“Weren’t the people you already swallowed more than enough?”

“When you’re hungry, do you eat just two measly bites before you’re full, small one?”

Ostrias would scream and curse if he could. A few minutes of meaningless arguing with the Ethereal had already passed, but the creature was more than unimpressed by his words so far. It barely understood the logic behind the Ashen Gaze’s arguments, easily found their flaws and quickly demolished them completely. It was pretty clever for a big ball of mouths and eyes. And that only made the sorcerer more and more nervous. The moment when it would simply eat him was approaching and he couldn’t even defend his position as a creature not worth devouring.

“Why do you have to use us as food? I bet there are a lot of good meals out in the sea.”

“You may think that you’re more advanced than the underwater creatures, but I’ve met dolphins whose intelligence and capabilities dwarf yours. And besides, you’re tasty.”

Well, that went wrong pretty quickly. And thus he met yet another dead end in his reasoning.

The night’s cold embrace engulfed him from all sides. The wind was frigid and his coat couldn’t protect him from it at all. The environment took a far bigger place in his mind than it should and obscured his line of thought. He tried to clear his mind, but to no avail. He was somehow more… sensitive than usual. Was that the Ethereal’s work? Or was he just too terrified?

He was barely able to try and say something rational anymore, so he just spat the things coming to his mind one after the other.

“Can’t you see that we’re conscious? We have intellect, emotions and so on… It wouldn’t be right to just eat us.”

“Why do you think so? Would you stop eating some kind of animal if it started talking in your tongue?”

“Yes. Of course!”

“That is a type of reasoning that’s very strange to me. And also unacceptable, frankly said. I am able to communicate with half this sea, but all of the beings here are lesser, you included. And therefore they are food.”

Ostrias gritted his teeth. All of this was getting him nowhere. Or getting him closer and closer to the Ethereal’s stomach, rather. Everything he tried turned out to be useless – the thing in front of him was just too alien and different to have the same concept of moral as humans. He was all out of ideas and just stood there, trapped by the invisible mass. Meanwhile, the Ethereal was regenerating silently. Most of its tentacles had already began to grow anew and its wounds were closing with a rapid speed. Its healing capabilities were mind-boggling.

The Ashen Gaze closed his eyes. His face twisted into a dark, thoughtful expression. He could… He could… Hell, what could he do to make the damned thing let him go in peace? Nothing came to his mind. And then a small idea emerged surprisingly. Could it work? There was only one way to determine that.

“I’m going to… tell you a story. It may convince you to let me and my people go. It may not. But it’ll take some time.”

“I was here millennia before you, small one. I’ll be here for millennia after you, too. A few hours don’t matter. Go on.”

Ostrias began his tale – the story of his youth – with a steady, confident tone (or at least tried to give his thoughts such a vibe). He went on for a couple of hours and spoke to the Ethereal about his birth and childhood. About the Haelum family of wizards. About the first love of his life. About his first heartbreak. About the first day he met with death face to face. About why he came to be known as ‘the last Haelum’. And finally… he told him about the Ascension Crisis.

“These emotions inside of you… They are unique, undoubtedly, at least for me. Especially that feeling you attach to your sexual partners… Love, was it? Oh, how steadily it smolders inside you even after all these years… And what a splendid tale you’ve told me! Not a single sea creature has told me one like it during all the time I’ve inhabited this waters. Tell me more. Tell me the rest of your life!”

The Ashen Gaze followed the creature’s command without trying to resist. After all, that was his only chance for him and his subordinates to live. To trample on his pride and reveal his life’s most personal details before the Ethereal was too small of a price to let this opportunity slip by. And he did it without a second thought.

When he was finished, the sun was already rising and bathing the world in a stream of warm golden light. Every war, every love affair, every world-shaking event he had gone through and every death of a loved one… He laid everything bare before the Ethereal’s unseeing, but ever so persistent gaze.

“I see… I see! That was interesting, to say the least.” Ostrias could easily sense the inhuman joy and calmness that had taken over the Ethereal’s whole being. “I don’t hear such a story every day… Very well, small one. I’ll let you go and satisfy my hunger with something else.”

Relief ran through Ostrias’ body. So his struggles to argue with this thing weren’t for naught… He imbued his thoughts with Control, attempting to ask the beast to release him. At that moment the Ethereal started to use telepathy again.

“I won’t just release you, though. I’m still somewhat hungry. Name one of your kind upon these things you call ships and then direct me to them. Then… I’ll have a small, but tasty meal. And you’ll earn your freedom.”

The blood in the sorcerer’s veins froze in an instant. To eat… one of his own? After all he did? After… Rage rose inside of him, but he got a hold of himself. Even if he fought with the creature again, it would bear no result. He had… He had to do it. He picked out a young man – the apprentice of one of the sorcerers under him and also the brother of a girl he once slept with. He could barely remember his name, but knew the ship he was on. He didn’t (and couldn’t) watch while the Ethereal… ate him. But it wasn’t the first death that’d weigh on his soul and mind.