#i imagine magic being condemned in taevara unless it came from a god

[rain-anonymous]

I largely don't know how to feel about this but I love the ideas that writing this has given me

This could match with a few different things, but I specifically wrote it with the D&D campaign I'm working on in mind; if that's the case, a lot of the other people mentioned would be referred to as knights rather than sailors, even though this still takes place on the seas

The first paragraph comes from this prompt!

Hopefully I was able to convey the tone I wanted to try and hold throughout the whole piece (:

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“You know,” the figure standing at the end of the docks starts, “the sirens never liked us much. Until your royal sailors started harassing them. Shooting at them. Murdering them. And suddenly, there’s a brand new alliance between us pirates and them.” The captain’s razor smile glittered in the moonlight. “Who would’ve guessed?”

With hair whipping around her face wildly and her chin tilted slightly towards the sky, the Captain of the Midnight’s Gold radiates an aura that creeps into the navy general’s skin, sending a chill down his spine. Her eyes pierce through his own as his breath shutters in his chest.

“You fib,” he breathes out, his air of confidence turning into a poorly upheld act. “And even if it is true, what do you plan to do with them? They can do little to stop us from taking hold of your precious pirate ships and capturing the land you claim.”

A low chuckle passes the captain’s lips, and it’s all the navy general can do to stop himself from shivering in fear.

“Come now,” she says, “surely you know the sirens are more than just a pretty face and an ignorable nuisance.”

“My men aren’t stopped by a haunting voice.” If they were, he would have given up his pursuit of this captain a very long time ago. Her voice rang through his ears, rebounding in his skull and covering his body in a chill that settled in his bones. If they were stopped by a haunting voice, he would’ve let the captain be, and the pirates would have won a long time ago.

The captain tsked. “You, general, of all people, should know that sirens have a tinge of magic coursing through their blood.”

Magic. Of course the creatures would have magic on their side, though the thought never occurred to him. The few sirens he had encountered had never intended any harm initially– no, he and his men were the ones who initiated the violence, and tried to capture the sirens for the expensive scales adorning their tail. It was only then that he witnessed one of his sailors dropping into the rocky waters below, never to be seen again. And it was only then that he would have realized they wielded magic.

“Now we’re remembering, are we?” She mocks, reading the expression from his face, “It’s your dreaded magic that draws your poor, unfortunate sailors into their watery coffin. And how is a magic-less society supposed to defeat that, without aid from the very thing you condemn?”

The navy general feels the blood drain from his face; she was right, how were they supposed to defeat that? A whole army of sirens trying to lure them to their demise is far different from the odd one or two fighting against capture.

“You should think in advance before allowing your men to behave the way they are, catcalling the sirens coming to the surface and killing the ones who lie in their own realm.” The captain takes a step forward, and leans down to the navy general’s ear. “I’d be careful sailing the seas from now on, general. This is war, and this is our domain.” Her whisper echoes in his mind as she steps back with another glaring grin and slips back onto the Midnight’s Gold.

Despite his previous intentions for this encounter, he stands on the docks, trying to regain his composure as the captain begins to sail away, her piercing gaze fixated on the navy general and her arm settled around a woman’s waist.

Dread and a small hint of envy swirl in his stomach. If it’s a war she wants, it’s a war he will provide.