Monster
By Ella, Year 9
Chapter 1: I Play Catch With A Cranky Octopus
Takari
When I woke up this morning, getting thrown ten metres in the air by a giant tentacle was not on my to-do list. In my defence, the kraken attached to the tentacle snuck up on me. You’d be surprised to find how stealthy a monster that big can be…
Alright, time for introductions. My name is Takari Thalassa and I am a pirate.
Onboard the most magnificent ship of all time, The Siren’s Bane, we were facing a rather… tricky situation. Our boat had a lovely gaping hole in its dark blue sail, everyone was madly chopping at anything tentacle-esque, and the deep-green kraken that had just burst up the side of our ship was opening its gaping maw wide – man, do those things ever brush their teeth?
‘What in the seven seas is going on?!?’
Ah — my least favourite person of all time.
Linion is the first mate. Is he a good first mate? Not at all. Does he uphold the basic honour code amongst pirates? No. Does he ever do anything other than complain? Nope. Is he, however, an arrogant little bum who enjoys rubbing it in my face that I’m not the first mate and he is? Yes. Yes, he is.
I straightened my posture and puffed out my chest like Linion does when he’s about to explain something in the most condescending way possible, ‘Well my dear Linion, we are currently attempting to invite this lovely kraken to tea.’
Linion sneered at my sarcasm and hurried off up the ship — probably to complain. I laughed to myself and started off towards the stern — and got rudely interrupted by a fat tentacle wrapping around my waist and lifting me high in the air.
(No, I didn’t scream like a little girl. I screamed like a proper pirate, thank you very much.)
My stomach dropped violently as the deck got further and further away — and then the water closer and closer.
‘Ah, great.’
I have been dropped into the ocean before, but it really doesn’t get any easier. I crashed into the ice-cold water and started panicking. Salt water marched up my nose and down my throat. The tentacle wrapped around my waist tightened, and I winced as a strong, sharp pain crept across my middle, making me cough out the little air I had gulped down.
Then, just as suddenly as I was plunged in, I was yanked out of the water and into the cold air. All the screaming and fighting onboard the ship came back in a rush as I shook the water out of my stinging eyes and swiped my frizzy red hair out of my mouth. Now that breathing was a bit easier, I scrambled for the dagger at my hip and slid it out. I plunged the dagger into the tentacle and held on to the hilt for dear life as the kraken flailed around. The dagger came free from the tentacle and I dropped to the deck a couple metres down, bending my legs to absorb the shock.
The fighting was only getting more intense, pirates swinging weapons at the monster, thick tentacles tearing at the sail and mast, and a fair bit of blood around in general. I got up off the deck, shaking out my tingling legs and was immediately faced with another tentacle keen on ripping me limb from limb.
In general, pirates love a good sword fight, no matter who it’s with. I drew out my two black cutlasses, grinning wildly as adrenaline coursed through me. Fighting with my signature weapons is like fighting with an extension of myself. It becomes a whirling dance, just me, my cutlasses and the enemy. It’s ruthless, beautiful and the slightest bit terrifying.
In just a matter of seconds, kraken blood was everywhere and there was one less enemy to worry about. The adrenaline coursed through me and I moved off up the ship to kick some more kraken butt. I passed my older sister Pipyr, who grinned at me as she sliced up the tentacle she was occupied with into sushi. (I’ve actually had kraken sushi once at a port we stopped off at years ago. It was a bit errrr…undercooked. Let’s just say we were both heaving our guts up the next day…)
At the wheel, our captain was occupied with slicing up a tentacle trying to squeeze his head off.
I have learned a few things about Captain Atrius Nefion over the years I have been a part of his crew… One: he does not like Sirens. Two: you do NOT want to make him angry. Three: he likes yelling.
‘AAAAARRRRGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!’
A lot.
‘THAT’S WHAT A PIRATE VICTORY TASTES LIKE YOU BLOODY MONSTER!’ he roars as the now decapitated tentacle drops to the deck. The bloodthirsty gleam in his eyes would have terrified any man stupid enough to get near him and his barrel of a chest heaved. I cracked a smile when he looked my way and he responded with a wink before barrelling off to obliterate more tentacles. I laughed to myself before doing the same.
Suddenly, the beast froze. I mean the whole body, slimy tentacles and all, just stopped. The stark contrast from the violent fighting startled everybody, and the ship went dead silent. No one moved or spoke.
‘What the heck is going on?’
People were frozen in action — mid swing at a tentacle or in the air wrapped up in a tentacle. No one spoke. No one moved. The only thing that moved was the kraken, slowly turning away from the ship and looking off across the ocean. Then we heard it. A long sharp whistle from across the sea. Three notes. Up, down, up. Three dark, ominous, chilling notes. A burning chill slithered up my spine.
The beast slithers back into the sea, tentacles disappearing below the dark surface. For a while, no one spoke. I think everyone was just too shocked to speak. Monster attacks are semi-normal in Tathdel, but that’s just what they are — random attacks on an unsuspecting ship by a mindless monster. That was not what this was. This was… different somehow. And it was terrifying.
Captain Atrius was the first to recover.
‘Is everyone alright?’
There was a chorus of stunned yeses and Atrius nodded reassuringly. He didn’t fool anyone though; everyone on board could see our captain was also shaken — and that is a very rare sight.
Chapter 2 – Pipyr Attempts A Kraken Mating Call
In my cabin later that night, the fight with the kraken was still in my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about, well, multiple things. For one, the kraken and the weird, spooky whistle from across the sea. Two, my cracked rib from the kraken (Which hurt quite a lot actually! I do not recommend getting your ribs cracked!). And three — our captain. Captain Atrius had been captain of The Siren’s Bane for as long as anyone can remember. He’s a beast of a man with dark skin, a barrel of a chest and an unshakeable demeanour along with his…strong…personality. It is a unanimous feeling that he is the calm in the storm amongst the crew. Seeing him shaken was — to say the least — terrifying.
I looked around my cabin. Yes, it was cramped. Yes, it sometimes leaked a little — we’re on a ship, what do you expect? But it was home. Pipyr and I had been on The Siren’s Bane since I was eight, when Atrius had picked up two scrappy girls from Port Tiaiell. I don’t know what he saw in us, nor do I really remember how it had happened — I was eight okay? But I do remember that I was proud. So proud that I could be a part of Captain Atrius’s crew on board The Siren’s Bane.
In Tathdel, being a pirate is an honour. Well, sort of. We do the whole pillaging other ships thing and the… aggressive poking… with swords. So if you look at it a different way, yes, we are the scoundrels we are made out to be, the monsters that parents tell their children about to keep them good. You know — ‘Eat your veggies or Captain Atrius and his crew will come eat you for breakfast!’ (Okay, I may be exaggerating slightly, but what’s life without a little exaggeration?) We are kind of scoundrels, but we are also protectors. Protectors of mermaids.
Mermaids are one of the most powerful creatures of all because of one thing — their scales. Legends say that if consumed, the scales let you command the beasts of the seas — krakens, sirens, hydra… you know. All the scary ones. Other legends say you go insane and kill everyone you love. Others say both. The only man to have ever consumed a mermaid scale is long dead — they say he was devoured by the very hydra he commanded… Cheerful, right?
Sirens, however, are considered a completely different kettle of fish. In short, sirens are the evil version of mermaids. Well, that’s the very stereotypical way they’re seen. Just because sirens have been known to sing sailors to their deaths and sink ships doesn’t mean they’re all evil! (Keep an open mind okay?)
For ten whole years it had been my home. I kind of didn’t want it to be smashed to smithereens by sea monsters and sirens.
My sister Pipyr opened the door — without knocking of course — interrupting my train of thought.
‘How rude!’ I exclaimed in a haughty voice we like to call “the Linion voice…”, ‘Don’t you knock?’
‘Oh my, I am deeply sorry dear lady,’ she replied in the same voice with a deep, grovelling bow. ‘But as you happen to be my darling sister…’ she dropped the voice with a grin. ‘I’m afraid I do not care.’
Pipyr dropped the voice and plonked herself down on my bed — or more on top of me.
‘Get off!’
We have a lovely relationship.
Pipyr stuck her tongue out at me but reluctantly got off. Pipyr is the older sister by four years and will use that “older sister advantage” that she likes to pull out from time to time — usually when I attempt to dob her in for something and she pulls out dirt she has on me that I don’t even remember.
‘Still thinking about today?’ she asked with a small smile.
‘No,’ I stubbornly replied.
Pipyr laughed. ‘Stop overthinking it, ’Kari! It was probably just someone trying to spook random ships and it got the attention of the kraken,’ she grinned slyly. ‘Or maybe it was a kraken mating call.’
She tilted her head up and flailed her arms around in a way that was supposed to seem kraken-esque, but sounded more like a seagull and a cat being strangled.
‘Eww, gross!’ I laughed.
We both laughed at the thought then went quiet for a bit.
‘And if it was something else,’ Pipyr said softly. ‘Then we’ll deal with it. Captain Atrius always knows what to do.’ She nudged my shoulder. ‘We’re the bravest ship in all the seven seas and you know it.’
I smiled slightly at that. That was what Pipyr had said to convince me to join The Siren’s Bane, all those years ago. The thought that we could be protectors… that is what convinced me.
Whatever the strange behaviour of the kraken today was… we would get past it. And you never know — maybe it was a kraken mating call. Maybe we wouldn’t have an attack like that again and we could forget about the whole weird experience.
I wish I could say we forgot and it was all fine, but little did we know, the strange attacks were far from over. And they only got worse.
Chapter 3 – Saved! (By The People We Hate…)
Takari
First krakens, now hydra.
For those of you who are lucky enough to have never met a hydra, they’re pretty ugly and very, very bad tempered. Hydra are nine-headed snake-like monsters that are large enough and ugly enough to crunch apart ships like it’s no trouble at all. They have seven rows of lovely sharp teeth, poisonous breath and the uncanny ability to grow two new heads in the place of one that just happens to get cut off by an inexperienced pirate (I definitely haven’t cut off a hydra head before, I just know…because…)
The hydra we were fighting already had regrown an extra four heads because someone (cough, cough, Linion) didn’t learn from his mistakes.
In my opinion, hydra are harder to kill than a kraken. To stop the heads from growing back, you’ve pretty much got to set fire to the neck of the head that got chopped off; and fire on a pirate ship…? Not a great idea.
Again, there was yelling and fighting all throughout the ship. The stupid thing — the hydra, not Linion this time — had busted a hole in the deck and was getting into the kitchen supplies. That poor kitchen boy — I’m pretty sure he peed his pants.
Pirates generally don’t like asking for help, but there is such thing as the pirate honour code; pretty much a piratey pact — “you’re a pirate, I’m a pirate, how about we don’t kill each other?” kind of thing. When a pirate ship is in need of assistance (i.e. sinking under a hydra attack), any surrounding ships must go and help or face the wrath of… something very scary and terrible (I don’t actually know what happens – I just know that no one’s ever dared to do it.)
In our situation, we desperately needed help, so I was stoked when the lookout who was trying to avoid getting eaten yelled, ‘Ship!’
This gave new energy to the exhausted crew, and a fresh wave of fighting hit the hydra. If we could just hang on that little while longer, we’d have twice the men we already had and would have a better chance to kick this thing’s big, scaly butt.
Good news — the ship arrived in time to save us from sinking.
Bad news — we really hated this crew.
Zeph
I’ll have you know that The Siren’s Bane is not the bravest ship in all the seven seas — The Sea-Swift is.
My name is Zephalarius Calarel and I am the first mate on board the actual bravest ship in the seven seas, The Sea-Swift. I hate my full name, so I go by Zeph. If anyone calls me “Zephalarius”, they will find themselves at the end of a cutlass. Moral of the story — do not call me Zephalarius.
Honestly, it was only because of the honour code that we helped The Siren’s Bane — stupid honour code. You could see The Siren’s Bane’s crew getting their butts whooped from a mile away, and I’m going to be completely honest here — I laughed. Nothing is more satisfying than seeing people you dislike getting a good butt-whooping. Buuuut we did have to help. (Again, stupid honour code…)
Takari
The Sea-Swift came up alongside our ship and their crew swarmed onboard and started chopping (not at the heads, thankfully). It was pure chaos. A deep-skinned pirate from the other ship ran into me and he frowned at me — as if it was my fault we ran into each other! I skirted around him and drew my cutlasses at the hydra head behind him, and (unfortunately) saved his life in the process (YOU’RE WELCOME, JERK-FACE!).
‘What a self-entitled block-head.’
Stupid Sea-Swift – we could totally have handled the hydra without their help!!
Zeph
They could not have handled the hydra without our help.
Nearly as soon as I stepped on board the other ship, a girl with wild red hair crashed into me.
‘Hey!! She exclaimed angrily, skirting around me to stab at the hydra looming behind me. ‘Watch where you’re going!’
‘What a fiery little nitwit.’
And no, she did not save my life. My awesome reflexes one hundred percent would have kicked in and it would have been totally impressive.
Takari
I saved his life. And it was awesome. (I would have liked some grovelling as a thank you though…)
Chapter 4 – Making Friends With Swifties
The Siren’s Bane was a mess. It is a little discouraging to see your home of ten years and counting partially destroyed. With all the monster attacks over the last few days, our ship was nearly sinking.
The hydra attack had ended the same way as all the other attacks had — by the monster freezing and turning away, and that same, chilling, spine-tingling whistle. Up, down, up. It turns out the crew of The Sea-Swift — which I have dubbed ‘Swifties’ — had been experiencing the exact same attacks, so they also recognised the whistle. Both crews crossed over to The Sea-Swift — only because our ship wasn’t doing so well in holding much weight. Immediately after the fight, Captain Atrius and the captain of the Swifties, Captain Mailia, disappeared into our captain’s study, which left the two crews to ‘relax’. (It was not relaxing at all with the amount of tension on the ship.) But it seemed that for now, both crews would have to set aside our dislike to face these monsters — or it would tear us all apart.
*
The dark-skinned boy who ran into me during the fight sat across from me at the table. There was this kind of staring contest going on and it seemed that both of us were too proud and too awesome to quit.
‘You’re not going to win this,’ the boy smirked.
‘And you are?’ I snorted. ‘A two-year-old could do better than you.’
Ahhh — I love some good banter.
I will not admit I said this, but this boy is actually alright. It gives me someone to bounce snarky comments off (Linion doesn’t get my humour, poor man) and he actually kind of has the same thoughts as me about the monster-whistle thing. There may or may not have been a little bit of ranting about the reactions of our respective captains.
‘Captain Mailia is trying to pass it off as just a series of weird monster behaviour patterns but she’s not doing great in hiding what she’s really thinking.’
‘I know!’ I exclaimed frustratedly. ‘Captain Atrius was terrified. I have never seen him so… shaken.’
The conversation went quiet.
‘What’s your name?’
I raised one eyebrow. ‘Small talk? Really?’
He flushed slightly. ‘It’s not small talk! It’s basic introductions! Don’t you get taught anything besides stabbing and yelling on your ship?’
‘Unbelievable!’
I felt like laughing — this guy was nearly as snarky as I am!
‘Takari.’
‘Huh?’
I rolled my eyes. Nearly as snarky, not quite as bright.
‘That’s my name, dingbat.’
He raised his eyebrow before replying.
‘Zeph.’
‘I assume that’s your name?’
Zeph nodded.
‘Short for anything?’ I asked.
He paused, considering whether to tell me or not. I waited expectantly for an answer.
‘Zephalanius.’
‘Zephalanius???’
Zeph — or Zephalanius — groaned. “‘ knew I shouldn’t have told you.’
‘What, why?’ I laughed.
Zephalanius — *ha* — scowled at me. ‘Take a wild guess.’
I laughed harder — that was probably the reason why.
*
The two captains came out of the study and both crews fell silent, waiting.
‘Crew of The Siren’s Bane,’ Atrius rumbled, ‘Our ship is currently not sea-worthy. Captain Mailia and the crew of The Sea-Swift are willing to host us until The Siren’s Bane is repaired.’
‘We are?’ Zeph whispered to me. I stifled a laugh.
‘In the meantime,’ continued Mailia in her raspy voice. ‘The Sea-Swift will sail to Port lrune for help. By the time we return, the monster problem should be solved.’
There was a stir amongst the two crews at this news. Both crews had been bending under the pressure of the relentless attacks, so the idea that we could have some relief from that was amazing.
Atrius’s commanding voice quietened the talking. ‘Captain Mailia and I will both pick half our crews to come along on The Sea-Swift and the other half of the crews will stay behind and repair The Siren’s Bane.’ His gaze swept over the watching men and women. ‘We leave tomorrow morning to visit one Nevarth Montagor.’
Chapter 5 – We Meet The Keeper Of… Something Important?
Nevarth Montagor is the kind of shady guy who enjoys living somewhere that looks like it’s out of a horror movie. Sailing into Port lrune, a cold fog descended onto the ship. Captain Atrius and Captain Mailia share a look laced with worry and fear, a look I had never seen on our stoic captain before. Dark mountains loomed over Sea-Swift, and the only sound was the whooshing of the sails through the chilly night.
I looked over at Zeph, who was staring around at the gloomy cove with a mixture of awe and maybe a little fear. He met my eyes and leaned over to whisper, ‘What do you think?’
‘I think,’ I replied softly, ‘We are about to delve into something very dangerous.’
*
‘Dear friends!’ Nevarth beamed as we came through the heavy wooden door.
‘What brings you here after so much time adventuring the seven seas?’
Mailia stared at Nevarth coldly before replying, ‘We need your help, Nevarth. Your creatures are getting out of control.’
‘My creatures?’
The man shook his head with a soft laugh.
‘So you’re finally giving me credit for my achievements.’
‘Enough!’ Atrius slammed his hand on the table, making everyone except Mailia and Nevarth jump. Nevarth sat back and considered Atrius with gleaming eyes. The two men stared each other down and the tension in the room grew to an almost unbearable point, until Nevarth sat back, shoulders shaking. At first I thought he was crying, but after a second I realised that it was laughter making his body shake.
‘This guy is insane.’
‘So you finally see the method to my madness, old friend.”’
He stood up slowly and walked over to the adjacent door, beckoning to Atrius and Mailia as he opened it.
‘Come.’
*
I’ll tell you this, waiting while you know something important is happening is hard. Really hard.
I paced around the small room while we waited, every so often checking the door to see whether the two captains and Nevarth were back yet. Zeph however, sat in his seat, taking in our surroundings and watching me with a mildly amused look on his face.
‘Don’t you ever sit still?’ he asked, smiling slightly.
‘Don’t you ever want to know what’s going on?’ I retorted.
Sitting still makes me annoyed.
Zeph smiled again and went silent. I resumed my pacing. I paced back over to the table and sat down. Then stood up again.
‘Alright, that is it.’
Zeph looked up with a questioning look.
‘We,’ I said, ‘Are going to find out what is going on.’
Zeph laughed. ‘I’m surprised you didn’t say that sooner.’
I grinned and together we walked across to the door connecting the two rooms, putting our ears up against the crack.
‘Atrius, are you sure?’
‘We don’t have another option. He won’t stop,’ came the reply.
‘Mermaid scales are dangerous things to be dealing with. If we do this, there’s no turning back,’ came the muffled voice of Captain Mailia.
I turned to Zeph, shocked. ‘Mermaid scales?’ I mouthed.
Zeph’s eyes widened and he lifted his shoulders helplessly. What was going on? Why was this strange guy offering mermaid scales?
There was movement in the room and Nevarth said softly, ‘Have you made a decision, friends? Will you take me up on my offer?’
There was silence from the two captains. Nevarth laughed softly.
‘Don’t worry, my friends — the effects of the scales will not kill you. I’m still alive aren’t I?’
A chill went down my spine. First Atrius accused Nevarth; said that the monster attacks were his fault. Now… had Nevarth actually eaten a mermaid scale?
‘Do you accept the scales?’ You could hear the barely-contained excitement in his voice, clear as day.
Zeph and I looked at each other, worried what answer would come.
‘Yes.’
Zeph met my eyes and I saw my own fear reflected.
The captains had accepted the mermaid scales.
Chapter 6 – Fire
Back onboard the ship, Zeph and I sat in tense silence on board the ship. Neither of us had said a word of what we had overheard to anyone, and it didn’t seem like either captain was going to either.
Once the captains and Nevarth had come out of the room in Port Irune, Nevarth had seen us off, still watching the ships as they sailed smoothly out of the cove. He was still watching as we rounded the bend and the port slipped away from our view. It was creepy, to say the least.
I was in my temporary cabin on The Sea-Swift when I smelled… smoke? The next minute, Zeph came hurtling around the corner into my room.
‘There’s such a thing as knocking’’ I snarked, then stopped when I saw the look on his face — panic.
‘What’s wrong?’ I asked.
‘We need to get help,’ he breathed heavily, hands on knees. ‘There’s a fire onboard.’
My eyes widened. ‘I’ll go get the captains.’
I started out the door but Zeph caught my arm.
‘Kira, Atrius set the fire. In Mailia’s cabin.’
My head spun and I swayed on my feet.
‘What?’
He shook his head. ‘I saw Atrius set it. Right after he took the bag with the scales from her cabin and ate one.’
‘No. No, no, no, no.’
I rushed out of the cabin and the smell of smoke filled my nostrils and I staggered back. Zeph coughed behind me and we sprinted towards the cabin. Other crew members are already there, some yelling, some just standing there in shock. Captain Mailia’s cabin was up in bright flames; there’s no way she could have survived that.
Then from out of the flames came a broad-shouldered figure — Captain Atrius, carrying a charred Mailia. I started towards him but Zeph pulled me back, leaning down to whisper in my ear.
‘He doesn’t know we know.’
Atrius heaved Mailia’s burnt body to the ground and checked for a pulse. Everyone crowded around. Atrius shook his head. Nothing.
He was painting the perfect picture — a distraught captain who’d lost a dear friend — who now must lead and take on the responsibility of two crews.
He’s such a bloody good actor.
Later that afternoon, both crews were still in shock from the fire. We all sat around on the deck until Atrius came out of his cabin. Everyone looked to him for what to do next.
Atrius takes a deep breath.
‘Because of this tragedy, I will take care of both crews.’
‘Knew it.’
‘I will lead the destruction of the creatures responsible for this.’
Everyone leaned forward — what creatures? How did he know who was supposedly ‘responsible’ for the murder?
Atrius’s eyes hardened, his pupils dilated.
‘Sirens.’
Chapter 7 – Storm
The Siren’s Bane sailed across the smooth surface of the glassy water with Captain Atrius at the wheel. He stared ahead with stoic determination written all over his face. He looked up at the sky, which was rapidly darkening, even though it was only mid-morning. I stood on the lower deck with Zeph, watching Atrius grip the wheel with white knuckles.
‘You okay?’ Zeph asked me softly.
I met his gaze and shrugged.
‘I guess.’
Zeph opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the captain.
‘Linion.’
Atrius’s booming voice echoed out over the quiet ship. Linion looked up from the map he was studying with fear in his eyes. Everyone could sense the change in our captain, even though only Zeph and I knew why.
The first mate hurried up to Atrius and the captain leant down to say something to Linion. Linion nodded hurriedly and went inside the captain’s cabin. Atrius moved his gaze higher again to the darkening sky and something shifted in his expression. Linion hurried out with armfuls of beeswax and Atrius came down from the wheel. Automatically, the whole crew crowded around. The first mate started handing out balls of beeswax to the crew and everyone took it silently.
‘Wait,’ Atrius held up his hand.
Linion paused in giving a young boy who worked in the kitchen the beeswax.
‘Not him.’
Linion tilted his head questioningly but complied, moving onto the next crew member until everyone onboard had the wax — except for the boy.
‘I am expecting a siren attack,’ Atrius said, ‘The beeswax will block the siren’s song. This boy,’ he gestured to the now terrified kitchen boy who hadn’t been given beeswax, ‘Will draw the siren in.’
The boy was definitely terrified. To be fair, so was I, and so was everyone on that ship. Now everyone definitely knew something had changed in the captain.
The dark clouds rolled and rumbled, and the kitchen boy sobbed with terror as he crouched at the stern of the ship. The waves picked up and crashed against the boat’s hull as a massive storm loomed over our ship.
Atrius stood just behind the boy at the stern of the ship with a wicked-looking harpoon gun in his hands and a heavy net behind him at the ready. The whole ship waited, tense as a bowstring. The most alarming fact was that none of us knew what our captain was planning.
Suddenly, Atrius let out a beastly yell and threw the harpoon with all his might at something glistening in the water. The thing in the water screamed an outraged, hissing sound as the harpoon struck, and then followed by the heavy net Atrius threw.
In seconds, the writhing thing was being pulled up onboard for all of us to see.
It was a siren.
‘Shoot.’
The siren writhed around in the net and the crew stepped back in a wide circle around her. She hissed and stared around at us with wild green eyes. Her gaze paused on me and she tilted her head as she looked into my eyes.
‘Don’t panic, don’t react, please, please, please.’
Atrius strolled up to the siren and loomed over her. I was the only one who noticed the wild, animalistic look in his eyes — he didn’t want justice. He wanted blood.
‘Well, well, well. Look what I’ve caught.’
The siren glared at him.
‘Oh yay,’ she spat, ‘A pirate.’
Atrius gave a toothy smile — it was ice cold.
‘Put it in the cage below decks,’ he commanded, his hungry eyes not straying from the siren’s. ‘It’ll be a gift to Nevarth.’
The siren’s expression faltered. Every single siren and mermaid knows the name Nevarth. Except most of them have been lucky enough not to meet Nervath — for any mermaid or siren who meets Nervath, it’s usually the last thing they do.
Everyone dispersed, curious about the siren, but fearful as to what Atrius would do if they asked.
The kitchen boy was nowhere to be found.
*
That night, while everyone was asleep, I snuck in to get the siren out.
The siren’s cage was stowed away with the kitchen supplies and through the doorway I could see her curled up in the shallow water, clawing at the bars.
I entered the room, tip-toeing. The siren’s head snapped up at the small sound and I was met with bright green eyes.
‘What?’ She narrowed her eyes at me.
I hesitated. ‘Do you know what I am?’
She paused, then gave me a sly smile.
‘I do indeed, daughter of Aglaope.’
My stomach fluttered at the mention of my mother; famous amongst sirens. I hadn’t seen her since I was four — the day she had left me and Pipyr at Port Tiaiell.
The siren considered me with narrowed eyes.
‘They don’t know, do they?’
I shivered.
‘No.’
My crew didn’t know. Pipyr was the only one who knew who I really was.
A half-siren.
The half-siren.
Daughter of Aglaope Thalassa, the Siren Queen. The Dark Siren of Eiresti.
‘So,’ the siren rested her chin in her hand, her eyes curious. ‘Have you finally chosen to come and live where you belong?’
I looked away. My mother had been quite… consistent in attempting to persuade me to join her in Eiresti, the home of sirens. Consistent as in sending multiple messengers any time I was along — usually either sirens or strangely demented seagulls…
‘I can’t yet.’
The siren studies my face before answering.
‘You do know you’ll have to claim your position as Dark Siren of Eiresti soon, right?’
I took a deep breath.
‘I know.’
It would have been alright. If only I had been a little earlier, our conversation would have been kept a secret. If only…
We heard footsteps coming from the other room and both of us looked up in alarm.
‘I’ve got to go,’ I whispered hurriedly. ‘I’ll get you out of here later.’
The siren nodded once, and I ran off. I had just got the door closed when I heard a voice inside the supply room.
‘Who were you talking to, monster?’
A chill ran down my spine. It was Captain Atrius.
‘I was not talking to anyone, land-scum.’ The siren hissed.
A scrape of metal on metal. The siren went silent.
‘I will ask once more,’ the captain’s voice was soft, but not at all friendly. ‘Who was it?
A pause.
‘Someone I am more than willing to die for.’
Another pause, then a small cry of pain.
‘Was their name by any chance… Takari?’
I covered my mouth.
‘How?’
The siren’s stunned silence was confirmation enough.
‘You have been… most helpful.’
All I heard next was a small gasp… then silence from the siren.
‘Sorry, Nevarth,’ I could hear the insane grin in Atrius’s voice. ‘No gift for you.’
I ran.
Chapter 8 – Hunt
I got back to my cabin in a rush, my heart wild in my chest.
‘What should I do? Do I run? No, that’s ridiculous, we’re in the middle of the ocean! Do I turn myself in? No, of course not! Only an idiot would do that — Atrius is probably going to kill me! Looks like we’re hiding then.’
Gasping with adrenaline and terror, I stumbled out of my cabin — and straight into Zeph.
‘Takari?’ His eyes were full of concern.
‘He’s scared for me.’ My brain dimly registered as I tried to stagger past him. Zeph grabbed my shoulders.
‘Hey, what’s going on?’
‘Got to hide,’ I gasped. ‘Atrius… he knows.’
Zeph’s face showed his confusion but he pushed it down and guided me over to his cabin down the hall.
‘Hide in here.’
The next few moments passed in a blur.
My breathing slowed and vision cleared and I found myself in Zeph’s cabin. He was crouched in front of me, waiting. I took a deep breath and started talking.
By the end of it, Zeph had sat back and was staring at the wall in shock.
‘It just occurred to me,’ I said shakily. ‘Now that you know this, you’re going to tell Captain Atrius.’ I smile but only feel terror. ‘Oh well — he would have told everyone anyway.’
I’m fairly sure I’m going delusional.
Zeph brought his eyes back to mine. He didn’t even hesitate in what he said next.
‘I’m not going to tell him, Takari.’
I laughed. ‘Yeah, I’m definitely going insane. It kind of sounded like you said you wouldn’t tell him.’
Zeph wasn’t laughing.
‘I’m not going to tell him,’ he repeated.
I was… frankly, speechless.
‘Why?’
Zeph hesitated, then there was a bang on the door, making me jump.
‘Everyone up!’ came Linion’s reedy voice. ‘Whole-crew search for Takari Thalassa!’
*
I rested in my little hidden corner of Zeph’s cabin, but didn’t sleep — I was too high-strung. Zeph had been called to the search around an hour ago and hadn’t returned yet. I was terrified that they’d think of doing a cabin check too — then I really would be screwed.
The door of the cabin opened and I waited tensely — it was Zeph.
I let out a sigh of relief, but the look on Zeph’s face stopped me.
‘What happened?’
‘He’s told the whole crew. Everyone knows you’re…’
‘A siren.’
Just two words, but they held so much weight.
I took a deep breath. ‘Anything else?
Zeph hesitated, then shook his head.
‘I don’t think I should tell you.’
There was tense silence.
‘Zeph,’ I said slowly. ‘What happened?’
Zeph hesitates before answering.
‘Your sister.’
I froze.
‘What?’
‘Atrius is saying that if you don’t turn up in an hour,’ Zeph said slowly. ‘Pipyr suffers in your place.’
In my place.
He would kill her.
I stumbled up from my seated position, but Zeph put a hand on my shoulder.
‘Stop, Kira, there’s nothing we can do.’
‘Yes there is!’ I exclaimed. ‘I can go out there and give myself up!’
So I snuck out to where she was being held.
And it turns out, there wasn’t anything I could do.
I talked to Pipyr before… the hour was up. She begged me to not give myself up. I couldn’t get the chains off her. And then I heard steps. So I hugged her, tears streaming down both our faces. Then I hid.
It was the worst decision of my life.
Chapter 9 – Mooring
‘We’re still heading back to Port Irune.’
I awoke to Atrius’s voice. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and eased out my cramping legs into a crouch. Zeph’s voice answered the captain.
‘Captain… are you sure?’
‘The monster has the advantage at sea — going back to land will give us the advantage. Besides, I can also get Nevarth to give me a hand.’
I shivered. ‘A monster’ — that’s supposed to be me.
‘When will we get there?’ Zeph asked casually.
‘Around four hours. We’ll moor in the cove and search the ship there.’
It was such a clever way of getting me information — I would have been dead already if not for Zeph.
The guilt of Pipyr’s death played over in my mind again and I sank back into my hiding spot.
I had to survive.
For Pipyr.
*
Four hours later, we were there, back at Port Irune. A chill ran down my spine as I looked out the porthole. As soon as we moored, I was out of that ship. I had been living on a ship nearly my whole life, but I had never felt so claustrophobic.
The dark mountains loomed over either side of the ship as we slowly drifted into the cove. I could hear stomping feet above as everyone readied to moor — and hunt. I heard a creak outside my hiding spot and I froze — was it one of the searching crew? Or even Captain Atrius himself? Instead, a boy with dark-toned skin stuck his head around the corner.
‘Takari?’
I breathed a long sigh of relief and stepped out of my little hidden corner.
‘Here.’
Zeph came closer. He hesitated, then wrapped his arms around me in a hug. I froze for a second. The only person who’d ever hugged me was… Pipyr.
‘You okay?’ He asked, leaning back to study my face.
I nodded, although we both knew I wasn’t. ‘We’re mooring now?’
He confirmed with a nod. ‘I’ll try to stall longer but…’
‘Don’t get caught,’ I interrupted him. ‘Don’t get caught for me.’ Zeph hesitated, stepping back.
Damn it, why did he have to be so stubborn?
‘Zeph, I know what you’re thinking. Don’t. Do. It’
He nodded, but didn’t look convinced.
‘Why does this feel like a goodbye?’ I whispered.
Zeph looked into my eyes, his gaze softening. He took a step closer to me. Then another, leaning down slightly.
There was a noise from above and both of us looked up.
‘I should probably go.’
He didn’t want to though. I nodded.
Zeph leaned down and briefly leaned his forehead against mine. I closed my eyes.
‘I wish we had more time.’
‘Be safe,’ he said.
I wish I could have promised him that.
Chapter 10 – Swords On The Mountain
Takari
Running, running, running. My breath caught in my throat but I forced my body to keep moving, keep running, don’t get caught. Pirates swarmed through the mountains and all I could do was keep. Running.
I came to the top of a mountain, overlooking the sea. Of course, it had to be a perfectly steep cliff-face leading down to the crashing waves below.
Shoot.
There are heavy footsteps behind me and I turn to see the exact person I would rather not see — Captain Atrius. The man’s eyes gleamed with an inhumane yearning for blood as he advanced.
‘Monster.’
I would not, could not show how deeply these words hurt.
‘I’m not a monster.’
I hate how shaky my voice is.
Atrius watches me with wild eyes. His hand grips his sword with deathly determination; determination to kill me.
‘Thought you could run away, monster?’
Step.
‘Thought you could escape?’
Step.
He grins. ‘You’re a monster. You cannot escape a hunter.’
Step.
That’s when I saw the effect of the scales; it was thought that consuming a mermaid scale would drive you insane — it looked like that was true.
Atrius paused as I drew my two black cutlasses. I hate how my hands are shaking. I hate him. I hate him, I hate him, IhatehimIhatehimIhatehim.
The words become a mantra in my mind and I in turn advance on him.
I hate him.
‘You,’ I seethe. ‘You took my sister from me. You hunt me down because of your superstition. You dare call me a monster?’
I laugh softly and shake my head. ‘No. I think… you’re the monster.’
And with a yell, I charge.
Zeph
I only found Kari because I heard the clash of swords and heartfelt, raw yelling. I ran through the mountains, branches whipping my legs and arms until I came to the mountaintop. I’ll be honest — seeing two pirates swinging at each other with cutlasses is terrifying. Both Takari and Captain Atrius had a wild, desperate look in their eyes and were completely engrossed in this wild dance of clashing swords.
I took a step forward and my gaze focused on Takari. Her eyes are red and raw, her bright, fiery hair was flying everywhere and she was screaming pure, raw emotion with each blow she landed.
In that moment I knew I’d do anything for her.
I drew my sabre just as Atrius knocked her off her feet, sending her flying backwards.
Then I charged.
Takari
Atrius knocked me off my feet, and my breath was beat out of my lungs as I hit the hard ground. I saw Atrius advance through my exhausted, blurry vision. I fully thought I was gone, but then he came. Zeph came.
When I saw him I felt a mixture of elation, gratefulness and fear — he did not stand a chance against Atrius in a fight. Yes he was a great fighter, but Atrius simply had more strength, more speed, more experience.
Nearly as soon as I got up off my feet, Atrius and Zeph were fighting harder than I have ever seen anyone fight. I rushed in and swung my blade at Atrius.
For the next few minutes, it was just me and Zeph, side by side against the monster, a dance of blades.
Atrius’s blade swung up towards my head, and I brought my swords up to avoid the blow. The blow glanced off my cutlass and sliced down my arm. A burning heat ran down my arm and I dropped one of my cutlasses. I knelt down to pick it back up, other sword guarding my head. Atrius and Zeph kept fighting above me. I heard one, distinct clash. Then a pause in the swords. Then a grunt of pain.
Time slowed down.
There was blood everywhere.
I didn’t know whose it was.
Then Atrius drew his blade out from where it was sheathed in Zeph’s chest.
Zeph met my eyes.
‘I’m sorry,’ his eyes seemed to say.
Then he fell.
*
I don’t really know what happened next.
I think I went mad.
The next thing I remembered was hot tears streaming down my face and my two beautiful blades. Covered in dark, hot blood. Atrius’s blood.
He stared at me for a second before barking a cruel, short laugh.
‘You’re only proving me right. You really are a monster.’
Then he fell too.
I will never forget his last word.
‘Monster.’
Chapter 11 – Monster
I stood on the mountain overlooking the sea. I’d buried him but still tears rushed down my face. They don’t stop.
Atrius didn’t deserve a burial, after all he did to me. I threw his body over the cliff-face and into the merciless waves below.
I joined The Siren’s Bane when I was eight with my sister. I fought krakens and hydra alongside my sister. I laughed and cried with my sister.
Then she was taken from me.
I met Zeph while fighting alongside him. I saved his life, and he saved mine. We fought Atrius together. We might have even loved each other.
Then he was taken from me.
I am tired of denying what I am. I am a siren. I am The Siren. Because of Atrius, I am the monster parents will tell their children about at night. He showed his crew an image of a bloodthirsty, terrifying monster, and that is what they saw. And apparently, a monster like me needed to suffer and have everything taken from her.
So maybe I might become a monster.
And maybe, just maybe, I won’t care.
My name is Takari Thalassa, former pirate of The Siren’s Bane, slaughterer of Captain Atrius Nefion, daughter of Aglaope Thalassa, heir to the Siren Throne, and the Dark Siren of Eiresti.
I am a monster.
The Day the Stars Fell From the Sky by Amelia was created as part of Story Factory’s Novella Kitchen. Nine young people were invited to Story Factory in September for the Novella Kitchen, a two-day, bite-sized, book-writing bootcamp that gave them a taste of Story Factory’s Year of the Novella program – and the challenge of writing an entire novella in a single weekend.