Siren's Kiss

74: Bleeding the Leech Part Six

Following their captain's orders, Declan "Deck," along with their navigator, Ori, and the ship's surgeon, Gus, pressed onward toward the watchtower. Despite the lingering fear from their earlier harrowing encounter, they put on a brave front. The path ahead was a chaotic maze—containers and debris were scattered everywhere, with sections blasted to pieces, obscuring their way. Ori grew increasingly frustrated as each turn made it harder to map the area accurately.

Forced into a detour, they followed a collapsed walkway, inching forward until they finally reached a relatively open space.

"Where be we now, Ori?" Deck asked, scanning the dim surroundings.

"I don't know!" Ori snapped, flipping the blueprint in his hand, though it was practically useless. The path was littered with wreckage, remnants of what must have once been a majestic Siren Kingdom. Now it was nothing but ruins.

"I'll be honest," Gus, the ship's surgeon, muttered, his voice laced with unease. "I don't think we'll be able to signal anyone from outside."

Deck cast him a look. "Ye're a surgeon. What do ye know about transmissions and radio signals?"

"I can feel it in me bones, mate."

Ori huffed in reluctant agreement. "Can't say he's wrong. The destruction here be unbelievable. I'd be surprised if anyone survived."

"Speaking of survivors..." Deck's voice faltered. They all remembered the infected merfolk they'd encountered. The horror was still fresh, and none of them knew quite how to process it. "D'ye have any idea what that merfolk turned into?"

"He was infected," Ori murmured.

"I get that," Deck replied, "but what kind o' creature could do somethin' so terrible?"

Gus's gaze turned distant. "There be life forms beneath us we can't even begin to comprehend. To understand what happened to that creature, we might need to understand the god who made it—or at least, the bein' that claimed to."

Deck and Ori exchanged glances, surprised by the depth of Gus's answer. He was a surgeon, not a mystic. "D'ye reckon the captain and the siren prince might've accidentally awakened this... thing when they killed the Leviathan at the Lost Isle?" Ori asked, an edge of fear in his voice.

Gus considered this. "Maybe...or maybe this was meant to happen all along."

With more questions than answers, the crew pressed on, weaving their way around the wrecked infrastructure. As they rounded a corner, they spotted another body—this time, a siren. Judging by the clothing and the delicate jewelry still clinging to his wrists and neck, he was likely one of Thalassara's wealthier citizens. Perhaps a noble, rather than a servant.

The body lay slumped in the corner, pale and obviously lifeless. At a glance, he could almost be mistaken for a lifeless fish washed ashore—except, of course, they knew what a siren should look like.

"Prince Ciel probably wouldn't like this," Deck muttered as they all stared down at the lifeless body. They knew how deeply the siren prince had been affected by the devastation of his kingdom. If it weren't for Captain Drake being his anchor, Ciel might have already transformed into the Azure Kraken and confronted Lexios himself, no matter the consequences.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he's stumbled across more o' his kind back in the palace," Ori said quietly. "Honestly, I was half-expectin' a trail o' dead sirens leadin' the way here."

"Maybe the creature's already absorbed the others, makin' them part o' that... fleshy mass," Gus added, his voice low. "That could explain why we're not seeing more bodies."