Karina - Age 1
Karina knew suffering before she had the words to speak. At one year of age, her family was running from something far greater than them. They set sail on a wooden schooner, fleeing a home she could never clearly recall. The small craft could be manned by a crew of two or three, so her father Abdul, and older brothers, Adil and Anwar, set to the task. Karin, her mother for which she was named, held Karina close in swaddle and sling. When Karina would fuss, Karin would place a small coral pendant near her, and she would hear the singing voice of an old man comforting her to sleep, mother Karin’s voice harmonizing.
I’ll hold You tight Without a doubt Against the Rolling waves…
The route is long And harsher still As you will Come to know…
In future times The stones will shout And they Will guide You home…>
The seas were fierce. The world around them was fractured by some great cataclysmic war that none could remember, all that was left were signs. Amidst the usual dangers of the deep ocean, the briny waters lay before them littered with inert husks of unmanned exploratory craft adorned with flags of nations long forgotten. The weather itself was anomalous, patches of unnaturally dry air could suddenly give way to thick foggy mists. The ocean would often break into whirlpools and waterfalls in an instant that could crash the ship directly into the sea floor, if they were not careful.
Abdul shouting orders to the brothers- “STARBOARD!”- “HARD PORT!!” when the need arose for quick maneuvering, and whichever brother was nearest would jump to helm it with deft, as they knew disobedience could mean an agonizing death. Spontaneous spouting sprays of sea shocked the shy ship as pillars of water jetted skywards in random patterns. This was not a world for smooth sailing.
In calmer moments, the family would fish together off the side of the deck, mother, father, brothers, all. The fish could be strange. The first they caught, an Ahuizotl Jelly, was a jellyfish with the face of a dog in its clear bell-end, with many tentacles that, rather than sting, end in tiny clawed ‘hands’. A decent catch for food, granted, but it could have been better. At best, they could cut open the dogshead bell and use the juicy pulp inside for cooking another catch. Abdul jabbed it dead with a knife, quickly, and set it aside on a large wooden tray the family used for prepping food.
Adil took a break to walk over to the solar still father had rigged up- “Don’t be greedy, son! It only makes about 15 cups a day if the weather’s right!” He sharply reminded. “Take a half-cup at a time, Every 5 waking hours. Remember it. We don’t have much.”
“Aye, pa!” Adil called back, some notable annoyance to being nagged, but still mindful of the rules. He knew the rules were there for a reason, and that was to ensure they survived as comfortably as possible, given the circumstances. He grabbed half a cup’s worth in water, as commanded, taking the cup back with him to the fishing spot as they continued.
Mother noticed a hole tearing into Anwar’s sackcloth tunic. “Where’s this from?” She asked with an exasperated sigh following. “Off with it, then.” She demanded, and Anwar obeyed, going shirtless for a few moments. “You boys need to be more careful, I’m out of cloth at the moment until we can find a good place to lay low and trade.”
“Not very likely Karin, it’s only recently the fracture’s become safe enough to travel. Everyone else is probably just as lost as we are in finding their footing.” Abdul responded. Karin broke out an old rusted tin and opened it. Sewing supplies within, needles made of fish bones, spare threads, and strips of weather-treated kelp cut just small enough to thread in the largest needle. The kelp would have to do.
She went to work on the tunic, stitching the lines of kelp crossed over each other to patch the hole. Anwar pulled up a small school of fish in the net, but they were wrong. The fish all had human features on close inspection, some as little as human eyes, human teeth, human nose with the gills along the ridge, some had their fins evolve into human-like arms, which were suspect, one had a human face. “No good, Anwar, toss them back.”
“Papa, this is the biggest haul we’ve had in days!” Adil protested.
“We don’t eat people, and we don’t eat things that want to be people. Let them go, son, we can find better, be patient.” Karin finished with Anwar’s tunic, a heart-shaped patch of kelp leather now stitched over where the hole was in the material. “There, it’s done! Here you go, love!” She passed the tunic back over to him and he balked a bit. “Mom, why’d you have to make it so silly?”
“Wear it as a badge of honor. Your mother loves you, remember that. And if you want something different, you can learn how to stitch it up yourself.” Abdul and Anwar had a laugh at the exchange while Anwar let it go and slipped the tunic back on over his head, and they went back to fishing. After a while they get a strong tug at the nets, and it takes the father and brothers working together to pull it up against the thrashing. Once on deck, the brothers step back, seeing spines jut out from the netting. Abdul stabs the head through an opening in the net, and they unwrap the catch.
A huge, beautiful sleek fish lay before them, spines along its fins, an extended lower jaw with razor sharp teeth like a viper, and bony antlers on the top of its head. Abdul was delighted. “A bunyip barracuda!” He shouted. “Don’t touch the head!” He warned as Adil and Anwar were observing the front end, the fish still twitching in its death throes. “The fangs are venomous. If it’s prey escapes, the poison slows them down until it can catch up and consume the kill.”
“Seems plenty fast on its own.” Anwar observed, noting the slick, tube-like profile of the larger body and paddle-shaped tail. “It’s an ingenious fish.” Abdul added. “It can take out much larger beasts than itself with that toxin. It makes the right kill and it can feast for a week. They’re known to take out whales and sharks and live inside their kill for weeks.” Father went to work on the carcass, putting on thick, stitched fish-hide gloves. He cut it open and gutted it, de-boned it, and began filetting the meat. Materials were carefully separated out for different uses throughout the process, with particular interest in the bones and careful handling of the teeth and venom sack. “We can use these for weapons. Leak the toxins and ferment it in a bottle and it gets stronger. Mix it with water later and it extends to a nice stock of poison for spears and arrows. We’ll get at that later.”
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“For now, we feast! Ha-ha!” He said, giddily turning to the meats. Draining the pulp from the jellyfish into a driftwood bowl, he urged Adil and Anwar to dip their fingers in and taste. “Sweet, sour, and a bit- salty?” Adil noted. It tasted like salted green apples, texture like something between jelly preserves and a thick sauce. Abdul slathered the strips of barracuda meats in the sauce before letting them rest a bit to set up a fire atop a thick metal dish. Driftwood they sun-dried for a week was the fuel, flints for starters, a grill atop the flame for cookware. After the grill came to heat, he placed the strips down, sizzling and popping as they slid carefully onto the surface. A few flips and they were thoroughly cooked, divided amongst the family on hand carved wooden plates.
The family gathered in a circle on the deck, the blessing ritual commenced. “Nereus, we praise you for this family. You have blessed us with life and guarded us with your grace. Today you sent us these gifts to sustain us, and you have protected us from harm. For this, we give you thanks.” Abdul lifted his coral bracelet to his lips, Adil and Karin their necklaces, Anwar, kissing his fingertip, and in unison, they kissed their central coral charms to end their prayer, eyes closed shut.
Immediately their minds were rushed with a flash, visions of crystal shard storms raining down over waters of blood red. They gave pause. “You all saw that?” Karin asked, eyes wide open, her face filled with shock and concern. Adil and Anwar glanced over the the guardrails of the deck and jumped to attention at what lay before them. Rapidly before them, fish of all kinds rose sideways to the surface, dead still. Beyond them, scarlet billows spread, approaching, darkening. “BLOOD TIIIIIIIDE!” They yelled in unison as they leapt immediately to weigh the anchor and man the helm and sails. Abdul lunged at the guardrail and slammed his hand to it as he observed the site. From the point of his hand’s impact on the wood, coral and barnacle shells sprouted over the entire surface of the ship like watching flowers in accelerated bloom, an erupting wave of sea-bone and shell engulfing the tiny craft that they called home.
The sea churned wildly as anomalies rushed in towards them. Clouds rolled in an instant to rain shimmering jagged shards and crystal dust. A dense fog sank over them, obscuring everything beyond arm’s reach, and fire streaked through the sky like shooting stars. Karina broke into an unsettling cry. Wet winds tore at the family in relentless squalls all while the father and brothers wrestled the vessel towards some unseen shore they only half remembered, hoping and praying the direction was right.
Karina clung to the mother’s breast, swaddled in that sling of cloth and leather, Karin’s heartbeat a drum against her cheek. Her left hand kept the infant’s head steady as she rose to haul ropes and douse fires with buckets. Between all that, she would reposition the coral pendant to calm the child with Nereus’s song. All at once, hulking shapes materialized from the murky depths, slick hides gleaming under flashes of fire and crystal. The largest among them was a nightmare creature with the bulk of a crocodile whose tail ended in fins like a whale. Its head, a nauseating mass of tentacles topped with seven beady eyes that shone all wrong in the light, as if reflecting an entirely different world than what lay before it.
The sea was a maelstrom of waves, anomalies, and swarms of sea monster bodies crashing against the ship with unified malice. Abdul, Adil, and Anwar continued wrestling the ship against the fog toward that half-remembered shore, praying Nereus would save them. Karina cried against Karin’s breast, the drum of her heartbeat and the pendant’s song hardly enough to calm the infant now amidst the chaos.
The monsters breached the murky mire, encircling the ship. The largest broke through the surface with a lunge, ramming the ship with immense force, splintering the guardrail. Karin stumbled toward Abdul as he slammed his hand against the guardrails again and again, generating coral and barnacle shells over and over again to cover the boat in layers to protect the boat and hold it together against the malicious creatures and crimson tide. “Just a little longer! We can make it!”
Karin was just able to reach him, kissing his lips briefly as the monster rammed the ship once more, launching her and the infant overboard from the impact. “KARIN!!!” He lunged at the rail, trying to catch her as she fell, but another jolt pushed him back as she fell toward the drink. A tentacle grabbed her legs and waist. “Take Karina and go!” Karin shouted as she bundled the infant and tossed her to Abdul while she could still throw the child aboard. Abdul dove for Karina and caught the child as he witnessed the tentacle engulf Karin in its grip and crush her, the sounds a muffled scream and breaking bone, red liquid seeping between the coils of its tendrils. “NO!” Abdul bellowed with a sob.
The ship listed hard starboard. “Papa, the helm’s gone!” Anwar shouted, spinning the wheel ineffectually. Adil fought with the sails before a massive shard of crystal hail shredded straight through it. The anomalous fog parted, leaving the vision of shore directly in their path, the fractured mainland looming just ahead. “BRACE FOR IMPACT!” Abdul yelled, clutching Karina against himself as the boat hurtled toward shore. It struck with a deafening crunch, coral and barnacle armor shattering against the rocks and throwing the family unceremoniously on the sand.
All went silent but Karina’s wails and the sea’s roar. Abdul cradled her, rocking her to the best of his ability as he cried, his face streaked with blood and salt. Adil and Anwar coughed and scrambled from the wreckage over to them, eyes wide with shock, hearts racing as they struggled to calm down from the ordeal. The ship died in ruins, coral shell cracked open like an egg. The beast and its kin subsided back into the waves, unable to pursue them onto shore. The blood tide dissipated as they left.
Abdul sank to his knees, Karina trembling in his arms, but beginning to quiet. “She’s gone…” He whispered. Adil kicked a plank as he choked back a sob. Anwar stared wordlessly at the sea with clenched fists before letting out a primal yell in mourning. Abdul rose to his feet again. They had no body to bury, only the ship to burn. “Burn the ship. We’re here to stay. Karin would want this.”
They piled the driftwood and bits of broken full, peeling the coral and barnacles from each piece as they placed them in a massive pile. Anwar struck his flints into slow sparks that soon roared aflame. A funeral pyre ablaze against a fractured shore and a looming sunset. “Nereus took our dear Karin… But she saved Karina. She showed the world her light, and what a glorious light it was…”
They broke their mournful cries with Nereus’ song;
“Child, Though tides May rock You ‘bout, Be you not Afraid…
I’ll hold You tight Without a doubt Against the Rolling waves…
The route is long And harsher still As you will Come to know…
In future times The stones will shout And they Will guide You home…”