Heretical Fishing: A Cozy Guide to Annoying the Cults, Outsmarting the Fish, and Alienating Oneself

“I trusted you!” Deklan yelled, his arms outstretched so the jungle mudminnow was as far from his body as possible. He pinched the crime-against-nature of a fish between his thumb and forefinger, all four of its legs undulating as they tried to find purchase.

Beside him, Dom stared down at his cupped hands. Not wasting the opportunity, the creature within stood upright and tried to run back to the water. Dom’s face went pale.

“You right, mate?” I asked.

He opened his mouth to reply, but dry-heaved instead. “Why does it—” He dry heaved again, dropping the fish and wiping his hands on his pants. “Why does it feel so wrong?”

Maria and I cackled with laughter, leaning against each other.

“I trusted you!” Deklan repeated, looking both disgusted and amused.

The mudminnow Dom had dropped sprinted past Deklan on its way to the water, and he plucked it from the ground, scrunching his face at its human-like legs as they kicked in the air. Peering at it must have drawn his vision in, because his gaze went distant. I focused on it too, making words appear in front of me.

Mature Jungle Mudminnow

Unique

This fish is a creation of the followers of Ceto. It is unknown how long the jungle mudminnow has existed within the Kallis Realm, but in that time, it has stabilized itself within the food chain. This fish has become the favored prey of the potent alligator gar.

When I shook my head and returned to the present, utter revulsion covered Deklan’s face. “The alligator gars eat these? On purpose?”

His incredulity only made me laugh harder, my chest starting to ache as the air was forced from my lungs.

“Pass them here,” I said, getting to my feet. “No need to let them suffer.” After two swift movements, I set them down on a rock. “We need to swap out your fishing rigs for something bigger, then we should be good to go.”

After washing their hands for an overly-dramatic amount of time, shooting us judgemental looks all the while, the brothers rejoined us. When they noticed the giant hooks we’d attached, their eyes went wide.

“Trust me,” I said. “The fish are big enough to justify it.”

They nodded, anticipation radiating from their body language and cores both. Not needing guidance, they attached an entire mudminnow as bait each, then strode down to the water.

“In the middle?” Dom asked.

“Duh,” Deklan said, playfully rolling his eyes. “Do you think giant fish live in the shallows?”

In response, Dom picked up a pebble and rubbed it between two fingers, scowling at his brother. I half expected him to flick it at Deklan’s head, but he pretended to drop it, instead shoving it into a pocket. “You’re lucky I’d rather fish than teach you a lesson.”

I raised a brow at Maria, wordlessly asking if she’d noticed. But before I got her attention, the brothers cast out their lines. I watched as the rigs sailed over the water, Deklan’s splashing down to the left and Dom’s to the right, both in the deepest section of the lake.

As if in recognition of their perfect casts, the world froze. I hadn’t even realized there was a breeze before, but now that it had vanished, the silence of the surrounding trees was deafening. Tiny ripples spreading from the brothers’ lines were the only movement visible, the pattern beautiful and hypnotic.

When Deklan’s reel screamed a moment later, I wasn’t at all surprised.

“Poseidon’s silty bottom!” he yelled, holding his rod high.

Its tip bent and bounced with each movement of the fish’s head as it tried to escape, but as with every creature that had faced the brothers lately, it didn’t stand a chance. When it swam toward Dom’s line, I worried that they might become tangled. Before I could tell him to wind it back, he was already doing so, ensuring he didn’t get in Deklan’s way.

It had only traveled a few meters when the second fish struck.

“By Triton’s stiff conch...” Dom uttered, his tone disbelieving. “It’s big...”

Whilst Deklan hooted and hollered as he slowly reeled the fish in, Dom remained reserved, his eyes intense as he fought his to shore. When the potent alligator gars approached the shallows, their long, powerful tails made the water churn, giving the brothers their first sight of the fish.

Instead of dashing into the water to grab them, I reached out and grabbed the rods. “What are you waiting for? Go get ‘em!”

Deklan dove—literally dove—into the lake, landing with the grace of a drunken starfish. He was wrestling his alligator gar above water a moment later, holding firm as it kicked its giant tail.

“Watch the mouth!” Maria winced, reaching out a hand as if she could telekinetically help. “The teeth are deadly!”

Dom was in the water now too, having walked instead of diving like his maniac brother. After a small battle, one which almost saw Dom get bitten by Deklan’s fish when said maniac got too close, the brothers were walking up the shore.

I slipped forward, dispatching both alligator gar with my trusty spike.

As one, our eyes were drawn into them.

Mature Potent Alligator Gar

Unique

This species variation of the alligator gar has evolved through its predation of jungle mudminnows, an unnatural fish created by the followers of Ceto, over thousands of years. Through millennia of evolution, the potent alligator gar has managed to produce a unique kind of chi that only matures when exposed to heat.

“Unique chi…?” Deklan asked. “Only after being exposed to heat?”

“How…” Dom licked his lips. “How potent are we talking?”

“One way to find out,” I said, shooting them a wink.

Deklan’s eyes were alight with expectation when they met mine. “Fire?”

“Fire.” I confirmed.

Before I could even finish the word, Deklan and Dom were off, setting their fish down and dashing in search of branches.

***

With the smell of smoke coming from the campfire and the flavor of potent alligator gar lingering in my mouth, I leaned back against a tree. I let out a soft groan.

“Agreed,” Maria said, resting a hand on her stomach and leaning beside me.

Despite having caught two fish as long as a man was tall, we absolutely devoured them. Borks and Teddy had one of the frames each, meticulously removing every possible bit of meat. The brothers were sitting across from us, both looking just as full.

“You gonna eat that?” Dom asked, pointing down at the last bit of fish on Deklan’s plate.

“Yes,” Deklan replied.

“You sure?”

He gave Dom a suspicious look. “Yes, I’m sure. I’m just letting the rest settle.”

The look wasn’t misplaced, because a moment later, Dom made his move.

His hand darted out, grabbing the filet with lightning-fast precision. Deklan, however, was prepared. They say the best defense is a good offense, which was probably why Deklan aimed his punch at Dom’s head. Dom had to block with both arms, leaving the fish behind for Deklan to quickly scoop into his mouth.

Deklan gave him a smug grin as he chewed, taking his time to enjoy every—

Crunch.

Deklan froze. He furrowed his brow, tongued his cheek, then spat out... a rock? Tiny fractions of one, anyway. It had been crushed between Deklan’s empowered molars. I stared at the small pile for a long moment. Had the rock been in the filet? Had I somehow put it on his plate when I was dishing up the servings? If so, how would such a mistake slip past my enhanced awareness?

When I felt the victory radiating from Dom’s core, I finally understood.

“Dom!” I barked a laugh. “That was devious!”

Deklan’s eyes narrowed as he spun toward his brother. “What did you do?”

“The pebble,” I said, shaking my head.

“Revenge is a… is a … cold dish,” Dom said, completely butchering the phrase and making me giggle even harder.

Comprehension arrived in Deklan’s eyes just as violence flowed from his core. He shot to his feet. “You put a pebble in my last bite? You animal!” He turned to Borks and Teddy. “No offense.”

They both shrugged, but Deklan didn’t see the gestures because he was busy flying through the air toward Dom.

“Dinner and a show,” Maria remarked as the two men duked it out, fighting just as they had in the lake.

A smile graced her lips, making me watch her for a moment before returning my attention to the brothers.

Though Deklan was definitely annoyed by the betrayal, he was equally enjoying their little sparring session. We let them go for a few minutes. Teddy finally stepped in when Dom was thrown toward a tree. The man would have crashed through it, so Teddy caught him and pulled him into a bear hug.

“Truce?” Dom asked from a position of exactly zero power, his legs dangling above the ground as Teddy held him tight.

Deklan appeared to seriously consider the offer, tilting his head back and forth. “Fine. But only temporarily, and only because there’s more fishing to do. I will avenge my meal.”

“Deal,” Dom said, straightening his clothes as Teddy set him down.

After resting a while as the brothers fought, my full stomach felt much more comfortable. I stood up and stretched, letting out a soft groan. “I think I have to do something regrettable,” I said.

This immediately drew everyone’s attention.

“Er, like what...?” Dom asked, unruffling his last sleeve.

“So, you know how I can sense chi, right?”

“Right,” Maria said, slightly raising a brow.

“Well,” I continued, “I can technically search out fish that have chi in their bodies, right?”

“Ohhh,” Maria said. “To make sure we don’t fish up all of them?”

I grimaced. “Exactly.”

“Wait, why is that regrettable?” Dom asked.

Deklan whapped him softly on the back of the head. “Because it’s cheating. If you can sense exactly where fish are, and how many there are, Fischer could just throw the hook directly at them.”

“I mean, it’s not really cheating if he’s using his power... is it?”

“He’s not just cheating the fish, you goose,” Deklan said. “He’s cheating himself. Think about how it feels when your line is in the water. The unknown possibilities, knowing that at any moment, something massive could strike. The excitement that comes with it. The anticipation.”

“That’s it, mate,” I confirmed. “But in this case, I’ll have to do it anyway. I don’t want to catch all the alligator gar and make them effectively extinct. If I’m unlucky and there is a hidden species in here, scanning the water will spoil that surprise.”

“Ohhh.” Dom frowned. “Yeah, I don’t like that at all.”

“Don’t worry,” I laughed. “I won’t tell you if there is.” I walked over to the bank, letting out a slow sigh as I stared up at the waning afternoon light. I didn’t want to do it, yet it had to be done. I hesitated a moment longer, gathered my chi, then sent my awareness snaking outward.

It went through the ground first, winding over rocks, earth, and sand. Surprisingly, I felt creatures there, each possessing the smallest hint of chi. Worms, insects, even tiny aquatic invertebrates living around the rocks of the shore. Their life forces were like stars in the night sky, lighting up the darkness behind my eyes. After pausing to appreciate their beauty, I pushed my awareness further, extending into the lake’s black waters.

The first species were something I’d seen before, but not in this lake. They were little guppies, only as large as the end of my pinky finger. Maria and I had spotted them in one of the creeks feeding into the river, and though I thought there were a lot of them then, it was nothing compared to the thousands occupying the lake. They swam all around the edge, schooling in large groups that occasionally split apart, only to rejoin once more.

When I saw why they separated, a shiver ran down my spine. From within the layer of silt on the lake’s floor, a jungle mudminnow struck. It stood up on its weird little legs, then leaped and darted for the guppies. Each time I’d seen a jungle mudminnow walking, I’d been disgusted. Somehow, witnessing its fleshy legs trailing through the water as it swam was even worse.

I felt a moment of compassion for the guppies. I couldn’t think of a more unnerving ambush predator to be targeted by.

My awareness sunk into the silt where the rest of the mudminnows waited. There were thousands of them, all completely still and waiting for a school of bait to swim by. Another involuntary shiver came, running down my entire body. No matter which way you looked at it, there were entirely too many legs in this lake.

Seeking to banish that thought from my mind, I extended my senses further. The bottom of the lake grew deeper at a steady gradient. There was a sudden drop off, making me raise an eyebrow. It went down and down for meters, revealing a craterous hole within. When I sensed the life down there, I felt my body jolt.

“What’s wrong?” Maria asked, her voice only barely making it through to me.

I lingered a moment longer at the bottom of the lake, my shock not fading. There were hundreds of the alligator gar, so we’d have no issue with supply. They sat almost completely still, their fins and bodies only occasionally moving. But they weren’t what made me have such a visceral reaction. Deep below them, buried completely in the mud, something ancient sat. Its power was... old. Really old. The chi within its massive body tasted like the essence that suffused the world.

Maria squeezed my arm, tugging at my awareness. “Come back to us,” she said, her voice soothing.

When I opened my eyes, I slowly turned her way, my body going numb. Borks and Teddy had been resting, but now they were up, keenly aware of my reaction.

“What did you see?” Maria implored, resting a hand on mine. “Is there no more of the alligator gar? I’m sure we can find something else to—”

“No,” I interrupted. “There are hundreds of them.”

“What is it, then?” Deklan asked, gazing at the lake’s placid waters.

“I... can’t tell you.”

“What...?” Hurt accompanied Maria’s question, radiating from her core.

I immediately returned to the present, banishing the thoughts whirling through my mind. “I’m not keeping it a secret for a bad reason. It’s...” I trailed off, wondering how to word it.

“You saw something else, didn’t you?” Deklan asked, turning his attention to the others. “Fischer promised not to tell us if he found a bigger fish, remember?”

Dom shook his head. “I take it back. I wanna know.”

“Aye,” Deklan agreed.

Borks and Teddy agreed with assenting growls, their ears alert.

I looked at them all. “Are you sure?”

They gave a sharp nod, now staring right at me.

“Calling it a big fish doesn’t really cut it.” I swallowed, my mouth dry. “There is a monster at the bottom of this lake.”