Thoris was delighted when Dema and Belinda finally arrived at Thoth from Minga. He had been there a week, anxious about the strange and ominous events transpiring all across Arishamal. His days had been filled partially with the constant worry that plagued him and partially with Chumley's charge of tending to the Asherouboros.

It seemed at first to be a fool's mission, feeding a legendary monster as though he were a goldfish, but as the days past, a strange thing happened. The first day, as he lowered the foul-smelling remains from the fish-market into the Circe Sea, Thoris stayed well back from the edge of the wall, fearful and apprehensive. By the next day, he ventured a peek over the edifice to view the legendary beast. Soon he stood in full view during the meal, watching the massive eel-like body slipping out of the water to engulf the sacks.

The morning that Dema and Belinda arrived, he leaned over the wall, closely examining the Asherouboros as it circled below, occasionally glancing upward at the watching weasel. It really was a magnificent creature, thought Thoris. Its scales glistened an almost electric blue in the sunlight. A crimson fin ran the length of its body, ending in a forked powerful tail. On its side, near its prominent head, two small vestigial limbs flexed and probed, grabbing scraps of food and pushing them into its gaping maw.

Its injured eye, the one which Chumley had sliced, was milky white, and always open. Its good eye was a brilliant ice-blue and shone with excited instinct. Thoris stared with fascination at the razor-sharp rows of teeth, almost too large for its mouth, ripping and tearing the sacks of fish-parts. Thoris, like Chumley had developed a genuine fondness for the terrifying monster, and couldn't help laughing aloud at the realization.

The Asherouboros, for its part, had learned to recognize Thoris as it did Chumley. It was eons old, older in fact than Arisha, who was indirectly responsible for its existence. When it was born, it was an eel of sorts, striving to survive in the extreme environment of the alternately frozen and boiling Circe Sea. The roiling inland lake was a hostile place to grow.

Besides the stunning variance of temperature, the volcanic gases bubbling through the water had, over time, infused every manner of chemical into it. It was a toxic soup like no other, changing the creatures who dwelt within it. Long before it became a monster, the Asherouboros was already a freak, living in a dismal and dangerous world. It didn't ask to be born and in the confines of its liquid hell, did not see life so much as a blessing as a punishment. A life filled with the pangs of hunger in a world that offered very little food. It ate everything it found, animate or inanimate. It was this propensity which changed the nature of its existence forever.

When Arisha's egg fell from the sky like a brilliant organic meteor, a piece chipped off during its descent and fell into the Circe Sea. Attracted by its aroma dissipating through the currents, the beast devoured it. The shell, infused with the same essence with which Arisha would later create the wizard lineage of Arishamal, began to change the beast forever.

It became ageless, not invulnerable or immortal, but a creature outside time, forever the same age. It grew and contorted, still eel-like, but now something more. A dim sense of self-awareness developed, a confused and tortured vision of itself. Like the Jinn trapped and then released after a thousand years of imprisonment, it did not feel gratitude, only rage and hatred for everything. What many would see as a great gift, was to the beast, a curse.

The constant hunger it had felt was changed to an insatiable craving for the magical spice it had tasted. It could smell magic now and feel those Arisha had blessed with her essence. It yearned to consume more, to quiet the pain, to ease the torment. For centuries it hunted, to no avail, within its churning prison for that which it could never find, the sustenance of magic.

At night it would raise its head above the waters and thunder an agonized shriek into the coal-black sky, terrifying the residents of Thoth.

The next change in the miserable monster's life was no less shattering. After all the centuries of yearning, the Asherouboros found the essence it so craved. It ate Khalis, the ice-queen, supreme sorceress of Morgaard. No sooner was she consumed than an amazing thing happened, the craving, which had felt like daggers in the beast's brain became mere tingling. The beast was able to sleep after countless lifetimes of a frenzied and fitful existence.

The Asherouboros calmed, even managing at times to be almost content. Its primary hunger for food returned and when Chumley began feeding it, it took instinctive note of the small rat who daily quenched its needs. Without the pain, it could remember, even think in its own way. It still felt sorrow, even regret and frustration, but it was no longer hungry and that was as close to joy as the creature was likely to get. It still smelled the perfume of magic when a wizard visited Thoth and the aroma would make its body tingle and old cravings surface, but they would pass when the odor did, letting the Asherouboros rest once more.

On the day Dema and Belinda returned to Thoth, the Asherouboros had developed a new habit, though Thoris, who had only been in its presence for a week, was unaware that this new behavior was unique. Upon completion of its feeding, rather than quickly submerge beneath the murky waters as it had always done, the creature slowly circled in a wide arc below the bridge, its upper fin above the water, enjoying the warmth of the early day sun upon its scales.

Thoris leaned over the wall, staring at the shining metallic-looking scales sparkling in the light, when a familiar voice croaked loudly behind him.
"Dear Targas, don't tell me that rascal of a son-in-law's got you feeding that thing now?"

Thoris turned to see Dema, the ancient toad healer, standing with her arms spread in welcome and a large friendly grin on her wrinkled features. He rusher over and gave her a powerful hug.
"Ith wonderful to thee you, Dema. Whereth Belinda?" the pudgy weasel asked.

Dema walked over to the edge of the wall and looked down at the Asherouboros slowly circling below.
"She's feeling a bit nauseous, so she went to lie down."

"Nothing theriouth, I hope," Thoris said with concern.

Dema smiled.
"No Sebastian, nothing serious," she stared down at the legendary beast, "that's new, Chumley's pet seems to be dancing for you."

"Jutht happy, I thuppose."

Dema picked up a stray fish-head and tossed it into the water. The Asherouboros engulfed it and continued its circular dance. The old toad smiled.
"I used to be terrified of your friend. He's had a tortured life, really. All beasts deserve a measure of happiness, even monsters."

Thoris laughed.
"You're jutht an old thofty, Dema."

"Don't you dare tell Chumley," Dema sniggered, "my only sway over that rat is his fear of my wrath." She looked back down, "The Asherouboros seems to change every day since his meal of our former queen. He seems to be growing new fins and some kind of...I suppose you'd call it a beard."

Thoris leaned further over the edge and squinted at the beast.
"Yeth, you see him more than I do, but you're right, the beard ith new, like a rooster hath. Hith color ith getting lighter too."

Dema stood upright and turned away from the lake.
"Well, enough sight-seeing. I'm going to go check on Belinda and get us settled in. Do you have any news about anything?"

Thoris shook his head.
"I'm exthpecting newth from Gleneden any day now and I've received word that King Frega will be arriving in Thoth thoon."

Dema perked up, she was very fond of the Lokians and especially Frega. She found the wolf-warriors candid and honest, qualities she considered very admirable.

"Frega! Wonderful, he's almost as good a chess player as you, Thoris. My game is in need of some polishing...not that either of you will ever beat me, of course."

Thoris followed Dema onto the bridge to escort her back to the castle.
"Of courth," he smiled, "I know Belinda will be delighted as well, she'th alwayth been fond of the Lokians."

"She does like them, they were always kind to her, even when Khalis used them as a royal guard," she became serious, "there are strange things in the air. I wish I knew what was happening...then again, maybe I don't really want that knowledge, ignorance can be very calming."

Thoris laughed.
"Then I mutht be the calmetht beatht in Morgaard."

Dema gave the weasel a hug.
"Then come to my quarters for a game of chess after dinner and we can be calm together."