Twenty-four delivered fishing ships later; Theodoric just could not wait to break one in. So excited to get his chance to do so, he begged Penelope to come as well. “Once we unfurl its massive silk sails and point her in the right direction,” Theodoric bragged to her, “this new ship will race across the sea faster than an Orca can swim.”
Penelope was not fond of ships or sails, but had little else to do on this day and grudgingly accepted. Theodoric was probably the most experienced mariner of any Mermaid, but this was not saying much. Lords of the northern waters, worshippers of the god of the sea; curiously, Mermaids were rather poor sailors. That they lacked legs and instead relied on swinging from rigging and bouncing on their tales about the deck – perhaps this was the simplest answer as to why.
Theodoric, his first mate named Kybernus, Penelope, and thirty other Mermaids would sail on this maiden voyage. Upon boarding one of the handsome new ships, they eagerly pushed off.
“These shallows so close to home bore me, Kybernus,” Theodoric declared soon after launch. “It is time to set free this grand vessel upon the open water. Give the command, my friend, and let us do so.” The first mate happily did as ordered.
To beach this new ship on some rocky coast and have to swim home was probably the worst that could happen to these green sailors of a bluish hue. Mermaids, of course, had no fear of drowning. Still, for such clumsy sailors, this was a rather rash command. The heavenly creatures still mortal, there were other ways to die at sea.
Made from a more red than brown, sweet smelling wood, the ship was about twelve pike lengths long. On a single level and at each side were twenty-two oars stations, forty-four in total. Along with four smaller sails, two huge sails – one a good bit behind the other and strung to offset masts – towered over the ship.
Midsummer close, it was a dazzling day. A sun that had not set in weeks – and would not again for a few more – peaked out every now and then from behind the fluffiest of clouds. Although a Mermaid could swim on and on until she ran out of sea, Penelope rarely ventured far from Atagartis. At first wondering why she allowed her day to be wasted, the further they sailed into open water, the more the sights and smells of it all delighted her.
Atagartis far out of sight, it became clear that the power and ability of this novel ship was too much for the unproven sailors to handle. Quite simply, they had no experience with such a sleek vessel. Lacking the skill to sail the ship through trained instinct, Penelope watched nervously as the sailors had to stop and think about each next step before actually doing it.
The winds that swirled across the sea now blowing straight west, no one intended to follow the route that could lead to madness. To wander too far from the Pool of Torment and Discovery resulted in forgetting all that led you to that point in the first place. Once such confusion swept over the mind, the Grim pranced just behind. Theodoric wanted Kybernus to sail east, but their best efforts could only point them due north – this was even worse than heading west. If they found themselves in the shadows of the northern glaciers, there would be no time for madness. Only death. And not of the wandering kind.
Although the weather was still warm, for the last league or so, they noticed a good many ice flows in the water. Theodoric commanded his crew to halt their northern trek; they were now dangerously close to the Land of Abomination. A dying wind helping as well, the ship was soon no longer adrift. At least twice, Penelope could have sworn she saw a massive shadow upon the sea with the outline of a giant bird, but saw nothing both times she looked skyward.
“Direct the lead sail in a more westerly direction,” Theodoric instructed Kybernus. “This will allow the winds flowing in the same manner to turn our ship around and head east.” With his hands, he directed why and how the western winds could turn the ship in the opposite direction a novice might expect. The first mate – now at Theodoric’s right and facing the bow of the ship – looked up at the wind-filled sails and nodded his understanding, but said nothing.
Kybernus was a rare sight. Although his position (second in command) surely suggested ability, he was a portly male who appeared more untidy than not. In regards to Mermaids, these last two unflattering qualities were quite rare. Penelope was even further to Theodoric’s right and a little behind Kybernus. Little else to do but listen and learn, she kept one eye on them and, to her left (the ship’s port side), looked across the sea with the other.
“Let us go north no more, my friend,” their captain continued. As he peeked to his right, Theodoric locked onto Penelope’s bulging eyes and quivering lips. With a single finger, she pointed over his shoulder. “We don’t want to run,” following this finger, he looked over the port side as well, “smack … into …” he cocked his head.
“A Yeturi,” Penelope mouthed. Theodoric could not hear these words – no one could – but this mattered not. Her horrified look needed no explanation.
Theodoric likewise beheld the shocking, though depressing sight staring back at them. Dejected, sun-beaten, and sitting atop a small ice flow was a member of the very race they feared crossing paths with – today or any day. Theodoric slowly turned to Kybernus. The first mate oblivious to the stranded Yeturi a few dozen pike lengths to his left, he still looked skyward at the sails they were just discussing. With his right hand, Theodoric placed an open palm under the first mate’s triple chin. Fingers wrapped around the chubby face, he gently turned the squishy head on its blubbery swivel to the port side of the ship. The colorless terror suddenly in sight, Kybernus screamed and bounced back awkwardly on his tail. Wobbly for a moment, he then fell hard to the deck. His bulging belly did not cause him to trip over himself, but most likely helped pick the direction in which he tumbled.
Theodoric helped Kybernus back onto his tail. Penelope joining them, the three glided to the port side of the fishing ship and leaned up against the edge. The first mate’s screech as if kindling to fire, within moments, word had spread of the sighted Yeturi and every Mermaid now made his way to the port side. With trembling hands, Penelope hurriedly pulled her charcoal stylus and a few bamboo strips from her pack. She then began to draw what shocked eyes told her. A few moments later, Kybernus stole a quick peek at Penelope’s barely started sketch.
“I’ve seen them in drawings and paintings,” he drawled after a long, thoughtful pause, “but never a live one. Would almost feel sorry for it if not such a heinous monster.” Kybernus turned to Theodoric. “Don’t suppose you know how it wound up stuck in such a predicament?”
“Although I have never heard of it,” Theodoric replied with slow, careful words as they continued to watch the Yeturi bob up and down with the waves, “my only guess is that, well, maybe this unlucky ogre is an outcast. Banished from its colony perhaps? As only one settlement exists that we know of, where else is there for it to go? I must admit, I am curious though. How did it manage to float so far out to sea? As it is still alive, whatever happened to it could not have come about more than a couple of days ago.”
Theodoric directed the ship to come close to the strayed brute, but still far enough away so that the Yeturi could not easily climb aboard. Curiously, it did not even bother to make the attempt. The snow-white troll just watched. After loading some jugs of fresh water onto it, the sailors lowered a boat tied to a silk rope. All looked on in shock as the Yeturi swam to and climbed inside the small craft. It gulped down every jug of refreshing water and then just sat its fluffed rump in the middle of the boat.
“Well,” Kybernus drawled, “now what?”
“That is a good question, my friend.” Theodoric peeked at Penelope. Her wry smile and intense stare made it obvious as to what she believed he ought to do. He rubbed the back of his neck and let out a small smirk of his own. “As Atagartis has been rather quiet for a while … I suppose we could bring it back home with us?”
“Bring that monster to Atagartis? I really don’t ––”
“I could not agree more, Theodoric,” Penelope interrupted in a proud voice.
“Oh, I was just about to say that too!” Kybernus blurted as both his chins and belly nodded up and down.
*****
Many had approached the Land of Abomination to test his or her cunning over the past few millennia. Precious few returned. Even fewer did so with all their fleshy bits and pieces still attached. Those foolish enough to get close to a Yeturi had long ago gathered most of what Terra Australis knew of them. The wasteland where they lived was a level island where little else grew but the hardiest grasses. Frozen into the island’s bedrock at its northeastern edge towered a single massive glacier. A series of carved out caves in and around this glacier made up the Yeturi colony.
Atop the tundra to the west of the island roamed wild bison. A grey-white wooly coat covered the white skin of these foul creatures. As did the Yeturi, they too owned orange-red eyes. The ancients caught sight of them nibbling on grasses every now and then, but wrote that these animals were, for the most part, carnivorous. A disease that had luckily never reached Terra Australis caused a good many of these bison to suffer bloody mouths and noses that never seemed to heal. Somehow, someway – Penelope had no idea how such mindless filth could do so – the Yeturi had long ago tamed these bison and rode them bareback.
“Even from far away, I can smell the monster’s stench!” Penelope complained.
Could it smell her too?
Penelope did not know how long she and Kybernus sat dumbfounded at the stern of the ship watching the Yeturi, but the sinking sun suggested it was quite a while. Not particularly thrilled that only the portly first mate was still close by, she would make use of him, nonetheless. And perhaps even teach him a thing or two.
“Do you know how Sapiens first discovered the Yeturi?”
“No, but I would be honored if you told me,” Kybernus answered eagerly. He was not much to look at, but an educated Mermaid who wished to learn more counted for a good deal in her mind.
“Well,” Penelope began, “although these revolting creatures swim well, the gap between the Land of Abomination and Terra Australis is far too wide for them to cross. Until their ships began to venture north, Sapiens of old had never seen a Yeturi, but neither fish nor any other type of food is what lured them here. They searched for a creature that is quite real, yet considered more legend than not.”
His attention gathered fully, Kybernus’ eyes grew wide with wonder.
“Elkabydos well on its way to becoming a great city, the first Sapien queen, Cynisca, had done near all anyone could possibly do in a single lifetime. Even one that spans as many years as that of a Sapien. The world was then so at peace that all manner of animals and birds found comfort inside the walls of the first city. This was true for every kind of bird aside for one. Snow petrels much too skittish to come anywhere near us, a very special one dared to do so.
“As if a sign of goodwill from the gods, on any given day, this single snow petrel found Queen Cynisca near anywhere she happened to be. Whether inside or outside, it yearned to be her pet, her companion, whatever you may wish to call it, and she adored it as such. Under her care, it could often be seen flying freely about the city. Although petrels do not live very long, this one never died. Not even after she did. Instead, its sightings became less frequent, and as the years passed, it became ever larger. Soon none referred to it anymore as a mere petrel, but as the ‘Rukh’. Sapiens believed that, upon the death of each gifted witch or wizard, his or her magic was not lost, but instead given to the Rukh to keep for his own; that this is why the bird grew with what seemed no bounds.
“On occasion, it still flew amongst the men and women of Elkabydos, but hearts growing colder leads to minds growing bolder. Regents imprisoned the first few who shot at the Rukh with their arrows, but this only made such crude men more daring. It was not long before this trophy that would be theirs but never was had had enough and abandoned them. The old writings say it took up refuge in the north, and this was why Sapiens began to venture here. Alas, they met not the cooing of the Rukh, but the shriek of heinous monsters – the Yeturi!”
Penelope smiled wide upon finishing her tale and gazed at Kybernus. He appeared entranced, but a poke to his belly with her stylus quickly woke him up.
“I never knew of such a story,” he said in breathless gasps. “Sapiens never said anything about a Rukh during my studies with them when I was young.”
“Well,” Penelope said with a playful pompousness in her voice, “we historians have to know some things others do not or else what use would we be?” Kybernus smiled. “Having given you this quaint history lesson, I now require something in return.”
“Sure, anything,” he answered back as if expecting Penelope to ask him to court her.
“We are close to home and I have sketched nothing more than the Yeturi’s outline. Just look carefully upon the monster, describe all you see, and I will draw it. Can you do this for me?”
“Oh – sure, I can do that,” Kybernus returned softly. Penelope was sorry to disappoint him, but she had eyes for another.
“Good.” His back to the Yeturi, he still looked at her. “So … carry on.” She shooed him away with her right hand. Most Mermaids ambidextrous, Penelope favored the left hand she now held her stylus in. With a drawn out grunt, he finally turned around.
“Well,” Kybernus drawled as if thinking hard. “I don’t remember reading about Yeturi as tall as this one. What am I missing?”
“You are right!” Penelope squealed. “A select few Yeturi can grow to be as tall as a Mermaid is long, but most of the snow devils are a few hands below a pike length. HA! How lucky – this Yeturi is one of these few! The largest usually leaders, I wonder if this one once led the colony, but was overthrown.”
“To banish and not eat it,” the first mate howled back, “who would have guessed that such nasty creatures had any sense of mercy?” After a few more chuckles, Kybernus began to describe the Yeturi in earnest.
“Long, thick white fur covers our homeless troll from head to toe. I can make out dark grey skin in a couple of places, but only on its face and the insides of its hands. Its crazed eyes are oval-shaped and sit inside slanted eye sockets.” He paused. “WHOA!” Kybernus’ excited voice became slow and a hint of fear weaved about each word. “I just watched it move its eyes inside those sockets to the side like an eagle and then straight at me as would a lion.”
Penelope looked up and saw Kybernus shiver as if the sun gave off cold only to him and not warmth as it did to all others. Finished sketching the eyes, she expected the first mate to continue, but he did not. With a long sigh, she shrugged off this quirkiness, looked over his shoulder, and continued to draw the Yeturi’s face.
Its large mouth dominated the lower half of its ugly mug and formed an almost perfect circle. Inside this circle, sat multiple rows of triangular teeth. It had been written that foul smelling saliva coated each one of these triangular teeth and that the jaws holding them could move outward – same as a snake – to fit in oversized chunks of flesh.
This mouth should terrify you much more than its eyes, Kybernus!
The centerpiece of the Yeturi’s face was a massive nose that looked to be made entirely of exposed bone. It ran up the middle of the face and branched off into mouflon-like horns on each side of its head. This one’s horns quite large, it was obviously an adult. Yeturi could use their nose like a trumpet to warn the colony, gain attention, or simply show off to others. The ridge of its nose was wide and rose above and into the forehead. This caused the eye sockets to be half on the nose bone and half on a raised part of the cheekbone. Claws as sharp as daggers stuck out from hands attached to arms that appeared longer than they should be.
“Although Sapien-like in appearance,” Kybernus noticed, “this Yeturi seems to be anything but. Aside that they walk upright, is there anything else Sapiens have in common with them?”
“The histories,” Penelope answered, “suggest they can control fire, but rarely use it.” She smiled and her eyes grew wide. “Raw and wiggli
ng – this is how they prefer their prey! Their simple language is of mostly clicks, grunts, and squeaks, but aside from this, unbridled savagery makes them much more a beast than anything else.”
The only weapons anyone had ever witnessed Yeturi wield were broken pieces of mammoth tusks. Living mammoths were long gone – Queen Gorgynna had made sure of this centuries ago – but their bones were not. As far as anyone knew, Yeturi understood neither the concept of armor nor the creation of weapons.
The setting sun now half below the sea and half above, Penelope looked up one final time to ensure her sketch was just right. It was, of course.
“And just in time!” Kybernus announced joyfully, “our home is in sight.”
“They sure were right,” Penelope drawled after a deep sigh. Finished putting her stylus and charcoal away, she gazed upon the sketched hideousness in her lap and cocked her head to one side.
“Who, Historian?” Kybernus begged. “Who was right?”
“Sapiens who first wrote of them in their travels – travels in which a good many turned into disaster. ‘Tis true beyond all doubt, my friend: Yeturi are just as disgusting as the ancients described.”
*****
Was it wise to bring a live Yeturi to Atagartis? WHO CARES!
To tame the unknown, especially to bring a wild Yeturi inside the city walls, brought about great pride. Such pride swelling in every chest ready to explode – Theodoric’s bold action greatly pleased Queen Diedrika.
Once inside Atagartis, the monster acted almost docile. Having a handful of chances to strike at its handlers before locked in its spacious cage, not even once did it try to. As Mermaids above poured soapy water onto its stringy, matted fur, the Yeturi just whimpered a sad song of sorrow. Word spreading overnight of this grand prize, upon the next morning, near all demanded to see it.
The Gift From Poseidon: When Gods Walked Among Us (Volume 2) Page 21