The Tale of a Hybrid and a Siren (old version)

Chapter 2: A Siren in a Swamp

It was in the dead of night when Marina walked underneath a moonlit night. Many stars sparkle like gemstones in a diamond cave. Three full moons of violet and hazel. Two smaller moons aligned perpendicular with a bigger moon in the middle.

The night sky filled with much needed starlight, and the moonlight lit the ground with bare minimum light for Marina to see. Little ground was shown under the starry night sky, and Marina didn't need light to see under the night sky. A siren's eyes were also night vision and were three times more sensitive than human eyes.

Marina's night vision saw the tracks of land she stepped on were muddy and murky. Her feet sank inches deep into wet dirt. Within a mile northwest of Siren's Cove was a large, wide variety of dark trees with mushy, green leaves long ago began to wilt.

Rivers of black water swarmed with a land of muddy, green grass lying at the roots of the dark trees. The air felt so dank and tense it felt like the seasons of summer and fall were mashed into one form of land. The air felt cold and hot at the same time, and Marina strolled through a forest covered in dark trees that covered the night sky and land of mucky, muddy grass with large streams like rivers flowing through the forest floor.

This is no forest, this is a swamp, Marina thought.

The siren crept through the essence of the mysterious swamp. She felt her feet sinking deep enough into the large streams of water to cover her feet, but the streams remained shallow enough for the siren not to sink like quicksand.

She looked around her and as far as her night vision siren eyes could see were the trees, streams, and grass growing from the ground. It was a walk through a forest where the air wasn't right, and the feeling of being watched by a predictor was high risk. She was venturing into unknown territory.

However, she trailed forward without stopping and no matter how deep her feet sank. The water level was shallow enough for her to travel with ease. A siren out in the middle of a dangerous, mysterious swamp where any wild beasts such as big bears or mountain lions could be lurking, but such animals won't linger in such a place. In the worst-case scenario, a cyclops could live and thrive in a swamp.

The only weapon Marina had with her was her ability to disguise herself as a different person. Her blue scales' ability to camouflage could hide from prowling eyes glaring at her from the bitter darkness the trees concealed from the night sky, but her eye vision eyes gave her the ability to see through the darkness like a lion at night.

Since her eyes had night vision, she could see anything from miles away, and her eyes could detect thermal radiations like heat signatures from prowling walking afar.

But after hours of walking through the dark swamp under a lightless night. She found a tree trunk wide enough and a small section of the dark curving inward for the siren to sit down. It was just perfect for her to nudge her head back lazily as her eyes looked forward. It was a perfect position for to be, and she could see only forward for any enemies to come only in one direction instead of sneaking up on her. She also does have her scales to change her appearance and blend with the tree bark.

Her disguise could fool a human, but could her appearance fool any wild creatures or animals lingering in the swamp's darkness? She didn't know if her scales could keep her safe in the night, and her knowledge was only limited to fooling human eyes. She was going to have to wait and see if her scales would change color and look like a broken root of the tree she was about to sleep at the base.

From her negative thoughts, she aroused herself. Her eyes closed and she began to hum to herself. Her voice echoed through the army of trees standing still with their roots sinking deep into the wet, muddy soil. Then her soft, female voice brushed out: 

With all the terribleness of fate
And all golden light is gone
Fate brings the bitterness of hate
But happiness rises with the dawn

Love and hope may seem all too real
And to those I am very much drawn
There's always a reason to have a feel
Rising up high with the dawn

There may be coldness at the start
But when light shines above
That's when I know in my sacred heart
I will be one with my love

We may not have the strength
But love can never surely be gone
From afar or an arm's length
We will rise with the dawn

Marina quieted her voice as her eyes saw nothing in sight. There was only a soft breeze blowing against the treetops. Leaves were caught in the wind and torn from the short branches. There was nothing out in the night, not even an owl's hoot to blow with the howling wind.

Marina hoped there would have been some kind of animal lingering in the swamp, but she appeared to be the only one traveling in the unknown territory she dared to venture while the other sirens stayed in the safety of the cave of what they called a "cove". She only leaned her head back against the tree back, kept her eyes closed, her ears wide open to sounds, and her brain be swelled by the blank darkness her eyes gave into.