The Legend of Merkind and the Harpies

picture via DollDivine.com

The Legend of Merkind and the Harpies

by Rebecca Fyfe

Long ago, mermaids could be found in all corners of the ocean. There were different races of mermaids: the dark haired sirens who sang sailors to their deaths, the copper-haired mermaids who watched over the sea and all of its creatures, and the golden-haired sea nymphs who were fascinated with mankind and most often shed their tails in favor of legs and living amongst the humans.

Today, mermaids are so scarce that few believe they ever existed. It's because of the Harpies. Harpies were much larger and stronger than mermaids, but they were very beautiful. Though they had wings to carry them high into the sky and all across the land, they were sea carnivores, preferring to feast on fish and dolphins and other creatures from the sea.

One day, the Queen of the Harpies fell upon a mer-princess, one of the dark-haired sirens and carried her off, feasting on her later that night. The siren's final song, sung in place of her death cries, layed a curse on all Harpies, making them forever hideous and misshapen, with beaks in place of their nose and mouth and claws for their fingers. Their feet became those of a bird of prey.

The Harpies blamed all merkind for this tragedy and their Queen commanded that all of merkind be hunted down and killed. They killed every mermaid, siren or sea nymph that they found, even the children. The few sirens, mermaids and sea nymphs who were left banded together and hid themselves down in the deepest part of the ocean, where the Harpies could not reach them. They are so rarely seen now, that humankind has stopped believing they exist.

But the legend claims that they have lived in a city under the sea, building up their numbers for centuries now, training for battle. And one day, they will rise again and have their revenge on the Queen of the Harpies and her descendants. The legend foretells that mankind will be caught in the middle and will suffer until the chosen human, one with the power of a siren's song, the power over water that the mermaid's possess and a sea nymph's ability to shed or gain a tail, rises to save them all.