Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 106107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
I manage to get to my feet and run, but my legs scream with pain, and I’m stumbling on my knees in the middle of the aisle.
The monster lets out a roar, and I twist around to see him fly toward me. He’s flying like a damned bat, giant wings flapping as he moves a few feet off the ground, but all it does is fan the flames, making the fire spread. It catches on the pews, burns the crosses, the tapestries, and by the time I push myself back up on my knees, the entire church is on fire.
He nearly catches me again, but then a burning rafter falls from above, landing on the monster’s back. An inhuman cry is torn from his throat as the fire catches on his wings, and he falls on all fours, embers floating in the air toward me.
He starts crawling toward me, shaking off the burning rafter, and I know he’s the Devil coming for me, straight out of hell.
Then, he looks up and past me, red pupils contracting, and I hear cries for help.
I turn around to see a group of people standing in the doorway of the church: two soldiers, two other men, and a woman.
“It’s the Devil!” the woman yells while one of the soldiers runs toward me. I flinch, afraid of him, but he grabs me by my arms and hoists me to my feet.
“She’s on fire!” he cries out.
I glance down at the hem of my shift, surprised to see flames there. Some of the oil from the lamp must have splashed onto me.
“She’s bleeding,” the woman says. “Her legs, her legs!”
The soldier picks me up in his arms and runs outside of the flaming church, followed by the woman, while the others stay inside. I hear screaming, and I don’t know if it’s from the monster or the men, but I feel myself starting to lose consciousness. The rain has stopped, and I stare up at the sky, watching as the moon comes out from a cloud.
“Put her in the ocean!” the woman yells.
It takes me a moment to register what she’s saying.
“No,” I cry out, trying to escape from the man’s arms, but I’m too weak, and it’s too late.
We’re at the shore, and his boots are slipping on the rocks as he walks right into the water, the waves crashing beneath me.
He lowers me in, still holding on, and the woman is at my side too, trying to get my wet shift off, and then they stop.
Under the faint light of the moon, they stare at my legs in horror.
Saltwater washes over them, leaving shimmering scales in their place.
I scream, this time as loud as I once did, the spell broken.
I scream and I scream while the rest of me breaks.
Bones fuse, muscles stretch then tighten, ligaments wrapping around themselves until my legs are bound together as one, and the scales spread from my toes to my belly until it all becomes one tail and my fins unfurl.
The woman screams and gets to her feet.
“The Syren!” she yells. “She’s a Syren.”
The soldier lets go of me, stumbling backward until he falls on the beach, staring at me in horror.
A cry rips from my throat, loud, panicked, and I stare at my tail as I’m screaming, tears running down my face.
I am a Syren again.
Which means I have lost someone else I cared for.
Loved.
Priest is gone.
I look beyond the terrified faces of the villagers and behind them at the church as it starts to collapse, rafter after rafter falling, the whole thing going up in flames. More and more villagers are running toward it to help, and some are running toward me.
“We have a Syren!” the woman yells at them. “Come quick! Bring your weapons!”
I should probably eat her heart for that. I should probably eat his too. How quickly the fear leaves them when they have an army of people behind them.
“She’s right!” someone yells as the mob gets closer.
I can’t waste any time to see what happens next. Even with my teeth and my claws, I can’t fight off all of them.
I take one last look at the burning church and everything that is dying with it, and then I turn over on the rocks, rolling back into the surf, letting it take me to deeper water. With a few quick flicks of my tail, I propel myself forward under the waves until I can see the deep.
Then, I dive.
Back to where I belong.
Interlude
Chapter Nineteen
General Mendoza,
I am writing to inform you of the terrible news that the settlement of Nombre de Jesus in Chile has been destroyed. A fire broke out in the chapel, which resulted in the deaths of nearly all the villagers, as well as the sole clergy, Father Aragon. We are still unsure how the fire managed to kill everyone, as it was said to have happened at night and not during mass, but rumors have started in the nearby settlements, most of which are too preposterous to be true. That said, I feel it is my duty to inform you of what they are.