I am Mardian Delvoia, once a sailor of no flag and now a teller of my short story. ‘Twas the year 1656 and me and my men were to sail off into the black sea. Today we were hired to hunt beasts of sea and tide. The sky filled of blue and sun, we loaded the boat with arms to fight such beasts we were hired to kill. When the boat was ready, we were off towards where the sun was to fall that night.
We finally had gone deep enough into the black sea to encounter a beast. This monster was a giant serpent with scales of oceanic blue, eyes of the deep sea’s light. It had whiskers which had sparked constantly with raging lighting. Regardless of this power, the beast was easily defeated by me and my men.
But to our misfortune, we looked off the right deck to see a mass of devil whales, much too strong for our ship or our weapons. We tried to escape but soon tired of seeing the ring of them surrounding us. Suddenly we all awoke.
We realized it was but a dream and it was now night. With the wind, we thought we heard a slight humming. This humming drew us near with its sweet softness. As we got to the edge of the boat we, saw on sharp jagged rocks as black as the night above us and women as beautiful as our wildest imaginations could form.
They started to go into song, each of us hearing a different tune. My men almost fell off the ship, longing the women’s touch. I however was not tricked for I knew of the stories of the sirens.
The women went off the rocks and my men let loose ladders for them to climb aboard. “Stop you fools!” I shouted, but to no avail. The sirens were now on the ship, each picking a man to seduce and devour. I was approached by a woman who, unlike the others, wore a crown of coral.
Her eyes like gems of the sea and lips as red as blood. Her song something of my childhood that my mother would sing to me. Yet I was not convinced. Suddenly all the sirens but the one before me opened their mouths to reveal rings of great teeth. They all bit down on the necks of their victims.
I then plunged my jagged blade into the sirens heart before me. She stared at the blade and it turned to some form of coral. I then brought my blade away from her flesh. I stole her crown and leaped into the life boat.
The sirens had attempted to follow me, but my ship had set aflame for one of the men dropped his lamp on some spilled rum. They watched baring their teeth and screeching a defining sound. As my hearing faded and my touch dulled, I rowed like never before.
I finally had made it back to the shore of my home town. I realized the crown had made my arm turn to coral. I walked limply to a wall where I could eternally watch the ships and tell my tale.
To this day, I am a pile of teal coral, the crown on my belt and my blade at my side. Children come to me and ask to hear my tale. My eyes then awaken into a very light blue and my coral mouth moves in an awkward fashion. My voice like the sound of air moving through tubes. I tell my tale to all who listen and watch the ships who will meet the same fate as my men.