WHEN evening arrived, they all met at the palace to have dinner. The group and the King were seated side by side along with several soldiers in a large hall marked red with hematite. The smell of the iron lingered in the hall, yet it was overpowered when the meals were brought their way. By that point Tūmbṃār and Nakthaḥm were already filled from their previous meals, having taken together well over what they should have, and their bellies having grown so large overturned them like wrecked ships. They were so sick of eating that when the meals of even greater delight came their way, and the scent of cardamom, asafetida, and turmeric rushed up their noses, they felt an urge to vomit.

“It is times like these, I wish I did not have the body of a Mānuzhhaḥ,” said Nakthaḥm, slumping and burping on the low-rise table, “though great the meals taste. Bearing the pangs of fullness and the pangs of hunger at once is much worse than I thought.”

“You have two stomachs now?” said Sanyhaḥmān, as he patted his back, drinking and laughing.

“Nay three: one for the mundane meals, another for the curse, and one more for this monkey if he shall not be quiet!”

“You needn’t be mad! I don’t taste quite that good if my prior adventures are anything to go by.”

“Oh!” said the Demon as he burped, “so you have been eaten in the past before.”

“Almost eaten!” Sanyhaḥmān corrected. “Attempting to eat a sweaty man as myself in the heat of battle quickly makes one lose their appetite. There was one time in Vzpryṃhaḥ where I had encountered some foul cannibals, and they tried to roast me on a spit! Luckily for me, as soon as I started sweating, the smell became so powerful that it knocked them out before the fire could sear me. And I, in quick fashion, made my escape from there.”

“You must have been quite weak then, to be overpowered by them,” said Nakthaḥm, who now felt woozy.

“No, far from it! These beings seemed to have been quite versed in the dark powers. At the time I was resting in the woods, far from any village or town, and believe me, as long as I’m not drugged I can tell, even in sleep, if something is headed my way! Unfortunately, I didn’t take to heart the words of the villagers and townsfolk who said to not venture into those woods. Since I was still on my quest, I had to at least try to see if anything was there.

“So I journeyed deep inside for some days, and on one particular night I saw a rather foul willow, but being very tired, I slept underneath it. Now I should’ve taken the second warning given my way, where the animals avoided that site and would not dare speak about it. Before I’d known it, I was already being carried away, thoroughly tied with some power holding me from resisting. I was quite terrified when I saw who my captors were. We’d do well to avoid that place, for those cannibals were also horrific in looks. Their eyes bulged from their heads, their teeth had been sharpened like a razor, and their bodies seemed so mangled that you could mistake them as the undead horde of your kin!”

“Enough Sanyhaḥmān,” cried Feyūnhaḥ, “you’re going to ruin our appetites!”

“My appetite is already ruined, thank you very much,” said Nakthaḥm with another burp.

The King laughed. “That is quite the tale! Strange things do lurk in the deeps of many sites; now more often than before.” He then shifted his head and, in joy, said, “Ah! The second round is coming!”

More food and drinks were brought to their table. Tūmbṃār could handle it no more and rushed outside to vomit. Iḷēhaḥ shook her head in disappointed. She thought at the very least the sage would temper the boy’s appetite, but it was not as if she was one to speak of it given her own gluttonous tendency and having drunk that whole day. Tūmbṃār came back a little dizzy yet refreshed, smelling of vomit. The reek and stench made some of the Gazhigam across the tables faint from sheer disgust. The group had already grown used to it, for even without the vomit, Tūmbṃār would often smell quite foul, and compounded with the maiden’s bad odor, it usually came worse. Perhaps that was one reason Iḷēhaḥ was always eager to freshen herself.

Iḷēhaḥ took time to relate of all the events of their journey to the King. When she finished and their eating slowed, she cleared her throat, and said, “I think I shall speak now of what occurred in the Heavens.”

The rest dropped their hands from their mouths, attentive to the maiden.