Year 18-2

It took longer than expected to find the Sous leather merchant in the marketplace. Several close calls nearly knocked me off the high risen platform, so I was happy to remain stationary during a slow conversation.

She was a mother, Grinnell, distraught over her son’s disappearance.

We spoke while she went about her daily business. Grinnell reminded me of Loreal; even with a world crushing her back, a woman like her never turned away from the day. I stood off to the side, watching her do business and holding back tears while she spoke with me.

“He went out one night, told me he left something in the shop, but never came home,” Grinnell explained.

“How long ago was this?” I asked.

“Three nights.”

“Why haven’t you spoken to a lord or the Knights?”

“I have. They think he’s been taken by the sea,” she said.

“Drowned?” I assumed aloud.

“We have a special kind of beast in our waters. They’ve been known to take a man who stands too close at night.”

“Special, how?”

“They look like us, as men and women, until you get up close. They need water. Breathe it like air, they do. We call them limniads,” she explained.

“Could one of these ‘limniads’ have taken your son?”

“It’s possible, but only hunters and knights are allowed where monsters are found,” she said.

“Wouldn’t his body be in the water if one of these creatures took him?”

“They never eat all of their prey. If a limniad is responsible, a corpse will always wash up,” Grinnell explained.

It was a more uncomplicated mission than most. Grinnell didn’t care if I killed the monsters; she only wanted her boy back.

As usual, I agreed to take the job for half my fee up front and half after completion. From there, I searched docks, beaches, and under many bridges. I had little expectation of finding the boy still alive, but I failed at retrieving his remains as well. The mother described her boy with short blond hair, blue eyes, and a birthmark above his left eye.

I found many dead things that day, but none were a match.

The unholy aftermath of limniads littered anywhere touched by tides. The waters were murky. Limbs and organs lay in the sand if not covered by it completely. And the stench of seawater tainted by blood held my nostrils. I’d seen firsthand the hell of beasts that flew and ran, but creatures of the sea were new.

After hours of turning over dead bodies, I readied myself for nightfall. Creatures always came out when the sun went away. I had hoped that regardless of whether I found the boy, if I captured a limniad, I could interrogate it. Of course, that was assuming the creatures were intelligent enough to speak or communicate at all.

I had with me my father’s sword and Michael’s bow. As a hunter, it was necessary to have skill at both long and close-range combat, and my abilities grew to be exceptionally good over the years. To catch a sea beast, I needn’t any bait. I was sure to be their fancy if rumors held truth. As long as I held a position close to the water, I would surely lure something out. I found a spot under Sous’ longest bridge. There was a stone walkway merchants at times used to leave excess cargo. I stacked several wooden crates and barrels and stood atop them with my bow drawn and pointed at the water.

It was going to be a long night.