Chapter 5: Maidens of the Sea(8)
Bismark’s ship cut through the waves towards the ensuing struggle like a hawk diving for its prey. Alex’s powerful engine roared with the storm as it sucked in sea water to propel the ship against the whirling waters born from Latimeria’s rising. Alex himself had regained his composure and now did his best to carry out the orders his captain flung from the bird’s nest far above. The sails were lowered, harpoons readied, and the engine kept alive in orderly, well-rehearsed motions, as if this were a perfectly expected course of action. That Bismark was still capable of giving out orders in such a steady, sane stream, even as he laughed and jeered at the raging storm, was nothing new to his crew.
The Maiden of the Sea was a fearsome sight as it plowed through the water towards its target, but even moreso was the battle happening between the Golden Goddess and the great Queen of the Seas. Levi’s orders poured from atop the beast’s head, almost drowned out by its cries of pain and anger. His crew followed them as quickly and efficiently as Bismark’s but they were fighting for their life, and Levi’s voice, as crazed and hated as it was, was the only semblance of order still left to them. So they listened.
"Fire the cannons! Launch the harpoons! Get off your asses and defend your Captain, damn you!"
Levi’s crew obliged as best they could, pelting the twisting sides of the creature with as much firepower as they could while still trying to maintain balance and control against the storm. The cannonballs hit their mark with sickening thuds that surely caused great pain, but could not pierce the thick hide and do any serious injury. The harpoons, long lethal anchors of sharpened mythril, cut cleanly through the beast’s flesh, embedding themselves deep and bringing forth gouts of blue-black blood that stained the seas surrounding the battle. Long thick chains hung from each harpoon, connecting the ship to the beast.
The Queen of the Seas was not content to just writhe in agony like a caught fish. She did her best to shake off the ridiculous creature that dared to mount her like some common beast, but he held on by some strange surge of power that she could not have guessed such puny creatures possessed. She raised her head out of earshot of the ship and bellowed her frustration to all the seas, the powerful blasts of constant thunder answering her every cry. Levi still held on with all his might, and continued his fruitless assault on Latimeria’s armor-like skull.
He was just a minor annoyance compared to the vessel circling her, caught in the whirlpool. The heavy cannonballs hurt, but it was the sharp harpoons that goaded Latimeria into thoughtless frenzy. She pulled and pushed away from the ship in an effort to dislodge the barbs, but only succeeded in bringing the ship closer and closer. The turning waters flung the ship around her in a deadly dance, causing the chains to wrap themselves around her neck in an ever-increasing stranglehold. She wailed with pain, her voice strained by the chains around her throat. Latimeria and the Golden Goddess were hopelessly entangled, and soon one or the other would be destroyed.
The Maiden of the Sea dived forward into the fray but kept a careful distance, waiting to get a clean shot at the beast before it knew of a second ship. When the creature pulled away from the Golden Goddess, Bismark saw his chance. Latimeria’s massive body surged up into view and nearly collided with the unknown new arrival before sharply changing direction in a whim. Bismark gave the order, and a single well-aimed harpoon shot from the sides of the ship and sailed through the rain and hail, catching Latimeria completely by surprise as it embedded itself into the side of her head.
Had the shot been fired a few feet higher, Bismark would have killed two enemies with one shot; Levi jumped with surprise as he felt the shock of the harpoon’s strike right below him. He lost his precarious grip and tumbled backwards as the creature arched skyward in mortal agony. As he fell he reached out to grab the haft of the harpoon and caught it, nearly dislocating his arm from his shoulder with the exertion. He gripped the harpoon as tightly as he had held onto Latimeria, slicing at the open wound with his knife, hoping to hit some vital nerve or tendon. Every fragment of sanity still left to Levi now centered on felling this beast. It must die, he must claim what was his. The seductive force that had drawn him here willed him further, lending him strength he had only dreamed of, even in his long gone youth. This was power, and no one would ever take it from him.
Latimeria was mad with its injuries and flailing about, not seeing anything but pain. Had it still been able to see with its right eye, Bismark’s ship would have been spotted and possibly rammed before it could attack. That eye was dark now, and Latimeria saw nothing but the blurred image of the Golden Goddess on its left side when the lethal dart impaled itself into the other side of her face. She attempted a moan of pain, but the ever tightening chains choked off any more sound from the dying creature.
Both ships were now entwined with the beast, one on each side. Oncoming death gave her one last burst of energy and the dying Queen whipped her entire body around in fierce desperation, sending the ships hurtling out of control towards the center of the embrace that spelled the mutual destruction of all three combatants. The two ships came only inches away from crashing against each other many times as they flew around Latimeria’s trunk. The two crews caught brief glimpses during lightning flashes of the haggard looks of pure terror on each other’s faces. No one noticed the shadowy form that leaped with ghostly ease from the Golden Goddess onto the Maiden of the Sea during one of the near misses.
Levi’s crew attempted to free themselves from the harpoons when they saw what was coming, but Levi’s harsh, ravaged voice echoed from Latimeria’s side, seeming to come from the creature herself.
"Don’t you dare let this prize go! I’ll flay every last one of you if she gets away, dead or alive! This is my prize, my destiny, my Goddess, and my wrath if you fail! Hold, damn it all, hold!"
To their credit and folly, Levi’s crew listened one final time, an endless abyss in all their eyes as they saw death rise up to greet them. The shade of their destruction was a vile green as deep as the seas themselves.
The Golden Goddess was the first to collide with Latimeria’s side as she twisted and spiraled to her death. It spun around her one last time at terrific speed, then smashed against her rigid body. Even the sturdy sides of Levi’s ship could not withstand such an impact, and with a creaking gasp it shattered like a glass bottle. Crew leaped from the ship like fleeing rats, all to be consumed by the stormy waters below. The storm had not let up since the attack, and the waters rose up and swallowed any unfortunate sailors caught in the madness.
The topmast snapped clean off the ship upon impact and fell into the waters whole and intact. One lone crew member still hung to the sides of the bird’s nest as it floated, her cries for help lost to mortal ears in the chaos of storm, sea, and serpent. There was no one to hear her, but she cried for mercy all the same, praying for forgiveness to the patron her own captain had forbidden all on board to speak of in anything but scorn. She thought she saw a glint of sunlight before she lost her strength and slipped between the dark waves with the rest of her crew. It was too late for forgiveness now though, she thought. She knew she would pay for her service to this murderer with her life and wept with regret as she sank deeper.
As Levi’s vessel sank, Latimeria spun around in a final elegant death plunge before falling backwards into the seas with a terrific crash, the hapless Maiden still tethered to her. The ship raced forward as the quickening waters sucked her down with Latimeria’s thrashing body. It seemed Bismark’s madness would force the Maiden into the same fate as the Golden Goddess. Even as the stunned crew of the Maiden watched their sister ship splinter and fall beneath the waves, he gave no order to withdraw the harpoon and escape. It wasn’t until Dune dropped almost into his arms that he realized the position he had put his ship in.
Bismark’s stream of orders cut off mid-sentence as the storm twisted in a single violent burst of wind and the skies appeared directly above his head, showing for a brief instant sunlight that had all but been forgotten. Bismark knew this was the eye of the storm, an area of relative peace at the core of a swirling storm. Those who glimpsed it were said to be blessed by Elia. What he did not know was that Dune had been swept up into it, and now fell right into the bird’s nest in an unceremonious heap.
There were no words between them. Both men stared at each other in shock, then relief as tears welled up in both men’s eyes. A violent lurch to the side broke the silence, and Bismark looked out over the waters and saw his ship careening towards Latimeria, his harpoon stuck high on its form with Levi right on top of it. He came to his senses not a moment too soon, and order the weapon let loose from the ship and a full reverse away from the horrific scene. Bismark gave one last glance at the beast and his hated rival and gave a curt wave, a chilling grin spread wide on his face. Dune would never forget that look for as long as he lived. It was a look of death.
Levi still struggled to maintain his grip on both the harpoon and the wretched beast he knew was only moments away from death. The blood that had been spurting from the wound and covering Levi from head to toe before now only oozed out in a weak trickle soon washed away by the rains and wind. He stopped his assault and cried out in triumph. He had won, and the gift from the Goddess was his for the taking. He wouldn’t give up now, or ever, not when he was this close.
His victory was a short-lived one as the end of the harpoon that had been attached to Bismark’s ship came hurtling into his field of vision. He let out a strangled cry and scurried for cover, but to no avail. The thick chain missed him at first, but the violent death throes of the poor Latimeria wrapped the whipping chain about its body, flattening Levi against its sides as it caught at his good leg, then his knife arm, forcing it from his hand for the first time since he had unsheathed it to attack Dune. His knife arm hung upright, pinioned at the shoulder and appearing to wave as he and the creature turned together.
Levi heaved his body forward in a vain attempt to extricate himself from the binds that trapped him, but it did no good. He got one last glimpse at the fleeing Maiden and cursed its name, spitting into the ocean that rose up to swallow him and his prize. With one last jeering glance full of denial and seething hatred, Levi sank into the abyss. His still waving arm, now clenched in a shaking blood-soaked fist, dipped below the waters as the rest of the now dead beast sank to the bottom of the ocean.
No one ever saw Jonah Levi alive again.