*
They all paddled on the still waters of a vast lake, and Thor wondered if this would ever end. They had all been paddling for hours, and finally settled into a comfortable silence, paddling in unison as this new body of water seemed to stretch forever. It felt like an ocean, with no land in sight, yet its waters were completely still, with no breeze to be had.
Thor was still trying to process seeing his three “brothers” again, their new kindness to him, and what this could mean for their mission. If their map was accurate and not the dream of some desperate thief, then their appearance could be a godsend, exactly what they needed to find the Sword and bring it back. But the words of the slave girl rang in his head, and he could not help wondering, with every stroke, if they were going the wrong way, if his brothers were being played by this thief and his map.
"Where are you from?" Elden asked the girl softly, seated beside her. Thor was but a few inches away, and could not help but hear, despite Elden’s speaking softly. Elden had been trying to engage her for quite some time, and she had seemed aloof. Thor could see that Elden had taken a real liking to her. It was the first time he had seen Elden this way.
"From a place you've never heard of," she answered, “and a place you’d never want to go. It’s just another slave town on the periphery of the Empire. They rounded us up to Slave City about a year ago. Not all of us. Just me. My family, they killed on the spot.”
Elden shook his head.
"You are a slave no more. Now you are free.”
She shrugged.
"What does being free really mean? The entire Empire are slaves to the Empire. Show me a place that is truly free.”
"The Ring is truly free," Elden insisted.
She grunted.
"And for how long?" she countered. "Soon you will be overrun, like us, and you will answer to the Great Andronicus. Just like all of us.”
"Never!" snapped Elden. "You don't know me. You can’t say that.”
She shrugged.
"I know Andronicus. Nothing can stop him. Nothing. Not even your Ring, with its Canyon, and its missing Sword. You live in fantasy. I am a realist.”
"You are a cynic," Elden corrected. “You clearly lost your ideals long ago. I myself have not. I will never become a slave. I will never answer to Andronicus. And my people will never go down. If they do, I will go down fighting with them.”
She shrugged, unimpressed.
"Then you will go down,” she said. “As I said, like everyone else, you will succumb to Andronicus—one way or another."
The boat fell into a gloomy silence as they continued to paddle, deeper and deeper into the unknown, the only sound that of the lapping water.
The second sun climbed to its peak, burning hot, reflecting off of everything. The lake was like a huge mirror, shining white, light bouncing off of everything. It was like paddling into heaven.
Just as Thor was beginning to wonder, once again, if they were heading in the right direction, suddenly, a soft sound began to rise on the horizon. It was so soft, at first Thor wondered if he were imagining it. It sounded like a song, like a distant, soft song in a woman's voice, rising and falling. It sounded like a chorus of women. It was the sweetest and softest sound Thor had ever heard, echoing off the water. He wondered if he were dreaming.
From the looks on the faces of the others, who suddenly stopped paddling and looked in that direction, Thor knew he was not alone in hearing it.
"The song of the Sentions," Indra said, with fear. "You must turn the boat around!”
"What do you mean?" Thor asked, alarmed.
Indra looked frantic, looking every which way, as if trying to get off the boat.
"That island,” she said, “it is an island of seductresses! The music is meant to draw passersby in. Music that men cannot resist. Once they arrive, they are killed and eaten. You must turn around at once!”
"You don't know what you're talking about," said Dross. "We are following the trail to the Sword.”
But Thor was beginning to feel a strange feeling pass over him, a tingling throughout his body—a lust. The more he heard that music, the closer they came, the more this feeling intensified, the more he needed to hear it. He had never experienced anything like it—it was as if his body had been taken over by a life-or-death desire to hear their song. He would have killed anyone or anything that got in his way.
His fellow passengers—except for Indra—clearly all felt the same, turning towards it, hypnotized, paddling hard as a sudden current picked up and pulled them in one direction towards the music.
A small island began to come into view, in the center of which sat a round, low building, made of a shining white marble. On the shores of the island stood a group of women, wearing white flowing robes, with long brown hair spilling down to their lower backs, each leaning back, palms out, and singing. The chorus of voices grew louder, the tide stronger, and before he knew it, Thor and the others were at the edge of the island.
Thor's heart was pounding with a desire to be with these women; he could think of nothing else. He could not even think of Gwendolyn. It was as if his mind had been taken.
"Turn around!" Indra yelled, frantic.
But nothing could stop them now. The current grew even stronger, racing them towards the island, and in moments their boat was lodged firmly on the sand, several women waiting to pull it ashore. They reached out with their long, delicate hands and each grabbed a piece of the boat and pulled them up.
Thor was electrified by the feel of a woman's touch as she grabbed his, smiling and singing the whole time as she guided him off the boat onto the sand. He let her guide him, unable to resist, up a set of endless marble steps to their island. Beside him, Krohn snarled and whined, and Indra shouted. But Thor could barely hear them, all sounds but the song muted, fading. He walked with all of his legion brothers, all of them allowing themselves to be lead.
Each of the boys was led by a woman who took his hand, smiling sweetly, singing, leading them deeper and deeper into the island. As they went, Thor saw that the island was covered in the most beautiful fruit trees he had ever seen, orange and red and yellow fruits hanging low, branches flowering, flooding the place with delicate aromas. There also came the smell of distant cooking, making Thor’s stomach growl.
Thor heard Indra screaming, then heard her being gagged and muffled; he turned and watched the women pounce on her, binding her hands behind her back and carrying her off. Some part of Thor wanted to help her, to stop all of this. But a bigger part of him was under a spell, so deep that he would have walked off the edge of the world if these women had led him there.