Siorc’s Grotto
Connor broke through the surface of the pool, took out his regulator and scuba mask, and took in a deep breath. He turned on his flashlight and let out a laugh of amazement as he took in the scenery of the secret hideout he had discovered. The cavern was dark and damp, full of dark colored stalactites and stalagmites. The room was narrow and the his flashlight did not light up the edge of the room, indicating he was probably in some large tunnel. And while the walls were gravely and rough, they began to smooth out the farther into the cavern he looked.
He climbed out of the pool, took off his oxygen tank, and slowly headed deeper into the cave, pointing his flashlight left and right. As the cavern walls smoothed out, it became clearer that there were zigzagging glyphs and ornate images carved into the wall. The glyphs were completely illegible, and unlike any language he had ever seen. They spanned in long stretches from the ceiling to the floor, breaking off into different branches of zigzags. Meanwhile, the images carved into the walls were all abstract representations of fish, anemone, and other sea creatures. Connor had a big grin on his face and excitement bubbled up in his belly. He couldn’t wait to tell his buddies about this place he found… Actually: forget his buddies, he couldn’t wait to tell some anthropologist about this place and become rich off of his discovery! He wasn’t sure if that was how anthropology worked, but at the very least, he would become famous from finding that place.
Connor pointed his flashlight forward once again and faced forward, only to flinch and stumble backward out of surprise, nearly tripping over his scuba flippers. The tunnel came to an abrupt end as a gargantuan statue blocked the path. It was some burly humanoid shark, who was sitting on its tail fin, its webbed hands resting on its knees, and its webbed feet flat against the floor. The head was angled downward slightly, as if watching its visitors intently. The eyes of the statue were some kind of blue gemstone that faintly glimmered with as Connor stared into them, wide-eyed.
The statue’s eyes glowed, and flashed bright, two hot beams of blue energy hitting Connor in the chest. He yelled out in surprise and in pain, dropping his flashlight, which broke when it hit the floor, leaving only the blue energy to light the cavern. Every muscle in his body burned and his arms and legs tensed up. It was only a light soreness at first, but he winced and shut his eyes, as the pain grew to a more intense ache all over. He gritted and ground his teeth as every muscle in his body twitched and throbbed. His biceps, triceps, calves, and quads all grew tight, while his pecs and abs swelled and stiffened. As this happened, there was some distant, guttural sound rumbling in the cave, and reverberating in his mind. It sounded like whispers but he couldn’t understand what they said. His entire upper body swelled into a more muscular form, causing his wetsuit to tear down the middle, and sizable holes to form in the sleeves. When he looked down he saw that his abs were now visible and flab he previously had was gone. There was a dark patch spreading across his skin like a viscous liquid. The dark patch of skin felt slippery and slimy. It was so smooth that it had a sheen that reflected the blue light. He shuddered as the dark patch spread across his torso and down his back.
Panic coursed through him, but it was interrupted by sharp pains in both his feet, causing him to yell out once again. He dragged each of his feet across the ground to kick off his scuba flippers, and found the bridges of his feet shrinking toward his heels but each toe beginning to stretch out, new joints cracking and popping into place and bending like fingers. His two smallest toes on each foot fused together into one appendage, and the rest of his toes grew farther apart. The skin on the outside of his feet grew thicker and wider, layers of cartilage growing outward from one toe to the other, until each layer fused together into floppy webbing. The dark patches of skin that emerged on his chest now covered his feet as well.
The grumble that Connor heard before became more louder, and more insistent, repeating over and over, pounding in his mind like a resonant drum, but the words overlapping like murmurs many murmurs in a crowd. One word, however, was repeated over and over again by many of these low voices.
“Siorc.”
This word began to fill his thoughts. Every grumble in his head was hard to ignore, and the pain he was feeling was less noticeable than these overlapping nonsensical phrases.
“Siorc obey Siorc commands follow
kneel listen Siorc demands your obedience.
obey demands Siorc Siorc
Siorc demands you follow follow kneel obey.”
As random words clashed together, two sensible sentences stood out among the chaos. A moment after each was spoken, he felt a power well up in his chest, and a manic wave of joy. When Connor’s obedience was demanded, he flashed his sharpened teeth in a grin. His thoughts went silent, and what was left was an animalistic anger, and a strong desire to obey, as if it were all he ever wanted. But then his smile faded, and he realized his mind had faded for a moment, that he temporarily lost all sensibility. Fear welled inside of him, but not for long before the second phrase was spoken.
When he was demanded to follow, the same grin washed over his face, and his pupils expanding to completely fill his eyes in black voids. A growl escaped his throat. The animal inside was even more overpowering as he felt a need to attack, to bite, to eat, but at the same time, he only wanted to do it on Siorc’s command. Every joy and every satisfaction he once had was replaced with the joy and satisfaction of obedience. The thought of obeying a command to a tee, the thought of impressing this “Siorc,” it excited him to no end. But then Connor rapidly shook his head, pushing away these intrusive commands. No matter how good it felt, Connor realized he needed to do everything he could to resist.
Connor looked down at his hands the dark patches reached his finger tips. Every pore, wrinkle, groove and bump on his hand vanished as his skin became completely smooth and slippery. His finger tips extended into triangular points, but his fingers overall thickened, and grew slightly stubbier, similar webbing growing between each of his fingers.
Then there was a strange sensation in his back, a strange twitch or tickle in some part of him that didn’t exist. It felt like a fantom limb or a new arm was growing in his back. His back muscles clenched and forced him to bend forward as the pants of his wetsuit tore. He stood up straight once again, and looked back to check what was going on, and saw a large smooth tail slowly stretching out. He yelped and out of panic, pushed on it, trying to somehow prevent it from growing further, or to push his tail back into him. The growing appendage felt squishy and smooth, and after he grabbed at it, it involuntarily waved back and forth. The feeling of horror was replaced with a strong satisfaction. He grinned and let go of his tail, now purposefully waving it left and right as it grew. He tried to resist, and tried to remind himself of the urgency of the situation, but he couldn’t stop himself from enjoying the satisfying swish as his tail went left… and right… and left… and right… and-
His trance was broken as a sharp pain emerged in his jaw as his bones cracked. His jaw and chin stretched forward. The bridge of his nose elongated and widened while the tip of his nose grew upward, his nostrils growing farther apart. These two changes happening together caused his nose and mouth to form a triangular snout. The dark patches of skin crept up his shoulders, around his neck, and began to completely covered his face. When these patches crept up his neck, sharp pains emerged in his neck as his skin split and formed gills, which twitched as they longed for air. His hair felt loose, and felt as if it would fall out, but it was the least of his worries at that point. He also felt a throbbing pain on the back of his head, and when he reached behind to feel it, he noticed a sizable bump on the back of his head, that bump grew somewhat pointy, and began to grow longer, a cartilaginous flap forming at the back of his head. A fin.
As all of these changes happened to his face, the gruff voices got louder, going from whispers to growls. They became impossible to ignore, and were the only thing he could think about, the only thing he could hear, the only thing he could focus on.
“SIORC demands your obedience
demands COMMANDS sink follow
deeper good YOU are listen deeper
you slave shark TO a shark
follow listen sleep KNEEL!”
Connor was prepared this time, and knew that these words would enthrall him, and would put pressure on his mind and his will. Before the command was even finished, he made sure to start to push the words away, to shout “NO!” in his mind and to disobey. But it was too little resistance, and too late. His torso moved on its own, bending forward to bow down, and one of his legs lifted off the ground and bent as he went to kneel. No matter how much he tried to move his leg back it wouldn’t work, and he found he fully lost control over his body. But once he completely let one knee rest on the ground, his webbed foot flopping and smacking against the stone floor, all of the power, joy, excitement, and hunger he felt before returned.
Connor grinned again, his pupils expanding and making his eyes completely black. He lowered his other knee to the floor, and as he did, he felt accomplished, and excited that he did what he was told, that he was a good shark. Any remaining thoughts of resistance dissolved, and all thoughts became related to obedience and devotion. His urgency to leave became a desire to remain with his god, to hear his wisdom and to be good, to follow and obey. And as his thoughts settled on these things, Connor didn’t notice his memories and his ‘self’ as Connor leaving. All memories, past ambitions, and past connections were locked away. All that mattered was Siorc. His name grew distant and unfamiliar, for he didn’t need a name: what mattered were his actions and what he did.
The shark shut his eyes and clenched his jaw as the last of the changes took place, his face stretching forward until it elongated enough to snap into its proper shape with a satisfying pop. The remaining rough and human parts of his skin smoothed out and grew dark and grey, making him shudder. His hair had vanished and the crown of his head was now the same slippery smooth texture as the rest of his body. The human was completely gone and the shark remained, and with the changes finished, the grumbling and whispers quieted down, and tapered off, only giving one last command before they went silent.
“Siorc commands you to obey.”
The shark bowed his head and placed his palms on the ground, bowing out of respect, and reverence. He held the bow for a long time, silently praising his god, telling him how powerful he was, how strong he was, how beautiful he was, and how great he was through prayer. The praise came naturally in his mind, however his tail wagged, and he tapped one of his floppy webbed feet out of nervousness, or perhaps giddiness, of being in the presence of this god. As he prayed, the blue energy that emanated from the statue’s eyes slowly dimmed until it was, leaving the statue’s eyes glowing blue, and a dim blue aura surrounding the shark from excess magic.
He opened his darkened eyes and smirked, finally appreciating the power within himself as well. He wiggled his fingers and his toes, swished his tail left and right, and let out a low growl. He felt a great sense of power knowing he was unbeatable, knowing he was the top of the food chain, and it felt great to know he could breathe underwater, and that he could go anywhere underwater without worrying about the danger. The shark had forgotten that he couldn’t do this before, and simply thought he had a newfound appreciation for this.
The shark had a sense of what Siorc wanted him to do in that moment, so he bowed for his god once more, before standing up, and turning away. He ran and dove into the water, a rush of adrenaline overcoming him. Water filled his gills and he felt at home. He swished his tail from side to side and paddled forward with his arms, jetting through the water. He sniffed the air and immediately sensed where his prey was, and turned, jetting toward it. It didn’t stand a chance for his speed and his strength. He took a large bite, and let the creature bleed. He wanted to eat, to satisfy his hunger and his ferocity, but it wasn’t for him. When the creature was in distress, he grabbed it with his humanoid hands, and snapped its neck. Already, satisfaction welled up inside of him, knowing he was good and that Siorc would regard him as a good servant.
With his game in under his arm, the shark swam back to the grotto, before climbing out of the water, treading toward the statue, and placing the dead seal at its feet. He knelt before his god once more, but couldn’t help but to look up with a bashful smile. Oh, how powerful, how beautiful Siorc was. Oh, how much he looked up to the god. He showed reverence to the god, but he also felt a genuine love for him, like how a dog looks up to their owner. He wanted so badly to impress Siorc, to make him content. He had obeyed Siorc and gotten him this offering he asked for, meaning he had been good… right?
His smile faded once there was no response from the statue, no magic indicating he did well or didn’t do well, and no sign of the presence of Siorc. What happened? What did he want? Why didn’t Siorc respond to him? Panic welled up inside of him as he realized he couldn’t obey, and that he couldn’t make his god happy in that moment, that there was no one there to follow. He knelt down and pressed his palms against the ground once again, bowing, and praying… waiting for his god to return.
A hum filled the cavern. The shark opened his eyes to see the statue’s eyes glowing once more. A stream of blue light shot from the statues eyes and hit the dead seal. The blue glow surrounding the seal became brighter and brighter until the seal was no longer visible inside. The stream of light immediately broke and all the blue light was gone… and so was the seal. In its place was a large pristine conch shell. He grinned, realizing he had did well, and that he had done the right thing. However, the urge to follow, to obey, … it all came rushing back to him, and he felt the presence of Siorc once more.
He picked up the conch and held it to the side of his head. He grinned when he heard the voices on the other side.
“They say when you listen to a conch you can hear the ocean.” It was a female voice.
“That’s a load of baloney,” an exasperated man grunted.
“No really! Listen! It’s really cool!”
There was a pause and the shark knew what he had to do. He took the conch away from his head, and held the opening up to his snout.
Through his teeth, he grumbled, “Siorc demands your obedience.”
