The Siren's Song

The sounds of shouting echoed in my mind as I moved faster. If I could just put some distance between me and them, I could get away. I know this area better than they do. I can’t believe he...But I can’t think about that right now. I just need to get away, to keep moving. I tried my best to put any distracting thoughts out of my head as I focused on where I was going.

 I just need to move faster. I can't let him get me. The sacrifice my pod made would be for nothing if he gets his hands on me.

 I passed the giant formation that signaled I was almost out of the territory and into neutral waters. I would no longer be protected or under the restriction of our laws once I passed our borders. Which meant I would be able to do whatever means necessary to protect myself. I paused momentarily to see if I could find anything that I could use to defend myself. I didn’t care what it was. I was not going to go down without fighting. 

 I searched the ground, frantically digging to see if I could find anything. I jerked my hand back when I pricked my finger on something sharp. I moved the debris out of the way and pulled out a rusted piece of metal that looked like it had been there for a while. I remember my brother telling me that the humans call it a 'knife'. It’s not much, but it’ll do. 

 I grasped the knife firmly in my hand, taking a few practice swings. Females are not allowed to fight back home. I was lucky that my older brother, our leader, felt the need to make sure that I was protected by showing me just enough to survive. He trained me in secret before he took his role. 

 I looked over my shoulder to see him catching up. His men were shouting at me as they brandished their spears. I could see the snarl that hung on his lips as he shouted for me to give up. Like hell. I pushed myself forward. Working against my racing heart. I knew that if I stopped again, even for just a second, he would catch up to me and capture me. Just like he did the others. But I couldn’t think about that right now. 

I felt relief when I saw him slow down. Maybe he was growing tired. I used the last of my energy to create as much distance as I possibly could. Just as I was about to celebrate in escape, I became entangled in a net. 

 I struggled to break free. I didn’t have a lot of room to maneuver my small knife to cut the ropes. Panic filled me as I could see him creeping closer. The smile on his face was large, like he had won. I was trapped and had nowhere else to go. He was within arm’s reach when the net started rising, his hand grabbing onto my wrist, only to be pulled up with me. I jerked away from him just as the top of the net broke the surface of the water, and I was blinded by the setting sun. 

 I could see him bobbing on the surface of the water. His pale white eyes stared at me as I continued to rise higher. The light from the sun danced along the iridescent teal and turquoise scales of my tail. The wispy ends of my forked tail bobbed up and down with every jerk of the net. I could feel the weight of my dark, wet hair as it clung to me in a haphazard manner. My light grey skin was starting to lose some of its color, and I was unsure of what replaced it. My breathing was becoming erratic as my heart continued to race. I watched as he returned under the surface, the tip of his black tail flicking water at me. 

 I managed to escape him, but for how long? And what would this new danger bring me? I have always heard tales about the humans who run the ships. How they use us as ornaments and force us to perform for them. My mother used to tell me stories about how misbehaving neirbabes were sent to the surface to be given to the men on ships for punishment.

I did my best to hide behind the netting as I watched the moving figures come into better focus. My eyes were adjusting to the bright light of the surface. If those stories are true, then I need to find a way to escape my new captors.

I escaped one doom, only to be thrown into another. What have I gotten myself into?

I started thrashing around as I dangled above the black ship that the net was connected to. Down below, I could see men running about as orders were being shouted. I needed to find a way to break free before they saw me. I tried sawing at the net with the knife, feeling anxious as the deck of the ship grew closer. I needed to find a way out of here. I could feel the water evaporating from my skin and tried to hold the painful screams as my scales started to retreat. The pain of my tail splitting into two was almost unbearable.

It could work in my favor, though. If I can manage to change before they see me, then maybe they would just assume I am just a normal human girl. I moved quicker, creating a hole big enough for my body to fit through. I managed to squeeze out of it, dropping onto a wooden crate and falling onto the deck behind it. 

I don’t have much practice using my legs. I have only used them once or twice during trips to the surface to look at the twinkling ligh