A/N: Thanks for the support
Farwynd & Fire
By Spectre4hire
25: Narrow Sea II
There was a sullen silence hanging over their small rowboat.
They were the unlucky few who were rowing away from the celebrations. Some men were already well into their cups aboard Fury before Harry's boat had even set off towards the wreckage of the ironborn's two ships. They were joined by two similar rowboats, both of them filled with dissatisfied crewmen who'd rather be on the ship drinking than pursuing this grim task ahead of them. When Lord Renly had told him of it, he thought it a jape. It hadn't been. They were to try to find the princess and her husband's body. It was a fool's errand, and they all knew it except the one who sent them.
Before Inevitable had been wholly swallowed by the sea, Lord Renly had already ordered the casks to be brought up. The men had cheered loudly, toasting the Lord of Storm's End and drank to their victory. He was begrudgingly impressed by how many he swayed to him even after the albatross incident. Harry had found the act despicable, even when done in ignorance, but he knew his opinion was now a rare one on Fury. Ser Davos made the apologies and excuses, and Lord Renly charmed them with promises of rewards.
"Quit your griping," Stanton grumbled. Grey haired and sour faced, the old sailor was annoyed by some conversation that Harry hadn't been listening to.
The chastisement proved ineffective. "I like griping," Veron was a young man, who had joined up half a year ago. He was the son of a cartwright who had no interest in following his father's trade. I want to be as far away as I can from wheels and carts, he had japed with his easy smile. He was quick to jape and quick to gripe, but Harry thought he'd make a fine sailor.
Dean was ahead of them, a man of a few words, and beside him was Beni, a man of too many. Harry knew he'd rather be back on the ship drinking with the rest, and if he was being honest, Harry would've preferred Beni back on Fury too. Beni was a sailor who seemed to flicker in and out depending on the dangers and the rewards. It surprised Harry that Beni hadn't found a way to wiggle out of this. He was a spineless reed and as slippery as an eel. His thoughts were interrupted by the very one he was just thinking about.
"A snake!" Beni shouted. "In the water, it was red and large and awful," he shied away from the edge, scooting closer to Dean on their bench who didn't look particularly pleased by the close company.
"A snake?" Harry repeated, thinking it an obvious lie. He had suspected Beni would have thought of something far cleverer to get them to return. This was too flimsy. Perhaps, I overestimated his cleverness.
"Could it be like one of those sea serpents?" Veron suggested, "like the ones you see on the maps."
Harry didn't have a chance to answer Veron or question Beni, as another voice cried out: "Something in the water!"
He looked behind him to the boat on his right to see it had been Bug face Bryen. A fitting name for an ugly man. "What did you see?"
"Some sort of reddish snake," Bryen was ugly and dumb, but he wasn't a craven like Beni. He'd not make something up in hopes it would get them relieved of their duty. "It was moving beneath our boat."
In the dwindling light from the encroaching darkness, Harry looked, but he saw no sign of any sea snakes. He was about to turn away when he thought he saw movement, but it wasn't a snake. It seemed a large and black shadow below Bryen's boat that flickered away as quickly as it arrived. Now I'm seeing things. Harry grumbled as he rubbed his eyes.
"Let's go back," Veron said lightly, playing it off as a jape, but there was a touch of sincerity to his suggestion.
"We're not going back," Harry instantly squashed the suggestion with a firm tone. "Sea snakes won't bother us." Unsure if what they saw was a snake or an eel or something else like loose stalks of seaweed. "Besides, we can't, we're too close."
"Right," Dean agreed with him.
Just ahead of them were the floating corpses from the two destroyed ironborn ships. This was not his first brush with the dead. Living a life on the sea meant not being a stranger to death. He had been at Fair Isle the day Lord Stannis smashed the ironborn fleet. He remembered the bodies and the ruined ships that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see. He was proud to have been there, fighting and killing ironborn traitors. He was just as proud of being here to take care of another traitor. And of course it was an ironborn, Harry held them all in contempt. The Iron Islands was a wretched hive of sea scum and villainy. He only wished they were under Lord Stannis's command for this instead of his brother's.
The rowing was slow going through waters choked with corpses. He saw Veron flinch when the first body hit their boat with a wet thud. Poor lad, but even he wasn't immune to this constant and dreary drumbeat of the dead. Again, and again and again. They collided with their boat.
"Shark!" Veron nearly dropped his paddle when he spotted the surfacing shark off their starboard side.
Stanton laughed. "Ya never seen a shark before?" The old sailor's laugh became a wet wheeze, but his mocking tone remained. "That one's a small thing," he dismissed the boy's fear. "Not even seven feet long."
The shark ignored them, feasting on a nearby corpse. It made a sickening crunching sound as it shredded the flesh with its sharp teeth. Harry saw Stanton was right. The brown shark was small and more a curiosity to them than a threat. "The shark won't bother us," he assured the cartwright's son, Veron was still ignorant of much of the sea and its many mysteries.
"You could make good coin selling their teeth," Beni put in, always eying and sniffing for a profit to be had.
"No one's stopping you," Harry said dryly and with a gesture to the shark.
Beni let out a nervous laugh. "I've only heard the practice, never partook myself."
"I heard that Farwynd makes his enemies walk the plank," Veron had recovered from his initial fear, and now he wouldn't stop looking at the shark even as they rowed past it.
"Right," Dean nodded, likely humoring him.
More and more sharks were surfacing. Eight, ten, twelve footers, and larger all had come to partake in this sumptuous feast of ironborn scum. Their fins rose out of the sea like daggers slicing through the water with their splashing tails speeding them along. The wet scrunching and obscene tearing sound they made was an eerie echo that rolled over the water. Harry had never seen this many sharks and more and more kept appearing. He clamped down on his own growing unease but felt it flailing within him with each blood curdling noise the sharks eating made.
Believing Dean's support was sincere, Veron added. "I overheard Uncle Deadly talking with one of the survivors from Lord Steffon. He had claimed that it was a kraken that pulled down their ship."
"A kraken?" Stanton scoffed, "And was Farwynd riding it?" He laughed at his own jape.
"I've heard others speak of krakens in the seas." Veron didn't budge. "South of Dorne, they said, and-"
"I've been sailing since before you were born, boy," Stanton dismissed him, "And the only kraken I ever saw were those damned golden ones, and we made sure to put them down."
"Farwynd is dead," Harry had initially been grateful for the conversation as a means of distraction from the sharks, but he knew he should step in before their bickering got any worse. "And here he lies." He gestured to all the corpses that were around them. It was madness to think we'd find anything in this. He was tempted to give the order to head back. They had tried, and it was a waste to continue on such a pointless thing. Too many bodies, the observation nettled at him. All of this from two ships? He frowned. It didn't seem right. Even if Inevitable was Farwynd's flagship. He suspected there were more than two hundred bodies out there, and likely more than that. There were far too many. Something else wiggled in the back of his mind, but it was Stanton who voiced it.
"It's quiet."
"You call this quiet?" Veron asked over the splashing of two sharks coming from their port side, fighting over a corpse like a pair of dogs over a bone.
Stanton shook his head. "This is a different quiet," he said. "It shouldn't be quiet."
"And why is that?" Veron asked, trying and failing to sound unconcerned by the old sailor's caution.
"Ain't no way our weapons killed everyone on board those ships," Stanton answered. "We should be hearing the splashing and shouting of drowning and dying men," he paused, as if hoping to conjure the sounds he spoke of, but none came.
He was right. Harry had thought that when they moved closer, they'd hear the sound of the last men of Farwynd's ships, but there was only a silent stillness that hung over these waters. Something was wrong. It prickled at the back of his neck. He was about to give the order to turn around when an eagle's screech filled the air. It proved a welcoming respite. Harry looked up to see the sea eagle flap its wings above them. He wondered if the bird had come to feed. He was unsure if eagles ate corpses, but he doubted any animal would pass on such an easy meal. Beni's sudden gasp turned his attention away from the large bird, making him want to roll his eyes at the man's constant antics.
"What is it?" Veron asked, "Seen another snake?
"No," Beni was looking out over the side of the boat, at one of the bodies. "I know him!" He pointed to a face up floating corpse.
"You know him?" Harry didn't know why he asked. We're leaving, Beni, that's what he should've told him. So, there's no need to tell tall tales.
"That's impossible," Stanton said what they were all thinking. "He's a crewman on one of the ironborn ships."
Dean nodded. "Right."
"No, he ain't," Beni surprised them by not backing down, and surprised them further when he reached over to the corpse, fumbling for a hold. "This is Kevan. He's an oarsman on Black Betha. And he owes me a silver stag." He was trying to roll up the corpse's soppy tunic. "He has a scar on his side, he claimed it was from a jealous husband who caught him in bed with the man's wife," he was rolling up the wet, sticking cloth revealing pale flesh as he went. "It looks like a crescent moon," His fingers kept pushing back the cloth until, "Hah!" He jabbed at the body. "See!"
And they did. It was there just as he had said, meaning this was Kevan from Black Betha.
Black Betha, that was one of their ships that hadn't yet arrived. Another of our missing ships. Harry felt very cold as understanding dawned on him looking out at all these bodies. "Turn back," the dull fear choked the words from escaping his throat. "Turn back!"
This time they heard and hurried to obey. They murmured amongst themselves all coming to the same bone-chilling realization.
"What's wrong?" Bryen bellowed out to them. The three small boats had drifted apart while trying to paddle through the throng of bobbing corpses and swimming sharks.
Beni didn't wait for Harry to answer them. "They're our men!" His voice was gripped with terror, but it still rang loud and true. "The men in the water. They're our men!"
"What?" Bug face Bryen looked at them as if they had gone mad. He wasn't the only one. Bryen's crew were grumbling in confusion and shaking their heads dismissing Beni's words for what he was: a craven looking for a way to go back.
"Harry," Stanton jerked his head to where the other boat was. They were shouting something, but he couldn't understand them. He then saw they were pointing. Harry followed to see it was at Fury.
Harry fumbled for his far-eye. Using it, he could see onboard Fury that there was some sort of commotion. Worse, his stomach dropped. There was fighting. "Row!" He ordered, "We're under attack!" As quick as they could manage, they turned their boat around and began to row back towards Fury. The other boats followed their lead.
"How?" Stanton's brow was wet with drops of sweat. "It's not possible."
Harry didn't have an answer. All he could do was helplessly watch the violence unfold with his far-eye. He felt a nauseous chill take hold of him, as he could do nothing for his friends aboard Fury who were fighting and dying from this surprised attack. How could this be? There hadn't been any other ships spotted near them. It was impossible for another ship to sneak up on Fury.
Impossible.
All thoughts on the fleet's flagship fled him when the sea began to violently churn some ways from them. Great tremors rippled across the water, bringing with it white capped swells that hit their boat with enough force that he nearly dropped his far-eye overboard. Instead, he turned towards the source to see the sea was erupting in a volcano of spray and saltwater. And then in the twinkling mist, it rose.
A red mountain emerged from the sea beside Lady Lyanna.
Harry gaped stupidly up at it. He heard one of the others say the word, the name of what it was. It had come out in a strangled gasp, and he recognized it. They had just been discussing it. And dismissing it. They weren't supposed to be here, not in front of them in all its terrible, towering splendor.
Still the word didn't stick. His mind refused to believe that's what it was even as he watched in equal parts fear and amazement. The tall waves this red, pulsing mountain made with its astonishing size sent turbulent and enormous swells smashing into Lady Lyanna in blaring thuds that sounded like thunder rolling across the sea.
Lady Lyanna rocked violently side to side making him think of a cradle, but the screams coming from it were not of an upset babe, but of hardened men who now sounded like wailing children. And then a forest of red trees sprouted out of the sea, engulfing Lady Lyanna. And for a brief moment even blocking it from view, but they could still hear the crew's desperate and terrified screams. The red writhing trees seized the ship and then began squeezing it.
No, not trees. Acceptance finally rooted itself through his mind's panicking haze. They were tentacles. And that was. The word rose inside him like bile. Kraken. Harry ignored the warm flood that went down his leg. Lady Lyanna's groaning sounded like an animal's dying throes, ending with a tremendous CRACK! It had been so loud and sharp, Harry flinched, his own stomach tightening in a hard knot.
Pieces of once thick oak and sturdy pine fell into the sea like broken twigs as the once proud warship crumpled into ruin right before their eyes. Falling with the wreckage was of its frantic crew hitting the water in a series of splashes, sobbing and screaming for help. The kraken sank its enormous body back below the surface forming churning whirlpools that pulled drowning men under. They spun as they sank, still screaming as they were swallowed whole, disappearing into the dark hungry depths.
"Look!" Someone had found their voice, and the word sent all heads turning to see Seaswift was reacting. The ship's deck was bustling with frightened crewmen, pointing and shouting at the destruction of Lady Lyanna. It was a smaller and weaker warship compared to the others, but she was still fast. Surely, she would help, he thought, before he saw the truth: She didn't. It appeared the captain had seen enough. Instead of giving the order for a rescue, Seaswift moved to abandon its position and flee.
That was when they saw what was coming to stop it. Leviathan, the creature's name flashed in his mind, but the whales he knew and had seen before, paled to the great white outline that surged towards Seaswift with flawless precision like a massive scorpion bolt. He didn't see where it hit the ship, but he heard the tremendous impact it made, a BOOMING crash. The warship gave a violent shudder, rocking hard, and with a loud cracking, he feebly watched as a second of their warships were sunk.
Stag of the Sea fared no better. The kraken's massive body now hidden beneath the water, save for its tentacles which undulated out of the sea to latch themselves along the ship's bow and stern. Holding it in place, Harry dimly realized when he saw the surging leviathan charging the warship. Numbly, he turned before impact, but the ear-splitting sound made him tremble.
In a matter of minutes, they had lost three ships and hundreds of men had been tossed into the water making the sea roil like a boiling cauldron. They were crying out for their mothers, for their gods, for mercy, bobbing in the whitewash, but the waters around them began to darken as the sharks came to feed. Dread moved like an infection through his blood. In the roaring confusion of his thoughts, it sounded as if a hundred voices were all calling out to him.
"HARRY!"
"HARRY!"
"HARRY!"
The boat beneath him jerked to life, nearly causing him to stumble over, slicing through his stupor. His crew had given up on him and had made their own decision. They were rowing and it was away from the wrecked ships and their own men. He wanted to stop them. To tell them to go back, but he couldn't find a scrap of courage or loyalty within him only the cold fear that had nested inside him. The abandoned sailors' haunting shrieks chased after them like harrowing spirits, but none on their small boat dared to look back, dared to protest, nor dared to turn around.
Bug Face Bryen chose differently than them, but their loyalty was met by a grasping slithering red tentacle. It raised the boat out of the water to the crying protest of Bryen and his terrified crew. The tentacle violently rattled the rowboat like a child playing with their toy, a pair of men tumbled out making loud splashes. And then with what appeared an effortless twitch, it snapped the boat in two. The remaining men fell into the water, shouting and splashing.
They had barely paddled their own ship a few feet when it gave a sudden and sharp lurch. Gods it has us, he despaired, but when he looked behind him, he saw no snakelike tentacle holding onto them.
"We're stuck!" Beni was panicking. "We need to-" the ship violently shuddered, sending a standing Beni over the edge and into the sea.
"Let me up!" He loudly sputtered, "I can't swim!"
Dean and Veron were trying to wrangle him from in, but Beni was thrashing in the water, and would likely drag both Dean and Veron over the edge to join him and then the boat lurched again. They lost their grip on him, and the water was quick to rush over his head.
"Beni!" Veron called out, looking desperately to try to find him, and then by some miracle he appeared a couple feet away from them. He whooped in delight. "Over here!"
Beni was pale as snow. He was bobbing in the water, terrified. He shook his head at their pleas. He then turned and swam away from them trying to make the long swim to shore.
Veron frowned. "I thought he couldn't swim."
"A craven and a liar," Stanton said in disgust.
The wood beneath their feet buckled. The ship quivered below them from an unseen, but brutal onslaught. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Harry felt his heart sink like a cold stone into his belly. I have a bad feeling- the wood finally cracked with water rushing in. And then something else. Smashing through the hole was the largest shark snout he had ever seen. Raising its massive head, the shark greeted them with a savage grin. Stanton was cursing, Veron was crying, and Dean was bleeding. Harry blinked, noticing that most of Dean's arm was now gone. It was in the shark's jaws before it disappeared behind rows of sharp teeth, as the animal slipped back into the hole it had made. Their crumbling, sinking ship swayed, sending Harry over the edge.
The cold shock of falling into the water was swept away when he saw the shark was waiting for him. He had nowhere to go. It was too close. Too big. Too fast. Instincts still made his arms flail, and his legs kick even as he watched the shark's large jaws extend, its painful reach inevitable. Helplessly, he felt the shark's serrated teeth grip him before biting down. In a blooming red cloud, Harry watched his body be ripped apart.
Any Easter eggs/references in this chapter:
The characters Harry, Dean, and Stanton are named after the famous character actor: Harry Dean Stanton.
Dean is often quoted as only saying the word: "Right," in this chapter in honor of Stanton's character 'Brett' from the movie Alien.
Veron 'Cartwright' is named after actress Veronica Cartwright who plays Lambert in the movie Alien. I even gave him two of her character's lines from that movie: "I like griping," & "let's go back."
Harry's: The Iron Islands was a wretched hive of sea scum and villainy. Is of course a reference to the famous quote Obi Wan Kenobi uses in "Star Wars: A New Hope."
Harry's 'I have a bad feeling-' is a reference to another famous Star Wars quote that is used in the movies: "I have a bad feeling about this."
Beni is named after the character 'Beni Gabor' from the amazing 1999 The Mummy. His friend 'Kevan' is named after the actor who played Beni, Kevin J. O'Connor.
Bug Face Bryen is named after 'Big-Fat-Ugly-Bug-Face-Baby-Eating O'Brien' a character who briefly appears in 'Muppet Treasure Island.'
A/N: So I'm aware the entire scenario I wrote for Harry and his intrepid crew is likely unrealistic and not really feasible, but that's okay. I'm going for drama in hopes of telling a good story over realism. So if anything stands out as wrong or doesn't feel right. (There's likely several) That's the reason, my attempt at taking liberties all in the name of hopefully some entertaining storytelling.
I created another Oc and gave him the honor to be the pov for this chapter. Harry isn't the first OC created to be mangled and killed, and he won't be the last. I'll admit he's a flat character, and basically serves as a camera to watch what happens: The-camera-that-sails. Regardless, RIP Harry, and his cast/crew of easter eggs/references.
I was honestly hoping to wrap this arc up in two chapters, but Harry's pov kept growing so I decided to split it. The next chapter will likely start happening around the same time as Harry's, but in a different pov to show us another look at what is happening.
I'm not gonna lie, this was really hard to write. I did it over and over again, wanting to deliver something good and satisfying to you all. I mean who didn't want to watch Grond and Scylla team up on that one ship? Or was it just me? I'm also trying and struggling to make these scenes each feel unique and not just copy and paste when the action is needed.
Hopefully I succeeded and you were entertained with this chapter. If you were, it would be great hearing from you. Your support really means a lot especially encouraging words after such a helluva chapter to write.
Until next time,
-Spectre4hire