Coming Soon: The Winding Woods: The Siren from the Silver Sea 11/8/24
Book 2: The Winding Woods: Siren From the Silver Sea
“I’ll entertain your crew for a ride on your ship.” Her voice sweetly drifted through the air, meeting the sailor’s ear.
He turned and smiled at the woman, looking her up and down, admiring her curves. Her green eyes were mesmerizing and all he could focus on, with the rest of her face hidden in the shadows of her hood. The salty sea air filled his nose as the hem of her skirt twirled in the breeze. He watched her for a moment, lost for words, until he felt a bump on his shoulder as one of the other sailors nudged him as he passed by with a crate. He shook his head to separate their gaze, then cleared his throat. “That’s hardly a deal as you would be another mouth to feed, and I can’t just toss you in the cabin with my men. Sorry.”
He turned to climb back onto the ship’s plank as the cargo was nearly all on deck, and the winds from the south were starting to pick up. He was about to set foot on deck when he heard the whimsical song coming from behind him. He froze in his tracks, hypnotized by the words of an unknown language. It made him feel safe and warm inside, like sitting by the fire when he was a child listening to his mother sing to him. The woman continued her song as she walked past him, moving onto the deck, disappearing below.
“Smith! Are you all right? Hello? SMITH?!” His mate had him by the shoulders and was shaking him violently. “You’re going to fall into the water standing here. Go drink something and get out of the sun.” Smith just nodded and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand as he looked around for the woman.
“Did you see her?” He asked as he looked back at his friend, his eyes full of hope and wonder.
“That woman you were talking to on the shore. Yeah? What about her?” Jones tossed him an apple before taking a bite out of his own. Sweet juice dripped onto his chin with each bite.
“No, she came on the ship! Walked right past me. I think she went down below.” Smith’s face was twisted as he tried to remember the words of the song, humming the notes to himself.
“I didn’t see anyone come aboard. Just you talking to yourself, teetering like you were going to go overboard. Are you all right?” Smith had a confused look painted across his face as he quietly nodded. “We better have a look before the Captain finds her. I’m not scrubbing anything extra because you allowed someone to sneak on his ship.” Jones chomped the last few bites of his apple before tossing the core over the side of the rail. “Stop looking like you’ve seen a ghost. Let’s go!”
The two sailors went below and searched every room on the ship to no avail. “She’s not here. There isn’t any place for her to hide.”
“I saw her!” He was red in the face and his voice louder than it needed to be. The other men below deck started to turn to see what the commotion was about. Jones waved them off with a chuckle before getting closer to Smith.
“Are you losing it, man? We are just setting sail. We’ll be on this ship for a month or two. Are you going to be all right?”
Smith lost the wild look in his eye as he solemnly nodded. He knew he needed the money and couldn’t afford not to go on this run.
Not long after they moved back to the main deck, the ship set sail heading north. The wind was on their side and, in less than an hour’s time, they were out to where no land could be seen. The work kept Jones and Smith busy throughout the evening, working on unpacking the supplies. As the moon rose on a cloudless night, sailors started settling, most of which had already gone below to sleep. The Captain was in his corridor, finishing off his supper as he looked over his journals from previous adventures to the north. He measured their distance by his charts and poured himself a mug full of rum when he heard singing coming from the deck. He sat for the moment and rubbed his eyes; he had to be dreaming. There were no women on board. Again, the sweet song of words he didn’t recognize poured through his window.
He took his mug and made his way out onto the deck. The sailors started to come up as well to see where the sweet song was coming from.
“I told you she was on board!” Smith hissed through his teeth at Jones as he stumbled over his own feet, making his way to the railing trying to get as close as possible to watch her.
“Where did she come from!” The Captain demanded as he heard Smith’s loud whisper. “There shouldn’t be any women on my ship!”
“She snuck on, sir. We searched the ship after Smith thought he saw her, but we couldn’t find any trace of her and thought she left before we left shore.” Jones was quick with his response as he removed his hat while talking to the Captain. He didn’t dare make eye contact as he looked down at his feet.
The Captain could no longer ignore the hypnotic sound coming from the woman perched at the bow. His thoughts were lost in a fog as he stared at her silhouette in the moonlight. He handed his mug to Jones. Without taking his eyes off her, he adjusted his hat and smoothed its long white feathers on its brim back before making the walk to greet her.
With each step that he took, the darker the night’s sky became. Clouds started to roll in, covering the light from the moon.
Her song echoed on the waves of the water as if she were calling out to the sea.
“Why are you on my ship? You were not invited to be here.” The Captain was able to say as his voice felt stuck in his throat.
She stopped singing and stood there in silence for a moment. “One of your sailors allowed me onto your ship.” She didn’t turn to face him and continued to watch the waves crash against the ship.
“Smith said he told you no to passage.”
“He didn’t stop me from coming on board.” Her voice was still light and sounded almost as if she was signing that, too.
“Face me when I am speaking to you!” His voice was deeper now as the fog he felt was lifting over him.
The woman turned. Her cloak hid her face from his inquiring eyes. It clung to the curves of her body, leaving the Captain dumbfounded for a moment before he found the voice to speak. “You will be brought ashore when we are near land. I can’t have a woman on this ship. It’s a distraction to my men.” He gestured with his arm to the few dozen men that now stood behind him, sloppily laying over the rail watching her every move. “If you were a man, I would have tossed you over the rail already!”
“No.” Her voice was no longer airy; it now had a sternness that matched his tone as she turned her back on him and looked back into the darkness of the sea.
He felt his blood start to run hot, and the vein in his neck started to pulsate. “I am the Captain of this ship, and you will not say no to me! Do not turn your back on me!” He reached out his hand and grabbed her by the shoulder, spinning her around to face him. The hood of her cloak fell, revealing her face to him for the first time. Her hair was long and silvery white that shined in the bit of light left from the moon. Emerald eyes glowed mischievously as he focused on her full pouty lips. He took a deep breath, holding it for a moment as he gently let go of her shoulder.
“You will need to obey my orders with respect while you’re on my ship.” He lowered his voice to a soft whisper as he stared into her eyes. He feared that his sailors were going to hear their conversation.
She smirked before turning once again back to the water. “We will see how that goes.”
“Why won’t you play nice and just smile for me?” He felt the need to win her over as he tried to spin her around again, this time gently. Instead of turning toward him, she started to sing in the strange language he didn’t know. His head began to feel heavy, and he felt tired like he hadn’t slept for a lifetime. “Just a little smile for the Captain?” He whispered through a yawn.
Her song stopped, and there were once again only the crashing waves heard. She took a breath. “You want me to smile, Captain?” She turned to face him as he stood there, nodding at her. At first, she smirked at him, reaching up to untie the strings of her cloak, allowing it to fall to the ground gracefully. She extended her hands, grabbing the Captain by the shirt and drawing him closer to her body. She giggled before smiling at him. Her teeth crowded her mouth forming sharp jagged points filling multiple rows like a shark’s jaw. All the blood rushed from the Captain’s face as he tried to retreat in terror.
“My debt was paid! Please have mercy on me!” He could not escape the grasp of the woman.
She let out a shriek before pulling the Captain close enough that their noses touched. “The Sea Witch sends her regards.” She jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist before pulling him over the rail of the ship and crashing into the icy water below. As her body submerged in the icy sea, she freed her legs from around the Captain’s waist, dragging him under by his neck. Her legs grew scales and formed into a tail as her fingers began to web together.
The crew all shook themselves free of the hypnotic trance and ran to the rail. The Captain could feel his lungs burn the farther down she dragged him. He could only see the glowing green eyes passing him in the darkness, heading to the surface to greet his crew on the boat. The siren sang to the sailors as one by one they were plucked overboard, disappearing into the darkness below.
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