Leviathan of legend

Content Note: This story contains elements of mythological violence, destruction, and themes of human ambition and greed. While these aspects are integral to the narrative, they are presented within the context of legend and fantasy.

Leviathan of Legend

This silence and darkness felt relaxing. No motion or chaos, just the bubbles of air coming from below bouncing off my skin was enough for me. 

It helped me to remember the first dawn of this place. When the dark clouds dispersed a few stars could be seen. That was when I opened my eyes for the first time, as I perceived something on the endless horizon. 

 It looked like golden water rising, then it continued growing, revealing an orb of light, large in size. 

 Its rays washed over my body, and I felt a sense of belonging, of being part of something good. 

 When the orb rose up into the sky and the dark clouds were no more—just red hues disappearing—I understood my purpose. But in the meantime, I had to wait until their arrival. 

 As time passed, I played, jumping out of the waters and feeding myself with other sea creatures. I followed currents and watched how the platforms of dirt moved around. 

 Massive earthquakes and magma were falling into the waters when this happened, but it kept me busy as I swam as fast as I could to avoid the hot rocks hitting me. 

 Now, I prefer to stay down here. Waiting. It’s what I do best. At least, the way I was instructed. 

When they arrived, exciting times started. 

These creatures arrived on dry land and roamed around, curious, exploring and questioning their existence. After some suns had passed, they called themselves humans. 

When they tried to taste the waters, an impulse to taste their flesh came over me, and that's when everything started to happen. 

 There was one of them, just looking at the waters, staring at the horizon on a cliff. I saw him from below and stared at him. 

 I think he saw me, as he tried to understand my form, but its smell and form drove me to taste it. I jumped from the water and engulfed the creature, which just couldn't react. 

 While falling back into the waters, I saw a group of them, surprised and scared, running towards the cliff. I preferred to submerge them instead of facing them off or eating them. These creatures were somehow tasty, but not as good as the other creatures I had tried before. 

After some suns had passed, I watched the cliff every once in a while. They didn't show up, and if they did, they would miss my sight but detect my movement. I believe they were scared. 

 One day, they came out to the cliff with a quadruped creature with horns. It was all adorned and disoriented. Besides it, a human with adornments, holding a sea shell, was waving his hands and saying something. 

 Behind him and the quadruped, there was a group of humans holding their hands and some baskets they used to grab small sea creatures. 

 The baskets were empty. I understood that my presence around this area had scared off the smaller creatures. Maybe they needed them. 

I had a plan. 

The human waving his hands sounded the sea shell. A nice, whale-like sound came out of the shell. 

 I started to move around in the water, and the human with the shell gasped. The group of humans did as well. The quadruped started to get nervous. I could feel it. 

 Then I jumped once from the water and back in, then started to go back and forth. The humans left the quadruped on the cliff. 

 I jumped again, taking the quadruped with me into the water by swallowing it. It tasted nice. While falling, I saw the humans kneeling, thanking the skies. 

So, I left the place. Instead, I came around each round of lunisolar cycles to receive my quadruped from them. 

 It turned out that I started visiting more coastlines to see how the humans reacted. And each time I came around, they had evolved more. 

One day, I arrived at a dirt platform I hadn't seen before. It was an impressive platform, and the humans inhabiting it worked non-stop, building these towers that gleamed in the sun. 

It was beaming with life and the thriving of the human species. It was glorious. 

 Gardens hanging from the towers, airborne boats humming in the air, colourful birds, and humans singing and dancing. I could watch from afar for hours and hours. 

 The fishermen passed over me once in a while, but I didn't intend to harm them, as they were cautious and friendly to the ocean creatures. They managed to respect the creatures' nature, which was something I could not find in humans anywhere. 

 It was a late evening when I was looking at the stars after the sunset, when I felt something tapping my head. I looked up and saw one of the airborne boats—only much smaller, like a tiny version of the ones I had seen before. 

I turned around very slowly and saw this human waving at me, standing on a pier. No fear, just smiling and looking at me. He moved one of his hands, indicating me to come closer. 

 I did. What would happen? I would have engulfed him if necessary. 

 The human looked wise and humble, wearing a drape and sandals, and he said to me in a soothing voice, “Hi there. You are the most wonderful creature I have seen in my life.” 

 I liked the way he spoke to me, so I just popped out a bit more from the waters. 

 The human from below looked at me even more awed. “You are nature's perfection! I wish you could help me out!” he said. 

 I lowered my head and looked straight at him, feeling he was good. 

 He shivered a bit and started to speak. “My people, they should be grateful for this ocean. And you can be the one who can show them that. Your might and beauty can help them be even more careful with these bodies of water.” 

I thought for a moment if he or his people were going to offer a quadruped in exchange for some tricks out of the water. 

 He smiled and said, “I will call you using a sea shell; it’s the most similar sound to the sounds you make.” 

 I acknowledged by moving my head, to which the human reacted with happiness. 

Suns passed by, and he called me now and then. Many humans watched me jumping out of the water, creating massive waves which they enjoyed. 

They awed, they had fun, they kneeled, and left gifts for me on the water: small objects, food, glittering things. 

 Those days, the sun was brighter, the skies filled with joy and music. They called me in many ways in many parts of this new world. 

 They feared me. They respected me. They thought I had created the oceans. They erected temples and statues about my presence. 

 Good things are tempted to go the wrong way. And if they fall into temptation and sin, the consequences are irreparable. 

Ambition and greed started to flow through human veins. They wanted more. And more. 

Darkness fell to the world, and I was a witness to it. 

During one full moon, I wandered to where the humans used to summon me. The place they called Atlantis. It had been almost two lunisolar cycles since he had called me. 

I arrived, and on the pier, I saw the human waving at me. He looked anguished. 

 "Sorry, marvellous creature," he said in sorrow. "There are some who are twisting their minds, looking for power. This place will disappear soon from this world, and I need you to protect its remnants and treasures." 

 He looked behind him and then looked at me and continued, "Many will come looking for this place, only for fortune and avarice of power. Stop them. Don’t let them. Even they will try to hunt you down if you let them! You have to wait here for them. And they will come, sooner or later." 

 He stopped and looked once more behind him. 

 A sudden explosion burst in the background. Fire was swirling, and suddenly, the skies filled up with rain clouds. I felt the ocean moving strangely, and the land was cracking. The human started to cry. 

"It’s over now," he said. 

 The explosions continued, and I watched six men coming with weapons towards the wise man. An arrow pierced his chest, and he fell into the waters to my surprise. 

 I reacted, jumping over the pier and devouring the six men in one bite, destroying the pier in pieces. That’s when I saw the towers collapsing inwards with noise and death. 

Screams filled the air, and flying rocks started to fall to the shores of the land. The gardens exploded in fire, and I felt heat I had never felt before. 

I jumped back into the water and swam away as fast as I could. Swirls of destruction came from many directions. Suddenly, silence for a moment. 

 I stopped. 

 Then a massive water explosion surrounded me, throwing me further away. I could see the form. It looked like a sphere made of water, cutting through the depths full of dirt and pieces of rock. 

 After it had passed through, I stood there for I don’t know how much time. I could only see pieces going down into the deep abyss of the ocean. Explosions could still be heard. 

 I took a look out of the water and watched a fleet of airborne boats disappearing on the horizon. These looked like they were flying lower than usual. Something may have affected them. 

I turned around, to my surprise, and saw that Atlantis, the beautiful city of humans, had vanished forever. 

Down to the deep I went and saw at the bottom of the ocean the remains of the city. The gold scattered everywhere. The towers were ruined, rendered out of their might. I didn't want to see it anymore. Too much pain. 

That night I felt lonely and angry. And understood my purpose finally. Protect and keep away those who wanted Atlantis for their own schemes. 

 Many lunisolar cycles passed, and the world stopped moving. I stayed in that place, curled, waiting. 

 It was then that the vessels with cloths moving with the wind started to cross over where I was. Filthy ambition and lust for gold travelled on those ships. 

 I became a legend after many of the ships fell to my might. They knew who I was. Many claimed that I was just a myth, that I was probably some creature who was extinct. 

 They came in better and more powerful vessels, but I was prepared. Always curled in my thoughts. Waiting. 

 They came once with firing weapons. I saw them from below. They wanted the treasures, and if I was in their way, they were prepared, ready with their pointed harpoons and fire rockets. 

 Also, I am prepared. Always. 

 I made circles, and they started to fire with all they had. I went for those who just came for the adventure or out of necessity. I took away their boats and threw them into the waters. They will survive. They will come for them. 

Then I surrounded the group of the last vessels from below. The vessels belonged to those who were acting for their avarice. They were acting with the ambition of having more. 

 With speed from the depths, I went up to the surface to end their madness. They started to scream desperately. 

 "Don’t worry... it will be over soon," I thought. 

I opened my mouth wide. Their leader roared in frustration, his voice shaking with fury: "Leviathan!" 

Yes. That is my name.