Dawn- An age of Darkness

"So basically, we are inside the sea serpent's mouth?" I didn't know why, but surprisingly, I was rather calm. I wasn't dead, right?

"He goes by the name, Terortra," the old man said.

I woke up a few hours later inside the creature's mouth. I could still see giant fangs and the red interior. Surprisingly there was light.

The space was large, if this thing really was a snake, then it was definitely big, like at least a few times bigger and wider than the one I saw on top of that mountain.

The person inside was an old man, probably in his sixties, who had few teeth and a scrawny body. He was much smaller than me and his skin was loose, but his beard was sublime and very well maintained. He was proud of his beard if nothing else.

The creature must have been at rest, or I would have probably fallen to its stomach or rather my death by now. In fact, I wouldn't have even believed I was inside something, unless the old man had told me, or if the fangs weren't sticking out. There was air, there was light, and my head hurt. I couldn't remember much but my body hurt as well. However, the air was rather rancid. Smelt horrible.

"Old man, where's all this light coming from?" My voice almost echoed.

He grinned. He was missing some teeth, but strangely he looked good. "You shouldn't ask things you don't want to know."

Something about his tone seemed odd. Besides, what was an old man doing inside the serpent anyway? Not to mention why wasn't the place flooded with water? The old man's quirky replies weren't helpful and he wasn't going to answer me straight either.

I was feeling rather cold. The armor felt sticky. Frankly, everything here did. And I wanted out.

The old man gave me a wide grin. "I wouldn't wear that if I were you."

I looked at him and closely inspected my armor. My armor fumed and was melting. How the hell did I not notice this sooner?

I threw off the armor and was reduced to wearing my shirt, sword, and pants. It felt even cooler but my skin burned: not the most pleasant of feelings. The floor was rather sticky too; mucus drifted everywhere. The air was acidic and irritated my nostrils. How the hell did I end up in here?

The old man was wearing just a rag, covering his privates. He had nothing else on. I got the note, why. "You're armor must have touched one of the fangs. Its poison is quite something I tell ya," he said. I didn't reply.

After a while of inspecting the surroundings, I sat down. The squishy sound made me regret it but, I had to bear with it. What the hell did I get myself into again? And just when I thought I'd get better from here….

My stomach growled a bit. This is not the time to worry about hunger! I rebuked myself. I was weak and hopeless.

"By the way kid, are you here for that too?" The old man's grin was all over the place. I couldn't understand what he was thinking.

So there's something in here? I tried to play it cool. "I don't know what you mean," I answered with my poker face.

If I'd answered honestly he might have tried to sugarcoat things. So I decided to trick him into answering. However, I still had my doubts and I was missing some memories.

He didn't like my answer. "Kids these days. You shouldn't waste your life searching for stuff that might not exist." He grunted. His cheeks squinted and he lowered his eyes. Maybe he didn't want to be here? After all, I most certainly didn't.

Says the man, who's also trapped in here for who knows how long and what purpose. I couldn't say that to him though.

Time marched on and my mind kept on wondering. "So, old man, what are you doing here?"

"I am Denkaborkarere. Remember it well," he said proudly.

Fancy name. I didn't bother with his name. I'd always had a hard time remembering names as it was, let alone this, so it wasn't feasible. "Nice to, meet you old man. I am Daarc."

His face reddened. Just how proud was he of his name? "Which part of my name didn't you get? Did your parent not teach you how to speak with elders?"

"Actually they didn't," I said. My face down at my feet... That wasn't a lie. My father was dead before I knew it and my mother was always distant. And after Alicia's death, she shut herself off from me. So the old man was really right on the money. It didn't make me feel any better but, I couldn't really rebuke him.

He sighed. "Never mind. I am here for the same reason you are. I've been searching for that wretched sword all my life. Two years ago I finally found its location; this serpent's insides. But as you can see, we can't even move beyond this spot. Luckily the serpent never eats or moves. All it does is sleep."

Oh so now he feels like talking? Should I be happy or scared? But didn't the captain say the sea king was hunting? What was I doing on the ship anyway? it was like puzzles in my head. I couldn't remember much but I was piecing through the puzzle at a decent pace.

My memory had jump-started somewhat. "So this serpent is called the sea king?"

He replied immediately. Was he waiting for my question? "Yeah, that right."

If the captain was right then the old man was wrong, and if the old man was right then the captain was wrong. So one of them had to be wrong. Or was I missing something? "The captain- he said something about the serpent hunting and-"

He sighed. "You see. I've been here for two years but this is probably the first time I'd seen it hunting. Honestly I was really surprised."

Trust me I'm much more surprised than you.

I was amazed that he had survived inside the serpent for two years but honestly, I was too scared of how one could live under such circumstances. Can I live like this? The problem wasn't living here though. It was getting out of here. "Any idea how to get out of here? You've been here long, so you must have at least some ideas!" I intended to be sarcastic about it at first but after saying it, I kind of regretted it.

Maybe I shouldn't have said that. If he doesn't have any ideas, wouldn't that be just rubbing it in?

However, he answered without flinching. The damn geezer's mentality was strong: much stronger than I'd assumed. "The skin is too thick and even if you make it past the skin, the bones will get ya. I've tried cutting it with knives and the knives melted. I tried air blades and they too were not as effective as I thought. "

The old man was talking like it was all normal and everyday stuff, but to me, everything sounded too foreign. "Air blades?"

"Haven't you wondered how you're breathing?" He raised a brow.

I wondered but since I didn't understand anything around me, I ignored it. That's right. We are underwater yet we are still breathing! "I did and I was about to ask that too. Weren't you the one who said I shouldn't wonder what I didn't need to know?"

He puffed his chest, looked proud, and winked. "You see, I am an adventurer. I possess wind affinity and so I can use wind magic," he said. Apparently, he ignored all of my queries and just loved to boast about himself. But I was grateful.

It was a good thing and I was alive because of him. But honestly, I didn't really like him. Maybe I was being too picky. Maybe I was just a jerk. But I didn't really care. "So you're not human?"

"What makes you think that?" He was offended.

There was no going back now, I guess. "I've heard humans don't possess magic powers."

"That's just bullshit my boy. Who fed you such crap?" he sighed as I didn't reply. "Under extreme circumstances, magic will evoke within you no matter what you are. Take me for example. Before coming in here, I could only light up the space around me but when my air supplier ran out, there was only one way to survive," he said, his eyes lit up.

"Produce air!" We said in unison.

That made sense. The area was lit up and we could breathe. So magic was dependent on the situation. Does that mean I'd be able to use magic too? And does that mean one person can attain more than one affinity? That meant what I'd known about the world had been wrong. As I talked to him, more and more memories came back. "Then the thing about one person having just one affinity was also wrong?"

"Yup! And as you can see, I possess both light and air affinity." He was too proud. "Although my light affinity is weaker than a tadpole's."

I'm pretty sure tadpoles don't have magic. Do they? Actually, it could have very well been possible in this world.

Seeing my silence he continued. "Since the elves live longer they end up with magic more frequently than us humans."

That explains how they have the most magic affinity. "Elves…" My voice shivered. With just one word my headache came racing. My memories made a thunderous return. All this time I didn't think about how I ended up inside the serpent but now it was evident that my mind was just avoiding the thought. My subconscious was probably just protecting me, telling me it didn't matter anymore. After all, I had bigger priorities now, namely to survive.

But as most of my memories came back, I smiled and sat, hugging my knees. With my ever so saddened face, I couldn't even look at the old man.

"I suppose you have your fair share of shit too," he said looking at a distance.

"My shit probably got too shitty, but oh well."

"Ha ha!" the old man burst out laughing. I laughed as well. I laughed at myself. I laughed at my own stupidity.. Everyone had warned me and yet I was so thickheaded that I never saw it coming. How could you Araan?