Behind them, the angry male whale pursued all of the boats. Abigail was thankful they were ahead of the other whalers. She saw the leviathan open its mouth and the back half of a hunting boat slide into it. The dark shadow of its jaws cast over the men’s faces. They hardly had time to glance up before the jowls snapped shut, and the boat splintered into bits.
Kalak and Riddle diverted their attention towards the beast. They managed to chase the third largest leviathan from the pod. The four boats remained even with one another. Sometimes the other whalers would nose in front of the Penny’s. Never for long though. Not with Mr. Pit keeping the peace with his massive hammer.
It could sometimes take hours to exhaust one of the creatures, even with the pricks of the lances in their flanks. The chase would go on for half a day or more. These leviathans were exhausted though. The crew could see the tired glaze in the eyes of the displaced whale they chased. The pod fell further and further behind them. Abigail looked over her shoulder. The two whaling ships were in the distance, far apart from one another. The angry whale cut through the water, trying to save one of its pod members before it was too late. Bard watched as Riddle sprayed the creature with a series of small wooden stakes exploding from her arm attachment.
The whale they pursued was smaller than their standard catch. Abigail’s boat pulled ahead of the others. She was so close to the leviathan. She eyed the distance between the bow of her vessel to the whale before looking towards the other hunting boats. Bard saw the look in her eye. He wanted to scream out for her to stop, but it was too late. Abigail planted a foot on the edge of her ship. Bard held his tongue, knowing the waves would drown out his voice, and she would not listen regardless. If she did not take the opportunity, she would not be the one to hook the whale.
If Abigail missed, she would lose the leviathan to the other whalers. If she hooked the whale and misjudged her abilities, she could end up drowning. Abigail took a deep breath, leaned forward and leapt off of the boat and onto the leviathan. She raced across it and slammed the hook home just before the beast attempted to dive, and she was able to swing free of the crashing water as the beast thrashed to the side.
Abigail smiled in defiance at the other hunting boat as lancers began stabbing the exposed leviathan's flesh as Bard lined up the perfect killing throw with his harpoon. The other whalers’ cursed in frustration. They looked to see how far away the pod was from the whale they all pursued. Abigail’s smug expression disappeared as she saw the look on their faces.
She hesitated as she looked over her shoulder.
Far in the distance, just behind the pod of whales, Abigail saw the competing whaler’s ship. Something dark and black curled from the waters around it. A tentacle wrapped around the tip of the bow and climbed up the mast. The competing whalers’ mouths fell agape as they watched their ship slip into the water, disappearing silently without a trace. They all knew what they had seen, and yet struggled to believe the legend could be true. Even in a world covered in an endless ocean, filled with giant sharks and bloodthirsty cultists, seeing the kraken with their own eyes was simply too much.
6.
Everyone watching was in shock. The whale tugged on the rope that the warrior woman had tied back off on the boat once she'd swam aboard. Abigail looked at the Penny Dreadful. She was powering towards them at high speed. Abigail looked at the whale.
“Fuck!” she screamed before cutting the line. The whale disappeared.
“Abigail!” The men in her boat were outraged.
“Did you just see what I saw? Whatever the fuck that was, it’s coming for us next! We need to get out of here!”
The four remaining boats of whalers watched the pod disappear. A horrible sinking feeling expanded in Bard’s gut. The crew underwent months for this moment, and they knew the sight of the monster was only the beginning of their troubles. The Penny Dreadful zoomed towards them. Bard watched with bated breath. It was uncertain if they should go out to meet the Penny or wait for her to come to them.
Every crew member sympathized with the whalers who lost their ship. There was no more joy in the competition. Now they were just brothers of the sea. Bard especially knew what it was like to watch your ship, your crew, your family, as they disappear into the fathoms. It was one of the worst things to experience.
The Penny passed the leviathan pod completely. In the Penny Dreadful’s wake another black tentacle wrapped around the aggressive male whale.
Kalak, Mr. Pit, and Riddle silenced their machines and tied themselves to the hunting boats. Everyone watched on as the colossal beast kicked against the strength of the tentacle.
Another black tentacle curled from the water’s surface. It wrapped around the belly of the creature. The whalers watched in horror as the massive whale was bent into an unnatural ‘U’ shape, cinched at the waist by the tightening force of the kraken’s arm. A long mournful cry escaped the leviathan. The sounds of cracking ribs accompanied the death song as it echoed over the ocean surface.
The Penny Dreadful reached the lancing boats as the kraken disappeared beneath the ocean with the massive beast in its clutches. There was no need for words. The other whalers clambered aboard the Penny without question. Everyone moved as fast as they could to get out of the water. Abigail tried to spot signs of the kraken in the surrounding waters. It could be anywhere.
Every person did what they could to speed up their flight. Rowers manned the oars of the great ship. Men and women alike did what they could to enhance steam production. Drucilla did not need to give one command to her men or the men they just saved. This was life or death and no one needed commands to act in such situations.
The whalers worked together seamlessly. The men who just lost their ship kept composed. In the distance, Drucilla could see the eyes of the beast emerge on the surface of the water. She looked up to the stars and prayed for the wind to pick up. There was a steady increase in gusts over the last hour, and she could see the heavy dark clouds of a storm in the distance.
“Anyone not powering this ship better have a weapon in their hands!” Drucilla bellowed.
A chaotic pulse of energy erupted as people ran up and down the ladder wells, arming themselves with the large, augmented bows. Mr. Pit paced behind a line of ten men and women who sat on top of supply crates. They hooked their feet into their bows and loaded large arrows.
“Fire at will!” Mr. Pit commanded.
The archers pulled the bowstrings to their chests. The loud twangs of strings snapping and launching the massive bolts into the air added to the increasing violence of the sea.
Drucilla saw the angry eyes of the gigantic kraken emerge on the surface, surrounded by a tangle of black tentacles snaking around its mantle.
The kraken’s eyes narrowed into angry slits upon seeing the first wave of arrows crash down in the waters in front of it, only half of them managing to sink into the rubbery flesh, and seeming to harm it precious little. Drucilla could hardly breathe. The wind was picking up. The mists preceding the storm whipped around them.
“I want constant waves of arrows coming down on that beast!” Drucilla shouted at the archers. “Through everything we got at her! She’s coming for us.” The last words trailed off into the wind.
7.
The kraken’s pursuit paused for a moment as it sucked water into its siphon. In the next second, its massive tentacles snapped behind her. The monster propelled towards the Penny Dreadful like a torpedo tearing through the waters. Its angry eyes kept fixated on the ship. The arrows fell all around her. Some of them sank deep into its flesh, but it seemed to do nothing to her.
The kraken’s speed slowed, and the tentacles flowed around her once more as she drew in more water to propel herself. Vladimir and Artisema appeared above decks with a catapult. Vladimir looked up at the ocean. If he missed, that creature would make it to the Penny on its next thrust towards them.
“Hurry now, child. Ve only have one shot.”
Artisema worked as fast as sh
e could to mix the concoction as he taught her. Vladimir adjusted the catapult with the precision of a master. He was careful to aim it for where he expected the beast to be next. Artisema used a metal spoon to mash the lye and citric acid together into a paste. It was the last bit of lye Vladimir had. It was the last batch they would be able to make. There was only one shot to get it right.
The arrows continued to rain down upon the kraken. Drucilla thought it would immediately propel itself forward once again. She studied the monster’s movements. It seemed to need a recharge moment. Its tentacles whipped at the water like an angry machine paddling towards them. Its eyes were filled with loathing rage as she powered towards the Penny Dreadful.
“Don’t stop with those arrows! Aim for her eyes!”
“I’m done!” Artisema screamed. She could hardly move the spoon in the thickening gray mixture.
“Bring it here!”
Vladimir kept glancing up at the horizon, and then back down at his device. He took the clay-like substance and formed a small pressure-activated bomb. The second it hit the kraken, it would explode. He hoped it would be enough to kill the beast alongside the continuous waves of arrows coming down on the creature.
The kraken stalled again.
“She’s coming at us once more! Prepare for impact!” Drucilla screamed.
Everyone on the ship held their breath. The sounds of the ocean and weapon and oars and men and engines seemed to mute in the seconds that passed as they watched the kraken’s tentacles snap back in a mighty expulsion forward. Vladimir’s catapult flew forward at the same time.
The arrows never stopped as they watched the mass arch through the air. Vladimir wrung his hands, afraid one of the bolts may hit the bomb mid-air and activate it. The next moment a wall of water erupted all around the kraken. The gigantic black tentacles flailed up into the air. Although the Penny was still moving and the explosion stalled the kraken, she was so close to the ship that her thrashing threw waves crashing upon the deck.
Four of the archers were thrown back with the oncoming water. The tentacles crashed down into the ocean, meters away from the bow and hull.
“Don’t stop with the arrows!” Drucilla was feverish, “Whatever you do, don’t stop attacking until we clear her! Double your efforts! It’s now or never.”
The kraken was close enough for most long range weapons to hit home. The Penny Dreadful let loose with everything she had. Lances, harpoons, arrows, and projectiles from the catapult fell in waves over the unimaginably huge kraken. She wasn’t turning around, in spite of the heinous damage being dealt to her tentacular body.
The captain kept her eyeglass trained on the creature. When the beast disappeared beneath the waves, drowning the fire and diving deep. Drucilla motioned with a raised arm for the assault to cease. Everyone not powering the ship stood on the deck and looked out at the ocean all around them. The storm picked up and darkened the seas. There were so many waves throwing up sea spray that the crew would startle sporadically, their eyes jumping to any disruption on the horizon, afraid it was the evil sea mistress coming to claim them.
“Switch rowing teams,” Drucilla commanded Mr. Pit.
“Aye, Captain,” he said.
As Mr. Pit turned to leave, Drucilla gripped at his elbow. Her eyes were wide with fear, “We are trading out rowing teams until I feel safe.”
This exchange was only loud enough for them. Mr. Pit studied Drucilla. Her expressions were stoic, but he could see the fear in her eyes. He nodded in understanding before carrying out her orders. Drucilla’s mind filled with black tentacles. Every few seconds she swept her spyglass over the horizon, looking for blackwater or limbs.
In all of her life, she had never seen anything like the kraken. Even when the storm calmed, Drucilla did not stand down from her watch. When her crew tried to find sleep in their racks, Drucilla stayed on the upper decks. She put the people standing watch to work preparing more arrows.
As the gray of dawn spread out from the horizon, Mr. Pit found Drucilla pacing in circles around the perimeter of the ship. Her eyes were heavy from not sleeping. She kept her spyglass open, snapping it to her eye at the sight of any movement or obstruction on the water’s surface.
“You need sleep, Captain.”
Drucilla was startled by the sudden appearance of Mr. Pit behind her. “Fuck me,” she said as her heart rate spiked and her blade filled her hands before it started to slow upon seeing it was only her first mate. She sighed and looked back at the ocean with her spyglass.
“Drucilla,” he pulled the chrome device from her face. Despite Mr. Pit having outranked her for years, he was usually unnaturally formal with her since she took the position as captain. Now, the tone he carried was the same he used with his subordinates. It was the same he used with her when she was still a green sailor. She looked up at him with her big brown eyes. “You need sleep, Captain. I will watch her for you,” Mr. Pit opened his hand for her spyglass.
Drucilla sighed. Her lips pursed. She hesitated before laying the glass in his rough palm. She nodded and tore herself away before she could be distracted by her fears once more.
8.
Mr. Pit paced the decks of the ship. The night fell around them hours before. The moon was high in the sky, but the first mate could tell it was starting to set. He thought of Drucilla. She would never experience solid sleep if she could not trust him to maintain a vigilant watch in her absence.
Most of the crew slept down below. The only men and women awake above decks were the people assigned for a watch during that time. Few people enjoyed the midnight watch. Everyone worked all day. Every person placed on night watch were allowed a four-hour time slot of sleep, but it was never enough to recharge and satiate.
Mr. Pit found the best way to combat the fatigue was to keep moving. The first mate felt his eyes growing heavy as he looked through the spyglass again. He quickened his pace as he walked the perimeter of the ship. Whenever he crossed the path of a watchstander he would assess their condition. If they seemed to be enjoying the pleasant night air as they stood guard, he would leave them be. If they were wavering though...
“Get a mop and take care o’ this,” Mr. Pit did not need to yell.
The watchstander jumped at the powerful sound of Mr. Pit’s voice. It was a grisly boom—the sounds of what remained of the outback. There was salt from the sea spray adhering to the deck boards. Mr. Pit could see the sleep in the man’s eyes as he gave a nod in response and took off at a slight jog to retrieve gear.
Mr. Pit laughed to himself. The kid would probably end up taking a nap in the supply closet. He stood in the watchstander’s place. The ocean was flat as glass. The water was a dark blue touched by the glimmer of moonlight. The sky was dark with no light pollution from atolls or other ships. Mr. Pit knew it would be challenging to recognize black water in the low visibility, but he felt confident he could distinguish between the two shades if it were to appear.
It took the watchstander some time to get back. Once the tired crew member started to clean the salt from the decks, Mr. Pit took note of how he woke up. When satisfied, the first mate continued his walk around the perimeter. While Drucilla slept, each man kept a vigilant watch. The night was fading when she rose from her quarters.
It was a brilliant day. One where the pink-orange of dawn came in a hue warm enough to touch the heart. The breeze smelled of fresh air and salt. No toxic fumes were pluming off the waves or decomposing corpses floating on dangerous waters.
Drucilla rested well. Her fear transformed into determination as she slept through the night. With the blackwater expanding and the leviathans either fleeing or being hunted by the kraken, soon most everyone who populated the makeshift floating settlements and larger ports like Seattle would starve for lack of meat and oil. Her worries regarding what would happen to her crew and the Penny, knowing what she knew now about the kraken, boiled down to one conclusion.
They were going to kill the mother fucker.
�
��Better?” Pit smiled at her as she approached. He could see it in the way she walked.
“Yes,” Drucilla smiled with her eyes. Her face kept sober and placid. She kept her hands clasped behind her back as she looked over the ocean waves. Each one faded from navy blue to sun-touched sea foam and cerulean. “Thank you.” She knitted her brows. “I did need the sleep.”
When Drucilla looked at Mr. Pit, he could tell what she was thinking. She was ashamed of her fear. She was ashamed her first mate needed to say to her how to care for herself. It was a brief glance, but he knew what it meant because he had seen it before.
“It was the same for your father the night he first saw Kaiku, that was his monster to slay, now you have your own.”
Drucilla’s focus shifted from one of Pit’s eyes to another, trying to read him. “I didn’t remember him ever being afraid.”
Mr. Pit nodded, “It’s true. He hid it well. He was a brave man.” The first mate took a step towards Drucilla. She knitted her brows as a flood of emotions rippled over her skin. It felt uncomfortable for someone to step into her personal space.
Mr. Pit motioned for Drucilla to lean down with him. He draped his arms over the bars dividing them from sky and sea. His face was rugged and scarred from years of experience. His eyes were an icy, pale blue. Mr. Pit looked out at sea, propped up on the railing of the Penny Dreadful.
There was no one around them. Drucilla still looked around before resting on the railing as well to listen.
“The thing ‘bout bravery is,” the seasoned first mate began, speaking in as low a whisper he could, “You have to be afraid first. You are like your father, Captain. This is the time to show how brave you truly are.” When he looked at Drucilla she could see the wisdom in his eyes.
The first mate’s words solidified Drucilla’s feelings. They would go to Atoll Sparta and form a plan from there.
Blackwater Kraken (The Dystopian Sea Book 3) Page 3