Treasure of the Sea

SCYLLA

The water churned and swirled around my boat. This was more than just choppy water; there was something down there.

I grabbed the oars and turned the boat back to shore. I rowed, but the water beneath me turned as dark as midnight. Then I shrieked as a massive serpent broke the surface and reared above me.

The monster’s green-and-red head rose higher and higher, its long neck never-ending. Its massive head and maw, full of dagger-like teeth, blocked out the midday sun.

I fell back onto the floor of the boat, my legs raised over the seat, and one of the oars slipped out of my grasp. I scrambled to grab it as it slid through the rowlock, but it fell into the water and floated away. I pulled the other one into the boat.

I turned slowly to look at the heaving beast. It was deathly calm as we stared at each other, neither of us moving. A splash sounded in the water beside me, and scraping against the underside of the boat made my heart spike with fear.

I was in trouble, and I wasn’t one of the damsels in distress whom the villagers would delight in telling tales of. There would be no princes or knights coming to save me. Not in my story.

No, I was a nobody who never got to experience the excitement of life, and now a sea beast was going to eat me. A rather exciting end to an otherwise monotonous life.

The irony of my present situation was rather humorless as I stared into the hungry mouth of the creature that would surely be the only witness to my final breath.

Those teeth aimed for me, a dripping maw gaping wide and ready for a bite. Its deep-black eyes bore into me, targeting its easy prey. I was too afraid to scream as it lurched back and dove forward. My heart dropped into my gut and—

A flash of black and emerald surged from the waves and charged the beast.

It was another creature, with long waves of black hair streaming behind its green humanlike torso. Fins lined the incredibly muscular figure, and finishing out the unearthly form was an emerald tail, long and streamlined for perfect maneuvers under the water.

All this I caught in a brief glimpse, all ten feet of that wonderful creature.

A creature with a spear in its hand.

The sea serpent jerked its head back as that spear sliced across an eye. The monster bellowed out an ear-splitting shriek from the depths of its open jaws, its frilled tail writhing up from the sea in its moment of pain.

The action sent tall waves sweeping my minuscule boat farther out into the ocean.

The human-adjacent sea creature exploded from the waves again. This time, the spear plunged not into an eye but into the space on the serpent’s head right between them.

One last rumbling scream shook the water. The serpent’s gargantuan body slammed into the waves. The resounding force rocked my unsteady boat violently over and over as the monster sank.

Just as the sea calmed, the monster’s tail, in one last act of aggression, reared up and slammed down on top of the hull. The wood shattered apart around me, breaking into a million shards.

I plunged into the water, my cries for help bubbling away on my lips.

I’m going to die. I’m alone, and I’m going to die in the water that’s always been my second home. I’m going to die in the same water where I was raised, taught to fish, and swam my entire life.

My legs kicked, and my arms flailed. I mustered every ounce of my strength, but the current was too strong. I couldn’t fight the overwhelming pull of the immense serpent’s body sinking and sucking everything down with it.

There wasn’t enough air in my lungs, and they ached with the need to take a breath. The light faded as my exhausted body descended into the deep, and just when my mouth opened to breathe in the water, a hard object crashed into me.

The next thing I knew, my head was cresting over the waves. I coughed, sputtered, and breathed deeply. My arms flailed as the unabating waves crashed against me, but powerful arms caged me against a hard body, keeping my head above water.

My eyes fluttered open against the sea spray on my face to catch the side profile of the creature who saved me. My breath caught in my throat, but not out of terror.

He didn’t have the face of the frightening creatures I’d heard about.

Instead, his features were no different from a human male. If that male were devastatingly handsome. He had the face of a man any maiden would fall for, with sharp-angled features that spoke of strength and power.

But he was no man. He was more than any human male could ever dream of being.

Long-finned ears stuck out from his damp, wavy black hair. His pale skin held a slight green shimmer. Three slits on the sides of his neck mirrored the gills of a fish. The hands that held me close had sharp claws and webbing between the fingers.

In the moments before we vanished into a seaside cave, I smiled. I finally had the chance to meet one of these creatures and prove the stories wrong. I smiled wider when I realized I had a story to tell at all.

I was almost eaten by a sea monster. Then I was rescued by a handsome merman hero.

Maybe I’d get my happily ever after, too.