Page 46 of In Darkness and Dank

Bal purred loudly, and the baby turned around and swam to her. Part of its shell was still stuck to its foot, and Bal cradled it against her chest.

Kittisak wanted to keep watching the tender moment, but he had to breathe. He patted Shu’s arm to let him go and then swam back up to the surface. He swam close enough to shore for his feet to touch again, and he was surprised when Shu and Bal followed him.

“Today is wonderful day!” Bal shouted.

The baby gurgled, pawing at her shoulder and clearly trying to escape back into the water.

“Ah, ah.” Shu reached out to snag the piece of the eggshell still caught on the baby’s foot.

“Congratulations!” Kittisak said. “Your baby is beautiful.”

“Baby son!” Bal beamed. “My son, Hue.” She presented the squirming baby to Kittisak for his inspection.

“Hi, Hue!” Kittisak laughed, delighted by the baby’s continued attempt to flee. “Wow, that was seriously incredible. He’s so cute!”

“Very cute.” Shu grinned as he reached out to pet Hue’s head. “Very, very cute. Brih.”

“Brih?”

“Mine.” Shu pointed at himself. “Bea.”

“Brih is nephew, bea is uncle,” Bal explained. “Very happy family now.”

“What’s father?” Kittisak asked.

Bal’s smile dipped. “Pai. Pai is father.”

Shu shot Kittisak a pleading look, and he cleared his throat.

“Are your babies always born underwater like that?” Kittisak asked quickly to redirect the conversation.

“Huh.” Shu took his hand back once Hue tried to grab it and chew on him. “Eggs go in water. Always.”

“Must stay away from egg bite.” Bal brightened back up as she repositioned Hue against her chest to keep him from getting away. “Not good for plants.”

“Oh, he’ll… try to eat the plants?” Kittisak didn’t understand, though Hue did seem pretty bitey.

“Eh.” Shu ducked into the water, and then he came back with a large piece of the eggshell.

It looked weird, like it was crumbling away, and it was smoking.

“What the fuck?” Kittisak blinked in surprise.

“No touch,” Bal warned. “Egg bite hurt Kitty. Kitty squishy.”

Kittisak watched the shell continue to disintegrate and smoke, and he was instantly reminded of what he’d seen happen at the grave before. “Is it like an acid?”

“Yes, acid. Bad, bad touch.” Bal nodded. “Egg bite hard. Bad for plants. Bad for rocks.”

“Bad for gold?” Kittisak ventured. “Gold? You know, shiny yellow like the sun gold?”

“Yes, I know gold.” Bal rolled her eyes. “And yes, egg bite eat that too.”

“It’s just like royal water,” Kittisak said suddenly.

“Royal water?” Shu repeated. “What water?”

“We saw it, uh, in the grave.” Kittisak watched as the last of the shell dissolved away. “It happens when certain chemicals interact, and it’s not supposed to be found in nature.”

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