Dawn's Dusk on the High Seas
Chapter 8

After two slow days of resupplying and bribing dock officials, along with introducing Alice to Colton and Laura, they had finally left port with everybody to the infamous stretch of the Devil’s Sea. His crew was nervous about entering, but agreed after remembering that Jack hadn’t steered them wrong before. After another three days at sea, large rocks leered at the ships from the horizon. Many of the crew whispered the name of the pass as they saw it.

“Men! Gather the wax from the lanterns! Wad it into clumps and place it in your ears! You don’t want a siren song luring you over! And, whatever you see in that pass, ignore it! Focus on keeping this boat moving and staying on this ship!” Jack ordered.

He’d already given wax to Alice, Vivian, and Christopher, which they obediently put into their ears so that what they heard was a garble of words. Stepping out onto the deck, he locked the doors to the cabin behind him as they approached. He’d already put wax in his ears. Looking around, his crew had hastily followed orders. He hoped Colton had listened to his advice.

As the three ships slowly went into the pass one at a time, the sunlight was swallowed by clouds and blocked by rocks. It was already unsettling. While they carefully sailed through the pass, the masts would slightly knock rocks from the gargantuan stones that curved over the ships like the maw of a horrific beast. Soon, a garbled rhythm made its way into their ears. Glancing around, shadows would dart behind chunks of rock or rotted ships that had crashed. The song became louder, but remained an unpleasant noise with the wax in his ears and to the crew. His crew, and everyone else on the ships looked nervously about. Then, perched atop a jagged outcrop of rock, he saw Alice sitting and flaunting her body to him. Turning back to look through the cabin’s windows, he saw Alice holding their children close and looking worriedly around. The Alice inside was his. The other must be a siren. Looking back to the siren, she beckoned to him, trying to draw him to the rocks. Jack smiled a malevolent grin. Gazing down at his crew, they looked to other areas where more sirens sat urging them to join them. Most looked in curiosity or fear. One arrogant idiot took a running leap over the side and tried to swim, but the rest of the crew remained focussed and tried to bring him back with a rope. They weren’t successful. He joined a naked and blonde siren on the rocks where he kissed her but then, upon seeing her again, screamed. The man tried to scramble his way back to the ship but the sirens threw off their disguises and revealed putrid, pale, sunken bodies with long claws, scaly, skin, razor teeth, and blood red eyes. The siren closest to the man lunged and grabbed him before biting out his throat. His dark blood dribbled down her slimy chin. Then, the rest of the crew began screaming as they saw what the sirens truly looked like. But, the shrill cries of the sirens broke through as they rushed the ships and climbed on the decks.

Entering the Siren’s Pass had been terrifying for Colton and his crew. Every religious crewmate he had said a prayer as they entered. It was quiet before a garbled rhythm struck his ears. He’d followed Jack’s advice and ordered everyone on his ship to put wax in their ears from the lanterns. Also, he’d personally made sure Laura had too. Looking about the rocks, a figure captured his gaze. It was Laura sitting on a rock and garbed in absolutely nothing, and she invited him to join her on the rocks. Looking to make sure Laura was safe, he sighed in relief upon seeing her sitting scaredly on his bed and looking around. Returning his gaze to the fake Laura, he watched as she was joined by another woman with peach colored skin, blue eyes, and hair the color of liquid gold. He’d read about this woman as a child and held a secret love for the character all his life. She gleamed and flaunted herself before trying to beckon him to her. Then, a woman that looked slightly like Laura, but a few differences made her a new person, slightly glimpsed over the rocks before waving. It was his deceased wife. Seeing the siren take her form nearly forced tears of rage and loss from his eyes.

“Whatever you see in there, remember that it isn’t real. They just want to rip out your throat and feast on you for your arrogance,” Jack had warned.

Shaking his head, he averted his eyes to focussing on steering the ship before he heard a male scream. Then, the sirens let out unholy wails as they melted out of their disguises and nearly made him die of fright. The sirens began assailing the boats and climbing on deck before he was barking commands to kill.

The attacks from the sirens were swift. They lunged to dig their claws into guts, bite out throats, or tackle men into water. About five were killed before Jack’s crew had brought their weapons up and began driving their steel through the sirens. Daring a glance into the cabin, two sirens stalked towards Alice and his children. Without thinking, Jack summoned the shadows and made them bind the two before slicing through their heads. Shaping the shadows into copies of him, they guarded his family while he produced his tonfas and began slashing away at the sirens. Jack made it so that shadow made his eyes look black, and it actually had some sirens diving over the side in fear. Shouts and screams echoed off the rocks while the siren’s numbers dwindled. Flashes, and bangs accompanied the sound of Colton barking orders and using his abilities while shooting holes in the sirens. Finally, the remaining sirens were silenced forever and the attacks stopped. And with the attacks, so had the remainder of the pass. They had made it through.

Roars and hollers of delight were made before the injured went below decks. The dying made comfortable. Letting his shadows melt to nothing, he smiled up at the sun before unlocking the doors and rushing inside the cabin.

“Papa!” his children squealed, rushing to him and holding tightly.

“Wh-what w-were th-those things?” Vivian whimpered.

“Sirens. They can’t hurt you now. So don’t worry. Alright? You’re safe. You’re safe,” he soothed.

Alice was frozen in fear before she finally gained movement and began hugging Jack in thanks and for comfort.

Rising, Jack strode out and raised his fist to the air.

“We made it! Not even the spawn of the Devil can defeat us!” Jack roared.

Cheers of pride were loosed in return as swords were raised to the sky, glinting a sickly blue blood on the blades. Summoning his first mate, Jack gave him a quick order.

“Tell the men to gather three of the most intact bodies and toss the rest overboard. Along with the two in the cabin. But, leave one of the heads. I have a new trophy. And, tell the men to take what they wish from the sirens’ corpses,”

The first mate nodded before barking orders to the crew again. The crew looked utterly baffled at their captain’s order before shrugging their shoulders and getting to work looting bodies and dumping the worst corpses.

“Eh… Captain? What’re you going to do with those corpses?” a wiry looking crewmate asked, his clothes reeking of siren blood.

“I’m a doctor, remember? I want to dissect and learn about these creatures. Study their bodies to as much as I can. Store them in the back of the ship; where the single table is with all the knives and jars. Make sure to not let any bugs in,” Jack replied.

The man nodded before sheepishly beginning down to the main deck and pretending to search for an intact siren body. Jack chuckled before giving and order to board the Mortis and Vitae.