Siren's Song

Pip grew up poor in the Caribbean- his father's intermittent care leaving him little better than a street urchin scrounging to survive. Lost as collateral by his dad in a round of cards, Pip finds himself the newest, and lowest-ranking, member of a pirate ship, THE MOTTLED SWIFT. Eido is the youngest member of an ancient race known by many names: sirens, mermaids, demigods, harpies. Exiled for betraying their father, Eido and her sisters live on an island cut off from the rest of the world. Pip and THE MOTTLED SWIFT crew brave an extraordinary storm to evade capture by Spanish Galleons, only to find themselves marooned in the waters off a mysterious, undiscovered island. When Eido investigates this strange, new craft, she runs into Pip and impulsively saves him from drowning. On the island, their initial meeting is cut short when Eido's eldest sister Sycora takes Pip prisoner. Eido frees Pip and attempts to return the boy to his crew, only to get shot for her trouble. The only being who can save Eido exists only as a spirit in the Land of the Dead. Fortunately, the island sits atop one of the few remaining gateways to the underworld. Pip takes an injured Eido into the Land of the Dead and convinces the ancient god of medicine to save her. Pip and Eido return to the far shore of the Styx to discover the pirates imprisoned Eido's sisters and plan to journey into the Land of the Dead in search of plunder. Hoping to reunite with the spirit of his dead mother, Pip volunteers for the raiding party. Eido frees herself and flies over the Styx in time to save Pip from the mindless creatures that dwell under the river's waters, but they are now stuck with no way to return to their world. The ghost of Pip's father appears, pretending to help, but Eido senses he is motivated by something more selfish than parental concern. Her fears soon prove correct, and Pip is faced with a choice between his new friend and the father who abandoned him.