The Third Ubtir

The owl had disappeared at some point. Rudsis sat alone in the forest at night in front of a fire. The crackling of the flames would have been comforting, had he not known what he was likely to encounter that night.

"The fact that she's not here with me confirms it," thought Rudsis. "The next monster…"

He still remembered the little song he'd been taught. First there was the spider, then the worm, then the bat.

"It eats tongues to learn them, but if you entertain it, a great story it will tell. He'll stay in the shadows beyond my fire, and will greet me. But it will do so in different languages and expect me to answer to one of them."

The fire crackled on.

"And if I don't answer, if I don't know any of the languages it knows, it will eat my tongue to learn my language."

It would have been soothing to spend the night in calming silence, listening to the fire. Rudsis could have lain down, gotten comfortable, stared at the canopy above him, and let sleep creep up on him. He couldn't remember when last he had fallen asleep without realizing it. He could count those times with one hand, and remember each of those times easily because they'd been his favorite nights.

"Are you up there?" he asked staring at the fire.

No response came.

"You're either not here, or you're watching me. I hope you're not here. I'd get mad if you were here, simply watching until a monster comes to get me."

Again, no response.

The fire crackled.

Rudsis didn't know how long he sat there, trying to distract himself with thoughts of other things. Curioulsy enough, nothing came to mind.

"It's as if I haven't lived at all," he said to himself. "As if all the years of my life had never happened. I can't think of any memories, or moments from my past."

This was not true. He could remember his encounter with the chirping spider and the hissing worm, but preferred not to dwell on those things.

"Orne."

The word came from the darkness, but he couldn't locate where. The voice that had issued it was curious, raspy, and neither high or low.

Something moved to Rudsis' right. Then to his left. Then behind him.

"Lakt," said the voice.

Something moved to Rudsis' left.

"Honnn."

Rudis waited. All he could do was wait to hear his language. The owl had told him that if he answered before, the prowling bat would kill him immediately, and not even eat his tongue. Apparently, it had a sense of propriety, and speaking before it found your language was somehow uncouth.

"Rulay."

Looking around, Rudsis could not see the thing. It was impossible. The darkness was not absolute, and he could hear the monster moving. Its darkened form should have been visible, but there was nothing anywhere.

"Mothi."

Rudsis couldn't tell where the voice was coming from, and realized that the thing must have been able to speak without moving its mouth, like the owl did.

"Hello."

"Hello!" Rudsis hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath until he let out the greeting in a burst.

"Aaaaaaah." The expression sounded like a creaking door. A pair of eyes opened, seeming to float in the darkness. They were big, yellow, and dotted over with irregular black dots, like pock marks.

Rudsis couldn't tell if the eyes had any pupils or not.

"Tell a story to me," said the monster.

Rudsis would have kicked himself. He'd had all the time in the world to think of the story it could tell this thing, but hadn't.

"My name is Rudsis," he tried to stall.

"I care not."

"Well," Rudsis cleared his throat. "Let me see…"

"Take the needed time," said the monster. "I know your tongue already."

The thought of giving thanks crossed Rudsis' mind, but it also felt ridiculous, and he preferred not to risk angering whatever was talking to him from beyond the light of his fire.

Finally, Rudsis decided to tell a story about how two legendary warriors had fought for a whole night with their swords. There were no stars or moon in the sky back then, and they had to fight blindly. They fought the whole night, and every time their swords clashed, sparks came out, and became the stars.

"Hmmm." The monster seemed to savor the story. "Good story. I will remember it and tell it anew to someone. But for you, I have another one. You told me how the stars came to be, but do you know of the moon?"

"No."

"Do you know what is an Ubtir?"

"No."

"One like me." The monster sniffed. "Or like the worm you encountered. And the spider, I think I smell on you too. We are ubtirs. Understood?"

"Yes."

"It was one like me. She came to a human one night. She was hungry and wanted to eat the human's tongue, but she already knew it. Because of this, she had to settle for a story. The human told the story, and the one like me liked it. So much so that the ubtir asked for another story. The human told another story, and the ubtir liked that one too.

"The one like me told her own story, said good-bye, and was to leave. But the human stopped her. The human asked the ubtir why he couldn't see her, and the ubtir answered that it was because she did not wish to be seen. Then, the human proposed something. He said that if he told another good story, the ubtir would have to stay until morning came, and show herself.

"There was no moon back then. The ubtir agreed. The human told his story, and she liked it. This meant that she had to stay until morning, and show herself. When the sun rose, she let herself be seen, and the human told her that she was beautiful.

"She accompanied the human, but one night, because there was no light, the human fell down a cliff. She cried and sacrificed herself, wishing for a little sun to illuminate the nights so humans could see the world at night.

"The moon appeared. But sometimes, it hides itself because it does not want the sun to see it. The moon is weaker, and the sun could eat it."

Rudsis nodded. Not knowing what to say, he took the words the monster had said to him. "I'll remember the story and tell it anew."

"It will change," said the utbir. "It will change and make its way to me again, but different. Humans change everything, and it is fun to see how you change things."

Again, Rudsis nodded. The ubtir said nothing, and the yellow, pocked eyes stared at him.

"Do you want another story?" said Rudsis.

"Have you questions?"

Rudsis had to blink several times. He didn't know if saying he didn't would make the monster angry. But the song told him to entertain it, and playing it safe seemed like the way to go.

"Why did she accompany him?"

"I have no certainty, but he spoke to her without fear. Humans fear ubtirs, as it should be. As the moon fears the sun. We are stronger, and we eat you. But humans tell stories, and we like them."

"Will you eat me?"

"I know your tongue. I do not need it. Do you want to see me during the day?"

Rudsis stared at the pocked eyes. Whatever owned them could not, in any way, shape, or form, be beautiful.

"No."

"Good-bye, and thank you for the story. Do not go west. One like me lives there, and does not know your tongue."

The eyes closed, disappearing completely. The sound of movement came, but faded.

Alone, Rudsis thought it would have been nice to sleep while listening to the crackling of the fire. After thinking that he'd been able to keep both his tongue and life, he decided it was just as nice to listen to the fire, and keep it alive until the sun came out.