Hain tilted his head, frowning, as he watched the druid blow on his raised palm.

With every blow, petals of vibrant, glowing roses flew up in the bluish air one after the other in a spiralling dance, surrounding them in a circular twirl dusted with glitter.

He shot open his eyes and followed the petals as they floated around the lake in a trance-like rhythm before they sunk into the black water one by one, fading into the bottom of the lake.

Hain watched with parted lips. His heart galloped out of control as something beneath the dark lake stirred awake.

But the druid didn’t flinch. A lopsided smile played on his lips as if he was about to meet an old friend he liked more than he wanted to admit. Within seconds, sparkling bubbles replaced the tiny billows in all sorts of drab colours.

Hain raised his brows in surprise and backed away. But the druid stayed calm and looked unbothered by what was happening.

No sooner did the bubbles disappear when a dark figure surfaced from the water. Hain gulped hard, feeling his palm become sweaty as the beautiful creature locked its gazelle eyes on them.

Her auburn locks danced to the subtle breeze as she floated towards them like a black swan with a beauty unknown to humankind and rivalled only by the Elven girls.

Even the grinning moon followed her like it was her servant, its subtle shine adding to her breathtaking beauty. The closer she got, the redder his ears became and burned his skin like fire.

Right then and there, he finally understood what the druid meant earlier. The siren was so enchanting, so breathtakingly beautiful, that there was no way he could’ve resisted her beauty and make it back safely to Mazheven had he come here by himself.

The druid greeted the beautiful creature with a bow and gently pushed him forwards. Before he could process what was going on, the druid pierced the silence with his booming voice.

“Take him.”

***

Esmer frowned, two wrinkles deepened between her brows as she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. But as soon as it dawned on her that the druid was dead serious, a crooked smirk appeared on her lips.

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When he repeated himself for the second time, she gritted her teeth and felt like choking the air out of him.

She rued the day she met him in the forest when she fell ill from famine. That darned druid fed her human flesh and lied that it was halfling flesh – a lie her sisters exposed when they found her digging her teeth into the flesh meat, exclaiming with joy that she finally became a siren just like them!

Since that day, Gwydion visited her every five years and brought with him human flesh. Well, until a few hundred years back, that is.

When she confronted him about his lie back then, he told her that surrendering to her nature was the only way for her to avoid death and that it was in her blood to indulge in human flesh.

But as the years passed and she learnt to survive on her own, avoiding human flesh as much as she could and only eating what she could dig up from the cemeteries, the druid stopped coming and left her to her own device.

Until this very moment.

“It’s a human. A child.”

“I know. Can you take care of him for a bit? I’ll return as soon as I can.”

Esmer shook her head in disbelief, her auburn locks dancing like the rippling waves.

“A human in the lair of sirens? He won’t last a second when my sisters find him…”

“You’ll protect him.”

“Why are you so sure?”

Gwydion cracked a smile as she said this and fished up a small bag under his cloak soaked in blood. Strangely, it was first now she realised that he had been on a long and tiring journey for far too many moons.

She squinted to see what he was holding only to open her eyes as wide as the Sea of Gam’atron when she realised what it was.

As he let go of the bloody bag meant to lure her wicked sisters to the surface, she rushed forwards and snatched it inches from reaching the black water.

“Have you lost your mind, Gwydion!”

“See? You didn’t even think twice. If you meant any harm, you’d have let that bag fall.”

“I don’t like sharing my food with my sisters, that’s all, druid!”

“I don’t doubt you, Esmer, and I’m not here to say otherwise. That bag is yours. Keep him safe and I’ll pay you for your troubles. Plenty.”

Esmer smirked. “Are you negotiating a deal with me?” She couldn’t keep in the hint of amusement in her voice. “With human flesh as the pay at that? I thought killing humans wasn’t your thing anymore…”

“I did not kill her, siren, she was already dead when I found her. Know your place.”

“Ah, so you’re giving me the leftovers from the beasts of Sál? I’m flattered, really. But next time, you’d better give me something fresh.”

“I don’t kill humans, you already know that.”

Esmer cracked a knowing smile as she pulled the grey-eyed boy closer, who was already bewitched by her gazelle eyes, and took him to the heart of the lake.

As the dark water surrounded them from all directions and drowned out their senses, she caught the druid observing their descent to the depths with a troubled expression on his hardened face.

She could almost taste the remorse eating up his heart from within from this distance. What a fool, she thought to herself, a fool who murdered his best friend.