KRAKENS!

What do krakens look like? I had this discussion with my sister, who is very literal minded as well as a friend of mine…both felt my kraken seemed more like a giant octopus. I snorted. I mean, we don’t know what a kraken looks like. We’ve all seen what the movies show us, but come on! Since when has the movies ever really got it right?

Legend shows them as giant squid. Greek mythology (and the movies) show them standing on two feet, with horns… pshaw!

The real clues about kraken lie in real world cephalopods. Which are fascinating!

Cephalopods are known for the flexibility of their behavior. They exist in every ocean of earth. And are very social creatures, will shoal with fish if isolated from their own kind. They are true masters of disguise.
For example, cuttlefish are sneaky. Males protect their females from other males so some males have learned to camouflage themselves as females in order to sneak past the guardians. And the females don’t object to mating with these clever guys…because they are so smart? I think so!
Octopus are brainy, they figure out how to unscrew jars, use tools, and are masters at survival.
Squid are predatory and quite ferocious!
Well, if you put all of this together, you may have the real character and building blocks of the kraken. The Great Albino Kraken is a character in my book…a sort of guardian to the pirate world, the center of which is Tortuga.
It is the great Albino Kraken that brings Emily to this place, by using a portal through time and space. When Emily finds this portal she doesn’t realize what it is…but it still intrigues her!

She turned the frame over to examine the intricate pattern she’d felt there. It was fascinating, a bright white, like bleached bone. Carved or molded, she wasn’t sure which, into a nest of tentacles. After a moment, she figured it out. A great ocean monster wrapped about the frame. On the front, suckers lined the circlet. The backside was bumpy, yet it seemed like a real sea creature, slick and smooth. Touching it reminded her of stroking a starfish at the aquarium.
Long tentacles wound down the handle, ending in a loop where a leather strip would easily attach. She turned the dainty once more to notice that at the top were two shiny, black eyes, with a knob between them she assumed was a forehead of sorts.
With a grin, she stroked the head. “You’re a Kraken, aren’t you? Caught a pirate in your maw, you clever thing!”
She dug into her leather sack for a slender strap. Usually, she carried a few—never knew when she might find something to use one on. She secured the frame to her belt, quite pleased at her little five-dollar trinket.
excerpt from The Kraken's Mirror

That is my sort of kraken!

Maureen O. Betita
The Kraken's Mirror, available now from Decadent Publishing