My mind was preoccupied with the thought of sea monsters. Earlier in the tavern, there had been talk of giant beasts prowling the warmer waters to the south, a direction I purposefully avoided going in. Carl, the tavern keeper had scoffed at the notion of giant, snake like creatures nearly the size of a medium boat and laughed as he served my lunch when he saw my face go white at the tale. The stranger who was telling the story was an old sea captain who fit the role perfectly, right down to the wooden leg. "This hear leg, sonny," he began, though I was as old as he, "this leg was taken by a kraken, mind ye!" Carl laughed again, rolled his eyes at me and walked to the other end of the counter.
I asked the stranger for more information, but he just looked at me with a sad smile on his face, as if to say I'd find out on my own. It was that look alone that had me worried this evening. Don't get me wrong, I have been a fisherman in these waters from the day I was old enough to walk the plank and board a boat, standing at my pappys side watching the waves slowly lift the bow, which would come right out of the water for a long breath and then slam back down with a roar. In all those years of fishing with my pappy, I never once laid eyes on anything that could be called a monster. Sure, there was that time when a squid nearly turned our boat over, but my father just laughed as he held on the rigging and called out "There's a big one my boy!", but that look had me worried.
If I hadn't heard the captains tale from other fishermen that called Ocllo home, I wouldn't have put much stock in his grim warnings.
We were far out to sea now, with waves reaching over the side railings, spilling even more water onto the already treacherous decks. My tillerman called ahead to me asking if perhaps we might turn back, and I longed to take his offer and return to the comfort of my home, where a slow fire was waiting to warm my chilled bones. If it were not for the tax man coming soon, I would have, but work is work, and monsters be damned, I had a quota to fill and it had to be done. "Nay," said I, "Keep her steady, lad, bring the bow more into the waves!" ... I sat down near the mast and sharpened the hooks which would soon be in the water.
Soon we reached our spot. The water here was known for the tuna that was the staple of our community and I had fished here many times, always returning with a good catch. I set my line on the port side and cast another line on the starboard. Within moments, I had my first bites and I was pulling in one tuna after another, slowly filling my hold with fish, nearly worth their weight in gold. I had made my way back to the port side of the ship and I was preparing to check my bait when the line jumped. Grabbing the pole, I thought I had landed what could turn out to be the biggest tuna I'd ever caught! The line quickly dragged out until I was running out of spare, when suddenly, about 30 yards out, a head raised out of the water and two eyes, bright with anger looked back towards my boat, looked back directly at me. The head spun around and made as if to ram my ship, but just as it was about to do so, it slipped back under the water. If I hadn't already been white with fear, when I saw the elongated, spiny body that momentarily surfaced, I was then.
My tillerman called out a warning and I spun around to the starboard to find the creature had looped itself back under the boat and was now hovering 2 or 3 feet above my deck, a long tongue quickly darting in and out of a maul lined with razor sharp fangs! I opened my hand to drop my pole and found I had already lost it and I grabbed for my dirk which, as always, was tucked into my belt. I looked for a moment at my small blade and back at the water daemon before me and if the situation had been any less serious, I would have had to laugh.
Without warning, the wyrm lunged at me, and only by sheer luck did I manage to sidestep the beast, rocking back on my heels and nearly falling overboard. The beasts head snapped back up and it lunged again, this time darting to my right where it figured I'd move to next, but it got nothing but air as I'd dropped to the deck. So, the creature was smart, it seemed. I figured that if I could fool it, I may stand a chance, but then, as quick as an ostard, the beast let loose a barrage of magical flame which engulfed me! I threw myself once again to the deck and rolled around frantically, trying to use the water on the deck to put out the flames. I could feel the hairs on my arms singing and the leather on my feet tightening as the flames quickly dried my soaked clothes.
The beast took what it thought was an advantage and struck at me yet again, but luck was on my side that night, and as I rolled around on the deck, I came to be staring up at the black clouds, wondering if I was ever going to see them again. My dirk I had in my hand was, at that very moment, pointed straight up, and as the monster flung itself down on me, eager to make me his early morning meal, my dirk slid beneath a large scale under it's throat and pierced it's skin. Seeing my new advantage, I twisted the blade with all my might and pulled downward, opening up a garish wound that would have killed any normal being. The serpent thrashed wildly, only causing my blade to enlarge the wound, and soon it was over.
My tillerman, who had been hiding beneath his seat during the ruckus, made his way over to my side and together we used hooks and ropes to haul the 5 meter body onto the deck. I couldn't believe my eyes. What a wondrous beast this had been and I was almost sad to be the cause of it's demise. Almost. We began slowly cutting the hides from the serpent and cut along it's entire length. Being curious, I opened the beasts stomach to check the contents, and lo and behold, I found a bottle with a message in it! I opened the still corked bottle and inside was a rolled sheet of parchment that had sextant readings quickly written on it as well as a message asking for help. A ship was in trouble! My tillerman, who was thinking a bit more clearly than I, pointed out that the message could be years old, and it was highly unlikely that we'd find anything left of the ship.
I thought about this for some time, but then decided it was worth looking in to. We waited almost 3 hours before the clouds began to clear up and took a quick reading and found that the coordinates were only a few nautical miles from our current position, a good sign! My tillerman took up his position again, but not without much grumbling. Apparently he had had enough for one night, but I wasn't satisfied. Within a short time, we were nearly exactly at the position written on the parchment. There was no boat, of course, nor was there and debris floating upon the water. We took a reading and found that the water was only 30m deep at this point, and we improvised a grappling hook and rope and slung it overboard, waiting as it sunk to the bottom. My tillerman kept the boat moving in a slow circle and eventually my rope snapped taught! I was sure I'd found something! Together, we hauled on the rope until our muscles ached and our veins were standing out from our necks, but soon the rope wasn't so hard to pull. Whatever was on the other end, it had come loose from the seabed.
We slowly pulled the rope upwards until the sun was beginning to come up over the horizon, and a moment later, a chest burst forth from the ocean and dangled at the side of our boat, the grappling hook caught on a handle on the side of it, again showing my odd streak of luck! With much straining, we managed to pull the chest on board, setting it down with a loud thump. The chest looked as if it had been in the water for a very long time, it's sides bulging and the metal latches covered with barnacles. My tillerman grabbed a hammer from below deck and we got to work pounding at the locking mechanism until it sprang open with a clang. The sun was up now, and as we opened the chest, our eyes reflected the sparkling jewels and gold that were within it. Not wanting to lose our chances, we circled the area many more times that morning, hoping to catch hold of another treasure, but alas, what we had was more than enough, and it would have to be, as nothing else was ever found.
Needless to say, we didn't feel the need to finish fishing that day, and though I now live more than comfortably, you will still find me standing at the bow of my boat as it heads out into the evening, always looking for another great fish.
Hope you enjoyed
Hmm, maybe it's time for another tale?