Poroughan leaned against the rail and drew in the salty sea air through his nostrils. All around him was sea, no land in sight. The furthest he had ever traveled. He trembled with excitement, and a little bit of fear. It was exhilarating.

Poroughan’s shift was over yet he was not down in his bunk taking a well-earned rest. He wanted to see the Flokyne, the giant sea serpents that emerged at night from their dark depths to breathe some air in the night’s black sky. Poroughan was enamored with these creatures, enormous and terrifying but peaceful and nonthreatening if left alone; they were more than beautiful, they were this ship’s guides.

Poroughan remembered that day when the captain came to his village. Captain was recruiting a band of able-bodied men that he would lead on an adventure no one had ever dreamed of — to sail around the world. It had only been ten years since the proof of a round world was discovered, and still some held to the belief it was flat. But not the captain; and his idea to circumnavigate had him laughed at at almost every port, not so much for the attempt itself, but because of the Flokyne. The captain had adopted one, he claimed, tagged one with a Qod’vor crystal that allowed its partner crystal to be used as a tracking instrument.

Yes, Captain was going to follow a Flokyne around the world.

It sounded preposterous to most, but to Poroughan and a dozen other men, it was genius. They were going to make history, and a Flokyne would lead them to it.

(The word prompt today was “Global.”)

[– 31 Fantasy Characters in 31 Days –]