#11 Allen Rakers

A millennium ago, in the land of …ire, there was a shaman named Fintan Mac BÛchra. On a cool and gray early spring morning, the fog hung in the sunken valley of Fintan Mac BÛchra’s hut like a large and lazy peaceful white stream. Fintan Mac BÛchra moved up the hill towards the docks like a salmon through that stream. He would accompany a group of merchants for commission on a voyage across the angry North Sea.

The crew was a surly group of men, as sailors of the era were wont to be. All were weather-beaten, battle-tested, and life-scarred. All, but the young deckhand AllËn RÂkers. He was a boy, having lived no further than past his twelfth year, yet already he had a full-grown beard and could lift over 400 pounds. On the voyage’s second night the mizzenmast snapped and pinned the captain to the deck. AllËn RÂkers lifted and held the splintered mast long enough for Fintan Mac BÛchra to pull the captain to safety and treat him with medical elixirs. Weak with age, the ship was taking on water and clearly on its last journey. The crew all took to the life raft and fled the ship while the captain still lay injured. AllËn RÂkers and Fintan Mac BÛchra stayed to heal the captain as best they could while the ship sank lower into the watery abyssal beyond. Like his ship, the captain was weak with age and it became undeniable that he would perish with his ship. Fintan Mac BÛchra took the form of a salmon and for the sacrifice of the noble AllËn RÂkers, he too was transformed into a salmon. Fintan Mac BÛchra swam to the shores of home.