Nathan slowly guided the boat along the face of the cliff as the pair of them looked for a suitable place to enter the island. The cliff itself was nearly one hundred feet in height, though some sections were lower. A few times, they thought they found a way in, only to come up against a wall and need to row back to the ocean.

Finally, after what felt to them like forever, they found a section where the cliff fell away. It was a strip of rocky shore lasting only twenty feet in length, they determined as they moved across it to check, and it was there that they saw the siren Nathan had filled with bullets.

It had been sitting on one of the rocks of the shore, its feet dangling in the water, its back against another rock.

"That might explain why it didn't move away," Keith commented. "It was probably stunned by the bullets, and then in too much pain from the impact that traveled through Health to be able to move. With the rock there, it wouldn't have fallen."

Nathan nodded as they examined the creature. It was a naked woman with pearl-like skin and ample breasts, a pair of white feathery wings stretching out of her back. Her nails were a rich, emerald green, and her eyes were violet and flecked with gold, her long hair as black as the darkness around them.

"Guess violet for her didn't mean psychic," Nathan muttered.

"Being psychic doesn't make you aware of danger," Keith shook his head. "I'm in the process of training mine to react when danger's near, and have been for over a year of real time. It isn't easy to adjust that, and right now, it only works around once out of twenty instances."

"Whatever," Nathan muttered. "I'm still pissed at your familiar."

"He meant it in good fun," Keith shook his head. "He's playful, as you've seen. He just has a hard time telling the differences between humans. Well, humans and demigods. That makes it hard for him to know if someone can take his jokes. Look, Nathan, the fact that you won't have sex with me doesn't bother me, and we can deal with me not being able to use holy power. We have your bullets and my familiar, and that's all we really need to deal with shades. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't even consider asking you and had dismissed the idea immediately, and that's the honest truth, psychic's honor."

"Does an EMP affect Splashy?"

"I'd rather not find out."

Nathan muttered something incomprehensible, then climbed off the boat and shoved the siren to the side, using the rock she had been sitting against to tie off the boat. He held out his hand and helped Keith onto the shore, then they grabbed their backpacks and Nathan replaced the lantern's batteries before turning it on as the two of them read the notification that appeared when they set foot on the island.

Dungeon Entered: Isles of Darkness Challenge Type: Scavenger Hunt Difficulty: Advanced Locate the talisman fragment on the island you're on. You may take as long as needed.

"Make yourself useful," he growled to the heavenly storm elemental. "Carry this. It will help us with the light, since yours is insufficient," the way the heavenly storm elemental shifted as it took the lantern annoyed Nathan, who looked at its contractor. "Did it just sass me?"

"It said 'well, excuse me for not training up the holy light aspect of my existence so that I don't increase the likelihood I ascend sooner rather than later'," Keith responded, and Nathan pulled out a gun. The enchanter grabbed his arm. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Nathan. Calm down. He's a little moody after being shot at. Just give it a little bit, he'll be back to normal."

Nathan lowered his arm and muttered something that Keith was pretty sure sounded like "how much does an EMP cost?" The enchanter shook his head, then glared at his familiar and sent a message along their familiar link to be nice, that it had hit on sensitive ground.

"He makes comments about you and William doing it with another guy all the time."

"And I told you," Keith said. "William and I actually would. Nathan wouldn't. His teasing makes us uncomfortable, but it's done purely as a self-defense mechanism to prevent people from drawing too close to him. If it actually upset us, we'd make it clear to him and he'd stop. Don't do that again. As it is, Nathan's probably trying to figure out how to make the magical equivalent of an EMP because of that comment."

"If you're done flirting with Splashy," Nathan called out, and Keith noticed that he was at the edge of the ring of light. "Let's get moving."

"Where's the Naviglobe?" Keith walked over to him, his familiar floating above them to grant them light.

"It disappeared once we stepped onto the island," Nathan answered. "Probably a one-use thing. We need wax."

"Yeah," Keith nodded. "We don't have anything that could actually protect us from their songs. Try to keep your wits about you."

"Breezy, I don't want you touching Splashy again," Nathan growled, and his elemental flew close to him.

"Speaking of familiars," Keith said as they began walking in a pass between two cliffs. "Can you tell how close Ichtvar is?"

"If phoenixes could orgasm, he probably would've several times."

"Not that kind of close!" Keith exclaimed. "Nathan, I meant to recovering."

"Oh," Nathan said. "No, I cannot. We didn't find whatever it was he chased away, either."

"I've been thinking over that," Keith said. "It was powerful enough that a phoenix couldn't actually handle it, only chase it away. We definitely heard hooves and neighing and whinnying. It was horselike. I can't think of any creatures that would match that – a unicorn is a defensive creature, not offensive, so I can't foresee a reason why he would be chasing one of those away and putting himself into such a state."

Nathan shrugged, and the pair kept walking. As they did, he thought over their current Side Dungeon, the Lair of the Sirens. If he remembered myths correctly, they were often on the shores, yet the only one they came across there was the one he had killed. If the myth were true on their location, then it was possible the others had been there as well, only to flee when the attack began, abandoning the one who he struck. He'd counted all of his bullets in or in front of her body, which meant every shot had hit her and not the others.

Nearly half an hour of navigating the rocky maze of cliffs passed before the sounds of a song reached their ears. A gentle, melodious song that drifted on the air.

"Well," Nathan said softly as he looked around. "We're close if we can hear it through the darkness."

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Yeah," Keith nodded. "These cliffs are affecting the acoustics. Where do you think she is? Are you imagining anything as a result of hearing the song?"

"I'm seeing Samantha," Nathan shrugged, then unloaded his entire magazine into her, his 'girlfriend' wailing as Keith spun around to see her.

All the mage saw was a siren similar to the one they found on the shore, wailing and shrieking as crimson blood sprayed the air. He sent off several slashes of air, and in only a minute, the pair of teens had killed her.

"She looks like a siren again," Nathan said as he began refilling a magazine with more bullets.

"You killed your girlfriend?" Keith asked. "Just raised a gun and shot at her."

"While I saw Samantha," Nathan said. "I knew that it couldn't be her. We're in a Dungeon within the game. Samantha is outside of the game, frozen in time until we return. I was able to ignore the guise and understand I was facing a siren. If I remember correctly, they lure men to their deaths. I guess it doesn't work on gay people? You seemed to react just fine."

"That's only one variation," Keith told him. "Originally, sirens had males and females, not just females. The myth was changed over time. It's possible that there are male sirens to seduce women to their deaths, and gay males as well. Did her song not affect you?"

"I have Breezy covering my ears," Nathan said, and Keith looked closely at the warrior's ears, noting that there seemed to be a slight breeze affecting them, his hair gently shifting in it. "He's acting as a filter. I can hear just fine, but he said he could potentially prevent their song's magic from working and wanted to give it a try. It didn't affect you?"

"No," Keith answered. "It may be limited to those who are affected by their entrancement, which might be why I heard her song, but wasn't drawn by it. Two down, five left, plus the queen."

The next siren they came across dropped on them from above, singing a seductive song, and Nathan flipped her onto her stomach, shooting at her from point-blank, resulting in higher damage. Then, he struck down with all of his Strength as rapidly as he could, building up a higher damage bonus through Combo Strike, Damage Dealer and Piercing Strikes allowing him to quickly break through her Health and kill her.

When they came across the fourth siren, she didn't bother trying to sing to them and only attacked. Keith battered her with air slashes, quickly ripping through her Health before severing her head, wings, and arms with his attacks.

They found the fifth siren atop the cliffs, dangling her legs over the edge as she watched the darkness, a series of braziers providing light for the amphitheater behind her. Deciding to try to make amends with Nathan, Keith's familiar offered to act as a springboard so they could avoid dropping her into the ocean.

Nathan took up the offer and charged forward, leaping past the siren and off the cliff. He twisted in the air and let his feet pushing into the heavenly storm elemental, before springing forward and tackling the surprised siren, forcing her further back onto the cliff as he drove his knee into her stomach, left hand gripping her throat as his right struck at her face several times, his Burst Knuckle cracking, then breaking, before he killed her.

"Well, fuck," Nathan muttered as he examined it, then attempted to restore it with the Weapon Repair Voucher, only to have it fail. "That's two weapons I've lost in this Dungeon. When we get out of here, I'm getting a stronger, more durable weapon."

"Not going to buy more from the Item Shop?" Keith asked.

"They're probably going to suffer the same fate," Nathan stood. "I'll need something made of a higher-quality material. Mithril exists, right?"

"And adamant, and orichalcum," Keith nodded. "And speaking of things with 'cum' in it, Nathan, I know you're able to logically separate the sirens from your girlfriend, but there's a part of you that's gotten obviously aroused. I'll turn around if you want to, uh, deal with that."

"Yeah, well, looking at and seeing that's affected you," Nathan said. "Your turn is after me."

Keith turned around, and Nathan walked to the edge of the cliff and took care of it, then Keith did the same once Nathan walked away.

"One left, plus the queen," Keith said. "What do you think will come after this stage of the Dungeon?"

"Who the fuck knows?" Nathan asked as his eyes scanned the perimeter of the area illuminated by the braziers. "The sirens have light, too. We didn't see this from the bottom of the cliff."

"That's because light doesn't travel in the darkness," Keith reminded him. "So unless you're in its affected area, you won't see it. It's not like the darkness at home where light's simply lacking, since this darkness actively suppresses the light."

"Right."

"Something's nearby, isn't it?"

"She's at our eleven."

Keith sent several horizontal slashes in that direction as Nathan unloaded two magazines into the siren, then the pair walked over to examine her.

"They all have black hair," Nathan said. "And all have the same eyes and nails. Think the queen will be the same?"

"I think," Keith responded. "The queen might have a stronger allure. Did you really see Samantha for all of them?"

"The one on the cliff's edge shifted between her and Katie," Nathan said. "I think she realized that Samantha wasn't working and tried changing. We've only seen females, so it looks like our theory that sirens were possibly male as well was wrong. Breezy, make sure I only hear voices, not the seduction of the sirens. Keith might not be affected, but if the queen is stronger, it's especially important to be careful."

His familiar tickled him behind the ear to let its contractor know it understood, then the teens began descending the cliff once more. Nearly an hour passed before they found the siren queen. She was resting on the edge of a pool that bordered a cave filled with a dozen or so eggs large enough to fit an infant human.

"I guess sirens lay eggs," Keith said as the queen stared at them from where she rested, high cliff walls all around them, forming a sort of cavern. "At least we can see well enough here. Would you kindly set the lantern down?"

Braziers lined the edges of the pond, a golden glow emanating from runes along their edges, reflecting off the water's surface. Keith's familiar acknowledged the request, then set the lantern down before it followed Keith's will and flew towards the siren queen.

"Who are you seeing?" Keith asked as Nathan changed the magazine in his gun.

The heavenly storm elemental stabbed against the siren's Health, draining a small portion of it, then continued to drain as she screeched and batted at it, its wind and lightning wearing away her Health.

"Does it matter?" Nathan aimed his gun and shot, the bullets enhanced by wind magic soaring much faster than normal, dealing more damage to her Health than the previous bullets he'd been using would have. "She's going to die soon."

"She has a lot more Health than the others," Keith said. "Want me to-"

"Keep the lightning saved," Nathan interrupted him. "I'm suspicious of what we have to do if we're already facing the tough one in the first part of the hunt."

"Think we're going to," Keith said as Nathan ejected his emptied magazine and replaced it with a new one, then resumed shooting as the siren, which was being held in position by Keith's familiar, whose own elements continued to wear at her Health. "Have to fight something else?"

"I count fourteen total eggs," Nathan said. "We may have to damage those, and there's some sort of shield that's preventing my bullets from passing into the den."

Keith blinked, then looked at the den, using his awakened sense of sight to scan the ground in front of it until he noticed light reflecting off of what were likely bullets that had impacted the barrier. Nathan had already tested to see if he could destroy the eggs.

"Save your magic," Nathan pulled out a card and activated it, crushing it in his hand and gripping the gun that formed, aiming it at the siren and firing just as the other ran out of bullets. "Refill the magazines. We might need your magic for the next part of this."

"Got it," Keith said, then took the used gun from Nathan and began working, refilling the magazines as Nathan had trained him to do.

Ten magazines later, the siren queen's Health ran out, and Nathan put several bullets into her as the elemental's lightning burned her skin and stunned her body, its wind cutting through her arms, legs, wings, and neck. She lasted only moments before the pair of teens received the death notice.

"She wasn't a demiboss," Nathan grunted as the ground rumbled, the pool of water beneath them shaking as a new message appeared.

Siren queen slain. Kill the Siren King.

The runes on the braziers glowed brighter as their flames began to stretch higher, reaching three feet in height, and the teens' gaze turned to the pool as a figure began to emerge from it, a male siren, his skin flawless, his wings the purest of whites, his eyes akin to amethysts, his nails matching. He stretched his wings out as he landed on the surface of the water, standing there. Nathan spared its ripped, nude form only a glance before aiming his gun.

"I'm bigger."

Just as he went to pull the trigger, something tackled him from the side.