We had been preparing for a whole month, studying seamanship, and finally, the day arrived when the Spartan fleet was to set sail. Most of the ships were anchored along the coastline, each with no less than two enomotias. The total number of ships reached fifty. The army's strength amounted to five thousand warriors, a force capable of crushing any city-state's army. The rest of Sparta's forces remained on the mainland, guarding the borders.
"Today, Sparta enters a new era," said King Archidamus, his eyes sparkling with determination. "The name of Sparta will be on the lips of all Greece, of our descendants, and throughout the centuries. We will become conquerors."
At his command, the ships began to move. Ours was one of the first to depart, and we were assigned to lead, to scout the safety of the route. The rest of the fleet moved slowly, and soon a significant distance formed between us and them. The leading part of the fleet was about to enter the bay, while the remaining ships were to sail around the city-state from the sea and land on the other side to surround the polis from different directions. Our task was reconnaissance in these waters.
I rowed for half the journey, just like everyone else, but soon Heron ordered me to go up to the upper deck.
"Do you feel it?" he asked.
I gazed into the horizon but noticed nothing suspicious. The sea was calm, and nothing foreshadowed any danger.
"No," I replied.
"But I do," said Heron. "My hand aches, and it only hurts in two cases: when the weather changes or when a battle awaits us. Today, we face both trials," he said.
"Should we retreat and report this?" I suggested.
"No attack will be called off because of my pain. We have our orders, and we must carry them out so the rest of the army doesn't fall into trouble," Heron said.
When we reached open sea, the water became a bit choppy. At first, the waves were small, but they soon grew stronger, and the wind picked up.
"Change course, head closer to the shore," Heron ordered.
"But then they'll spot us sooner," said one of the Spartans, who was part of the reinforcements sent to us. Our trireme could hold four enomotias, but now there were only three, and most were busy with rowing.
"Better that than die in open water. It looks like a storm is coming, even I, a non-sailor, can tell," Heron said.
The sea grew fiercer: the waves increased, the wind became stronger, and the clouds overhead thickened. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a terrifying storm hit. It began throwing our ship around on the waves like a tiny boat.
A deafening crash shook the ship. A wave roared and slammed onto the deck, creating such pressure that I nearly lost my footing. I managed to grab the railing just in time.
"Sik'ka, nu'tara, aah'kra'kra!!" an unfamiliar voice shouted from an unknown direction. Looking over the side of the ship, I saw sea creatures, half-human, half-fish, scrambling up the sides, clinging to the ship. They were of various kinds, each armed with weapons: spears, short swords, tridents.
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"To arms!" Heron shouted. "Everyone in my squad, get on deck! The rest, keep course! Get us out of this cursed storm!"
I grabbed my spear and immediately pierced the head of a sea creature trying to climb onto the deck. The tip easily went through the flesh of the creature, and with a scream, blood poured out. It was dark blue in color and gave off a sharp sea-like odor.
Sea creatures were climbing all over the ship from all sides. There were so many of them that it felt as though the very sea had rebelled and sent an army to drown us. They wrapped themselves around every inch of the ship.
"Raaaaarr!" one of the monsters screamed, lunging at me. There was no trace of reason in it, just rage and a thirst for killing. It held a jagged blade in its hands.
My spear easily pierced its head, and I felt it absorb the creature's blood, as if filled with power.
Another one was approaching from behind. I quickly turned and delivered a swift strike with my shield. The force of the blow broke its body, and the shield smashed its skull. It collapsed onto the deck and did not rise again.
Another one climbed aboard right after. I rushed at it and landed a Spartan strike. Its ribcage cracked, and with a scream, it flew back into the sea.
But there were too many of them.
They kept coming, seemingly with one goal: to reach us and devour us. Soon we were forced to retreat to the staircase leading down. If the creatures made it to the lower decks and prevented us from rowing, we'd be trapped.
The merfolk were weak warriors and couldn't overcome us, even with their numbers, but their strength lay in their native element. I saw them tear our sail apart and heard screams from the helmsman, who was shouting about a broken rudder. Our ship partially lost control. Hope rested solely on the rowers, but that didn't last long— they started breaking the oars and the ship's planking, creating many leaks and penetrating inside through the holes.
"Everyone stays here and holds the line! With me, five of you! Damocles, command the defense here! I'm going down!" Heron ordered, starting to descend to clear the lower levels.
I kept clearing the deck. The number of sea creatures started to decrease, but it didn't bring relief—in fact, the anxiety only grew. Heron came back up to the deck, covered in dark, thick blood from the enemies.
"These creatures have breached the hull. We have leaks," he said, panting heavily.
"That's not the worst of it," I said, looking ahead.
A wave, reaching dozens of meters in height, was literally blocking the horizon, and it was coming straight for us.
"Everyone, hold on to anything you can! Tie yourselves with ropes!" Heron shouted.
The death wave was rapidly approaching. A true wall of water, ready to engulf us.
"I hate the sea," I whispered, gritting my teeth.
As the ship started to rise, its hull almost became vertical, and by some miracle, it didn't capsize. I held onto the railing with all my strength as the wood creaked under the strain and broke in several places. The ship soared to the peak of the wave, then paused for a moment before starting to tilt downward, gaining speed. We were inevitably going to crash into the water.
"Prepare yourselves!" Heron shouted.
The ship slammed into the water. The impact was so forceful that it felt as if we had been thrown down from the heavens. The water engulfed us immediately, and several warriors who couldn't hold on were thrown into the sea. I had no idea how the ship was still holding together and hadn't broken apart.
Underwater, everything was enveloped in darkness. I opened my eyes and immediately regretted it. From the depths, something was staring at us. One massive eye, golden-black with an iris the size of our ship. I realized that it was this creature that had caused the storm.
The ship was shoved back to the surface, and we found ourselves above the water again.
"That... it's the Kraken," I said, gasping for air.
"It seems the gods are not on our side today," Heron said grimly.
"No, but we will survive. Today is not our day of death," I replied, wiping the excess water from my face.
Staring into the water, I watched as tentacles began to emerge. They were as thick as several masts, and that was only their tips. Perhaps because I had already looked death in the face, I no longer feared it. A feeling of certainty burned within me, not disbelief, but the knowledge that no matter what, I would survive and save the others.
Author's Note
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