Chap. 93 The Sea Creature

Chap. 93  The Sea Creature

At last. Not that he'd disliked it, but D'nis felt he'd accomplished something-no, THEY'D all accomplished something that hadn't been done before. They'd gone from one end of the continent to the other, conducting a scientific survey. 

It may just have been a straight line, preliminary investigation, but it had taken far longer than he had expected, and it proved to him the Southern was far larger than anyone would have guessed. Maps and photos taken from the sky didn't give one the true perspective of what truly was a large land mass.

He stood, his equipment in his hands, looking at the sea. The forest behind him had given way to a narrow strip of grass on a bluff above the shoreline of the sea. 

This shoreline was not the gentle, sandy beach they enjoyed at their Weyr.

No, this shoreline was a tangled mass of gigantic trees, driftwood thrown up by savage storms onto boulders, some as big as a dragon. The surf roared, crashing into the rocks  and throwing up huge plumes of white water. This was not a beach that would allow one to stretch out to sunbathe on. This beach was a war zone, an eternal conflict between the sea and the bedrock of the continent. 

Rath, B'rost's dragon, had begged to be unharnessed so that he could go fishing.

He'd spent less than five minutes in the water and came out blue…and for a blue dragon, that was saying something.

Too cold, he'd said, and the current is too strong. Can't fish in that.

The water was ice cold, with a strong current that threatened to be a riptide. The wind was blowing hard and had a hard bite to it, sometimes flinging salt spray that stung one's eyes. 

Part of that may be the proximity to the pole, he thought, but he had no idea how far from the pole they were. And, he had no real desire to find out. He was, he'd learned long ago, a landsman. Not for him the sea. 

I'll have to somehow pry Siena out of her Weyrwoman's shackles and bring her down here, to tell me why the water is so cold.

The others were wandering the 'beach', clambering over boulders and weaving between them. 

B'rost was exultant at the various rocks in the areas where one could actually walk without having to clamber over boulders.

"Look! Agates! Amber! Malachite! This place is littered with lovely stones! And look at this rock, it's fossiliferous. I can't even begin to tell you what this creature was, or how old, but it's in beautiful condition. And another, and another…this whole boulder is full of them!" He pulled a small hammer out of his backpack and began banging away at the rock, intending to remove the fossil. 

K'ndar was loading up his pockets with the stones, too. He noticed that, despite the winds, the gritty sand between boulders was loaded with the shells and molts of sea creatures, living insects and other beach creatures. Entwined between the boulders were sheets of algae and kelp, hosting a host of insects. Small birds, their cries lost on the wind, busily searched out and fed on the insects.

There were sea birds and wherries, too. They were diving and soaring over the surf, using the wind as gracefully as someone playing a musical instrument.

D'mitran called out, "Hey, everyone, come look at this!"

K'ndar turned and wove his way back to where D'mitran had wandered.

Scattered in and amongst the boulders was the disarticulated skeleton of a large creature. None of them could identify it. The skull, picked clean long ago and bleached by salt and sun, was a little over a meter long. And heavy.

"I need some help, I want to take this to Landing," he said. K'ndar helped him lug it back up to the grassy edge, almost to where D'nis had finished taking readings and was now taking pictures.  He took several of the skull. K'ndar fished out his notebook and sketched it, taking measurements with his fist. 

"What in the name of Pern is that?"

"I have no idea, sir, but….we'll see, won't we?"

"Let's take some readings, shall we?"

K'ndar decided to walk west, mostly because the sun was at his back that way. He was torn between taking notes and just looking at the amazing amount of life amidst the boulders. He realized he didn't want to leave, not just yet. This place had so much to see and do. He'd run out of collecting jars and would have to come back. He moved up to the greensward and built two cairns, side by side, so that he could come back. He sketched them, too, just to further plant them in his memory.

Returning to his feet, he looked out to sea, to watch the sea birds diving for fish. 

And saw…something. Something alive and moving purposefully.  

It wasn't a dolphin, it was far too large. There was one, two…several of the creatures. Their backs just barely broke the surface, looking more like a boulder than an animal, and then submerged again.

He clambered back up to the grassy edge.

Raventh…come pick me up. I see something in the water and want to fly over it.

On my way

His brown came gliding, landing on the grass, and K'ndar climbed aboard. Siskin was in his normal spot on the harness. 

Do you see those creatures?

No

Wait. They were swimming against the wind, heading east. Out beyond the surf. 

OH I see it. Them. What are they?

I don't know. That's why I called.

Raventh was just as curious as K'ndar was. The others noticed Raventh taking to the air.

We are going to see the creatures off shore

He was talking to the other dragons.

The wind is strong, but it's steady. 

He soared out over the rambunctious sea. K'ndar was very glad he had a good harness in his hands-the sea looked dangerous.  He had no desire to test his minimal swimming skills against such a sea, but he had to admit it was beautiful, especially in the bright sunshine. 

Once they'd cleared the surf, though, the sea evened out, and Raventh saw them.

Siskin perked up.

"Siskin, stay. You stay with us. Hear me?"

The blue's eyes whirled amber in disappointment, but he obeyed.

"Good lad." 

Rath says B'rost has found something. 

Raventh flew further out to sea.

I see them. They're big. Big as me, I think. But wider. They are not fish or dolphins. Swimming slowly.

It took all of Raventh's flying skills to match the slower speed of the creatures. It was taxing work.

He placed himself directly over the creatures. K'ndar had to lean over to get a better view of them.

There were at least six of the creatures, with one being a young one. They weren't mammals, having to reach the surface to breathe, like dolphins had to.

 They were of a uniformly gray green color.  Their heads were pointed, with large eyes on the sides of the head, but oriented so that they probably could see ahead of them. A dorsal ridge, pointed as any saw blade, ran along the back, where a spine would logically go. 

K'ndar thought he saw a tail, like a tall fin, as one surfaced, but he couldn't be sure. It had looked vertical rather than the flattened horizontal ones that dolphins had. 

Wanting to get a better look, Raventh dropped down, almost to the tops of the creatures. 

One rolled to its side and looked at Raventh. 

Careful, I don't want to go swimming K'ndar warned.

I don't either, but I want to see what these things...

One of the creatures just behind Raventh erupted from the sea, snapping at his tail.

Once again, K'ndar was grateful that he'd learned to ride out a horse's panicked bolt, because Raventh shrieked in terror and leaped, even on the wing, almost dislodging K'ndar…and then went between. 

They came out above the green where the other dragons were. Siskin chittered, upset that he'd been caught unawares.

Raventh landed with a thump, and K'ndar scrambled off.

"WHAT was that? What happened?" D'nis said.

B'rost turned and came hurrying back, Rath having told him that something had attacked Raventh.

K'ndar explained the basics in a rush, his heart still pounding.  

"I've got to see that," D'nis said. "I want pictures of those beasts."

"Don't get too close, they…they bite," K'ndar said.

They do. They got my tail.

WHAT?

K'ndar immediately checked his dragon's tail. A long gouge, left by what had obviously been a tooth, ran along the side of one of his two tail tips. It was beginning to drip ichor.

Does it hurt?

Not yet…but that was too close. I won't go near them again. 

"D'nis, don't get too close, one actually bit Raventh," he called to his leader.

"What! How low were you to them?"

"Too low, it seems. I just saw it out of the corner of my eye, but that thing came WAY up out of the water."

 Later on, he would remember that indeed, the creature had a flattened, vertical tail, looking like a scythe. 

D'mitran looked at Raventh's tail. He'd dug a jar of numbweed out of his backpack and began to slather it on the wound.

"I think this ends today's expedition, for you, at least," he said. "I want a healer to look at this right away, K'ndar," he said, in his wing leader's voice, one that K'ndar would never have dreamed arguing with.

"Careth and I will take this skull to Landing. You, I want you to head for home NOW. The sooner a healer looks at this, the less chance there is for some infection to set in. Pern knows what that thing was or what it's been eating, but a bite is never something to ignore."

"Yes, sir."

D'nis and Corvuth returned. "Got a couple good pictures of them," he called as Corvuth back winged to land. 

"I'm sending K'ndar home to have Raventh checked out."

"I think that's a good decision. K'ndar?"

"Aye, sir. Let me know if someone at Landing can ID them. And sir, would you please take some pictures of the skull, so that I can put a drawing of it in my notebook?"

"Certainly. We shouldn't be too far behind you."

B'rost came up. "Hey, what happened? And I found something."

"I'll see you all at the weyr," he said, too worried to ask B'rost what he'd found.

He boarded Raventh. Siskin, still upset, chittered, and took a tight hold of the harness.

"Let's go home," he said.