As the water flowed and the sun rose, Donovan realized he was getting hungry. He looked toward his ship’s icebox, knowing it to be full of fish, and began to think of how he could manage a cooking fire on the main deck. This proved to be more trouble than it was worth (or so he told himself) so he instead began to search the skies and horizons for signs of land. After straining his eyes longer than he should have and still finding nothing of use, he sat himself on the wooden boards that seemed sure to become his home forever now and contemplated the flavor and texture of a raw coalfish. The sea had gone deathly calm, and with no wind to catch his sails, waiting was all he could have done.
As Donovan waited, something far below the surface had spotted the shadow of his boat and grown curious. It had not recognized this shape against the light so far above it but as it swam closer to the surface, and the shape had become clearer, it recognized it as a boat. A boat! There had not been travelers this far out to sea in centuries! (Possibly longer even!) The creature had grown excited and swam faster toward the shadow, moving only slightly to the side at the last moment so as not to destroy it outright upon breaking the surface.
Just as Donovan had been about to give in to his hunger and pull a fish from the icebox, there was a swell in the water beside his ship. The swell broke hard, giving him need to grab on to a nearby rigging line to keep from being tossed overboard, and he could not believe what he saw then. The beast was easily as tall as, well, he couldn’t quite remember anything he’d seen that was that tall, and it was broad enough that he would have had a hard time searching for the line of the horizon to either side. Most amazing though, was that most of the creature had stayed below the water. The best way to describe its features would have certainly been ‘dragon’, although this one seemed to have been custom fit for the waters. Donovan was in awe.
The dragon studied the small man on the boat. It certainly seemed about the right shape and build to require a boat, but the dragon was still curious as to why it had felt the need to sail its boat all the way out here. So it said so.
Donovan clapped his hands over his ears when the creature spoke, but even still he felt he would have gone deaf if it kept on longer than it had. “I’m sorry to ask,” Donovan called out “but could you try speaking a bit lower?” The dragon brought its head down closer to the ship, and a horror crept up in Donovan, he had not been as clear as he should have been.
“What brings you this far out to sea, little human?” Donovan sighed in relief.
“I’m not sure myself, unfortunately.” The man had replied. “I don’t suppose you could tell me how to get back to Ballycastle?” The simple question felt out of place as soon as it came from his lips. Surely he shouldn’t be wasting this beast’s time with such a trivial thing? He felt it would be better to have asked it something profound, and worldly. He hoped such a menial, trivial inquiry as to the current location of his village did not offend. Yes, he knew he did not want to offend.
“I know not of this ‘Ballycastle’.” The dragon had made a face as though it tasted something it was not at all fond of. “But if you have an offering, I would gladly ferry you the nearest piece of land.” Its voice was low and powerful, and Donovan had known its words held wisdom beyond his own years by far. This was certainly an ancient creature.
“I don’t have much with me I’m afraid. I wasn’t planning on a long journey when I first set out from shore.” An offering! It seemed so obvious then. Why hadn’t he brought one? “The ship’s icebox is filled with yesterday’s catch. You are certainly welcome to that if you would have it; it does me no good without the means to cook it.”
“So you would give to me that which is of no use to you? An odd offering indeed…”
Afraid he had upset the dragon, Donovan stammered a bit. “My apologies! Of course! I’m sor-”
The dragon cut him off, “I will accept your gift, mortal.” And with that it dove back beneath the sea, and Donovan had wondered how long it would be until it returned. It had not taken long.
After losing sight of the dragon, Donovan had run to the edge of the boat, trying to discern how deep it had gone. That was when he saw the shape rushing back from the depths, certainly far faster than it should have been able to move, but also as fast as Donovan knew it was capable of. One thing seemed wrong though, the creature was coming up directly underneath him, which meant-
Everything was splinters and nails and boards and sailcloth. Donovan wasn’t able to tell what side was sky and what side was the sea, and then a great maw snatched closed around his world causing it to go dark. It took a moment before he’d realized he was not dead, but was resting in the creature’s cavernous maw. “I certainly wasn’t expecting that.” Donovan said aloud, to no one in particular. In time, his eyes adjusted to the damp darkness of the dragon’s mouth. It smelled mostly of the fish markets, with the scent of the cold, deep sea that wove a tapestry that reminded him of home. For a moment he wondered if he had, in fact, shipwrecked last night and all of this was happening while he was in some sort of coma. He had heard stories and legends from old sailors of sea monsters acting as ferries to the afterlife… He shook the thought from his head, certainly he couldn’t be dead?
He thought instead of why the dragon (He wondered if it had a name. If so would he be able to say it properly?) decided to destroy his ship and he’d known the answer as soon as he’d asked himself the question. He’d not specified how the entity was to collect its payment. Leaving loose ends on a verbal contract with a dragon was always trouble. But how had he known? With so much happening right now he hadn’t felt like giving in to that line of self questioning. So he sat, and he waited for the dragon to make its way to what he hoped to be land.
