The Siren's Call

Chapter 1-The Storm

The storm had struck violently, with no warning and no mercy. Dark clouds obscured the moon, and lightning flashed across the dark sky. Thunder roared like a lion, with a force strong enough to destroy a house. The raging waves splashed against the wooden side of the ship, nearly tipping it over as a powerful wave smacked against it. Jack Stormwatcher, the captain of the fine vessel known as 'The Rising Sun', looked over to the violent waters, the gale winds blowing through his midnight black hair. The island was so close, he imagined his wife, Sarah, sick with worry, he imagined his two children, with their smiling faces. Wondering when their father would come from his six-month voyage.

He had been sailing off the coast of Devani, a quiet little town in the mystical realm of Valeria to transport textiles to a far-away island called Moonfall Island, named because of the beautiful waterfall which always seemed to change speed with each phase of the moon. He had been hoping to get back to his home as soon as he could, for his wife had been bearing a child a short time before he left, and he had been hoping that he could be there with Sarah to witness their child's birth. But with this storm, he knew that he would not be able to get there until dawn, that is, if the storm let up. Just two more days and he would have been able to caress his newborn child in his arms, watching as Sarah, in her beautiful voice, would sing the baby to sleep. "We have to go Captain! Now!" said George, one of the members of Jack's small but trustworthy crew.

"Where to?" Jack answered over the thunder as he steered back and forth, searching for an island in sight. "Turn to starboard!". George replied as two men were thrown off of the ship by the raging water. "What about them?" Jack asked, gesturing to the men who had fallen into the water, "They belong to the sea now, there is nothing we can do for them" answered George sorrowfully, his black eyes refusing to meet Jack's. "Alright then, we have to go" said Jack as he steered right, noticing the island George had spoken of. Suddenly, a large wave, larger then the others, crashed onto the ship. Jack lost his footing and fell into the sea. He watched helplessly as his ship broke to splinters. Suddenly, a piece of wood came crashing down onto him from the impact. He slowly closed his eyes as his mind drifted into darkness.

Chapter 2-The Sirens

Jack woke up, exhausted, and was surprised to find himself on an island. Slowly but steadily, he got up, his hands blistered from the blazing sand, and looked around, golden sand covered the beach. In front of him lay a dense forest with tall trees and dozens of bushes. He looked around, Not a soul in sight he thought. His gaze then fell on a circle of white rocks, upon closer inspection, he was terrified to find that the white rocks were actually bones. That was when he first noticed the sudden movement between the trees.

The bushes rustled as his eyes moved rapidly. His eyes darted from place to place, attempting to find the source of the sound. Suddenly, he heard a voice, it was sweet and beautiful. Jack, enchanted by the majestic song, walked towards the forest. Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him. His hand instinctively fell onto the handle of his sword as he came face to face with a creature dressed in black robes. Its face was horrific, with crispy black skin and grey eyes. It opened its mouth, revealing rows of jagged teeth that could easily cut straight through a ship. Its long, black forked-tongue flickered out of its mouth. Its hair was midnight black in color, messy, and reached down to its knees. The only human feature was its normal-sized neck. Jack's eyes then gazed down to its body. Its hands were long and ended with razor-sharp claws. Its torso was twisted and contorted with many wounds. Its legs were twisted and bent. And it had wings the color of a crow. It walked towards him. Too horrified to react, he dropped his sword and the creature flew towards him and with one swift blow, it knocked him out.

Chapter 3-Selena Moonshadow

Jack looked around the cell, metal bars blocked the exit, a single bed with no pillow lay at the corner, and a stained white sheet at the other. The walls were stained with blood smears on the cobblestone. The floors were black, and there were cracks in the walls. Jack was also quite sure that he had heard a rat squeaking as it scampered to its hole. And at the end of the cell, was a girl, one or two years younger than him.

She was dressed in a mud-stained white dress reaching to her knees and was shackled to the wall. Straight, messy, black hair covered her face until she finally lifted her head up. Jack could easily make out the sorrow hidden behind those deep, blue eyes. "Who are you?" she asked, her eyes coldly staring straight into his. "Jack Stormwatcher" he replied."And you are?". "Selena Moonshadow" answered the girl. "Why are we here?" asked Jack, wanting to get some information out of her."These creatures" she said, gesturing to one of the monsters guarding their cell. "Are called sirens, they sing to lure their victims closer to them. And then, they bring them to their queen for harvesting". She said, Jack noticed every word she spoke seemed to be spoken with pain. The atmosphere seemed to change as well. A heavy silence flooded the air as Jack pondered about what they may be harvesting, however, part of him had no wish to find out. "How do we get out?" Jack asked her. "I do not know".

Chapter 4- Escape

For many days did Jack suffer at the hands of the evil sirens. They clearly wanted to keep him alive, but that was all that they wanted. Jack could not remember the last time he had eaten real food. The food the sirens served seemed to be little more than seagull droppings mixed with fish bones. The bed he laid on was hard, with no pillow for comfort. However, Jack was more cunning than the sirens thought. He had memorized the guards schedules and had worked out a plan to escape. "I have made a plan to escape, but I need your help" he said to Selena. "What do you need?" she asked. "The guard that brings us food everyday, does she have any weaknesses?". "I have noticed that she often limps on her left leg" she answered. "Alright then" he said.

A few hours later, the guard came to give them their food. The gate opened and Jack lay there, waiting for the right time to strike. The siren bent down to give the food when Jack, as quick as lightning, tackled her and struck her left leg. The siren winced in pain before she drew a gleaming sword from its sheath. The siren swung the sword onto Jack, who got out of the way just in time. Jack explored his options, he could make a run for it, or he could stay and fight with no weapons. His back pressed against the wall, Jack dodged once more, the siren's sword striking right where he had stood. Jack struggled to keep going, the siren kept on attacking and never seemed to get tired. The siren struck once more, too tired to dodge, Jack bore the pain as the sword swung into his knee. A narrow river of blood trickled down his knee as he staggered, attempting not to fall. "Listen to me, get her keys and unlock my shackles, now!" Selena ordered.

Not knowing what else to do, Jack barely dodged another strike before he made a desperate attempt to grab the keys. He snatched the keys from her belt before running to Selena. "Which key?" he asked frantically, his hands trembling nervously. The siren was quickly progressing towards them. "Iron, very large," she said. Jack desperately searched for the key, and upon finding it, he unlocked the shackles with trembling hands. The siren was almost about to reach them. Selena stood up and rubbed her wrists before putting her hand in front of the siren. "What are you doing? Are you mad?" he shouted at her. "Lux prohibere" she chanted as the siren nearly reached her, it stopped, first it's hand and then the rest of it's body. Jack watched, intrigued by how still and life-less the siren seemed, like a statue. "You're a sorceress?" he asked. "A light sorceress, I draw power from an order of deities called the light" she replied as she walked out of the gate, followed by Jack.

"Where did they keep my sword?" he asked. She gestured to a barrel next to the exit. Jack dug through the barrel, until he found something. It was a sword made of silver. Smirking, he took the sword and checked it's weight. "Is that your sword?" Selena asked. "It is now" Jack replied slyly. Selena dug through the barrel and pulled out a brown leather-bound diary. "What do you need that for?" he asked. "I write everything I know about magic in it, my mother gave it to me before she and my father died" Selena answered. "I am deeply sorry. Let's go" Jack said as he walked out of the cell. "Freedom awaits", he said before he felt the cold tip of a blade on his neck. "Oh, I know what awaits you, but it's not freedom, not even close".

Chapter 5-The Queen

Jack turned around to find a woman holding a silver knife to his throat. She was very beautiful, with straight midnight black hair reaching down to her shoulders. She had fair skin and deep-set ocean blue eyes. Her robes were a dark shade of deep blue, with hints of lighter shades at certain places. They were embroidered with gleaming silver thread and pearls. A beautiful pearl necklace with an orange glass pendant hanging around her neck. She wore no shoes and had a leather belt which housed all kinds of blades with different lengths, sizes and handles. "His gaze fell on Selena, who was being held by two other sirens. It seemed to him that the only beautiful siren was the one currently holding a knife to his throat.

"Who are you?" Selena asked, as politely as she could be. Smart girl he thought. Few people knew this, but he had learned that it pays to be courteous to those who are in control of whether you live or die. "Oh, my sincerest apologies, I am Mistral, the queen of the sirens". "And you are my prisoners" she said in her soft, whispery voice. "Come now, the Harvesting Ceremony will soon begin" she said. "What will you be harvesting?" Jack asked, his heart hammering in his chest. "Your soul".

Chapter 6-The Harvesting Ceremony

Jack's heart hammered in his chest as he heard those words. "Your soul". Surely Mistral could not be serious, their souls? Surely she could not harvest something she cannot even touch, let alone devour. But by the look of seriousness etched on her face, he could tell she was serious. "Why?" asked Jack. "To live, of course, I absorb souls and gain their life energy to live longer". "Than what is your true age?" Jack asked. "It's terribly impolite to ask a lady's age young man! And besides, it is so hard to keep track when you live for more than a thousand years." she said angrily. She then composed herself and walked towards what appeared to be the throne room, muttering something about the youth of today. The siren holding him quickly pushed him forward, gesturing for him to move. Jack, angry and frightened, moved towards the room. He stared in amazement, around half of the world's gold seemed to be embedded in the walls.

Twelve ugly sirens patrolled the room. Five stood on each side of the room, while two stood guard at the gate. His gaze then fell on the throne itself, it was studded with all kinds of gems, sapphires, rubies and others. Mistral, upon seeing Jack and Selena enter the room, stood up and said:

Welcome, children of the darkness, daughters of the sea. We gather here for the Harvesting Ceremony, where these two mortals will offer their souls to me so I may reign for another hundred years. Now that we have all assembled here. Let the harvesting begin.

Every siren in the room began to sing. The beautiful song once again enchanted Jack, who was struggling to keep his soul as Mistral chanted:

Mea est anima tua

Jack gasped, struggling as he felt his soul slip from beneath his grasp, he watched helplessly as a bright stream of light erupted from his body and into Mistral's. She smiled triumphantly as she walked closer to him. Taunting him. It was then that he realized that the light was going into Mistral's pendant instead of her body. An idea began to click into place in his mind as he reached for one of the daggers hanging on her belt, staring straight into her eyes, he smiled as he felt his fingers enclose around the handle of a dagger. The last of the light was leaving his body, and he, with all his remaining strength, delivered a final blow onto the pendant but was stopped by Mistral. Whose firm grip caused his weak hands to drop the blade. She smiled and said "You think you're the only one who came up with this plan? Many others have tried it and failed. And now you will join them". "No I will not!" he gasped as his hands tugged on the pearl necklace with a strong pull. Every pearl dropped to the floor as the glass pendant shattered into a million pieces.

"Nooo!" Mistral wheezed as she slowly turned to powder, and then dust. Time stopped for a moment. The sirens progressed forward, eyes burning with the flames of vengeance. "Let's go!" said Selena. "Agreed" replied Jack as he picked up the dagger from the floor. The feeling seemed to have returned to his body. "Oh no!" said Selena as she narrowly dodged a sword aimed at her head. They were surrounded. Jack sighed, images of his wife and children flooded his mind. He gave up. He could not defeat so many sirens. That's when he noticed a bright light, it was pale and glowed like the moon. Suddenly, dozens of other bright orbs of light poured out of the broken pendant. The spirits, every spirit that had suffered at the hands of the sirens, had come to their aid for their vengeance. "Let's go, now! Are there any ships we could take?". Selena nodded "We can take my ship". "Alright". They both weaved their way through the various orbs of light and the sirens. And made their way down to the ship. Jack ran to the wheel and steered as fast as he could once Selena got onboard.

Epilogue

It had been three days since the whole ordeal. Jack lived happily with his wife, his three children and Selena. Who he decided could stay with them for as long as she wished. Selena had immediately said yes to stay with him but still enjoyed writing letters to her mentor and sending them through messenger birds, informing him that she was happy and wished to stay. He had said yes, for Selena's happiness was his happiness and thus, both the Stormwatcher and Moonshadow families prospered.

The End