VII. Siren's Call

Part 1

The storm has passed and the ocean is calm. You sit on the row boat and watch the men dance and sing so happily. One gets close to your hidden spot the scent of the Black Woods fills your nose.

The tavern was quiet, it still held its structure rather well but appeared abandoned. Cedric and Antonio stood outside, examining the building's exterior. Their senses being thrown in an attempt to detect something or at least anything. Silence continued to greet them. The eeriness of it, accompanied by the lack of any form of energy, set both of them into an even higher state of hyper awareness. “Let’s get this over with Cedric,” Antonio sighed, dropping his normal subject euphemisms for the more familiar connotations. Cedric slanted his eyes towards him tilting his head slightly. Recognition shown in his eyes as the switch of tones set in. His companion was no longer his butler but his friend in arms. A smirk spread across Cedric’s lips. Seeing his friend being more himself, shame it was only when there may be a threat.

Both creatures moved towards the door. Antonio opened the door from the other side. Keeping well out of the vampire's way. Their eyes met and shared a look of amused annoyance. The tavern lay bare in front of them. Not a single personal item in sight. Tables and chairs were scattered around, some tipped over. Dust sprinkled in the sunlight from the door and a few broken windows. Cedric cut through the room straight to the bar. Wooden mugs laid on their sides coated in film like dust. He ran his finger tip along the bar as he walked around it. Vessels numerous in size laid broken. A very disgruntled hum left his lips. Grabbing a horned mug from behind the counter he pulled a handkerchief from his trouser pocket and began to wipe it. As he cleaned the mug his eyes drifted across the bar. Antonio flitted here and there picking up and straightening examining every item he picked up. Cedric began to muse over the nostalgic feeling watching him flit around. The current situation the two found themselves in was very similar to the first time they had worked together, centuries ago. 

Back then they were on two very separate paths doomed to meet at the end of a blade. Cederic had been hunting a thief that escaped the human world to Skye. The creature was so elusive and mischievous the humans built legends about  him. Robin Hood they had called him. A chuckle escaped his throat remembering it. Antonio  had become so full of himself. If the humans only knew their folk hero had been an imp bored out of his mind with a soft spot for suffering. Antonios ears perked up. Standing in the middle of the room with a chair in his hands the imp tilted his head towards Cedric. Cedric looked up from pouring his drink as the sound of brick sliding against brick broke the silence. A hooded figure stepped into the darkness of the tavern, the sunlight illuminating them. “Are you going to fight me like a lion-tamer, Imp?” a thick french accent spread through the room. A smile spread across Cedric’s face. Antonio, still oblivious of who stood in front of him, was slowly inching in front of Cedric creating a barrier between the two. His tail violently whipped around him as he moved, his wings arching wide. The figure moved, mirroring Antonio’s movements more gracefully. A sigh came from the figure, “Cedric, could you please inform your ringleader I am not a threat.” The figure pulled its hood back, thick wavy black hair cascaded back, deep aquamarine eyes set against olive skin pierced through Cedric’s. “Oh, come now Lxie, give the imp  a break his going soft in his old age,” Cedric commented as he ducked below the bar. The wooden chair hit the shelving where he stood and  splintered into pieces. “Who are you calling old, Draugr,” Antonio spat at Cedric. “You earned that Drac,” Lxie laughed. “My plight is not amusing to me, Spouter of Water,” Antonio growled at her. Murmuring to himself he dusted off his clothes and flitted away. “He hasn’t changed much,” Lxie remarked walking towards the bar. Cederic offered his glass of ambrosia towards her, picking up a fresh cup with his now soiled handkerchief.  “What have the two of you gotten off into this time,” she asked, bringing the glass to her lips and eyeing Cederic over the rim. “ Could ask the same of you, where are the other fishfolk and where did you come from,”Cederic asked. He would have used hypnosis on her but it never worked. She knew it too, it's why she looked him dead in the eye. He raised his now filled glass and took a long swallow, never breaking eye contact. It had become a game for them over the years. Her hypnotic gaze just as powerful as her voice. Lxie set the glass down.   “I was trapped in the human realm for a while,” she finally said. Cederic arched a brow in her direction.  “Continue,” he pushed. She pulled out and dusted off the bar stool in front of him. Pushing herself up and sat on top of it, her glass in front of her. Her hair fell to the side fanning out to frame her face. A tear fell from her eyes into the glass she held between her hands. “ I fell in love,” she started. “He was human, you know the story. He took my fur and stashed it away. I couldn’t leave. When I finally found it and made it back home even the waters were void of creatures. I spent the first few months searching. I had to learn how to bring my energy in. The animal that is killing everyone isn’t a natural creation. It’s apex designed to hunt and kill any creature it comes across.” 

Cedric sat with the information she had just given. Watching the tears fall from her eyes. “How long have you been alone, Lx?,” he asked, his voice gentle and steady. “A few human centuries here hiding beneath the waves,” she answered with a sigh. “Is the creature still prowling the area?” Antonio asked, popping back in next to Lxie on  the bar. “No l, I haven't seen or heard it in a long while,” fear crept into her voice, “ Don't go after it. No one returns.” Cedric and Antonio shared a look.