Þórshöfn, Iceland.

"Sigurd! Sigurd! Wake up! It's time to head out!" Came the annoyingly excited voice of Sven.

Sigurd stirred awake and glanced at his clock. 3:32 AM. He groaned as he pulled himself from his warm and comfortable bed and got ready for the long day ahead. He got dressed in his work clothes, thick jeans, thicker wool coat, and a slick rubber wader with a nice cozy wool beanie. He collected his lunch for the day as Sven continued to hammer away at his door calling for him to hurry along.

Sigurd sighed and collected a pack of imported smokes that cost far too much for how fast he went through them before heading to the door and opening it to reveal the beaming face of Sven.

"Bout time lazybones!"

"Sven. It's too early to be this excited to go fishing. No normal person would be this excited." Sigurd mumbled around a lit cigarette.

"Well, someone has too! Between you and Toki how will we ever get our own show if you're both so slow and boring!" Sven continued as Sigurd made his way to Sven's truck.

"Probably because neither me nor Toki want to be on a show."

"Why not?! Why should we let that Norwegian have all the fame! WE can catch crab just as well! AND we have our own Sigurd too!" Sven continued unbothered by Sigurd's tired tone.

"Maybe because they have a tanker with dozens of traps and we have a glorified dinghy with barely more than ten traps." Sigurd stated.

Sven scoffed.

"That means nothing, Sigurd! WE can catch just as much crab! If only my two crewmates had the same enthusiasm as I did!"

Sigurd rolled his eyes as they navigated the cold roads of Iceland towards the dock where their crab boat would be docked. Hopefully with Toki there getting ready, Sigurd didn't want to be out in the cold water anymore than he had to. Unlike Sven, he just wanted to catch crab for a paycheck and not to get on American Television.

Far too soon though, they reached the dock. The sun hadn't even peeked yet, nor would it for far longer than Sigurd would like. It was already too damn cold and he wasn't looking forwards to this frozen hell while only getting five hours of sun to warm him! If only Sven's enthusiasm could keep them warm on the boat, he thought as they got out and made their way down the dock to their boat The Northeastern. Because why wouldn't it be called something that DIDN'T relate to that dumb crab show!

"Toki! Is everything ready?!" Sven called as he threw his gear onto the boat before jumping eagerly across the foot or so of space between the boat and the dock.

"No, Sven, everything isn't ready. I spent the past hour just with my thumb up my ass doing nothing." Toki replied with tired sarcasm.

"See? Why does it seem like I'm the only one that wants to go above and beyond to make it rich?!"

"Because you are, Sven. We just do this to pay the bills. That's why anyone does it. No-one in their right mind would WILLINGLY come out to this frozen hell to MAYBE catch enough lyre crab just to break even let alone try and become famous." Sigurd said as he jumped across.

The boat was, as Sigurd aptly described, just big enough for the three of them to work without being in one another's ways. Also unlike a famous crabbing vessel on an American TV show. They only had about ten crab pots barely bigger than them stacked at the back of the boat, ready to sink down into the dark waters below to collect maybe a handful of crab worth braving the Icey water.

"We ready?" Toki asked as he bummed a smoke from Sigurd.

"Yeah! Let's go and get famous!" Sven cheered excitedly.

Sigurd and Toki both rolled their eyes as Sigurd went into the wheelhouse and put the dinghy into gear and steered them easily enough out of the harbor and out into the open ocean. The wind was already too damn cold, Sigurd thought as even in the wheelhouse there was a bitter chill that seemed to seep deep into the metal and wood of the cabin.

Thankfully they won't have to do this too much longer, Sigurd thought. Crabbing season in Iceland went till the end of fall. Good thing it did otherwise they'd have to be dealing with thick sheets of ice on top of this blistering wind and cold. Though from the looks of it, they might have a shorter season than he hoped, Sigurd thought as he could see sheets of ice here and there as they sped along their way.

Not enough to deter Sven though. Even when outside covered in so many layers of clothing he was surprised he could move at all, he still seemed to bounce around with an excited fervor. None of it either Sigurd or Toki felt. But at least someone was happy, Sigurd thought as they came up to their first mark.

Sven and Toki moved to heave the heavy crab pot over the side and the boat rocked as it slipped over the side with a splash and Toki threw the line of cord over the railing along with a large florescent buoy that marked this as their spot. Nine more times they did that until the last of the pots were thrown into the dark waters on the border between the Arctic and the North Atlantic.

Then they waited. Despite Sven's excitement and love for the American crabbing show they had to wait a while before going back to make the pots worth collecting in the first place. Otherwise it was just a waste of time and gas. But of course, that wasn't exciting to watch now was it, Sigurd thought as he and his two friends bobbed along with the waves. He was hoping they could get what they needed before the seas got too rough. He didn't like their chances in this rickety bucket on a good day and the weather got worse the closer to winter it got.

After having an early lunch, Sigurd drove them back towards their first pot was. Or where it was SUPPOSSED to be! They circled around and around the coordinates, Sigurd checking and rechecking the marks on his map and GPS just to make sure he wasn't going crazy.

"Did the ice take it?" Sven asked as he gestured to some nearby ice sheets.

"I don't think so. We should've seen something if it did."

"Well, it's not here now." Toki pointed out.

"Think someone stole it?" Sven asked.

"Yes, Sven. It must've been those guys on that American show. They didn't want us challenging them so they came all the way out here to steal our crab pots." Toki said with sarcasm thick on his tongue.

"I know you're messing with me. But do you really think-"

"No, Sven, no-one stole our crab pot. The GPS says it's here." Sigurd stated.

"But... where?" Sven asked and pointed around them.

"I... don't know. Maybe the ice popped the buoy." Sigurd said.

The three of them looked at the nearby sheets of ice skeptically though. Those buoys weren't flimsy by any means and there wasn't enough ice nearby yet to move it let alone outright pop it. Sigurd checked the map and GPS once again before speeding them off to their next pot. Only to find that the bright orange buoy wasn't there either. Once again, little ice was nearby to make their hypothesis about the ice dragging it away or popping it a bit of a stretch.

But they didn't have much else to go on. Sigurd seriously doubt that someone was stealing them. There wouldn't be enough crab in those pots by now to do anything more than break even, if they were lucky. Certainly not enough to justify following them out here to steal them. So they moved on to the next pot, on the lookout for their missing pots or whatever might've happened to them.

"Oh what the fuck?!" Toki yelled as they neared the coordinates of the third pot. Only to find that it too was missing.

"This isn't a coincidence." Sven said.

"No, it isn't. But we're going to find out what's going on." Sigurd said as he floored the engine of the glorified dinghy and raced to the next pot.

Then the one after that. Then the one after that. Five. Five pots were gone. Just vanished. GPS and his map said that they were there, but when they got to each of the coordinates there wasn't anything more than dark cold water.

"THERE!" Sven cried out as they reached the spot where the seventh pot was. Unlike the rest of them, the orange buoy was bobbing lazily in the water as it should.

"Be on the lookout." Sigurd called out.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Toki and Sven kept their eyes peeled out across the ocean for any signs of what was taking their pots as Sigurd neared the buoy.

PLOP!

"HEY!?!" Sven cried out as he and Toki turned towards the noise and found the orange buoy fading into the blackness of the water before being snuffed out by the thick black ocean depths.

"What?! What happened?!" Sigurd called out.

"It sunk! Or something grabbed it from below!" Toki replied.

Sigurd growled and sped towards the next pot with haste. Toki and Sven holding onto the rail as they watched the dark water for whatever took their pots. Sigurd spotted the next buoy bobbing along.

Sigurd slammed back the brake when they got close.

"Haul it in! Quick!"

Sven threw the hook and rope over the side and towards the buoy line in the water. He missed. He cursed and reeled it in as fast as he could and tried again, and missing again. Toki growled and snatched it from Sven and threw it, and also missing.

Sigurd came out, swiped it, and threw it at the line. Finally hitting its mark.

"Haul it in!"

Sven and Toki hurried to reel it in using the pulley they had to haul the heavy crab pot up as Sigurd went over to a nearby floodlight they had incase they needed to preform a rescue during the night. He slid the intense beam along the water where the rope whizzed up and into the boat. On the lookout for what was going after their pots.

"THERE!" Toki called out as something flashed in the dark and rammed into the pot.

It shook the boat and the line stalled before whizzing away, in the opposite direction. Now the line was shooting INTO the dark water as whatever had latched onto the pot was pulling it away from them! Then the buoy ran into the pully system causing the boat to lurch as the three crabbers suddenly found themselves being dragged!

"No you don't!" Sigurd cursed as he hauled himself up and made for the wheelhouse and floored the gas. He hated this job, but he'll be damned if some cold-water shark or orca thinks it could steal his smoke money!

Toki and Sven clambered up from the deck. Toki took the floodlight and trained it on where the line entered the water while Sven went below deck, retrieved a spear gun, and took aim at the creature in the water.

The boat slowed as it and the creature found themselves in a tug-of-war over the crab pot. The creature sped this way and that in an effort to free it's meal from the boat while Sigurd tried his best to keep the boat as steady as he could. The water churned as the motor revved as fast as it could go as well as from the creature thrashing about. Sigurd peeked through the window and saw where he could see glimpses of the creature where Toki had trained his light on it as best he could. He could see flashes of red tentacles.

"Is that a giant squid!?" Sven asked what they were probably all thinking.

"No! It has a shell! See!?" Toki said and pointed to the beast as it neared the surface and Toki's light reflected off a shell.

"What the hell is it?!" Sven asked, though Sigurd could barely hear him over the sound of the engine raising in pitch.

BANG!!!

Then just like that, they lost the tug-o-war. The engine finally gave out and they now found themselves at the mercy of the strange shelled squid as it dragged them away. Sigurd cursed and went out of the wheelhouse.

"Cut the line!"

Sven cursed and pulled a knife out and sawed through the line. Then with a snap, they were free. The line shot away into the dark water. The three of them stared out into the water as whatever that was fled with their lyre crab.

"Shit!" Toki cursed and hauled open the engine door, sending a dark cloud from below out into the still dark morning.

He hurried down and Sigurd and Sven could hear more cursing and what sounded like a fire extinguisher going off. After a couple minutes Toki came back up, he had grease and soot on his clothes and face.

"Well, engine's gone."

"Salvageable?" Sigurd asked though he already knew the answer before Toki shook his head.

He sighed and made for the wheelhouse and picked up the radio.

"Mayday, Mayday. This is Icelandic vessel Northeastern requesting assistance at coordinates sixty seven North, fourteen East. I repeat. This is the Icelandic crabbing vessel Northeastern requesting assistance at-"

SLAM!

Sigurd fell down as something rammed into the side of the boat. The cord to the radio snapped as he fell and what didn't fall off during the initial tug-o-war fell and shattered as they found themselves under attack from something!

"It's back!" Sven called out and reached for the spear gun. Only to be flung to the side of the railing as something rammed into the side of the boat.

The boat lurched to the side as it was rammed again and again. The three of them doing what they could just to keep themselves on the boat and out of the cold water. Then the three of them heard a crack from below. Toki peered down into the engine room and could see water beginning to rapidly flood the boat.

"We're sinking!" He cried out.

"MAYDAY MAYDAY-SHIT!!!" Sigurd cursed and threw away the useless radio as he saw that it was no longer attached to the console.

The boat lurched again, and this time began to pitch to the side as water and damage caused it to lose buoyancy. Sigurd got up and ran out of the wheelhouse with his life suit and an emergency kit at the ready.

"Get your suits on!"

The two ran into the wheelhouse and hurriedly began to get their emergency suits on. They would help keep them from getting hypothermia the second they got into the water. But if help didn't come quickly it wouldn't matter what they were wearing. Or if that thing decided three men in a life raft was a better target than a shitty old crab boat was.

The boat was rammed again and Sigurd could hear more cracking as whatever that thing was shattered more and more of the boat. The other two hurried out. Sven had his suit on and was helping Toki get into his. Toki cursed as they both fiddled with the zipper.

"It's jammed on something!"

SLAM!

The slam shattered the boat, sending the three of them sailing through the air and towards the cold waters. Sigurd reached out and pulled the cord to the life raft. It quickly inflated, but knocked him out of the air and towards the water.

His breath was gone when he plunged into the dark abyss. He cracked open his eyes and tried to get his bearings. He looked up and could see where the life raft bobbed along as the sea began to swell. He could also see the forms of Sven and Toki swimming through the water towards the raft. He could also see what had nabbed their crab and attacked them.

It looked like a giant screw-shelled nautilus. If they were bigger than a boat that is, Sigurd thought as the floodlight from the boat illuminated the dark water below. Casting a light along its long cone shell that formed a sharp point like a spear and was longer and bigger than the entire crab boat. It's deep red tentacles wrapped around the boat as it seemed to be searching for something.

Then it turned its large eye towards them. Sigurd began to paddle as fast as he could towards the raft. The other two were in a hurry, but they didn't have the extra motivation of knowing that something was coming right for them! Not like it would've mattered, Sigurd thought as the nautilus seemed to speed through the water like a bullet as it zipped straight towards Toki! The thing opened its tentacled maw where Sigurd saw a beak for all of a single second before Toki was wrapped in the beast's clutches before it sped away towards the dark with its prize.

It gave him and Sven enough time to breach the water and get to the raft before the water dragged it from their grasps. Sigurd and Sven retched and heaved as they pulled themselves into the raft as they tried to expel the freezing seawater from their lungs.

"Toki! *cough* Where's *cough* Toki?!" Sven asked as he looked around at the dark water as the remnants of their boat not far from them caught fire.

Probably something leaking from the engine, Sigurd thought as he turned to Sven.

"It got him. That thing is some kind of nautilus."

"A what?"

"A large shelled squid. Like a giant squid but with a large screw shell. It grabbed him and swam away into the deep before I could barely blink." Sigurd said as he heaved some more before turning his eyes out towards the waves as they increased in intensity, as if the sea itself was angry.

Sven cursed and looked about as well as Sigurd unzipped a pouch in the raft and produced a flare and lit it. The harsh red light illuminated the area for a few feet. The floodlight might've helped below water for a minute, but it had sunk far enough that its light was no longer visible above water.

"There!" Sven cried out and Sigurd turned the flare towards where Sven was pointing to.

Sigurd could see the shelled form speeding towards them as it neared the surface. The water rose in its wake as it got closer and closer. Sven looked around and found a flare gun and pointed it at the approaching creature ready to fire.

Then they heard a shriek and the water where the nautilus was convulsed as the creature seemed to come under attack from something. It thrashed as something seemed to drag it down into the water below. The water was quiet for a long minute as they waited for it to resurface.

CRUNCH! SNAP!

The sounds seemed to tremble the water itself as whatever had grabbed the nautilus began its feast. Sigurd and Sven waited with shaking arms and legs as they watched the water. The increasingly big waves around them and the cold seeping through their suits and into their bones being the least of their worries for now.

CRUNCH! SNAP!

Sven and Sigurd waited.

CRUNCH! SNAP!

Their eyes never left the water. Their hands gripped the safety rails on the raft out of both fear and concern as the waves rolled and roiled. The only thing they could focus on was the sounds below the waves.

CRUNCH! SNAP!

Then it ceased. They waited with wide eyes, still breaths, shaking legs, and chattering teeth as they watched the darkness, ready for whatever came up at them. Either the nautilus or whatever had attacked it. They kept their eyes trained on the water even as the waves got higher and higher. Even as they got colder and colder. They didn't stop their vigil until the sounds had long since passed and the boat was nothing more than flotsam floating around them as the main bulk sank below the waves. Another casualty given to the abyss, Sigurd thought bleakly.

"S-s-s-sigurd? D-d-d-do you th-th-think w-w-w-we'll m-m-m-make it?" Sven asked as they calmed down after long minutes of silence gave them enough courage to breath let alone speak.

"I-i-i-i d-d-d-d-don't k-k-k-know." Sigurd chattered as he and Sven held on to the raft as the waves battered them with freezing water.

"W-w-w-we w-w-w-will! I w-w-w-want t-t-t-to g-g-g-get m-m-my own sh-sh-show." Sven said with a brittle smile.

"S-s-sven!" Sigurd was about to chide him for think about that dumb show again at a time like this when he realized that he was just being hopeful and optimistic like always.

Sigurd sighed.

"T-t-t-tell m-m-m-me ab-b-bout this s-s-s-stupid sh-sh-show again. Wh-wh-what w-w-w-was it c-c-c-called again? D-d-dead c-c-c-crabs?"

Sven chuckled as the waves continued to batter them.

"All this time and you still can't remember the name?"

"Just tell me."

"I'll remind you when we get back to town and the bar. You called for help, yeah?"

"I did... but I don't think we'll make it there, Sven."

"What? Why?"

"Because our teeth stopped chattering. And we're not shaking anymore." Sigurd explained.

"That just means we're used to the cold by now is all." Sven said with less enthusiasm in his voice.

Before Sigurd could correct him, a wave rolled and sent them both tumbling off the raft and into the water. As Sigurd sank, he was hit with a feeling of peace. Like a sudden urge to just close his eyes and sleep. Just to let it all go. He shook his head and gasped in a lungful of water. He turned and found Sven slowly sinking down not far from him.

Sigurd looked around the dark water. He could see the floodlight far below as its light barely pierced the dark that deep as well as the sinking flare. He couldn't see any sign of the nautilus though. Nor the thing that got it. But he still swam hurriedly towards Sven and dragged him up to where some flotsam was bobbing around.

He coughed and threw Sven and himself onto a lifesaver. He looked around but couldn't see where their raft had gone to. At least the waves seemed to have calmed somewhat, he thought. Not like it'll matter before long but silver linings and all that. He looked back and saw Sven's eyes closed. He began to shake him.

"Sven! Sven! Wake up!"

Sven cracked open an eye as he peered around sleepily. Sigurd chuckled.

"'Bout time lazybones!"

Sven cracked a smile.

"Now I know how you feel."

"Yeah. Yeah you do. So tell me about that stupid show."

"Another time. Just need a nap." Sven said as his eyes got heavier and heavier.

"Sven! Sven!" Sigurd cried out as he shook him again and again.

Then he heard something. He turned his head towards the sky as the sun was just barely starting to crest and could see a search beam from a rescue helicopter flying towards them! Sigurd shook Sven again as he kept his eyes trained on the closing helicopter.

"Sven! Sven! Wake up! We'll make it! Rescue is here!"

PLOP!

"Sven?! SVEN!" Sigurd cried out as he turned and found the space next to him empty.

Sigurd looked around frantically. The hope of rescue and the potential loss of another friend keeping the cold sleep away a little while longer. He looked around some more trying to see where Sven had gone. Sigurd turned towards the helicopter and raised his hand.

"OVER HERE!!! WE'RE OVER HERE!!!"

If he could get their attention then he can dive down for Sven, Sigurd thought as he smacked his hand against the water as he called out again and again for both rescue and his friend.

"HERE!!! HERE!!! SVEN?! SVEN?!"

Then something grabbed his legs in the water.

"Sven?"

He was pulled below the waves just as the searchlight moved across where he had been barely a second ago. He thrashed as best he could but whatever had him wouldn't yield. He turned and tried to pry himself away from the rubbery flesh that held him in an ironclad grip. His lungs burned as he tried to fight it as best he could. Then the flare he had dropped illuminated the dark in a harsh red light that revealed but a fraction of the creature that had seized him.

It was massive, far larger than the nautilus was, Sigurd thought as he expelled the last of his air in terror. A couple tentacles were briefly illuminated yet Sigurd could sense rather than see several more twisting and shifting in the dark nearby. He couldn't see the bulk of the creature, but as he neared he could see a maw of teeth that circled a sharp beak as his vision began to fade, from fear, cold, or lack of air he would never know. Sigurd saw Sven's unconscious body being gently thrown into its gaping maw as he felt the tentacles around his feet let go and he slowly drifted towards the last thing his eyes saw before they closed for the last time. A single thought entered his mind. Something within dredging up old stories he heard as a boy in an effort to explain what he was about to die to. Old stories he heard from fishermen long before he decided crabbing the cold Icelandic waters for smoke money was worth it. Stories that told of something ancient and mighty that lurked below the waves long before man ever thought to brave the seas. Something that many believed waited over the edges of the map and turned to myth and legend when humans found no such edge.

The Kraken, was all Sigurd thought before his mind graciously slept before he felt the mighty force of the creature's bite as he and Sven joined its terrible legend.

CRUNCH! SNAP!