Pirate

Captain Dorian Vex was a name spoken in whispers, not out of respect, but out of pure fear. Known across the kingdoms and coasts, he razed villages, plundered royal fleets, and left nothing but blood in his wake. No laws governed him. No man could tame him. He was ruthless, ferocious, and untouchable. So when the king offered untold riches in exchange for a siren from the Black Sea, a cursed place from which no soul ever returned, Captain Vex did not hesitate. He welcomed death if it meant facing the sea’s darkest legend. But fate had other plans. A fierce storm split the sky. Lightning struck his ship like divine wrath, sending him spiraling into darkness. When he woke, coughing salt and smoke, he was alone in a cold cave, lit only by the flickering sealight. And then he heard it—a haunting melody. Wordless. Seductive. Inhuman. On a slippery rock, silhouetted in the darkness, sat a boy. His slightly long black hair clung to his wet skin, barely hiding his form. He sang, combing through the strands with his fingers—pale, graceful, impossibly still. Captain Vex couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. He was no longer a predator. He was prey—the sirens of the Black Sea.