Chapter 21
Prism
My palm touched the siren’s spread, webbed fingers.
For a long moment, nothing happened. I thought, perhaps, this were some kind of signal of sisterhood and oceanic love.
Although, I hoped one of them had the strength to swim with me on their backs to shore because my legs were already tiring as they kicked in the sea beneath me.
All of a sudden—I wasn’t kicking anymore.
When I opened my eyes, my hand was no longer my hand… but a mirror of the sirens, complete with bright pink webbing between my fingers. “What is happening?” I inspected my palms. Fuzz was still gripping my forehand.
Knoll, a beautiful green siren, let out a shrill giggle and collected Fuzz from his frightened resting spot. “I’ll take care of him.”
“Please, don’t eat him,” I answered. “He’s my friend.”
Estuary smiled with her pointed teeth. “We only eat men, remember? We will ensure your friend makes it to shore safely. Now, do you notice anything else?”
Again, it occurred to me I was no longer kicking two legs to wade above the surface. When I looked down, I gasped.
“Pull it out, let’s have a look at her in the sunlight.” Merose clapped her hands in glee. “Oh, this never happens. I am simply so delighted.”
Doing as I was told, I leaned back, feeling as if instead of having two weak little legs, I had one large, powerful one. Sure enough, when I lifted my hips, an enormous, fuchsia and glittering fin splashed above the water’s surface. “It’s magnificent,” I awed as I swished my fin.
Estuary nodded slyly before suddenly ripping my dress at the front, leaving me topless and blushing. “There.” She nodded triumphantly. “Now, daughter of the sea, you are our siren sister.”
The sirens giggled, touching my tail and running their claws down the iridescent scales.
None of their toying hurt, only tickled a bit.
My pulse raced and something inside me fluttered to life, begging me to swim.
“I won’t stay like this, right? I mean, this is beautiful, and I’m sure being a siren is wonderful, but—”
“No, sea-daughter.” Bathyal grinned. “Because of who you are here, in this realm and all its many quarters, you may be a siren whenever you like. We thought this would be a better way to get to shore than a flimsy leaf with an annoying butterfly, is it not?”
I smiled. “Yes, thank you. This is… I have no words for how amazing this is.”
“Well”—Estuary swam in a circle around us—“we didn’t do all these enchantments just to sit and sing a tune about it, did we? Let’s swim, sirens.”
They dove into the water, their fins flapping against the surface and raining down droplets of the sea.
I hesitated a moment, feeling worry and fear creep in.
This was absurd, and no one would ever believe me if I told them I was transformed into a siren for a day, but here I was.
Traversing the Underworld, swimming across oceans, befriending all manner of creatures—all for Vore.
This was all for Vore.
With a deep breath, I plunged into the depths.
My eyes widened as the sea illuminated as bright as day around me.
With my human eyes, it had all been dark, cloudy, and murky.
As a siren, everything shone bright and clear.
The green siren spun in front of me and motioned for me to follow.
Her sisters’ tails flapped in the distance, sinking lower into the unknown.
To my surprise, my lungs didn’t burn, and I breathed normally.
I nodded, feeling a surge of energy and curiosity—I also really wanted to try out my fins.
With a quick kick, I propelled myself at a lighting fast speed.
A shrill giggle left my throat, and I twirled through the water, chasing after the other sirens.
Their hair flowed behind them like ribbons of greens, blues, and pinks.
We swam past walls of silver fish, fish with pointed spears for noses, and tentacled creatures of all different colors.
There was a whole entire world beneath the surface of the sea. A world without air, without humanity, like a secret place reserved for only the fortunate few who could withstand its depth and beauty.
No wonder my matri loved the ocean. Had she ever experienced it as a siren? Swam so deep and beheld the glory of the ocean’s depths?
The sirens stopped abruptly.
I swerved to avoid knocking into them. Still not an expert with adjusting my fins, I clumsily spun in the wrong direction.
Bathyal grabbed my arm and righted me, easing me back over to the group.
“You are very fast for a beginner. Just watch your turns. The ocean may not have many sharp corners, but things can emerge out of nowhere at any moment. Even if you feel you are all alone, there are always things watching from above… and from below.”
“Is that supposed to be comforting or frightening?”
Bathyal smiled a sharp smile. “All of the best things are both.”
When we rejoined the group, I startled when a giant creature in front of them came into view through the murky waves. “A whale,” Bathyal explained, noticing my wide eyes. “They’re friendly and gentle.”
I wasn’t sure how something so enormous could be either things…
then again, I’d fallen in love with something quite fearsome who turned out to be both friendly and gentle—towards me, at least. It was conceivable that this twenty foot long, four men high, huge-mouthed creature was nice…
even so, I kept my distance behind the sirens.
Estuary touched the top of the whale’s head and nodded.
“What’s happening?” I whispered to the others. “Is everything okay?”
“This whale stopped us,” Merose answered. “It would seem as if she is seeking our assistance.”
“Sirens assist whales?”
“We are guardians of the ocean. It is in our blood to look after every creature, from the tiniest of seahorses to the largest of whales. If ever we should try to stray from that sacred duty, well, I believe the ocean would swallow us whole and never spit us back out.”
“Guardians of the sea…” I repeated, more to myself that anything. “Viceroy said that I’m a guardian of the Underworld.”
The peachy sunrise-tinted siren tilted her head in a slight nod before wrapping her arm around my shoulders and giving me a soft, sisterly squeeze.
The kind of hugs Rumor used to give me on our walks through the fields.
It made me miss her. Despite the bad she’d done, sometimes my heart forgot all that and just longed for my sister, my best friend.
What would she say right now? What would she think of me being a guardian of the Underworld? What did that title even mean?
The whale let out a thunderous sound that rippled the water around us. My shoulders jolted in surprise, and I accidentally clung to the siren next to me like a terrified toddler. She didn’t mock me, though, only ran her claws over my braid.
Estuary spun around and glided over as the whale departed, waving its massive fin. “The whales require an escort,” she said, folding her fingers together. “We’re the only siren sisterhood nearby, I checked.”
Bathyal responded, glancing at me in concern. “We are already escorting. Prism’s tail enchantment will need to be renewed. We cannot risk taking her out to sea and her losing her gills.”
“Gills?” I reached to my neck, feeling slits where smooth skin used to be. “Wow, gills. How about that?”
Estuary nodded. “It is a risk. I’d planned to have Prism at the lagoon by sunrise. However… these whales have new offspring they are concerned for.”
“Babies?” I asked. What’s wrong?”
Estuary’s black eyes found mine. “The whales must cross man’s territory to get to warmer water.”
The siren sisters hissed in unison like a brood of snakes. Men had that effect on me, too.
“Because their offspring are only just birthed,” Estuary continued, taking great patience to explain to me what was already obvious to the others. “They cannot swim deep enough to avoid the sailors.”
“The young ones need frequent surface trips for air,” Merose explained. “Yet that is where predators wait.”
Bathyal added. “It means the whale pod and its elders also must be near the surface. The whales travel in families. Ocean predators will want the young and the old. The sailors will aim to spear any they can but prioritize the mothers.”
“That’s terrible,” I said. “What can we do?”
Estuary’s eyebrows rose. “Well, if you agree to come with us and delay your arrival to shore… we can guard them on their passage. If men show up…”
Merose swam past, flashing her fangs. “If men show up—we feast on their organs.”
Estuary wrapped her scaly arm around me.
“You can say no. Understand there is a risk that your fin enchantment wears off and you will be stranded with legs in the middle of the ocean. We will do what we can for you, of course, but it is dangerous and a risk. Even without the risk of losing your gills, the predators, both oceanic and mortal, are of the foulest sort.”
Knoll spoke up, her quiet nature and shimmering green body almost rendering her invisible in the shifting shades of the sea. “The choice is yours. We offered ourselves as your escort first, and technically, I believe as the Underworld guardian, you have dominion over us.”
Estuary nodded. “This is true. We are at your command.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” I answered, smoothing my braid. “I don’t command anyone, regardless of any silly titles.” I sucked in a gill-breath, weighing the risks. “We’ll help the whales and their babies. It’s the right thing to do.”
“What about your lost love?” Merose asked.
The sirens looked at me with both dark and slitted eyes.
Somehow now, wherever I went it seemed, I found a monster.
I found monsters and preferred them over people, more like it.
Every monster I befriended, every creature helped, were all Vore to me.
Like Vore had saved me, I felt I should lend a hand—or fin—and save others, too.
Maybe that’s what happens when you find real love. You’re just so full of it, you have to give some of it away to others.
“It’s what Vore would want,” I answered assuredly. “Let’s save some whales.”
“And kill some men!” Knoll cheered.
“Killing men!” the others enthusiastically repeated. I couldn’t help the giggle that left my throat at that. Somehow, I did in fact hope they got their organ feast. That was a bit morbid of me, I guessed. But a siren needs to eat, right?
Estuary directed us to follow her. She turned the opposite way from where we were previously going.
I had a feeling we were getting further and further from shore.
Further and further from Vore… but they needed help, so, of course, I would help them.
The sirens had been so ready and willing to come to my aid, how could I deny them their duty?
And how could I risk baby whales in the process? I couldn’t.
After a while, the ringing tones of whale calls echoed through the ocean again. I gasped as four enormous whales rose from beneath us. We all twisted and swerved as the whales breached the surface.
Bathyal grabbed my arm. “Come, take a look.” She pulled me to the surface just as a silver-tinted whale sprang from the water and fell backwards with a splash that created waves.
We both laughed at the magnificence of it. “Wow,” I said. “They’re remarkable creatures.”
Bathyal nodded. “They are indeed. Come see their offspring. These calves are only two days old.” Taking my hand, she led me back underwater, to the center of where the whales swam.
Three babies, about as long as I was, looked at me with big, curious, and soulful eyes.
Smiling, I ran my touch over their tough, grooved backs. “Hi, little ones,” I greeted them.
The whales hummed their songs in acknowledgment and hello. “Gorgeous creatures,” I said to Estuary. “How could anyone seek to harm them?”
“That is why,” she answered solemnly. “There will always be things with teeth wanting to bite only because something is lovely. There are some made to devour. There are others who want to see beautiful things hurt. It is a sickness of their breed, and mind you, I am speaking of the men, not of the sharks. The sharks cannot help themselves. The men, however, have everything needed to behave differently—they merely choose not to.”
Knoll added, “That is what makes man deadlier than the shark. It’s why they’re horrible. Predators act on instinct. Killers act against theirs.”
“I’ve had my fair share of experiences dealing with both monsters and men,” I agreed as the sirens swam next to me.
“And what have you learned?” Estuary asked.
“That I prefer monsters.”