Amos Daragon_ The Mask Wearer - Bryan Perro [27]
Seated at his father’s desk, a bald man was looking at him. His luminous eyes were a pale yellow, with elongated pupils that dilated and contracted constantly. Scales covered his hands, arms, and neck up to the back of his head. Beorf noticed that the man’s eyebrows joined together above his nose, just like his own. The man’s nails were horribly long, and a forked tongue came out of his mouth, which was filled with pointed teeth. His bare chest displayed strong muscles, and he wore dozens of gold necklaces adorned with precious gems around his neck. He also wore two large shiny and gilded earrings. Legless, his body ended with a very long, gray, snakelike tail covered with black spots.
Beorf tried to flee at the sight of this monstrous being. But as he turned on his heels, he was caught and immobilized by the man’s huge snake-tail.
“Ssss, you already want to leave, young friend?” hissed the snake-man. “It’s very, ssss, impolite to rush off without letting me, ssss, introduce myself first.”
The tail relaxed its stranglehold on Beorf, who turned around to face the hideous intruder. Beorf was shaking.
“Good, ssss, you’re a courageous boy, ssss, it’s very good. My name is Karmakas, and I traveled far, ssss, to come here. Don’t be afraid, young friend, I don’t want to, ssss, harm you. Like you, ssss, I am what humans call a humanimal. I would not hurt someone of my own race without good reason. You seem surprised to see me! Ssss, is it the first time that you are in the presence of another member of, ssss, your species?”
Unable to utter a word, Beorf nodded.
“It’s very unfortunate, ssss. Do you know why humanimals like us disappeared one after the other? It’s because humans hunt us. Humans are, ssss, jealous of our gift, ssss, jealous of our power. Me, I am a naga. Which means in, ssss, ancient parlance, ssss, a snake-man. You are a beorite, a bear-man. You have power over, ssss, bees and some other insects. My power, ssss, is over every crawling, biting, and venomous animal that slithers. I control the gorgons because of their hair. But I have to tell you a secret that, ssss, you may already know. I am also a powerful magician.”
Beorf took a step back.
“Don’t be afraid, I’m a nice, ssss, sorcerer. I hurt only, ssss, those who hurt me. I turn nasty only, ssss, when someone is nasty to me.”
With a shaky voice, sweaty hands, and a pounding heart, Beorf interrupted the sorcerer. “Then why did you change all the dwellers of the realm into stone with your army of gorgons? You wanted to get your pendant back and punish Yaune the Purifier, did you not? So it wasn’t necessary to injure so many innocent people to satisfy your thirst for vengeance!”
Karmakas laughed. “You are a smart beorite! I think that snake-men are wrong to think that bear-men are the lowest members of the humanimal race. You’re not as stupid, ssss, as you seem, ssss, big fat bear. The inhabitants of this realm were turned to stone because they trusted, ssss, a thief and a murderer. I’ll tell you my version of the story and you, ssss, will understand. I was living peacefully in my hometown, ssss, a large city that no longer exists today. In the middle of a stony desert, ssss, the nagas and the men who resided in the city lived together in peace. We were craftsmen and our skill, ssss, was to work gold. We also had mines and a lot, ssss, of wealth. Men grew jealous, ssss, of our riches and called on the Knights of Light, ssss, to exterminate us and steal our property. Fortunately, the gorgons, ssss, came to our rescue, but, ssss, too late. My wife and my fifteen children, ssss, all of them nagas, were killed by the knights. Yaune the Purifier is the only knight who managed to survive. And do you know why? Because during the final battle against the gorgons, Yaune was, ssss, in one of our temples stealing our riches. If he had participated in the battle, he too would be dead, ssss, petrified by the gorgons. The