Tale 4- the Siren’s hamartia

The Traveler arrived in a wealthy town, decorated with manors, mansions and palaces alike, and found herself sitting by a well, where a young lord sat on the other side, seemingly trying to shirk his responsibilities. Looking past him, she saw a familiar shape in the shadows and promptly moved to face it, hoping to keep an eye out. Due to this, she ended up sitting next to the lord, who gently greeted her and asked her what brought her to town. She quietly explained she collected tales, and the lord instantly said he could help, having heard an exhilarating story just the other night in the local tavern. Grateful, the Traveler prepared to write everything down, flipping to an empty page and pulling out her quill from under her cape. The lord smiled and prepared to tell the tale of ‘the Siren’s hamartia.’

‘Long ago, there lived an old beggar woman who would walk from town to town, begging for a place to stay. Often, she would be taken in by young men, hoping to show her pity, and she would spend the night in their houses, eating with their families and tending to the children, before night fell and she would transform into her true form- a beautiful siren with long blue hair, encrusted with gems said to sparkle like stardust. The siren would begin to sing, drawing the man out of bed and toward her, where she would then eat him alive, fleeing and donning her disguise in the night. The next morning, the families would wake to find their husbands or sons had vanished without a trace, and the beggar woman gone all the same. After many years of this situation repeating, a young girl, a twin, heard the tales and came up with a brilliant idea. She cut her hair and began to wear the same clothes as her brother for many days, before going outside one evening and seeing the woman described in all those stories. She introduced herself by her brother’s name, explaining she was a twin, and led the woman into her home, gently telling her brother she was playing a joke and to call her by his name and she would call him by hers. Their parents, confused, were now unable to tell who was who, and assumed they were telling the truth. Nonetheless, the family kindly offered the woman to stay the night, and grateful, she accepted.

As the female twin lay in bed that night, she heard her brother get up, and frantically used a rope to tie him to the bed, ensuring he wouldn’t be able to follow the siren’s call. She slipped into her role and pretended she had been ensnared by the music, drowsily walking toward the source of the sound and opening the door, instantly seeing the siren walk toward her. For a moment, she felt herself actually become stunned by the woman’s beauty, a blush even creeping onto her cheeks, but she remembered her goal. She tried to kill her brother, and for that, she would die. The girl pulled a knife out of her apron and hid it in her palm, before rushing to embrace the siren. In the few seconds before the siren would try to bite her, she stabbed the blade into the creature’s abdomen, causing it to scream in horror and anguish. With a final blow to the chest, the siren disappeared into nothing, and the girl ran to check on her brother, who woke up from his trance and embraced her. In tears, the girl dropped her knife, glad her family was safe.’

The lord watched closely as the Traveler finished her transcription, before smiling. He then heard someone call his name and, playfully rolling his eyes, walked toward his home, before turning back to bid goodbye to the Traveler. But she was gone.