What caught my attention first was the frantic motions of the fish that soon parted to reveal the terrified faces of the younglings. Their thoughts battered at me before I motioned them to be silent. Indicating the oldest, Nymph, I motioned her forward. "What happened?"
"We were playing in one of the freshwater lakes when six armed humans emerged from the trees. One said something to us and then tried to shoot us but another stopped him. After we fled I saw the second human best the first in a fight." Before letting my rage cloud my judgment I reached out to her and pressed my hand to her head to see what she had seen. It was just as she said. A human with hair like dirty sunlight told them to leave and then tried to shoot them but another human with intense dark eyes and equally dark hair stopped him. Before the water covered her head she heard the dark eyed one yelling at the other.
Pulling back I looked into Nymph's eyes before pulling her close. "You went where you were not supposed to. Now all of you. Go home." Watching them scatter I felt troubled. For some reason the dark eyed one seemed familiar. After I was relieved by one of the younglings' mothers my mind was too occupied to allow me to sleep so I wandered. I ended up in one of the few bodies of water that were 'neutral ground' though most of the time Sirens avoided it due to the traps the humans liked to leave around.
Coming to the surface I breathed out the water in my lungs and in the air that smelled of soil, trees, and grass. There was something else that was just faint enough to be indecipherable. Following it I soon spotted a human crouched near the waters edge with his back to the water. Easing forward I heard him muttering to himself. "Why must they act like monsters? Why can't they leave well enough alone?" As I watched he froze for a moment before carefully sheathing the knife he had been working with and tossing the mangled remains of a trap aside.
"You know it's kinda rude to sneak up on someone." Flinching I lowered myself back into the water a bit. Turning slowly the human scanned the water around me before his eyes, dark eyes, settled on me. "Well hello." What surprised me wasn't the fact that he hadn't made a move for any of the weapons that were well within his reach, it was the fact he was genuine in his greeting. Raising out of the water a bit I saw his eyes flick down before focusing back on my face.
As I did the wind picked up and the scent I had followed here billowed around me stirring something I thought long dead. The scent was human and not at the same time. Eyes widening I remembered why the human seemed to be familiar. "You are the Shadow in the Trees." I could see and feel the recognition enter his mind as his gaze flicked down again and settled for a brief moment on the circular scar in between my breasts before raising to look me in the face again. "You. I'm glad you survived." Again, I was surprised by how genuine he was. "I would not have without your help."
I faintly heard the events of that week through his thoughts. I could feel his sorrow for the lives he had taken. "Are the younglings okay?" Blinking, I pushed my momentary shock at his knowledge away. "They are unharmed. Scared but unharmed." Slowly I made my way farther out of the water. As I did so I saw his eyes trace the scars that adorned my body. I remembered how I received every one of them, from the smallest knick to the deepest gash.
"Good. When I saw no blood in the water I thought they were okay but I still needed to ask." Studying him I eased into a sitting position in front of him. "Who was the golden haired one?" Almost immediately I saw his expression darken in tandem with his thoughts as one word echoed in his mind and from his mouth. "Connor. He was one of the prisoners the Sirens held before the Accords went into effect. I'm not making an excuse for him, nothing can excuse trying to harm a child, merely offering an explanation."
Studying him, both with my eyes and my mind, I came to a realization that explained some of his knowledge. "You were one of the humans that helped make sure the Accords were fair. It's why I can read you so clearly." Nodding he leaned forward, bracing his arms on his knees. "Yes. You can also project into my mind if you want. It's how we initially communicated with the Sirens." Projecting an image of the humans that had been with him on the shore I asked. "Who are the other humans? Who will attest truly if some of the younglings' mothers call for a hearing?"
The older male, Mike, and the big male near the trees, Jantzen, will state only the truth of what happened. The other two I don't know well enough to say either way. With each name he showed me an image of the human's face. "Are you sure about the big one? He seems… Familiar. And dangerous." Trailing off I watched as his normal intense expression melted into a warm smile that lit up his eyes. "Yes. Jantzen is, despite appearances, a gentle soul. He loves children, loves to make them smile and laugh. The only reason he wasn't with the rest of us is because I knew the younglings would be scared enough without him being so close."
"You knew they would be scared? And you knew this Connor harbors a deep hatred for Sirens. Yet you let him near them?" The only reason I stayed where I was sitting was because this human had saved my life and the lives of several other Sirens towards the end of the war. A brief image of myself in that moment flashed across his mind accompanied by an emotion that I could almost make out before he spread his hands and it vanished. "I had no choice. He is the ranking Hunter and, despite my record and continued service, not many trust me. They don't know me so how can they. I knew that should he try anything the others would hesitate to stop him and that delay would exact a price I was not willing to have anyone pay."
Studying his open expression alongside his mind I released a breath. Standing I looked down at the human. "Before I depart I would like to know your name." A crooked smile flitted across his face before he stood. "Only if I can know yours." Nodding, I waited for him to go first. "Keith." Looking down at the hand he offered me, so similar to my own yet so different, I reached out and he clasped my forearm in a warrior's shake. His tanned skin, so similar to my own golden skin, contrasted against my own. "Brizo."
Nodding and stepping back his mind was running through images and words too fast for me to comprehend. "If you or any of your people need a friendly human for any reason, throw rocks at the boulder there. I will come." Looking him in the eyes I allowed a faint smile to cross my face before turning and walking into the water. "I will remember that. Keith." The swim back to the caves I had called home for as long as I could remember seemed to pass much faster than the swim to the lake.