A Haunting Melody: The Golden Lyre

27 | Only The Humble Clock Can Reveal

Astrid looked around, her hair standing on end as she was struck by the feeling that she was being watched. She turned her gaze down a street that led to her left, then to a street leading to her right.

Before she had decided which road to take, the lyre began to hum in her hands. It was almost as though she could feel an invisible force tugging her towards the beach, which lay straight ahead of her.

Peisinoe had to be close by. Astrid had a feeling that the lyre was calling out to her.

She began to walk towards the beach, listening carefully for any sounds that might be out of the ordinary. As she approached the beach, a silhouette began to emerge from the ocean.

Astrid stopped dead in her tracks as she stared at Peisinoe, who had stepped out of the water completely now, and was casually strolling towards her.

"I'm impressed," she said coolly, moving a strand of wet, raven hair out of her face, "you have more nerve than I gave you credit for."

Astrid looked at her with a burning intensity in her eyes, "you know what? I know you're lying. You clearly expected a lot of me to set me up the way you did. I mean, first Daniel and then Rose," Astrid swallowed hard, "and for what? This... this stupid little golden harp!" she yelled, looking at it in her hand with disgust.

"Believe what you want to believe, dear. It's such a shame that all that talent and tenacity is wasted on you. I could have given you power like you've never seen," Peisinoe smiled.

"You took EVERYTHING from me," Astrid gritted her teeth, "did you really expect me to join you after that?"

"Don't pretend you're sentimental now," Peisinoe rolled her eyes, "you're a cold-blooded killer. I could sense it the moment I laid eyes on you."

Astrid felt tears stinging at her eyes once again at the memory of all of the Sirens she had slaughtered. All those innocent people who had become monsters all to die in vain.

"I kill few, so that many can live," Astrid said shakily.

"Ah, she has a hero complex as well," Peisinoe smirked.

Astrid could not take her taunting a second longer.

"I've had enough of you!" Astrid shouted, charging with renewed vigour, her sword glinting menacingly in the moonlight.

Peisinoe ducked effortlessly as Astrid swung the sword over her head. Still, Astrid could not waste a single second and swiftly kicked upwards, spinning into a backflip and bashing her heavy boot into Peisinoe's chin.

Peisinoe let out a shriek of pain and stepped backwards quickly while Astrid regained her footing.

Within seconds, she was on Astrid, her strong hands closing around Astrid's neck.

Astrid choked as she felt her sharp nails digging into her skin. She had dealt with many Sirens and was used to their incredible strength, but this was a whole new level. Astrid felt her eyes bulging as Peisinoe lifted her off of the ground, holding her up, suspended and helpless.

She tried desperately to think of a way to escape, but she had dropped her sword in the commotion and had no way of fighting back.

"You know, I could shatter your neck right now," Peisinoe said, her breathing a little heavier than before.

Astrid struggled for breath, her throat burning as it tried to force air into her lungs. She closed her eyes and tried to force her mind to work, calculating her options. As if her instincts took over, she suddenly remembered the little instrument in her other hand and used all her strength to swing it upwards, towards Peisinoe's head.

The strings on the instrument made a loud, twangy sound as it collided with Peisinoe's head. Thankfully, the instrument was so loud, that its noise even managed to disorient Peisinoe, what with it being so close to her ear.

Peisinoe dropped Astrid to the ground and grabbed her ears, screaming in agony. Even Astrid's eardrums could feel the strain of the noise.

The sound that the golden lyre had produced had stuck pure, unadulterated fear in Astrid's heart. She forced herself up off of the ground and tried to run, but Peisinoe was faster.

Astrid had made it a good few metres before she felt her very own sword tearing through her shoulder. Peisinoe had picked it up and thrown it with earth-shattering force.

Astrid looked down at the blade protruding from her shoulder and felt sure that she would not make it through tonight.

Everything began to move in slow motion. She watched helplessly as Peisinoe began to walk towards her and immediately knew what she had to do. Peisinoe was too far away to stop her.

Using her uninjured arm, Astrid lifted the instrument into the air and then slammed it, hard, into the pavement.

Peisinoe stared in horror at the Golden Lyre which gleamed in Astrid's bloody hand. A crack had begun to run through its delicate frame.

"NO!!" Peisinoe screamed in horror as she immediately took to the air, swooping towards Astrid with incredible speed.

But she was too late.

Astrid had slammed the lyre onto the hard pavement once again and this time, it was enough.

The lyre shattered into three pieces, its strings curling in on themselves, with nothing to keep them pulled taut anymore.

Peisinoe landed a few metres away from Astrid and dropped to the ground, tears streaming down her face, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" she screamed.

Astrid picked up one of the pieces, the longest, sharpest one and held it in her hand like a stake. This would have to make do.

Peisinoe let out a gasp and took a step back, not daring to move any closer to Astrid, or what was left of the golden lyre.

"Don't come any closer," Astrid heaved, her lungs struggling to inhale as she spoke, "I may not be able to kill you, but I will sure as hell try so long as I keep breathing."

Peisinoe looked at Astrid with harsh, dead eyes, "very well played, Astrid," her voice was low, "but I will find a way. You have only slowed me down."

Astrid wheezed as she watched Peisinoe look up into the sky and take off, beating her wings harshly and gaining momentum. Before she knew it, she was all alone again.

She looked down at the broken pieces of the Golden Lyre, wondering why Peisinoe hadn't just killed her. She looked over at the sword in her shoulder. She wouldn't dare remove it now. She had already lost way too much blood.

As her adrenaline began to fade away, she began to be more and more aware of the painful injuries she had been ignoring all night, not just to her body, but her soul as well.

Before long, it had all become too much for her to bear and she let herself drop to the ground, slowly slipping out of consciousness.