Friend… Delicious Akuun struggled to stay awake. His tribe’s teachings never failed to bore him. Hunt this, harvest that, stab the Ralsiji there. His people were focused solely on how to make the most out of the little that the Tempest Flats gave. Today’s lesson, taught by an elder with sunken, pallid skin, was on the importance of Eka’Sul. “Eka’sul are the flatland’s most important gift to our tribe,” his teacher explained, “their meat and milk nourish us, while their thick hides are used to build tents strong enough to stand against the arcane storms.” Akuun imagined the beasts as the storm-withered elder droned on. He didn’t think of the usefulness of their hide, but of their playful gentleness. The elder would never stop to mention that Eka’sul love pomegranates, or that they’ll lay happily on their side when the underside of their ears are scratched. Akuun rose abruptly from his tarp and exited the tent with zeal in his step and a wild grin on his face. The boy heard an indignant voice curse him as he ran out of the camp and towards the fields where the herd grazed, making sure to raid the storage tent beforehand. As he fed the nannies and wrestled with some of the more daring kids, Akuun noticed a pair of bucks pawing the ground, their tails bristled. Curiosity piqued, the boy carefully crept up, taking care to stay out of ramming range. When Akuun saw what the bucks had seen, panic swept over him. He dropped his knapsack and began sprinting back towards the village. “Help!” the boy cried, “Xer’Sai! Big one!” As he ran, his foot caught on a tangle of thorny brush. Akuun yelped as he fell face- forward onto the calloused earth. He closed his eyes and waited for the ear-piercing shriek that preceded a fury of razer sharp claws. Instead, he heard a burp. Akuun turned around to see a creature unlike anything he had ever seen rummaging through his knapsack. Two saurian legs supported a pudgy, grub-like body plated in purple scales. A pair of stubby arms struggled to reach into the bag. “Hey!” the boy yelled as he ripped his foot free from its entanglements. An otherworldly face turned to meet the boy. A set of four amber eyes blinked curiously at him. “That’s no Xer’Sai…” Akuun muttered as he stood. “Hi friend,” the boy said cautiously. A mixture of bright green and crimson fluid dripped steadily from the creature’s ridged jaw. “Are you enjoying my pomegranates? They’re delicious, aren’t they?” The alien tilted its head as four long, blue-grey antennae perked up. “Friend… delicious,” the creature responded in a garbled voice. Akuun’s mouth dropped in amazement. “You can talk?” “Pomegranate!” it responded as its claws clumsily hooked the straps of the knapsack. The creature waddled over and plopped the bag at Akuun’s feet, its tail wagging eagerly. The boy only stared in awe. He felt a smile break out as the creature nudged the knapsack closer to him with its grey, reptilian head. “You hungry, friend?” Akuun said as he picked up the bag and produced a shiny red fruit. The creature drooled bright green drops that seared the earth on contact. “Hungry!” the creature gurgled. Wary of the acid, Akuun placed the pomegranate on the ground and took a step back. The creature’s nostrils flared as it hobbled happily to the fruit. Akuun watched with wide eyes as the creature opened its maw and extended a toothed tongue that resembled a sucker-fish he had seen once when his tribe passed through market. A glob of bright green acid shot from the tongue and enveloped the pomegranate. “That’s amazing!” Akuun exclaimed while the creature feasted enthusiastically on its predigested meal. When it was finished, the creature toddled back to Akuun and salivated as it waited for another treat. Akuun grabbed another pomegranate out of his knapsack and tossed it between his hands a view times. He laughed as the creature’s four eyes intently followed the fruit, its tail swinging back and forth. The boy placed the pomegranate down and gently caressed the creature’s smooth, leathery head while it ate. “You’re no Shuriman, but you should still have a name,” the boy said affectionately, “how about Kog’Maw?” The creature glanced up and seemed to babble in approval. Or it burped. “Hungry!” the creature exclaimed as it gobbled up the last of the dissolved fruit. “I’m all out of pomegranates,” Akun said as he turned his bag upside down. “If you come with me, I can get you more food. Does that sound good?” Kog’Maw burbled in response. Akuun laughed as he slipped his knapsack onto his shoulders and headed back towards the village, his new friend close behind. As the moon hung high, Akuun corralled his alien companion into a storage tent using bits of Eka’Sul jerky. The boy grabbed a tangle of jasper vine from a sack and began peeling away the thorns with a small pocket knife. He cursed quietly as a slip-up caused drops of crimson to trickle from his hand. Kog’Maw’s nostrils flared as its four eyes stared keenly at the dripping blood. The boy placed half a pomegranate impaled with a vine stem in front of the creature. “That should help you sleep,” the boy said gently as Kog’Maw promptly devoured the gift. Akuun giggled as he placed his knapsack beneath his head and extinguished the tent’s lantern. “Goodnight, friend.”

*********** The tribe awoke to a nightmare. A shepherd searching for his riding crop found instead a creature feasting upon a visceral mess of blood and searing acid. A half-digested knapsack could be seen protruding from the miasma. The eldritch terror turned, revealing an unholy maw dripping with a mixture of bright green and crimson fluid. “Friend…” an alien voice called. The man’s face morphed from horror to disbelief. “Friend... delicious.” A torrent of acid began spewing from the monster’s mouth, and all the shepherd could do was scream.