The Call Of Shadows

Chapter Thirteen

Vertoss and the Queen were three days into their journey through the underwater caves that tenuously connected the Siren's kingdom with their own. He hadn't slept in well over 14 hours and they were quickly approaching the final air pocket that would finally spit them out just at the edge of their sanity. He swallowed hard and looked at the dark water surrounding them, already seeing the silver flashes of the siren's tails as they swam alongside them waiting for a chance to attack. "This is madness." Vertoss said crossly. "Madness this may be, but it's our best chance." The Queen replied. "Besides, you and I both know we'll get a chance to speak before they kill us. My parents always told me stories of what they did during the first war. I remember how they are." Vertoss rubbed his forehead wearily. "Be that as it may, I greatly miss the sunshine. This is not a natural darkness."

"Quiet!" She hissed back. "We're here..." Vertoss looked around, sickened to his core at what he saw. The nearly black waters lapped at a mossy shore that was more rock and matted hair than actual vegetation. Above them the ceiling glittered with a thousand hand-placed gemstones of red, blue, white, green and purple. A few torches were lit along the mouth of a narrow passageway reflecting off of the gems. It was in the tunnel that he could see the bones emerging. Dingy hands, cracked and empty skulls, and rib cages that clung to the roof holding up strings of teeth. It smelled of rotten earth, and sickly decay. It was silent, save for the quiet murmurs of the water as it sucked away the very life from this place. Dragging the dead back out to sea, never to rest again.

As they took in the scene before them, the eyes of the sirens began to emerge from the water. Their grey skin shone with the refractions from the gems above, painting a beautiful mirage on their twisted faces. Black eyes gave way to a small nose, squished into the middle of their human heads. Beneath that, full lips as pale as bleached bone and a chin that jutted out just a little too far. Their necks housed a horror of their own, just within the slit that extended from one side to the other. A second set of teeth, impossibly long, sharp and razor thin extending at least four inches when it's "mouth" gaped open. It shredded everything within its grasp, always longing for just one more taste of blood. Their song hinting at the edges of sleep.

Vertoss stood uneasily on the edge of the slippery shore. The Queen stood in an air of false confidence and spoke to the creatures emerging from the water. "My name is Queen Gianna of the Isle Of Fae. And this is Vertoss of the Elven Step. We request a meeting with your queen, and we are willing to bargain for safe passage back." They stared hungrily at the pair, deliberating what to do with them. Questioning their motives against the pain of want. "We will take you to her." One of them hissed into their thoughts. "Now resst..." They sang. Their trademark song began to ring in their ears and slowly but surely, they sank to their knees in a dreamless slumber. Vertoss was vaguely aware of the Sirens dragging his body along the corridor of bones before succumbing to the darkness that waited.

When the Queen awoke, the landscape had drastically changed. Gone was the stench of rot that clung to the air, and gone were the murky waters of the deep. In its place was the smell of oysters, freshly steamed and sitting on a large stone platter in the center of what appeared to be the wreckage of a ship. The space wasn't extravagantly large, but it was certainly big enough to contain the thirty or so sirens that gathered around them, patiently waiting for them to arise. She swallowed hard, fear clawing at her throat. "Why isn't Vertoss awake yet?" She asked, voice trembling. "The song calls to the men for longer, even if it is not a human man..." They crooned. "He will wake soon." She shivered involuntarily. Although the air around her was moist and rather warm, the prospect of spending any length of time alone with them unnerved her. She looked around her surroundings once more. In addition to the oysters, several lobster-like creatures were encased in a glass dish awaiting the feast. Seaweed was draped delicately around the wreckage, almost as if their arrival was cause for celebration and decadence.