The boats drifted quietly across the dark water.
Behind them, the ship slowly began to turn away from the shore. Its sails shifted in the wind as it started its lonely journey back toward the open sea.
There was a bleak air hanging around it.
Even so, the sailors on deck were still smiling.
It was almost laughable.
They had worked for a secret mission, risked their lives crossing cursed seas, and their reward was to die once their task was complete.
Damon didn’t even feel angry about it anymore.
He couldn’t.
The world simply worked like this.
The song of the sirens grew louder as the boats pushed forward.
The lody rolled across the water like silk, warm and inviting. Each note pulled at the mind, whispering promises that didn’t quite have words.
Damon stood at the front of the boat with a faint smile on his face.
The wind tugged at his coat as he looked toward the jagged rocks ahead.
He appeared calm.
Imposing.
Like a man completely untouched by the tension creeping through the others.
Finally they saw them clearly.
A group of beautiful won sitting on the rocks where the waves crashed against the cliffs.
White garnts draped around their bodies as they sang into the wind.
Damon narrowed his eyes, trying to make out their faces.
For so reason, he couldn’t.
Then he rembered sothing.
He spoke without turning around.
"Rember this."
His voice carried easily across the water.
"Sirens take the form of the won you lust after."
Several n stiffened slightly in their boats.
"Keep your minds clear," Damon continued calmly. "The mont you make eye contact, they beco the object of your affection. That’s how they entice you into the water."
All the n across the different boats imdiately saluted.
"Yes sir!"
The boats continued drifting forward.
Then they slowed.
Damon glanced behind him briefly.
The boat he was standing on was strangely quiet.
He was the only man on it.
The rest were won.
Seras stood near the stern with her arms crossed, her expression unreadable. Wendy sat beside a stack of gear checking her weapons. Renata quietly adjusted a pouch at her belt, while Matia sat near the edge of the boat swinging her legs lightly above the water.
Damon had let her out of his shadow after the incident with the Eye of Morticai.
No one wanted to be assigned to this boat.
And it wasn’t just because the won on it were beautiful.
They were also extrely dangerous.
Seras was the commander.
Most soldiers would rather face a monster than have their boss breathing down their neck during a mission.
And then there was Lana.
The presence of the temple scholar alone made the others uncomfortable.
In the end the forward boat had been filled entirely with won.
It was intentional.
Seras had planned it that way.
Sirens preyed on n.
Won were immune to their charms. They could not be seduced or dragged into the water.
As for Damon...
Seras had simply assud he could handle it.
Looking at him standing calmly at the front of the boat, it seed she was right.
All eyes were on the sirens.
They continued singing as the boats drifted closer, their voices weaving through the air like invisible threads. The mont the boats entered the range of their seductive power, the atmosphere changed.
Damon was the only man within range.
And he was doing his absolute best to maintain the image of a seasoned commander who had sailed the seas for decades without flinching.
He folded his arms and nodded sagely.
"Ah yes, n. A siren."
He spoke with the tone of soone deeply experienced.
"Keep your hearts clear. Personally, I haven’t been loved by a beautiful woman since the day I was born. Stone cold, baby. My heart’s been stone cold."
The mont the words left his mouth, one of the sirens suddenly slipped off the rocks and dove into the water.
A mont later she erged a few ters from the boat.
Her appearance had changed.
Now she looked like a red-haired woman with erald green eyes and a dangerously curvy figure. Water slid down her shoulders as she smiled at Damon.
She lifted a hand and beckoned.
Renata blinked.
"Wait... isn’t that Lilith Astranova?"
Damon’s jaw dropped.
"Well damn it..."
Indignation filled his face.
"What the hell is this..." he muttered coldly.
"Your lustful thoughts," Seras replied flatly.
Damon shook his head imdiately.
"No, no, that’s not it." He frowned at the siren thoughtfully. "I ain’t never seen Lilith look like that. Clearly she’s been holding out on ."
From the teasing smile to those dangerously confident hips, the resemblance was... suspiciously convincing.
Renata stared at him.
"That’s your takeaway from this?"
Damon blinked and scratched the back of his head.
"Erm... yeah. I an Lilith never—"
His gaze drifted unconsciously.
For a brief mont it landed on Renata.
Specifically, her chest.
Plop.
The siren beside the boat shimred.
Damon slowly turned his head.
Sure enough, the siren had now turned into Renata.
She continued singing sweetly while teasingly adjusting the shells that barely covered her.
Renata’s mouth fell open.
Her face turned bright red.
"What are you thinking about?!"
"Nothing!" Damon protested instantly. "I swear she’s doing that on her own! I am of a pure mind!"
No one believed him.
Another siren shifted.
This ti she beca a white-haired elf with grey eyes and an extrely confident figure.
Seras glanced at him from the back of the boat.
"Keep it in your pants, okay."
Damon opened his mouth, preparing a very strongly worded defense.
Then another siren changed.
Into Seras.
And the first thing she did was sothing so outrageously suggestive that Damon almost choked.
He felt like crying.
The other boats quietly drifted a little farther away.
None of the soldiers wanted their own embarrassing thoughts revealed.
One of the n on another boat stood up and saluted Damon with deep respect.
"He’s a brave one, that vice commander."
Damon thought things couldn’t possibly get worse.
Then one of the sirens changed again.
This ti she turned into Evangeline.
She crossed her arms and smirked.
"I’ll let you touch my chest without anyone knowing," the siren said teasingly. "I’ll pretend I didn’t notice... like every ti you pick a fight with ."
Damon and Evangeline fought constantly.
Like children.
Except they weren’t children.
And sotis Damon may or may not have...
He could feel the horrified stares from every direction.
"I swear it’s not like that!"
Matia had been quiet until now.
The dark fairy calmly removed her helt and stared at him with a completely expressionless face.
"I’m telling Eva."
Damon felt his soul leave his body
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