I never enjoyed the salty spray of the waves crashing over the bow of a ship, it was something that always bothered me as a deckhand and ate away at my conscience as a captain. Men could be washed away at any moment during a storm and even going below deck ran the risk of cracking your skull open on any number of things. This particular night saw seas rougher than any I’d experienced before, it was as if the ocean herself were mad at our very presence, rain come pouring down in drops the size of coins and hit the deck almost hard enough to punch right through it, waves the size of castles smashed into the sides of the magisteel hull unrelenting, daring the ship to stay afloat as if it were an affront to nature. As rough as the waters were, I had complete faith in the magic infused steel hull that Snovian Magismiths put together back home, perhaps it was arrogance or maybe just ignorance of the cruel reality of our world. The waves had been slamming against the side of the ship for days, it seemed like there was no end in sight to the storm, but on this night waves were the least of our worries. Two Kaiserfeld patrol boats somehow spotted us through the storm, and as quickly as they turned around and both headed in the same direction I knew they weren’t separated from their fleet like we were, soon an entire Kaiserfeld battle fleet would descend upon us as if they were a great horned blackhawk swooping down on unsuspecting bear cubs.

  I concluded that our only option was to stay in the storm as long as possible, the enemy would have a tough time spotting us again and would likely avoid any predictable paths we might take. The crew would have to ration the rest of our food for the foreseeable future however. The waves remained as harsh as ever, in fact they only seemed to grow stronger as the hours slowly trickled from one to the next when suddenly the waves settled and the rain stopped. I looked around to assess our surroundings and we definitely weren’t out of the storm, water poured from the sky in all directions around us, we’d ended up in the eye of the storm. Our brief respite would soon come to a close as the sky ripped asunder by endless bolts of lightning, the clouds thundered as if Thor himself were among them, and to our horror the sky wasn’t the only thing to tear apart. A wave the size of ten ships strung end to end rose from the waters below us and from it emerged a giant beast the likes had likely never been seen by any living man, its massive claws tore apart the water, evaporating it as soon as it touched the enormous creature, it was clear that it had just barely missed ripping our ship to shreds. I only caught a glimpse of its face before it slammed back into water, releasing a thunderous clap which sent a shockwave strong enough to lift our ship almost entirely out of the water. I knew we couldn’t stay, but I knew the Felds would soon be on our heels if we left, but I suppose it was either them or this beast.

  I ordered the crew to conduct a full speed retreat, even having our gunner mages provide an extra boost of speed for as long as they could manage, the ship was moving so fast it was practically flying. By some miracle we made our way out of the storm by nightfall; using the stars we were able to plot a course back to waters that should have been heavily patrolled by our own ships, in truth I had no idea what the current situation of our patrols were. For three days we sailed without ever seeing another soul, but on the dawn of the fourth we spotted something out on the horizon, we prayed that it was one of our own and it would seem that our prayers had been answered, a patrol boat spotted us and led us back to port where we were to await new orders. Being on solid ground again was strange after being out to sea for so long not to mention having to get accustomed to the waves produced by the storm. Before we could even finish our dinner I was given orders to gather up the crew and set off in search of the beast that nearly tore us to shreds. As hesitant as I was about the situation I was about to disobey an order and so we set off in search of a monster.

  Our ship had been refitted with magisteel harpoon cannons to ensure the beast had nowhere to go once we sink our teeth in. I was surprised with the speed in which the dock crew worked, it was as if they just brought in another ship and sent us out on that, but I know that can’t be the case because of all the marking the crew liked to put on various parts of the ship. Somehow they even managed to boost the speed we could reach by rigging a series of boosters to the aft of the ship, however I could tell these were hastily installed due to shoddy craftsmanship so I only planned to use them as a last resort. We patrolled the waters in the area where we first encountered the beast for weeks with nothing to show for our efforts except a dwindling food supply. Then just as we were about to abandon the search for a while to resupply, the waves began to rise higher than any normal wave would, clouds darker than the night sky rolled in before anyone could even realize what happened, lightning struck the center mast with a thunderous boom that could split even sturdiest of oak trees, and not but a moment after steam rose from the sea as if it was being boiled from below.

  I could feel the murderous intent of the creature swimming below us and ordered the crew to their battle stations. We’d only get one chance to take this thing out for good. Despite the constant thunder and lightning everything stood still for what seemed to be an eternity, it was almost as if both sides knew whoever made the first move would likely end up dead. The water below began to stir and I knew it was on the move, likely headed straight for us. I gave the full steam ahead order knowing that if this thing caught us we’d all be sleeping at the bottom of the ocean that night. The sea began to rise as if it were about to split in two, the dark shadow lurking below the surface now began to pierce through the sea, with us as its intended target no doubt. The beast displaced so much water that we were able to ride a wave down the side of the enormous creature as it emerged, narrowly missing us with its massive claw. As soon as the beast had exposed its underbelly I ordered my men to fire all the harpoons. One by one each harpoon struck true, the beast barely noticing as if it was nothing more than a pin prick. The beast was so close to the storm clouds above that the harpoons acted as lightning rods, each one channeling separate strikes of lightning into the creature causing it to thrash about until finally it dove back under the waves it had created.

  The harpoons held on with all their might but the creature would not relent, the beast swam as hard as it could, no doubt in an effort to drag us under. For hours the creature twisted and contorting under the waves, nearly capsizing us about twelve times. For a moment the beast stopped, I had thought the monster had finally given up, but this creature wasn’t finished with us just yet. In an instant the monster shot out of the water again, this time with our ship firmly grasped in its enormous claws. I ordered our mages to ignite the boosters pointing directly at the beast in an effort to make it loosen its grasp but it was a vain effort. In a matter of moments our ship was torn apart, each movement of the creature causing more death and destruction. I can’t remove the images of those men being ripped limb from limb, the crimson splatter of blood being washed away by the endless torrent of a murky grave. Pieces of our ship rained down into the ocean below, many sailors landing right on top of floating steel plates, meeting a gruesome demise, as my footing gave way I wondered if I would meet the same fate. The fall seemed to last forever, my brain taking in as much information as it could in what would likely be my final moments, and as I fell I gazed into the maw of the beast and saw no darkness but dim light surrounding evil men who looked upon the destruction with glee. In that moment I accepted my fate and continued my plunge, eyes closed to avoid the horrors around me in my dying hour. The sea would have different plans for me however as I fell not on to steel but plunged into a blanket of blue. The water under the waves was calm and surprisingly warm as if it were an entirely different world from the one above.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Although I thought I had resigned myself to my fate, as I sunk deeper below the wave I was hit by a sudden rage accompanied by an extreme will to live. The water went from a blissful heaven to a slimy prison from which I must escape. With all my might I swam and I swam until I could just barely see the surface, with freedom in sight my will grew stronger as I approached the veil between this world and the next. As I pushed the water away from me I felt the cool air embrace me as I gasped for breath. I took in my surroundings and found that the monster had retreated back under the waves, my anger growing with every second that passed. I managed to find a piece of our mangled ship and climbed on top of it. Instinctively I began paddling in a direction that felt like home, but though I paddle with all my might I lost consciousness shortly after I began. When I came to I was in a field hospital at one of our island bases, apparently I was picked up by a passing patrol boat; I never found out if I was paddling in the right direction.

  The dry air over solid ground felt foreign after being at sea for so long, each breath seemingly drying out my lungs from the inside. The nurse warned that I should rest a few days longer to recover from the injuries sustained in the incident, but I ignored her and stumbled out of bed, rage in my heart, eager to bring an end to the monster that killed my crew. I limped my way to the admirals’ office and demanded command of a gunship to take down this shadow that loomed over my head. The admirals stood silently as I raved about the beast that could end our reign over the sea if we didn’t destroy it. At first the admirals dismissed my rant as the ravings of a man gone mad after losing his ship, but Admiral Halkins took it upon himself to discern the truth. In a sharp tone that cut right through the haze clouding my mind he said “Cut the horseshit and tell it to me straight, son”. Stunned for a moment while I gathered my thoughts, all I could do was stare at him in silence. Once I recovered my sanity I informed the admirals of the events that transpired and what I saw, particularly potential weaknesses I saw, notably a lack of defense by allowing itself to be hit by harpoons, if I had a gunship all we would need to do is fire a few explosive rounds into its belly and surely it would go down. The admirals wasted no time in shutting down my plan, stating that taking the beast on was too much of a risk, then Admiral Halkins chimed in with a plan.

  Being back on the water again had become slightly comforting in a strange way, my head didn’t spin like it had when I was on land, and the waves seemed to rock our ship like a massive cradle. Despite this feeling of comfort I was still on edge as the smaller ship sailed into the storm, we’d been able to see it for quite some time but now that it was upon us it struck dread into my soul. When I noticed the new crew members gazing into the storm with fear in their eyes I steeled my resolve and chose to lead by example. I ordered all the crew to their battle stations as we approached the center of the storm, there was no doubt the creature would be looking for us, but this time we were ready. The water below us began to stir as the small patrol ship sailed directly into the eye of the storm, the beast was almost certainly preparing to strike. We waited with baited breath as the little ship bobbed back and forth on the wave, then it finally happened, as swift as the lightning that had struck it earlier the creature leapt upwards out of the sea with this little patrol boat firmly in its claws, I cracked a grin from ear to ear, our decoy had worked to perfection.

  One by one an armada of gunships removed their cloaks as they moved into position surrounding the monster. I remember the slight shimmer of the cloaks as they slowly retreated to reveal the true nature of our plan. When we had the monster fully surrounded I gave the order to fire the harpoons. Four harpoons flew out of the side of the ship with a thunderous boom that could strike fear into any man’s heart, luckily we weren’t on the receiving end, three harpoons hit their target. Soon all the other ships in the formation launched harpoons of their own, the beast’s attempts to swat away the harpoons were all in vain as each harpoon either dug its way into the creature’s claw or found its way into the midsection of the enormous creature. The creature attempted to flee but with the boosters of every ship pulling the lines taught the creature could not deny our will. One at a time cannons were fired directly at the beast, some hitting true and merely bouncing off while others pierced directly through the monster’s soft underbelly. For nearly an hour the endless barrage of cannon fire filled the air with deafening booms and plumes of smoke that made it near impossible to even see where we were shooting. As the smoke finally cleared the beast looked as if it had been crushed in the grasp of something even larger than itself yet somehow it was still moving, not even in any apparent pain, so finally we released the harpoons and as the lines fell limp harpoons began detonating from inside the creature, our final effort to take this beast down.

  The creature made no noise, nor did it attempt to free itself from the detonations of the harpoons, instead it just stood there in silence as if it were already dead. Then the most absurd thing happened, men began jumping out of the creatures mouth, not just a few either, hundreds of men came pouring out of the creature while the harpoons detonated. I ordered my crew to turn the ship and approach the men in the water, they hesitated but after yelling at them that the beast was clearly dead they sprang into action. As we approached the men in the water we soon realized the true nature of our fight with this beast. A giant claw came crashing down into the water next to the ship, barely missing us by about 20 yards or so. The claw looked strange to me, as if it had been hollowed out and replaced with mechanisms to operate it, then, when I approached the men in the water the muddy picture in my head of the men in the beast staring at me as I plummeted into the water came rushing back to me and this time made all too much since. The men's Kaiserfeld uniforms told me all I needed to know, this was no beast we were fighting, it was an enemy warship, one that we just spent an hour fighting and all of our onboard ammunition. On the horizon, as if to confirm my worries I saw tens, perhaps multiple dozens of ships approaching and I knew they couldn’t be ours.