Chapter 34 “Harvest”

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Startled from his semi-conscious daydream by the loud crashing of waves, Duncan was abruptly brought back to reality. His eyes snapped open, leaving behind the remnants of his entrancing dream world, which faded into faint echoes. He retained a vivid memory of fish with silvery bodies gliding through the air, defying gravity and water alike. Their tantalizing taste lingered on his tongue, yet the details of their appearances eluded his memory.

“Could fish truly swim in the air?” he thought, dismissing it as a ridiculous idea.

Blinking away his bewilderment, Duncan found himself caught in an eerie mix of reality and dreams, causing a moment of disorientation. His gaze settled on the trio of fishing rods securely fastened in their holder, their hooks empty. The previously calm ocean had begun to churn violently, with waves smashing against the robust hull of his boat, the Vanished.

The waves grew steadily larger. Each one built upon the last in a relentless surge of white-capped chaos, and the wind and waves battered his sturdy ship, filling his ears with their noisy assault.

Looking up, Duncan noticed that the sky remained clear, contrasting starkly with the turbulent sea below. The conditions were rougher than one might hope for a relaxing day of fishing, yet there were no signs of an impending storm.

“The conditions are not ideal for fishing…” Duncan muttered to himself, pondering whether it might be wise to reel in his lines. But just as he considered this, the tip of one rod suddenly snapped downward with great force!

The heavy-duty fishing line, designed specifically for sea fishing, stretched taut under the weight. The rod, crafted to handle large catches, curved dramatically like an archer’s bow as it withstood the pull of what must have been a substantial fish. Along with this motion came a jarring scraping noise as the holder creaked under the pressure, clearly indicating to Duncan: He had caught a big one!

All thoughts of giving up vanished, replaced by the rush of excitement unique to avid fishermen. Quickly, Duncan was at the side of the strained rod, one hand firmly holding the pole to prevent it from being pulled away, while his other hand carefully adjusted the line’s tension.

“I knew it! There was no way I was going home empty-handed!”

A surge of excitement flowed through Duncan as he engaged in a formidable tug-of-war with the massive, unseen creature on the other end of his line. The battle was intense; the sea creature was obviously not ready to give up easily. Despite Duncan’s physical strength and the solid support of the rod holder, the confrontation hung in a delicate balance.

As the waves around the Vanished grew fiercer, Duncan remained composed amid the gentle rocking. The stubborn resolve of his aquatic adversary fueled his competitive spirit, yet he was cautious not to let the opportunity for a remarkable catch slip through his fingers.

The tension on the fishing line had become dangerously high, on the verge of snapping and potentially allowing the massive fish to escape.

After a long and exhausting standoff, Duncan decided to act. Almost spontaneously, a bright burst of otherworldly green flame erupted from his hand that gripped the rod tightly.

The green fire spread and swirled like liquid, its mesmerizing flames quickly moving along the rod and the line. As the spectral flame advanced, it blazed a trail straight into the churning sea. Suddenly, a mysterious silhouette, glowing with an odd green light, appeared from the dark waters around the Vanished. Highlighted by the eerie, ethereal fire, an immense shadow rose from the deep waters.

This enigmatic shadow spread under the ocean’s surface, extending like a giant creature from the abyss. This awe-inspiring figure covered the sea around the ship, with its shadowy limbs stretching hundreds of meters, morphing into dark, fluid tendrils. These tendrils swelled under the water like numerous serpentine arms, controlling the unseen ocean currents and stirring waves against the hull of the Vanished.

Startled by this spectacle under the sea, Duncan struggled to maintain his balance in the face of his elusive “prey.” His eyes, filled with curiosity, looked into the depths of the ocean. Surprisingly, he saw nothing out of the ordinary, just the usual rhythmic clash of waves, no different from any other sea fishing experience. More importantly, he felt the force against his fishing rod lessen, possibly indicating that his opponent was losing strength.

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A victorious smile spread across his face as he methodically reeled in the line, gradually drawing his marine adversary closer to the surface.

…

Meanwhile, Alice was abruptly awakened from her sleep by a cacophony of roars and piercing whistles from outside her cabin. The violent disturbance caused objects within her quarters to crash together chaotically, adding to the uproar. Quickly, she braced herself against a nearby railing to prevent being thrown about, her expression one of confusion. “What’s going on?” she asked.

The Vanished seemed to quiver as if caught in the powerful clutches of a terrifying storm. From deep within the ghostly ship, a deep, ominous rumble sounded, as if the ship itself was growling and roaring, defiantly challenging the terror invoked by the mysterious deep sea, as though fighting an unseen leviathan that threatened to engulf it.

The clattering of various objects in her cabin continued, their noise resembling a cryptic language that Alice couldn’t understand. But one thing was clear to her: a storm of chaos was brewing outside.

Driven by this alarming realization, Alice decided to face the storm and head out onto the ship’s deck. Staggering and clinging to the walls for support, she hurried out of her cabin toward the heart of the disturbance on the deck.

After navigating a series of mishaps involving stray ropes and misplaced barrels, she finally reached the base of the stairs. She pushed open the swaying wooden door and was confronted by the ocean in full fury, producing gigantic waves.

The sky was a menacing black, dark as obsidian, with ominous clouds gathering into a thick, heavy curtain that seemed ready to touch the ocean’s surface. Huge waves roared and frothed under the dark clouds, their wild energy surrounding the Vanished. Although Alice was no sailor, she was struck with awe by the dramatic scene before her. She instinctively knew it was time to find the captain.

Her quick scan of the deck soon brought her gaze to the man she sought, who stood at the edge of the deck, seemingly unaffected by the storm.

For Duncan, the tumultuous seas and fierce winds were just minor distractions. On the brink of victory, he could feel the diminishing resistance of his aquatic foe through the tension in his line and the spectral green flame. Gradually, he was drawing the creature beneath the waves closer to the surface.

“Come up and face me, you behemoth!” he shouted, his voice swallowed by the storm as he gave the fishing rod one final, mighty pull.

A fish leapt from the water—an enormous creature, nearly half as large as Duncan.

In the eerie quiet of that moment, Duncan found himself staring into the eyes of the massive fish suspended in mid-air.

“…An absolute monster, isn’t it?” he said aloud, his words echoing into the storm.

And monstrous it was. The fish’s grotesque black body was covered in a knobbly, tumorous texture, with haphazard grey-white patterns snaking along its fins. Multiple bone-like spikes protruded from its head, beneath which a pair of hollow, pearl-white eyes stared unblinkingly back at Duncan.

Something about those eyes sent a chill of unease through Duncan, suggesting a malevolent intelligence within the fish. Suddenly, in a startling turn, the fish convulsed violently, its eyes, fixed on Duncan, burst in a horrific spectacle, spraying blood into the air.

With a loud thud, the fish fell onto the deck. It writhed in its death throes, resembling a creature being electrocuted. However, the violent struggle was brief. The fish soon lay eerily still, its mouth and destroyed eyes oozing blood that started to stain the weathered wooden planks of the deck.

Transfixed yet somewhat disgusted, Duncan watched as the monstrous fish twitched its last on the deck. His thoughts turned to a piece of trivia he had once read in a book: deep sea creatures often appeared grotesque, and their bodies, adapted to the intense pressure of ocean depths, could burst their blood vessels and die quickly when suddenly brought to the surface. He wondered if this natural law also applied to the aquatic lifeforms in this world as well.

His contemplation had been abruptly interrupted by the distinctive sounds of more bodies landing on the deck. Startled, he turned his attention towards the source of the commotion just in time to see several more ‘odd fish’ joining their larger kin on the ship. Each one was a miniature replica of the original beast, no longer than half a meter. Like their predecessor, they too were bleeding profusely, their strength rapidly diminishing under Duncan’s watchful gaze.

Caught off guard, Duncan finally managed to formulate a quip, “Are they some sort of bulk purchase deal?”

…

Meanwhile, Alice was huddled by the ship’s railing, her eyes wide with terror as she watched the horrifying spectacle unfolding a few paces away. Captain Duncan stood at the helm, enveloped in ghostly green flames that danced violently around him, transforming him into a titan confronting the relentless sea. At his feet, three fishing hooks protruded from the deck, one of which was swallowed by the same ominous flames.

From the murky depths below, a massive shadow surfaced, and a tentacle thicker than the ship’s mast emerged from the sea. The tentacle was a nightmarish sight: studded with countless malevolent eyes and lined with rows of razor-sharp teeth that ground against each other as though eager to shred the ship to pieces.

Fear gripped Alice, prompting her to warn the captain and rush to his aid, but before she could make a move, the tentacle lunged towards Duncan.

Alice watched in horrified fascination as Duncan looked up, his face illuminated by the brilliant flames, a bizarre grin etched on his face. He locked eyes with the countless eyes on the tentacle, and in that instant, the eyes exploded in a gruesome spectacle. A deafening, agonized screech rang through the air, originating from the teeth nestled between the eyes. Then, as though the monstrous entity beneath the sea had purposely amputated its own limb, the wounded tentacle broke off, discarded and abandoned on the deck.

The severed tentacle landed with a thud, its open end oozing a viscous, foul-smelling ichor that pooled on the deck, splattering near the captain’s feet.

 

 

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