The Vanguard was,by all reasonable standards,doomed.
Waves the size of four-story taverns slammed against the wooden hull, thunder split the sky like a cracking timber, and rain poured down so hard it felt like being pelted with wet gravel.
Sailors were screaming, ropes were snapping, and the captain was shouting frantic orders into the gale-orders that were completely drowned out by the sound of Saira groaning from the deck floor.
To anyone looking at her, Saira looked like a fragile, wide-eyed angel who had lost her way.
With her soft features, big innocent sapphire eyes, and a face that practically screamed “I volunteer at the orphan shelter,” she looked like the tragic victim of a cruel world.
She was not.
Saira was currently on this ship because she possessed a crippling, near-pathological gambling addiction.
After a single night of spectacularly bad dice rolls, she owed half the criminal underworld a small fortune, and “borrowing” a passage on a rickety merchant ship had been her only way to keep loan sharks from breaking her kneecaps.
Right now though, she didn’t care about the loan sharks nor did she care about the storm, or the broken mainmast.
She only cared about her stomach, which was currently trying to leap out of her throat and join the Ocean.
” Clear the deck!” A grizzled sailor yelled, sprinting past her and dodging a swinging barrel.
“We’re taking on water!
Miss Saira, get below deck!” “If I go below deck,” Saira wheezed, lying star-shaped on the wet wooden planks with the face of a dying saint, “I will die.
If I stay here, I might also die, but at least I can die with breeze in my hair.
Go on without me, Thomas.
Tell my ma I died doing what I love: complaining.” “My name is Barnaby!” The sailor screamed over the the roar of the wind, before being swept away by a rouge wave.
“Wait!
You are supposed to relay that message to my ma, Thomas!” She called out weakly, closing her eyes.
Honestly, a watery grave sounded exhausting, but it was still technically cheaper than paying back the money.
Then, through the deafening howl of the tempest, a sound drifted over the water.
It wasn’t wind.
It wasn’t thunder.
It was a voice-haunting, impossibly clear, and dripping with an ancient, irresistible magic.
The melody cut straight through the storm, echoing with a hypnotic pull that reached into the very souls of every crew member on board.
Instantly, the panic stopped.
The first mate dropped his rope, his eyes going wide and glassy.
“So…beautiful…” He whispered, before blithely climbing over the railing and doing a graceful cannonball straight into the raging vortex.
One by one, the rest of the crew followed suit.
The navigator threw his charts into the wind and dove headfirst into the sea.
The cook hoisted himself over the side with a serene smile.
Even the captain stopped clinging to the wheel, dusted off his coat, and politely stepped off the bow into the dark, churning depths.
Saira blinked, lifting her head an inch off the soaked deck.
“Wait.
Are we all having swimming lessons now?
In this weather?” She tried to listen to the song.
It was definitely a song.
A male voice, deep and resonant, singing in an alien language.
“The alien is going to conquer this world.” Saira muttered, rolling onto her side.
“Honestly?
Pitchy in the high notes.
I’ve heard better singing in the backroom of a crooked casino.” Her complete lack of self-preservation-combined with the fact that her brain was far too nauseous to process magical hypnosis-made her entirely immune.
While the rest of the ship emptied as her crew mates happily drowned themselves, Saira just laid there, wondering if the ocean would kindly stop spinning long enough for her to nap.
A huge wave crashed against the hull, splintering the vessel entirely.
The deck split open, and Saira slid straight into the freezing, dark water with a dull splash.
Great, she thought as she sank, watching the bubbles rise.
Now I’m wet, nauseous, AND broke.
She lazily kicked her legs, making zero genuine effort to swim to the surface.
As she drifted downward, a shadow moved swiftly through the dark water towards her.
His sharp, luminous emerald eyes locked onto her, glowing subtly in the dark ocean depths.
Webbed fingers reached out, his powerful tail cutting through the current as he swam towards his last victim that didn’t fall for his hypnotic voice.
He wrapped a strong arm around her waist, expecting her to thrash, cry or gaze at him in awe- especially given how delicate and innocent her face looked in the dim water.
Instead, this “delicate angel” looked him dead in the eye, pointed at his face, and mouthed: ‘your song was a three out of ten.’ Before the siren could process the sheer, unmitigated disrespect, Saira’s eyes rolled back.
The combination of sea sickness, near-drowning, and sheer exhaustion finally won out, and she went instantly limp in his arms, blacking out completely.
Left floating in the dark sea with an unconscious, thoroughly unimpressed human, Eagre stared at her in stunned silence.
Offended, deeply confused, and strangely determined to demand a better review, he kicked his tail and dragged the absurd girl toward the surface.
I’m not really sure if there’ll be readers out there who will enjoy my novel, but I’m really excited to share it with you.
I hope you’ll give it a chance!