Kellan found that resting in the water was actually quite
comfortable... At about the same time he discovered that being tied by his ribs
to the cage was not.
He jerked awake at the realization that most of his body
hurt, yet the upper portion of his body could not move or shift his position.
His legs swung over empty air; where had the water gone? Kellan groped with his
feet till he found purchase in the wall behind him. Bracing with his heels, he
could push up and ease the pressure on his rib cage. He glanced down. In the
dark cavern it was hard to tell, but he could barely make out the subtle
reflection of the water's surface deep below him. No water meant no siren; did
this mean he was stranded here inside a rock somewhere, with no hope of rescue?
Kellan reached forward and tested the bars of his cage. They gave just the
merest bit when he applied as much pressure as he could. Perhaps there was a
chance he could escape after all. He reached to the wall behind him and felt
for any loose rocks among the protrusions. He found one with a particularly
sharp edge. By setting the edge against one side of the crosspiece, he could
scrape away at the rusted, weakened metal.
Ten minutes later, his stomach began to wrench and pull
terribly; it had evidently been some time since he had eaten—but without access
to his captor, he had no food. His efforts on the bar had only succeeded in
marking the surface. He would be in this cage for hours before he could make
any kind of progress. Kellan closed his eyes to forget his hunger, and
immediately began to dream.
In his dream, he stood in the hold of the ship, watching
as a storm pounded outside and the seawater seeped through the boards of the
keel. Thunder pounded and water poured in as Kellan slowly sank deeper and
deeper—
He awoke, coughing and spluttering, and his head connected
with something hard and hollow. Kellan opened his eyes. A barrel floated up
near his head, gently bumping against him as the water shifted around it. The
water in the cavern had returned, and Kellan cracked open the barrel, wondering
if the previous experience of hanging in midair had been some sort of hunger
dream.
The first barrel held more tack, and even some twists of
dried meat to gnaw on. Kellan wolfed down the food and pushed the barrel aside.
Sure enough, the strange siren treaded with her face just above the water. She
stared at him for several moments, as she had before, while Kellan opened a
second barrel. This one contained a dry suit of clothes. Kellan glanced at the
ones he now wore, what with their constant state of waterlog, and wondered
aloud, "So what am I supposed to do with these?"
She dipped her head so that her mouth was underwater. She
sang, and he pictured himself, hanging above the water as he had before, this
time wearing the dry, fresh clothes. She also hung another barrel and a jug of
water on the bars, above the water level and within arm’s reach; by her song,
she made him to understand that this would be his rations for when she could
not bring him food. The cavern stood on the brink of a tide, so when it went
out far enough, the cave emptied and she could not come.
He stared at the creature; with her stringy hair and scaly
skin, the initial effect was garish and terrifying—but underneath, he could
almost sense something humanlike. She was curious, and very careful in her
manner, for a malevolent man-killer.
Kellan ate the food that she gave him, saving the last few
bites for after a conversation, as he often tried to do.
“Will you tell me your name?” he asked her.
The siren hesitated a moment, then sang a few long and
mournful notes.
Kellan wagged his head with a rueful smile. “I thought as
much; I can’t really understand what you’re trying to say.” He lifted his head
and looked at her. “I am going to call you Melody, because you’re always
singing; is that all right?”
She sang nothing, which Kellan took for an affirmative
answer. He took a single bite, careful to leave more, and asked her, “Can you
tell me what has passed since the storm?”
The siren twisted a serpentine pattern in front of him, and
sang a song of the surface. Kellan beheld visions of ships and men searching
the waters for something, and the sight of a long, narrow sea-casket plunging
into the water—a casket with his own name carved into the lid. His family took
him for dead, then; perhaps they thought him perished in the storm. Melody sang
of a few other merchant ships taking his father’s route—but ships he did not
know. She had witnessed a celebration of some sort, and Kellan realized he had
missed the annual Carnival he enjoyed so much. Based on the date of his fateful
sea voyage, he had been absent at least four days, then. Who knew how much
longer the siren would detain him? What would he be made to do, when she had
waited long enough?
He cast a suspicious eye over the siren as she wriggled back
and forth, peering at him curiously from all angles.
“Why are you doing this?” he demanded yet again, as he had
every chance he got. “When will you release me?”
Melody lunged at him, fire in her pale eyes and fury in her
features. She bellowed a song that made Kellan cringe and squeeze his eyes shut
as he covered his head with his arms. Her voice pierced him through the chest,
and her message was clear enough for him to comprehend as actual words, though
she had not spoken: “When your heart sings, you shall be free.” When he opened his eyes again, the siren was gone.
TO BE CONTINUED....
Further Reading:
"The Prince and The Rose" (Part 2 is >HERE<)
-"The Glow" (A 3-Part Story)
No comments:
Post a Comment