Chereads / Islander tales : Stranded / Chapter 1 - The Accursed Sea

Islander tales : Stranded

KiaoSuvan
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Synopsis

Chapter 1 - The Accursed Sea

The sound of thundering rainfall filled the deck of a grand sail ship. The entire ship seems to tremble from all the impact.

The Crew run all over the decks with buckets in their hands as they desperately try to prevent the great vessel from flooding. The flags depicting thunderbolts flutter in the violent screaming wind.

The lightning flashes, letting out a sudden roar, from among the dark cloud that blocks out sunlight entirely, leaving only darkness behind. The crewmen fumble in the dark, relying only on their memory and flashes of lightning that occasionally show them the way.

And among the chaos, Adrin stands and holds on to the mast. He's a young man with short dark blue hair. He has a lean and slightly muscular body with tan skin.

He wears a dark blue sleeveless shirt that he left unbuttoned and short dark blue pants. His bright blue sash holds a machete-like knife in a wooden sheath.

Adrin looks at the horizon and sees no light. He can remember being able to see the horizon just some minutes ago. But as soon as they sail into this sea, the world suddenly turns darker than night. Captain Harta emerges from the interior below to see what's going on.

Harta is a middle-aged man with a moustache and short brown hair. He glared at the storm as if it was challenging him.

"Father! We need to turn back! This storm is too dangerous! We still have a chance to go back!"

Adrin shouted, but captain Harta replies

"No! We will not turn back! Are you doubting the Stormbreaker? Trust me, Adrin. I know what I'm doing. Just watch and learn. We are going to fulfil this contract and be the first to arrive at the mystic isles and leave!".

Harta then carefully made his way up to the quarter-deck. when one of the crewmen shout

"Hey! I saw something huge moving in the water!".

The second crewman then replies

"You are just imagining things! I can't even see my hands right now!".

But the first crewman says,

"I swear I saw something! There was a flash of lighting earlier! I saw a whale size shadow under the water! Look!".

As the crewman finished his sentence, a sea creature emerged from the dark water. It's a gigantic shrimp-like creature with four frilly whiskers. The creature waves its spear-like rostrum in the air, warning them to turn back. The creature body is armoured in thick carapaces.

The captain took notice of the sea monster and shout

"A Seaspear prawn! We need to take that thing down before it attacks us! All warriors on deck!".

Harta walks toward the side of the deck with a harpoon in his hand. Many warriors arrive at the upper deck with weapons in their hands.

"By the gods! This doesn't look good at all!"

Desia remarked. He is a young man around Adrin age. He has short brown hair and tan skin. His body is more muscular and well defined compared to Adrin.

He wears short orange pants with a sash. He doesn't wear any shirt and lets his muscular torso be on display. In his hand is a longbow which he clutches tightly.

"I couldn't agree with you more. I tried telling the captain to turn back, but he refused to listen! How was the interior doing?"

Adrin said to Desia, who replies

"It is still intact, but waters from the upper deck start to flood the area. But we still have it under control…..".

Suddenly, they hear a feminine sounding voice saying

"What the hell is going on here!? I woke up to see our quarter flooding! My herbs are all ruined!".

They turn to look and see Chamnan walking up the stairs. Chamnan is Adrin and Desia bunkmate. He is a boy whose voice has yet to deepen from puberty, combine that with his feminine look, it is easy to mistake him for a girl.

Chamnan has black medium length hair, which he tied back into a bun. His skin is quite fair and delicate looking. He is not muscular at all, even compared to the lean looking Adrin.

Chamnan wears a long-sleeved white shirt and pants with yellow trim. His oversized cloth flutters in the winds like a flag.

"We have arrived in the accursed sea that surrounds our destination, the mystic isles! We are facing a dangerous storm like never before. And there is also a Seaspear prawn in the water!"

Adrin explained the situation. Chamnan approach him and hold on to the same mast, then he says

"Yeah, I did hear something about prawns, then everyone rushed up here. Why is everyone so worked up over a prawn?".

Desia ran off to join the other warrior. leaving Adrin to explain

"Listen to me carefully, a Seaspear prawn is the size of a large whale. We call them a prawn because it is Literally a giant prawn. It can sink a ship with its spear-like head as its name suggests.".

Chamnan stare at Adrin with a confused expression, then he says

"I never saw a whale before, so I have no idea how big that is. I want to see how big it is with my own eyes.".

Adrin nods in understanding and tells Chamnan to hold his hand. Chamnan seems surprised at first, But he takes Adrin's hand anyway. They stumble toward the railing to see what's going on.

"Ready your weapons! Attack on my command!"

Captain Harta shouted the command to his warriors, who now ready their harpoons, crossbows and bows. Harta places his foot on the railing and lifts his harpoon. He then chants a prayer in a strange language as he aims at the monstrous prawn.

The Seaspear prawn lowers its head into the water and aims at the ship. Harta stares at the sea monster and finishes his chant, causing his harpoon to become electrified with yellow sparks.

Adrin and Chamnan arrive at the railing to see what's going on. Then Chamnan says

"Whoa! Is that magic?! I never heard anyone mention that he is a mage before.".

Adrin then says

"It's common knowledge here. He received a miraculous blessing from an islander thunder god. Just watch and see what he can do.".

Chamnan looks at Seaspear prawn and is surprised to see how gigantic it is.

"Whoa! That is even bigger than an elephant! I never knew a creature this huge existed. I hope Captain Harta miracle can defeat this creature…..."

Chamnan said, right as Captain Harta shout

"Attack! Let loose!".

The warrior unleashes their weapons at the sea monster. But the arrows, bolts, and harpoons simply bounce off the creature's thick carapace.

The sea creature becomes enraged and charges toward the ship. Harta lifts his lightning harpoon and throws it at the Giant prawn, but the harpoon bounces off the creature's shell. Then suddenly, the sky is lit up by many flashes of lighting that appear at once.

A Thunderbolt then struck the Seaspear prawn, right on its body. The creature's body curls and gives out many streams of smoke.

The crewmen cheer for they have defeated the sea monster. All of them praise captain Harta who stands proudly and looks out in the distance.

But while everyone is celebrating, Adrin remains cautious and observes the creature. Then he notices the Seaspear twitching and uncurling its body. The creature immediately springs back into action, even though its body is still smoking.

"Watch out! The prawn is still alive! Hold on to something!"

Adrin shouts out to warn everyone. Harta gets down and holds on to the railing. Right as the Seaspear drives its horn into the ship side. The crash shakes the entire ship and tips it to the side.

But at that moment, Chamnan becomes frightened for a moment and loses his grip on the railing.

"Nooo! Chamnan!"

Adrin shouts as he sees Chamnan fall into the dark, violent water below. Desia rushes in to help, but he is too late.

"We can't leave him like that! We have to do something!"

Desia shouts in panic as he tries to look for Chamnan. Adrin quickly looks around and notices a coil of rope. He grabs the rope and says

"Desia! Hold on to this rope and don't let go! Pull me up as soon as I get Chamnan!".

Desia immediately understands what Adrin tries to do. Adrin ties the rope around his waist and prepares himself to jump into the water, trusting Desia with holding the rope.

"What the hell are you doing!? We can't help him! That ship is sinking! Stop what you are doing and head to the escape ship!"

Captain Harta shouts as he notices what Adrin is trying to do. Meanwhile, The Seaspear prawn horn got stuck in the ship, struggling to pull out.

"We must help him! It's my fault that Chamnan falls off the ship! I'm the one who brings him here to the railing! A good captain always looks after his crew! You taught me that!"

Adrin replies defiantly, which surprises Harta. But the captain remark

"Fine! Just do it quickly and get to the escape ships! I'm the captain right now, and I don't want to lose any more of my crew. Especially you! Go!".

Adrin nods and signals Desia to get ready. Desia nodded, so Adrin jumped into the water to find Chamnan. Adrin dives into the violent water and quickly resurfaces to call Chamnan.

"Adrin! Help! I'm over here!"

Chamnan screams from atop of his lung as he struggles to stay afloat. Adrin swims toward the voice and grabs Chamnan.

"I got you! Hold on to me tightly. And don't let go no matter what!"

Adrin shouted, to which Chamnan hugged him tight, saying

"Thank you for not leaving me behind! I thought I was going to die here. Thank you!".

Adrin then tells Chamnan to save his breath as Desia starts pulling them back up. But the Seaspear suddenly free itself and causes the ship to topple once more. Desia hands are busy pulling the rope. So he didn't hold on to anything as the ship leaned.

"Desia! Adrin! No!"

Harta Screamed. He sees Desia fall into the vicious water below. The captain rushes in and tries to grab the far end of the rope before it falls into the water. But in his struggle, he slips and falls on the floor.

He watched as the rope got pulled into the water, taking his son and two of his crewmen with it. Harta screams and cries as the accursed sea have taken his beloved son. The other crewmen have to force their grieving captain into the escape ship.

No one would believe that the Stormbreaker would find itself broken by a storm. Adrin and Chamnan watch in horror as the grand vessel quickly sinks.

The vengeful Seaspear ram the sinking ship, creating a large wave that comes toward Adrin and Chamnan.

The wave is the last thing they see before they lose their consciousness.

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