Every full moon my King sacrifices a female of breeding age to the Zaqwar.

I’m told the men of Zaqwar are barbarians—brutish aliens who were shipwrecked after they abandoned their planet. For three decades, they’ve been settling into our home, Eutar, a post-apocalyptic Earth.

More than two hundred years ago, the earth’s population was reduced as a result of warfare, fire, flood, and plague. We call it The Epidemic. This planet isn’t dominated by just humans anymore. After the apocalypse, those still living began to adapt and evolve. Eutar is now the future.

My people live and thrive in the Volatile Sea where the Sea King has ruled for as long as many of us have lived. Not only does he control the Volatile, but he rules anyone that lives near or delves in it.

Mer people are at the top of his hierarchy. The sea is their domain. Next are the Sirens, who made their homes near shores in above ground and underground caves. Sirens acted as land messengers and spies for the Sea King. They warned him of imminent attacks. Unfortunately, attacks and threats came from everywhere. From humans, who scoured Eutar looking for what remained. Pirates, who sailed all the seas looking for long lost treasures. And barbaric land dwellers who lived near the Volatile.

But my King hadn't anticipated the threat that devastated his kingdom just three decades earlier. This particular threat didn't come from the land. The Zaqwar came from the sky on massive spaceships. Even the land dwellers fled the area in droves when these beings arrived.

Some say the Zaqwar are the offspring of human soldiers sent to another planet more than two hundred years ago to escape the devastating effects of The Epidemic. But these men are no longer human. They are something else altogether, with both barbaric and alien-like traits. Their abilities were superior. When they came, they hunted day and night for food and sport. And sometimes, they hunted in our oceans.

Although my king wished they had left, they made no attempts to repair their spaceships and return to their home planet. An army of Mermen was formed to defeat the Zaqwar, but the Sea King realized these men were natural-born warriors. They landed here to conquer. And adapting And evolving. Just like the rest of the living.

Rather than risk our kingdom with more violence and bloodshed, my King negotiated a peace treaty with their leader to trade one female every twenty-nine days in exchange for continued peace. And on the night of this full moon, I was chosen. But a minimum of twelve sacrifices per year was a small price to pay to maintain our freedom and our way of life.

My King doesn’t send females of royal bloodline to appease the Zaqwar. They send girls like me. Prisoners of the kingdom. Disposable assets. I am told the Zaqwar are none the wiser. On Eutar, there are ten males for every female. It's been that way since The Epidemic. We don't have that problem in the ocean. My people—sea people—don't have issues reproducing or finding resources for food. That's why the Zaqwar need us. That's why they never stopped hunting us in the beginning.

On this full moon, I’m the sacrifice. I’ll never see my family again or know freedom. I’m expected to submit to a great Zaqwarian leader and bear his offspring. My fate isn’t my choice; it’s my punishment.

Punishment for an offense I didn't commit. My parents did, however.

My mother and father were persecuted for breaking the law. As a result of their deaths, I became an orphan and a prisoner. But I never had a chance anyway. I'm what my people call a hybrid. A cross between a Siren and a Mer. I can change forms at will and have the ability to live both in sea and on land for extended periods of time. They don't have a name for me, but in the Volatile Sea, no matter what the species, we have only one King. If we want to live, we do as he commands.

“Go,” Xalal ordered.

My escort shoved a sack at me which I presumed to be filled with a dowry of sea jewels, gold, and other trinkets from the bottom of the deep blue sea to give to my barbarian. I hugged the sack to my chest.

Trembling, I rose up from the water using the craggy rocks around me to support myself. I couldn't remember the last time I shed my scales. Not since I was a little girl. My Mer father would bring me to the edge of the beach to visit my mother. At the time, he was forbidden from seeing her by the King, but his love for her overshadowed the consequences. I was always fascinated by the way she raced across the sand with her long graceful legs to greet us. I remember the songs she used to sing to me with her magical voice. I once dreamed of shedding my scales and living on the land with her. I would've done anything to join her. I was ready to shed my scales for good, but I was too young then. The land wasn't safe. I had to remain in the deep blue sea.

One day when my parents met beside the beach, some pirates attacked them, prompting a group of Mermen to defend my father. In the aftermath, a Mer Prince and three Mermen died trying to help him. My King decided to make an example of my parents, reminding his people that those who broke the law would be punished. My parents were gone before I was old enough to choose my fate. But, I never even had a chance…

My mother always reminded me to be careful what I wished for. My wish had been granted, but I paid a hefty price for it.

“Keep going,” Xalal grumbled.

I glanced up at the full moon and sighed, trying to ignore the stick Xalal was poking at my back trying to get me to walk faster. I thought walking would be harder than this, but my legs seemed to have a mind of their own and one foot keep moving in front of the other. I tripped up some along the way as I stumbled over rocks, but the last thing I wanted to do was fall flat on my face in front of the Zaqwar who would mate me.

I had already accepted my fate. Now, I just needed to stay strong. They say the Zaqwar treat their women like slaves, but I was no one's slave or pet. I might have been a prisoner by circumstance, but I wasn't weak. Goddess, have mercy on the man who took me as his woman because I was going to give him hell until he considered me his equal.

I held my chin high and quickened my pace. When I looked behind me, I noticed that Xalal was struggling to keep up. The full-blood Mer would have to go back to the ocean soon. The call of the sea was strong for people like him. He’d spent his life in the Volatile. The longer one remained in the sea, the more dependent they were on it. It was the reason why Mer people were sent to the beach every month to shed their scales when they reached their adolescence, especially those who were charged with defending the sea.

“I need my ground sandals,” I called out over my shoulder, as I tried to circumvent cracked clamshells and pieces of broken glass.

The escort still had my shoes hanging across his shoulder, wrapped together with a long piece of string.

Xalal responded in Mer language, telling me I wouldn’t get them until he handed me over to the Zaqwar.

I hissed and marched forward, wondering how far he would take me on the dry land.

Suddenly, I caught wind of an unordinary sound coming from the rocks several meters in front of us, and then a group of Zaqwar appeared. There were four of them. I noticed them right away from the intricate symbols inked on their bronzed skin. They looked like giant humans. Most of them reached seven feet tall in height, probably a genetic trait from the aliens when they reproduced with the humans in space.

I froze, but Xalal moved right past me tugging me along by the rope secured tightly around my waist. I stubbed my toe on a rock as he yanked me forward.

“Here,” he pointed and dumped my sandals in the sand.

I picked them up, unraveled them, and slipped them on my feet.

“Wait here,” Xalal instructed and started backing up towards the sea.

The Zaqwar were coming for me. I could see the fear in Xalal’s eyes as he stumbled back quickly to reach the safety of the sea. I didn’t move. I was bound to stay and submit for the survival of my people.

As several sets of heavy footsteps approached, I bowed my head and looked at the ground. My heart raced rapidly. I heard them speaking in their foreign tongue, but of course, I didn’t understand any of the language. I was told most Zaqwar could speak English. If the barbarian who took me spoke English, I’d be grateful, but my luck seemed to be running out. Their gibberish sounded like nonsense.

I swallowed, opened my eyes, and caught the sight of giant bare feet planted right in front of me.

The barbarian muttered something I didn’t understand.

I shook my head.

“You speak…do you?” the barbarian grumbled.

I nodded.

“You…for me?” it asked.

I bit my lip and nodded once.

“I am Zaqwarian prince. Look at me, wench!” A rather large hand came out and snatched me by the wrist. Big hard fingers dug painfully into my flesh.

I rose my gaze to stare at him, and soulless brown eyes met mine. I shuddered at the size of him. His gaze and brute looks terrified me. There were three other barbarians behind him, looking just as grizzly.

My lips parted, but I couldn't bring myself to speak. I slowly extended my sack to him. The Zaqwar liked shiny new things. The jewels would occupy him while I mustered up the courage to talk.

Before the barbarian could take the dowry, a spear sailed through the air right above us and pierced straight through his skull. He made a gurgling sound as blood poured from his head wound and mouth. This time when he met my gaze, his eyes were bloodshot red. He keeled over, but he was dead before he hit the sand.

I gasped and squealed.

The three other barbarians immediately drew their spears as another bronzed-skin barbarian came barreling from behind the rocks in full attack mode with a sword. This one was considerably larger.

Something wasn’t right. What was going on? There wasn’t supposed to be a war. Just a peaceful exchange between two groups. Yet the men were fighting, staining the sand with puddles of blood. Unable to make sense of anything, I ran to safety behind a rock and some wooden planks from a wrecked ship.

The larger barbarian sliced through his opponents. When all four Zaqwarians lay lifeless, the night was silent. Even the seabirds had vacated the area. My nose flared as the smell of carnage crept up to me.

When the large barbarian focused his attention in my direction, lifted his nose to the breeze, and sniffed the air like an animal onto its prey, I knew I was next. I felt like I was in danger, so naturally, I felt the call of the sea. If I was fast enough, I could make it back to the shore. Once I touched the water and my fins sprouted, the barbarian wouldn’t be able to catch me. But some magnetic force kept me rooted to the spot and the barbarian zoned in on me by taking only a few long strides across the beach.

Under the moonlight, he looked like a bronzed god sent down from another universe. The planes of his muscles flexed and gleamed. Next to my five foot six frame, he was a giant. The intricate markings on his flesh told me he was a barbarian just like the ones he’d just murdered. He used strips of fabric, pieces of modern garments, rope, and animal hide to clothe himself. He held a long sword in his right hand and had numerous-sized daggers strapped to his leather belt.

His hair was long and black, hanging past his shoulders. His eyes were a pearl blue, reminding me of the crystalline waters surrounding Cape Scyllaea, the home of my fellow Sirens. His bronzed flesh was marred in blood, but he didn't seem to care. He looked human, just like in the stories we were told as children, but…I knew he was so much more.

His gaze bore down on me like I was the next target, but my fate had already been sealed in blood before I ever came from the ocean. I rose from the sand, hugging my belongings to my chest. I tried to level my gaze with him, tilting my chin way upward in the process.

He squinted, but he didn’t utter a word as he examined my face. He looked out to the sea behind me and then his attention landed on the end of the rope where it lay on the ground. He bent down, picked up the rope, and began walking away from the ocean.

The barbarian didn’t have to tug to get me to move. I took one last look at the Volatile and followed him toward the Quag—the forest beyond the sea.