Tess made her way to the kitchens, her head was now pounding, and all she wanted was a cup of soothing lavender tea. She entered the kitchen to see the trolls hard at work on supper. The newest sacrifice’s body would be brought down to be added to dinner soon. She made her way through. The trolls making sure to not make eye contact with her.

“Can I help you, Priestess?” a troll bowed near her.

“I would like a cup of tea. My head is pounding,” Tess admitted, resting a hand on her forehead. She was using a cooling spell to relieve the aching.

There was a low groaning sound behind her as a cup of tea was offered to her. “Thank you,” Tess took a sip, not minding what was in it.

“Is everything to your satisfaction?” the troll asked, upon seeing Tess’ confused look.

“What’s in this?” Tess asked, looking towards the troll that had handed it to her. Her eyes widened upon seeing the troll she had made friends with on Destru’s ship.

“Lavender and tarragon,” Nyx’s gravelly voice informed her.

Tess sat the cup down, staring at the troll. “Nyx,” she whispered. The troll nodded his head at her, confirming her discovery. “Are the others here, too?”

Nyx nodded his head once more as a siren walked into the room. She saw Tess’ flustered look and rushed to her side.

“My priestess, is everything okay?” The siren took Tess’ face into her hands as she looked over at her, worried.

“I-I’m fine,” Tess blinked a couple of times, trying to focus on the siren in front of her. “Just a little fatigued. I think I’ll be laying down for the rest of the evening.”

“Should I have supper sent to your room?” the siren asked, not sure if she completely believed Tess’ excuse.

“No, I don’t think I’ll be awake for it.” Tess excused herself from the kitchen. “My head is aching. I will see you in the morning. Good night.”

“Good night,” the siren called after her, wondering if she should follow Tess to her room or not.

-----

Tess hurried from the kitchen and slipped down a hallway. She glanced behind herself to see if anyone had followed her. Seeing the coast was clear, she slid against the wall, holding her head in her hands. Nyx was in the kitchens! Destru and his crew most likely were in the dungeons... would she be forced to kill them? Or worse, eat them!

She looked through her fingers that had migrated to her face. There was no doubt in her mind that she was going to find Destru and find out what was going on. She took a calming breath and envisioned herself in her mind. She went through what she would do in the next few minutes if she hadn’t decided to go to the dungeons. Walk to my room, and lay in my bed for the rest of the evening, she thought to herself repeatedly. When she opened her eyes, she saw a clone of herself standing in front of her, waiting to be instructed on what to do.

“Go to my room and pretend to sleep,” Tess whispered to her copy. “You’re not feeling well.”

The copy nodded, then walked down the hallway, making its way to Tess’ room. Tess waited a few minutes as she waited for the slight wave of exhaustion to move on. She could perform simple spells with next to no repercussions. The bigger spells still took a slight toll on her with the bracelets she had on.

She stood and made sure nobody was in the hallway before making her way to the dungeons. She wasn’t allowed in them. They still terrified her from her first day there. Tess glanced around herself once more, then snuck her way onto the stairs that led to the dungeons.

It took her a little while to find Destru. They had put his crew towards the back of the dungeons. But she knew he wasn’t all the way in the back. She recognized these cells from when she had been taken upstairs her first day here. A shiver ran down her spine at the thought. Don’t think like that; she thought to herself.

Finally, she saw a wolf with a dirty blue coat leaning against the iron bars. “Destru!” she called quietly, a sob catching in her throat.

Destru’s ears twitched as he heard his name. He turned towards her and lept up in surprise. “Lass!” Destru gave a warming smile upon seeing her.

Tess wanted to fall into his arms in relief. Someone she knew! Someone she wasn’t forced to make friends with! “Destru what are you doing here?” Tess looked in towards the crew. This wasn’t everyone. Tess’ heart sped up with concern. How long had Destru been here? Had they made his crew into meals over the past few days? “Where is everyone?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“We came to save ya,” Destru grinned, ignoring her worried look. He looked over her, looking for signs of distress. “You’re looking well.”

Tess rubbed at her face, preventing tears from falling down her face. “You’re doing a brilliant job,” she laughed, before becoming serious once again. “Destru, where’s your crew?”

“Don’t worry, Lass, most of them stayed behind,” Destru winked, trying to keep the mood light. Perhaps he could convince Tess to get the key to their cell. “Only one we’re missing currently is Little Rune.”

Tess gasped, tears welling in her eyes, her hand covering her mouth trying to stifle her cries. “Oh! Oh, no!” she whispered, her body shaking as the realization crashed down on her. “No, no, no, no,” she slowly fell to the ground, her hands clutching her head.

“Lass, what’s the matter?” Destru asked, concerned. He clutched at the bars, his stomach dropping at her reaction.

“Destru, please forgive me,” she wept, looking up at him. She looked so helpless and lost. “I-I didn’t know. They always glamour Tom’s face on them. I didn’t believe him.” Tess couldn’t continue her explanation as she dissolved into more tears. She’d never forgive herself.

“Lass,” Destru took Tess’ chin and gently made her look at him, his face confused. He looked over Tess with worried eyes. He had made a pledge to take care of Rune when his parents had passed, was he okay? “What happened?”

“I-I killed Rune,” she finally whispered, her hands trembling as she reached for Destrus hand. “A-and I ate his heart.” Tess dissolved into more tears as Destru pulled back from her, an appalled look on his face. “Matera wanted me to practice for the new moon ritual where I’ll become a siren permanently.”

Destru was conflicted, he wanted to feel bad for Tess, but she had killed Rune without a second thought. Tess lay at the bottom of the iron bars, sobbing, begging for forgiveness. Crying harder as the silence became longer. Destru looked her over once more. Her skin was shimmery like the other sirens, streaks of blonde dotting her previously raven black hair. Did she have the teeth too? “You’ve started becoming a siren,” Destru stated. His look growing cold as the realization of Runes' loss swept over him.

“I didn’t know what to do,” Tess gasped out, her tears becoming too much. She looked up to see the disappointment in Destru’s eyes. Sorrow filled her, making her chest hurt. She felt sick to her stomach. “I couldn’t find a way out, and I was so scared.” Tess looked back at the ground, Destru’s disappointment in her was too much for her to bear. Her lip trembled as she thought of all the bad things Destru was most likely thinking about her. “I’m so sorry Destru,” she finally whispered, staring at the ground, hugging herself to try and make herself feel better.

She shivered as the rest of the crew stared at her in disbelief, waiting for their captain to make the next move. They knew how much he had cared for Rune. They couldn’t imagine the grief that he was going through at losing him. Especially at the hands of someone he had considered his friend.

“You should go,” Destru finally whispered. He didn’t trust himself to say anything else. He had a lot to process.

Tess shrank back at the harshness of Destru’s words. She glanced up with tearfilled eyes, her face shimmering with the tears she had cried already. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her body trembling as she got up. She looked into the cell one more time, before rushing away, her face in her hands. Afraid of the tears that were already escaping her, landing on the ground as she returned to her room.

Destru stared after her, a broken man. The trail of her tears shimmering in torchlight, as he sank to the ground. He sat in silence, staring out into nothing, tears quietly making their way down his face, as memories of the young pup played through his head. He would never be able to fulfill his promise to him.

-----

Tom gasped in pain as he was dragged back to his cell. A troll had him by an arm and the rest of him was pulled carelessly behind it. After Matera was finished talking with him, she had put him in a room filled with goblins. She had him magically paralyzed, then told him to defend himself. He did not know what she meant by “defend himself”, since he had no way of doing that. The goblins had fun as they turned him into a mass of purple and blue bruises and cuts.

Finally, he was thrown back into his cell. He groaned as his body protested at the contact of stones. “Wilkie, are you okay?” Destru called from his cell, his voice hoarse from his previously shed tears. There had been a few hours break between Tess’ visit and Tom’s return. Most of the crew had mourned Rune’s loss, but Destru wasn’t sure if he’d ever be finished.

Tom forced himself to roll over to face him. He thought that a rib or two might be broken. Why were humans so fragile? “I’ll survive,” he gasped out, gritting his teeth against the fresh wave of pain.

“What happened?” Destru asked, seeing the pain he was in, trying to cast his own pain aside to help Tom through his own..

“I found Rune,” Tom coughed, a bit of red spitle escaped his mouth. His throat had become raw from his cries of pain earlier. “It was too late, though.”

“I heard,” Destru replied quietly, not looking towards anyone. He fought off another round of tears.

Tom lifted his head in surprise, closing his eyes when he got a head rush. “How do you know?” he finally gasped out. He was going to faint, his mind was trying to fade to black.

“The Lass came down here,” Destru explained, filling Tom in on Tess’ visit.

“They all wear my face?” Tom asked, once Destru was done explaining what had happened.

“That’s what she said,” Destru agreed.

“That’s messed up.”

“It also gives us a good idea of what will happen at the new moon ritual,” Destru pointed out, trying to keep his mind from thinking of Rune. They needed to figure this out, so they could mourn him properly. “Since all Tess’ victims have had your face glamoured onto them. We can assume that you’re the sacrifice at the ritual.”

Tom stayed silent for a few minutes before shakily sitting up. “Well, I hope I can talk her out of it when the time comes.”