꧁༺ 𝓑𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓫𝓵𝓾𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓰𝓸𝓵𝓭 ༻꧂

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 22

It was uncomfortably hot down in the dungeons, the stuffy air and manure only added to their last days of suffering. Harlynn, who was already in a cell at the opposite end of the hall, felt terrible for the situation he put you in. Liam had weakened you with a vile of wolf's bane, something siren's were completely immune to, but it weakened them. Because you had taken it, you could no longer bare the state of your human form, so you transformed back into the fish you once were.

He knew the heat wasn't good for you; it dried you out, like any normal fish would. You tried your best to remain in the shade of the cell, but some part of you always managed to get in the heat of the sun's rays.

The old man would've called out to you, but his voice was weak. Though he remained strong throughout his many years, all of them were finally catching up to him. He knew that his days were limited. But he wished he could do something, say something, anything to make you feel better, no matter if you'd hear him or not.

"(y/n)." The ex-pirate called out, his voice croaky and broken. You didn't hear him, so he tried again to no avail. He was just too quiet, but he couldn't yell any louder. Still, he tried. He couldn't tell if you were purposely ignoring him or not, as you were facing away from him.

"(y/n)," he yelled a little louder, "(y/n), can you hear me?"

"What is it old man?!" You shot back with a fiery attitude. "You've already said enough, don't you think it's time to shut up?!"

"Look, I know yer mad-"

"Yeah, I am. Great observation. Could you also observe the fact that we're locked up in a dungeon because your stupid plan backfired? I don't want to talk to you!"

"You agreed to that plan," he growled, "and besides, it wasn' my intention for us t'get captured like this. I wanted to help ya', but clearly m'years are catchin' up to me faster than I thought."

"How old are you?" You asked out of curiosity, your tone still biting back. The old man chuckled and waved off the question, but you still asked.

"Ya' really wanna know how ol' I am?" Harlynn questioned, double checking just to make sure you really wanted to know.

"Yes, I do. How old are you?"

"Yer gonna flip the fuck out, but 'aight." The old man breathed in, then brushed back the hair that covered his ears, revealing the pointed edges on his ears. "twenty-eight thousand, six hundred and eighty."

You almost choked on your own saliva. Twenty-eight thousand, six hundred and eighty? Holy Poseidon, what was that guy? You'd never heard of a human that lived so long, let alone who had such pointy ears. You only heard from stories that humans can only live for a maximum of one hundred years. How did he do that?

"How?" You shouted. "You're human! Humans can't live that long."

"That's the thing," He said, "I'm not."

"You're not? Not what, human?"

"Yes. I'm an elf."

"What's an elf? Is that another thing I don't know about? How many things don't I know about?!"

"Elves are ancien' creatures that are tiny now, but used to be as big as me. I know what it was like years ago, when yer kind was friends with the land."

"Seriously? We were friends with mankind? Unbelievable. What were we thinking?" Harlynn chuckled, then told his story.

Long ago, back in his time, the sky, the land, and the sea were all one. Elves ruled the land, the Light Mages ruled the sky, and the Mermaids ruled the seas alongside the sirens, who offered help. All lived in harmony, and humans hadn't learnt of their destructive nature.