Blood of Immortals

“Be sure that the knife pierced its heart.”

“But how can I get close to it?” I peeked behind the rocks. Could its tail hit me? He gave me a knowing look.

“Don’t be such a wimp, kid” he told me seriously, “I trained you. You’re strong,” Then, he paused for a moment. “Regardless of your gender.”

My heart skipped a beat. He knows…

“Okay,” I replied.

We were still in the middle of the conversation when we heard the siren singing, again. Suddenly, Gideon dropped to his knees.

“Gideon!”

“Do it now kid!” He ordered me.

I hesitated for a moment. I can do this!

I held the knife tightly and started my mission. I lowered myself to the water level trying to move stealthily. My goal was to get behind the siren without being noticed.

I used the large rocks as my cover, praying that my little steps wouldn’t alert her. Suddenly, her singing became louder.

I looked back to check on Gideon. He was again, under the spell of the siren’s voice. He was in a daze just like everyone else.

I jumped on the rock just behind her. I immediately crouched down to avoid alerting her. Then, I noticed that the singing had already stopped. I tried to listen for a while, but I didn’t hear anything again. I decided to peek to know what was happening. I raised my head barely just above the rock, but it almost made me piss my pants.

Suddenly I was staring directly into the eyes of the siren.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!” the siren started screaming again.

I stepped back, but instead of covering my ears, I held the knife tightly. With all my might, I shoved it into the siren’s heart.

At first, I thought it didn’t work. She just stopped singing and held the knife protruding into her chest. She seemed confused. She tried to pull out the dagger but her efforts were futile. Eventually, she stopped moving and dropped dead into the water. It’s over.

I checked the men previously bewitched by the siren. They were starting to regain consciousness.

“Kid!” shouted Gideon. I walked towards him.

“Gideon,” I managed to say. “I…”

“Good job kid!” he said proudly.

“Thanks…” I smiled at him. “Aroa”

“Hmm?” “That’s my name.”

“Okay Aroa, let’s go!”

We were able to get back to the ship just before sunrise. The crew also discovered that there was an excess head when they counted the passengers. Me.

Gideon, being Gideon, decided to take advantage of the fact that I was able to save them. He demanded a reward aside from free boarding. The captain ignored his demands and decided to no longer pursue the issue.

I still wore my disguise and Gideon never questioned me for it. He didn’t mind, he said when I mentioned it one time. Of course, I was grateful for it. After fifteen days of sailing, we were able to reach the land of the elves.

The land of the elves was no ordinary village. The land was rich and abundant with resources. No wonder, its inhabitants seemed happy and content.

The moment we stepped on the land, we were greeted by its people. In fact, the village chief, Robin, even offered us food and free boarding in an inn. We were served like important guests. Of course, we gladly accept their invitation. Especially Gideon. He seemed like he was in paradise the moment his eyes landed on the table filled with food. And beer.

As for me. All I wanted was to take a long bath and sleep. Our days were uneventful until we decided to look for the gates.

“Why don’t we ask the elves?” I asked Gideon “It’s their land. They would know where the gate is.”

“It’s not as easy as that,” he replied.

“What do you mean?” I probed. “Haven’t you used the gates before?”

“I did, two decades ago,” he answered “when it was still in the forest of giants,”

“So, it moves?” I asked, curiously.

“It moves.”

“But how come other immortals can travel to the demon realm without searching for the gates.”

“They use passes.”

“Passes?”

“It is a key issued by the Royals to the leaders of demon clans,” he explained. “When they use the passes, they can call the gates.”

“So, in other words, as long as we find someone with passes, we can call the gates.”

“Kid? What are you scheming this time?”