The Mermaid’s Lullaby.

Cassius watched Rooster heft his coat more heavily around his shoulders, breathing into his hands to keep the chill of morning away. It was moments like that where he was thankful for being a vampire.

The sun was just beginning to rise, casting brilliant shades of pink and gold over the water. They sat in a small rowboat on the edges of the harbor, the soft rocking giving off a feeling of calm. The large fishing city would normally see fishermen out at that time of morning, but recent reports of mermaid attacks had kept them at bay. Rooster and Cassius had decided to investigate while the rest of their party looked into a haunted opera house in the rich district of the city.

“I’d put the wax in that Helai made for us, if I were you. We’re not sure when the mermaids are bound to show their ugly, scaled faces.” Rooster messed with the net he had set at the front of the boat, and Cassius complied, shoving the wax plugs in his ears. He’d have to remind himself to thank Helai for the idea later. She was definitely proving to be the brains of the party.

“Do you suppose we’ll wait long?” Cassius asked. He was already daydreaming about returning to the Broken Arrow Inn, where Felix would grant him his own bottle of red wine and the bath house made in his honor could wipe the grime from his limbs. The thought of such pleasantries nearly curbed the hunger for blood that cradled the base of Cassius’ throat. Nearly.

“Not long, I imagine.” Rooster was barely able to get the words out before they saw a shimmering green light approaching in the water, accompanied by the soft melody of a woman singing. It was quiet hums, buffered by the wax plugs in Cassius’ ear. Still, he could feel the pull to gaze into the water.

“What’re you doin’ so far out here, sailors?” A soft voice called out behind them. Rooster was the first to turn, his eyes wide and deceitful. The woman had pulled herself up on the side of the rowboat, resting her chin upon her arms as she stared at the both of them in quiet contemplation. Another shimmer of green light, and her tail splashed out of the water, green scales glinting off the rising sun. She was beautiful, by human standards, with luminescent emerald eyes and dark hair that tumbled around her shoulders in wet curls. She smiled coyly at Rooster, who reciprocated.

“I’m huntin’.” Before the mermaid could react, he threw the net, trapping her inside. Cassius moved immediately to help Rooster hold her as she began to thrash, the shrill of her screams so loud they pierced through the plugs and into Cassius’ head.

They pulled her aboard, watching as she transformed from pretty maiden to horrifying beast, becoming more shark-like than human. Her fingers became talons, her mouth opening to reveal several rows of teeth.

“Keep her still! I need to cut out her heart.” Rooster instructed, and Cassius clamped down on her arms, not taking note the moment she kicked him in the side of the head and knocked the wax plugs out. Cassius watched in horror as they hit the bottom of the boat, and the music from the water became louder, clearer.

“Cassius no— no don’t—” Rooster’s words were lost as Cassius plunged into the water and saw at least six mermaids swim towards him before pain erupted over the back of his head and everything went black.

——————————————————

Cassius woke to the sound of humming, haunting and mournful. He was wet, sand coating his body. His hair, undone from its half bun, strung in clumps across his face. He was in a cave, the reflection of the water shimmering against the damp walls. As his vision cleared, he realized he sat on an island of sand in the middle of the cavern, and Rooster was next to him, still unconscious.

Cassius dared not move as he saw a woman sitting on the opposite bank, webbed fingers wielding a knife over the corpse of a man. With chilling clarity, Cassius realized two things: the corpse matched the descriptions of the missing man from the postings board inside the Broken Arrow, and that the woman sitting above the corpse was no woman at all.

She was a mermaid.

She sang softly as she sunk her knife into the corpse and cut, almost as if she were lulling her child to sleep. Cassius felt dizzy as the singing washed over him, urging his eyes to close. It felt very much the same when he was a child, sitting on the shores of his homeland with his brother, and the waves were soft and comforting as they washed over his feet.

No, he mustn’t sleep. If he slept, he and Rooster would surely die.

Rooster began to stir, soft groans emitting from his lips and pulling Cassius back from the shoreline. Before his eyes could truly open, Cassius scooted to him and clamped his hand over his mouth. He struggled not to breath through his nose, as the vein that ran along Rooster’s neck was all too intoxicating. He’d need to feed as soon as they got out of this wretched place.

Rooster did not attempt to scream, eyes darting up to meet Cassius’, and then a nod of understanding was made. Cassius let go immediately, and they watched as several more mermaids flopped ashore, their fins turning to legs as soon as their bodies hit wet sand. Cassius had never known mermaids able to transform that way, but the world had been strange as of late. He glanced over at Rooster.

“We need to figure out a way to leave before they notice their next meal is awake, or that I’ll taste rotten to them,” he whispered as Rooster nodded in agreement.

“Aye. I’ve got enough alcohol running through my veins to get ‘em drunk. Don’t think they’ll take too kindly to it.”

Cassius might have laughed, if it weren’t for the circumstances they found themselves in. Soft green light reflected off the water, bounced off the walls of the cavern they were in. The mermaid had stopped singing, as she had begun to feast, and Cassius could see no way out. It was likely the only exit was underwater, which wouldn’t be a problem for an undead like him, but might for Rooster, who needed air to breathe.

Rooster began to crawl towards the water just as a resounding crack snapped in the air, a flash of white light momentarily blinding them as the mermaids all hissed and screeched, slipping into the water. How unlucky, thought Cassius, before he saw a crocodile’s head lift above the water, a smaller lizard riding on their back. It was Linda and Intoh, the lizard folk that traveled with them. Cassius had never been fond of lizardkind, perhaps due to lack of knowledge about them, but in that moment he had never been more thankful to see them in his life.

The water became a churn of chaos as Linda hunted, tinging blue with red as they ripped mermaids apart with their jaw. Intoh casted magic from Linda’s back, one spell hitting Rooster right in the chest.

“Human can now breathe water. Best time to leave. Go quickly.” Intoh spoke in rushed, small sentences, and Cassius did not wait to find out who followed him as he dove head first into the water. The chill bit at his skin, but he found the opening to the cavern with little effort, the dark, green tinted water nearly sheathing it from view. He could hear Rooster’s heartbeat, strong and quick, behind him. A mermaid attempted to grab his ankle as he slipped through the exit, and his human appearance disillusioned, revealing the vampiric monstrosity underneath. Fangs unsheathed, he pulled his lips back in snarl and curled in on himself, pulling the mermaid near enough to sink his teeth in. She stank of fish and tasted worse, and he bit only long enough to tear her jugular out, staining the water as he shot forward, swimming until he saw the light of the sun above him.

Outside of the cavern, his head hit the surface to Helai, skin sun-kissed, hair an inky black and thrown over her shoulder in its usual braid. She said something softly in the language of her people before she leaned over the side of the rowboat she was in, offering her assistance.

“Help Rooster first,” he said as Rooster broke surface, gasping for air. With the aid of Cassius and Helai, they were able to get him on the boat, where he laid on his back with his hand on his chest as Cassius climbed in himself.

“Fucking mermaids,” he heaved, rolling over on his side to throw up water. A moment or two later, Linda appeared, maw open as a small hiss escaped their lips.

“Fish things dead. Not taste good. Want good fish,” they said, swimming around the rowboat in circles. Intoh climbed onto the boat, perching on the edge. He was missing a large chunk out of the blue-green scales at his shoulder, but if it bothered him, he did not say so.

“Could use breakfast too. Hungry, starving. Let’s go to the Broken Arrow, yes?” He said, shaking water from the spikes at his back.

Helai nodded as Rooster sat up. Cassius sat at the back, grabbing the oars as Linda followed the party in the water. “And let’s all agree to never fuck with mermaids again.”

They all agreed, and Cassius glanced behind them one last time, taking note that the green light had faded from the water, and with it, his hunger. The mermaid’s blood had tasted vile, rotten even, but it had sated him, for the time being.

He couldn’t wait for his bath.

_____

* Note: Thanks for reading my submission for SFS 6: Green Light! This is taken from a novel series I’m writing, the characters a part of a D&D campaign I’m a part of. If you enjoyed what you saw, consider leaving a heart and, if you’re so inclined, a tip. Have a wonderful day! :)