Edmond shoved the carcass with all his might. It plummeted into the sea with a mighty splash.

"Hopefully, that will show them we mean well." Willas sighed and leaned his elbows along the edge of the ship.

Edmond tried his best to swallow the knife in his throat. He looked over at Willas. As much as he wanted to go home, he couldn't betray Willas. He simply couldn't. He felt shame like he never had before. To stoop so low. Edmond... wasn't a murderer.

He would have to reason with the mother siren. Surely, he could. Halcreek was dead. That had to be enough payment. An eye for an eye. It should be done. He would just need to do his best to express this to her.

It was a wonder they hadn't returned yet. Perhaps still busy with the researchers. May God have mercy on them.

Edmond sighed and clasped Willas' shoulder. The hopeful look on his bloodied face. In this moment, Edmond couldn't be more thankful that the spell of madness hadn't won him over. He had never felt such a pull to do such wrong. He hoped that spell had passed for good.

Willas was willing to fight for Edmond. Edmond would be willing to fight for Willas. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that. Either way, he was certain that in this moment, he was willing to put his life on the line for his best friend.

"Does the fog look any lighter?" Willas half joked. This man wanted to go home just as badly as Edmond did. But it was obvious the fog wasn't going anywhere.

"They aren't finished with us yet." Edmond looked down to the water. If only Emmalien were here. She would listen. She would vouch for him. He knew he had made a real connection with her.

"To the death?" Willas looked over the waves now, too. It was a hollow sentence. A cold one. One neither of them thought they would have to embrace. But if Edmond couldn't wake up, then this was their reality.

He thought of his wife again. He only hoped she wouldn't be too heartbroken. He hoped she would be safe and well. His salary should have been enough for her to sustain her and the baby for a time. After that, he wasn't sure. What would become of his family? Maybe they would move in with her mother. Her mother would curse Edmond for being too money hungry to stay with his wife. Maybe she would be right. But he knew he was doing this for their betterment. Hopefully, Maryann knew that in her heart.

Edmond leaned on the side of the ship as well now. The sky was getting darker. Night was upon them. Would that mean the next attack?

He was so exhausted. He felt like he hadn't slept in days. Had it been days? Weeks? Months? His loss of time unsettled him. He would go below deck to update his logbook.

𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛.

𝙷𝚊𝚕𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍. 𝙺𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚗. 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚜. 𝚆𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚊. 𝙱𝚢 𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍. 𝙸 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎.

𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚜. 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚢𝚊𝚗𝚗. 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙴𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚗. 𝙸𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗.

𝙸𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗...

𝚃𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚏𝚎. 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚢𝚊𝚗𝚗.. 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚒𝚝𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑. 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕. 𝙾𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝙴𝚍𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚛. 𝙾𝚛 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝙴𝚍𝚗𝚊. 𝚂𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚠𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚜 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜.

𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚒t 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎. 𝚃𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎. 𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚢.

𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝙴𝚍𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚠𝚊𝚢.

He leaned back in his chair and had to rub his eyes to smear away the tears that burned so badly. He longed to touch her face just one last time. To hold her. To kiss her lips just once more. He tried his best now to remember how she tasted. To remember how tender her lips were. If he had known his kiss goodbye was the last kiss he would ever get.

"Should we try to barricade anyway?" Willas tried to ease the tension of the moment.

"I need to talk to them." Edmond said. He couldn't say too much more on the topic without giving much away.

"Let's hope they will hear you out." Willas took a moment to look out the window. Only to discover the fog leaking back into the ship.

They were coming.

"Find somewhere to hide." Edmond told him, standing quickly. "I'll talk to them."

"I'm not leaving you alone with them!" Willas protested. "They will take you!"

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Edmond assured him. "No hide. Before it's too late."

"I'm with you." Willas demanded. "Always."

"And if they take you?" Edmond felt frustrated arguing when they didn't have time for this.

"If I die so you can go home? So be it." He declared.

Edmond froze again. Did he mean that? How could he say such a thing? Edmond thought back to the split second decision he made to spare Willas. Only to wonder if Willas would have willingly gone if only he had asked him to.

He didn't want to think about it. He had lost all of his men already. Willas was all that was left. He couldn't lose him, too.

"Please hide." Edmond tried one last time, already knowing the outcome.

"To the death." Willas reiterated and headed out of the room.

Edmond followed him to the deck. Why hide anyway. They would be found out eventually. Best to just get this encounter over with.

They had to stay close together, so neither were swallowed by the fog.

That familiar sound.

Wet clawed hands slapped the wood.

They were climbing the ship.

Perhaps for the last time.

All was silent now.

The men stood back-to-back, looking in every direction just to see nothing.

"Maryann!" Edmond called out. "Please! Listen to me!"

Unfortunately, Edmond calling out only seemed to put a clear target on their exact location. In half a second, both of them were tackled hard. Edmond slammed onto his stomach. Willas landed on his back, pushing his further into the deck.

"Wait!" He gasped out.

A screech was heard. Was it Maryann? Giving her commands?

They were tackled again, both of them rolling across the deck hard. Willas had a slash across his arm that was deep.

"Captain." Willas clutched his arm tightly. "It was an honor to sail with you!"

"Don't start!" Edmond said desperately.

Just then, Willas was yanked backward into the fog, the mist swirling in a hurry to fill the now empty space.

"No!" Edmond jumped up and ran blindly into the fog as fast as he could. Had he failed so suddenly?

He saw it. The creature was dragging Willas to the edge. It had a hand over the edge now. Willas struggled to free himself.

"Stop!" Edmond begged, closing the gap.

The creature used its free hand to slash deeply across Edmond's chest. As it turned to jump over the edge at last, it whipped its serpentine tail back and slammed it hard into Edmond.

As Edmond flew back, he heard Willas screaming as he descended into a splash.

Edmond hit the deck so hard that it knocked the wind clean out of his lungs.

He gasped to take a breath, only to make pained, empty noises instead. He simply couldn't catch his breath. The hit was harder than he realized in the moment. A small puddle of blood was forming under his scalp. His vision blurred.

And then.

Everything went dark.