The Siren & The Scholar
Introduction
The country of Endiness was at war. The Humans, once passive, had been driven to revolution by their oppressors, the race of Winglies. At the forefront of the Human army was Emperor Diaz, a brilliant orator and commander of the force of Gloriano.
But our story does not center on the happenings of the war, but the seven heroes who controlled Dragons to fight for the Humans' liberation, called the 'Seven Incarnations of Dragons'. Mighty warriors with devastating magic, they were Zeig, the Dragoon of Fire, strong and proud; Rose, Dragoon of Darkness, lover of Zieg; Syuveil, Dragoon of Wind, proud scholar and researcher; Damia, Dragoon of Water and the youngest of the group; Belzac, Dragoon of Earth, half-Giganto teacher; Shirley, Dragoon of Light, noble and kind, and her brother, Kanzas, Dragoon of Thunder.
Though they differed greatly, the seven Dragoons soon found themselves friends, as well as allies. This story centers mainly on two of the Dragoons, Syuveil, and Damia- who has an interesting story behind her.
Born to a mermaid and a Human man, Damia was always quite alone in the world. Her mother having died when she was nine (and her father nowhere to be found), Damia wandered for the better part of five years, until she was deemed worthy by the Blue Sea Dragon and joined the fight for Human liberation at only fifteen. The other Dragoons felt a certain protectiveness toward the forlorn girl, and became a sort of surrogate family to her. They knew she would keep no secrets from them; or at least, they thought so.
Chapter 1
The setting sun over the towers of Vellweb, home of the Dragoons, saw the young Damia hurrying along the stone ledge toward her own tower, laden with enough food for two people. Dinner was nowhere close to being done, but the young half-mermaid had insisted on bring her dinner to her tower, as she had been doing for over a week.
His curiosity piqued by increasingly odd behavior, the scholarly Syuveil followed her at a distance. He knew she was subject to bouts of depression when near came the anniversary of her mother's death, but that had been three months ago. Until a week ago she had been fine, but something must have happened when she went to the sea. She had become more and more secretive since then; taken to staying in her room unless forced out, and was taking all her meals by herself, double portions no less.
She rounded the bend and looked shiftily all around before darting inside. Syuveil hurried over, not wanting to miss anything. He stood waiting, silent as death in the shadows by her door. At first, there was only silence, but then he heard Damia speak.
"I apologize for being late, Sister, but this time they would barely let me escape. But I managed to bring you some food."
Syuveil choked back a gasp; unable to believe that little Damia had a sister. But his thoughts were interrupted by another voice.
"Thank you, my sister. It is more than I could have asked. This is far too much food for me; I want you to have the best of it." The voice that came from the tower was older, more mature, and with an ethereal lilt that made Syuveil's head swim slightly. It was unbelievably beautiful, like a chorus of angels; it was unmistakably the voice of a Siren.
"No, Mela, I want you to have the best, your journey has been hard, and besides, you are my beloved older sister. Please, have it." Damia said.
"Sister, please oblige me and take it. You have given me the greatest gift I could ask for by allowing me to stay with you; you deserve it far more than I." came once more the hypnotic voice of Damia's sister, Mela.
Thinking quickly, Syuveil backed up a few paces and called out to Damia.
"Damia! Why did you leave?" he said as he walked slowly back toward the young girl's tower. He approached the door and rapped gently.
"Sister, hide!" her heard Damia whisper urgently. There was a muffled rush. With sudden force, Damia flung open the door, smiling with feigned innocence.
"Oh, hi, Syuveil! I was alone here, just eating, all alone, with no one else around." She lied. Resisting the urge to scoff, he swallowed his exasperation and smiled back, much more naturally.
"Hello, Damia. I thought I'd join you, seeing as you rushed off so suddenly. May I come in?" He made as if to enter, but Damia barred it as best she could with her small frame.
"I really don't think that would be wise, as I have been… Sick, yes I have been sick! It really is not very pretty." She said, giving a piteous moan to further the point. Syuveil was quite impressed with her ability to think so quickly.
"Why don't you go see Shirley if you are feeling ill, surely there is nothing the White Silver Dragon cannot heal? I will take you to her now…" Damia gave a furtive look over her shoulder to where Mela sat quietly, waiting, "Unless you want to tell me what is really going on?" he finished, raising an eyebrow. Damia sighed heavily.
"Alright, Syuveil, I will tell you, but only if you promise not to tell a single soul!" she pleaded. Syuveil nodded, raising his right hand.
"I promise." He was not quite sure he would be able to keep that promise; if Damia was hiding a strange woman in her tower, Zeig and the others should know about it.
"Alright," Damia sighed, "Sister, you may come out."
Syuveil choked back another gasp as Mela stood. She quite resembled an older Damia, about eighteen; they shared the same slim frame, shy eyes, and graceful movement. But other than that, Mela was quite a different story. She was taller, more curvaceous, and stood with a certain defiance. Her eyes, unlike Damia's, were sparkling blue, the same shining aquamarine as her hair, which reached past her slim waist to her shapely hips, the last six inches of which were fiery red, as were the scales that framed her lovely face.
"This is my sister, Mela. She has been staying with me for the last ten days." Damia confessed, sighing deeply once more. Syuveil mentally shook himself, reeling from the appearance of the young woman.
"H-Hello." He managed to choke. She did not respond, only stared at him, her body tense, her gaze mistrustful, almost fearful. He noticed, clutched in her left hand, a long graceful dagger inset with a sparkling opal that shone like water and glowed like embers.
"Mela, this is Syuveil, he's a friend of mine." Damia said, trying to draw her sister closer to Syuveil. Mela merely looked at her sister, her eyes widened slightly in skepticism, refusing to be moved any nearer to him. Syuveil could taste the tension in the air; this woman clearly did not want to be in the same room with him.
"It's alright, Damia, I'll just come back later." He said gently, seeing how confused the young girl was by her sister's behavior. He smiled at her, and she smiled back, but when he turned to smile at Mela, her body tensed further and her eyes narrowed. Slightly bemused, he slipped quietly back to his tower.
"Mela, why did you act like that when he was in here? You did not have any trouble when Balzac came!" Damia asked distraughtly. Mela merely shook her head, her aquamarine locks flowing about her head like water.
"I do not know little sister. But I just do not trust men." The older woman said dejectedly. She had hurt and embarrassed her sister back there, and felt terribly guilty.
"Sister, you do not have to be afraid of Syuveil; he's one of the nicest people I know."
"I never said I was afraid of him!" Mela snapped, suddenly angry with the whole world. Damia recoiled as if she had been struck, her ruby eyes filling with tears.
Mela felt her anger melt away, "Oh, Sister, I am sorry! I should not have said that." the Siren said, her limbs heavy with guilt. "Please do not cry, beloved sister." She gently wrapped her arms about Damia, who accepted the embrace. Wiping her eyes, Damia managed a slight smile.
"It is alright, Mela. It is my fault for being so careless about hiding you." Damia said, and Mela felt even guiltier. If she had not come here, Damia would not have had to shut herself up here away from her friends. Maybe it would be better to leave now, and cause her sister no further strife.
"And besides," Damia said, clasping her sister's hand, "you are my sister, and I would not trade anything in the world for you. Please don't feel guilty. You have brought me something greater than anything I could ask for." Mela blinked.
"What is that, sister?"
"You have brought me a family. Until we met, I didn't have anyone to called family, and now, I have you." She concluded, hugging Mela tight. Mela returned that embrace, her sapphire eyes shining happily. "Now," Damia said, releasing her sister and smiling. "Let's eat, I'm starved!"
Mela smiled as they divided up the food and began eating.
"Sister, when are you leaving for Magrad?" Mela asked after a few minutes. Damia swallowed hard, remembering that Mela would be all alone when they left.
"Next week. I wish I could bring you along… Maybe I could!" she supposed. Mela shook her head in negation.
"No. That would be too dangerous. I am happy just staying here, but promise me you'll be careful." She said, her lovely face clouded with fret.
"Do not worry; we are only going for a war meeting, no battles. But now that you mention it, you don't have anything to do while I'm gone, do you?" Damia said guiltily. Mela shook her said.
"No, but I don't need anything. I'm perfectly happy to stay here and wait." Damia scoffed lightly, wagging her finger facetiously at her elder sister.
"Don't you lie to me, Mela. I know you get bored when you have to wait for me." She thought for a moment, then snapped her delicate fingers in inspiration, "I know! I can ask Belzac to lend us some books for you to read!" she declared. Mela smiled.
"That's a wonderful idea! …But, unfortunately, I am not very good at reading Human characters."
"I can always ask him to teach you! I'm sure he'll be happy to!" Damia said. Mela nodded in agreement.
"That's a wonderful idea, little sister, "she said, attempting to suppress a yawn, "Let us got to sleep now, I'm tired."