THE INSUPERABLE: Death and Decay

Part 7

The waves bumped gently against the trireme, it was a peaceful night, the wind was still and the sky was clear. The only nuisance was a thick fog that made it impossible to see what lies ahead. Kalib sat at the forward, poking at a small fire he made while gazing upon the thick fog. Acastus emerged from the deck and sat next to Kalib. "You still up Kalib? You really ought to get some sleep, I have a feeling we shan't get much sleep when we arrive at Crete," Acastus said as he warmed his hands by the small fire. "It's strange Acastus," Kalib said observing the faint snowfall that had just appeared. "What's strange, Kalib?" "Snow in the middle of summer," Kalib extended his hand out, catching the snow in his palm. Acastus looked up, having only noticed the snowfall. "That is strange, but it doesn't appear to be normal snow, there's a strange black layer to it," Acastus sniffed the snow on his glove, "It smells too, what is it?"

"Rot," Kalib exclaimed, "the snow is decaying, almost like it's dying," Kalib seemed concerned. "What do you think it means? A curse maybe?" Acastus asked. "I fear we might be in the middle of something far more serious than we thought." Kalib sighed.

"That wish better be worth it... speaking of wishes, when he mentioned it you had a... strange look on your face. What exactly do you plan on wishing for?" Acastus asked, leaning closer. Just as Kalib was about to answer, the ship suddenly hit something causing it to come to a halt. "What the malaka was that?" Acastus stood up to observe the situation. "Excuse me, sailor! Why have we stopped? What was that thud?" Acastus asked a nearby sailor, the man did not answer, he leaned over the side of the ship, staring down at the water. "Excuse me good man, will you answ..." Acastus suddenly stopped speaking, he noticed the entire crew was leaning over the edge. No one moved, it seemed as if they all were sleeping but with their eyes wide open. "Kalib! Something's wrong with the men!" Acastus backed up slowly. Suddenly a bag flew over his head, he felt something push him against a pole, he felt ropes tying around his waist. "No!, please don't kill me! I have a friend and he is very stro...!" "Shut up," Kalib suddenly whispered. "Kalib? What are you doing?" "I said be quiet man!" Kalib's massive hand wrapped around Acastus' mouth. "We've been boarded."

Kalib squinted his eyes and observed his surroundings carefully, the crew still stood lifeless staring at the side. But there was no sign of any imposters. "Don't move, don't speak, remain very still." Acastus nodded his head, Kalib slapped him. "A head nod is a movement, idiot." Kalib removed his hand from Acastus' face. He tore parts of fabric from his pants, rolled them onto balls, and stuffed them into his ears. He quickly glanced over his shoulder. He saw a lady standing a few paces from him. She was extremely pale, she had not a fiber of clothes on her back, and she had long black hair flowing down her breasts. Kalib suddenly turned his head back to the front and closed his eyes immediately. "You are different," uttered the pale lady, "you are strong, we stand but a few paces from you, yet you are still able to resist." The lady slowly approached Kalib, his back still turned to her. "We meet so many different men on these waters, all are the same, they can not help but look at us. We indulge each time but we are always left unsatisfied, always wanting more." The lady neared Kalib. "You, however...you are beautiful, you will keep us satisfied for quite some time," the lady suddenly stopped behind Kalib, she licked her lips, unhooked her jaw revealing an endless spiral of teeth. Without delay, she grabbed onto Kalib and lodged her teeth into his neck. But instead of penetrating his skin, her teeth shattered. She let out a scream.

Kalib smiled and grabbed onto the lady's arm. She squirmed, pulled, and slashed at Kalib, but his grip was too powerful. Kalib did not let go, for the siren was far too dangerous, even for him. Just one look at her gorgeous exterior or if one note from her soothing song were to enter his ears, it would be the end of him. Suddenly five more sirens leaped onto the ship. With one hand Kalib grabbed the siren by the throat and with the other, he pushed down on her forehead breaking her neck. The other sirens leaped at Kalib, slashing and gauging at him, lucky for him his skin was too powerful for their claws. Kalib kicked one sending her flying, he choked another causing her head to burst, he extended out his other hand. His pickaxe came crashing out from the deck, flying into his hand; without hesitation, he gave it a great swing, slicing the remaining sirens in half. The ground was littered with the corpses of the sirens.

Kalib waited a while, then slightly removed his hand from his eyes. When he saw all the sirens were dead he gave a relieved sigh. His relief however quickly turned into panic when he felt cold fingers entering his ears. He tried to react but was too late.

The fingers slowly left his ears, the pieces of cloth fell to the ground. He heard a beautiful melody, that of a woman's voice. He felt the cold hands brushing against his waist, the figure emerged from behind him and looked him in the eyes. She was beautiful, her eyes were white, that of a diamond. Her smile was pure and so alluring. He had never in his life seen a woman so beautiful. Kalib could not help himself, he leaned in to kiss the beautiful woman standing before him. Their lips touched, Kalib suddenly felt weak as if life was draining from his body. His olive skin turned gray, his gigantic muscles grew smaller and less impressive. His chestnut eyes grew completely white. Just before the last bit of energy left his body, he saw an overwhelming yellow light burst out of nowhere, the siren in front of him, exploded into dust. Kalib fell to the ground, the light was too bright rendering it hard to see, he did, however, see a woman emerging from the light. She walked towards him, Kalib felt a hand touch his forehead and then a whisper in his ear. "Sleep."