Chapter 29: Big Mook

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Right after Askauri manages to snatch up his son and escape, folding them both over into the Incata, Big Mook gets slowly to his feet, prompted along by a stream of insults from Dakari.

The big, shambling parody of a man accepts the hateful words from the little spider demon because such was his lot. He had been snared in the Wilds of the Incata, where he was, in fact, a rare creature of magic, his form as big as the skies.

But he had been brought low by ruthless men who chained and fed on his essence, trapped it within this thin shell on this dull world to do their bidding.

His mind though roamed far and wide and he barely perceived of what was happening in the moment, lost as he was to dreams of freedom. But these ruthless men were also very powerful and had compelled him to answer and obey their beck and call. Men such as Dakari.

As Mook continues to be berated and assaulted with fists and feet and vicious words and curses, however, Mook hears the call of another. Perhaps, the final arbiter of these ruthless men.

And just like that, he has a new master; he is instructed to kill his old master.

Reaching out with a speed that belies his bulk, Mook's huge hand smothers Dakari's foul mouth, stifling the vomitous flow of words. He squeezes the foul thing's jaw bone until it pops and cracks. Lifting his feet off of the ground, Mook enjoys the squeals and squirms of this small, piteous thing.

He grabs Dakari's arm at the wrist and wrenches it off at the shoulder. Throwing the severed limb to the ground, he then uses both hands to break Dakari's neck with a loud crunch before discarding his lifeless body.

Mook turns to the two unconscious boys lying yards away amid the dirt and gravel, lifts their erstwhile leader, Deshaun, by the nape of his neck, and steps with him over into the Incata.