by Cale Madison
“Another coincidence.” I said in response, “but why teleport me now? You hadn’t done so on my journey to Ataman. Why change your code?”
“Maybe those you’ve become acquainted with were always meant to help you on this venture? We’re behind schedule now because of your little sideshow in Ataman. There’s someone who will help guide you through those uncharted waters, someone you’ve already come to know. A reason for everything, Caine...remember that.” he answered.
“Still, a coincidence.”
“Perhaps,” he laughed, “but you need not worry, young man. You are well ahead of schedule. Do you accept this task?”
“Came too far to turn back now.”
The Djinn cracked a faint smile before turning to the ledge. He then contorted his hands in a strange motion, opening a vortex of swirling colors and twisting formations. Time and space began to bend at his will before my very eyes. Within this captivating vortex, I could see what appeared to be a blue sky and, as I tried to admire further, the Djinn suddenly gripped me by the tunic and launched me into the portal. I fell for what felt like hours. Flashes of light, both blue and shades of violet echoed throughout the endless catacombs surrounding me. I felt nothing and everything at the same time. In a state of surreal wonderment, the world I was thrown into shifted back into reality as I landed hard onto solid wood. Hard.
My eyes strained to see what was in front of me: outlines of men approaching me with blades and heavy clubs in hand. A friendly, familiar voice rang out from the faint blurs. “Caine of Mercia!” shouted Captain Otto.
CHAPTER SIX
MONSTERS, BENEATH THE SURFACE
“Looks like you’ve been partaking with the wrong crowd, boy,” said Otto as two men helped me to my feet, “mind explaining to us how it is you just fell from the sky like gull shit?”
My head was reeling from the teleportation and the sudden impact upon this hard flooring. A pounding migraine seared my skull and pain reverberated down my spine, preventing me from forming a coherent thought. After vomiting for a few painful moments, I stammered in reply, “No offense, sir but you wouldn’t believe a word if I told you.”
“Try me. At least tell me this: are you practicing witchcraft?” the captain asked in a more serious manner, his worried eyes fixating on my every move.
“No - not witchcraft. Just assorted myself with unpleasant people is all.”
“That’s all we need to hear, then!” Otto laughed, releasing his blade at his hip as he descended the staircase onto the brig with us. He shook my hand and then embraced me as if we were long lost friends reuniting after many years apart. Stunned at his acts of pleasantness and realizing in an instant how few men came close to resembling Otto. I smiled and asked, “How have you been?”
“What? Since yesterday? Eh, we unloaded our shipment and spent most of the pay in their taverns that night. Now we return, broke as shite to the next port. Need not fret over lost coin, I say. Our next stop will last us longer than one drunken night in town.” he answered, leading me across the brig.
“I have no coin for passage?”
“Consider it an unpaid tab,” said Otto as he adjusted some knotted ropes attached to the main sail, “repay me in full when we return to Port Mercia.”
I nodded and returned a much appreciative smile. His generosity meant a great deal to me in this world filled with cheats, manipulators, and deceivers; it almost felt uncanny to be met with such congenial support from someone I hardly knew.
“Where is the next port?” I asked, recalling the situation at hand.
“Not sure what they call themselves anymore. They change their city’s name more than a townhouse whore changes her undergarments. We, sailors, just call it the Badlands.”
“We’re going to the Southern Isles?”
“Hah! So you do know your geography! Brilliant!” Otto laughed.
The Djinn knew from the beginning that I would rendezvous with the captain. His talents surmounted my ability to maintain a steady count; an all-powerful being that chose to use humans as a proxy to undermine his impossible ventures. Our ship cruised through open waters for the remainder of that day, continuing to sail into the night. Silhouettes of large fish patrolled the water’s surface, breaking only to feel the briskness of the air above.
“I’ll be honest with you, Otto,” I said, breaking the silence between me and the Captain, now standing alone on the upper deck, “only one unpleasant creature sent me on this venture. The truth is: I struck a deal with a wish-granter that could save my wife, Aketa if I carried out three impossible task.
“One of which must have involved North Mountain.” he added, already understanding more than I let on.
“Yes,” I replied, “the other took me into this strange, painted realm to rescue a man’s wife. An interesting week to say the least.”
“You’re quickly becoming the most interesting man I’ve ever met. What is his third task?” Otto asked.
“It involves Skalige, the Baron.” I answered.
“Oh, be careful, Caine. Tread lightly in those open waters. He is not one to trifle with. I’ve heard some nasty stories about the Baron.”
* * * * * *
That following morning, a dense fog rolled in from all corners of the open sea, smothering our ship in obscurity. The once blue water I had come to know for years had now transformed into a misty-black; preventing anyone from viewing the creatures lurking below.
“Aye. Same fucking fog.” Otto snapped from the wheel, his head darting as he scanned the visible horizon. Monstrous boulders rose from the dark waters, reaching to the sky in a final attempt to snag incoming vessels. I rested against the starboard railing, glancing down into the black abyss.
“Are you not nervous about these rocks?!” I asked, my voice seeping anxiety.
“Not much can make me nervous, my boy,” Otto answered with a laugh and a swig from his whiskey flask, “we call this place, ‘Shipwreck Graveyard’. Fitting enough. I’ve maneuvered this labyrinth many, many times before. Don’t you worry.”
Our ship cruised soundlessly between the boulders. I switched my attention from the looming danger surrounding us, focusing on the dark, murky water. It churned and roiled as we rolled past. Something caught my eye in the depths...something shimmering, reflecting the light of the sun.
Suddenly, she was there - a naked woman with the tail of a fish.
“What in the Gods…” I started to say before she disappeared beneath the belly of the ship, out of sight. The sailors surrounding me appeared to have not noticed what I saw in the depths of the sea.
“Otto!” I shouted.
No response.
“Captain Otto!”
The captain turned his attention towards me, yelling in response, “What in the devils are you going on about, Caine? Can’t you see I’m a little preoccupied at the moment?”
“Good heavens, there are ladies in the water!” another sailor cried out from the upper deck as he peered over the railing. The rest of the crew abandoned their stations to join him, trying to catch a closer look. I could see bright, turquoise scales grazing the water’s surface before vanishing into the deep. Every man took notice and began to spout guesses of the creature’s identity.
“She was beautiful! An angel with hair as blonde as the sun!” one cried out as he continued to desperately search for her.
“You see the tits on her?!” another shouted in stunned disbelief.
“It can’t be…” Otto said while holding the wheel.
“There’s more of ‘em! Must be a dozen!” another sailor announced, pointing into the water as several more appeared. They kept their faces hidden by their long, flowing hair and moved too quickly to catch a decent look.
“What are they?” the same man asked, hanging over the ship’s railing in an attempt to catch a better look.
In one instant, merely a second after the words escaped his lips, a pale figure catapulted itself from the murky water and snatched the poor man fro
m the ship. Together, they disappeared under the surface as she pulled him into the depths, never to be seen again.
Captain Otto began frantically calling for his men to gather their weapons in preparation for the nightmares about to ensue. Crewmembers continued vanishing across the deck as the creatures climbed the sides of the ship and pulled them over. I could only watch, horrified as it happened; in only a few brief moments, the calm voyage toppled out of my hands and became another whirlwind of chaos and unprecedented madness.
I caught a glimpse of the murderous beasts as they swam, swiftly and strategically through the darkness beneath: swollen, lifeless eyes resting above a fanged mouth that appeared to wrap around their heads, rope-like hair, wide ears and sharp, bony claws. Covered in green scales, they hissed and shrieked loud, deafening screams. In my obscured line of vision, I watched as multitudes of sailors became entangled in the creatures' arms, bitten or scratched before falling into the roaring waters.
“What are they!?” I cried out to Otto, who seemed just as stunned.
The captain drew his cutlass from its resting place on his belt, readying himself by the steering wheel. I almost forgot, given the hellish circumstance, our ship remained cruising between jagged rocks and shallows.
“Sirens,” he replied, “for fuck’s sake, they never venture this far north!”
A loud screech erupted from behind Otto as two sirens climbed aboard and reached towards him from the railing, nearly catching him off balance. The captain swung his free arm, knocking one siren’s teeth out in the process and used his cutlass to slice through the neck of the other. He buried the blade into the first, twisting to ensure the monster’s last cry and declared, “These bitches sure can put up a fight!”
Otto returned to the wheel, spinning it with all of his might as we barely grazed a sunken ship, halfway buried in the depths of the sea. I ducked beneath the starboard railing, watching my surroundings from a safe distance.
“If we can make it there,” said Otto, pointing up ahead towards a narrow gap sheltered by four dismantled merchant brigantines, “we might outrun them!”
Fortunately for our sake, the sunken vessels plaguing the waters around us served as obstacles for the murderous swimmers following our trail. The aftermath of this vicious attack left us with six crewmembers, trembling in paranoia on the bloodied brig.
Otto scanned the survivors then dropped his head in frustration, muttering, “They even took the cook. The bloody cook.”
As we returned to our previous stations, unaware of what was yet to come, a sudden jolt knocked us to our knees. The ship became still, stopped atop something in the water. Otto scrambled to his feet and ran to the ledge to see that a massive boulder hiding beneath the surface had just halted our planned escape. The shrieks and screams of sirens echoed from behind us, their fish tails whipping through the dark waves as they approached in the distance.
“What do we do?” I asked the crew. No response, only shocked fear could be read on their faces as death neared them. The splashing of water and screams ran fear down our spines, causing some of the crew to abandon the vessel. I watched as a few of the fleeing sailors leapt into the water and attempted to swim away, only to be dragged under by unseen sea beasts.
The captain looked to his remaining crew as they waited for the final orders, hesitating for a few minutes to realize the gravity of the situation. Only a few stayed behind to face the oncoming monsters, each trembling with knives, clubs and swords drawn. I saw the faces of husbands, fathers and sons as they understood that they may never see their loved ones again.
“I’ve traveled every bloody sea with you lot...every fucking corner of the nine kingdoms, we’ve journeyed across. We’ve made it through dozens of monsoons, maelstroms and hurricanes, but always came out with breath in our lungs. When death calls for us, we answer that call back with a club in its nose and a knife in its arse!”
I could tell that his speech was beginning to motivate the discouraged sailors.
“We will not be dragged into the depths of the sea without a proper fight,” the captain continued to announce to us, “we will return these fucking monsters to the darkest bowels of Hell from which they spawned! Ready your weapons, men. Let’s show them to their watery graves!”
Within minutes, the sirens were upon us, quickly scaling the rear of the ship and tearing apart the wooden planks that rested underwater. Otto reacted with his sword, stabbing and cutting his way through the hoards as they approached. His brave crew realized their imminent fate and followed his final orders, swinging maces, clubs and blades at the dozens of monstrous creatures leaping from the sea.
I retrieved a rusted sword from a corpse at my feet, shouting, “Otto!”
The Captain turned to me, his eyes speaking what words could never say. I knew in an instant what was to come of us as waves of starving monsters tore through the water surrounding us. One siren catapulted itself from the murky water, wrapping its thrashing body around a crewmate beside me and began ripping open his throat. I swung the rusty blade, made solid contact and watched as the creature fell to the ship’s deck.
“Caine, go! Go now!” Otto shouted to me, decapitating two sirens as he advanced in my direction. All around us, the monsters were cutting through his men with ease as they neared us at the upper deck.
I tried to rebuttal his final decision but he argued back, pushing for me to hurry and escape. He gripped my tunic with a bloody hand and said to me, “I’ve lived my life as a piss-poor drunk with nowhere to call home. I can die with a soul at peace knowing you made it to yours. Now go!”
In a brief moment of calm before the next horde of sirens, he whispered to me through heavy breaths, “Captains go down with their ship.”
The last I could see of the courageous Captain Otto, swarmed by sirens, was suddenly lost within their wriggling bodies and pulled overboard. I used his last stand’s distraction to dive into the waters opposite of the crumbling ship. With all of my strength, I placed as much distance between the monsters and myself, waging war against the vengeful current as it fought to drag me under.
Once I had scrambled upon a large piece of driftwood, I could lay my burning eyes upon the wreckage behind. Otto’s prized ship had capsized from the overbearing weight of the sirens and had begun sinking into the misty waters, vanishing into the unforgiving depths, along with its captain. My stomach churned from the massive intake of salt water in my brisk escape; I doubled over and vomited, nauseated and fatigued from lack of sleep. The vultures maneuvering through the sky peered down on me, as if they knew that I kneeled on the threshold of death. My bloodshot eyes, exhausted and weary, finally closed under the tremendous pressure building inside of my head. I could finally see Aketa.
* * * * * *
“Concentrate.”
Aketa steadied her aim, focusing on the deer across the clearing as it devoured grass beneath an oak tree. As she released sharp breaths, her aim became jolted and uneasy. I placed my hand on the back of her neck and then I whispered, “Focus on my voice. Clear away everything around it and concentrate.”
The arrow flew.
We ran so quickly, our speeds almost identical to each other as we followed the trail of dark blood. Aketa smiled like that of a child discovering something new. She paused for a moment, eagerly searching for the trail to continue but found nothing.
“Shit.” she muttered. I tapped her arm, pointing her towards a spot of blood hidden beneath twigs and leaves. A rush of enthusiasm came over her and then, once again, we were running.
What seemed like miles of tracking led us to a stream, deep in the heart of the forest where the trail ended. With her head staying low to the ground, Aketa searched for another sign. I laughed after a few minutes, calling out, “Look up!”
She raised her head, bursting out in laughter as we discovered the doe’s body, lying face-down in the water. Tears fell from her eyes as she continued laughing, harder than I had ever seen before. I rested against a fallen oak
tree, watching as my beautiful wife admired her first kill.
“Bigger than anything you’ve brought home.” she joked, holding her stomach as her laughing began to calm.
“Not sure about that, but this one is a damn good shot.” I replied, approaching her.
Aketa’s arrow protruded from the animal’s ribcage, bloodied and covered in dirt and mud. This doe had journeyed for miles to escape a fate that could not be jaded, a destiny etched into an arrow shaft. We thanked the Gods for this blessing before floating the carcass upstream towards our home.
* * * * * *
When my eyes opened, I was greeted with an unpleasant surprise: tattered banners flying from the masts of sunken ships and a dense fog rolling in from all directions. I was no longer alongside Aketa in the forest. That was no longer my reality. Spanning hundreds of miles, dismantled vessels, blockade runners, obliterated schooners and brigantines, aged from years of salt water and stagnation. Visible skies became tarnished, enveloped by the swirling mass of mist that seamlessly choked the life out of the horizon.
The floating fragment of Otto’s sunken ship had saved my life. Even in death, the good captain continued looking out for me, it seemed. I silently thanked my bearded guardian angel and rested my heavy head back onto the wood, watching through my peripherals as I drifted further through this maze of destruction. Sunken vessels rose from the water, reminding me of the good Captain and his crew. Vultures soared in the skies above, watching my still body with anticipation. It wasn’t until a few hours later when I first heard it; a deep, rumbling sound coming from the depths of the sea.
The tides decreased throughout the day, eventually coming to a standstill. What had once been roaring and churning waves now rested like miles of untouched glass, only moving with the ripples of my floating driftwood. The loud noise continued to draw closer, increasing in volume with each passing minute. My interested anticipation turned sour as I searched the water in a state of panic. Clouds would occasionally block the mid-afternoon sun, preventing glimpses into the deeper parts of the surrounding blackness.