The pain of his injured eye was magnified by the salty sting of seawater. Svengald did all he could to ignore the pain and concentrate on holding tight to the line and his breath. He had a much larger problem to contend with for a gigantic creature with luminous scales passed before him as would an illuminated river! The current caused by the creature’s passing made it impossible for him to climb back to the surface.
The Chief looked to see how far above the skiff lay and was dismayed. The hemp line stretched far above into the darkness with no sign of the skiff! The line however was still taut, so the Little River Dragon was still there.
Svengald knew he was in a terrible spot. Even if the current wasn’t preventing him from climbing upwards, he was down far deeper than the hasty breath taken would hold him. He’d been in this situation twice before. Once during his travels with Little Fish on the Dark Road and again when he first encountered Okavanga in the ruins of her undersea kingdom. To his dismay, the Chief could not call upon either’s formidable powers for aid.
‘This is it,’ thought Svengald as the urge to breathe became impossible to suppress. It was then a thunderous pulse through the illuminated waters which rattled the Chief’s teeth and bones!
Filling both mind and ears the drowning man the word, ‘Breathe’ issued forth as his lungs burst. Instead of the pain of inhaling saltwater, Svengald felt the much welcomed rush of ‘fresh air’ filling his lungs!
“Odd’s blood!” rasped Svengald in utter surprise.
It was then the Aesir noticed the flow of the passing ‘scaly river’ had slowed. From within the side of the gigantic body, an eye large as a barn opened! The eye similar to that of a fish turned unblinkingly towards Svengald. A moment later, a head and mouth full of curved spear-like crystalline teeth forced its way from the body.
“What is this? A tiny visitor? You are much too small a morsel to bother eating. I have never put an eye to you, but something about you is familiar. Put name to your being small one.”
With great effort, Svengald broke free of his shock upon the realization of ‘who’ he floated before like a tiny mote of dust. It was the being both the Priestess and his adopted nephew called, ‘Sir Fish’! Far as he could tell, the glowing scaly being had no beginning and no end. Once more, the great vibrations rumbled through him as the gigantic serpent-like fish communed with him.
“I see two familiar presences in your thoughts. Both of whom I share covenant. What brings so small a being so great a distance to my home?”
Though still floating in water, his steady breathing gave the Chief confidence in using his voice.
“Um, greetings mighty…‘Sir Fish’! I-I, uh would um, like to know where the one named after you is now?”
The Chief immediately felt the fool after his bumbling request. The huge eye focused upon him again and the water vibrated vigorously around him.
“Of whom do you speak? There are a multitude who claim to carry my many names in some form or other.”
“He was a young boy! Y-you gave him one of your scales as a gift!”
The water vibrated vigorously and Svengald believed the endless fish was ‘thinking’.
“Ah, but I have only given two of my scales in exchange. One to a power far greater than I. The other was given to one lost between worlds with no power to return home.”
“That’s the one! That’s Little Fish! Do you know where he is great one?”
The massive pupil shrank down to the size of the Chief’s fist and Sir Fish replied, “Why at any given time would I not know where one of my scales resides in all the multiverse…pipsqueak?”
Once more Svengald felt the fool for he had no answer to Sir Fish’s question.
“Umm, I-I don’t know why you wouldn’t mighty one! Please forgive my ignorance!”
The pupil slowly grew back to its normal size and Sir Fish replied, “Since you are known by the others, I accept your apology. The answer to your question is; yes, I do know where and when my namesake is. But you could find him on your own were you in better health.”
His fear having lessened, Chief Svengald felt the pain of his injured eye worsen. With his good eye, he saw a cloud of blood building in the water and realized his injury was worse than he thought.
“My health doesn’t matter mighty one. I must find your namesake so I can guide my people to the place where he and the great power you made covenant with make their home.”
The water vibrated again and the great pupil narrowed slightly.
“You will not complete your task as you are. Soon your life will end. However, you are the first to visit me in my home. It is rare enough to meet beings on my journeys, but this is a unique experience. When one arrives at another’s home for the first time, ‘gifts’ are exchanged are they not?”
Confused Svengald replied, “Y-yes, mighty one! But I-I have no ‘gift’ to give you.”
A sudden eel-like appendage shot from beneath the giant scales. Before Svengald could react, the ‘eel’ opened a mouth full of needle-sharp teeth and thrust its head into his bloody eye socket!
The head was out and swallowed the Aesir’s damaged eye so quickly, he felt nothing. From the top of the eel’s head a small crystalline scale flaked away and floated towards Svengald.
The water vibrated once more as Sir Fish replied, “Quickly! Place the scale within your wound.”
Whereas the removal of his injured eye was painless, placing the small fishscale within his eye socket was a brutal affair! The huge eye watched intently as Svengald suffered mightily to place the scale beneath his eyelids despite the growing cloud of blood.
The Chief after finally getting the last fold of skin over the scale felt the sharp edges dig into the skin of his eye-socket. Not sure why he put it in at all, the searing pain began to subside and Svengald felt his eyelids blink over fishscale. The first few blinks felt like sharkskin beneath his delicate lids. But with each eye-blink, the surface of the scale grew smoother.
Sounding pleased Sir Fish remarked, “Well done. In time, you will become accustomed to my scale’s presence as I will become accustomed to yours....”
With his good eye, Svengald saw the eel retract back below the scales and a far larger version of his eye appeared beneath one of Sir Fish’s clear scales! It moved about erratically as if afraid and unblinking.
“Our covenant is now sealed. I shall see many things as you do and you shall see many things as I. You may now find who you search for through our covenant. Thank you for your visit small one.”
Unable to fully grasp what had just happened, Svengald bowed deeply and said, “Thank you mighty one for your great gift!”
Looking up, Svengald closed his good eye and with the fishscale saw through the depth's gloom. Far above the Little River Dragon, several longboats and persons in the water were being tossed about the waves. Using the rope to pull himself upwards combined with kicking his legs, Svengald quickly reached the surface!
Holding fast to the rope, the Chief tied a thick knot at its end. Treading against the rough sea and ‘seeing’ through the Fishscale, Svengald pinpointed the locations of those in the water near enough for him to reach. The many months spent learning to properly swim under the care of his former Sea Goddess paramour, found the Chief grateful as he reached the first woman in the water.
Panic stricken, the drowning woman grabbed frantically at Svengald as he tried to save her giving him a pummeling in the process! With his free hand, the Chief gave the woman a smack on the head then grabbed her arm pulling her towards the rope.
“Damn you woman! Grab the rope, pull yourself over to my boat and get aboard! There are others who need help!”
Svengald held all the slack with him so the woman pulled herself along the now taught rope toward the Little River Dragon. Four more times Svengald added to those pulling themselves hand over hand to safety. The last woman he reached died in his grasp and through the power of the Fishscale, he watched as the life within her rose from her body into the turbulent air. Before he could see where that life went, a sudden strong tug on the rope made him open his good eye.
Hand by hand, the women aboard the Little River Dragon pulled Svengald and their dead comrade to safety. Once back aboard, the Chief quelled their thanks.
“No time for thanks! We’re not out of this yet. Start bailing this damn water out so we can get moving! Everything’s tied down so once the water’s out, I’ll unfurl the sail. In the meantime, I’m going to signal the other ships to group with us.
As the exhausted women began using everything they could find to bail water with, Svengald stood at the prow of the skiff and looked out over the sea. He kept the Fishscale covered with a piece of torn cloth tied to his head. Seeing in that manner was overwhelming, yet he saw what was necessary for now. Using a wooden bowl, the Chief used it to create a flashing pattern and with luck, the remaining vessels afloat would rally to his skiff and then follow him out of this damnable tempest!
To be continued....
© 2016 H. Wolfgang Porter. All Rights Reserved.
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