Chapter 3

Finn POV

As I turned from the horizon to prepare for the day, the sky darkened impossibly fast. The waves began to rise and crash over us. It had been months, possibly longer, since we faced a storm. The sea had been eerily kind to us on our voyage. The crew began to panic, they were out of practice and none of us saw this one coming from the clear morning we just witnessed.

“Anchor’s aweigh Cap’n!” Thank god for Cyrell, at least one of us was thinking.

“Excellent work Cyrell! Let’s see what the old girl can do!” I grabbed the helm and faced the menacing storm head on. Another day’s disappointment had me feeling reckless. We worked tirelessly for what must have only been minutes as we were thrashed about the ocean be the ferocious waves. Thunder and lightning crashed overhead as the sky pelted us with heavy rain. The wind was unbearable and made the rain feel like razors as it made contact with my bare skin. Then the unthinkable happened, the most monstrous wave I have ever seen began to form and make its way directly for us. The ship would not withstand that kind of wrath. I knew then that we would die this day. I closed my eyes and gripped the helm, bracing for impact.

But it never came…

I felt the warmth of the sun on my face and chanced to open my eyes. The storm had withdrawn itself as quickly as it appeared. I looked around and blinked in disbelief. The men were just as perplexed as I. They all saw it, and not one of us had an explanation. Though it seemed, our fate was not to be sealed this day after all.

“It was she, Cap’n.”

“It was who Cyrell?”

“The Sea Princess, your Siren, she protects you.”

“Impossible… She is lost to me Cyrell, you know that as well as I. Another empty dawn… I am beginning to believe she will not return to me”

“I don’t believe she ever left you, Cap’n…” With a cryptic wink, Cyrell returned to his duties.

Cyrell, my first mate and the first to join my crew of misfits, stumbled upon me in a tavern in god only knows where staring at the bottom of yet another ale. Drunk, filthy, delusional and nursing my shattered soul. He seemed to know it was more than an average broken heart. He listened to my ramblings and helped to sober me up. He was the one that convinced me that if there were any hope of finding her, I would have to return to the sea.

To most he probably seemed crazy, I wouldn’t have believed me, but he did, without question. Perhaps it was pure self-indulgence but I saw a knowing in his eyes. The kind of wisdom that comes from experiences you don’t dare speak of out loud.

There was no point asking him what his cryptic clue meant. I’d learnt over the years to blindly trust him. He hadn’t been wrong yet. Still, his last comment had my gut-churning – “I don’t believe she ever left you…”

What could that possibly mean? It’s been 7 years of scouring the 7 seas in blind search of you. Surely, if you were near you would make yourself known to me? You would return? Unless she is somehow preventing you…

I walked cautiously to the port-side of the ship and leant over the railing and looked at the water gently lapping against the base.

A gasp left my lips as I realised for the first time, I could see nothing below the surface of the water. Not even just below where you might find small pieces of weed or debris. It was like everything beneath the surface was being covered by some sort of film.

How had I never noticed this before? In all my years of chasing dawn and staring off into the sunrise, I never once noticed that I couldn’t see a thing under the surface of the water.