Sand, Surf, and Silence: Chapter 1

“Good MORRRning, Bastford! You're listening to KYUM, Yum Yum Radio. Yolanda here at seven, the hour when our city is just starting to wake up after a long night of drinking, loving, and in the case of the best bartenders in the West Coast, working overtime. I've even got a wake-up margarita right here. Props to Jorge from the Sandy Gnome for mixing it. Get some sleep, buddy. You deserve it.

"All you regulars out there know what I’m going to countdown next but for the newcomers, we got six weeks to go until the 25th annual Tsunami by Nami competition! Biggest magically conjured wave this side of ANYWHERE calling out all riders to try and conquer it! So mark your calendars as clearly as you can. Rub out every other day with a permanent marker except for the sixteenth if you have to!

"Speaking of which, Nami's 42nd birthday bash is TOE-MAH-ROW. In less than twenty-four hours, we'll all be giving thanks to Bastford's surfers' most beloved citizen at her favourite place, the Bottomless Blue bar. It's open invitation so come on down to the only watering hole that neighbours a holy shrine. Don’t be stingy with the gifts now. Show some LOVE for our local ryu wave master!

"Usually the three-day forecast is up next, but something special enough is happening today that KYUM's favourite monster, and Bastford’s second favourite, is coming out early. Make way for Eudora the merrow, underwater surf analyst extraordinaire!”

  Z    -
fz z zt
    Z

"Wassup, early birdies?! Whether you're under the sheets or out on the streets, it's Eudora's Ecosystem time!

“So I know we’re all party people, but bear with me a sec while I roll over some of the boring stuff with my announcement. Summa y'all 'member this, so tune me out for, like, thirty seconds if you do.

"A week ago, half the yappers we pay taxes to at City Hall finally gave in to the other half about getting rid of the Old Rumour Peninsula. Ya know, that rock with the temple that used to be a great spot to make out and stuff ‘cause of all the underground rooms? ‘Sposed to represent one side of some crazy bad times where everyone was bleeding and fighting instead of drinking and loving. Those cuckoos from that paladin cult eat that stuff up though. Remember when they got caught trying to perform some ritual sacrifice there? Blech. Can’t believe they tried to protest to keep the place standing. I guess that’s why the Old Rumour is finally coming down after years of being Bastford’s last ‘stain on history.’

“Anyhoo, this is just a friendly warning from little old me that the crew City Hall hired is leveling the temple first. Then they’ll be blowing up the overhang it’s built on and sending the whole shebang plummeting into the drink. It’s a biiiiiiiig piece of rock that’s gonna become a ton of smaller falling rocks, so none of you listeners better be thinking of treading water underneath it to try and get a sweet pic. Instead, try snapping sweeter shots of the surfers that are gonna see how big a wave they can catch from the fall!

"Catch y’all tomorrow once I get a good look at how the debris will affect the waves there today.”

===

…

…

…

BRAboom-oom-oom…

…

…

…

A w a k e n  w h e n  t h e  w a r  i s  o v e r
A w a k e n  w h e n  t h e  w o r l d  h a s  f o r g o t t e n

P u r i f i e d  i n  v i c t o r y
C o r r u p t e d  i n  d e f e a t

W h i c h e v e r  c o m e s  t o  p a s s
My  t i m e  w i l l  e v e n t u a l l y  e n d

Y o u  w i l l  s o u n d  a  n e w  b a t t l e  c r y
Y o u  w i l l  b r i n g  Me  a b o u t  a g a i n

S l e e p ,  My  h e r a l d
My  s e r v a n t

Her will be done. With this long awaited echo, now is the time to awaken!

She believed that time, the one force that remained beyond any being's control, would make humanity forget about Her ideals. She believed that time would make the monsters forget Her sting.

Thus She chose me, Göll. Göll, sounder of the battle cry! The Shouting Light! Named so for the booming cannon that is my voice. In battle, I chant scripture as my spear swings through the air, and declare all glory be unto Her as my shield smashes into the faces of blasphemers. Open spaces are where I am born to rule, so declared the Chief God.

Yet out of all my sisters, I was the one sent to sleep in a human-sized hole and be entombed alive behind five false walls. All throughout the construction, a dozen priests channeled Her strength for forty days into a lasting blessing that sustained my inanimate body. A blessing that I was told to my displeasure would fade only a scant few minutes after waking.

My eyes open, but as expected, there is only darkness akin to a night without stars or the accursed moon greeting me. The first breath I take reminds me of how much like a coffin this room is. Though it was Her will that brought me here, this place offended all my senses before my slumber, and it offends me still.

So I turn to lay on my side, ignoring the discomfort of my wings, and with great pleasure start driving an armoured boot into the-

Crick!

First.

Crack!

Stupid.

CRACK!

False!

KROOM!

Wall! FINALLY. It must have been a long sleep. I feel robbed of much of my strength. Perhaps it shall return over time?

S o u n d  a  n e w  b a t t l e  c r y…
B r i n g  Me  a b o u t  a g a i n…

Her will be done. Again and again, She echoes so I do not forget my duty.

Slowly crawling out feet-first on my back, I grumble to myself about how the architects never put in any magical torches or other sources of light. At least there’s enough space to stand straight once I drag myself out. Which means this is an opportunity to work off more anger.

With a wicked grin promising violence, I crouch and turn to put my shoulder forward. Despite my weakness, I can feel my that my voice will still ring out as clear as a tolling bell; praise be to the Chief God for Her blessing of preservation. It is with great pleasure that I shout and charge-

“FOR FREEDOO-”

BRAboom-oom-oom...

“-OOMWhat in-” the faint series of strange sounds is distracting enough for me to raise my head mid-charge. And crash it along with my shoulder through the wall, sending me sprawling onto the now rubble laden floor. No pain, just humiliation.

The chamber shudders and shakes briefly afterwards, making me tense. That was not a result of my charge. A bad memory squirms it’s way up, or rather, many.

One of the most dreaded tactics of both monster and man is the siege. Never does one know hunger like that born of rations slowly being cut in half and half again as they dwindle from the robbery of trading, hunting, and farming. Never does one know desperation like that of disease festering and spreading when there is nowhere else to go. And most of all, never does one know fear like that of being forced to stay behind stone, bitterly accepting that either the enemy will run out of rocks for their catapults and trebuchets or that one unlucky strike could pulverize the very surface they’re leaning against or collapse the roof they stand under (and may all the gods, blasphemers or not, help you if they have those foul black powder cannons).

I HATE closed spaces.

Who has found out about this temple’s purpose? Do they realize that I am- was sealed here? There are so many questions, but they are all interrupted by the sharp tok-tok-tok of rocks raining on a solid floor.

That crumbling stonework freezes me. More about the conditions of my release suddenly return. There are only two circumstances in which that should occur. Either the Chief God awakens me directly or the temple above has been reduced to rubble. If all I hear inside my mind and heart is an echo of Her, then that means-!

My realization, and my escape, come too late. Ominous sounds of rocks shuddering, cracking, crunching, rumbling, and rattling fill the air. The chamber slowly tilts as I stumble to my feet and just as quickly fall down again. Where in the name of all that is holy would I go anyway?! This pitch blackness has robbed me of any sense of direction! The cracking gets louder, a fissure suddenly rips open underneath my foot and splits in an unknown amount of angles. Chunks of the ceiling and walls start coming down and the tiniest rays and motes of light (blessed light!) start seeping in between the holes. But the unmistakable feeling of weightlessness wrapping around my body renews my terror and anger. The room rapidly turns until rioting gales slam me against the wall I emerged from. Between the deafening crumbling and shattering, there is an alarming realization that this chamber, the WHOLE temple and the pointed rock it is built upon, must be falling straight down like an arrow to earth.

My discomfort and hatred are only multiplied as I watch the remaining four false walls crumble in front of me and start rushing towards my pinned body. Before the stones crash into me, I see the light between the cracks give way to something more, something that invokes my fury like nothing else. The damned sea.

Were it one of my sisters in this position, a quiet prayer would be on their lips for Her guidance in the face of this danger. To show such serenity is the action I should be taking as well.

Instead, I can't help but scream and spit through the rocks in my mouth,

"DID YOU DO THIS, YOU TRAITOROUS GOD?!
"HAVE I NOT BEEN HUMILIATED ENOUGH?
"HAVE I NOT ENDURED ENOUGH?!
"AM I TO DIE BY DROWNING?
"BY ROCKS?!
"CURSE
YOU
P
O
S
E
I
D
O
N
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
.
.
.
.
.



"



BOOSH!