Caelias' Catch
About
- Sailor's all have their stories about the one that got away. They all try to outdo each other with tales of impressively sized or rare species of fish, but they all fall silent to hear the story told by old Caelias.
Caelias's Catch
T'was the height of summer, when the seas get calm for days. I was out on my own in a skiff, sailing as best I could to trawl for mukrel much like we are now. When I felt the weight on the lines, knowing I had netted perhaps a dozen fish. It took me more than an hour to haul the net up from the depths. The whole while I was worried that I'd capsize, as the boat listed so far to the port side. As my net got closer to the surface I could see I had not a single mukrel as I hoped, but a single giant green leathery egg.
Now I'm not talking the kind you eat for breakfast, this thing was easily large enough for two people to fit inside with room to spare. With the ropes straining and the boat dangerously low in the water I hauled the net up to the surface. While I was trying figure out how to secure it so I might sail to shore with this unusual prize I saw the pebbled surface of the egg ripple; like a baby turning in a mother's womb whatever was inside was alive.
I watched it push and stretch the leathery casing, my mind struggled to grasp what I was about to witness. A claw as long and sharp as my fish knife pierced the skin, and began to tear a ragged line down the side of the egg. My mind caught up with my body and I cut the lines, allowing the hatching creature to plummet back to the depths from which I had dredged it up.
As it sank beneath the surface I saw a exceptionally large shadow cross beneath my skiff. Something with great fan like limbs was circling the descending egg wrapped in my net. I saw the head on a long neck turn upward and two topaz eyes met my gaze, and froze me in place. The beast and the egg dropped downward out of my sight, and I was left shaking for a long time before I could gather the courage to move.
I sailed as directly as I could back to shore. Never fished that particular sea ridge again, and... no I won't tell you where.
