Morrigan swam lazily through the turquoise water of the bay. It’s so bright and colourful. Her tail was a deep green – rather conspicuous in the bright coral. Not that it matters if I’m spotted. The scales on the side of her tail could feel the movements of the four sharks that tagged along with her. They were young, about as long as her forearm. She had eaten shark before; it was not particularly delicious. Thus she let the baby sharks follow her about, feeding on the leftovers of her hunt.

As Morrigan approached the coast she could hear voices. Just my luck – a fishing town. She breached the surface to get a good look at what was before her. The town itself was small, Morrigan could only make out about 15 buildings. People were milling about around stalls on the waterside. A wooden quay extended into the water where boats were tied. At the end of the quay, a small boy was fishing.

Morrigan dove and propelled herself forward. Her entourage was blown away by the turbulence created by her strong tail. She found the boy’s lure in the water. It was a pink worm on a metal hook. Morrigan bit on in and rose as the line was pulled. She let her head and shoulders emerge from the water. The boy’s eyes went wide as Morrigan spit out the hook. He was young, less than ten years old. His innards would make a tasty meal – but it would not be enough to satisfy Morrigan.

The boy stared, dumbfounded as Morrigan started singing. The sweet notes of her voice drifted over the water to the shoreside. A woman saw her and let out a piercing shriek. “Mermaid!” Of course, Morrigan had eaten a mermaid before; it didn’t taste nearly as good as human flesh. The humans started shouting, Morrigan kept singing.

A man ran towards the boy armed with a sword. He got between the boy and Morrigan and yelld something at the child. The boy remained frozen in place. Others were now running towards them. The man in front of Morrigan thrust his blade down at her. Morrigan caught the blade between her hands and yanked down. The man fell head first into the water. Morrigan wrapped her arms around him and swam to deeper waters.

The man struggled in vain against her grip. Eventually he stopped struggling all together. By the time Morrigan was done with him the water was red.

In a previous life she would have been horrified at what she had done. But she had died, and been reborn in another body. She didn’t have to live by anyone else’s rules anymore. In this body, she was an apex predator. She renamed herself the violent goddess of war from her previous life.

When she first woke up the mermaids had taken her in. They were a bright and cheerful folk. Their tails were colourful but smaller than Morrigan’s. They thought she was an amnesiac so they did their best to welcome her. When they outlined their laws for Morrigan she snapped and lashed out. She would never live by any rules ever again. She killed and ate one that day.

The rest tried to run her off, but their weapons couldn’t put a scratch on Morrigan. She toyed with them until they brought an elder who could cast divine magic. Sensing the danger, Morrigan fled South. She spent the days on the open sea figuring out her appetite. She found out she could eat just about anything, from seaweed to whale meat. She preferred meat to plants however – and man meat was the sweetest of all meats.

Now that she had found a settlement of humans she could leisurely farm them. They would eventually call for help, but when Morrigan sensed danger she could always flee. Their slow, lumbering ships had no hope of catching her in the open water.

Morrigan spent the next few days preying on the humans in fishing boats and canoes. Soon they stopped fishing all-together. Just as Morrigan was pondering moving to more bountiful waters she caught a taste of human blood in the water. Her senses exploded in a mad bloodlust. She made a beeline for the source. She did not even bother to breach the water to scout her environment. Humans cannot hurt me.

She headed up a narrow river to the source of the blood. The water was murkier here but Morrigan’s lateral line was sensitive enough to sense anything in her surroundings. She slowed down a bit. She was close to whoever was bleeding, but she could not detect any movement in the water. A corpse perhaps? Something wasn’t right. I can’t feel anything in the water.

She was about to breach when a net came up from under her and lifted her out of the water. The net was made out of metal chains that burned Morrigan’s skin. She thrashed madly trying to get free but the chains refused to snap. She was dropped on the riverbank. She painfully felt tail shrivel away as two legs took form. She was surrounded by men in armour, armed to the teeth with weapons. Morrigan’s sense of danger was like a blaring siren in her mind. A man in black plate armour stepped forward. Morrigan tried to launch herself at him, but after moving about with her tail she had forgotten how legs worked. Instead she bumbled onto the ground. She bared her teeth at the man, moving to bite a chunk out of him.

The man shoved a metal bit up her mouth. In one smooth motion he swept her onto her stomach. He pinned her with his knee as he tied the straps behind her head. He chained her wrists as another person chained her ankles.

The whole time Morrigan was screaming and shouting. After she was immobilized tears came to her eyes. “We got her, gentlemen,” the man with a knee to her back said. “For a while I thought I had lost my touch.”

“And I told you that was absurd Sergeant Trory.” Morrigan could not see who spoke.

“Yeah, that undead was probably intelligent. It’s nice to finally come back to dealing with mindless beasts again.”

I’ll kill you, I don’t know how but I’ll make you eat those words. Morrigan realized it was pointless thrashing about, so she stopped.

“Oh? Sounds like she is trying to speak…”

“So she’s a mermaid after all huh.”

“No, mermaids never attack unprovoked. Mermaids are also more bright and colourful – and this one’s just too big.”

“A Queen-type mermaid then?”

“Possibly, maybe even another species altogether.”

“What should we do boss?”

“Cover her up.” He stood up off her back. “Captain, go for the reward in the town. Take some of her hair for proof. The rest of us will set out for the Capital, I trust you’ll be able to catch up?”

“Yes sir! I understand, sir.”

“Good.”

They covered Morrigan’s naked form in a cloth and lumped her in a cage. Soon, they were following the river South.

Riders rode on either side of Morrigan’s cage. Without her lateral line Morrigan felt deaf; she could not tell how many men were present.

The sergeant who tied her up was the one driving the wagon. One of his subordinates asked: “Say, boss, why are we taking her to the Capital? Wouldn’t it be easier to kill her and just be done with it?”

“It would, but this is a new type of creature we haven’t encountered before. We have to learn as much about it as possible. Can you imagine if it turns out she is the weakest of her kind?”

“That would be bad.”

“Indeed. That’s why we are taking her to the Capital to be studied.”

“That lady always gives me the creeps.”

“The Court Scholar is a councilor of the King, address her with respect.”

“My apologies sir.”

“Still, I can’t help but shudder to think about what sort of experiments she will have lined up.”

Eh? Just where are you taking me?