Salt

THERE’S A LEGEND IN OUR VILLAGE. One that tells the tale of our founder, our beginnings, and what she left behind to protect us. Αλας, the woman made of salt. I sit next to Alexandros as the young children begin to gather around the bonfire. They sit on their parents’ laps as their sea-soaked clothes fill my nose. This story is one the children are hearing for the first time, but it won’t be their last. Alexandros begins telling and weaving the story in the air. His deep voice is the only thing heard except for the light brushing of the waves.

“On the eve of the summer’s moon, a young couple walked on this very shore. That night they heard a soft giggle. They followed it, not knowing if it was their imagination or a young girl playing with her parents. They found a baby where the water laps at the sand. The baby was unafraid, her face smiling as the sea left tracks of salt upon her skin. As the moon shined down on them, the young woman took the baby into her arms and cradled her. The baby screamed at her separation from the waves and would be given the name Αλας. She grew up loved within her parents’ seaside home but isolated from those who didn’t live their lives by the tide.”

Alexandros pauses before his whole portion is told. He stares at me, his bright green eyes visible from across the bonfire. The parents turn to him in anger, frustrated that he’s not overly concerned or serious about teaching the children the ways of the village, the ways in which our society was founded and remains protected. I glare at him, and he responds by rolling his eyes and begins speaking again.

“Αλας’s parents wanted more for her, so they sent her to a school, one who would accept fish as payment and teach her the truths of land. During those years Αλας spent time learning how to preserve meat, weave textiles, and grow food in dry soil. Two weeks before her education was final, a flurry of unmarried men came to court the girls who would soon become women. Αλας met the widowed merchant, Sēth, who would become her husband.” Alexandros stops. He looks at me intensely and I start speaking the next half of the tale.

“Their relationship goes as many before them have. Αλας fell in love with a man she didn’t know. They got married quickly and said their vows while on the boat to another small island in Greece. Then, things started happening. Their soil was too dry to yield any crops even though their neighbors’ soil could, and freshly caught fish rotted within a day. The other villagers never spoke to or went near Αλας and always avoided her touch. Eventually, she found out that Sēth was known for carrying a certain death within him. Every time he would touch her, he would leave black stains upon her skin. The marks never stayed though as Αλας would wash them away with the sea. That made him enraged, and his true self was revealed the night of autumn’s moon. Αλας fled that night, scared and determined, escaping with a stolen boat. She returned to her original homeland, a place Sēth knew nothing about. She met her second husband, Adrian, who was a fisherman and a childhood friend, and they built this village up through trade and children to what it is now.” My shoulders shake as I take a calming breath before I tell the end. The next portion always makes my mind fill with fear. As I glance up at the parents holding their children, some of them twiddle nervously with their hands while others take deep breaths.

“A couple decades had passed, and the village was thriving, but what Αλας didn’t know was that Sēth had been hunting her. He came in broad daylight and began to mark unknowing villagers’ skin black as he searched. The villagers who were touched collapsed immediately, unable to walk again, paralyzed. They would later try to wash the stain away with the sea but would die a slow death within nine months. Sēth eventually found Αλας and stabbed her near the docks, her blood permanently burning him. His screams echoed across the seaside breeze as he promised he would return to kill all her descendants and the village. The moment Αλας died, her body turned to salt, and Sēth disappeared. Αλας’s large statue of salt left in death protects our village from Sēth’s return. I’m sure you’ve all seen it by the docks.”

“Who was he?” One of the children asks with wide eyes, fear filling her expression.

“We don’t know,” I reply. A few of the children suck their thumbs, others babble about the story to their parents as they walk off the beach. Alexandros and I sit in silence until everyone else has left.

“Sophie,” Alexandros says slowly. “Why are we perpetuating this?”

“Perpetuating what?”

“This story. The children have nothing to fear. Sēth, if he ever was real wouldn’t be alive. It’s been five hundred years.”

“Alex, we don’t know what he was or even if he could be alive. You can’t just say the story isn’t real. I’m her direct descendant and the salt of her body is on the docks for everyone to see.”

“Sophie, I don’t want our village, or you to live in fear anymore. It’s about time someone stifles this legend.”

“No, and even if it was, that person wouldn’t be you. Don’t do anything crazy, please.” Alexandros smirks in response in that stupid way that makes me think he’s a cocky idiot and saunters over to me. I question why he would question the myth. We’ve been told it ever since we were children. He comes closer to me and douses the bonfire with water.

“Ready?” He asks me, his dark figure only able to be seen slightly now. I nod and he puts his larger hand over mine. We begin the hike up to our village, the houses set up on a cliff. Our bare feet walk slowly in the sand, careful to avoid rocks, as our eyes look towards the hanging lights of the village shops. By now the butcher, bakery, tavern, and market is closed. As we reach the wooden village gates, the sky starts crying. The droplets grow thicker by the minute. Alexandros turns to look at me, his longer brown hair causing water to drip into his eyes. His head tilts towards the path to our home. “Do you think you can beat me?”

“Yes.” I reply with a smile, my competitive nature causing me to immediately start running towards our house.

“Sophie!” He screams, attempting to catch up with me. I laugh in reply and end up beating him to our home easily. The rainwater dripping from my hair and clothes. Thunder cracks against the sky, as Alexandros finally reaches me at the blue-painted door. He huffs in defeat, pulls out his key, and we go inside. I go to the kitchen and grab a piece of steel and flint from the dining table. I grab the steel and strike it against the flint near the fireplace. The small spark flickers brightly before finding its home. One little flame begins the burning of new wood placed there earlier today and heat begins to fill the small space. The storm continues violently, the sound of rain growing louder through dinner.

“Do you think everything will be okay?” I ask him, feeling concerned our house will be massively damaged by morning. As it is, a leak already started in the kitchen. Alexandros’s attempt at patching it up, a piece of nailed wood that will be soaked through by morning.

“We’ll see” he responds honestly. “If the house is ruined, I’ll build you another.” I laugh at his response, feeling a little better about the storm. We end up going to bed as the thunder flashes frequently against the windows. The storm causes me to take longer to fall asleep. We don’t leave the house for two days.

“Sophie,” someone shakes my shoulder as I rise out of consciousness. “Sophie,” I open my eyes to see Alexandros looking at me with concern. “There was a tidal wave last night after the storm. The rain just stopped and it’s almost dawn. Nobody’s gone down to see the damage.”

“We should go,” I tell him. I dress quickly and we walk towards the docks. The other houses in the village look damaged but not unfixable. As we arrive closer to the docks, the sky a deep cobalt, the hair rises on my arms in warning. “Alex, you don’t think……?” I run towards the docks where the statue used to stand tall, proud, and impenetrable. All that’s left is a batch of paste, looking slimly against the wood. Tears fill my eyes, and my body begins to shake. We both stand still in shock for a few minutes. A bad feeling begins to curl inside of me.

“Alex, we need to go back right now.” My voice comes out shaky instead of firm. Just as I speak my thought, a figure appears at the far end of the dock. A man walks towards us, the rising dawn only letting me see a glimpse of him. The figure is slim and is wearing dark-colored clothes. My heart races as I see him holding a dagger, its curved blade creating sharp reflections in the partial darkness. Alexandros moves me behind him as the man nears us.

“Hello,” the man says without a hint of friendliness. He reaches for Alexandros’s hand, gripping it harshly. Alexandros’s hand turns black on contact and his body crumples to the floor. Alexandros quickly gathers the statue’s remaining paste to wash the black off his skin. “I’m sure you know who I am.” The man, Sēth, looks right at me. Sēth’s cerulean eyes turn all black, a direct contrast to his white-blonde hair. I look to the left towards the village. A small town made up of wooden buildings where most are sleeping unaware. I then look to the docks where Αλας died, where the wood is soaked, about ready to rot. The small supply building that was once stood there is crushed. Smashed food, glass, and wood is all that’s left. I decide the shore is my best option.

I run, my bare feet slowing me down as they drip with salt paste. The wet sand begins to cake on my feet causing my body to begin to slide and slow. Stopping, I hope my idea is right and my death will not be tonight. Sēth appears right next to me and attempts to strike his dagger into my shoulder. I twist out of the way, my long hair barely missing his grasp. I continue running across the beach to get as far away from the village as possible. My heart pounds against my breast, and my breathing turns ragged. I run, pushing my body to its limits, moving more towards the left. I stop where the water laps at the sand. The rising sun is directly above us as he reappears next to me.

The dagger looks molten in his hands as he thrusts it towards my heart. I duck and push, his dagger slicing into my back as his body thumps into the sea. My back stings and tears pour down my face from pain. Sēth screams as the sea laps over his skin, burning it, almost as if he’s melting. I put all my weight into keeping his body in place, my body directly over his, preventing him from getting up. His body rapidly shakes underneath me. Grabbing my hands, I smear them with the blood on my back, and press them into his skin. His screams grow even louder, his voice becoming hoarse. I hold him down, the safety of my people, Alexandros, and myself my only goal. After a few minutes, his melting body turns to ash.

“It’s just salt,” I tell him, my breathing beginning to smooth out. My eyes look towards the distance to see Alexandros running towards me. “It’s just salt.”