Sea Wreck

Nel stood on a rock near the seashore, holding a fishing pole. The waves lapped at a cluster of mollusks near her feet. Her float bobbed on the crystalline waters. It twitched once, twice, then disappeared beneath the surface as the line grew taught and the rod bent sharply.

“Tomas, I've got a bite!” She gave her rod a quick tug.

Tomas scrambled across the rocks toward her, reeling in his own line and setting his rod aside. “I'll get the net,” he said, grinning.

Her spool spun, taking her line with it as whatever she'd hooked fought to get away. She let it play out for a bit before lifting the end of her rod in the air and reeling it back in.

“To and fro, just like Pa showed us.” Tomas put a hand on her shoulder as he leaned forward, trying to get a look at whatever was on the end of her line. “Let it tire itself out, then we can land it.”

“I know, I know.” Nel lifted the rod again, causing it to bend even more. “It's a big one, though.”

She wrestled with it, but try as she might, the line continued to reel out. She strained and grunted with the effort. Sweat beaded her brow. Whatever was at the end of the line wasn't tiring, but she sure was. Her feet slid on the rock as she was jerked toward the water's edge.

Tomas frowned. “I don't like this, Nel. I'm gonna cut the line.”

Nel grimaced. “I can handle it,” she said through clenched teeth. “Don't cut it.”

The line snapped and went slack. Nel staggered back and would have toppled off the rock if Tomas hadn't been there to catch her.

She gave a dejected sigh, and her shoulders slumped.

Tomas peered into the water. “Wish we could've at least seen what it was.”

The sea exploded in a burst of white froth, drenching them. A hulking monster rose from the waves. It was gargantuan, a mismatched formation of rock and seaweed adorned with an ugly assortment of shipwrecks and flotsam. Seawater cascaded down its jumbled frame, and an octopus crawled out of a splintered barrel at its shoulder, flopping back into the ocean.

Nel stared up at it and screamed. Born from the seabed and woven together with rocks and shells, sea wrecks are one of the most powerful golems found in the Splinterlands. They were first seen shortly after the Chaos Legion's invasion. However, they are extremely rare, as the skill and power required to summon them is great indeed.

Vast and often fused with flotsam and wreckage from the ocean floor, they earn their moniker from the ruined hulls of ships that frequently protrude from their bodies as they lumber onto the beaches. They can single-handedly wipe out a small coastal village, and without sufficient defensive fortifications, even larger towns are at risk.