Strangers Of The Ocean
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There was nothing of the great oceans to be seen. Yet, as far south as they sailed down the west coasts, into the stormy seas on their way to Gaul and Spain, there were strange sightings that only added fuel to legend; terrible tales told around fires by fisherfolk and pirates alike.
They saw it when all but a handful of ships had fled for safer harbors off Wales and Ireland in fear at nightfall – even so far away that most did not think they could see anything untoward on the horizon… until first light came with it.
All could make out what appeared at dawn to be a sea creature approaching them from an enormous distance: many times larger than any ship or boat would normally reach over several days’ rowing, yet uncharacteristically close-mouthed about its intentions once it arrived.
Some sailors guessed they must have been chasing something not found among men’s trade, which may well account for their lateness if they’d lost someone aboard – even if not due to ill fortune themselves.
However this ‘sea monster’ was also perfectly at ease cruising the open ocean day in and day out while taking no interest whatsoever in the skimming sailing ships racing after its wake across the choppy water. But there seemed to be two aspects to some descriptions of said beast.
Not just one massed bulk, perhaps huge and bulky rather like a whale; but more like a giant serpent of similar length, as long indeed as a town square lined on either side with dwellings reaching upwards beyond a hill’s edge into the clouds.
But still – those who took part in the chase reported coming nearer before realization hit: seeing wings upon its back along with fins through the haze of windblown spray. They first thought it was a dragon from Greek mythology (or elsewhere), somehow having flown onto the deck during battle after getting caught in an enemy warlord’s waterskin.
There might’ve been something in it, although one imagines if such beasts were ever roaming Europe then few would have given it much chance against the true dragon hunters – at least if this world truly knew about dragons in the past.
So too is it doubtful anyone imagined otherworldly birds belonging to heaven’s armies of angels and archangels rather than these distant folk from another region in existence: so why should it concern them?
One wonders whether they’d also know better to turn away from any beings harboring life from God, no matter how distantly related. And here it was indeed proved correct because the water demon flew over the largest warships at sea without flying lower.
The tallest mast caps were almost lifted right off their feet before the winds finally became wild enough to bring waves crashing violently about all craft’s keels; then they abandoned pursuit as the merchant ships beat away towards France, or whatever port lay closest, under fire if necessary.
Even the most intrepid dared only approach too near – let alone swim against the waves towards it. Such terror was contagious – affecting all seafarers, however, brave-hearted individually. In their minds, the being moving swiftly between the masts was at every point akin to their greatest fears.
An equally fearsome animal showed itself in North Africa. By a series of different accounts, it was monstrous and a danger to sailors and travelers on land too, often quite sudden and unseen. Uncountable witnesses agreed that whenever one journeyer went missing or died in this part of the world – wherever he wandered for business, or simply enjoying some time off before setting out again – inevitably others fell victim to the same fate within a short space of time: sometimes being killed outright and left behind on the beach as a warning to stay clear, while occasionally encountering victims in isolated villages or towns where nobody suspected anything immediately obvious apart from sudden violence among the populace.
Sometimes bodies had been dragged and placed close to or inside houses, cut into pieces, and displayed upon posts for onlookers.
Then in their death throes, those villagers could see things rise above them from beneath, much like black smoke. Blackbirds attacked their prey – pecked, bit, thrashed, and twisted necks until throats closed and the heads sunk lifelessly into the ground.
It was said that there were dead children lying alongside the graves of adults. More ominously, heads rolled down streets while corpses with ragged mouths and bloodied torsos toppled towards buildings.
Meanwhile, the stench of evil surrounded those affected in nearby spaces, unable to escape until fresh air swept over them to choke the nostrils and make living impossible. After dark came new sounds like bells, drums, voices, and marching feet that none could discern the source of.
Once it settled, these unfortunates discovered these sounds came from inside themselves as they tried to climb upright like writhing serpents. Nobody except a few people who spoke to eyewitness survivors afterward was able to say exactly which beast committed all this terror against individuals in separate locations and even on different continents, nor what method of slaughter made sure the head stayed secure on its torso, even if not buried deep underground.
This canard makes it hard to tell if there’s really one killer species at work. But neither should the tale suggest there weren’t others wreaking havoc throughout the earth simultaneously with local horrors. For surely there are such things; otherwise, we would not fear one.
Yet there’s no guarantee that animals will share a common heritage if they evolved separately; or have begun traveling independently across long distances when humans were only recently arriving by force in each area – maybe at just the moment, they turned up in droves.
Perhaps in places more familiar with fauna you have never heard tales of nameless terrors yet – not everyone has such a full collection of information, especially in non-European languages, so far east as Asia or northern Africa, perhaps.
How many lands can report sightings and accounts of dangerous reptiles that lurk out of sight at dusk, making the trees creak and branches sway unnaturally? If we’ve learned nothing else from our own history it should be this.
We needn’t imagine what kind of monster is responsible for abductions, murders, arson, or kidnappings. Some call this a form of telepathy, but if they mean merely gathering useful intelligence together without physically reporting it, they must realize that wouldn’t explain why monsters speak to us only through nightmares or into our waking dreams, thereby sharing very specific warnings and plans.
If this type of supernatural communication doesn’t relate to whatever process they use for practical matters or works using highly advanced forms of technology, they certainly aren’t confined to psychic communications.
Surely the truth lies somewhere entirely different… but it’s a fact that it happens on a regular basis, so we’d best find the reason instead. Or maybe those mysterious creatures do communicate in the conventional sense, yet somehow learn to bypass normal rules of law – though at least not necessarily in agreement with ours.
That would open questions of global sovereignty beyond any civil society, yet if human leaders aren’t in accord with the overall plans (no matter how good) such forces don’t feel bound to act according to instructions.
When in charge of a large number of mindless workers or slaves, tyrants may justify arbitrary power and lack of individual conscience by claiming to be protecting their whole realm from alien intrusion – an excuse used to rationalize wars ever since history began.
Others would also benefit from knowing, as I mentioned earlier, how difficult it has been to locate some of these beings in their underground lairs, but most couldn’t explain where they come from either.
They may assume the reader is already privy to knowledge unavailable elsewhere – and be right about that. Yet my suggestion here remains just that, even for those in whom suspicions run deeper than merely suppressing dissent from the population under threat – specifically by secretly trying to protect people from real dangers in a way that enhances trust without compromising security – and who might question whether or not every creature or god or demigod or spirit identified thus far does, in fact, deserve such opprobrium and distaste: yet which might equally well want to help humankind if only we knew how.
In other words, having shown an appreciation of what can’t be known about the motives and characteristics of paranormal entities, I return now to the matter of what we do know. What creatures kill, mutilate and menace humanity today, particularly when those disturbances take place on this planet and are left unaided because nobody knows where to start looking, let alone whose land the creature haunts (unless its home world is visible overhead)? The same applies to our past experiences, and that of certain others not of our species…
The End