but rose to the throne of Ithaca when the heirless King Laertes died, despite being a foreigner…
…as Mazacuintli was proven unmatched in handling the spear, and smarter than any opponent, beast or human.
And so, he…
At that moment, you hear a loud splashing sound in the distance, as if something very, very large had dived into the water.
You hush the poet and he obeys you immediately, looking alarmed. The rest of your crew stand up and look in the direction of the sound. You stare into the darkness, your eyes trying to penetrate the night, your ears attuned to the smallest change in the quiet lull of the waves.
Circe raises her arm and points at something you cannot yet make out. "There," she says, her voice no more than a whisper. "It's coming."
Then, you see it, far away: the thick, glistening body covered in scales that shimmer in the faint light of the stars, the fins, each one as wide as two galleys placed side by side, the tail that ends in a trident-like sting that could destroy your ship with one mere swoop. A giant sea snake, a nightmare among sailors, a threat used by Achaean parents everywhere to terrorize their children into finishing their meals.
And you have not even seen its head yet.
If you see its head, it will already be too late.