The Enchantress of the sea

CHAPTER 11

After a hearty breakfast of tomatoes, bread and milk, we got ready to leave. My father took the trailer with the boat, which he attached to the back of the car. It was an Italmarine Canadian, red and white, that he had bought to move to the sea in case of need.

That day, despite the gray sky, the wind was less strong than the day before. We arrived at the port of Dingle, where elderly people took a walk in front of the Paddy Bawn Brosnan bar. Dad parked near the boathouse and lowered the boat into the sea. One at a time we went up and started the journey, heading towards Slea Head, south-west of the peninsula. Where my mother had seen the sirens go. Offshore, from the blue and frothy sea, the pointed rocks of the Blasket Islands sprouted, which, like pointed and silent giants, protected the jagged coasts. Dad had told me that against those rocky shapes, four ships of the Invincible Armada were wrecked in 1588. The blue and light blue depth of the sea contrasted with the bright green of the fields. Dad turned off the engine and we waited for some signal to warn us of the sirens. I took the rope to tie Bryan, so that if instinct, intoxicated by the song of the creatures, could induce him to jump into the sea.

"What are you doing?" Trilly asked seeing that I tied the rope around Bryan's wrists.

“I have to protect him so he won't jump into the water. ” All the way she hadn't had the courage to ask why we carried a male human with us, a favourite prey of those beings, that’s what terrified me from head to toe. Now her curiosity had the upper hand. I tied the other end, keeping little distance, to the docking hooks. My legs were shaking as I did so.

"Ari, it will work." He whispered.

"I hope so, because otherwise I would never forgive myself."

We waited for some signal to announce the arrival of the enemy. The only noise was the roar of the waves that cradled the sleeping boat and the shriek of the seagulls that came down to the water in search of some lucky morsel and then resumed their flight. The immense sea and sky abyss extended before us, united in an eternal marriage, which made everything else small and insignificant. Even the boat, in that boundless blue, looked like a small fragment. A heartening solitude accompanied his hypnotic shaking.

While we were waiting, my mother decided to entertain us by talking about one of the most popular legends, that of undine Lorelai. Lorelai was a beautiful nymph, obviously immortal and the only way for her to become mortal was to fall in love with a mortal and give him a son. She found love in a knight, Sir Lawrence. The two married and she gave him a son. From that moment, however, she began to age. Her husband soon got tired of her and one afternoon, passing by the stables, Lorelei heard her husband snoring. Then she went in and found him in the arms of another woman. To punish him, the nymph cursed him, proclaiming that from that moment, the sleep for the man would have been fatal, because once asleep, his breath would stop.

"Damn!" Bryan exclaimed. "But isn't there a story where there is no man who causes curses to arise?"

I chuckled. "Most of the legends are tragic-romantic, from so on to physical transformation."

"But I do know a few jokes, so let's play down" he said.

"Yes, yes, come on!" Melody exclaimed happily.

“The teacher says to Trevor: what do you know about the Dead Sea? I did not know it was even sick, madam teacher! ".

We all laughed. Even my father smiled at his lips.

A mixture of emotions arose within me: fear, the hilarity of that light moment, but also so much melancholy at the idea that this could have been the last time we all would have been together.

“Or, always at school, Alfred asks the teacher: teacher, can we be punished for something that has not been done? Oh, certainly not - replies the teacher - and Alfred: well, because I haven’t done my homework ".

Twilight came soon, on an initially clear night that saw millions of stars appear shimmering around us like many ardent glances, among the clouds now reduced to filaments. As the minutes passed, the ocean turned black, in a mirror with the night, where a slice of pale moon was reflected in fragments. The waves, arriving at our boat, raised splashes that, in the air, became blue.

In the darkness, which enveloped everything, a gentle song began, which expanded vibrating in the air. They had arrived. I saw Bryan stiffen, clenching his fists. The pain began to grip him, the pain of not being able to dive to reach that enchanted music. We dived into the water, ready for the attack. At first it began to draw concentric circles that widened like the touch of a stone to the vibration of the water. Then five heads emerged, where the blue light from the moon and stars reflected off their white, iris-free eyes and skin, creating flickering games. Wet hair was glued to their face. The closest had them as dark as night, divided into two halves by a line in the middle.

"What do you want?" I blurted out. "Go away!"

In response, she showed a malicious grin and immediately afterwards, she showed her small, pointed teeth, as white as her eyes. She gurgled from her throat and began to growl. The rest of them went behind her, emitting the same verse. They were identical, sisters formed by the same demonic gene.

"Milly sent us to complete her revenge." Hissed the first. “Her soul sent us directly from the underworld. She chose us to continue what she could no longer do. "

"Milly has turned her revenge against herself ... not only has she entangled all our species, making herself discovered, but she has brought it to its end and that of Marmailand." My mother explained.

"We do not want to fight sisters, but to make it pay to all human beings who pass through our area." Said the siren on her left.

"And you consider yourselves our sisters?" Melody intervened. "We are not like this and we will never be like you ...".

"The sea is public and in the past there was room for everyone, peacefully living their own lives." Mum added.

"It's a war they started!" Again the first siren pressed. "However you choose, either you are with us or we will consider you our enemies".

The siren on the right, closest to the boat, turned at that moment. She had heard noises. Like a hound he began to sniff the air. Then she approached the boat, until he put his hands on it.

"A human ... a succulent man ..." she said licking his lips. "That's where it came from ..."

I swore I saw burr on the corners of my mouth. With one click I came behind her and I hit her with my tail, throwing her fifty meters away.

"Don't you dare touch him!" I threatened her, gritting her teeth. Together with me, the rest of the family roared too.

"You are the shame of the species, look how you are reduced!" Said he first siren that had spoken. All five jumped on us, pointing their hands to our throats. Fortunately, we were faster than they were. They were clearly rookies, untrained, who only obeyed their instincts; wandering souls, terrible and involved in a secular revenge as pawns in a game. We managed to dodge them and while Bryan's moans tore my heart, we in turn rushed on them, trying to hit them with the fin. But they were smarter and more intuitive than I expected.

They came in a circle and in a split second raised a wave a couple of meters high that would reach us in a few seconds. With my powers I was able to command it, penetrate it with my mind and push it away just before it broke down and could capsize the boat, bringing Bryan to death.

The water was under my control, to the amazement of our enemies and I turned it into a tentacle of the same length that I threw at them. I managed, however, to hit only one, which disintegrated like dust. The rest of them hid under water.

"Quick, Melody, burn it!" My sister concentrated all the warmth that came from her hands. This worked and the particles of the demon, which were about to settle, began to smoke, until it melted like snow in the sun.

"Anabel" The others shouted, furious.

I then bet on the fact that they were slower than we were and I started playing. Before I started I exchanged my thoughts with Melody.

"Ready?" I said to her. She nodded.

I began to move with her at an indescribable speed. I was on the right and Melody on the left, but in a split second we had exchanged. We disappeared under water and then reappeared on the opposite side. The four demonic creatures were confused. They ran after us without ever being able to understand where we were and we also joined Trilly, who had understood the game.

Mom and dad took care of two of them, striking arms and tails and defending themselves. The others chased us, that in the movement we raised dark waves with sparkling ripples, under the waxy moon.

"Let's get them, Kris!" The first snapped.

"Here I am!" I screamed. Kris advanced threateningly, roaring. His sharp teeth and nails were ready to sink into my flesh.

"And here I am, too!" Trilly shouted, on the opposite side from mine. They divided us a hundred meters. The demon looked first at me and then Trilly, then decided to attack me.

I stood still and as she arrived a few feet from me, Melody emerged behind her and grabbed her by the neck. Without further delay, she wrinkled her nose and the lines around her mouth and, with unprecedented ferocity, sank her teeth under her throat. I saw the fingernails sink to the skin of the neck, and the knuckles of the fingers tighten, by the force with which it clutched. Within seconds, she managed to cause a shark-like tear, tearing off part of her neck and the demon's head remained in her hand. As he had done with the previous one, he used heat to burn it.

I turned to look for his companion who was gone and with horror I saw that she had grabbed Bryan's legs and was trying to drag him into the water.

"NO!" I screamed. I dived underwater and moving like a dolphin, I approached the boat. When I emerged, a blow from her tail touched my face, causing an unbearable burning sensation. I tried not to care about it, and pounced on her, grabbing her arms.

"ARI" My sister shouted.

"Help mom and dad!" I retorted.

The demon nudged me in the stomach and managed to wriggle out and free herself.

With her index finger she drew a circle, which formed itself on the sea and in a few moments a wall of water rose, surrounding me and closing me in a prison.

In front of me there were filthy images of that being who was biting into Bryan and I felt something grow inside me, which made me burn and boil like a volcano in full swing. I had never felt so furious. I would have preferred to die a thousand times, to give my immortality rather than lose him. His life was much more important than mine.

I began to breathe quickly, puffing. Finally the wall of water exploded into millions of droplets, which returned to the sea.

The demon, meanwhile, had boarded the boat and sang. I saw her mouth open and enlarge (like a snake that manages to swallow the prey by expanding at will, even his mouth widened), while holding him still.

I was about to dive when Trilly emerged from the water and grabbed her by the hair. The evil creature let out excruciating screams as it fell back into the water. Trilly bit her arm, while I emerged in front of her. With one jump I took her head, twisted it and with her nails I tore the flesh and tore it off. So, calling Melody I threw it and she finished the job.

I saw my parents weary, while impetuous and with skilful swings, they responded to the blows and delivered them. The enemies remained better and shrewd to understand where the attack came from, even when Melody appeared behind them. However, now they were only two and we were four.

I decided to use my powers again. I placed my gaze on the wave that was about to reach them and turned it into a water tentacle. With amazement, I saw that it was not a single tentacle of water that got up, but two. Trilly was inches away from me and was doing the same thing. The two tentacles embraced the two sirens, drawing them to life. They lifted them by shaking them, while their screams did me nothing but pleasure, despite the fact that they were shrill and strong like those of an eagle. After beating them here and there, while the water they swallowed made them cough, Trilly and I pinched the tentacles and blew them up.

We had won. It was over. The siege was lifted. However, anger still flowed through my blood and my breath was still agitated by spasms.

My mother ran to hug me. "It's okay, Ari. Everything went fine. Now calm down and remember that you are good and you can control yourself. "

Bryan's thought made me clear again. "Come on, go to him." Melody followed.

I felt I was afraid; afraid of being me, at that moment, to hurt him. He squirmed and complained from the boat.

"Ari!" He called. "Ari, my love ... where are you?"

"You have gained great control over time, Ari." My father reassured me, showing me a smile after a long time.

"Go, come on!" He added.

The boat was about fifty meters from us, slightly shaken by the now gentle waves. I swam to him and jumped on the boat. A salty, ferrous smell hit my nostrils. I had to focus hard on my self-control in order not to follow in the footsteps of those demons. My fear of losing him was stronger than my desire for blood.

He was very weak, was struggling to breathe and had lost a lot of blood from the bites that were becoming infected as the blackening of the skin showed. I noticed with horror a long cut on the abdomen visible between the torn clothes.

Suddenly a lightning bolt came from the sky discharging onto the sea. The waters opened and Ager appeared in a dazzling light.

"I thought I had put an end to such a m******e!" He thundered.

"Sir, we have stopped some rebels who sowed terror." My father explained.

The god glanced at Bryan. "What about the human? You have been discovered yourself again! "

"Sir, Bryan helped us," I mumbled in tears, "acted as a bait so we could take demons, endangering his own life. He won't say anything, he proved it and now ... "I couldn't tell from how much I jumped," he's dying. "

The god took on a slightly softer face. "I want to save it!" I begged him. "How can I do it?"

“Rescue is coming and you will have to disappear forever! I offer you the opportunity to return to the sea but as guardians so that there are no other threats. "

My family and I looked at each other in silence.

"You have to decide now, but you will never go back to the mainland, you will stay in the abyss forever, hidden."

"All right." My father agreed.

"But we can't leave him here!" I cried desperately.

"Rescue will save him." My father tried to calm me down.

"He won't be arriving in time to the hospital." I insisted.

“Ari, I feel that your human part is about to dominate your nature because you have found a human who can give you a soul, but you have to make a choice", explained Ager, "or you become human forever, giving up your immortality and your family, or you go back to being what you were. "

"Ari, you're not one of them!" My father tried to convince me.

I was faced with the most difficult decision of my life: I risked never seeing my parents, my sister again and not living the sea anymore. The memory of my union with Bryan, however, made me understand that I was in great need to feel this way again, I could not help it. I loved my life as a human, I loved the idea of being able to have a normal but full mortal life, together with HIM.

"Dad, don't hate me, but I can't give up on him."

He remained silent for a few seconds and then hugged me. I held them all, one at a time, with all the strength I had, while tears mixed with sea drops. Then, with a lump in my throat, I saw them disappear forever among the waters.

Ager raised the trident, surrounding me and the light boat. I could not keep my eyes open.