As soon as Bukur had entered her room and closed the door behind him, Anka threw off her tunic and lay on the bed as though she was a fillet on a platter. He licked his lips.
“Sorry it’s so late, I came as soon as I could. It’s been a
long day. I need a good meal”
He climbed over her, leisurely taking in her scent. She
handed him her gourd, which he duly downed. The excitement in his face switched
to puzzlement.
“This orokosa doesn’t taste very strong”
“It’s fine”
“I know what orokosa is supposed to taste like,” said Bukur,
“did you thin it with water?”
“Why would I do that? Come on, have your dinner”
“No, something’s not right. You haven’t looked me in the eye
once. What’s going on?”
“Nothing! Just eat me!”
Bukur got off of the bed, “Do you actually want to get
digested? Why the hell are you trying to do that? Did you think at all about
how guilty I’d feel, if I inadvertently killed one of my closest friends? Or
about how I’d get the chop?”
Anka looked at the floor, gritting her teeth. Then quick as
lightning, she pulled her tunic back on and bolted out of the room. As she ran
down the stairs and out of the mansion, she could hear Bukur’s footsteps behind
her.
“Talk to me!” he yelled, “Talk to me!”
It was midnight, and the narrow streets of the Rush were
quiet. But there were still enough pedestrians to get in Bukur’s way, whereas
Anka was small enough to duck and weave around them. She kept running and
running, turning down streets at random, even once she was sure she had lost
him. I wanted to be eaten by someone I liked, she thought, but I suppose it is
unfair to burden a friend with that. Maybe it would be best to be eaten by
someone I don’t know. Maybe I could find an elderly lisha without any teeth who
wouldn’t mind getting executed if it meant they could eat one last hurum. Maybe
I could find Tadarur, confess to being a murderer, and finally face the
punishment that’s been stalking me for months.
She found herself alone in the square in front of the Palace
of the Ikark. As she stopped to catch her breath, the hairs on the back of her
neck prickled. Looming out of the darkness, bronze armour gleaming and spear in
hand, eyes fixed on Anka, came Kisha.
“Have you been following me?”
“Since you ran out of Lurush’s estate. I was ordered to keep
an eye on you”
“But you’re not going to take me to Ragur, are you?”
Kisha grinned, “Not a chance”
Anka sighed, “Come on, follow me”
Kisha snorted, “Your wish is my command”
Anka walked up the grand staircase to the roof of the Palace
and past the feet of the gigantic statue of Makush to the edge. Sparkling with
a thousand lamps and torches, Kurush looked beautiful. Beyond it was an endless,
empty expanse of darkness. She heard Kisha put down her spear, then felt her
clawed hands slide under her arms and curl around her chest. Her snout appeared
next to her ear and she slowly licked her cheek.
“I’m glad you’ve finally come to your senses,” said Kisha, “you’ve
finally realised that you’re just food. Say it”
“I… I’m food,” said Anka as she started taking deep breaths,
“Please be gentle”
“I can’t make any promises. I’ve dreamt of this for ten
years. You’re probably going to be the best meal of my life”
Kisha lifted her up into the air as though she was as light
as a feather, then with one hand plucked the sandals from her feet before
guiding them down into her throat. Anka shivered as she felt her legs slip down
the slimy gullet. Kisha roughly pulled her tunic off so that her tongue could
explore her body. Both her hands grasped Anka around her chest, holding her in
place as she savoured the taste of her prize, her grip so tight that Anka
struggled to breathe. Anka’s hands clasped Kisha’s arms, feebly trying to pull
herself out from the maw, but that was all her dampened instinct to survive
could muster. Kisha growled deep groans as her saliva-drenched tongue forcefully
scraped the flavour from her delicate skin. Every chew, the teeth stabbed her tender
flesh and the jaws crushed her ribs. Anka was in no doubt that to Kisha she was
nothing more than meat. She didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of her
terror, but the pain made her flinch and whimper.
Knowing this would be her last view of the world, Anka tried
to focus on the sweeping vista before her – the mad magnificence of Kurursh, and
the silent abyss beyond. Except that the infinite darkness was punctured by a
point of glowing red light on the horizon. Anka had never seen anything like it
before, it was as though a baby Sun had just been born. Oh well, thought Anka,
it doesn’t matter. I’m never going to know what that is.
A sharp clamp of the jaws as Kisha enthusiastically chewed
on her dinner made Anka scream in agony. She was trembling all over. Despite
the heat of the mouth and gullet, from her head to her toes she was cold as
ice.
“Please,” Anka gasped, “please, just get it over with”
Kisha stopped chewing. Air left Anka as though she was being
suffocated. Kisha grabbed Anka’s hands to prevent any last-ditch attempts to
escape and started gulping. Anka slid down the tongue, watching the jagged
teeth pass in front of her eyes. Then with a final gulp, Kisha closed her mouth
and there was nothing but darkness.
The stomach forced her into a ball and started dripping
burning acid onto her. After everything I’ve worked for, just to end up a meal,
Anka thought. A tragic waste, but I couldn’t avoid it, I never had any other
fate. All I am, all I ever was was food. She closed her eyes, hoping that she’d
fall unconscious before the pain became unbearable.
She heard muffled voices, someone was shouting. Suddenly she
was violently rocked from side to side, up and down. Was Kisha fighting? Then a
torrent of liquid poured down the gullet and onto Anka’s head. It stank like
piss - it was orokosa. She pushed against the stomach walls, but they convulsed
and smashed together, squeezing her up and ejecting her out the throat. She
rolled onto the floor and lay there motionless like a discarded ragdoll.
“Anka, thank the Sun!” said Oresh, “Are you okay? Anka?”
Bukur was pinning Kisha to the ground, despite her writhing
like a rabid animal.
“You’ll lose your head for this,” said Bukur, “I’ll make
sure of it”
“Hand me my spear and we can settle this here, fair and
square,” Kisha spluttered, “Or are you scared I’ll beat some humility into you?”
“Kisha, I just… I just can’t understand how you could do
this,” said Oresh, “Anka is your adopted sister”
“Oh shut up, you self-righteous wimp! She tastes good, so
she’s food, it’s as simple as that. If you don’t have the nerve to eat her, why
shouldn’t I?”
Anka slowly rose to her feet. The mysterious red glow was
still on the horizon. A strange sound was coming from the sea.
“Guys, can you be quiet for one bloody minute?” said Anka,
“What’s that?”
There was a roar in the night, unwavering like a colossal cascading
waterfall. As it grew louder, Anka imagined some unfathomable leviathan from
the void was charging towards them. With Bukur distracted, Kisha elbowed his
chin, rolled out from under him and scarpered. The three of them stood and
stared out into the darkness as the roar hurtled closer, the air shaking with
the noise, until it collided into Kurush.
Constructive criticism welcome
© Paul Bramhall
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