Challenge Submission Protecting the Merfolk

[GremlinSage]

For as long as Digby could remember, the merfolk were their friends. Those of his own kind, landdwellers the merfolk called them, were always weary, but never had gone after them with the same vigor they had the pirates. This was different, though. The sea was angry, ocean waves forcing ships manned by merchants and sellswords to bob and nearly topple over. Yet they made every effort to throw down their large nets and every effort to collect as many of their mythical friends as they could.

It was accidental the healing properities of a merpersons scales were found and barely a year later, they were almost extinct. He was the last of his crew, arms bound behind him, a cloth keeping him from doing more than grunting. Merfolk dragged on board the merchants ships and chained to the poles or the descaling began immediately. Hot tears streamed down his face, his chin forced upwards as one of the sellswords came up behind him, anything to keep him watching as they tore apart otherwise peaceful creatures.

"Your friends will make us a fortune." The man's voice was rough, proud, ecstatic and he smelled as bad as he sounded. He held Digby's chin, fingers digging into both cheeks and his other hand keeping his eyelids open while one of them was descaled and beaten in front of him. Blue-black blood smelt the same as a landdwellers, iron so strong it makes one want to turn away, and it began covering the deck.

One by one, every scale on their obnoixously long fish tails were peeled off, like they were just cutting the peel of a potato or an orange. No reguard for what they were doing to the person beneath them, because they were not people. They were animals. Half human monstrosities who deserved no kindness.

They lure men to their deaths.

They're an abomination.

They are not normal.

Digby tried to shake himself out of the man's grasp, growling and grunting as he struggled and the sellsword laughed at his attempt. "Don't worry, maybe we'll have some fun with you too."

If you share an enemy with your enemy, that can easily make you allies. Above the painful screams of the merfolk came something worse. It began in the distance, not yet loud enough for the occpuied merchants and sellswords to hear, but he could. He knew the signs of a siren, the cousins of the merfolk. His struggle became more violent then, throwing off the sellsword. Their eyes met, both narrowed, both of them ready for a fight. Anything to at least have his hands so he could avoid being caught in the siren's call.

It wasn't the sellsword that freed him, the man had just barely moved an inch when the sharp tail of a merman landed on Digby's back. He cried out from the pain, bit down on the cloth as the fin dragged down his back and broke apart the rope binding his wrists. The sellsword watched, eyes wide, scanning over the onyx tail glittering in the moon's light. He forced himself to refocus quickly, the sound of metal scraping as he pulled out his dagger and pinned the tail to the deck.

With his hands free, Digby pulled away, ignoring the pain and blood coating the back of his shit and covered his ears. More and more the song of the siren's could be heard and one by one, Digby watched as each man slowly stopped killing the innocent. He could still hear the siren's song, muffled, but he knew they were gaining speed, closing in on the fleet and now his only fear was them.

The first webbed hand with sharp blackened nails dug into the ships side, the mer who had his tail pinned to the ground, half his scales already stripped leaned over Digby's back, covering ears and eyes with his body as he pulled him into him.

He felt long tails hit against him, the scuffle of half human creatures crawling past them. Even without sight to watch, Digby could feel their height as they rose onto their long tails, droplets of water flung off from their fins as they showed themselves.

And he felt death surround him.

The merman protecting him cast a spell, whispering roughly in his native tongue in Digby's ear. Within seconds his body relaxed, falling limp in the mer's arms, asleep as the siren's came to the protection of their cousins.

When Digby next woke, he was somewhere foreign, resting in a hospital bed, covered in bandages around his torso. Two military men were waiting at the end of his bed now. Silent. Staring. One stepped to his side, lifting up his arm, turned his wrist to the brand that gave way that he was a pirate. And a new fight begins...