Chp.6: The secrets of the sand sharks

The beastmen had been a little shaken by this sudden attack and even more so when they discovered that the attackers were sharks with legs that could swim in the sand and fly in the sky. Oddly enough, those strange fish had disturbed them much more than the attack they had suffered. In a way it was normal: all of them had always lived with the idea that fish swim in the water and could never get out of it, so in discovering the existence of those bizarre sharks it seemed to them that the laws of nature had been reversed.

Zamor had managed to calm them down for the moment, constantly reiterating how easily they had repelled those sharks, but by now the damage had been done: people were clearly scared. After all, fear was the basic reaction when faced with something unknown and unable to understand. Zamor knew that, in the long term, this fear would turn into something worse: he knew for sure that there was already someone who hinted at a dark magic or even at the work of an evil god. If he hadn't found a solution soon, the situation could have escalated.

Zamor knew that the only way to truly reassure the beastmen was to give them a logical explanation as to how those absurd fish could exist. Otherwise, however much he might encourage them, the fear would not dissipate and at every obstacle someone would remember that event, always connecting it in some way, until they were convinced that a curse hovered over them. Therefore, Zamor had decided to camp right away, using the excuse that they had already had too many emotions for that day, to give Haku more time to study the bizarre fish, hoping that the dragon would figure it out soon.

So they had camped earlier than expected. They had set up tents and everyone had taken refuge inside them to avoid the scorching sun. Zamor had also created a perimeter of guards to ward off any new attacks, although he doubted they would happen: by now the dragons, his main source of warning of danger, were quiet again, which meant that there were no other predators on the way. After setting everything up, Zamor had asked Haku to come to his tent and inspect one of the corpses in front of him, so that he could be informed of everything and could then explain everything to the beastmen; although he could have had an account given, he was sure he would remember things better if he had seen them for himself. Furthermore, Zamor had also called all the other beastmen leaders and his trusted advisors, so that they too could see and make sure that those fish were completely natural and not the result of some dark magic. To be safe, he had also called Isaac, in case he needed help or the advice of an experienced mage.

When Haku arrived, the tent was already full of people who seemed quite eager to see him at work. While many of them disliked him, they were aware of his intelligence and knew he was the best person to solve the mystery. The dragon barely managed to get a third of his body inside the tent, but that was enough for him to get to work. With a thud, he knocked one of the fish onto the ground. "This is the best looking sand shark we have" he explained. For lack of a better term, he'd decided he'd simply call the fish 'sand sharks'. "Now let's find out what its secrets are. First, how does it breathe..."

Haku started opening its gills slightly. Fish didn't have lungs, so logically a fish breathing out of water was impossible. And the sand sharks looked no different: not only their gills were still clearly visible, but during the battle Haku had already ripped open the belly of one of them and verified that they had no lungs. So how did they breathe?

"Wait... what is this?" the dragon muttered as he inspected the gill better. Inside them there was something strange: there were some cavities that seemed strangely swollen. He struck one with his claws and it burst, and a cascade of water poured out of the gill, wetting the entire tent floor. The beastmen let out a cry of surprise when they saw this, and dodged slightly fearing that it was some poison, but Haku scooped up some and tasted it. "It's definitely water. I'd say we figured out how these sharks breathe"

"Can they store water inside their gills?" Zamor exclaimed amazed.

"Apparently yes. And judging by the amount, that should be enough to breathe for several hours, maybe even days" Haku said. "And since we have already verified that there is a lot of water under the desert, we also know where they go to get other of it"

It made sense. If there really was a lot of water underneath the desert in the form of underground tunnels or the like, then the sharks could have gone there periodically and filled their gills with the precious liquid, then returned to the sand again until they could ran out of water again. Zamor was radiant, and the beastmen in the tent heaved a slight sigh of relief: at least that characteristic of those strange fish wasn't the result of a curse.

Haku then began to inspect the fins. The sand shark had a total of six, of which, however, only two were really large, while the others were much smaller and located in the lower abdomen. Oh, and then also there was the dorsal fin and the tail fins. But as he was still starting to inspect them, Haku's eyes widened in surprise. "This is…really interesting" he muttered. "These fins can be flattened"

Zamor raised an eyebrow. "What does 'flattened' mean?"

Haku moved one of the fins making it rotate; it moved towards the inside of the body until it adhered completely to it. The dragon did the same with the other fins, including the dorsal and tail fins. When he was done, the shark resembled a large snake with a massive head. "That's probably how it moves in the sand" Haku explained. "Animals like snakes can 'swim' in the sand if it is sufficiently friable thanks to their undulating movement. This strange species of shark probably does the same thing, so it can flatten its fins"

"But when they attacked, the dorsal fin was up even though they were still swimming in the sand," Zamor reminded him.

Haku shook his head. "At that time their bodies were close to the surface, the dorsal fin wasn't creating too much friction. It is likely that there is a large amount of sensors on it capable of sensing movements or something, so that they can locate the prey. It's kind of like your hands or your feet, that possess a great sense of touch. Since these sharks can't really see or hear under the sand, they've created an organ that specializes in the sense of touch too"

Zamor concluded that that explanation also made sense. He didn't care if it was right or wrong in truth: the fundamental thing for him was that it was plausible and above all that no one could find arguments to dispute it, so that everyone would be convinced that it was the right one and stop believing in some sort of curse. "Can the legs flatten on the body too?"

Haku turned the sand shark around and showed the spider-like legs that were folded under the belly to the point of being almost part of it. "As you can see, they can. And besides, they're not legs, they're modified fins" the dragon explained. "Normal fins are supported by one or more bones, or in the case of these sharks by cartilage, and then a membrane arises from the tip of those bones which connects to the belly, forming the paddle structure we know. But these fins have no such membrane, being then formed only by a support of very thin cartilage which forms these legs similar to those of a spider Normally a creature shouldn't be able to support its own weight on such small legs, but given the leaps it is capable of making I think that you use your mana to lighten yourself, thereby becoming able to move nimbly on these slender limbs"

Zamor smiled more and more happily; the more they inspected the creature, the more and more natural it seemed, and that was exactly what he wanted. If he had explained to the beastmen what he had discovered, he almost certainly would not have arrived even halfway through the speech before everyone was convinced and, above all, reassured. However, he wanted to make sure he didn't leave even the slightest doubt in their minds. "It can lighten itself with mana... so I assume that's why it can fly!"

Haku reflected. "In part. Almost certainly the mana plays a fundamental role, since otherwise such a large body could not rise, not at the speed we have seen at least. But to remain stable, it use these" and he pointed to the larger fins. "Even the lightest creature, without a prop, is bound to land sooner or later. But using these fins, the sand shark can instead fly for long periods. Look: the muscles that govern them allow them to do this" and having said that he moved the fin back and forth obliquely. "And from what we've seen, they can do it very quickly. They're like the wings of a bee: they move the air around them to fly. Using the smaller fins instead..." and he pointed to the other four fins. "... it can direct itself, a a bit like rudders, so they go in the direction he wants and not just be moved by the wind, as it would be if he moved only the upper fins. With these abilities combined, I think it could even stay still in the air in the middle of the strong wind of the desert if it wanted to"

That shark was really fascinating. Up to that point all the animals dragons knew would have had a hard time flying in the desert, since their wings weren't made to steer themselves in such strong winds; it would have been impossible for a bird to stand still in one place. Those sharks, on the other hand, had acquired all the necessary adaptations to face the adverse conditions of the Yuthia Desert, becoming predators that could move easily in any environment and thus guaranteeing them almost total certainty of hunting success. Which was normal, since, as Haku had pointed out several times, even if there had been a complex underground water system and a large ecosystem had been present in it, the resources in the desert would still have been extremely limited, and therefore for predators of that size it was imperative to be able to capture the prey.

However, this raised another question for Haku: Why did these sharks hunt in packs? Of course, the herd guaranteed greater safety in hunting, but also more mouths to feed. Fish weren't exactly famous for having a complex social structure, and certainly the hostile environment of the desert would not have been conducive to improvement. In those extreme conditions, it would have been much easier for the sand sharks to be solitary than to hunt in groups.

Unless... there was a prey big enough to feed them all. A prey that might have been rare, but that those sharks could eat for days if they could find it.

This could have been good. Haku doubted that such prey could be carnivorous: after all, a predator large enough to feed numerous sand sharks could never survive in a desert. But if it had been a herbivore, or at least an animal that was easy to manage, then perhaps it could have become their main food source! If they had been able to raise it, then it would have been a disproportionate amount of meat!

Haku was going to talk about it with Zamor, but then decided it was better not to do it. The lizardman had brought the beastmen leaders here to prove to them that they had nothing to worry about, so it wasn't a good idea to mention the possibility of an unknown giant animal. And then, technically, his was just a mere hypothesis at the moment. So, for now it was better to keep quiet.

Zamor, who obviously didn't know what Haku was thinking, clapped his hands in satisfaction. "Perfect. And with that, I'd say that we finally have a clear idea of ​​who our mysterious attacker was, and above all that it wasn't so abnormal as we thought" he said. "Do any of you still have doubts?"

None of the beastmen leaders answered. It was clear they had nothing to say. "Well, then I'll organize a big meeting and explain to everyone that this fish is just an animal and certainly not the fruit of an evil sorcery" the lizardman continued. "And when people have understood that everything is normal, we will no longer have anything to worry us about and we will be able to continue our journey peacefully. By the way, is this meat edible?"

Obviously Zamor had immediately thought about the possibility of breeding those creatures. "It's edible, and it's also very sweet" Haku confirmed. "But I doubt it's a good idea to try to breed them"

In fact, breeding dangerous sharks wasn't exactly the most brilliant thought, but Zamor was sure that, thinking about it, he could have come up with something. "Okay. Thanks for the help, Haku"

"Don't worry. Can I take the carcass away, or do you still need it?" the dragon asked. "I would like to continue inspecting the body to discover the other secrets of this bizarre fish"

"I don't need it. Take it" was Zamor's reply.

Haku nodded and dragged the shark away, then nodded to Isaac. "Can you come with me? I wanted to try and figure out how his mana works". The mage nodded and followed him.