No human could resist the allure of my song. They'd tell each other that the captains of the ships lost to me had been driven mad by carnal desire. But it wasn't that at all: it was curiosity. Perhaps there was also an element of trust: something that sounded so beautiful yet still so human couldn't possibly be out to cause harm. But, well…I was. And my voice could carry a long, long way.

The ethical implications didn't concern me, really. I had many mouths to feed, many stomachs to fill, even if most were much smaller than mine. And by attacking human ships specifically, I was also sending that species a message to stay away from our oceans. The waters held fear, the waters held death, the waters held me.

The scout's scales flashed as she darted through my long white hair and in between my fingers—she was clearly very excited to tell me about this ship. It was only the second one she'd ever found, and to hear her tell it, it was larger than any ever seen before.

"Does it have weapons?" I asked, pinching my fingers together around her upper body to hold her still.

"Cannons!" she replied, her voice still brimming with excitement. "A full row on each side!"

I nodded solemnly. "Then I need everyone to stay deep. Worry not, you will feast soon enough."

And as she swam downwards, I rose to the surface, the wind blowing a cloud of spray from my hair. I took a minute to breathe—best to let my lungs warm up before I'd need to use them. It's not like the ship would be fast enough to escape me, after all.

And I sang, my voice carrying far, far over the waves. The song had words to it—of course it did—but nobody would know, for they were in a language long forgotten, even to the other merfolk. All of them were so young, so fragile, so clueless as to where we came from and how. Without me, I wouldn't even know what they'd be.

And soon enough, the ship arrived. I heard it before I saw it, the vibrations in the water telling me that it was time to dive. So they wouldn't see me; they'd still be looking around empty water for the source of that siren call. I lurked underneath—this certainly was a big one, even longer than myself. It would take a little while to break it.

I swam up from underneath the water and turned to face downwards, raising my tail above the surface. That would be their first sign of my presence—they'd be running towards the edge of the deck, craning their necks to see what sort of a monster this was. Pause, one, two…and I smacked my tail down on the surface of the water, as hard as I could, the noise certainly loud enough to shock and disorient anyone on deck.

In that moment, I swam underneath to the other side, where the crew wouldn't be gathered. My fingers wrapped around a cannon barrel and pulled, yanking it out of its mount, fragments of ornately stained wooden planks falling all around me. Even though my face was far too deep for someone above the surface to make out, I could clearly see the people rushing back to this side of the deck, gaping at the massive hand sticking out of the water.

I drew my hand back and threw the cannon high into the air. The humans watched, wide-eyed, only scattering when they processed it was going to descend towards them. It crashed into the deck—from the sound, it seemed as if it might have crashed through two decks. That ought to be a good foundation for what I'd need to do next.

A human was floundering in the water next to me, their eyes widening in horror as they saw what they were up against. My eyes locked onto them, and my hand shot out and wrapped around them, and before they had any time to even struggle against my grip I'd eaten them in two bites. Might as well have a snack to keep my energy up, after all.

Facing downwards once again, I smashed my tail into the side of the hull, feeling the wood crack around it. The hull was tough; I couldn't break through in one hit. But I didn't need to, and so rather than go for a second hit, I swam to the other side and did the same. With those two hits, the entire midsection of the ship would be weak.

And finally, I raised my head out of the water, letting my prey see my face for the first time. Until that point, I'd seen flashes of hope across their faces, perhaps thinking that their cannons would be strong enough to face whatever sort of monster they were up against. But as they beheld my true scale, only one of the cannons fired—they knew they couldn't win.

My hands wrapped around the railing, and I hoisted myself up onto the deck. My weight was the final straw, and the ship began to split in two. I wrapped my tail around the keel and squeezed, with the tip of my tail all the way up by my head, my elbows resting comfortably on the deck.

The human in the triangular hat must have been the captain. I gave them a smile—they were about to go down with their ship, an honourable death. They responded by taking a shot at me with their pistol. It hurt, but I didn't retaliate; that bravery was admirable.

It was time for the final blow. I grabbed the mast and broke it off the deck, stripping the sails off of it with my free hand. I plunged this makeshift spear into the heart of the ship. And that was all it took: the ship split in two, the once noble vessel soon to wash up as driftwood. Perhaps their flag would make it to shore—it would be the only memory of what happened here.

I dove under, circling the wreck to catch the drowning crew, and my brethren swam up from the deep to do the same. Today, we would feast. Tomorrow…well, I suppose tomorrow would depend on me.