Ari (Child of the Beastman Goddess)

We were stocked up on top of the tree while vigilantly watching the movements of the Sirens surrounding the area. We had to mask our presence, especially me and Tora to prevent them from spotting us.

In the beastman world, Sirens were similar to the half human, half fish mythological creatures we call mermaids in my previous life, but their aggressive forms were quite monstrous compared to the mermaids I knew.

Their passive forms were undoubtedly the most attractive passive form for any female according to the elders. They look human with beautifully colored scales surrounding some parts of their body-scales that cover up their private body parts, creating an illusion of a piece of clothing. Their eyes resemble the color of different types of pearls and gems. The colors of their scales were vibrant and beautiful. Their hairs were long and can sometimes be mistaken for a female. They have buffed bodies and extremely irresistible scents at least for females.

Their passive – aggressive forms were similar to a mermaid because their legs shall become a fish tail-they have fins and webbed hands. Their nose still remains, though their gills show up from their jaw to their neck.

However, their aggressive forms were the complete opposite of their passive and passive-aggressive forms-their mouth widens like a frog, their nose flattens up and their hair disappears. They grew hind legs and all parts of their body were filled with scales. Their eyes become ‘unicolor’ similar to the color of their iris in their passive and passive – aggressive forms.

They could scatter across the three continents using their secret passages built during the ancient times. It was said that they have portals beneath the ocean, enabling them to freely roam all throughout the three continents.

Even so, no one had ever confirmed it since the Sirens were known for their ferocious behaviors and they never had any proper communication with the other races. They were thought to be savage creatures for some reasons and never let any other races infiltrate their territory.

It was said that they were magical creatures blessed with the grace of the power of the moon and were directly blessed by the goddess Ayla right before she was sent to the south for restriction.

Sirens didn’t usually go off shore unless they were preparing for their courtship ritual. All the young unmarried males of their tribe captured a few females from different tribes every almost decade apart. We had no idea why they had done it since ancient times, but there was a tale that said that the Sirens were children of the minor god of water named Trent and the minor goddess of land named Terra.

Unfortunately, their children tried to overpower the first ruler of the beastman world, making them receive a direct punishment from the Queen Goddess Hera for disobeying the order set by the Supreme Being. It was said that they no longer bore any females of their race, pushing them to capture females from the other tribes in secret. They have a longer life span than a regular beastman since they were children of the minor god and goddess, but even if they take any females from the other tribes, there was only a slim chance to produce any offspring.

I wondered for a while now if the cause of the disappearance of Gurion’s mother was the doing of the Sirens. I was still skeptical, but even Father Lev once theorized that it might be the doing of the ferocious Sirens.

However, our tribe and the allied tribes had no power to go against those races, even if their powers were combined. He said that he cannot let the whole allied tribe suffer for a single female. He looked cruel that time, but he had a point because many lives would be at risk if he would provoke the Sirens, not only on our tribe.

The journey will be harder than expected knowing that the Sirens started to resurface again at such a great timing.

My brother seemed irritated upon going back to us and uttered, “Tsk! After all these decades, why now?”

Lowell whispered, “Should we reconsider our plan? It will be hard to cross the ocean with them roaming around everywhere.”

Dillon looked on the other side of the branches to check the location of the nearest Sirens.

He returned to us and said in a low voice, “It seems they won’t be able to sense our presence unless they can see us up here. They don’t know how to climb a huge tree, we will be safe until they leave the area. The only problem is how can we cross the ocean?”

Gurion hugged me while trembling. He whispered, “Mommy… I’m sceywd!”

I stroked his curly hair and responded, “Don’t be scared, nothing bad will happen to us. Your dads and uncles are here to fight the bad people.”

Guyon sprung with excited eyes and said, “And Mommy too? Mommy is the stwongest! Mommy is a goddess!”

“Yes! Mommy too. Mommy will protect everyone against them,” I chuckled and kissed his red cheeks.

My brother stroked my hair briefly with a smile before he called Macan, who was currently looking after the bunny hatchling.

Macan removed the divider, revealing the sight of a peacefully sleeping little bunny on a table made by Dillon with a furry pelt table top as a cushion.

He looked sad while looking at the bunny hatchling and said, “He seemed to be attacked by the ferocious Sirens while he was wandering with his mother around the area. His mother might have been a victim of those monsters.”

My heart ached upon hearing Macan’s words. I suddenly remembered Arvad, Gurion’s older brother, who was also wounded the same way when he was found dead while the tribesmen were looking for their missing mother. I couldn’t comment on it because Gurion was still too young to know about what had really happened to his real family. From Arvad’s exile and death to their mother’s disappearance after the tribunal trial.

Gurion wiped my eyes-I didn’t know I was crying from remembering those memories.

He hugged me tightly and rested his head on my shoulder while whispering, “Don’t be sad mommy. We can be his family too just like how mommy took care of Guyon.”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.