Word Count: 6,007
The salty aroma of the briny water filled the warm air of the small coastal city. The white granite stone buildings hanging on the face of a steep slope formed a crescent wrapping around the sandy beach of the island cove. Fishing boats were returning to the port later than they did for many generations as the catches seemed to be growing thin. The hope was casting their nets further out would allow the fish population closer to the island to recover. The city’s dense populous was very dependent of fish and kelp as staple foods.
Tenements built along the hillside allowed very little room for any form of lawn or garden, and the steep slope would make tending to them a difficult task indeed. The narrow rectangular homes were one to three levels in height, built with adjoining walls, and most of the shorter homes had more houses constructed on top them to maximize the usable living space. There was no flat land, apart from the beach, within miles of the sandy, rock-walled cove. Riding animals up and down the steep and sometimes slick cobblestone streets could be perilous. The safest and most efficient way to get around town was on foot.
Trails led from the top of the hillside all the way down to the wharf, winding through large breaks between the homes left to allow for such paths to exist. Most of the walkways consisted of stairs either artistically etched directly into the bedrock or constructed from the granite stone that made up much of the island. Granite worked well as the grainy surface helped grip the leather soles of shoes and provide traction, but after centuries of use, the stones wore smooth in places. Certain sections could be outright dangerous on rainy days, especially if someone did not know where the slickest spots were.
Although not part of the original design, wooden handrails were added to some of the more dangerous sections after several fatal falls happened two winters in a row. In the heavy rains of the cooler months, the trails could become difficult to navigate. Virtually everyone in the city was either a carpenter, mason, fisherman or metal worker, so constructing the handrails only took one summer. The process of grooving the stones so they once again provided strong traction took much, much longer as there simply were not enough people to spare for such a daunting task.
For all the time I was alive, I can remember them working on the surface of the ancient stairways. The first time I obtained monetary employment was only a month before my eleventh birthday, and that was working carefully on the stone steps with a small hammer and chisel. Many my age did this kind of work, which taught us the value of determination and the satisfaction of seeing our work completed. By most children’s thirteenth birthday, they no longer worked in the community but instead obtained an apprenticeship with one of the city’s many artisans.
My skills with the chisel and hammer showed great promise, and I was offered an invitation into the stone mason’s guild. For the first six months, I worked with a small crew replacing some of the old stairs that were too far gone to be repaired. I wanted to build dwellings and carve artwork from stone, but I guess I had to work my way up first. By the time we finished the new section of stairs, it was a work of art in its own right.
Together we added designs and patterns both as a safety measure and to enhance the beauty of the area. Each step displayed the individual craftsmanship of each worker on the crew. The patterns allowed for additional grip and for more efficient water drainage during the rainy season.
I was sitting at a short wall where my friends and I gathered together after dark one day for a brief period of socializing before we returned to our homes. I typically worked from dawn to dusk six days of the week, but I did not complain because my family desperately needed the extra income. My father fell ill the previous winter and was unable to perform his duties at the shipyard. The money my mother and sister earned on woman’s wages was simply not enough. Being that I was gifted with such talent when it came to working with stone, I earned a few more coins a week than most people at my level.
After I returned home, I decided to stay outside a bit longer and enjoy the night air. I was not yet sleepy, and the cool breeze blowing up the hill from the sea felt wonderful on this late summer night. I sat on the wall that held the level of our family lot a few feet above the cobblestone street. The moon was almost full, and its reflection danced gently on the relatively calm waters of the cove. This was a sight I always enjoyed. The overall beauty of this aesthetically splendorous city on the hillside and the magnificence of the ocean made it worth all the work it took to live here.
I noticed a faint glow emanating from the water near the center of the cove. Initially I thought it was no more than the light of the iridescent moon dancing on the water’s surface, but this faint blue glow remained unwavering in the water. It was obvious whatever this was glowing in the water was rising from the depths as it continuously grew brighter and brighter for several minutes.
Although it got close, I was sure it never reached the water’s surface. I saw no rippling to indicate it did. Many times I heard the tales of the fishermen describing extraordinary creatures that produced their own incandescent display, but I never saw anything like it myself. On occasion I found a dead gelatinous sea creature washed up on the beach, but those were exceedingly smaller than what I was seeing now. To give it my best guess, I would say this illumination in the waters of the cove was nearly an arm span in width.
Stunned and unsure what to think, I watched the thing in the water begin moving toward shore. Initially it moved very slowly, but it picked up speed as it headed toward the shipyard. At top speed it probably moved as fast as a skilled swimmer in calm water. After several minutes it disappeared under the concealment of the fishing boats that filled that section of the cove. I continued to watch for anything out of sorts for another ten minutes without seeing anything more before finally heading off to bed.
The next morning the whole town was abuzz with talk of two fishermen who went missing some time during the night. The men were working long after dusk aboard the deck of their boat, and neither man returned home. They could not be found anywhere, which was abnormal on its own, but what sent chills down my back was what they found on board the ship. Although there were a few things knocked over and in disarray, there did not appear to be any significant sign of a struggle. All their clothes, all their belongings they had on them at the time were found in two piles aboard the deck. It was as if the men simply vanished, and their possessions dropped right where they were.
Immediately upon hearing about what happened, I headed straight for the Constable’s building. Having worked so much on the city’s staircase system, I was very familiar with all of the pathways. I knew which paths, alleys or roads to take to get to my destination as fast as possible. More people than usual for this time of day were out on the streets because word of the macabre incident spread quickly. I was at the Constable’s office within thirty minutes of hearing what happened.
I was shocked to find a crowd surrounding the doorway. Apparently, I was not the only one to witness that strange glow in the water last night. At least twenty people filled the law-enforcement official’s office, and three dozen more waited outside. I waited for a long time in an attempt to have my experience put on record, but when it started getting closer to mid-day, I decided they had enough accounts. There was probably nothing I could tell the authorities that those other witnesses did not, as I did not see anything beyond a strange illumination in the cove.
On my way to my current worksite, I began to worry. Not once since I first began to work chiseling grooves into the granite stairs was I late for work, and I arrived very late today. I worried about losing my good standing in the guild for my extreme tardiness, but I was not the only one who did not make it to the work site on time. These disappearances in the shipyard had the whole city upset, scared and wondering what could be capable of doing such a thing.
We did not get much work done during the remainder of the day. Everyone was talking about the two missing men and the strange light seen in the water. Fear quickly tightened its malign fists over the whole city as speculation led to rumors causing the story of the incident to change and magnify as the day went on. Those of us who arrived to work today tried to keep in the loop for what we hoped to be an update on the news.
By the time the day came to an end, we heard so many different stories of what happened in the cove last night, I did not know what to believe. I knew once nightfall hit, we would hear no official word from the town criers at least until sometime the next morning. I could not think of one time in my life when the town criers went out at night.
Our entire work crew was performing sluggishly the next day. They, as did I, stayed up late last night watching over the cove for any strange lights. Most of the city was up watching for something abnormal to appear, but the entire night passed without incident. We tried to get as much constructed as we could, but we were far from meeting our mark when the day came to an end. We had to push ourselves hard for the next few days to get caught back up to schedule.
Several days passed without a statement from the Constable or any news from the town criers, and the population began to grow agitated with the lack of official information. Endless rumors already spread regarding the disappearance of the two fishermen, and now rumors were beginning to circulate regarding the city officials’ apparent silence on the matter. The Constable obviously picked up on the extreme tension building among the city’s residents, because he sent the town criers out the next day.
The criers did not tell everyone what happened to the two men as we all hoped. Instead, there was a brief mention of the happening and then reassurances of the precautions being taken to ensure this incident did not repeat itself. Armed men were patrolling the cove and someone was posted to the lookout station at the top of the hill ready to sound the labraphone to alert the population of any danger. When sounded, the horn echoed through the cove waking anyone who was not already so. Torches lined the beach to aid with visibility at night, and the oil cisterns at the top of the hill would be lit to help illuminate the entire city.
Needless to say, the public was not happy with the announcements. Everyone hoped for some answer concerning the details of the aberrant disappearance of the two fishermen. Although not happy with the news, the people of the city were glad to finally get an announcement of some sort. Knowing this was better than knowing nothing at all.
Officials asked for any men of fighting age to take their turn patrolling the beach or manning the lookout post with its massive horn. The long horn was carved from the trunk of a single tree, and when blown created a nearly deafening roar that was easily heard all throughout the city. No one was required to volunteer, but according to the criers, the city wanted to muster together as many fighting men as possible. The time for organization was now before something else happened and not after it was too late.
I still had little over a year before my fifteenth summer, so I was not allowed to join the fighting men. I did however sign up to cover several shifts at the lookout post. The building was still sturdy and the interior was in order. It was so long since the post was used though, dust coated every horizontal or diagonal surface in the structure. I was rather relieved my time to serve as lookout was still a few days away. Those before me should have it cleaned by the time it came my turn to watch.
Tension laid across the city like a wool blanket. Everyone was afraid of what might come out of the water and what it might do to us. The fishermen were extremely reluctant to go out into the open ocean to practice their trade, but they really did not have much of a choice. Fish was our primary source of food. A few shepherds tended to flocks in the long valley on the other side of the island, but they were primarily raised for their wool. We could not turn to them as a primary food source.
The fruit trees on the island provided a hefty bounty, but it could take days to gather enough to return to the city to sell. Some fruits lasted a week or two after being picked, but some only lasted a few days. For the gatherers these could bring in a very generous profit, but the chance of the fruit spoiling before it could be sold made such an option very risky. The safest way for them to make a steady income was to sell the fruits taken from the trees rather than shrubs and bushes.
Without the fish, there simply would not be enough food to sustain the people of the city. The boats went out with extra crew armed with harpoons and spears in case whatever took those first two men tried to take them too. This fear and paranoia went on for several more weeks, but when the four-week mark from the day of the incident arrived, people began to relax again and let down their guard.
Five days later, a few hours after dark, I was working my third shift at the watchtower. No one saw anything glowing in the water since the night of the incident four weeks ago. At this point it was getting to where people were not expecting anything else to happen. That turned out to be nothing but false hope.
There was another man with me, and we talked about whatever we could think of to keep ourselves awake. I was sitting at the massive window in the bunker when I suddenly noticed what I thought was possibly glowing under the water. After a few seconds I saw two more spots. Immediately I screamed for my partner to blow the horn. He sat there for a moment as if he did not believe me, and I shouted at him again to sound the alarm.
Frantically he scrambled to the mouthpiece of the gigantic instrument and began to blow. The sound was so loud, it was deafening from where I was standing. I covered my ears with my hands, but that did not provide much protection. Not once in my lifetime has anyone blown the labraphone for any reason, so I was not expecting it to blast as ear-stingingly loud as it did.
I could not hear anything, but I could see the men gathering on the beach with their weapons in hand. As my companion continued to sound the booming alarm, people began coming out of their homes and gathering in groups. Some carried harpoons and spears while everyone else carried whatever they could find. Residents collected at specified places creating large crowds in multiple locations throughout the city.
When the deafening roar of the labraphone came to an end, and my hearing began to return somewhat, I could hear others blowing smaller horns. It was not really necessary, but the tones helped boost the morale of the people of the city in anticipation of whatever was about to happen.
My companion in the watchtower assured me he would be able to keep blowing the massive horn a few more times, so I grabbed my hammer and scurried down the hill to join some of the others. All the able-bodied men, and some of the women, from this part of the city gathered in the street not far from my home. Ready to do what I had to in order to protect my city, my home, I joined the crowd and found who had taken charge.
From our current position, we could all see the light in the cove moving toward the beach this time. A dozen armed men, some of them also wielding shields, awaited the arrival of this dreaded intruder. When the gelatinous creature reached land, it slithered its way across the sand toward the nearest group of men. Outside of the water, the transparent mass outshined the torches lining the beach only twenty paces from the first row of buildings.
Several of the men threw their harpoons at the abomination from the ocean’s depths, but they did not seem to faze the creature in the slightest. Instead of causing the creature harm, the transparent blob rapidly dissolved the harpoons leaving it behind as rust when it moved on. The creature suddenly stopped where it was and became motionless. Everyone thought it was probably unable to survive outside the water, and the men on the beach halted their retreat.
Everyone watched helplessly in horror as the thing from the sea lashed out a tendril that engulfed the closest man’s legs. Before he had time to scream in terror and pain, his body converted into a transparent gelatinous mass. The creature absorbed the gel that was once a man and left all the man’s clothes and possessions lying in a heap on the ground.
The other men on the beach threw their weapons at the amorphous creature in a futile attempt to injure the horrible thing from the deep. After disarming themselves, the men turned in a desperate attempt to save their own lives and ran as fast as they could. Two of the men were not fast enough, and the creature lashed out with several tendrils which converted their bodies to a gelatinous mass as it did with the first man.
At this point the entire city was in a panic. People rushed into the narrow streets trying to make their way up the hill. Never before did the city ever need to be evacuated, so it was not constructed with this need in mind. Residents slipped on the cobblestone roads, and the panicked mob behind them did not stop to help them up. Dozens of people were trampled to death as the terrified crowd tried to make their way up the hill.
I was helping my mother and sister get my father out of the house so we could get him to safety when I saw several more circular lights moving in the cove. People were screaming and fighting with one another as they tried to force their way up the streets and pathways. The pathways were even worse than the winding streets since they were constructed at a much steeper slope.
I could not see the first creature to wriggle its way onto the beach any longer. I thought perhaps it headed back into the water, but then I saw a bright green glow coming from between some of the buildings closest to the cove. Whatever these things were, it was clear they had the ability to survive outside the water for short periods anyway.
I knew of a pathway that was rarely used, and I hoped I could get my family to it and out of the city. We only had to get Father two tenements further up the hill, and then I was sure we could get him and ourselves to safety. To accomplish this, we were going to have to fight our way through the crowd until we could turn off onto a rarely used road where we could make our detour.
A population that worked together so well for countless generations was now shoving and elbowing each other in a vain attempt to get just a little further up the hill. If everyone would only calm down, the exodus of residents would go much smoother. In their panic though, the normally cooperative people were ready to kill to get a few feet further ahead.
Struggling to move with the flow of people while supporting my father was extremely difficult, and at times was almost impossible. My mother was in front of him so he could support himself by holding her shoulders while I walked beside him with my arms wrapped under his. My sister remained wedged between me and my mother.
More of the creatures made it to shore and were overtaking the panic-stricken people closest to the cove. We could hear the people screaming, crying out in absolute terror for help as the glowing entities reached them and began to “feed.” Their voices could even be heard over the crowd surrounding us, then suddenly the lower section of the city fell silent.
I felt a small sense of relief when we finally reached the smaller road. There were not many people using it because in this section of the city the road sloped downward a bit, and everyone was trying to push their way upward. This road was almost exclusively used by laborers, so not many people knew their way around here like I did. Now only passing the occasional terrified citizen, we were able to get my father to the closed pathway.
No one was using this pathway at all because it was barricaded in most sections. Since this was the pathway on which I worked for the past six months, I knew it was almost totally complete. There would be a few places that would present us problems, but at least we were no longer having to fight the crowd of residents fleeing for their lives.
The pathway between the rows of tenements was steep, which normally would not be a problem. After years of walking up and down steep hills, paths and staircases, one grew accustomed to it. My father’s poor health and weak physical state made what would normally be an easy task into a very difficult one.
I stayed above and helped lift father up the path, and Mother and my sister stayed behind him to provide support. We reached a particular section that allowed me a wide view of the city. I could see at least a dozen places aglow with that eerie green light, which meant there were at least a dozen of those things already in the city. I could see more lights in the still water of the cove that were making their way to shore.
For gelatinous creatures clearly out of their element, they were closing in on us quickly. If we did not pick up our pace, they would eventually catch up to us. I had my father wrap his arms around my neck while my mother and sister supported his legs. This allowed us to move a little bit faster, but I was not sure it was going to be enough. It was not long at all before this became too difficult to continue doing.
I had no choice but to have to stop for a moment to catch my breath. Even if it was only going to be a few seconds, I had to stop because of the pain this was causing in my back. This was when my father said the words I did not want to hear. Father said there was no choice but to leave him behind. Without him we could escape.
I told him I was having none of that; I was getting him out of here.
He smiled proudly at me and said, “I had a really good life. I have a strong son who is growing into a strong man. Protect your mother and sister.”
With that he pulled away from me and lunged down the stone staircase. I could see him break his neck on his second tumble as it suddenly moved in ways it should not. I yelled; I yelled at him and for him. There was absolutely nothing I could do, and I cursed myself for not holding on to him tighter. I was supposed to be helping him get out of the city. I was not supposed to allow him to fall to his death.
My mother began crying hysterically, and I could not get her to listen to me. It gave me no pleasure at all to do so, but I had to give her a firm slap on the cheek to get her to finally settle down enough to pay attention to me. My father charged me with one last task, and I was not going to dishonor his memory by failing. I did not care what I had to do; I was going to get my mother and sister out of here.
It was obvious by the increasing light the creatures were closing in on us. Since I could not see them directly, I did not know how many of the gelatinous horrors now occupied the city. I could tell, though; by the number of streets illuminated that many more came out of the water to join the ranks of this invasion.
I got my mother and sister up the ledge and we were again running up the stairs. I stayed in the rear so I could protect them, although I had no idea what I would do if we did encounter one of these things. After seeing how that man’s harpoon skewered harmlessly into the sea monster’s transparent body, I did not believe there was any weapon I could find that would hurt these things.
I tried to block out the terrified screams coming from the main road winding through the city. So many people were fighting each other in a race to get over the top of the hill, it made my stomach turn. Those creatures were consuming people one after another, and the people were killing each other trying to get away from them.
Eventually our pathway came to an end in front of a row of large stone tenements. We had two choices before us. We could go to the right which would take us to the main road connecting the top of the city to the port, or we could take the alleyway to the left where we would find another ascending path in about forty yards.
I knew the main road was out of the question as everyone in the city tried to force their way through the crowd. The only real option was to turn to the left and head for the next path. We only had three rows of buildings left until we reached the top of the hill. Fleeing from the top would be much easier than climbing up the pathway to get there. We were only a few steps into the alleyway, and I could see down the path where my father died was one of those things rippling like water as it oozed its way up behind us.
Only a second later a group of people emerged screaming from between two buildings on the path I was trying to get my mother and sister to so we could finish our climb. Another one of those horrors from the deep was not close enough to them that I could see it yet, but its haunting green iridescence announced its presence. We were going to reach the pathway before the others, but I held my mother and sister back. I knew in their panicked state, this group would have thrown us aside in their attempt to get ahead. I decided we were safer behind them than in front.
The gruesome monstrosity appeared between the buildings just as the group made its way past us. The abomination lashed out with an oozing tendril and struck the last one of the group in the back. I clearly saw the look of terror on the man’s face as he was only ten feet away from me. His body literally became transparent and colorless right before my eyes, and then the beast from the ocean absorbed his mass through its tendril into its body.
Suddenly the glowing monster began to quiver and vibrate, slowly at first but with increasing speed. I rushed my mother and sister up the stairs as I did my best to keep an eye behind me. Even though I was unable to stare at the thing, I could see enough to know what was happening. The creature’s gelatinous body started to divide. That was how they were overtaking the city so quickly. After they absorbed enough mass, they divided and multiplied. The more people they consumed, the more of the ungodly things there were.
Another family came scrambling from behind the next row of tenements calling out for help. There was nothing I could do to help them, and I had my own family to worry about. They did not make it to the steep pathway until we already made it to the next row of buildings. That was not soon enough, and the two new creatures down below caught up to them.
We heard their screams, their terrified screams for help, and then they suddenly fell silent. I knew they were dead without looking. I knew in only seconds the creatures would consume the bodies, and if they did not reproduce, they would be coming up for us in no time. I could only hope the fact there were six people in that family would slow their progress even a little.
With only one row of buildings left between us and the top of the hill, I could feel the freedom like I could feel my own pain. I knew the creatures were close behind us, and I looked for anything, and may the gods forgive me, anyone I could throw to slow their progress. The only thing I saw worth grabbing was a lantern someone discarded next to the path.
Quickly I turned and threw it behind me before resuming my climb. There was a loud steady hiss, like wet wood placed in a fire. Sure I did nothing but anger the thing, I waited for that transparent tentacle to grab me from behind. We were almost to the very top when I turned to see what was happening.
Both creatures lost their luminescence and were instead now burning with a low blue flame. I started screaming to anyone who could hear, anyone who would listen that fire was their weakness. Some people heard me, igniting and throwing what they could. Some were throwing lanterns and torches at the sea beasts, but it was not enough. We could not get enough of a spread on the flames to hold the creatures back.
There was only one thing left we could do. I, along with a dozen or so others, picked up a log that was to be used for lumber and began to pry the base of one of the cisterns off the ground. The flaming cauldron was full of oil which would cover the ground if only we could turn it over. Several of the glowing horrors were almost within striking distance of us when the large apparatus began to tilt. Oil splashed from the rim of the cistern and set the ground before us ablaze. Reeling back from the flames, the creatures ceased their advance. This gave us the time to fully turn the huge clay container over until it began to roll down the steep hill.
The black earthen cistern did not break when it fell to the next level like we expected, but instead began careening down the pathway that brought my family and I up to the top edge of the city. As it rolled, the massive vat threw burning oil all over the buildings setting row after row of tenements ablaze. Confronted with the flames, the monsters from the ocean began to retreat.
The creatures that did not retreat quickly enough were ignited upon contact with the boiling hot, flaming oil. A second cistern rolled off its base as another group followed our lead. Within minutes our entire city was engulfed in flames.
We watched helplessly as the gelatinous blobs returned to the sea, and our city, everything we had burned. I never would have imagined turning over the cisterns would cause such damage. I thought the fire would remain mostly confined to the top row of buildings since I did not expect the massive clay cauldrons to roll down the pathways as they did. The flames reached heights I did not think possible. The heat grew intense fast, and we had to retreat down into the valley on the other side of the hill.
We remained deep in the valley until we saw only small plumes of smoke rising from the cove face of the hill. Families huddled together, some crying and some in a total state of shock. Everyone had difficulty coming to grips with the entire situation. Nothing so tragic ever happened in the history of our culture, and the surviving residents tried to cope with the horrific events as best they could.
The fires continued for three days. The blaze did not stop until there was nothing left but the boats in the harbor. The stone walls of the buildings were charred and black but remained mostly intact. Beyond that there was nothing left. Not even half of the residents made it out alive. The rest were consumed by the alien invaders or trampled to death by other citizens as they tried to flee in the chaos.
By the time the fires ended, there were no bodies left to give a proper disposal. So many people died. It was staggering, difficult to comprehend. Our friends and families fell victim to the illuminated horrors and the consequences of mass hysteria. We could not bear the pain of rebuilding our once glorious city. Almost unanimously the population of the island decided to leave the home our ancestors lived in for centuries, and set sail for a distant island chain.
We loaded enough livestock for breeding when we arrived, and any nautical equipment that was not destroyed in the fire. Taking every boat we had, we said goodbye to our home and set sail. Our beautiful, sculpted city was now nothing but a hollow shell of blackened walls.
With great sadness and heavy hearts, we left behind all we ever knew. The reason for the sea creatures’ assault remained a mystery to us. It never occurred to us that, when we over fished the waters, we were depriving anything else of sustenance. We were not attacked out of anger from the gods, or an invasion of gelatinous monsters. It was our fault. We depleted the waters of the giant schools of fish that once swam here. All they were doing was protecting their food source. Because of our ignorance, we had to say goodbye forever to our beautiful island cove.
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