Creature of the Voyage

By Zihab Ar Rysha

A young child, intrigued by the ideas of an unknown beast roaming the lands and swimming the oceans of Earth, takes the responsibility of giving life to such creatures in her own hands.
Now, time has reversed back to the era of straw beds, stone tables and traditional weapons.
All because of one of these ‘creatures‘ burning the world of skyscrapers and technology down, leaving the forests and rivers unscathed.
Only several humans had survived the annihilation, desperately trying to live on.
Only this time, they had neighbors in the mountains.
Winged, clawed, hoofed neighbors.
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Harmony existed, yet at times, it felt like a ghost haunting the Kali village.
For centuries, conflicts among them and their neighbors had been well avoided, with each colony going about their lives as normally as they could.
Hunting each other down, however, was both tradition and survival.
But what happens when an errand turns to a brawl? One that would shake the world awake?
Letting their creator know that they still rule the food-chain?
Or what awaits those who happen to share the same blood as them, but are human?
Heroism, or death?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: Mar 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9781543773279

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CREATURE

OF THE

VOYAGE

ZIHAB AR RYSHA

Copyright © 2023 by Zihab Ar Rysha.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

www.partridgepublishing.com/singapore

CONTENTS

Prologue

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

Acknowledgements

About The Author

PROLOGUE

Tierra, Year 0026

‘R ia, what kind of creatures live in the water and on land?’

Satria poked her pancakes with a silver fork, obliviously tearing them up into irregular, sticky chunks. Sanu tightened her lips into a straight line. Grumbling, she stabbed her knife into one of Satria’s pancakes and shoved it into her mouth. To no surprise, Satria looked up, annoyed.

‘Well, dear sister, my ears are still open, so you better give me one of your pancakes’, Satria scoffed as she grabbed Sanu’s pancake. ‘Better. And yes, creatures like frogs and snakes sometimes live in both land and water. They’re called –’

Sanu waved her off. She knew what they were called. Satria often underestimated her sister’s knowledge capacity, despite being a ten-year-old.

Sanu leaned her chair to the front, letting it stand on two legs. ‘What about creatures that don’t look like they belong in any terrain yet are able to live in all of them? Imagine, a flying lizard with the legs of a horse but the claws of a lion. Wouldn’t that be a sight’.

Her sister only hooked a lock of her ash hair in response, showing obvious dislike. Here Sanu went with her Hybrid Theory. Since their parents had had enough of it, Sanu would go to Satria and ramble on about how she would discover a new species and name it whatever she wanted. Satria would respond with the occasional ‘Hmm’ or ‘Interesting’, even if it isn’t to her, but it didn’t bother Sanu.

To her, the idea of discovering a new species from any terrain excites her. She gets goosebumps just thinking of it. Before falling to sleep, she would transport herself into a realm in her mind where she receives an award for finding yet a new creature. She would sign her name on the certificate and spontaneously come up with a name, followed by a thunder of applause and a standing ovation.

What a dream, she thought.

As Sanu gulped down her glass of milk, her phone vibrated in her skirt pocket against her thigh. She hurriedly cleaned up her dishes and raced into her sanctuary: the garage.

‘I have some work to finish! Make sure to not disturb me in the garage’, Sanu called out to Satria, who nodded in response.

Sanu pushed the red oak door open and entered the enormous, dim garage. Fingers swiping to find the light switch, she set down a box of blankets and dog toys. As a white light flickered on, her vision grew clear. She walked past her desks filled with papers containing drawings of unknown creatures, but each of them was crossed out with red paint.

Except for one.

This drawing had a scaled lizard with a pair of stigs poking out of its head and teeth baring sharp and fear-inducing fangs. The creature had a raised talon, boasting incredibly large claws. On its back were majestic spiked wings. Its body transitioned from a scaly hide to a furry coat, finished off with horse hooves and a tail. On a leg was a piece of coiled kelp.

This was the creature she had hoped to find. But when she deemed it impossible (she was grounded for a year for nearly burning the house down), she sought to find ways to bring it to life on her own.

That was three years ago.

Now in a DIY liquid chamber made from a gas tank, she had nurtured a scaly blue egg, which was due to hatch by tonight. Tubes glowing with purple solution draped all over the ceiling and floor of the garage, leading underground, where it would act as fertiliser (no growth from her indoor garden yet, but she did manage to breed a spiky green fruit with a pungent smell). Sanu plonked herself down on her wheeled chair and typed in the condition of the egg.

She was not sure, but she swore she heard a crack amidst her keyboard clicking. But after inspecting her keyboard, it didn’t have any broken pieces, so she dismissed it. The second time it happened was when she was assembling a dog-sized bed, lining it with cotton blankets. A crack was heard as she tore a piece of cardboard from the bed. Again, it was ignored.

The third occurrence was nothing like the first two. She was examining her new creation. Her eyes roamed over the smooth shell, fascinated by how its shape was peculiarly distorted. From the corner of her eye, a couple of scales broke apart as a hoof broke out of the shell. It looked like a normal horse hoof, but it made Sanu catch her breath. She applied an eye lens chip and watched in wonder as the egg fell apart in the chamber. A creature formed from four different existing ones cautiously swam around the chamber, stretching its webbed and clawed front talons. A short piece of green kelp hung loosely from its hind hoof, followed by a silky horse tail. When it gaped, tiny teeth lined like thick needles showed from its jaws. A pair of horns protruded from its slender head. But what she was mesmerised with the most was its eyes. It slanted beautifully, the iris a diamond shape. It looked like a crystal itself. As she watched the creature swim rounds in the chamber, she remembered the motive of this development. Sanu flipped a switch down, draining the solution from the chamber with a gurgling sound. The creature screeched in panic, swirling the solution. Without warning, it burst open its wings, shattering the walls of the cylindrical chamber. Pieces of glass flew in random directions, some shredding the sheets of paper on her noticeboard, others hitting a thick Styrofoam wall, with Sanu behind it. She shakily got to her feet, staring at the creature’s wobbly attempt to stand on all fours. It spread its wings for balance and met Sanu’s amazed eyes. A clicking sound emitted from its throat as it trudged towards her, sniffing