The next day, the sun was hidden behind thick dark clouds as the enormous surfs of the blue ocean were bouncing the small boat to each other like a ball, from one to the other until they reached their destination. Upon the small deck of the ship sat Prince Draveric with a map open on his thigh and a compass in his hands.
Victor adjusted the sails as per the instruction from the prince. However, he kept on chanting about how he was being dragged here unwillingly and how he would never forgive him if he couldn't reach back home safely.
Victor was a childhood friend of the prince and his cousin, otherwise he wouldn't have dared whining in front of the notorious prince of Hunza who was feared by all. There were rumors about him that he wasn't a human due to many reasons; his power shows, his cruelty, the permanent wound on his face that caused him to be labeled as cursed and those sparkling silver eyes. His long blonde hair that were always effortlessly sprawled around his colossal shoulders didn't help make him appear any less intimidating.
The wind kept blowing his hair into his face as he busied himself with the directions until the compass ring started quivering like a falling leaf. It started going round and round without stopping at a certain spot. That was when he finally announced, "We are here."
Victor immediately stopped the boat and soon he realized that they had stopped in the middle of nowhere. There was no island in front of them or even around them. "Why can't I see anything? Do they even hide themselves from the eyes of humans?"
Instead of replying to him, Draveric stood up from the deck and rolled the map, putting it back into its steel case. He then adjusted the sails himself as he said, "They will guide us from here now, and get ready."
"Ready, why?" Victor was dumbfounded at the remark but soon he understood what Draverick meant when he took out a rope and started tying him up with a pole.
"Hey! What- what are you doing, Dray?" Victor was trying to struggle against his hold but he knew that it was fruitless. There was no match of his strength in the whole kingdom. Strong men were like fragile maidens before him.
"Look Dray, I really don't want to die yet. Alicia must be waiting for me. Our children, who will look after them?" he yelled and Draveric's hands unexpectedly stopped for a moment as he glared at him.
"And when the hell did you have children?" he gritted his teeth, frowning.
"I meant those I will have in the future." Victor said with the same straight face and Draveric actually considered feeding him to the hungry fishes for a moment.
"And Alicia must be from the future as well?" he raised an eyebrow, pulling the rope stronger around him.
Victor groaned and was about to say something when the air carried a soft, bubbling hum of a lullaby to his ears. He stopped struggling and went still, completely focused on the soft voice that was slowly growing louder enough for them to hear it clearly. His eyes went wide and body limp as he fell under the spell of the voice. Even Draveric stopped moving for quite a few moments but he still had control over his body unlike his cousin.
Immediately he took out a small glass bottle from his pocket that was secured with a cork. A drop of black liquid was glimmering through the transparent surroundings of the bottle. Pulling the cork off, he slurped the liquid that barely even wet his tongue. He didn't taste anything but that wasn't the point. It was supposed to protect him from the spell of Sirens and it was only for the people with strong will-power.
The master magician had told him that it would only work on such a man who had mastered suppressing his desire completely, such as a monk or someone whose self-control is stronger than his manly desires. He knew victor didn't possess any of those qualities so the potion would have been a waste on him. Draveric was there to protect him anyways.
The melodious song of the Sirens continued, getting even more beautiful with proceeding time. The voices were as soft as someone was floating above the clouds. They raised Goosebumps on the body but in a good way as they caused the heart to beat faster and the blood to get pumped in the lower half of the body. Draveric felt none of those things but he could witness everything on Victor, even the bulge in his pants at which he rolled his eyes.
As the song of Sirens didn't have any effect on him, he couldn't lead the way. He could have followed the direction of the sound but there were many, coming from all the directions. Thus, he remained dependent on Victor's eye directions and his body movements. It was as if he could see them but Draveric couldn't. He slowly started moving the boat towards wherever Victor looked and leaned.
Starting a little ahead of them was a layer of fog above the water which had gone completely still as if it too was under the enchanting spell of the sirens. As they slowly entered the fog, humongous rocks started appearing in the way and the path forward started getting narrower. Draveric was extra careful now as one wrong move and their ship was going to crash in the rocks. On the way he saw skeletons hanging down from the edges of the rocks.
As they started approaching closer to the origin of the sounds he saw Victor closing his eyes and puckering his lips as he were to kiss someone. That was when Draveric immediately reached over him and slapped him hard. It happened a few times again and every time Draveric rewarded him with a slap.
The fog started disappearing as the sun came out from behind the clouds, gawking at the interesting sight. All of a sudden an island appeared before his eyes which he was sure wasn't present there before. It was massive so it should have been visible from quite far away but it just came into sight as it grew out from the sea on the spot. That was half expected so without paying much attention to it Draveric guided the boat towards it. The song of the sirens had stopped until now but Victor had fallen unconscious along the pole. Draveric had checked him to make sure he was alive and thankfully he was breathing evenly.
He stopped the boat right near the island's boundary and threw down the anchor before untying Victor and throwing him on his shoulder as he came out onto the land. He set him down on the dry sand and started throwing water on his face. He was doing it slowly and also calling him, "Get up brother, what happened to you?"
Soon he heard a sound of leaves crushing behind him and a slight smirk took over the corner of his lips before it wiped off quickly. He went back to the act immediately, calling someone for help.
A woman appeared from behind the trees and came to stand before him. She stared weirdly at the two creatures called humans sitting before her.
Draveric looked up at the woman and for a moment he was taken aback by her sharp fish-like features. Her body was like a human's, even her bare legs but her face and the greenish hue of her skin was giving her away. She was covering herself with plants and seashells but most of her body was exposed, except the territories of her womanly parts. She was staring strangely at them with her dark eyes.
"Do you need help? She asked in a soft voice that was a contrast to her appearance.
"My brother- he needs help. He had fallen unconscious due to sea sickness and hunger. Can you bring us some food and water?" he asked in a low voice trying to make himself appear helpless and weak.
She kept staring at him for a while before she asked, "What happened to your face?"
"A sea monster attacked us on the way," he replied. He knew she was referring to his scar that for the very first time served the purpose of making him appear vulnerable instead of perilous.
"Come with me, I will give you all you need." she said finally, smiling sweetly at him but her eyes narrated other tales.
He could tell something awful was waiting for them…