The Hunt Begins
by Dana DeVries
  Sitting
at a table in the Scrimshaw Inn, Captain Ivanovitch scowled out the window
at the thick fog that bound him into port.
It had come up unexpectedly
in the hours before dawn while they made ready to sail. Another day of delays
for him. Many more and he'd have to start selling off his ship's cannons. The
innkeep had lit lanterns to dispel the gloom. And the light from the lantern
was cut off as a shadow crossed his face. The captain turned and stared up
at a small man standing next to his table. The man's features were bare and
twisted as if an Ussuran had tried to push his way through a Crescent face
and only half succeeded.
   "Captain? My name's Otiro and I've got a proposition for you."
   "Unless you've got a way out of this fog, I'm not interested."
   "Actually..." The small man peered around furtively with bulging eyes, but no one else in the Inn seemed interested by the burly Ussuran Captain and the small man. He dropped into a chair next to Ivanovitch and whispered in a hoarse voice. "Yes.
I know a way that you can sail through the thickest fog. Two pearls, blessed
by Matushka herself, that glow with the light of the moon. Fog disperses before
them and you can see as clearly as if it were noon."
   "Where are these miraculous items?"
   Otiro drew from his pouch a white pearl as long as one of the captain's finger joints and the light from the Inn's lantern gleamed off its rounded surface. More than the lantern light though. Something more shone from inside the pearl itself. "I
have one. The other lies in the belly of the greatest devil in the seven seas."
   Ivanovitch stroked his thick, black beard and frowned. "It's a pearl
and it's glowing. But not enough to make any difference to fog."
   "That is the problem. My brother and I were fishermen. Our father
had been a fisherman and an explorer before us. Long ago, he went into a ruin
and found a small chest that weighed as much as a ship's anchor. But when he
opened it, the only thing in it were these two pearls that glowed like a lighthouse.
He left the chest and kept the pearls. Through years of fishing, they kept him
safe during the long nights. Then he gave the pearls to my brother and I. As
long as we fished together, they shone like small moons. When the pearls glowed
dimmer and dimmer. On the one occasion that my brother took his with him when
he went alone to the mainland to sell our catch, they stopped glowing altogether.
Until they were brought back together.
   "We plied our trade there for years. Until the day, I was late out
to the docks. My brother decided to go out without me. At first I was so mad
that he left me there that I stayed ashore. But the waters of the mirror hold
more danger than most can guess, so I finally followed him in a friend's boat.
It was the dark of the moon with only dim starlight to see by. His pearl was
hidden inside his pouch, as he cast his nets out. By the light of my own pearl,
I could see him on his ship. When he saw me approaching, he snatched up the pouch
and pulled out his own pearl."
   Otiro took a deep breath and Ivanovitch glanced outside. The thick,
grey fog still pressed against the window. He turned his attention back to the
small man who continued the tale while staring at something only he could see.
   "That was when it happened. Something thrust itself up out of the
water and across the bow of his boat. She shattered underneath that thing and
my brother disappeared beneath the waves. Long seconds passed before he popped
out and held his pearl high above his head, screaming out for me. That was when
the thing came back and attacked my brother.
   Otiro's voice quivered slightly. "The Castillians call it Tiburon
Diablo. It was huge, larger than the leviathans I've seen. Thick grey hide and
gleaming red eyes. I saw one of its teeth later. As large as my chest. It tore
into my brother, ripped him apart and then dove down. I knew it was gone when
the glow of my brother's pearl cut off completely.
   "It took me almost half an hour to tack around so I could get close
enough to find my brother. The thing had ripped off my brother's arm. Most of
his torso. Both legs. Only his face was untouched and his expression was of complete
agony. The pearl was gone. But I'd known that because I'd seen it glow coming
from the creature's maw as it swam back into the depths.
   "I mourned my brother for days. Weeks and my pearl slowly grew dimmer
along with my memory of my brother' face. That was when I vowed that I would
find the thing that killed my brother and avenge his death. I've sailed the seven
seas, worked for a dozen captains, tracking this thing for years. I've followed
every rumor of a giant shark with a glowing maw, but I've never been able to
find it. Until now. The pearl is beginning to glow again. I'm close. But I need
a captain who can help me kill it. Will you help?"
   Captain Ivanovitch shifted uneasily and looked at the small man with the twisted features and the crazed look in his eye. The thick wooden chair he sat in groaned underneath his heavy frame as he asked, "What's
in it for me?"
   "The pearls do more than glow, captain. They control the weather. Watch." Otiro
clenched the pearl in his hand and concentrated. For several long minutes, nothing
happened except sweat breaking out upon Otiro's brow then a shout from outside
distracted the captain.
   Looking out the window, it was lighter. In wonder, Ivanovitch turned back to the Crescenter. He was wiping blood off his hand with a piece of cloth, but quickly tucked it from sight. The Ussuran stated calmly, "The
fog's lifting. Quickly too. At this rate, my ship will be able to set sail within
a couple hours."
   Otiro continued, "My brother's pearl, captain. You can have it, if
you can get it from the belly of the beast."
   Despite himself, the Ussuran nodded and heard himself saying, "Alright. Stow your stuff onboard the Undefeated Heart. We'll be putting to sea soon." In
the day to come, he would look back and realize that this was the moment he agreed
to hunt Tiburon Diablo.