Heaven Hath No Rage - Book Two

Siren's Alley

Navi had made the call. Sirens were nearby.

"Fucking fantastic," Theo grunted and pulled on her coat, making her way out of the training room. She tried not to give away her nerves. Knowing how to handle monsters, in theory, was different than actually handling them and creatures had not been something she had needed to deal with in quite a long time.

She just hoped they had prepared enough. Just like with storms. Just like with raids, it was just a matter of waiting and hoping her crew could execute.

"Kaia, go find who we put in charge of distributing wax and make sure not a person on this fucking ship has empty ears," Theo ran out of the room and onto the helm, Navi right behind her, "sound the horn!"

A series of blaring noises from the crow's nest filled the air as the other ships were alerted to begin their preparation procedures. If winds shifted, it meant sirens were not far off. Their nesting ground was somewhere below them, it wouldn't be long until their songs filled their brains.

Theo observed the scrambling from the helm, making sure everything was underway. Navi was yelling commands to keep their course and not be affected by the winds pulling them towards the soul-sucking creatures. She took mental note of what was happening. Ropes were being brought out and sailors were tying themselves to the mainmast, with just enough slack to get around. Up from storage came the spears, the nets, and the bows for the few archers they had. Tuni ran across the deck with a box full of vials, handing them out to those on duty. The vials were filled with sedatives to use on crewmembers that had heard the siren's song.

It looked like their preparation for the arrival of the sirens had gone well. It was being done flawlessly. It was the machine that she knew to be the crew of the Scorned Woman. She let a smile come to her face but it was only slight. There was a pleasure in the adrenaline flowing through her and at the fact that after so long with no action, they would not crumble at the first sign of conflict. She put her fingers in her mouth and let out a loud whistle.

"All those off duty, meet in the lower decks!"

A sailor nearby who heard her was able to distribute the information across the deck. Theo began to go down the stairs as she watched anyone who helped with preparations but was not sailing go into the lower decks, huddling into the hold. With the help of Skins, who rounded up all the strays and people in their rooms, they made sure everyone who wasn't needed was safe, locked away, with wax in their ears. Being unable to hear the siren song all but guaranteed that the person would not fall victim to their voices and their wiles. As long as they could all manage to fight against the change of winds and stay on route, they would clear the siren-infested waters in a little under a half-hour.

Skins stayed outside of the door leading to the hold. The key was around her neck and earmuffs were over her waxed ears. Theo left her with a promise to get her after they were in the clear. She headed back to the deck and called for a looking glass, holding out her hand for one. When it was placed in her palm, she lifted it to her eye and surveyed her fleet. At a simple glance, she could see Blue's galleon was drifting. They weren't in the formation they needed to be, the wind was taking them.

"Navi, something's wrong!" Theo yelled up to the helm as she went back for another glance, trying to get a glimpse of what was going on. No one could clearly hear her though, not with wax in their ears. Blue was at the helm but he didn't look to be fighting against the winds sweeping him into the siren's arms. If he kept on the trajectory, he would crash onto the first rock formation the ship encountered and all of the crew would be in the sirens' clutches. The deck wasn't in order. There were pirates fighting pirates and many were struggling to keep their friends on the ship.