Kaelyn

The waves rolled beneath the boat, throwing up the smell of salt and brine in her face. After working on this whaling boat for nearly three years, she thought she would have been used to the smell. It still somehow made her nauseous. Perhaps it was knowing that some innocent creature would die today from the cruel hands of the men working beside her.

Kaelyn gripped the wooded oar tighter. This was the worst part of her day.

"Girl, keep rowing. We don't have all day." Her boss's right-hand man and mate growled at her.

She was lucky to have even gotten this job. Without it, she and her little brother would have died from starvation, illness, or cold a long time ago. It was because of her little brother that she kept working on this whaling ship. That she kept killing innocent creatures. It was all for him. The only person she had left after their mother died. The only person in all of Erdas that she cared about and loved with all of her heart.

Her oar dipped in and out of the murky, foggy water in sync with the other rowers. Their boat continued in silence, the only sound that could be heard was the rowing from their boat and the other four out; slowly disappearing in both sight and sound.

Her boss was the only whaler in all of Frost's Cape and controlled all whaling in the village and in his section of the ocean. There were multiple whaling operations along the northern coast of Eura; each had its own section of the ocean to whale in. Those who enter another whaling operation's territory either had to pay in coin or give up anything they caught. The rules between each whaling operation were complicated and often times the leaders of the whaling operations got into it, usually over absurd things.

The boat shifted underneath her, and she immediately grasped the side of the boat to steady herself. She would never be able to adjust to a boat even after almost three years of whaling.

"Closer, men. We've found us one." Her boss's right-hand man and mate in charge of their boat said.

Kaelyn continued rowing with the rest of the rowers as her boss's right-hand man steered after the whale. She could see the whale ahead of them. It bobbed up and down in the air, a spray of air and water billowing up into the sky.

As they drew nearer, Kaelyn felt the sorrow building up inside of her. Every time she had to watch a whale be killed and help skin it, she went home and cried for hours. She hated killing these majestic beasts. It wasn't fair to them to be mercilessly hunted by humans. She understood animals hunting each other. But humans could choose to be better. It was part of the reason why she stopped eating meat. Why kill innocent animals when they are various other options to eat, such as fruits and vegetables. They were just as sustaining as long as you knew which ones to eat.

This caused many people to believe she was a witch or there was something wrong with her. She ignored them. Let people think what they want. Even if she were to conform to the norm like everyone else, she knew it would never be enough. Everything she did was never enough. Whether it was working her hands raw every day whaling or making sure there was always enough for her little brother to eat. Life was hard and she accepted that dark truth. But she didn't care. As long as she could provide for her little brother, that was all that mattered. Nothing else did. Not those who call her a witch or the growing thinness in her own body. Her brother was all that mattered and nothing else.

She took a deep breath and shoved the sorrow down, steeling herself for what was to come next. It was the only way she knew how to get through the sorrow and misery arising inside of her.

Her hands ached from the rough wood and the cold. She ignored it like everything else. She needed money for her brother. She needed this. She would pray to Tellum tonight and ask for his forgiveness. She didn't know why but she had always felt the urge to beg for Tellum's forgiveness every time she helped kill a whale. She wasn't sure if it made her feel less guilty or what. It just felt right.

As they grew closer to the whale, the harpooner stood up in the boat; the harpoon poised to strike the whale's soft flesh. His arm drew back and she closed her eyes, hoping to block out the whale's cry of pain. The sound always broke her heart. She hated death. Why couldn't death be peaceful and quick? The way whalers practiced killing these beautiful beasts made their suffering long and excruciating. The poor things practically bled to death before finally being killed once they were no longer able to fight back.

The boat jerked forward sharply as the whale continued its cries of pain and tried to escape.

"More harpoons, men! Don't let her escape or I'll have all of yer heads!" The mate shouted.

They were only a crew of six, with four rowers, a steerer, and a harpooner. There was much they all had to do. Each of them had to pull the weight of several men on a normal whaling ship, including her. Although, the most she ever did was row and manage the sails.

Two of the rowers left their position to help the harpooner. It would be soon that they didn't need to row and the whale would be pulling them along.

The whale cried out once again as two more harpoons pierced its skin.

The harpooners had the whale tied off to the boat but that didn't stop the jerking of the ropes. The ropes had to be watched carefully for signs of fraying else the whale would escape, leaving them empty-handed and without a day of pay again. Kaelyn knew none of them could afford to go without pay again. Desperation made people do drastic things such as right now.

The mate left the rudder with the other rower to help the harpooners.

"Watch the rudder and close the sail, girl." He ordered her.

She did as told. Standing up, she carefully crossed to the back of the boat. The rudder was still locked in position. That was a good sign. It meant that the whale's attempts at escape were weakening. Death would come to claim the whale soon.

Turning to the sail, she withdrew it, allowing the whale to keep them next to it without interference from the wind.

Sitting, Kaelyn watched as the men held onto the ropes, pulling the boat closer to the stilling whale. The mate picked up a lance to deliver the final blow to the whale.

She had to closer her eyes again. The memory of the first whale she had helped kill played through her mind again. It was antagonizing to see and hear it all over again. It made her feel like a murderer. Her hands felt covered in blood. It took all of her will to not open her eyes to check and see if her hands were indeed covered in the blood of the whales she had helped slaughter.

Instead, she clenched her eyes and hands tightened, waiting to hear the dull thud of the lance piercing through flesh to bone and the final lament of the whale as it died. But it never came. She kept her eyes closed and wondered if they had missed the whale or if it broke loose. She hoped it got freed. But it wouldn't last long. However, they needed this whale to get paid. She hated that she needed this whale. It was the source of her ability to provide for her little brother. Without these whales, she had nothing to enable her brother to survive.

A moment passed and still, nothing happened. No one was shouting in anger. The mate wasn't coming to threaten to throw her overboard and leave her for the sharks.

Risking it, she opened her eyes and saw it.

Like her, the rest of the crew was staring in awe and fear at the massive Sea Dragon that had the whale in its jaws. The harpoons were still embedded in the whale's flesh but cut from the boat. She never underestimated the intelligence of dragons and how they were just as smart as humans if not smarter.

The dragon stayed staring at them for a moment longer, its depthless blue eyes locking onto hers for a second before diving down into murky waves, disappearing into the deep.

Kaelyn had to take several deep breaths to calm herself back down. Those eyes sent shivers down her spine. She could see the intelligence in them. How the dragon was assessing whether they were worth killing or not. She still felt them staring at her, haunting her forever.

A solid five minutes passed before life returned to the crew. The mate was cursing up a storm and the crew was trying to stay away from the mate and his ferocious temper.

Kaelyn quickly moved away from the sail and rudder, letting the mate return to his post. The rest of the crew did likewise.

With his orders, they returned back to the shore. There was no point in chasing after the whale. It would only lead to more trouble. And after the experience with the dragon, she knew no one, not even the mate, wanted to be on the water any longer.

***

Back on shore, the mate reported the dragon to their boss, who would have to report the sighting to the other whaling operations. It was part of the whaling operations rules and pact to report any dragon sightings in their sections. Usually, the only dragon sighting were Ice Dragons, some Mud Dragons, but rarely Sea Dragons. Sea Dragons preferred the warmer waters of Oceanus over the freezing water of Northern Eura and Arctica.

Their boss sent them home with a few coins. A near capture and dragon sighting earned them little coin for their trouble. It was uncharacteristically kind of them. But if she had to guess, whaling was growing unpopular due to the hazardous work and her boss had to keep the workers somewhat happy and make them come back.

Kaelyn stared at the three measly copper coins in her hand. This wouldn't buy anything at the market. Prices had been going up lately from the thirty-year war still raging on. The rebels must have blocked a supply line to the north. It was the only explanation.

She sighed. It looked like tonight's dinner was going to consist of stale bread and what was left of the tubers and roots she had found yesterday.

She and her brother couldn't keep going on like this. They needed more money and supplies soon or else they would be six feet under along with their mother.

P.S. The SeaWing, the mate/Kaelyn's boss's right-hand man, and Kaelyn's boss can all be claimed. Post them here in the comments. All of them will be minor characters with one or a few more appearances.