Cabo de Tormentas

The Cabo de Tormentas has long lured Portuguese sailors. Many have tried to round the cape, but all have failed, for the Cabo de Tormentos is no ordinary cape. Legend says a stormy death awaits any foolish enough to challenge the Adamastor in its own home.

***

The mid-afternoon sun glimmered on the crystal blue waters, making the air around them appear to sparkle and shimmer. Cruz stretched his hand out and turned it this way, then that, marvelling at how his tanned skin glowed in the light, like amber in the sun.

A cool wind whispered across Cruz’s temples, ruffling his hair. Cruz let his eyes fall shut as his head tipped back, trading marvelling at the sunlight for enjoying the breeze. The sun was high and bright, sending a pleasant warmth through Cruz’s skin and down to his bones, and the kiss of the wind was more than welcome.

Cruz allowed him self to sway softly, letting the rhythm of the ship and the warmth on his skin and the breeze on his face to lull him into an easy peace, one he only ever felt in the middle of the sea. Here, surrounded by water and sunshine and sky, there was nothing to worry about. No bills to pay. No gossipy townspeople. No other sailors to interrupt Cruz’s peace. Just -

Wait. No other sailors? Where was everyone?

Cruz was briefly worried, but as quickly as the thought arrived, it was gone again, swept away like with the current.

A splashing sound drew Cruz’s attention back to the water. There, in the distance, just barely visible, was a streak of grey. Cruz squinted, trying to make out the shape. His subconscious figured it out before he did, a stone dropping down in his gut as Cruz realized what the shape was.

Sharks.

At least a dozen of them.

As soon as Cruz realized what they were, they were right in front of him. The sharks fanned out, surrounding the ship Cruz stood on, which changed. What used to be a full size sailing ship was now barely more than a dinghy.

As the sharks began to circle, the wind picked up, now bitterly cold. The wind lashed and the sharks circled and the sun darkened and Cruz watched, eyes wide and spine rigid as the peace he was in before turned to doom. The sky swirled with dark grey clouds as the water churned.

From the distance came a high pitched whistling noise, sharp and undeniable and Cruz knew then that this was it.

He was going to die.

***

Cruz woke with a start, his heart pounding against his ribs as if it was trying to break out. He raised a shaky hand to his temple and found it wet with sweat. He looked around the room, half expecting to see storms and waves, but instead seeing dark blue walls, shelves strewn with books and trinkets, and a pile of clothes on the floor.

It was a dream, he said, trying to convince himself, just a dream.

By the time Cruz showered and dressed, he had forgotten the taste of fear on his tongue.

By the time he finished checking his things were ready, he had forgotten the feel of dread wrapped around his bones.

By the time he stood in front of the gaudy hall mirror, putting the last touches on before leaving, he had forgotten to be worried at all, and instead let the bubbly feeling of excitement pop and fizzle in his lungs.

“Filhote, I beg of you, please, do not go.” Beatriz, Cruz’s mother, begged as she turned the corner into the hall, stopping at Cruz’s side to grip his arm tight in her weathered hands.

She kept her hold on his arm even as Cruz lifted his to slip a gold, dangling earring through the last hole in his ear. Cruz checked the backings of the four earrings one last time, making sure the hoops and chains were secure. As he did, he reassured his mother.

“Mama, we’ve been over this. I’m going. I’ll be home before you know it.”

“Please, Cruz, you can’t go. That place is evil, men who go there don’t come back.”

Cruz turned from his reflection to look his mother in the eye. She dropped her hands from his arm and handed him a hair tie, which Cruz slipped on his wrist. Beatriz tsked but didn’t push him to put his hair up or to brush it. A spike of worry ran through Cruz: his mother was nothing if not relentless in her pursuit to get Cruz to tame his hair; the fact that she wasn’t pushing the matter now was a sure sign she was worried, much more so than usual.

Cruz didn’t allow the worry to settle in his spine, though. This trip promised glory and riches beyond imagination. To go where none had gone before, to discover things none had discovered before, that was the promise Manuel had made to his crew. Cruz wanted, needed, to be a part of it.

“No one’s tried to go there in years, Mama.”

“Because they know better. They know to go is to walk straight into Death’s arms.”

“Mama, please, you sound like one of the old women down in the square.”

“Do not mock them, Cruz.” Beatriz said sternly. “They know more than you oculd ever imagine. They warned me not to let you go on this fool’s journey.”

“They’re superstitious old crones, Mama, they speak nothing but nonsense and they love to make people afraid.”

“I’ve had dreams, filhote. Bad ones. Dreams full of warnings. Long before the women warned me.”

A shiver ran down Cruz’s back, his mother’s words calling his dream to the forefront of his mind. Cruz banished it back to the recesses and rolled his spine, doing his best to pretend the shiver was due to the wind whispering through the window, rather than the sneseless fear he’d woken up ensnared by.

Cruz knew there was no arguing with his mother over the old women or about dreams, so he switched to a different tactic.

“The men are expecting me, I told them I would go. It’s important to keep your word, you taught me that, mama.” Beatriz tsked in disapproval of Cruz turning her lessons against her, but Cruz continued. “Besides,” he said, taking his mother’s hands in his, “we need the money.”

“Forget the money.” Beatriz said, shaking ehr hands slightly in Cruz’s hold. “Forget the men. Forget all of it, please, none of it matters more than your life, filhote.”

“Mama,” Cruz gently squeezed his mother’s hands and crouched so he could meet her eyes. “I will be fine. There’s nothing to worry about. I’ve been on dozens of voyages. I know the seas and the skies. There’s nothing to be afraid of if you’re prepared. And I am.”

Beatriz’s eyes started to water. Cruz dropped her hands and pulled her into a hug.

“Everything will be fine, Mama. I promise. I’ll come back.”

“You better, filhote. If not, I will haunt you.”

Cruz laughed.

“I don’t think that’s how it works, Mama.”

“I’ll find a way.”

“That I don’t doubt.”

Beatriz laughed, small and watery, but true.

“May God be with you, Cruz.”

***

Two months into their voyage and Cruz could confidently say his mother, and by extension, the superstitious old crones, were very wrong. The journey so far had been nothing but peaceful. They had encountered nothing but favorable conditions - strong winds and smooth waters. They were making good time too, set to arrive at their destination almost a week earlier than expected.

All was well.

In just a few hours, they would be there, would be the first to make it where none had gone before.

Cabo das Tormentas.

The cape came slowly into view and a round of cheers erupted among the sailors.

They had made it.

They did it.

They were going to be heroes.

All they had to do was document and sail back and everything was going to change for them, in ways unimaginable.

As they rounded the cape, a splashing sound drew Cruz’s attention back to the water. There, in the distance, just barely visible, was a streak of grey. Cruz squinted, trying to make out the shape.

For a moment, Cruz imagined sharp fins and sharper teeth, chewing on his leg and the boards of the ship.

But the streak of grey grew larger and Cruz realized, with a breath of relief, that it wasn’t sharks.

The shape got larger, quickly, and Cruz still couldn’t make it out. It drew up about a quarter of a knot away from the ship and stopped. Whispers floated about the ship, curious and apprehensive. Whatever this was, it seemed deliberate, conscious.

Just as the sailors convinced themselves nothing was going to happen, the sea burst open.

From the frothing turbulence rose a massive figure.

The sailors noticed it in a wave, cries and shouts flying as water smacked down on the ship.

The figure rose, higher and higher, towering over the water, above the ship, taller than anything Cruz had ever seen before. Finally, the figure stilled and the waters came to rest. Cruz gaped as he realized what it was.

It was a person. Kind of. It looked as if it had once been a person, but no more. Their skin was warped and wrinkled, pruned beyond repair after centuries under the sea. In some places, the skin looked shiny and almost scaly, as if the person was slowly turning into one of the fish they lived amongst. Thick, churning foam poured over its exposed skull and out its mouth, falling in fat clumps onto the sea below. The same froth swirled around them like a robe.

The figure looked at the sailors. It raised a hand and everything stilled. The sea was motionless as glass and the clouds stopped their lazy path across the sky. Even the sailors froze.

For a moment, everything was quiet.

The giant tilted its head and raised its massive hand high. With a thunderous clap, it brought its hand down. The resulting wave rose high and fast, smacking over the ship with enough force to force every sailor flat against the deck. Some of the sailors clasped their hands together and began to yell out prayers as the ship rocked to and fro, careening dangerously from side to side, threatening to pitch the sailors into the rippling seas around them.

When the ship righted and settled, the cheer of the sailors rang out loud and joyous. The euphoria was almost enough to make them forget about the giant waiting and watching. But Cruz did not forget. Could not forget. From the time the giant raised its hand and through all the rocking, Cruz kept his eyes trained on the figure.

The figure met Cruz’s eyes and in them, Cruz could see an eternity’s worth of storms.

Cruz watched as the giant raised its hand again. This time, the sailors were prepared. They held onto posts, to ropes, to each other. But the thunderous clap and riotous waves didn’t come.

Instead, Cruz watched as the giant raised its hand to the sky. As it did, the skies parted with a blinding light. Lightning streamed down from the sky like rain as the sky turned oil black. The clouds, previously puffy and white and playful, were now grey and swirling, an echo of the waters around them.

Cruz and the sailors were too busy watching the world around them end to notice the giant moving again. The sound of its hand connecting with the water was drowned by the clamor of the sky. Again, the sea rose in a wall and broke on the deck, pummelling the sailors. The churning waters and slamming waves caused some sailors to lose their balance. Cruz watched in horror as Manuel and Petro flew off the ship and into the vicious water around them.

Sailors screamed around him, but Cruz could do nothing but watch as the giant raised its hand brought it down again. This time, the ship lurched with the waves, pitching up into the sky and sending more sailors tumbling into the abyss below.

The giant clapped its hand again and lightning met the stern of the ship.

Again, and the ship slammed down, sending sailors flying.

Again, and again, and again the figure clapped its massive hand onto the riotous surface of the water and again, and again, and again sailors succumbed to a watery grave until only Cruz was left.

Cruz was laid out on the deck, clinging helplessly to the mast when all went still. The skies still raged and the water still churned, but no more claps came.

Cruz gathered all his strength and hurled himself to his feet.

He looked the figure in the eyes again. In the storms, he saw himself, saw his dream, and knew it wasn’t a dream, but a warning, a warning he had failed to heed in the pursuit of glory and greed.

Cruz straightened his spine, slipped the hair tie off his wrist and pulled his long, black hair back into a neat bun.

All the while, the figure watched, waiting.

Finally, Cruz nodded, and the figure brought down its giant hand one last time.