They entered the magical forest without sound, the knights were looking around to watch out for anything behind Elizebeth and Emily. Derrick walked behind her, guarded them both as he focused on the front.
In her dreams, every emotion was deep and grimace. Across the forest's haze, she glanced at a yellow tree. Deep in those vibrant color woods, dipped down the hill, must live magical creatures with the facade of different levels. Deep in her heart, she knew that she meant to be here in the core of that forest, deep in its ancient heart.
Despite the lack of creatures' shadow, the birds' song shone and sunlight sank deep to her soul, all as the rich canopy creates a calming kaleidoscope upon the ground. And upon the forest floor so woven with ancient tree roots came a light filtered.
The forest hums with life all around them. She twirled about, gazing up at the colorful canopy, searching for the magical creatures that sing sweetly. The sun breaks through the cracks, lighting up the orange grass path ahead of her, decorated with outgrown roots, wildflowers, and colorful fallen leaves that crunched beneath her feet. They trudged on, taking in the fragrance of sweet grass and the cold earth. Each breath was like water, fresh and cleansing, flowing smoothly inside her lungs.
The sight was so breathtaking. It was much different than a normal forest. In the distance, they heard the river was a slice of mellow harmony amid the fragrant leaves. It flows in rhythm, calming to the heart, always putting a smile on her face.
"Yellow tree?" Emily spoke, rigid.
"Orange." Elizebeth pointed her finger at the orange trees that soon came in view. She didn't realize they were already deep in a forest.
"It's beautiful." Derrick conveyed his heart.
Elizebeth nodded in agreement. It was indeed beautiful. In her dream, she could not appreciate the sight. Even though it was from the future, the forest facet remained constant, grander than a night with vibrant colors.
"I hear the river." Elizebeth stepped towards the direction with her instinct.
"Do you want to see the river, My Lady?"
She heard sir Derrick asked the question, she swore she wanted to answer but the sound of the river, the river winds slapped her cheeks, she couldn't resist the temptation. Her heart was greedy for something. Her heart was pounding harder, clenching into nothingness. There's only one mission she had to fulfill. She must satisfy her curiosity. The river was calling for her.
"My Lady… do you have something over there?" Emily took her hand afraid they separated.
"No… nothing…" She mumbled. Bewitched by the cold breeze. Her eyes flickering slowly, looking at something.
"My Lady…" sir Derrick took her another hand, after signaling the other knights to be careful.
And they heard it. Among the river flow, among the cold breeze, among the sweet scent of the flowers and trees, they heard it. A rather small voice singing very loudly yet far from them. The voice was so enthralled. Their body responded to it. They walked toward the direction.
It took them only a few minutes before they'd arrived in a secluded area. A little part of the river that had never known its existence. The voice succeeded lured them like a pied piper. Numbing their senses, listening to the wishes of the voice, following the rhyme of the voice.
"The trespassers." The alluring voice sang.
"M'not." Denied Elizebeth, answering the voice at ease. Her round green eyes stared straight into them. "You are beautiful. A mermaid?"
The voice stopped singing, the smile stretched on their face turned into amusement. The captivated voice released the rest of her group. In a mischief manner, they opened their mouths as they noted that Elizebeth still watched them tentatively without blinking. It's cool to see a human being didn't captivate by their sweet voice.
"Wow." She took a step back to see the sharp teeth of that being. Her eyes getting rounded and the beautiful green reflecting on it.
"You too… wow."
"You are sir siren." Claimed her without care. Emily and the knights plopped on the ground aftereffect of the voice. The voice was alluring but at the same time the poison of the mind. People would be dizzy if they heard it longer than 20 minutes and might go into a shock if more than that.
"Sir siren?" Arched his brow.
Elizebeth smiled coolly at him. "My name is… Meredith." She trailed off for a bit.
The siren flickered his gaze over her, before looking behind her. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. The dizzy team of hers permanently drops on the ground with a balmy and even breath.
"They are sleeping for a while." Told him when Elizebeth glanced at them.
"Oh, cool." She beamed and strode towards the young teenage boy with three steps. "May I come closer?" She asked for permission.
The siren looked at her in his interesting gaze again. "You are peculiar."
'You have a very peculiar character yourself.'
The sudden flashed back startled her. The same words with different arrangements of wording took her back. Where did she hear a sentence?
"What are you doing, sir siren?" She decided to ignore it.
"I'm injured." Answered the siren truthfully and showed his injured fin.
Elizebeth scrutinized the fin from afar as she didn't receive the permission to come closer.
"Come closer, young one." The siren waved at her, beckoned her to come closer.
She fluttered her gaze over him, her mouth open a little. The siren got the distinct impression that the curious lady was evaluating him again, trying to see past all his smiley mask that he'd mastered after years of practice. He widened his grin. Many have tried including his family but few have succeeded. It was her luck to meet the most complicated siren in the whole siren family.
"You don't want to?"
Elizebeth seemed to ponder. She turned towards the fallen members as she finally said, "you can't read me. I know who you are, you don't know me?" The tricky smile plastering her mouth as she turned back at him.
"Interesting," his mouth blurted out the words unplanned. The small lady possessed a very different aura than the knights and the maid. If they exuded a typical human aura, making the sirens hated them the most, however, Elizebeth exuded a novel aura. It's so dominant even for the powerful siren as himself.
"We are the same." Rooted in her own place.
The siren couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips. "You can call me Logan." He extended his hand.
"You told me your name." Bemused. Elizebeth raised her eyebrows as she caught that hand. "You can't bewitch me once I learn your name, sir Logan." The cool hand connected with her warm hand, it created a spark between them, inevitably.
"How do you know I'm not lying?"
She glanced at Logan pointedly. "Siren has pride but they are not liars."
The smirk getting bigger. Elizebeth sparked his interest. "You are an interesting human. Dare I not to bewitch you anymore."
Elizebeth tilted her chin up. "What are you planning? I am fully aware of your siren pride. Humans are a dirty being and you hate us."
He glanced away and remained silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts as he played with the river water. Sitting at the edge of the riverbank, while his fin in the water. He let Elizebeth stand closer a few meters away from him.
"Do you wish me to help you?" She offered her hand as she watched Logan playing his injured fin inside the river.
"You want- you want to help me?" He stammered. It's his first time to hear a human offering their hand for a siren. The misconception of sirens made by humans makes humans stay away from them. Threw terrible remarks to the sirens, which later ignored their entire existence, purposely.
"If you want to." She shrugged.
If Elizebeth were to choose her further action, she preferred to help the siren rather than stay idle waiting for the team to back on their foot once again. A siren spell on them should take them five hours to undo it naturally. It's shorter when the siren undoes it for her though.
"You want to help me?" Logan asked truthfully.
"If you want to." Repeated Elizebeth, idling lolling her head into consideration. "But I need my knight to follow me. I'm not familiar with this forest."
"You are peculiar." Logan chuckled lightly not far from her but she didn't turn to see it.
Once again with a peculiar word. Was she too unique for them to perceive?
"You don't want to?"
Logan put his hands on the air to show he didn't accuse her of something negative. "You are interesting. No malice intention."
She finally turned to frown at Logan. "Did I say something remotely about it? It's a normal question."
"You are hard to please too. I like it." He grinned.
That's when she appreciated the beauty in front of her. Logan was a handsome siren. His hair was white like a white sheet. His skin was tanned even though he was living inside the water, the fin was purple. He may be around 12-year-old, more or less.