Yessira

Serena loved the river. Serena was raised on the river. During the day, the Yessira river was a symbol of vitality in the Yushul valley. At night, however, it became much more menacing. Serena set down the oars to her rowboat and laid down, staring up into the purple sky of Yaboo. The three suns of Yaboo shone down through the vaporous atmosphere and gently touched the rippling river. The Yessira river was massive, almost half a mile wide in some spots and a quarter of a mile wide in the skinniest part. It stretched across almost half of Yaboo. When Serena rowed into the middle of the river it seemed as if she was in the giant Ocean of Yazkul and not in a river. 

Serena was a fisher. She went out at the break of dawn with homemade fishing rods and came back in the afternoon usually with a few fish, and if she was lucky, some Serifide (a tasty crab-like creature). 

Serena made sure to never stay on the Yessira after dark. Nocturnal beasts ruled Yessira after dark. Serena relaxed and closed her eyes. She was tired. She hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep last night because she had been reading to her younger brother who was sick and couldn’t go to sleep. The buzzing of insects in the air, the gentle heat from the suns,  and the lapping water hitting the rowboat filled her senses. Serena could feel herself relaxing, getting closer and closer to sleep. 

She drifted into a peaceful slumber. 

Serena had caught a lot of big fish in her life, but the one she had on her rod was gargantuan. It was a twenty-foot-long eelskry. Eelskrys were a delicacy in Yaboo and notoriously hard to catch. Serena reeled in the line with all her might tugging and bracing herself against the immense force of the eelskry. She leaned back, placing her feet on the edge of the boat, and braced herself, giving one last epic heave. 

SPLASH!

Serena jerked awake. She had been dreaming about an eelskry. She blearily rubbed her eyes and then sat bolt upright. The suns were gone in the sky, replaced by the red, menacing light of the moon Soylo.

Yessira was a gentle, peaceful river in the daytime with a plentiful supply of fish.

At night, Yessira, under the maroon light of Soylo, became a hellish landscape full of nocturnal river monsters. Serena had always been warned by her elders that she should never be on the Yessira after dusk. And she never had been, but she had slept in. Her boat must have drifted past her usual fishing grounds and she was in an unrecognizable, hostile area. A howling noise pierced the air and Serena shivered. Tales of Serlaks, Tralo, and other horrors of the night flashed through Serena’s mind. A glowing yellow light appeared under the water about fifteen feet away from her boat. A lot of the night monsters of the Yessira were bioluminescent, which was a handy indicator for prey. Serena almost screamed but didn’t let the sound escape her mouth. She knew a lot of these creatures had very sensitive ears and could see almost any subtle motions. Serena slowly reached down by her knee and frantically searched around for the flare gun that she always kept on the boat. She had two flares for the flare gun and that was it. She frantically stuffed the flare into the gun and shot it into the air with a soft thump and hiss. Once in the air, the flare deafeningly exploded into bright light illuminating the sky in all directions. The luminous yellow light started to move towards the boat growing brighter as it drew near. Serena gripped tightly onto her oar and slowly leaned over the edge of the boat to get a closer look at the light. Serena gasped and almost fell backward in the boat. It was a Kleel. Kleel were not especially large, the biggest growing to only five feet long, but they had enough venom to kill a full-grown Tralo. Kleel’s emitted clouds of poison from every pore of their slimy skin and the yellow glow that she saw was poison leaking out of the Kleel’s body. Serena grasped the oar and crouched in a ready-to-strike-stance. She could clearly see the dark, winding outline of the Kleel surrounded by the vaporous cloud of yellow in the water almost directly underneath her boat. 

Oh no! It’s coming right for me, Serena thought. Suddenly a giant form, oozing red light, rocketed out of the unknown depths of the river and devoured the Kleel. It was a Serlak. An average Serlak was twenty feet long, with a serpentine form and a characteristic redness oozing out of every pore on their slimy skin. 

Don’t make any sudden movements. Stay calm. Serena focused on slow deep breaths and slow movements. I don’t think it saw me. I just need to get to the bank of the river. If Serena could get to the bank of the river, she could find safety on land. The monolithic red form of the Serlak disappeared into the depths. Serena took a deep breath and slowly placed her oars into the water. She gently pulled the oars and oriented her boat to face the bank. The current on this stretch of the Yessira was almost nonexistent which allowed for an easy voyage to the bank, barring any attacks. Serena began to desperately row towards the bank. The bank was a quarter of a mile away and not visible in the deep darkness. As she neared the bank, she spotted some villagers standing at the bank with torches. They had heard and seen the flare go off and knew that meant someone was in deep trouble. Serena breathed a sigh of relief and rowed even more furiously towards the awaiting villagers. 

The boat rocked with a sudden impact. The Serlak was back.

Serena gasped and watched the giant luminous red form begin to circle her boat. The motion was causing her boat to rock, and it was close to capsizing.

She was so close to the bank. Fifty feet. If she got close enough the villagers could help fight off the Serlak. Desperate, Serena grabbed the last flare for the flare gun and stuffed it into the gun. She waited until she saw the characteristic circle shape of the creature’s head before firing the flare directly into the creature. Deafening sound and blinding light exploded all around her. The Serlak violently thrashed around and a shrieking noise erupted from its maw. Serena gripped an oar from her boat but the thrashing body slammed into the bottom of the boat launching Serena into the air and capsizing the boat. Serena screamed wildly and thrust the oar at the Serlak. She started to swim madly towards the shore. Razor-sharp teeth slashed into the calf muscle of her leg. Serena screamed in agony as she felt skin and muscle being ripped off the bone. Adrenaline kicked in and she flailed violently with her other leg, feeling her foot connect into the soft tissue of the Serlak’s head. It bellowed in anger and she swam furiously, blood pouring out of her mutilated calf. She was twenty feet away from the bank. Fifteen. The Serlak caught up and headbutted her in the stomach. This is it, Serena thought. Suddenly, something splashed into the water. Many more splashes followed. The villagers were distracting the Serlak. Serena frantically thrashed her way to the bank with tears pouring down her face from the intense pain of the mangled calf. Strong hands grabbed onto her arms and yanked her onto the shore. She had survived.