Chapter 5

I opened my eyes and scrambled upwards.

"R'schak ara!" I cried in alarm, my heart pounding. "R'schak kun!"

I looked down at him. He sat there cross-legged as he was before, his tentacled visage returning my stare. Despite my outburst, he looked unconcerned about anything at all.

But I sure as hell was concerned. And for a time, I just stood there, my head cradled in my hands, willing myself to forget that terrible...thing in his memories. I had to forget it, for the sake of my sanity...my very humanity.

I stood there for a few more minutes, slowly breathing in and out. I still wasn't okay, but I had to snap out of it. I had to get it together.

I had to warn the base.

Before Val'kor shared his last memory, I had assumed that the rest of his kind was mostly extinct. After all, it was eons ago when they held power on Earth, and it's not like there'd ever been any reported sightings of them after that.

In other words, I had assumed they were no longer a threat.

But I assumed wrong.

A vast number of them were still alive. Millions. They were down there, within the depths of Tesok itself. I could only imagine it. Rows upon rows of them in suspended animation. An entire undersea mountain engorged with their kind. And though they slept, they still claimed this world.

Val'kor alone could lay waste to an entire battalion. At least. So what on Earth could millions of him do?

Oh God, I had to warn the base. And I had to pray they would believe me.

I shook my head. I had to take it easy. I couldn't give him the idea that I was alarmed in any way. I didn't want to ask more questions and arouse his suspicions. Breathing heavily, I looked to the sky and then at my watch. It was already past 5:00. Time had gone by so quickly. I had maybe 45 minutes before dark. I knew I wouldn't make it back to the main island before nightfall, but I had to go anyway. I had to get the hell out of here.

Trying to look calm, I picked up my camera and stashed it in my backpack, along with my journal and my pictures. I kept wondering about how to get out of this, how to explain to him why I had to leave.

In the end, I decided I would just tell him the truth. It was getting late and I had to get going.

Taking a small breath, I calmed my nerves and once again spoke the ancient language. "Sil qua'sac lac xden. Shtag'c cha ark'non. Fathgn nton gas'ha talgn t'cahmo goha." I just prayed he forgot about the photo I took of him. I needed it to convince everyone I was telling the truth, even though it might not be enough.

In one fluid motion, he stood up. His deep voice boomed. "Emma Hoffman, raen c'ahga morlun."

My jaw dropped and my heart began to race. He basically just told me that I, Emma Hoffman, was "required". Required for what, I did not know.

And I wasn't intent on finding out.

Gulping, I gave him a weak smile, and decided to inform him that it was a pleasure to be needed, but I had to be going. In other words, thanks but no thanks. "Or'sa ba'l igha mal'ci kondra, Val'kor," I replied, nodding towards the island. "B'aha fotun po'an xa'nat."

He said nothing, but his eyes narrowed. I felt a chill go down my spine.

Uneasily, I strapped on my backpack, turned around, and slowly began to walk to my boat. I wanted to run, but I couldn't betray my sense of urgency. Or fear. The hairs on my neck were standing on end as I waited for him to rush up from behind me and do something.

But do what? Stop me? Kill me? I was powerless to prevent him from doing whatever he wanted. I was like a little lamb walking away from a butcher's shop while the butcher just stood there and watched.

After about two minutes of walking, I knew I just had to stop and see if he was following.

Taking a deep breath, I quickly spun around and saw...

Nothing.

He was gone.

I exhaled in relief, turned back around, and continued onwards.

I walked as quickly as I could in the direction of my boat, following the curved shoreline. But I constantly looked back. And skyward.

The return journey seemed to take an eternity, to the point where I began to wonder if I'd somehow missed the spot where I landed on shore.

As I walked, I began to truly realize the extent of Val'kor's telepathic influence. It was mostly in how I perceived the world around me. When I looked at the ground, I didn't think 'ground', I thought k'yeh. When I looked at the sea, I didn't think 'sea', I thought a'lith. It's like my entire perception of reality was being overwritten by an alien language. And I could only wonder...what the hell did he do to me? And was it ever going to wear off?

But then my difficulties were momentarily forgotten as I spotted a dull aluminium object laying on the ground amid some bushes in the distance.

Yelling out a cry of jubilation, I found a new reservoir of energy and ran the rest of the way. As soon as I got to the boat, I quickly flipped it over and threw my backpack in. I took my shoes and socks off and tossed them in as well. Then I rolled up my pants.

Grasping the stem of the boat, I turned it around 180 degrees so the bow was facing the water. Then I walked backwards, dragging the boat with me. I kept dragging it until the craft was floating in the water, just barely touching the rocky bottom.

For a moment, I just stood and stared at the all-too-distant shoreline of Tongra. And then I stared at the darkening sky above. I wet my finger and held it up in the air. Hope rose in me as I realized the wind was going south. With luck, maybe the waves would do most of the work for me and all I had to do was keep my boat pointed in the right direction! With renewed optimism, I stepped into the shallow water.

But just as I was about to get into the boat, something shot out of the sky.

It hit like a dark bullet, slamming into the center of the craft.

The boat literally exploded, with pieces flying everywhere.

I fell back into the water.

"M'adju," my voice quivered.

It was him.

He stood in the water, staring at me in silence. Tendrils of black energy slowly dissipated from his body.

"Val'kor," I pleaded, standing up and holding my hands out. I had to make him understand. "Ja'akha asda h'ofu sywoj. Arkun!"

He started walking towards me.

Scrambling, I backed up onto the shore trying to get away. But he just kept on coming.

Desperately I looked around for something, anything to fend him off. I saw an oar sitting on the beach that'd come from the boat. "G'oc ocha!" I yelled, wielding it like a baseball bat.

My warning did nothing to stop him. He just kept coming. And so, taking a few steps forward, I swung right at his head. But before I could connect, he caught the oar with one hand and wrenched it free of my grasp.

I could only stand there watching helplessly as he looked at the oar, looked to the sky, and then made a godforsaken booming sound...

...that I innately recognized as laughter.

He then proceeded to take hold of the oar with both hands and snap it cleanly in two.

I'd fully realized by now that my cause was pretty much hopeless. But I just couldn't give up...or give in.

For my next parlor trick, I picked up the biggest rock I could find. I ran up to him and heaved it, once again aiming right for his head.

He casually swatted it away with one hand, as though it was a beach ball.

I shook my head as my lungs gasped for air. "You're just playing with me, aren't you asshole?" I said in deliberate English, letting him worry about the translation. "Fine then, fucker. Come on."

I put up my arms in a fighting stance, though I had no illusions that I could actually harm him. Not to mention that the last time I actually fought someone I was in the seventh grade and my opponent was Debbie Popowich, not some alien super being. But it was better to go out like this than to keep running.

Instead of coming any closer, however, he stood there and chuckled.

And then he spoke words that I will never forget.

"Sil co'z a'cagn."

Ancient wings unfurled and he ascended into the sky, leaving me standing there with a gaping mouth. I watched as he soared away, towards the center of the island. His silhouette got smaller and smaller and soon it disappeared, landing somewhere on top of the plateau.

I turned back to look at the remains of my boat. It was all in pieces. And my backpack was nowhere in sight. Was it gone? Sunk beneath the waves? It was dusk and the water was an impenetrable dark grey. If my backpack was gone, then so was my camera, my journal, and all my food and water. Most of all, so were my pictures. Tears welled up in my eyes. That was the biggest punch in the gut of all. My pictures.

Sighing, I looked once again at the plateau. And then I looked west. The only thing left to do was to stare at the falling sun as it painted a sky of orange and red.

Soon, it got dark entirely. And for the past two hours, I've been sitting here on the beach, listening to the soothing sound of the surf, gazing at Tongra in the distance. It looks beautiful at night. The lights of the base and the fires of the village are sprinkled in parts over the blackness of the jungle.

Speaking of the base, they're probably wondering where I am about now. And Commander Maddox, bless him, has probably ordered them to come look for me at dawn. He's probably cursing himself for letting a "little lady" like me take that boat out in the first place.

He shouldn't be concerned, because I'm doing just fine. A lot better than I felt a couple hours ago. Better than I've felt in years, in fact. It's like all my worries, all my grief over everyone I've lost, has sunk beneath the waves along with my photographs. I don't think I'll be needing them anymore.

Val'kor has been patient with me. My mind is adapting and our telepathic bond has strengthened. From a distance, he's been talking to me for the past while, whispering of days past...and of days to come.

They went to sleep long before we began to evolve as a species. Even as we multiplied across the Earth and our technology advanced, we were beneath their notice. But then we advanced a step too far. Then we dropped those bombs on Japan. They may have ended the war, but it also got their attention. His attention. As their leader, Val'kor was the first to awaken. Soon he'll awaken the others. But first he wants to learn about us, and he needs my help.

I have chosen well.

Those were his words to me before he flew off.

I really don't know why he's chosen me, a silly young thing from Seneca, New York. But the feelings I sense from him are a bit like what I sensed earlier, when he remembered being with that other female...so long ago. And I guess that's all that matters.

He's waiting there on that plateau. The na'ha is burning bright. I can see its light in the distance. I'm beginning to feel silly just sitting here by my lonesome. I've decided I'm going to strip myself of these wet clothes and then I'm going to go up there. And after we've talked some more, I imagine we will Join.

But before I go, I look once more to the sea. For there is another voice I can hear again in my mind. At first I feared this voice, but now I can't imagine why. It is calm and comforting. It is helping to make everything so clear. The voice comes from a place further south, about a hundred miles away.

In that place there is a city, located beneath the ocean. This city is for Him. Just as this world is for Him. It is our lives and our inevitable deaths that sustain Him, that allow Him to grow. When it is time, He will emerge. On that day, all who exist will know His presence. And all who can speak will call out His name.

The city is R'lyeh.

His name is Cthulhu.

The End