Simple Sailor's Tale  

 

One Sailor's Tale
- Obertin Seaborn

It is said that the storm's
fury is slow to rise and
always abates. That is not
the entire truth. That
fury can lie under the
surface for many years.
Some of us have seen that
fury rise as fast as the
lightning strikes and rage for days and weeks at a
time.

I was aboard the Waif when
it happened. Waif was a
large boat captained by a
large fool. I was a
conscriptee, so my choices
were limited. I did warn
them, as did many of the
crew, that it was risky to
sail those waters, even in

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those days when the sea
were unknown. I wasn't the
first to see the strange
raft, but I was the first
to understand what they
were doing. There were a
bunch of painted-up trolls
on this huge raft, dragging
the sea with a huge net.
This isn't, by itself, a
problem. Most fish are too
fast to be caught in this way, and most of the
smarter sea life will avoid
the nets or damage them.

But these trolls were
pulling up many fish, and
among them were some of the
sirens and other beings of
the sea. I knew, even as a
boy, having been born and
raised at sea, that the
ocean lord cares for his

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creatures very much, but
that he is slow to anger
and often expects his
subjects to fend for
themselves. The lord of
storms is different. He
loves the sirens, many
believe that they sing for
his clouds and his rain.

As they pulled their prizes
from the nets a huge troll strode among them and beat
them, troll and sea
creature equally, with his
massive sword. This
monster cruelly beat one of
the sea maids and forced
her to sing for him. Her
song was one of pain and
rage. It was, of course,
so compelling to those of
us that heard it that many
dove overboard to die in

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the sea rather than hear it
any longer. The captain
ordered the boat turned in
his desire to rescue her.

We never reached the raft.
In an instant the sky was
filled with light and
thunder rolled across the
sea sending many more of
the crew off the decks. I
do not know how I survived. I do know how that troll
survived. I saw dark
shapes, roughly the size
and shape of a troll, swim
up to the shattered raft
and pull the brutal troll
under the waves, then move
swiftly to the shores of a
barren island.

That storm raged for a
week. I saw the raging

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anger of the storm and was
spared. I do not know why
I was spared when all the
others died. Perhaps only
so that I can tell this
tale as a warning to
others.