by Rex Hazelton
No, he wasn’t afraid of the Bjork and their feeble trap. In fact, the pride-filled beast had chosen Thundyrkynd as its final destination to make certain the memory of its horrible quest was firmly esconced in the crocodon community’s conscious mind, a quest whose record of destruction would prompt Lavaithon to share the secrets that gave him the ability to speak and to wield fire. And if that ever happened, the monster planned on using those secrets to gain a reputation that would rival his own father’s.
That’s why he had fixated on the two men manning the boat before it. They were Bjork. And the monster needed to best the Bjork if it wanted to realize its ambitions. To beat the seafarers single-handedly would ensure it a place of prominance among its own kind. Better than that, it would ascend to Laviathon's side where the two would share the title of Lord of the Seas whose roars would sound the doom of any that trespassed into their watery realm. So on the crocodon charged, heedless of the danger it was in, not fearing either harpoon or arrow, wanting to finish off the two men before he turned his attention to the invisible longboats he knew where close at hand.
Using the wind's strength, Lowen quickly turned the chum boat’s bow. Armed with a harpoon, he sailed the craft straight at the oncoming monster. Looking into the massive creature's eyes, Ay'Roan drew his own harpoon back with his right arm while he used his left hand to aim the iron-tipped projectile. A long rope, made with strips of braided crocodon skin, was tied to a ring of iron anchored into the rear end of the harpoon’s wooden shaft. In turn, the rope was affixed to the chum boat’s main beam by a larger ring of steel. Five other ropes, leading to five more harpoons, were tied to the ring as well.
The object was to use the vessel’s buoyance to keep the speared sea serpent from diving into the ocean’s depths. If Ay'Roan could throw his harpoon with enough force to breach the thick scales that protected the crocodon’s hide and gain purchase in the flesh beneath, the spearhead would flange out to secure its hold. This would make it all but impossible to remove the harpoon without tearing a large chunk of muscle and scales out with it.
Swells, big enough to make the Largryk Sea look like the Crescent Plains’ rolling landscape that spread across Nyeg Warl’s northern reaches, rose and fell beneath the chum boat, making it all but impossible to keep an eye fixed on the approaching monster. Dimpled by a sudden shift in the wind’s direction, an approaching swell erupted with foam as the crocodon burst above the wave and came crashing down on the two men who stood vulnerably visible in the small craft they rode in. But just before the beast’s massive bulk slammed into the chum boat, the v-shaped wake of a invisible longboat intercepted the sea serpent and knocked him aside enough to keep the vessel from being totally crushed.
Thrown to his knees by the weight of the mound of water the crocodon’s passing threw up against the chum boat, Ay'Roan turned to watch the sea serpent glide by. A swarm of arrows, coming from every conceivable direction, appeared as they flew out of the Field of Invisibility cloaking the swift longboats. Harpoons accompanied the deadly swarm.
Submerging deep enough to provide a buffer between itself and the razor sharp projectiles, the crocodon soon turned and raced for the chum boat once again. This time it planned on attacking the small vessel from below.
Seeing how ineffective the swarm of arrows and harpoons- that struck the sea serpent before it submerged- were, Ay'Roan knew his hands were filled with more than he had expected to handle. Sure he longed for adventure and was intrigued by the prospect of facing danger head on, even if it meant risking his life to do so, but he hadn’t bargained for this. Though his blood was up for the battle, he harbored no death wish.
Watching the massive shadow sliding through the Largryk Sea’s green depths challenged Ay'Roan’s sense of youthful invulnerability. He had heard about people dying young in wars and such, but he had never considered he could be numbered among them… not until now. As the dark thought came upon him, like a woolen cloak soaked in water was thrown over his body, Ay'Roan shrugged the heavy garment off as he reasoned, If I’m going to die today, I might as well give a good account of myself. After all, I am Jeaf and Muriel Oakenfel’s son. And with that decided, Ay'Roan braced himself for the crocodon’s next attack.
The craft jerked violently like it had run aground on a huge boulder a moment before it lifted skyward. A large, triangularly-shaped head, attached to a long, supple, tree trunk of a neck, snaked alongside the beleagured craft until it reached above it. With the chum boat’s bow pointing at the eastern sky and the aft taking on water, cracks appeared mid-vessel as the craft broke under the stress of the huge body that violently struck it.
Whipping its neck about so it could savagely bit into the mast, the scaly monster tore the cross beam away, along with most of the sail.
Seeing his opportunity, Ay'Roan braced his foot on what was left of the mast he had inadvertantly slid down upon and heaved his harpoon into the crocodon’s exposed underbelly. Though thinner than the scales covering his back, the natural armor covering the crocodon’s stomach was still formidable. As a result, the harpoon barely penetrated past the white, plate-sized scales that lay there. But with his muscles energized by the desperation he felt, for this was a do or die moment, Ay'Roan gathered up more strength than he thought was possible and drove the lance deep enough so that the harpoon’s barbs gained purchase in the monster's flesh.
Arching its massive neck downward, like a water fowl preening itself, the crocodon bit the harpoon in two and tore away the braided leather rope that would have bound it to the chum boat.
Grabbing a second harpoon, Ay'Roan struggled to grip the deck with his bare feet as the boat slid down the sea monster’s shoulder and slapped sharply against the sea below. Before the tiny craft struck the water, Ay'Roan threw the harpoon as hard as he could while using the inertia of the falling boat to enhance the force of his throw. Hitting the thicker scales covering the crocodon’s side, the iron-tipped weapon barely cut into the reptilian armor and would have fallen out of the shallow niche it had made if it wasn’t for the invisible longboat that rammed against the sea serpent a moment later.
Like a hammer driving a nail into a piece of timber, the longboat hit the harpoon, pounding the lance past the heavy scales and into the vulnerable flesh it guarded. As the sea monster jerked backward, when the sudden jolt of pain hit it, the harpoon’s barbs spread wide and took hold deep in the muscles it had been driven into.
The crocodon’s roar sounded more like a scream a moment before half its humongous bulk disappeared inside the Field of Invisibility that surrounded the longboat that had struck it- its head and neck included. Only his hindquarters could be seen and the tail that thrashed wildly behind it.
The Bjork credited their god, Wygean, for giving them the Magic of Invisibility so the seafaring race could survive in a warl Ab’Don and the crocodon held sway over. Driven out of northern Ar Warl in the days of the Sorcerer’s conquest, a remnant of Bjork limped along until they found their way to G’Nyrly Cove. Decimated by Ab’Don’s hordes and the monsters that patrolled the seas for him, the seafarers went to work rebuilding their community. But so few had survived the Sorcerer’s onslaught, the success of the venture was in doubt from the beginning; especially since the ruthless crocodon were set on liquidating those who competed with them for mastery over the seas and had so rudely rejected Ab’Don’s lordship.
But in the days of doubt following the Battle of the Breach, a star fell from the heavens and plunged into the Alabaster Mountains near to where Wygean’s children were trying to cut out a place for themselves, a star made of red stone filled with the Magic of Invisibility. After the star was carted to Thundyrkynd, the wise men numbered among the seafarers discovered the magical properties the stone possessed and how to use them for the community’s benefit.
The secret to the stone’s power lay in the relationship it had to itself. If pieces of the stone were separated and then exposed to one other, a Field of Invisibility was created between the two th
at kept those standing outside the field from seeing what was within. That’s how the seafarers hid the longboats. Housing two shards of stone, in boxes that were positioned in the sleek vessel’s fore and aft, a Field of Invisibility was formed when the boxes were opened and the Wisdor Stones were exposed to one another.
Over the centuries, protected by the Wisdor Stone’s magic, the Bjork community regained much of its former glory. Sadly, over the course of time, and after countless raids against Ar Warl’s cities and villages that were built along the coast or on the banks of a river deep enough for the longboat’s shallow hulls to slide through, much of the red star had been lost in the sea’s dark depths. So much of the stone had been lost in the ongoing fighting that there was barely enough left to protect the existing Bjork fleet and the city of Thundyrkynd itself. Thankfully, only an insignificant amount of magical stones had fallen into enemy hands, and most of them were kept by those who used the crimson crystals for selfish purposes: to aid in a robbery, to eaves drop on a business rival, and the like.
If Ab’Don could amass the fragments, he would have. But loyalty was not commonplace in Ar Warl. And none would willingly give up such a treasure if they felt they could hide it from the Sorcerer's eyes. So those who chanced upon a fragment of Wisdor Stone went to all ends to keep their ownership a secret. Interestingly enough, when those who held this secret died, the knowledge of the whereabouts of the stone they so fastidiously hid usually died with them.
With sounds of battle emanating from the Field of Invisibility cloaking the longboat that had rammed the crocodon, Ay'Roan shouted, “Lowen, get out of here! Now!”
“What about you?” Lowen was willing to make a swim for it, but only if Ay'Roan went with him.
“I’ve got one more harpoon to use.” Ay'Roan hoisted the weapon as he turned to look at the crocodon’s tail that was frantically thrashing about as it fought the men it discovered it could now see since those that were inside the parameters of the Wisdor Stone’s magic were able to see each other. “Once I throw it, I'll join you.”
“Ashes, I’ll not let you say I fled when you didn't.” The boats helm suddenly jerked out of Lowen’s hands a moment after he spoke, for the chum boat was being pulled sideways by the braided leather rope fastened to the harpoon that pierced the sea monster’s armor-like hide. Another violent jerk heralded the end of the battle that had raged within the Field of Invisibility.
After shredding the longboat’s sail and absorbing a barrage of hammer blows, for the Bjork favored the weapon their god carried, the crocodon broke off the fight with a hapless sailor held in its cruel jaws. Fully visible now, the sea serpent snorted and threw the broken body back into the Field of Invisibility it had just left.
Though the massive monster knew where the longboat was, for the crushed Bjork was not randomly tossed, the sea serpent turned to look for the man who had thrown the harpoon into his side. Having never been wounded before, the monster would be burned by the Fires of Darkness if it didn’t get its revenge. Besides, the crocodon considered destroying the small craft his tiny foe stood in to be unfinished business. The longboat could wait. First things were first. So the sea serpent arched its neck and dove into the sea’s dark green waters. And as it dove, the chum boat was pulled behind it by the braided leather rope that tethered the crocodon to the iron ring that was fastened to it.
Once, twice, three times, the bow of the chum boat dipped, as it sped along, like it was a fishing pole with a large catch on the line. If the boat had been a fishing pole, the fourth pull would have snapped it in two. As it was, the weight of the crocodon pulled the bow of the chum boat into the face of a swell that rose up to rudely greet the beleaguered craft.
The mound of water that rolled over the vessel broke the remaining portion of the mast off as it passed by and slammed it down on Lowen, who was struggling to regain control of the rudder that the sea monster’s massive bulk had taken control of.
Bursting out of the far side of the swell, the boat's bow shot into the open air as the mast pressed down on Lowen and the till that kept him from being crushed. Then, with the boat nosing down into the trough that opened up before it, the crocodon, having done a sharp u-turn, burst out of the approaching mound of water. Hitting the damaged vessel's starboard side, the monster tore out a gaping hole that sea water rushed into.
With the boat's aft quickly filling up with water, it forced the bow to lift above the sea’s rising surface as the passing ridge of water lifted the chum boat up for all the seafarer's to see.
Seeing Ay'Roan balancing himself with one foot on the base of the mast that remained affixed to the boat, and the other foot propped up against one of the craft’s wooden ribs that gave the hull its shape, the Bjork fleet hurried to help the man that raised his harpoon to meet the monster whose head towered above the broken chum boat. But the unruly sea, and the strong wind that stirred it up, made the swift longboats difficult to manage. This brought into question whether the brave seafarers would reach the two young men in time to help them.
As chance would have it, the chum boat’s broken mast was lifted off of Lowen and carried away by the swell that rushed over the sinking craft. And as chance continued to have its way, the wooden pole that had earlier threatened to crush the young man beneath its weight now swept him away from the crocodon and the threat the dangerous creature posed. And it was a good thing since Lowen's ribs were broken.
In due course, the young Bjorkian prince disappeared in the Field of Invisibility that surrounded his father’s vessel as the king came to his son’s rescue.
Not knowing that Lowen had been picked up by his father’s longboat, Ay'Roan focused on the threat at hand. With the monstrous crocodon rising up before him, and the cruel beast’s mottled grayish-green eyes locked onto him, Ay'Roan realized it was hopeless to think he could just dive into the sea and swim away unseen. So, he set himself to continue the fight while the chum boat bobbed up and down in the cold green water, refusing to go completely under.
“Come on you ugly monster,” Ay'Roan shouted as he tossed his shoulder length hair off his face with a swing of his head. A moment’s hesitation, the slightest delay, would seal his fate. He needed to see clearly now or he would certainly die. “Try to bite me and I’ll stab you.”
Able to comprehend what the insolent man was saying, though unable to respond with intelligent speech of its own, the crocodon opened its enormous mouth, lined with teeth nearly the length of short swords, and plunged his head downward like he was a water fowl spearing a passing fish.
True to his word, Ay'Roan rammed his harpoon into the open mouth that descended on him, shouting like a wild animal as he did.
Feeling sharp iron bite into the roof of its mouth, the sea serpent jerked its head backward to keep the harpoon from penetrating too deeply. And as it drew back, the sea monster carried the hapless man, who continued holding onto his weapon, along with him. Dangling in mid-air, swinging about as the crocodon shook his head, Ay'Roan refused to let go of the harpoon, hoping his weight would cause the barbed head to do greater damage to the beast’s mouth, enough damage to arrest the monster’s attention long enough to give him time to escape. But before his plan was carried out, the crocodon snapped its mouth shut and cut the harpoon in half.
The monster’s hard lips closed on Ay'Roan's arms that still held the haft of the splintered harpoon in their hands, but not its teeth that were not much more than two hand length's away. And in moment the sea serpent's lips caught Ay'Roan, man and crocodon held each other with their unblinking eyes.
Seeing his prey was so close, the scaly monster lifted his head and quickly opened and closed his mouth like carnivores do when they try to gulp down chunks of meat. But the only thing the crocodon got was a shot of pain in the roof of his mouth as his tongue pushed into the broken harpoon that was stuck there since Ay'Roan had used his strong legs to push himself away from the monster’s massive maw.
Falling into the sea with a violent slap, Ay'Roan wa
s briefly stunned by the force of the impact his uncontrolled fall produced before he regathered his wits and began to swim for all he was worth.
Irritated more than harmed, for neither of the harpoons- the one in his mouth and the one in his side- posed a real threat to his health, the crocodon roared angrily over the hubris the bothersome man displayed in confronting him so.
With nostrils flaring and lips lifted to reveal a brace of sharp teeth, the crocodon looked for the man in the water below. And there, swimming for all he was worth, was the object of his dour affection. Taking a moment to let a rumbling chuckle escape his clenched jaws, for the humans were comically inept at swimming, the crocodon slithered through the short expanse of water that separated him from his flailing meal with his mouth opened wide enough to scoop the man up before he turned his attention back to the longboats that futiley shot arrows at him out of the Cloak of Invisibility that surrounded them. But a moment before he had scooped the man up, something big landed on his head that savagely growled as it tore at the thick scales with something the sea serpent guessed must be two handfuls of knives. It only took the crocodon a moment to realize the thing was working its way towards its eyes.