“Ate? As in… like, cooked and ate the slaves?” Orae questioned, Knuckles sat with his jaw dropped. Sable nodded a few small times while looking absentmindedly at the deck, then blinked and answered.
“Yes. There uh… were body parts in the kitchen, not many, but enough. No bones. They tossed those, I guess. But there were…” She closed her eyes, shaking her head and gulped, clearing her throat before continuing. She looked like she was fighting back being sick again. “Parts for at least three people in the galley. One woman, two men. There was no food onboard, aside from meager spices they were using on the...” She held back vomit again. “Bodies. It looks like they also ate their shoes, belts, and some rope.”
“By the Gods.” Knuckles said, repulsed.
“I take it she’d like some comfort right about now?” Orae said to me and Klintock. Klintock stood, holding his hands out to Sable.
“Hug?” He asked. She dove into him, shaking and crying quietly. I sat back on my heels. Slaves? I leaned over to Orae.
“What’s a slave?” He looked at me, shocked.
“Other people. People that you sell to other people to be used for work usually, or much worse. It’s outlawed strictly back home, thank the Gods.” People? Wait...so the Marauders ate people? Why? They were human, weren’t they?
I looked over to the pile of human bodies. They’re human. I looked down at my hand and imagined taking a bite out of it. There was a small bit of intrigue. I was admittedly curious about the taste. We’d eaten fish, pork, beef, many types of meat. But Human? Or Cianían? It could be considered meat, I guess. I mean, the sharks were eating those bodies, all the creatures on the Island want to eat us too.
But there was just something terribly wrong about the idea. Thinking about Sacae or Morean lying dead on the floor was terrible enough, to imagine cutting into them, cooking them, then eating them. I felt a twinge from my stomach as the thoughts nearly made me vomit. Ok definitely not curious anymore. Sable separated from Klintock, thanking him for the hug and shook her head, taking a deep breath before heading back towards the small ship.
I distracted myself from the terrible thoughts by focusing on Sable as she walked away. I noticed that her walk wasn’t the same, there was no bounce to it, just quick steps. It made me worry. Again, I shook my head and distracted myself with working on the sail.
Sable’s group brought over several crates of valuables, likely stolen by the marauders from other ships they had attacked. The other group brought over much the same, only more.
“Orae. How long till that cargo is loaded?” Edorin asked as he was looking over some papers, one with a red ribbon attached to a broken red seal.
“Maybe twenty minutes at most Captain.” Orae answered. Edorin nodded, still reading the paper.
“Good.” He squinted, then raised an eyebrow. “Interesting.”
“Captain?” Orae queried. Edorin glanced at the four of us. We looked at him expectantly.
“It would seem the larger ship was previously owned by Romlia (Rum-lee-uh). More specifically it was a gift for Princess Ralissa (Ruh-lee-suh) of Romlia. Thankfully, she wasn’t on the ship when it was taken by marauders. It was to be a birthday gift to her, though now that cannibalism has taken place on it, they’ll likely recommission it for their navy. I’ll have to spare some crew to have it follow us, we’ll return it to them when we get home.” Edorin said.
I looked over at the bigger ship, noting that it had three massive masts, was one or two decks taller and seemed a lot wider as well. So that’s a royal ship? It’s big and fancy. I wonder how the pirates got ahold of it. “You’ve had your fill of gossip, now focus on the cargo.” Edorin said, looking back down at the paper.
He moved over to several crewmen that had just finished working and pointed towards the royal ship as he spoke to them. They saluted him and moved over to the other ship, getting it ready to sail. “Right. We set sail as soon as the cargo is loaded and stowed. Dump them.” Edorin pointed at the pile of bodies. Two crewmen nodded to him, sighed, then took hold of one body a piece and started throwing them overboard.
“They’re chumming the water now boys. We need these supplies down there yesterday.” Orae said with a worried look that Knuckles echoed. Zanataz and Edorin walked up onto the quarterdeck and waited for the scouting group to return and redraw the ropes they had been using.
He saw me and Klintock and rolled his right index finger over itself horizontally, telling us to hurry up. Over the course of the next ten minutes, we were able to finally get the last of the boxes and barrels down. Orae and Knuckles pulled up the trap doors, then dropped them down and latched them in place. Sounds of splashing over the edge of the ship became more frequent.
“Captain!” Orae yelled. Edorin looked over to see Orae giving him a thumbs up. Edorin nodded then held up a finger, twirled it in a circle and pointed towards the bow of the ship. Wrap it up? Probably help with whatever’s going on at the front of the ship I guess. Orae turned to us. “Thanks for the help kids.” They moved quickly off towards the upper deck.
We stepped aside and watched as The Wonder started moving through the water ahead of us, when another voice rang out.
“Captain!” This time it was Cairen. Edorin looked over. Cairen was holding the body of a rather large shark that had been bitten in half. Edorin nodded, moving steadily to the mast of the ship below the crow’s nest. His eyes flashed purple for a moment as he was looking up to the crewman that occupied it. Cairen tossed the body back overboard.
I looked over the railing to see the terrible sight of churning red water, body parts of humans and creatures alike littering a large area. There were dozens of creatures that would briefly breach the water’s surface to snag onto a piece of meat, or a floating body part, then vanish. It made me feel sick. I grabbed my pendant and did my best to calm myself.
“We got something big!” One crewman said to Cairen. I followed their lines into the water, noting that they both ended in almost the exact same spot. The two crewmen struggled hard; feet pressed against the railing. Whatever it was, it was huge. Both fishing rods were bent in a severe arc.
I watched eagerly to see what it could possibly be. It was fast, swimming from one side of the churning water to the other. At one point it looked like it was going to dip below the ship but changed direction. Finally, the creature broke the surface about twenty feet away. Only half of it was visible, but it was clearly a massive, mean looking shark, a much darker grey than the others, with a large mouth lined with rows of teeth.
Those of us watching gasped in amazement at the size of the creature. It sank below the water again and pulled down hard. They had to let loose a lot of line to keep it from snapping. The lines went tight again as the crewmen redoubled their efforts. The thrashing of the water quieted. Then suddenly the two holding the rods flew backwards onto the floor, the lines going slack.
“Captain!”
As I watched, I saw a massive shape moving beneath the waves. What is that? There was an eerie quiet now that the thrashing had stopped.
“Wading Behemoth port side!” Came a high-pitched squeaking voice from the crow’s nest.
The ship seemed to rise for a moment. It was like a shadow came over the area, but there were no clouds in the sky.
Edorin sprinted over, eyes wide, catching a glimpse of the creature. I saw two large rows of spikes break the water’s surface, seeming to curve away from the ship before vanishing. Edorin turned and shouted.
“Sails to full! Get a move on! Bombardment crew, hit the area around The Glory on my mark!” ánadaí, Zanataz, and a crewman I didn’t know sprinted over and held their arms out towards The Glory. The rest of the crew was frantically untying ropes to drop the sails to catch wind, lurching the Pony forward. Edorin stood with his hand raised, eyes wide and focused on the now calm surface of the water. I looked out, glancing around.
I froze with fear. The water was rippling. It formed a rounded wave that grew taller and moved towards us. Through the wave, I could see the partial face of the Behemoth showing through. It was brown in color, and its head looked to be a wide wedge shape, with what looked like a beak of some kind as it pushed through the water straight for the Pony.
Edorin dropped his hand. “Fire!” Red mist formed and flashed on all three crewmen’s arms. There was three steady ‘thoom’ sounds, as balls of fire flew through the air with a loud hissing, cracking boom when they hit the water around The Glory, leaving behind large rising clouds of steam. The wave created by the Behemoth turned, aiming at The Glory now. We all watched silently as the Behemoth lunged from the massive wave.
There was a loud crack as the creature bit down on the deck of The Glory, snapping through massive chunks of wood, cutting loose the ropes holding the sails in place. Large, clawed fingers slammed down on the bow and stern of the ship, piercing the deck. The ship tilted heavily on the side the Behemoth had latched onto.
It pulled its mouth off the ship and shook its head, spitting out the large chunks of wood and rope. It let out a loud roar. Oscillating and high pitched, yet bass filled enough to shake my chest. The water around its torso gurgled and jumped. The Behemoth pushed off the ship, splashing back into the water. It had pushed The Glory almost a hundred feet away from us and the feeding frenzy.
I looked out onto the size of the Behemoth. Its tail was still wading through the swirling, red water our ship had been sitting in. It had a long, thick neck that was covered in irregular, rock like armor. Its head looked like that of a snapping turtle. Its body was large and long, mostly oval like in shape.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
The Glory fell on its starboard side. Water rushed in through the massive holes the Behemoth had left in the deck, slowly dragging it below the waves. “Fire again.” Edorin said. They fired at the blood this time, creating massive clouds of red steam.
I assumed the Behemoth went for the explosions, but I couldn’t see it anymore. “Level out.” Edorin said to Cormick at the helm. Cormick nodded and slightly turned the ship.
I stood there dumbfounded. The ease with which the Behemoth had destroyed The Glory, shoved it nearly a hundred feet through the water, and then left it to sink. If that had been us… if Edorin’s bombardment hadn’t redirected it… we’d be dead. Drowning, being eaten alive… I leaned against the railing and stared blankly out at the now calm water as the crew cheered.
I looked down at the water. Normally beautiful, calm, and blue. Now, terrifying, deadly, and unpredictable. I gulped. ánadaí slapped me on the back.
“Quite the sight aren’t they?” She asked.
“Huh?” I said, blankly.
“The Behemoth. Terrifying and massive, but beautiful in their own right.”
“Uhh… sure.” I said, plainly. I took a deep breath and rubbed my pendant, looking for a distraction. They’d shot fire from their hands! “Hey.” I said.
“Hmm?” ánadaí grunted.
“How did you do that?”
“Do what?” She asked. I held my arm out and mimed them shooting fireballs.
“Oh that.” She chuckled. “It’s bombardment magic called a fireball.”
“Can you teach me?” I asked.
“’Fraid not. At least not with the time we have left. It takes a long time and plenty of focus to learn any kind of magic. I’ll teach you when you get back home ok?” She said. I nodded, disappointed. Shame, I could’ve used that against Bháis.
“Croí, there you are.” Keokin said from behind me. “Let’s get below deck. The crew still has a bit to do, and Edorin wants to keep an eye out for a bit longer to make sure the Behemoth isn’t following us.” I nodded.
Edorin walked towards us, shouting to the man in the crow’s nest. “Keep a sharp eye Aenrick (A-yun-rick)! We don’t want to be caught off guard!”
“Aye Captain!” Aenrick shouted back. He had short, thinning, almost bald hair, and his ears were like Keokin’s, protruding to either side, and was skinny and small but moved quickly. He kept both hands over his eyes as his gaze circled the waters around the ship.
“You two.” Edorin addressed us. “I’ll send Zanataz for your group later, but for now, keep to your room or the galley.”
“Yes Captain.” We said in unison. Keokin held the door open and motioned for me to go first.
“Captain, I know you want us below deck, but would it be alright if I stayed with you? I want to know what to do in this situation.”
“What about your group?” Edorin asked.
“They’re below already. I made sure of that, it’s just me and Croí left.” Edorin thought for a moment, glancing in the direction of the Behemoth, then sighed.
“Keep on my heels. If anything else comes for us, you sprint below deck, understand?” Keokin nodded. I sprinted to the perceived safety of the room. The others gasped with surprise.
“Croí! We were worried about you.” Lánn said smiling, then her look turned to worry as she glanced at the door. “Where’s Keokin?”
“He’s fine. He’s with Edorin, observing.”
“Shouldn’t we be observing?” Klintock asked.
“No. It might be chasing us, so they want us below. They’ll come get us when it’s safe, or when we can help out.”
“So, what was it?” Leola asked. I sat down with them.
“Aenrick and Edorin called it a Wading Behemoth.”
“Wading Behemoth?” Céírde asked. I nodded. She pulled over her pack, slipped out her book and flipped through it. “There it is. Wading Behemoth. A member of the Behemoth class. Known to be a nomadic creature. It moves across oceans following a pattern of migration throughout the year. These creatures are one hundred feet long. The largest being recorded as near one hundred fifty.” She said.
“This one was probably over a hundred. They get to one fifty?” I asked. She nodded. So that one wasn’t even fully grown? Gods. That thing was deadly enough as is. I shuddered and Céírde continued.
“They typically aren’t a danger to ships, but they will bump into them to test them. If the ship continues moving, they will take a small ‘nibble’ at the ship, and if they realize it’s wood, they leave it be. However, when there are large amounts of blood in the water, they
https://www.tumblr.com/coldthane/711513207719723008/the-wading-behemoth-would-be-genuinely-terrifying?source=share
become aggressive and attack the largest moving thing they can find in the area, including ships. Your only hope is to retreat from the bloody area and hope it doesn’t stay curious or aggressive.” Céírde turned the book around so we could all see the image of the Behemoth.
“That’s it.” I confirmed
“You mean that thing attacked the ship?!” Lánn gasped. “Look at the size of it. How did we survive?” Everyone turned to me for answers.
“Well, it didn’t attack our ship. It was going to, but they shot fireballs at the water near The Glory, and it turned its attention to that ship. It popped out of the water and latched onto it, pushing it nearly a hundred feet, then just fell back into the water. Sunk The Glory just like that. Barely even seemed like it was trying.” They gasped.
“The Glory?” Lánn asked.
“Yeah, one of the ships from the marauder attack.”
“Right. Busy day huh?” Flint interjected.
“Busy and terrifying. Those marauders… they didn’t look right. And the Behemoth was terrifying. Especially the way it was able to just… disappear after all that. Thanks to Edorin and the crew though, we’re all alive and well. Well… Most of us.” I said.
“Thank Fomhár, right? What luck to escape something like that.” Lánn said, looking blankly at the image in Céírde ’s book. We all nodded in agreement, and I absentmindedly grabbed my pendant.
Thank Fomhár and thank Ríger for the necklace, and Edorin for his fast acting, and Zanataz and the others for their ability. Without them, we would surely be in the belly of the Behemoth.
“What were you all doing up there before the Behemoth?” Flint asked. Sable’s face went white. She didn’t seem to want to speak about what she saw, so I tried to pull the attention away from her.
“We were handling cargo from the other ships.” I said, pointing at Klintock and myself. “There was actually quite a bit of it.” The group nodded, seeming satisfied with the idea of something more mundane. Moving boxes sounded better than being attacked by Behemoths and marauders.
“Do you know what was in them?” Céírde asked. I glanced to Klintock; he shook his head.
“Not really. Maybe cotton or tobacco? Stuff like that.” Klintock said.
“What about you Sable?” Lánn asked.
“I went… on The Glory.” She said, quietly. I dreaded the question I knew was coming.
“One of the marauder ships?! Awesome! What did you find?” Lánn asked excitedly. Sable shook her head.
“Nothing… nothing all that…” She closed her eyes and gulped, taking a deep breath.
“Nothing cool or incredible. She found horrors, let’s leave it at that, ok?” Klintock said, putting a hand on Sable’s shoulder. She made a small smile at him in thanks, and he nodded.
“What happened? Are we still in danger?” Jael asked. Klintock and Sable shook their heads, I shrugged. We could be, we can’t be sure.
“All of you know?” Flint asked. “Why not us?”
“Because it’s horrible, and unpleasant to talk about.” Klintock argued. Flint glared.
“If we’re in some kind of danger and you three aren’t telling us…” Sable cut him off.
“They were eating people, ok?! They had slaves, and they cut them up, cooked them, and ate them! I walked through the ship, saw their… parts on plates, like leftover chicken legs. Saw the kitchen where they… where…” She put her hands over her mouth and fought hard to keep herself from vomiting, dry heaving once before I was able to grab a bucket and hand it to her. She emptied her stomach into it. The faces of the group were sunken as they stared at the floor. Klintock handed Sable a rag to wipe her mouth with and she thanked him.
“Sorry.” Flint said, quietly. She threw up again.
“You should be. Thinking we would keep things from you. Idiot.” Klintock said angrily, while rubbing Sable’s back and trying to calm her down. There was a quiet pause until Sable was able to calm down. She sat down with a sigh.
“I’m sorry too. I just…” She didn’t finish. Nobody said anything. Lánn came over to sit with Sable, and comfort her while she sobbed quietly, as Sable had done for her after Sacae. Sacae… That was this morning, not more than a few hours ago… What is going on? Gods, I’m exhausted.
The events of the day ran through my head on repeat. Every mistake I made during my fight with Sacae that led to a group member being hurt. What I could''ve done differently. Why I froze, and what broke me out of it. Seeing all the dead bodies, seeing them churned up and devoured in the water. The thought of the cannibals. It all made me feel sick thinking about it. The horror of the Behemoth attack, and the strangeness of it all.
I kept rubbing my fingers over my pendant, using it to keep me calm. That or distracting myself by watching the group talking. Laughing after their nerves had worn off and Sable slowly returned to her old self, making a joke or two with Lánn and Flint. William hadn’t said a thing, hadn’t even looked at us, and I was worried about him, but I had no idea what to do to help. I thought I would tell Lanaea about it later.
Lánn and William had started working on Céírde and my boots as we talked. I was excited to see what they would look like when they were done. Mostly Céírde’s though. I looked at Sable’s, admiring them for a moment, then a thought occurred to me.
“Do we have socks?” The group looked over at me. Sable laughed. I felt embarrassed.
“Where did that come from? We were talking about food, and you pipe up with socks?” Flint asked.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to say that out loud. It just came out.”
“Came out why?” He pressed.
“I was looking at them making boots, then at Sable’s boots, then I thought that I don’t have any socks, so she probably doesn’t either. I remember always wearing socks with my shoes and I got curious.”
“Uh huh. Same old Croí, eyeballing my sister.” Flint said, squinting. My eyes widened and I stuttered, searching for a reply. He laughed. “Man, you take us too seriously. We’ll teach you how to tease someday.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” I said with a small voice as I mentally retreated.
“We made socks for everybody that needs them a while ago.” Lánn said, smiling. “Several pairs, but we didn’t give them out because if you walk around in them without shoes, you’ll ruin them.”
“Oh ok.” I acknowledged awkwardly. “Sorry to interrupt.”
“Eh, don’t worry about it. The conversation was sputtering anyways.” Flint said with a sigh.
There was a knock at the door, and it swung open. Cairen came into the room smiling and was in turn greeted with smiles, everyone telling him they were happy to see him up and about, and that they were worried about him after hearing he had been injured.
“I’m fine youngins. No need to worry about me. Lanaea fixed me up proper like. Anyways, I’m to gather the lot of you so Edorin can have a little chat.” We looked around, then got up and sluggishly followed him.
When we got above deck, there were small gasps from the group seeing the remaining bloody stains. “Right nasty that. Not to worry though, she’ll be clean and shiny like new come morning.” Cairen said, noticing the gasps. He knocked on the door to the Captain’s quarters. Zanataz opened it and thanked Cairen. He nodded and closed the door as he left.
“Come in and sit down Agers.” We sat in the same spots we took last time we visited, looking around expectantly.
“A lot has happened in the last weeks. I want to talk with all of you and discuss it, but this time will be different. Croí is familiar with my Tellis, as is William, and I’ll be familiarizing all of you with it as we speak, with your permission. I would like all of you to prepare yourselves and try to be as open as possible.”
He looked around the table, gauging all of us. “We might delve into things that make some of you uncomfortable, but this close to the Island, it’s necessary we do this.” He took a breath, looking around to see us nodding our understanding. “Tellis is a magical ability I have developed that allows me to see and hear what’s on your mind. I only use it when necessary, and try to ask permission, unless it’s for something I need dealt with immediately. Questions?” Lánn raised her hand and Edorin nodded to her.
“Does it hurt Captain?” He shook his head as he answered.
“No, only a slight awkwardness at most. Croí can vouch for that.” I nodded as the group looked to me. “William can’t, as his was more forceful. For the time being, until you all leave today, Captain is optional.”
“Why is that necessary Captain? The Tellis, I mean.” Céírde asked. He smiled.
“Because often times I can pick up on things that even you don’t realize were a problem. Remember, the whole point of this is to learn and grow together, not stagnate and allow things to fester or be ignored. This exercise will allow me to get to the heart of the matter and help all of you get on the right path as quickly as possible. I urge you to allow me to help you, but I will respect if you decline.” There were several members of the group that thought about his offer for a long time, breathing heavily as they thought.
Eventually, all the group members cautiously agreed. “Good. Let’s begin.”