Protector

by Sam Ryder

Despite having had this same fantasy myself, a feeling of dread washed over me. Because I knew.

  I knew.

  I’d found the Syrene.

  ~~~

  Quietly, I eased down into a crouch, careful not to let my hammer contact the rock and give away my presence.

  I peered over the edge. About twenty feet below was a pond, its water literally shimmering as it caught both suns’ rays. A light waterfall trickled from a cliff on the opposite side, the individual drops catching even more of the sun to create a rainbow. I could see all the way to the bottom, where odd-looking pale shapes littered the base of the pond.

  Along the edge of the pond were long slabs of white rock. It was atop these that the monster-women sunned themselves, their eyes closed and their faces angled toward the sky. I made a point of including the word ‘monster’ each time I described them in my head, because otherwise I knew I might’ve forgotten that was what they were. Because of how gorgeous they were. Perfect specimens, you might call them. Their faces were symmetrical, their lips full. At the moment, their eyes were cloaked by long dark lashes. Their hair was completely white, long enough to drape past their shoulders to their waists, spilling over their exposed skin like a part of their clothing, which was minimal. They wore tops and bottoms made of a silky-looking white fabric, but they put the micro in micro-bikini. There was cleavage everywhere. One was turned in such a way that I could see the edge of her nipple peeking out from her top. Another rested on her stomach, her feet kicked in the air. I couldn’t even see the narrow portion of the thong as it disappeared between her round, taut cheeks. A third was rubbing something moist on her body, her dainty fingers touching herself. As I watched, she removed her top to finish the job, massaging her breasts with the ointment.

  What the actual fuuuuuck?

  It wasn’t the worst view in the world. Monsters, I reminded myself, even as I stared, my mouth falling open slightly.

  That’s when I felt it:

  The pull.

  I know what you’re thinking: Here we go, the horn-dog is back in action, always wanting to get some more play. There might be some truth to that, but this pull of which I speak wasn’t that. It was unnatural. In my mind, I knew that. I knew, logically, that these were monsters, real-life sirens that tempted men—weak and strong alike—to come to them willingly, worshipping them for days and days until they grew tired of their playthings.

  I fucking knew that.

  But my feet moved anyway, carrying me toward a stone staircase that led down to the pond below.

  Screaming at myself in my mind, I stopped, my muscles quivering, my teeth gritting together. I was Level 3 now. I was strong. I’d faced one of the Morgoss and survived.

  My knees began to tremble. Abort mission! I thought, red lights flashing in my head, warning klaxons making a ruckus.

  This was beyond my capability. Not because of these sirens’ unquestionable sex-appeal but because of the otherworldly pull they radiated, magical pheromones that seemed to waft off them like an intoxicating perfume. I wanted to go to them, to throw myself at their feet, which I would kiss. I would be perfectly happy fanning them with big leaves and feeding them grapes for all of eternity. If they said my name, I would be unraveled.

  “Sam.” A melodious voice found its way to my ears. “Don’t be shy, Sam.”

  Oh no you dinnit.

  My legs stopped shaking, my resolve shattered. I galloped down the steps too quickly, almost falling as I stumbled onto the stone platform below.

  I dropped my only weapon, my hammer. It clattered off the edge and splashed into the pool below.

  I didn’t care one bit.

  The six sirens’ eyes were open now, their stares crystalline blue, their retinas glowing around the edges. Captivating. “We’ve been waiting for you, Sam,” one of them said. It was the one who’d been lubricating herself while lying on her back. Now, she flipped over onto all fours, catlike in her quickness. Her ample breasts hung down as she crawled toward me, her movements seductive. I started toward her, barely managing to fight off the desire to run.

  Somewhere in the back of mind, I wondered: How does she know my name? I answered myself: You fool! She’s an it. A monster! Don’t listen to her!

  Stupid self, I thought. She’s no monster. She’s a goddess. Like the Three. You must protect and serve her. You must.

  There was something foreign in the tone of my own thoughts, but I ignored it. Because the pull.

  That’s when whatever was left of my logical self noticed her claws, clicking along the stone as she scrambled toward me. I blinked and shook my head slightly. Suddenly, her movements didn’t look seductive, but predatory, a beast stalking its prey. Around the edges of what I’d first thought were perfect womanly breasts, I saw small cracks and dark, forking veins. Those glowing blue eyes were less beautiful than evil-looking, her huge black pupils seeming to devour all color.

  I wished I hadn’t dropped my hammer.

  “Sisters, we’ve got a strong one,” the lead Siren said, her shoulders rocking from side to side violently as she continued to stalk toward me.

  “Mmm,” one of them answered. “It’s been a while since we’ve encountered anyone who could resist the pull. And a human at that. Should be fun.”

  “Human flesh is the sweetest,” another one said.

  That’s when I realized I’d managed to stop moving forward. Shit. If I’d had more sense I would’ve continued playing along, lulling them into a false sense of victory until the time was right to strike.

  “Wait,” I said. I could still feel the pull toward them, but my mind was clear enough to form coherent thoughts. I’d seen the truth, the monsters behind these beautiful facades. I couldn’t un-see it.

  To my surprise, the lead siren slowed her progress toward me, though she didn’t stop completely. “Strong and insolent,” she purred. Despite her efforts to sound sultry, I could detect the edge to her tone now. I wasn’t sure how I was doing this but could only guess it had something to do with being a Level 3. Maybe the ooze had given me sufficient strength to resist mind control.

  “I’m not being insolent,” I said. “You are the most beautiful, powerful creatures I’ve ever encountered, but I am here for a reason.”

  This time, the lead siren stopped. Her sisters, as she’d called them, had also begun crawling toward me, but they followed her example and halted.

  The lead siren sniffed at the air, her eyebrows lifting. “I smell their stink on you. You serve the Three.” On the last word, she wrinkled her nose in disgust.

  “Yes,” I said. “I am one of their Warriors.”

  “Lies,” the siren said with a hiss. For the first time, I got a good look into her mouth and I didn’t like what I saw. She had vampire-like fangs and a forked tongue. “We have tasted the flesh of Warriors, have seduced them as easily as a mongoose plucking eggs from a nest. You were once a Warrior, but no more. You are a Protector.”

  I didn’t know how the hell she could tell that just by sniffing me, but I suspected it was partly because I had resisted their charms. That thought was sobering, because it meant Belle might not have been so fortunate. For the first time since we parted ways, I was truly glad she’d stayed with Bu’ploog’s tribe. In any case, I couldn’t deny my position any longer. “Yes,” I said. “I am. I am here to bargain with you.”

  The siren hissed again. “We don’t make deals. We take what we want. And we will take you.”

  “Maybe,” I said, trying to sound much calmer than I was inside. “But I will kill at least one of you. Maybe more. The last uber-powerful monster I tangled with was Ursula. You know, that big ol’ spider-scorpion? Now she’s dead.”

  “Liar!” the Siren said, but my words seemed to give her pause.

  I said nothing. The truth shouldn’t need defending, and I didn’t want to seem overly zealous.

  To my surprise, one of her sisters helped me out. “He’s not lying anymore,” she said, pushing her white hair away from her face. �
��I can smell the eight-legger on him. He’s not dead, so she must be.”

  “No matter,” the lead siren said, though I could tell the news had shocked her. I wondered how long Ursula had terrorized the forest such that just mentioning her name would rattle these powerful monster-women. “It doesn’t change anything. You won’t kill even one of us. We will feast on your body.”

  I shrugged, feigning nonchalance though my heart was pounding. “I’m willing to sacrifice for the cause of my Warriors. I will kill as many of you as I can.”

  “You filthy—”

  “Sister,” one of the others said. The one with the ongoing nip-slip problem. She stood up onto two legs, looking less comfortable in that position than she had on all fours. As she shifted, her nipple vanished under the silky fabric only to reappear a moment later. Now it was playing peekaboo with me. I tried to focus, ignoring the tantalizing beauty of these monsters. “Let’s hear him out. He is strong. We shouldn’t risk a fight.”

  “I’m hungry,” the lead siren growled, firing a royally pissed off glare back at her sister.

  More like hangry, I thought, but I didn’t say that. They probably wouldn’t get the slang anyway.

  That’s when I understood something. “When was the last time you ate?” I asked.

  The lead siren whipped her head back in my direction and it was all I could do not to flinch. “None of your fucking business,” she said.

  I was shocked by the f-bomb from this monster, but it only lent additional credence to my new working theory about the Syrene being very close to starvation mode.

  The other sisters were much more forthcoming, however. “Six years,” one of them said.

  “Six years?” I said, not needing to fake my shock. I knew next to nothing about these monsters, but that seemed like a long time for anyone to go without sustenance.

  “Shut your mouth!” the first one said.

  But the other sisters apparently weren’t intimidated by her. “We can go a long time between meals,” the same one said. “But not forever. Seekers used to come here often, sent by the Three to steal our possessions. They were a level higher than you, but not as strong of mind or heart. They were ripe for the picking.”

  I realized what the odd shapes were at the bottom of the pond. Bones.

  The knowledge sent a chill through me. Over the years, they must’ve killed hundreds, if not thousands, of Seekers. It horrified me that the Three would send Seekers here to die, all for whatever magical artifacts these monsters were hiding.

  Or for the elixir to repair the wards.

  “We are starving,” another siren said, and this time the leader didn’t chastise her for sharing knowledge with me. “We don’t need to eat often, but we need to eat. If we don’t get sustenance soon, we will be forced to leave this place. Much of our strength is tied to this island. I fear if we leave, we will be killed in the Black.”

  I wouldn’t say I felt bad for them exactly—they were monsters who liked the taste of human flesh, after all—but it did tug at my heartstrings a little.

  “I might be able to help solve your problem,” I said.

  The leader finally spoke again. “You? How? Choose your words carefully or I’ll spill your blood and drink from the crimson fountain of your heart.”

  Are you always so melodramatic? I wanted to ask. Instead I blurted out the idea that had been playing in my mind for the last few minutes. “We will bring you food in the form of monsters on a regular basis. Say every thirty Blacks. More often if necessary.” I thought it was a smart idea, a fair trade that would allow us to repair the ward shields and the Syrene to sate their hunger.

  The Syrene, however, thought less of my plan. Far less. They immediately began hissing—all of them. Apparently my suggestion had pissed the whole group off, which made my situation worse than before, when only one of them seemed to want to eat me first and ask questions later.

  Two leapt into the pond, their long, smooth legs and feet fusing together into black tails just before entering the water. Another scrambled toward the cliffside, going all monkey on me and scurrying around to cut off any chance of escape via the stone steps. The other three came right at me.

  I was surrounded by drop-dead gorgeous blood-drinkers without even my primary weapon to defend myself with. The only consolation was that I no longer felt any pull toward them. It was as if they’d turned off their magnetic magic to focus their full attention on tearing me limb from limb.

  I could, however, feel their hunger, a palpable, frenzied energy in their every violent movement. One of them reached up and twisted her own chin hard to the side, making a loud cracking sound.

  Before my very eyes, their magically sculpted forms vanished, replaced by their true selves. Their blue-black skin was scaled like a reptile’s, their eyes fully black now. Their mouths were slightly too big for the size of their heads, glistening with a single row of small, sharp teeth bookended on each side by four vampiric fangs.

  I backed away, trying to buy time to think, but stopped when I heard a loud splash. I half-turned to find any retreat along the rocky shelf blocked by the two sirens that had been in the water a moment ago. Their legs were back and they were dripping wet. They immediately settled into their more natural stance, on hands and knees like wild animals.

  They seemed to be grinning.

  Oh goddesses, I thought. They’re enjoying this. The hunt.

  My thoughts were spiraling now, especially because, from the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of the one who’d scaled the cliffs. She’d reached the steps and was bounding down them on all fours, lining me up.

  I understood the strategy:

  Get me in the water.

  These Syrene were no fools. They were ancient creatures who’d survived many years. This was their turf. But they also didn’t underestimate me, probably because of my size and Level 3 status as Protector. On land, I had a glimmer of hope of fighting them off. In the water…I wasn’t much more than meat.

  But I still had a brain, and it was wired for game strategy—and that included fighting monsters.

  I pretended not to notice the flanking maneuver, instead turning back to face the three at the front head on. Without direct sight of the one attacking from the side, I had to rely on the sixth sense I’d developed ever since the goddesses’ spittle had leveled me up the first time. I was like a quarterback about to get sacked from the blindside. Feeling the pressure.

  Waiting until just the right moment to—

  I dropped onto all fours the instant before the siren hit me from the side. As I’d expected, her last stride was a flying leap intended to catch me at the midsection and propel me off the stone and into the pond. Instead, her clawed hands scrabbled just to grab any part of me. In that endeavor she succeeded, managing to rake her claws across my back as she flew past, disappearing into the water with a splash.

  I stood up, casually. Like fighting six bloodthirsty Syrene was nothing but a small part of my day job. Which, in a way, it was. I’d fought monsters every Black since I’d arrived on this planet. Yes, these chicks were deadly as hell and had the advantage in numbers, but I’d been outnumbered before and I wasn’t dead yet.

  But I also wasn’t stupid. Fighting my way out of this would require a small miracle. It also wouldn’t provide what I needed: the ward-repairing elixir I’d come for.

  I said, “I’m sorry.”

  The effect was instantaneous. They stopped. Because I’d shocked them. Who apologizes to the sirens about to eat them? Me, apparently.

  The lead siren held up a horror-movie hand and the rest of her flock remained unmoving, though I could feel the restless energy wafting off them. Now that they’d allowed themselves the anticipation of tasting my blood, they wanted me in a way I most definitely didn’t want to be wanted.

  But I had another dumb idea, far crazier than the first.

  The lead siren said, “Speak now, human. We grow tired of your games.” Her voice had even changed. It was low and s
cratchy, turning my skin to gooseflesh. I half-expected her to go all Exorcist on me and twist her head around three hundred and sixty degrees before using a crucifix to stab me—rather than herself—in the crotch repeatedly.

  With that lovely thought in mind, I said, “I’m sorry I offered you monsters as food. Clearly that was a mistake.”

  The sirens hissed and spat at the reminder. There was nothing the least bit attractive about them anymore. “Monster flesh is not satisfying. It’s bitter and we have to force it down. It is our last resort. Those from the Eight planets are far more…enjoyable. Particularly human flesh.” She licked her lips with her forked tongue.

  I’d already guessed as much. Thus, I had a new proposal that might actually carry some value to the Syrene. “What if I agreed to bring you humans on a regular basis? Would that be acceptable?” Even as I said it, I felt ill inside. How did one go about establishing a human sacrifice? I knew history was full of such things—I’d learned about the Aztecs and their bloodletting ceremonies. I could picture myself going back to camp and saying, “All right, guys. I’ve got good news and bad news…I need a volunteer…”

  “Every thirty Blacks?” the lead siren said.

  I took a deep breath, trying to hide the zing of energy that shot through me. She was actually considering the offer this time. “Every two-hundred Blacks,” I said. “Humans are much harder to come by than monsters on Tor, and you said you and your sisters can survive long periods of time without requiring food.”

  “One hundred,” the Syrene leader hissed. “Final offer.”

  I was bargaining with a siren over the details of human sacrifice. My life was officially weirder than ever. However, I was also hoping she would say that. One hundred was good enough and would buy me enough time—I hoped—to come up with a way to satisfy our agreement without losing my soul in the process. “I will agree to these terms, but only if you give me something in return.”

  The siren’s dark eyes narrowed. “You’re already getting your life.”

  “Which means little to me,” I said. “If that’s all I wanted, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place.”