Chapter 12

Athelstan

He got up and approached him too. He pushed people to the side to make room. He looked at the sea.

The ships that had just passed the open gate of the bay were sinking, sinking, destroyed as if they had crashed into a rock of gigantic proportions.

From that distance, he could see only the sails of the big fishing boats that slowly went down below the water level while the cries spread around the port. His mother caught up with him and stood beside him, looking out over the bay.

“Go down to the city, they may need help,” she said with a little excitement.

“He goes back to the castle and waits for my news.” he kissed his mother on the cheek, then nodded to one of the guards who came there. The guard approached his mother and escorted her into the palace.

“Now everyone calms down and go back inside,” he told the people that it was crowded on the balcony by now.

“Now!” he cried, seeing that no one was moving. At his command, the people immediately returned to the palace.

“You come with me”, he said to the guards.

***

They arrived at the port quickly. Athelstan had acted quickly, rallying as many guards as possible and ordering the sentries to clear the roads to the harbor, to prevent people from crowding them. Unfortunately, he had failed to achieve the same effect with the overcrowded port of people flocking to see what had happened.

The bay’s surface was covered with debris from ships floating on the water carried by light currents. Some small boats had already set out to sea to try to rescue some survivors. When Athelstan arrived at one of the docks, a boat was docking with a freshly rescued fisherman on board.

Athelstan ordered some guards to drive away the people gathered there while he ordered the others to help the boats with the survivors.

He stooped on the small boat and helped the fisherman to climb up the wooden structure. The fisherman was trembling, he did not know whether from fear or from the cold, being completely wet. Athelstan helped him up while the man coughed and spat water.

“What happened?” he asked him when he stood up.

“My ship... It’s all lost. Under the sea,” the sailor replied, rambling.

The guards passed Athelstan and began to help other men drawn from the waters.

“How did it happen?” insisted Athelstan.

“I didn’t... We had just gone out to sea. We prayed to Geholm to keep the waters calm when the boat began to sink. There was no damage to the ship, we had checked it before boarding. It was as if... it was as if...” The fisherman started shaking so much that he could not speak.

“It seemed that the water had a life of its own,” added another fisherman who had just climbed up the pier.

“Own life?” Athelstan began to be confused.

“The water rose on the wood, beyond the sea level, up to the bridge. It had the shape of a big snake. He began to enter through the cracks destroying the wood. The cabins flooded, and the boat began to descend quickly as the ship was being torn apart by the water, the snakes were biting the wood. It was like they were alive. We tried to dive into the water, but it was full of debris, those who could get into the water were dragged down by I don’t know what.” The fisherman collapsed on his knees. “We threw ourselves on some wooden debris and managed to survive, but the others... My brother drowned.” The man ended up grabbing his head and crying.

Athelstan looked around. People had started flocking again to hear the horror stories of the sailors, then he turned to a guard.

“Round up more guards and get the fucking harbor cleared. I don’t want anyone here. Am I clear?!” The guard nodded and got lost in the crowd to get help.

The boats kept coming to the piers with few sailors on board.

Eight ships departed, and all eight sunk, he thought, looking towards the sea as the waves slammed against the wood of the boardwalk.

Meanwhile, he was observing the crystalline water, all the bubbles began to form on the surface as if something was rising to the surface, and many dark shadows appeared. Athelstan sprawled his eyes and looked better.

Suddenly something appeared that began to float on the surface, then another appeared, another and another until everything was covered.

“For the four Deorghs!” he escaped.

A huge number of fish came up from the bottom and began to float on the water. Athelstan put a knee on the wood, held himself to a pole and, pulled out the dagger, then leaned out towards the water. The golden handle with the eagle’s head shone in the sunlight. With the tip, he touched one of the floating fish. The animal did not move. Athelstan touched him with the blade, but this did not move, so he stabbed him and extracted the blade: from the wound of the fish, a black and thick liquid began to come out that fell into the water, followed by a putrid smell.

“It’s the curse!” someone shouted.

“It’s a sign! It’s a sign!” another voice yelled.

People began to agitate and flee to the city center. Those who lived closer to the port locked themselves in the house, the bravest remained there and began to pray aloud.

“Waruld guide and protect us against darkness.”