The waters surrounding Xuxux were calm for the most part of this night and there weren't any of the usual boats packed with merchandise, fishermen, and passengers gliding through its realms. To stop at this port was considered unholy and blasphemous so the only ship that was traveling along the waters curtly obeyed the laws of long dead kings, and the fear of their armored guards. The captain of the merchant ship, the Gabrezze, was on board busily navigating for his next stop, the island of Soma Plume. As his ship passed through the straight between Gorgossium and Xuxux, the Captain, a man who prided himself for his ability to obtain great clarity and intense focus on whatever task he chose, was suddenly swayed from his duty by a low and steady rumble. The rumble was such that it beckoned him up onto to deck to observe where it had originated. The ship was flanked by two possibilities for the source and if the captains' intuition served him right it seemed the rippling sound was surprisingly enough emanating from Xuxux.
As the captain studied his view to be sure of what he was hearing his skipper came up from behind. The skipper had skin of a translucent blue hue and green hair braided long in many plaits down his back. He seemed to be aware of the unusual rumble and offered some theories of his own.
"I hear tales from other mates that t'is an evil force coming from below" the Skipper quipped.
"And den again if ya look to yer right ya see all dat construction over der" his finger pointed casually to the chaotic mists of Gorgossium. "It would notta be so hard to think dat all da messin' around by dat old Hag has caused da waters to shake." The captain nodded nervously as he glanced over to Gorgossiums shore. Yes" he agreed, "it seems that amount of destruction could cause the waters to rumble." At this he walked away and returned to his navigating in his private cabin.
His nerves were calmed for a moment, upon where he felt yet another rumble. His unease began to build again for not only had the rumble grown in intensity but also he was sure it was not a product of Gorgossium as previously suggested. He walked out onto the deck once more to see the once calm water rolling about as if in a storm. He looked up at the clear night sky and back down to the waters depths. As a boy he had heard many bedtime stories of monsters unseen in the depths of the sea. Giant light depraved monsters who could, if unleashed from the ocean floor, envelope and destroy the entire Abarat. He fumbled through his memory for the name of those creatures Requeiad, no no he thought, that wasn't it but close. It was on the tip of his tongue and than he had lost it. He shook his head and thought to himself how silly he was being thinking of such fables. Only a little time left and The Gabrezze would be out of the straight and well on its way to Soma Plume. Next time he thought we'd have to take the long route around if such regal construction was going to make uneasy passage for them.
Back to his charts he went pushing the sudden rise of waves out of his mind. It was the sound of panicked voices that stirred him up on deck for a third time. The Captain could see the look of alarm on all the crews' faces as they scurried around. The Skipper rushed up to his side and the Captain demanded to know what was the matter.
"Cap n'" the skipper stammered "da ship it is filling wid water, and da second mate sir, he said dat der is a hole in the bodum of da ship." The skippers voice was growing more hysterical with every bit of detail he bestowed. "He said he said dat anodda mate gotta pulled through da hole."
The Captain gazed at the skipper in disbelief; he walked further ahead to see indeed the lower decks of the ship were beginning to fill with water. Within seconds his mind raged a multitude of reasoning. They could have hit something, tore a hole in the hull. No no he argued with himself, not the right position, and surely we would have felt such a hit. Than his mind drifted back to the rumbles of the sea and the bedtime story monsters.
When his gaze came back from his thoughts he could clearly see that the ship was indeed going to sink, and nothing was going to stop that. Quickly the Captain flew back to his cabin, opening the container of flares, back out on deck he rushed to release an emergency call. Yes and now for the Life boats he thought. If it was a Mantiziac that got through the ship, but that was impossible his mind countered, the bottoms were painted red. His thoughts were getting clouded and all sorts of ideas came flooding through, than came a giant jolt to the ship. This jolt bought about a full-blown terror on every crewmembers face. It was as if a great hand from beneath the waters surface was shaking them.
In order to keep the crew as calm as he possibly could the Captain offered some reassuring words,
"Crew, we are very close to the shore of Xuxux, it won't take but a slight bit of rowing in the dinghy and we'll be safe on land." This seemed to calm them for a moment, until most thought of the ever-threatening idea that there may be some creature below there to capsize the tiny rowboats. The idea of finding safety on Xuxux wasn't all too reassuring either considering they would have royal guards to deal with. The Captain could see their thoughts so he countered, "I am sure the authorities on Xuxux will understand our present situation, and it is the only immediate avenue of relief we have." So the crew began lowering the boats with somewhat of a restored focus.
Just as they seemed to be gathering themselves and calculating a safe escape, and it seemed they had some time before the ship would actually sink, the crew of the Gabrezze were hit with a horrific blow. The ships hull was suddenly thrust upwards, causing the crew to be hurled back down towards the hole in the ship. The Captain, lost in the unbalancing of the ship, glanced back as he held on for his life to see several crewmembers being sucked through the hole in the ship. And to his sudden terror he realized that the entire ship was being ripped downwards into the sea and that this was their final voyage across the Abarat.