but we’re two very different species,” asked Natalia getting ready for what she hoped would be a great story.

“
The way Mom tells it is like this, and you have to know Dad is what you would call a Scotsman. Anyway, one day Mom was out looking for a new fishing spot and while following a stream, she caught a glimpse of something shiny out of the corner of her eye. She looked over to see what it was and there, coming out of the stream after having a bath was Dad, with his bald head reflecting the sun. He was covered from his cheekbones to toes in hair standing there in all his glory. With just one look, Mom fell in love,” said Kaylec stopping for a breath.

“
Now being Basajaunak and a wee bit bigger than Dad by about two and a half feet and three hundred and sixty pounds, Dad didn't have much of a choice really. Mom just picked him up, took him home and kept him. All in all he's seems happy enough though, and that's how I came to be,” replied Kaylec, hoping that would answer her question.

The silence that followed showed that it did, all the way to the edge of the plateau where they pushed their way through the bushes and plants.

“
Now look you two, when you’re on your way down the trails, stay alert. Those Blemmyes will grab you if they get a chance,” said Kaylec as the three of them stood looking over the side of the plateau as it sloped off into the distance. It was filled with scattered caves.

“
Are every one of those holes filled with Blemmyes?” asked Natalia.

“
I don't know if every hole has a Blemmye but it's best to bet most do,” replied Kaylec.

#

Catalyst hit the ground face first and was stunned.

“
You little brat!” screamed the Elf, reaching over Catalyst and grabbing Natalia by the arm. He pulled her in close to him as he spat and slobbered on her.

“
I blame you for this! If you hadn't hit me with that axe none of this would have happened to me!” growled the Elf as he pointed to his empty eye socket with his ripped and chewed finger.

“
After I'm done devouring the boiled flesh from your bones I'm going to give them to my next pet to sharpen his teeth on before he rips your friend here apart,” said the Elf, seething with rage.

Dragging Natalia away, the Elf took no notice of Kaylec as he shook Catalyst back to his senses.

Seeing Natalia in the clutches of the Elf, Catalyst sprang to his feet and kicked him from behind, hitting him right in the privates. At the same time, Kaylec punched him square in the face hard enough for them to hear the sheering crack of his jaw break.

As the Elf dropped to his knees not knowing which part of his body to hold on to first, Natalia used one of the kicks she had learned in gymnastics and kicked the Elf squarely in the centre of his forehead, sending him head over heals tumbling down the slope of the plateau.

Coming to a stop in front of a cave, the Elf lay stunned as a Blemmye jumped out and tried swallowing his right arm. Grabbing the Blemmye with his left hand the Elf easily took control of its mind.

Spitting the Elf’s arm out of its mouth, the Blemmye grabbed him and dragged him into the deepest darkest recesses of its cave, leaving Natalia, Catalyst and Kaylec looking on in wonder.

The Blemmye returned to open ground just a few minutes later, picked up a rock, threw it in front of another cave and waited.

As the Blemmye that lived in the cave came out to see if food had shown up, the Elf’s new pet jumped it from behind, ripped its arm off and returned to its cave to feed its master.

With the Blemmye fatally wounded, its spawn started chewing their way through its back, and one after another the baby Blemmyes crawled and stumbled off in search of food with the last and smallest one staying behind to eat the still breathing adult alive.

Wanting to vomit after seeing that, Natalia, Catalyst and Kaylec turned away.

“
My god, Catalyst, that's five Blemmyes by my count,” said Natalia, horrified by what she had just seen.

Just then another one of the plateau’s residents came through the bushes to see what had happened.

“
Kaylec, I heard the commotion. Is everything okay?” asked the stranger.

“
Yep, everything is just fine,” replied Kaylec.

“
A Human!” exclaimed the Elf/Human Hybrid, startled by Natalia’s presence.

“
I am Natalia, and yes I am Human!” snapped Natalia, not liking the way the Hybrid reacted to her.

“
You already know Catalyst so no reason to introduce him,” said Kaylec, reminding everyone he was still there.

“
Natalia, I would like you to meet Manday (
or Monday?),”
said Catalyst, offering an introduction.

With a huge smile on her face at hearing that name for a man, Natalia reached out her hand in friendship.

“
It's nice to meet you, Manday,” said Natalia.

Remembering what had happened when Gobstank brought up Miss Turr’s name, Catalyst wondered if Natalia was smiling at Manday’s name. It seemed perfectly normal to him.

“
Why are you smiling so much, Natalia?” asked Manday with suspicion, having dealt with Humankind before.

“
Where I'm from Mandy is a girl’s name. I just think it's funny, that's all,” replied Natalia being as honest as she could be.

“
My name is not Mandy, it's Man-day,” sneered the Hybrid.”

“
Well?” said Natalia with a shrug of her shoulders.

“
Look, when I was born I looked more Human than Elf. It so happens I was born in the daytime and since my Father is Human and his sense of humour being what it is, he named me Manday,” he said, hoping that would be enough to stop what he had suffered all his life.

“
So what's going on here?” asked Manday, looking at Kaylec.

“
Just taking care of a small Blemmye problem,” replied Kaylec, pointing out the dying Blemmye. Considering Manday’s heritage along with his anger at the moment, Kaylec saw no reason to bring up the Elf.

Looking at the Blemmye being eaten by its young and the thought of another problem with them, Manday pulled a horn from his belt and blew hard. The sound echoed throughout the plateau and it was only a few minutes before Natalia, Catalyst, Kaylee and Manday were surrounded by Hybrids ready to fight off another Blemmye attack.

“
There were only two of them and they were not trying to attack!” snapped Kaylec at Manday while Natalia and Catalyst just stood there looking in awe at all the Hybrids. Some of the varieties and mixes Natalia and Catalyst hoped they would never see again.