Ahvi Benici - Before I could grab the railing I found myself weightless over the water. For seven days the most difficult thing we had fought was boredom. The winds had been favorable, but for a couple days, this time of year that was to be expected. Father had taken the difficult leg of the journey, navigating out of the squalls that covered our exit from Ki’Ger, but threatened to sink the boat for the first few hours of our journey. Now my chief concern was avoiding the wrath of a vengeful whale near the shore of a fishing village. The water swallowed me, drowning out the crashing water slapping against the side of the ship and the shouts of alarm.
By the time I surfaced, a rope was floating in the water next to me. The dark skinned half-elf had seen me launched from the sloop in the darkness. I suppose I owed his Elven heritage for my salvation.
No sooner had I been hauled back onto the boat that it lurched once more. This time tossing passengers and crew in all directions. In the inky blackness of the lake I could make out the splashing sounds of those in distress. The painted man was visible in the water, his attempts at swimming replaced by magical conjuring. In a moment he was out of the water and floating a few feet above the water. I scrambled his direction along the railing feeling for rope in the darkness. My hands found the braided hemp without aid of my eyes and in a moment I was casting the length of it in his direction. Suddenly the lake brightened beneath me like glowworms during mating season. Then I saw fully the reason for our chaotic greeting. A whale nearly twice the length of the boat was churning the water and casting its weight into our ship. Whiskers, I think they called him, had conjured some magical light to single out our opponent.
This was not the first time we had encountered whales in these waters. The fishing village and the pod had a long history with one another and we were lumped in with the fishermen as far as the whale cared. I had seen the carcasses of the great creatures hauled up on the shore and systematically harvested. Though this was not my feud, my life and our livelihood relied on us subduing this creature. Father had purchased enchantments from the village and always kept them on hand for these encounters. I could hear him shouting instructions to those still onboard.
It wasn’t long before the whale began to swim away, but the danger was not over yet. The Horseman in his armor and turban had slipped beneath the waves. His companion, a Kokorese monk had gone in after him to save him. Perhaps the chill of the water or the veil of night was to blame, but he too was now flailing in the expanse of
water. Tigrid and Father worked together to fish them from the lake. For a minute I though we had lost the one they called Mahaadi. To my great relief, Tigrid returned with the horseman in tow.
With the whale subdued, we could press on to the fishing village. An there make contact with the missing signalman.
