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Chapter 18: Fish Story


We’d been sailing for close to four hours now. Our destination was barely visible but it could be seen nonetheless. I was beginning tot think these waters were not a challenge at all, just and easy obstacle in our way.

I leaned over the side of the ship, staring at the vast blue waters. I let out a yawn of boredom and the captain, steering the ship nearby heard me. “Bored are ye?” he asked.

“You read my mind. Things are a little calmer than they have been, I think. That should be a good thing, but I guess I was just expecting to see a lot more going on in these waters,” I said turning to face him.

He rubbed his gray, bearded chin and grinned. “Aye, then how ‘bout a tale to shake ye up a bit then?” he offered.

Being a lover of a good story, I took a seat on the floor. “Got nothing but time!” I accepted leaning back.

“Now listen good me boy!” he began. “Sometime ago, there was a ship, much larger than this! She was on her maiden voyage y’see. About halfway through its round, a mighty storm arose! The crew kept the boat from nearly capsizing!” he animated the story well enough by simply swaying an arm to and fro. “Eventually, the storm subsided and all was calm! Or so the crew of 50 brave souls thought. They came to a stalling halt without an anchor being dropped! Nothing a thing in sight to stop them! So...what was it?” he asked deepening his voice. “A sea monster!” he growled. “Yes! They say it was 130 meters long from slimy nose to slimy horrifying tail!” he said stretching his arms. He grabbed the wheel again and finished. “The ship was never seen again. Only one member survived that horrible day to tell the tale. He has long since passed though. They say that creature still returns to this strait around…this time every year! Lucky you! Keep an eye out boy!” he concluded.

I clapped and said, “Nice story! But I highly doubt that it was a monster. More like a demon. I could probably identify it now!” I ran down to lower deck and into our small room to find Ashley sleeping. I tip-toed in and grabbed the bestiary and back up to join the captain. I flipped through, looking for water dwelling demons and found what I wanted. “Based off the vague description, I see that it must’ve been a Water Behemoth. Adults’ measure between 120-150 meters long and known are being very muscular and taking down large prey. They are scaly, dragon-like creatures with short legs and webbed feet,” I read. The measurements were reasonable, so they were dealing with a relatively small one. They also lived in much larger bodies of water than this. Like an ocean. This leads me to believe it wanders into the strait for some reason. “Mating season?” I asked.

There was the quietness of thought and finally, “No. ‘Tis just the opposite, me boy. Time to give birth!” said the captain. After a little more reading, I found he was indeed right.

“You’re right. It says the mothers lay eggs and along with their partners, guard the eggs for about 3 weeks until they hatch.” I informed him.

“Then we’d best hurry and leave!” he said.

“We should,” I agreed. “But if it just so happens that we cross one’s path, it’s dead!” I warned.

“Aye! So we set sail!” he said with a hearty laugh.