At this point, he was quite sure that the library that he had been so confident about was a dastardly sham! There was no way that a place that was the core of one of the strongest a.s.sociations of people in the world did not have knowledge that anyone with a little luck would be able to find out.

The sword snouted fish looked on with a patronizing amount of amus.e.m.e.nt in its emerald green eyes, a tiny quirk of its head the only sign of the inner laughter that it was undoubtedly indulging in.

With a soft sigh Lorean got back into a serious mood, "At another time I would have probably been astonished by the fact that you could speak, but at this point that is pretty much the last thing on my mind.

So I'll keep it simple. What may I do for you, and what will I get in return?" A somber gleam shot through the thicket of black hair covering his eyes as he carefully regarded the creature before him.

A simple hum seemed to sound from the lean creature before him. "Quite direct I see, much unlike the other gill-less ones that I have come across.

My proposition is simple legged one, I wish for the retrieval of a certain other legged one from the famed and cursed nest of the bearded folk. For that I shall grant you permission to command a meager school of the ones you see before you." He said in a supercilious tone.

He shook his fin, seemingly praising himself for the serious manner in which he had conducted himself in.

"Ho? This sounds interesting. But I am not yours to command so brazenly sea king, I shall go to the place that you call the nest of the bearded folk to rescue my crew but that has nothing to do with you." Lorean said calmly for he did not want to accept the proposition of someone without trusting them.

Maybe the sea kings would decide halfway that they did not wish to listen to the words of a human, maybe they would not even show up. Or worst of all maybe they would decide that they were hungry enough to take a bite out of his back. Lorean was not keen on fighting a battle on two fronts, unlike many other characters that he could name.

The sea king froze in surprise, looking over at him with genuine curiosity, that could have been a feral rage too, seeing as Lorean was not too qualified to read the expressions off the face of a fish.

"You intrigue me gill-less one. Why do you deny my aid? You obviously look to be in need of it? Isn't this like 'giving a hand to one in need' as your race claim?" He asked.

"I find it hard to trust you sea king. It is that simple. I do not believe that you wish for what you claim to want, and neither can I seem to trust my back to a creature that I am unfamiliar with. It is that simple." He replied before walking towards the prow where a small raft lay tied.

"Interesting gill-less one. No one has denied the great Tiamat before!" The sea king called out in a monotonous voice.

"Ho! Who's that?" Lorean replied unconsciously as he pulled the raft towards the s.h.i.+p's side with an oar in hand.

"Me. Was it not clear from the manner in which I spoke?" The one now identified as Tiamat said.

"Beats me. Anyway 'Tiamat' since we were unable to come to a deal why don't you clear the way so I may go. Since the Yuda are a race that antagonizes your own, will I be at least be given a bit of information as to where the nest is?"

"If you agree to our agreement than I could show you?" Tiamat responded leisurely as it saw the angst which Lorean had begun to display in his walk.

With a small sigh Lorean looked at him, the seriousness of the situation had not been lost on him. He had only tried to wiggle his way out of owing this strange and mysterious creature that no one so far had seemed to have encountered before. It was unknown, and that scared him.

"Ugh fine! I shall listen to the entirety of the demand we shall discuss as we move." Lorean declared, hoping that the creature would speak long enough to lead him to his destination.

"So be it." The creature responded.

"The first thing that you must know about the place you are headed is that it is breading and nesting ground to the creatures that you call 'Yuda'. As in every nest however, there must be a ruler, a leader.

While we the royalty of the sea chose not to congregate with the sp.a.w.nlings, the venomous creature do. In every nest of the foul ones you shall find a whole host of old Yuda. The oldest of them all invariable often is also the strongest.

Since they predate on the sea folk, the nest in this stretch of the sea is also the home to the biggest nest of the foul beast." At this point, Lorean had already begun to look grim. An anxious look had overshadowed his eyes as worry for his crew began to increase.

A cruel glimmer remained in the eyes of the sword headed fish as it looked at Lorean from the side of its eyes. The fisherman and the fish had changed places, and with only a few more words it would be time to reel in the net.

"As such, the only reason that there is no open conflict between the bearded folk and the undersea royalty, is because the venomous creatures no some amount of moderation. They do not hunt for sport and do not ever consume more than they absolutely have to.

Unfortunately however, since the hunting ground has become such a bountiful harvest for them, their numbers have only increased!"

At this point Lorean opened his mouth. "Then why do you need me? Since they are such a threat and because you can obviously command your fellow sea creatures to a certain degree why don't attack the nest?"

"heh!" Lorean received the first outright laugh from the creature a savage gleam and a hint of helplessness in its eyes.

"That is because of a simple reason. The nest lord that lives in that foul basin is old. He is old enough to have grown to crumble a mountain in his embrace if he wished.

In fact the ones that now swim alongside the Yuda are alive only because of him! They venerate him to an extent where they built an entire island on him!"