In the 1800s, a merchant named Alonso crossed from mainland Chile to Chiloé, carrying barrels of salt to sell in the coastal villages. His ship, La Novia del Sur, vanished during a storm near the Los Lagos reefs.
A year later, Alonso returned.
He was thinner, older, and walked with a limp—but alive. His hair had turned white, and his right hand was missing.
He claimed he had been shipwrecked and washed ashore on an uncharted islet. He spoke of a creature—a beast with the face of a drowned horse and a horn carved like spiral bone—that came from the sea each night to speak to him in a voice like grinding stone.
“I made a deal,” he said.
He refused to say more.
His salt began to cure faster than any other. Fishermen who bought from him always returned with full nets. People whispered that Alonso had found the Camahueto and bartered something precious for its favor.
But then the storms came—stronger than ever before. The sea swallowed entire boats. And on one moonless night, Alonso was found dead on the shore, a second horn growing from the stump of his missing hand.
It was smooth and white, and still warm.
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