Black Pearl
Prologue

570 B.C.E, Arabia

The stormy skies roared like never before, and the men strained to paddle their oars. Heavy rain pounded on their backs and face. They were almost there, to the coast. Along with the violent winds, they heard the blood rush in their ears. They needed to get to shore or else they’d be good as dead.

“Faster my brothers!” he yelled.

He was Aatami, the leader of his men. Brave and strong-willed, he had never once lost in a battle or fallen for a woman.

They heaved as they lifted their oars and pierced the waters; the sea howled in response. The boat tipped side to side and the men tried their best to hang on. They paddled and paddled until finally, the lead of the ship hit the shore. The men cheered and some cried tears of joy. They thought they were safe from the evils lurking in the sea, however, they were proved wrong. As the men hopped off the ship, they heard the treacherous sounds of song. The majority of the men plugged their ears with their fingers and ran for their lives. The mournful melodies crescendoed and many of the men began to turn back. They stooped and waddled clumsily, for they became slaves of song.

Aatami’s head pounded. He crumbled to his knees and clutched his head in both hands. He had to resist. He could not fall now; his men needed him. The harmonious voices grew louder, and he knew with each crescendo of their songs, they drew nearer and nearer.

“Aatami!” a voice cried out from behind him. He turned and saw that it was his best friend, Quan, running towards him with candle wax plugged in his ears.

“Run Aatami! You cannot save your men! It is too late! They are here!”

“No! I must save them! It is not too late! I can do it!” He shook his head hard while still plugging his ears with his fingers.

“Do not be foolish! Turn and see!” Aatami turned to the waves and saw the women rise from the black waters. There were hundreds of them. Each glistened in the moonlight, water dripping from their bodies. The storm became harsher, and thunder crackled like a gigantic whip in the dark, night sky.

“The sirens!” Aatami watched the women rise, horrified.

“We must run now!” Quan said and pulled his friend’s arm. But Aatami did not move; he was paralyzed in fear. He watched the strange women and noticed that they all varied in physical appearance. Some had wings, others had talons, some had a full body of a bird, while some had a bottom body of a fish. It was then that he realized that they were not truly women; they were monsters.

The melody became more gruesome than before. It was a bitter-sweet sound that made him want to cry and kill all at the same time. He watched in horror as his men began to walk into the waters, submerging themselves beneath the waves, only to never come back. He wished he could order them to stop but his mouth stayed shut. Tears streamed down his eyes. He wished that he could order his men to stop like a proper general would, but his mouth stayed shut. The final woman of their kind rose from the sea and immediately he could differentiate this woman from the rest.

She seemed completely human: possessing no talons, no tail, no feathers, or wings. She was also the most beautiful woman he had ever lain his eyes on in his entire life. She had long wavy black hair, the color of the deepest depths of the sea, her eyes matched the staggered gray rocks that were known to wreck the most powerful ships, and her lips were a full pale pink. Her lips were so irresistible that he wanted to kiss them. The lips parted, and out came a beautiful song unlike the melodies from before. His mind was shredded into thousands of pieces. His thoughts became wild like an animal's. He wanted her, and only her. He reached out his arms to grab her, but she evaded his grasps.

“Follow me,” she whispered.

She batted her cold gray eyes and smiled. Aatami hesitated. She sensed this and leaned into his ear and whispered to him of his deepest desires and how she would make them come true. He grinned from ear to ear, his eyes now dazed like a drunkard, and he followed her into the sea. His best friend, Quan, turned and ran and didn’t look back. He could not watch his friend’s demise. Half of Aatami’s body was submerged into the waters, and the women, their faces now stained with blood, smiled viciously. But Aatami was blind to it all, for in his mind he could only see her. The woman’s sweet smile then flipped into an evil scowl and she bore her teeth. Her pearly whites were no more, within a second, they were replaced with long skinny teeth, normally associated with the treacherous of demons. Awakening from his lovely nightmare, the man screamed. But before he could fully deplete himself of his final breath, the women quickly jumped him, their teeth shredding his flesh from bone. His wails of agony echoed throughout the ocean, telling of the story of his gruesome death, and as the tragic story came to an end, they ceased.