Sometime in the afternoon, a rumour began to spread about Syryn. Proof had been found that he was allegedly the child of a spy from the kingdom of Qion. Groomed from a very young age, he was sent to Elysium to spy on the royals and create trouble for Sigil. 

Rowan hadn't been concerned by the numerous false allegations that had come up about Syryn but this one was different. It involved espionage and security so there was a high probability that the Sanguines would be tasked with investigating Syryn's past and subsequent journey to Sigil. It was a malicious smear campaign and he knew it was just the beginning. There wasn't much time left before the ceremony so the ones trying to take down Syryn would be hard at work at the moment fabricating evidence and letting the word spread. 

"Who do you suppose is behind this?" Red asked Rowan. Luci, Syryn, and Rowan had come to the lake near their home for a fishing trip. Having heard of Syryn's fishing exploits, the redhead had convinced the older brother that a fishing trip was due. Now they all sat at the edge of the lake, brandishing long fishing poles with colourful lures on the ends. The surface of the lake was placid and its colour was an unsettling murky black that didn't allow vision past a few inches in.

Taking a look at the dark colour of the water, Rowan prohibited Lucien from ever coming to the lake by himself. Even swimming was out of the question. 

"I suspect it's the powers on top," Rowan replied. "Could be members of the nobility and the clergy colluding." 

Syryn hummed in response. After Lillith's declaration, he wasn't surprised to hear that Saint's Moon and the priests of Eos were involved. 

"Bunch of rotten-" Red's lure was abruptly snatched by a fish. The line went taut and whatever was at the end of it began to pull hard at the fishing rod. Red dug his heels in and resisted the hard pull of the lure. It was too strong. He was slowly dragged towards the edge of the water. 

Rowan was quick to react. He caught the child with one arm and grabbed the fishing pole with his other hand. Even he was surprised by how strong the fish was. 

(Red, have we caught a monstrous fish?!)

[All I know is that it's strong enough to drown a child.]

(Scary.)

Rowan pulled one end and the fish pulled at the other end. He was winning the fight but then the fishing line couldn't withstand the tension and it snapped at the centre. The creature in the lake got away as three humans stood at the edge of the lake and stared into the dark water. 

"What do you think that was?" Syryn asked Rowan. It couldn't have been an ordinary fish. He was sure of it. 

"No idea." Rowan still had an arm around Lucien. 

The two of them made eye contact above Lucien's head. This was supposed to be an ordinary lake. How was it that it harboured a creature strong enough to pull in a kid?

"I'll take a look inside," Rowan told Syryn. 

"No, let me," the mage responded, hand catching Rowan who was moving forward. "I can breathe underwater." 

"Or we could just let Levia take a look," Red suggested. "There's no need for either of you to get wet." 

Rowan had thought of it as well but Levia was at the house, sleeping in Enkansh's room. The walk back would take a little more than half an hour.

"It's fine-" just as Syryn spoke, his lure also dipped into the water and disappeared beneath the surface. 

"Quick, catch it!" Red shouted. 

Syryn was closer to it and caught it before Rowan. 

[Can you do something?!] He yelled inside his head at the mage. He didn't want the line breaking again. 

What do I look like? A fisherman?

The old fart was no help to him.

"I can see it!" Red excitedly pointed at the water. There was a long black shape in the water. "Syryn pull!" 

"I'm trying!" 

This time, the fishing line didn't break. Syryn gave a mighty tug and out came the largest inland fish they had ever seen. With a loud splash, it broke the water's surface and came flying through the air towards them, propelled by Syryn's pull at the other end of the line. 

When the fish came flying at him, the mage reacted subconsciously and punched the fish in its gasping mouth. The force of Syryn's blow sent it back into the water but he had knocked it out cold. 

"Good work," Red said with laughter. Having fainted from the hit, the fish was floating on top of the water. 

They reeled the catch in and crowded around the abnormal-looking fish. 

"You did it again, Syryn," Rowan said with admiration. Even in an inland lake that was supposed to be safe, Syryn had caught an ugly fish. 

Luci laughed at Rowan's words. He looked up at his older brother who had a frown on his face. 

[Am I cursed?]

Probably. That thing looks like a penis.

Syryn could not unsee it. [Why did you have to say that? It cost you nothing to not say it!]

The fish was snake-like and long. It resembled an eel but it had little fins at its sides. The rest of it was dark grey and wrinkly. Its head was a little mushroom-shaped and it didn't seem to have eyes. All in all, it looked like a penis had escaped from its owner and decided to start a new life as a fish. 

"Do you see what I see?" Red said with wonder. 

"Throw it back inside," Rowan quickly told Syryn. 

"No, no! We have to show it to th others! Salem will love it!" Red's eyes were shining with excitement. "Look at its mouth!" 

The fish eel thing had a seam that ran from one side of its smooth head to the other side. There were no teeth to be seen. 

"I think we should cut it open," Syryn said as he kicked at the creature. "I wonder if it's native to the lake or..." 

"Riha has come here before. He can probably tell us something about it," Rowan supplied.

"Yeah, let's take it back." 

Syryn's troubles with the priests were forgotten about for now. The ugliness of the phallus fish had taken up all their attention.