Palaimon and the Sailor (boyxboy) Short story by L.J Harding

Chapter 9

I heard James' screams from below, "PALAIMON! NO!". I bonded with him so quickly that I could feel his emotions, his want to save me. He contemplated aiming the trident at the siren so many times but he was afraid he would hit me instead.

I manipulated as many streams of water as I could, trying to knock the Siren's grip. The Siren only laughed in a mocking tone, bring me higher and higher.

"It's been awhile since I've tasted merfolk flesh, did you know that your flesh has magical properties? Eternal life grows from it, my Sirens will rise to power and eradicate your species!" the Siren roared through mocking canters of laughter.

I felt my life flash before my eyes. I was suddenly reminded of my home.

I could remember being a hatchling, learning to swim with my parents. They weren't around much, but they loved me like parents should.

That was the thing about merfolk's love. We loved like no other creature could, and when we came together to form a pod, we were unstoppable.

I was raised to track, always bringing home treasures and beautiful ocean-crafted objects. I always thought of myself as a decorator, until my fascination with humans arose.

Now that I think about it, for most of my life, I've craved another world where people walked on two extra pairs of limbs and breathed in the air.

I craved a world where you couldn't breathe underwater, or communicate with sea creatures. I craved what I didn't have.

Come to think of it, even in my dying breath I still didn't get to experience the world above.

But I did all at the same time. I saw that world through James' eyes.

As I said before, Love was in a Merfolk's nature. Although, in my almost eighteen years of living, never have I ever felt the pull of love this strong. It reminded me of the ocean's pull to the moon.

James was my moon.

As I thought that, unfamiliar memories rose into my mind. I saw a baby boy grow up in a poverty stricken village.

I saw him grow and survive through shortages of food, burglary, murder and abuse of power by the guardians of the land.

I watched him grow into a strong man who sacrificed his life on land for one on sea. I watched him become a sailor.

Then, I watched him travel the world until the unfaithful day when he crossed the Bermuda triangle and get attacked by the vicious creatures of the sky, The Sirens.

Then I see a merman, his eyes a chocolate brown and his hair a beautiful blood red. I saw the sailor transform into a merman, and fall in-love with his saviour.

Tears formed in my eyes as I witnessed the sailor watch is lover be ripped from the sea and carried away into the sky.

Then, this sadness overwhelmed me with a blood-lusting anger.

I screamed with a force I never witnessed before, scaring the Super Siren slightly. I felt my anger unfold in the skies we were climbing as dark clouds formed all around us.

The siren laughed, "Do you really think thunder and lightning will hurt me now?"

I turned to look at the siren dead in the eye. "Yes." I replied.

Then the world went red. The lightning that was struck at the Siren was pitch black instead of its usual colour. As soon as it connected with the bird's wing, the feathers began to unruffled and suddenly the wing rotted away into ash.

The siren grew panicked as it began to fall. Before I knew it, my entire world turned completely upside down as I soared face first into the vast sea below.

I turned to watch the black lightning continue to strike at the siren, withering it away into nothing. To my surprise, a large flock of the remaining sirens were falling alongside us, withering away just like my captor.

I smiled, James wouldn't lose his lover after all.

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