The sun was setting by the time they had made it to their destination. Tom had dozed off as the ship had rocked on its journey. “Up, puppy,” the siren Tom had fought earlier kicked at him.
Tom glared at her as they freed him from the mast and forced to stand. His legs threatened to give out as he put his weight on them, but he stayed upright. The rest of the crew seemed to have the same issue from not moving most of the day. Tom wiggled his fingers, trying to get feeling in his hands. The rope was digging into his wrists.
More sirens boarded the ship as they lined the sailors up on the dock. They were removing what they felt would be useful off the ship. Tom had a bad feeling in his gut when they brought the weapons off board.
The head siren examined the weapons, stopping when she got to Tom’s sword. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at each sailor. “Where is the wilkolak?” she asked, her voice cold and dangerous.
The crew stayed silent, not sure what would happen if they were to point towards Tom. The siren came closer to the sailors, scowling at each one as she grabbed one by the hair and looked into their eyes. She did this to each of them, each sailor sighing in relief as she passed them by. Tom didn’t know what she was searching for, but it was unnerving to say the least. The head siren came back to Tom and pulled him from the line, shoving him towards another siren. “This one gets its own cell.”
“Yes Matera,” the siren bobbed her head. She grabbed Tom by the shirt and pulled him forward, leading him inland.
“Get that troll off the ship, he’ll be in the kitchens,” Matera turned towards the sirens still on the ship. Nyx could be heard resisting their efforts as they pulled at ropes that had been attached to him. “As for the rest of you,” Matera turned back towards the men, a slow smile gracing her face. “Enjoy your last few days.” She nodded towards some sirens standing to the side, then walked off. Following the route that they had taken Tom on, as cannons went off to sink the ship.
—--
Tom struggled the entire way to the dungeon cells. He called for Tess as loud as he could, hoping she’d be able to hear him when they were in the large hallways. The siren in charge of him didn’t bother to stifle his cries, either. He knew the chances of Tess actually hearing him were slim to none, but he had to try.
She finally opened a set of metal bars and shoved him through the opening. He hit the cold ground hard, his head ringing as they slammed the door shut. “You could at least untie me,” he shouted after the receding siren.
Tom sat up grumpy, as he surveyed his surroundings. There was a stone wall on three sides of him. The last wall being iron bars far enough apart he could possibly fit his arm through it. The ceiling and floor were stone as well. There didn’t seem to be any way of escape. Tom looked for a way to cut the rope around his wrists. He had lost the feeling in his hands hours ago. In one corner, there was a sparse amount of straw for him to lie in. There didn’t appear to be much else available to him.
He looked up when Destru and his crew were put in a cell across from him. Matera in front of them. Tom ran to the bars, shouting for Matera’s attention. “Where is Tess!” he demanded.
Matera regarded him for a moment, then turned and left with the other sirens once the other cell was closed. Tom rammed himself into the bars, trying to break out and go after her. All his frustration hitting him at once as tears coursed down his face. “Come back here!” he roared, ignoring the pain he was causing himself. He didn’t realize Destru was trying to get his attention.
“Wilkie!” Destru called, his voice echoing through the hallway.
Tom looked towards Destru, desperation in his eyes. He noticed the crew still had their hands bound behind them. He was breathing hard, his arm beginning to throb from when he had been slamming it into the bars.
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“I need you to listen,” Destru continued in a calm voice, when he noticed he had Tom’s attention. “Hurting yourself trying to break out and yelling for the warden will not help us here.”
“And what do you suggest?” Tom snapped. He was so close to seeing Tess again. Holding her in his arms, never letting her go. Breathing in her scent. She was so close and yet he still couldn’t be near her.
“Wilkie,” Destru said in a stern voice, a disapproving look pointed at Tom if Tom would care to look at him. “We still need to be patient. They have you separated from us for a reason. We’ll find the Lass once we’ve figured out how to free our hands. We can’t do much like this.”
Tom breathed hard, letting Destru’s words sink in. He finally nodded, seeing the wisdom in the words spoken. “Okay, fine,” Tom finally agreed, leaning his head against the cool bars. “What now?”
“I doubt we’ll be seeing the sirens again tonight. Let’s focus on sleeping and seeing what the morning brings,” Destru suggested. He sat on the floor, watching his crew as they all sat as well. Rune’s whole body trembled at their unknown future.
“It’ll be okay,” Destru gave a kindly smile to Rune, trying to reassure the pup.
Rune gave a small smile, trying to calm himself down. “Capt’n,” Rune squeaked out. “May I stay near you?”
Destru nodded towards him, scooting over so Rune could come closer. He looked over to Tom to see he had laid down near the bars, his back to them. Morning would bring more news for them...it had to.
-----
Morning came with free hands and stale bread. Tom rubbed his wrists, trying to erase the feeling of the rope. He had woken up to his hands tingling, so they must’ve been freed when breakfast was left for them.
Tom caught Destru’s eyes as they ate in silence. The wolf gave a small nod as he continued to console Rune. Tom had been against the pup coming, but Rune had insisted on following Destru to the end. He must not have realized what weight those words had held.
They sat in their cells for most of the day, not knowing when they would be fed next. There was no way to tell time in the dungeons. The only light they had was from the torches that were relit by a troll that passed by every so often. They tried to find out where Nyx was and how he was faring, but the trolls refused to even pretend they existed.
Everyone’s attention turned towards the hallway when they heard light footsteps coming closer. “We need to finish preparing for her last test,” a female voice instructed. “It must go perfectly.”
A chorus of “yes, mother,” was heard in response.
Tom figured it was the head siren again. Matera was her name, if he remembered correctly. The sirens were seen soon after they had been heard. They all wore similar dresses, all shimmering as they walked by the torches. It made their movements look almost fluid. You could barely see the end of the dresses and the start of their skin. They were so similar in color. All the women’s hair was a nearly white blonde, a huge contrast to Tess’ raven black hair. Their hair was pulled back into loose buns at the base of their necks, not a single hair out of place.
“Matera!” Tom shouted. The siren in front of the party looked at him with disdain. She must not be used to being called out. “Where is Tess?” he punctuated every word as it left his mouth. If he still had his wolf self, he would’ve added an animalistic growl at the end to drive his point home. He settled for what he hoped was an angry look instead.
“She’s safe if that’s all your concern is,” Matera smiled. It looked almost motherly like she was genuinely trying to put his concerns to rest.
“I want to see her,” Tom demanded, grabbing at the bars, his knuckles turning white from how hard he was squeezing them.
“She has an important test to study for. You’ll be seeing her soon enough,” Matera purred. The sirens behind her opened the other cell. Rune yelped in fear as he was dragged out of the cell, Destru and the other’s incapable of doing anything to stop them. They had been frozen in place by a spell of some kind. “This one is required before we can prepare the festivities.” She sent a toothy smiles towards Rune, who began trembling in fear. Toms stomach dropped with fear. Rune was going to get hurt.
“Capt’n!” Rune cried, as his wrists were bound. He was being taken down the hallway, his face becoming soaked in tears. The sirens surrounding him were smiling mischievously at his obvious fear.
Tom looked over to see the crew was still frozen. “Rune!” Tom called back, shaking at the bars, a desperate look in his eyes. He looked from Matera to Rune, his heart beating in fear of what the sirens would do to little Rune. “What are you going to do to him?” he whispered harshly at Matera.
Matera just smiled and shrugged, her needle-like teeth showing between her lips. “We’ll be seeing you at the new moon celebration, High Priest.” Matera waved her fingers at him as she walked away.
“No!” Tom raged, banging his hands on the iron bars. Rune was no longer in sight, but he could hear his wails of fear as they took him further down the hallway.