A Haunting Melody: The Golden Lyre

04 | Delta

The symbol Delta (δ), can give hunters the ability to change their appearance into another human form, so long as it is a face they have seen before. This mark is received when a hunter successfully cuts out a Siren's heart while they are in the midst of shape-shifting - a near impossible task.

***

"As many of you know, we lost two of our own last night. Thanks to the detailed report I received from two of our own, I can tell you all that Justin most certainly has lost his life. His partner, Katherine, is living still. However, I must regrettably report that she has already been turned. We suspect that the Sirens killed Justin and fed his heart to her, inevitably making her one of them. I understand that this will be difficult for many of you, but I must ask you all to kill her on sight, should you be unfortunate enough to encounter her."

"Difficult?" said an angry voice from the back of the room, "Difficult? She's my sister! Has everyone forgotten that? Can't we try to capture her and find a way to rehabilitate her?"

Adras's tired eyes fell on the boy who had spoken.

"I apologise that you have to endure such a loss, Timothy. But you know as well as I that there is no cure. The Katherine you knew is long gone. Her body remains, and it is occupied by a demonic version of her. Do not be fooled by appearances."

Astrid looked over at Timothy. His eyes were red and puffy. She knew all too well what kind of pain he was experiencing. Still, she couldn't imagine what it would be like to see her father alive and well, but a monster. Would she be strong enough to put him out of his misery? She supposed she'd never know.

"Adras is right, we all feel her loss. That's why we're going to do everything we can to avenge her, isn't that right, Adras?" Timothy's hunting partner, Peter, said while resting a hand on Timothy's shoulder reassuringly.

"Absolutely, Peter. Katherine and Justin's suffering was not in vain. We now know that their leader is indeed one of the three sisters. Her name is Peisinoe. It would appear that she is paying our little town a visit in order to retrieve her golden lyre, one of the instruments of legend, which were used to hold power over humans." Adras said.

"Why would this golden lyre be in our town?" A girl asked sceptically.

Adras let out a sigh, "Many years ago, all the Synedrion's hunters gathered together to find a way to rid the world of those dangerous Sirens. After many attempts to kill them, they realised that it was simply impossible, and so they did the next best thing. After gathering all the hunters they could, they formed an army, which they used to take the instruments away from the Sirens and hid them in remote places across the world, occasionally moving them when they feared the Sirens might have discovered where they were hidden."

"But, wasn't the one instruments a voice? How did they take her voice away?" The girl asked.

"They didn't. Instead, they achieved what was thought to be impossible. They killed her," Adras said seriously.

"Are you implying that the golden lyre is somewhere in our town?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, Daniel. Centuries ago, the Synedrion entrusted the oldest hunter families in this town to protect the lyre and keep its location hidden."

"What would happen if Peisinoe found the lyre?" Astrid suddenly asked, causing a few of the hunters to turn their heads.

Astrid never spoke up at meetings, and most of the hunters had been too intimidated by her to ever bother speaking to her, except Daniel, of course. Many of them had assumed she was mute.