Page 16 of Blood of the Sirens
Cars! That’s what they called the land boats.
Several more of the car machines passed me, as well as a man on a contraption with pedals. He didn’t go as fast as the cars, but he was certainly faster than me. And that machine was quiet and unassuming.
He raised a hand as he passed me, and I raised mine in reflex. He pedaled on.
I kept walking.
The machines didn’t seem that safe. Maybe if—
“Need a lift?”
A car snuck up behind me, much smaller than the other ones, its insides open to the air and not contained by glass and metal. A man waved at me, a female next to him and a younger male sitting in the back on padded seats. It was much, much quieter than the larger machines, which made me feel better about not hearing it come up behind me.
“I assume you’re heading into town. That’s where we’re going, and we’ve got one more seat. It’s an awful long walk by yourself.”
I looked to where he pointed, at the back of the car next tothe young male. A small, padded space was indeed available, and perhaps it would be wise to go with them. I did not know how far I would have to walk and didn’t want to waste time. And my feet hurt in my foot garments. And I wasn’t that great at walking yet.
“Yes, thank you,” I said cautiously, taking care to walk extra carefully. I paused at the back of the vehicle, wondering how to arrange my feet to get in.
“What? Got a bad leg or something?” The young male eyed me dubiously as he reached forward with his hand, and I grasped it in thanks.
“Well? What are you waiting for? Lift your leg.”
I wobbled as I placed one foot on the contraption, then leaned on the young male as I brought the other one up next to it.
“Woah, easy man, you’re double my size!”
He practically pushed me down onto the floppy seat, and my hands automatically went around the metal poles by my head. Without warning, the machine took off, and I was glad I was holding on. Otherwise, I might have fallen off when it jerked forward so unexpectedly.
The man in control of this contraption talked the entire journey, his mate joining in now and then. The younger male paid no attention to me. I didn’t understand half of what they talked about. The surrounding lights enthralled me, as well as the smells and new noises as we reached what was clearly the center of all human civilization!
The lights were of all colors, advertising food and other wares. Competing smells of humans and food both fascinated and disgusted me. Rhythmic sounds pounded all around me, and I assumed it to be music of some kind. Humans talked, yelled, and sang. It was all so loud I could barely hear the pounding of the ocean only a quarter mile away. Thecacophony of noise was overwhelming And thepeople.They were everywhere: walking, dancing, laughing, and even doing the human motion ofrunning. My mouth went dry at the sheer amount of females who walked by, either with a large group of other females, or with a male, scantily clad.
Now I understood why my brothers preferred to hunt as a pack. There was no being alone here as a human!
“Is this where you want off? We’re going to Sharkey’s over there.” The man pointed at one of hundreds of little buildings, all reeking of burned flesh, and whatever else must pass as food for them.
I took a sniff of the air, still able to trace my female, but barely. With the ocean right here, I figured she must be nearby.
“Yes, this is fine. Thank you.”
I clumsily but successfully de-boarded the vessel. They all raised their hands in salute, and I raised mine as well before they zoomed off.
I strained for that sweet scent I knew my female carried, with spicy undertones and the promise of sunshine and light. It was much harder to place here among the cacophony of food scents and all the other humans, but I wouldn’t give up. I followed the path toward the ocean, thankful to leave the hustle and bustle of humans behind. My shoulders relaxed as the noise and amount of humans decreased, and the road gave way to sand.
Finally.
I walked another half mile along the coast until I came upon a massive dock that was much, much larger than the one my female had at her home. Massive ships sat calmly at port out in the water, with smaller ones bobbing up and down gently in the mild surf and along the dock. Giant rocks surrounded the beach, making it difficult to accessfrom the sand.
Her scent was fresh here. More recent. I would simply have to climb the rocks and the dock to reach it.
It took some trial and error, as well as a few wounds along my hands and knees. Human skin was so frustratingly fragile—those rocks would not have harmed my scales at all! The loss seemed minimal, though, so I kept climbing. These stupid human foot coverings were next to useless for such an activity. They were what most of the other humans wore, however.
Then I heard her.
My female.
She wascrying.
