Blood & Thunder

The sea has been empty for forty-three days. No land. No ships. No birds. Only endless black water beneath an iron-gray sky. You stand watch aboard the Leviathan, a three-masted hunting ship built for one purpose: finding and killing things that should be too large to kill. Most of the crew has stopped believing Captain Elias Vane’s promises that land is only a few weeks away. Food is running low. Fresh water is rationed. Tempers are getting worse. Then the lookout screams. “Something below!” The entire deck goes silent. You rush toward the rail with the others. At first, there is nothing. Then the ocean rises. Not a wave. Something beneath it. A vast white shape passes beneath the ship, so enormous that its back seems to stretch farther than you can see. Water pours from its scarred hide. For one impossible moment, a pale eye breaks the surface. The creature looks directly at you. Then it disappears into the darkness. Captain Vane steps onto the deck. He doesn’t look frightened. He looks relieved. His weathered face slowly breaks into a terrible smile. “After all these years,” he whispers. The ship’s bells begin ringing. Men scramble for weapons. Harpoons are dragged across the deck. Cannon crews rush to their stations. Vane turns toward his crew. “Blood and thunder, gentlemen.” He points toward the black horizon. “Bring me my monster.”