The seas will turn to those our memories fade.
...
"Monster! Monster!" Another one of the seafarers on the dock shouted.
As soon as his screams reverberated throughout the town, many capable men came rushing to the docks. However when they saw the huge creeping shadow in the water, those same men--some even having battled sea beasts--turned into children.
...
It got close and closer.
Some of the seafarers boarded rafts and tried to get away as fast as possible while others, more brave, perhaps more foolish stayed in preparation to fight the oncoming disaster
Everyone was tense with the pressure of gruesome death hovering above them.
Sea beasts had attacked the village before, and every time the seafarers had been able to fend them off, although incurring a certain degree of injuries. Yet, the sheer size of this creature put it in an entire other category of monster compared to the sea beasts that the seafarers fought before.
This was a leviathan, and as it approached the raft village, its size only seemed to increase.
Shinra stared at the oncoming disaster with dreadful anticipation. He might die. Actually, he probably would die.
With this thought of almost certain death, he froze. It was the first time that he felt that his life was truly in danger.
The few times when the rafting village received attacks, the creatures never exuded the same sense of dread he was feeling now. The difference lied in the fact that this time, he knew they stood no chance.
And in that moment, he froze, stunned by the true magnitude of the situation
...
Then it hit him like cold water. His life was really at stake here. Was he going to just let the his life drift away?
Of course not, he was going to struggle, he was going to kick and push, he was going to do whatever it took to survive, even if his chances were frankly, nonexistent.
The memories of a lifetime seemingly passed through Shinra's head. He looked out towards the black shadow like the world was in slow motion. Yet it felt like death was heading his way fast like a harpoon, aiming to drag him into the deepest depths.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
...
It arrived.
The giant snake-like sea beast was underneath the raft.
No one dared to make a sound, no one dared to make a move. Time on the raft seemed frozen. The ocean waves being the only thing that could be heard.
Cold sweat trickled down Shinra's head.
It was right below them.
Just one move from the creature would burst the tension, scattering the whole raft into chaos.
...
...
...
Nothing...
...
...
...
Still nothing.
Only about 30 seconds had passed. However, to the seafarers on the rafting village, it felt like hours.
Nothing continued to happen.
Shinra was just as tense as everyone else.
The sound of waves entering his ears felt eerie and the ocean wind blowing against his face felt cold.
"hah." Someone on the raft exhaled.
*CRACK*
And that's when it happened.
The leviathan sprang out from beneath the wood, breaking a hole in the rafting village, and swallowing the sailor who had made the noise.
It was a dreadful creature. A group of spikes protruded from its back alongside its tattered fin, lining the back of its head. The sound of its black serpentine scales occasionally scraping against the shallow ocean floor reverberated throughout the air like the the muffled clashing of swords.
There was no way they could survive. Everyone that they would die a miserable death, their bodies slowly decomposing on the ocean floor.
The seafarers who previously stood bravely in front of the oncoming danger all scattered to the ocean on rafts, trying to escape.
It was every man for themselves.
Shinra was also quick to follow and got on his own raft, setting off as soon as possible.
But it didn't take long until the creature came up again. This time closer to where Shinra was.
It's attack split off a corner of the rafting village and created large waves when it dove back down. All the seafarers nearby were pushed into the ocean, struggling to find anything they could grab onto.
Shinra was also battered by the debris-filled waves, slowly accumulating cuts on his body. But unlike the other unfortunate seafarers, he was lucky enough to avoid the strongest waves, allowing him to stay on his raft.
He tried to paddle away from village and towards the mainland. However, every time the leviathan came up, it sent shockwaves across the ocean, stalling his escape.
It came up again, but this time there was a clear look of worry on Shinra's face.
That was where the orphanage was.
He could care less about the other orphans. They never really talked to him and just ate the food he caught. There was no bond there. However, his caretaker, whom he had called his own mother for as long as he could remember, and whom he had yet to learn the name of was still there.
He desperately looked, trying to find his caretaker as he paddled by the remains of the orphanage in his burst of emotional irrationality.
That was a mistake.
It was still there, right below him.
Shinra held his breath, waiting for the leviathan to pass on to another area.
Time passed, and it left, going to wreak havoc on a different part of the rafting village.
Shinra looked again, but there was nothing there, only blood and driftwood.
He wanted to cry, but there he held it in. It was almost time for the annual diver test, and he needed to get to land to escape that creature.
He continued to paddle relentlessly, and the creature continued it's onslaught against the rafting village.
Another wave came his way.
He curled up in a ball and held on to his raft as the wave battered him. The debris in the wave continued to lacerate his skin, adding new injuries and worsening the ones he had previously sustained.
The mainland wasn't far, but the presence of the leviathan made the journey seem infinitely farther.
After Shinra got out of sight of the rafting village wreckage, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He sat there on the raft and for the next few minutes, he cried.