The Beast Within

CHAPTER TWO

*"Siren! It's a Siren!!!"*

A ripple of a gasp flowed through the children at this, their eyes went wide with curiosity.

"I thought they were rumored to have all been killed by the non-Mages…" Braun started to say.

"The adults fishing by the sea wouldn't be lying now, would they?" Alan asked cruelly, cutting the rest of his sentence off.

Braun was unfazed by this, letting his peer's snide remarks just roll down his back, he was interested in other things… like the siren.

Magical creatures had started to disappear after the death of their monarchs and the disappearance of the Pillar families, although he lived by the sea, he had never once seen or heard of the sighting of a siren.

"Nana Hana, please may we go take a look?" He pleaded with the elderly lady who looked like she might like to gather them inside her hut, to a much safer place.

While they hadn't suffered any raids yet, there was no telling when one would happen, especially now that a magical creature was sighted, the non-Mages could feel threatened and come for their small fishing village.

"Alright." She conceded. "The bigger children may go see…" She allowed, knowing how much they must want to see what used to be a part of their culture.

"But Nana…

"Nana Hana…"

"We wanna go too…"

Some of the younger children started to protest but Nana Hana was hearing none of it, guiding the younger children into her hut with the promise of more stories.

The ones left were Braun, Alan, Sela, the two very forgettable boys and five others.

The yelling was getting even more intense now and even Alan who seemed to come off brave and unwavering faltered, the rest waiting for the one person who would make a move.

Braun who was shouldered behind when Nana Hana had given the go ahead, naturally shoved his way forward, everyone watching him closely to see what he would do.

It was clear that there was no love lost between Braun and the rest of the village children.

"You're a Mage without even the littlest spark of magic, Thierry." Alan drawled, light brown eyes cruel. "Where do you think you go?"

"Perhaps he hopes the Siren would take pity on his pathetic self and grant him some magic." One of Alan's followers added in a scratchy voice, floppy mud colored hair obscuring his face.

Braun still ignored them, it wasn't the first day of their cruel taunts, neither would it be the last, until he manifested the powerful lightning magic of his family then would he shut them up for good.

When he got to the front of the hesitating crowd, he stopped as well, looking deep in thought.

Sela just made a scoffing sound, rolling her eyes, she knew that Braun was foolishly brave, quick to jump into danger even though he was a weak i***t and she had been expecting him to charge in as usual.

"Don't just run in front and stand there, Braun." Another girl said in a cold voice, making no hesitation to start to shove him to the side.

"Let him be, Grace." Sela muttered, disappointment settling in her dark blue eyes.

Grace retracted her hand with much unhappiness, wanting to bully Braun some more.

"Right, we should be the one shoving him away." Alan placed a heavy hand on Braun's shoulder, a greasy smile on his face.

Braun just shrugged his hand off, earning surprised looks and sounds from the others, before Alan could retaliate with a spell or punch or both, he broke out into an all out run in the direction of the shouts.

"Thierry! You bastard!!!" Alan shook a fist at him, following after him.

The rest were spurred into action by this and in no time they were dashing through the village, Braun always in the lead.

For his miniature height he was quite a fast runner, lithely making sharp curves and turns that made it hard for Alan and his longer limbs to catch up.

The shouts were getting even louder and it didn't sound like they were cheering the Siren.

He skidded to a halt when he broke out of the cover of the village, the sandy beach stretching out for miles.

There was a fight at the point where the sea met land, there were two sirens and they looked nothing like Braun had been told, the adults were trying to catch them with nets which were easily broken by sharp claws.

The rest stopped behind him as well, harsh pants filling their quietened states as they watched on in horror as the older Mages fought against the Sirens.

"W-What?" Sela stuttered, eyes wide. "Why?" She whispered, shrinking back, Grace hid her face in her friend's shoulders as someone was ripped to shreds.

An adult noticed the staring children and started yelling for them to run back to the village for shelter, the children started to shrink back at this but not Braun.

In that moment that a fisherman had broken them from their frozen states of horror, he broke forward, running straight for the Sirens, grabbing a harpoon as his smaller frame moved swift and low against the sand.

"Braun!!!" Sela yelled just as Alan grabbed her hand to pull her back to the village. "You absolute moron!!" She screamed at him, tears in her eyes.

"Leave him be, Sela." Alan was quick to say, pulling her roughly. "It'll be best if he gets eaten as well."

Sela watched helplessly as Braun's dark blond hair disappeared in the middle of distracted adults who were trying to prevent the Sirens from entering the village and wreaking havoc on helpless women and children.

She and Alan were the last left at the beach with her struggling, the others long gone.

"Sela!" Alan yelled at her, "Let's get go…" his yelling got punctuated by the dying screams of another villager, his eyes wide with horror. "... or we'll end up dead…"

Sela couldn't do it, she hated the little annoying midget but she knew him and his foolish bravery, he would not stop till he was dead.