The Krakens Bride

On Land (Chapter 1):

The years had passed, and it was once again time to offer up a sacrificial bride to the Kraken; whose cave was just beyond the edge of the village nicknamed Suicide Cove. For whoever lived there would eventually be at risk of offering up one of their beautiful daughters or themselves to the beast.

For a usually uneventful village, it was suddenly fear crazed by the situation which was now presenting itself among the people.

Groups of people were lining up in the great meeting hall, which had been set up by the ancient elders when they made their first marital deal with the Kraken. That sacrifice was thoroughly written in the history books of the village, leading to the completion of this exchange throughout the centuries of the village's existence.

Lines of people and groups of children cluttered the space as they filled out their documents for the inspection to find the one who would be chosen.

As per the law of the village, everyone must give their honest and true home records. This included who had available daughters and what number of people lived in their homes. It also included pictures of the women of age inside the home, so the most beautiful of them all would be chosen as that year's bride.

The air reeked of fear, while the villagers lined up and waited as the elders went over the home records of each family. The people stiffened each time the oldest of the elder's beady eyes would sweep the crowd based on the papers in his hands.

It was a few minutes before one of them spoke into the frosty morning air.

"As you all know, in three days' time we must offer up the most beautiful of them all to the creature that resides by our lands. For centuries, this traditional deal has been upheld by our people and for centuries the beast has overlooked us in his fits of rage that he unleashes upon the rest of the world," one of the elders recanted as his eyes swept the crowd quickly with each word.

"However, this year there seems to be a miscount. Or perhaps some of us here have not been completely honest on our registries," the very oldest of the elders at the end of the table said with a raised gray brow.

The people were utterly silent and looking around in confusion because no matter how scary it was to be at risk of giving up a child, no one would be dumb enough to risk treason and exile if they were caught lying on the registry.

A person in the crowd raised their hand and the oldest elder pointed their way, allowing them to speak up.

"W-what did you mean by that Elder Reesha?" a man asked with his voice shaking at the implications of what the elder had mentioned.

"As the papers add up, it says here that there are zero daughters available because each and every one of them has been engaged to the finer young men of the village. Including, the ones from the neighboring villages," Elder Reesha said as he tossed the paper in his hand back onto the table.

The crowd was in silence as everyone thought this over. But in honesty, no one was surprised at this because they had been anxious to get their children engaged the moment they were of age, the families that the young women would be marrying into had known exactly why they would be getting engaged so fast. Neither of the young ones disagreed because neither of them wished to be handed over to the watery beast of the deep.

"So, has anyone been dishonest about their registry? I will give one chance to fix your mistake without being charged if you come forward right now," the elder said with a look at the crowd. Everyone was less afraid now, since it was known throughout the village that every single woman was engaged or married already, meaning no lies had been told.

The room was in silence as the elders eyed the people in the crowd and not a single soul moved an inch to come forward leaving the elders in disbelief at this event.

"No one? So, the liar wishes to have everyone's homes searched until we find an available woman, is what I am hearing," Elder Reesha said with malice in his voice.

Every villager was quiet and none of them raised a finger because even if they were to search, it was still not a lie that everyone had their children engaged to one another so that none of them would be taken from the families.

Though the fear of the Kraken was strong, it was the need to keep their children close that had led the villagers to do such a thing. It was very unlike the past gathering where the people of the village were too terrified to consider early marriage of their children, but this time it was a unanimous decision among the villagers.

"Alright fine, for the remainder of the day and into the night every house will be searched until we find someone suitable. You are dismissed," the youngest of the elders, Javo said with a soft grin that made the villagers' knees weak since it held only pure malice.

Though the villagers knew that by law none of their children could be taken away if it was documented that they were engaged or already married, the battle of this year's choosing did not feel won. Javo's menacing smile would flash across every person's mind as the people began to go back to their homes.

And so it began,

The hunt for the Kraken's bride. . .