The Terror Hook[]
The surgeon suggested I write down my account and discard it; give my fears form and let them go. I’m willing to try anything, before madness takes me.
It was the end of a long voyage. We were a convoy of four ships, coming finally home to port in Bilgewater. At the last moment, a storm came upon us, and we battened hatches. The black swells were tall and icy, but a bolt of thunder illuminated a shadow beneath. A giant of the sea, clad in iron!
No one else saw it, but I did. That nightmare had eyes that burned like coal! Then the first ship splintered--a massive hook, an anchor, was embedded midship of the Galerunner! There was a sound like a cannonade as the hull cracked wide open...
Panic followed. We lost two more vessels. Those who could still clamber took to the longboats and abandoned our injured on deck. I heard them screaming as the waves closed over them...
I swear by my only son, I am now married to the land!
