Red flames rising defiantly against Rivaril's toxic fog were drowning the surroundings in an uncanny orange light at midnight. Skewered right in the middle of the fire, a 3.5-meter baby monster bird was roasting in its own fat, letting out a mouth-watering sizzle every time a drop of grease hit the coals. The intense, smoky smell of meat wafting through the air was enough to make the heads of the four starving men spin.
Nedim was staring at the fire as if hypnotized. Unaware of the drool trickling from the corner of his mouth, he lunged at the meat with the trembling fork in his hand.
"Get your hand off it, you dingbat!"
Morris's slap cracked against Nedim's wrist, knocking the fork into the sand.
"Who are you calling a dingbat?!" Nedim roared, grabbing Morris by the collar in frustration.
Morris pushed him away by the chest with disgust. "Are you blind? The skin hasn't turned golden brown yet! You're rushing it; you'll ruin the meat!"
Hakan intervened, shaking his knee impatiently. "We've been watching that bird turn for an hour, Morris. How much longer do we have to wait? My stomach has started digesting itself."
With the air of a professional gourmet, Morris brought his nose close to the smoke curing the meat and took a deep breath. "Hmm... The fibers need to soften. Half an hour... In just half an hour, it will fall off the bone by itself."
Just then, a shadow stretched across the sands.
Carlos had stood up. His massive, two-meter frame had completely swallowed the light of the campfire. His pupils had shrunk, his nose locked solely onto the scent of frying fat. It was as if his consciousness had shut down, replaced by a pure, primal hunger. His steps were heavy but determined; he was walking toward the fire like a zombie.
"C-Carlos?" Morris's voice trembled with horror.
Carlos didn't even hear him. Ignoring Morris like a fly, he reached toward the fire, directly for the meat.
"He's going to eat it all! Stop that bear!" Nedim shouted.
All three of them pounced on Carlos at once. Hakan hung onto his arm, Nedim wrapped around his waist, and Morris stood in front, trying to push him back. But Carlos, like a buffalo unbothered by the flies stuck to it, continued to advance toward his target, albeit with a little difficulty.
Right in the middle of that struggle, a static buzz was heard from behind the sand dunes.
A small blue glimmer formed in the sky. Bjorn, gliding through the air like a missile with electric currents covering his body, had his eyes fixed directly on the loot in the fire and was executing a nose dive.
The impact sent the sand on the ground flying, trapping the campsite in a blinding, suffocating cloud of dust. The council members were coughing violently, trying to see in front of them with their hands.
Carlos clapped his two giant hands together hard in anger. The resulting pressure wave instantly dispersed the dust curtain.
The scene revealed was a devastation for all of them.
Bjorn was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the ashes. His face, eyes, and even his hair were covered in grease. He took the last bone in his hand, bit into it with a loud crunch with great delight, and sucked out the marrow. Nothing remained of the huge bird except a few bone fragments tossed onto the sands.
Morris collapsed right where he stood. His eyes welled up. "The... the meat? But... the marination..."
The vein on Hakan's temple swelled as if it were about to burst. "YOU SON OF A BITCH! WHO INVITED YOU HERE!"
As curses flew through the air, they all threw themselves at Bjorn, who was chewing the mouthful with a grin.
Around the same minutes, on the darker and quieter side of the beach, Aiden emerged from a narrow cave mouth between the rocks.
His semi-naked body was plastered with purple, viscous monster blood. His chest rose and fell rapidly; with every exhale, the hot air leaving his lungs turned into white steam in Rivaril's freezing cold and drifted away.
He paused when he heard those familiar shouts, curses, and sounds of breaking bones coming from the beach. A tired, cynical smile appeared on his face.
His hand went to his left ear. He gripped the throbbing poisonous quill stuck right at the entrance of his ear canal with his fingers. Gritting his teeth, he yanked it out in a single motion. Hot, yellow pus oozing from his ear flowed down toward his neck. He dropped the quill from between his fingers onto the sands and turned his expressionless face toward the direction of the voices.