The sun was setting again. Sarin nervously tapped his finger against the railing separating him from a deep plunge into a bottomless sea as he contemplated the approaching night. He swore that sunsets were becoming more frequent, as if the sun was becoming a bedridden elder. This was all likely a scheme on the Meta’s part, of course. Morven must have discovered something far more nefarious than the Eterna initially thought, some ritual that was slowly inviting the Void to consume their homeland or maybe they were cursing the sun to grow weak and dim. Once the sun sunk over the horizon its glow could still be seen for a little while longer, but soon enough the world around them would be swallowed up by the dark just like those miserable prisoners kept below decks.
Sarin shivered at that fate. To be encased in a dark cage while adrift on a prison ship, bound for some unknown destination with no indication of arrival. All for charges that even Sarin could not bring himself to understand, though he knew his protests would end in accusations of sedition. He made a quick promise to himself that no matter what happened, at the end of this war he would not let a fate like those below fall upon him. His hand hovered to his messenger bag, inside was packed with a growing pile of reports on the Meta’s activities, signed off and ready for the Sovereign’s attention. But deeper down there, was a secret weapon, the one that had been abandoned at the murder scene when Vindus decided to abandon reason.
She was kept somewhere below him now, in one of those dark cages, wasting away.
He shook the image out of his head. It was his fault that she was down there, he pointed her out when he noticed a raven that was a little too intelligent stalking around their camp. The Eterna told him not to worry about it, that they would protect him from the retribution of traitors. It’s not that he didn’t trust them, he was certain the Eterna could protect him so long as he was loyal and useful to the Sovereign. But that couldn’t ward off the growing unease in his stomach.
“Perhaps, I should have just stayed a gardener.” Sarin grumbled to himself.
The glow of the sun was gone now. The world was now in complete darkness save for the few lanterns near the back end of the ship. He wagered that this must be what the Void looked like. There were myths and rumors of ships that had set their course south and were never heard from again. The precious few that returned parroted stories of an endless night, so dark that even lantern light dimmed as if the light was suppressed by the Void’s presence. Either they were lying to drum up interest in fanciful stories, or the world had already begun to end long before this war.
No use in grieving over it. Sarin thought to himself. Just gotta live through it.
At the end of that thought something landed behind him with a quiet thump and he felt a sharp object press against his back.
“Don’t you scream, or I’ll cut you open.” Someone whispered from behind him.
“Ah…” Sarin nervously laughed, instantly recognizing that voice. “Captain Verna, this is about Vindus isn’t it?”
She gripped his shoulder and pulled him closer. For a second, Sarin was concerned with how ridiculous he must look like as a hostage to someone a whole head shorter than him.
“Where is she?” Verna seethed through gritted teeth.
“Two decks down.” Sarin cooperated. “But it’s locked behind a hatch, the captain has the key.”
“How many people do you have down there?” Verna asked.
“What?” Sarin tried to shrug, but Verna’s grip made that difficult. “I don’t know, this isn’t my ship, I’m just a passenger.”
Verna scowled. “Fine, could you at least tell me if there are any Sentinels here?”
“No, they couldn’t spare any with Morven’s army still out there.” Sarin cleared his throat. “Now, could you please, uh, lower your blade.”
“Call for your captain.” Verna said in a cold voice that sent shivers down his spine.
“I thought you said-”
“Do it!” Verna pressed the knife, causing Sarin to cry out in fear.
“Captain!” Sarin called out. “Revanka! Where are you!”
Verna vanished, and a bird flew upwards towards one of the masts. Sarin remembered Vindus flying off with her. Two shapeshifters out to take on the world.
Damned birds. Sarin thought to himself. Above he saw a slight flicker of light, possibly where she had shifted back. She had to be up there somewhere, watching him. He took in a deep breath and wondered what sort of weapon she surely had focused on him right now.
The clanking of metal filled his ears. He turned to see the captain of the ship clad in heavy armor standing before him. She was an imposing woman, almost as tall as Sarin, but many times stronger, with long blonde hair kept in a military braid.
“What is it Sarin? I thought we agreed you would stay down below at night?” She said.
“Yes, I remember. It’s just-” He spotted Verna’s silhouette land quietly behind Revanka, only visible thanks to the lanterns at the back of the ship. She lurked there, watching both of them.
Revanka huffed. “I’m a busy woman, I don’t have time for every one of your paranoid ramblings!”
“What? No, it’s not anything like that. I was just wondering…” He watched as Verna was moving towards Revanka now. What was she about to do? Was he really letting himself be an accomplice to her plans? Revanka was getting irritated now, she would soon turn around and catch Verna in the act unless he said something. “I was just wondering what was out there,” He looked out to the south. “What’s really out there beyond the Source?”
“Out there?” Revanka turned her attention towards the sea. “Nothing. The sea extends forever and when the sun sets, you lose all sense of direction and the currents will drag you into the Void.”
“Why do the currents flow in that direction?” Sarin asked out of genuine curiosity. He turned away from Revanka, he couldn’t bear to watch whatever that Meta decided to do.
“Who knows, who cares? It’s not something for us to worry about.” Revanka shook her head. “We have our jobs to do here where existence is tenable, we don’t have time to speculate on the nature of the thing that wants to slowly devour us when more immediate threats are present. That’s why we’re in this mess in the first place.”
“I see.” Sarin kept looking out at the horizon. Out there in the dark, he thought he saw a light flashing in a rhythmic pattern. He almost pointed it out to Revanka, instead he said, “And what about the stories of those who come back?”
“They’re lucky that they can even step foot on land again.” Revanka nodded thoughtfully. “All sorts of things can spell your doom out here. The Void’s the least of their worries. Starvation’s becoming more common and all sorts of beasts lurk just under the waters. My advice, stay on land when you get home. Leave the sea to us.”
Sarin glanced back, Verna was gone. He breathed a sigh of relief as his terror was quickly replaced with confusion. He could have easily told Revanka that she had just been there, now that she was gone there wouldn’t be any risk to it. But as Revanka said something else about the terrors of the sea, Sarin only nodded and wished her a pleasant night.
He remembered when Vindus decided to fly off with her, how Vindus was convinced that some great lie had been set in place. Maybe she was right, maybe the Eterna were all fools. Sarin tapped his bag again and felt the dagger still tucked away down there. Someone was hiding something and perhaps the Eterna were wrong, but was he really willing to capitulate to the traitorous Meta who had somehow dimmed the sun and harnessed the power of storms?
Are they really the best choice here? He thought a bit more on this, trying to avoid thinking about what Verna could possibly be doing. Maybe it wouldn’t be healthy to stay aboard this ship.
***
Verna gripped the keys she swiped from the ship captain. What was she thinking, wearing armor as heavy as that?
If the ship listed violently to one side and she was not properly secured, then she could fall off the side with no hope for survival. How the Eterna ever thought to make her a captain would be one of the great mysteries that would linger till the end of time. But she wasn’t here to puzzle out the Court’s idea of a sailor, not with her backup already on the way, if it played into her favor she would thank Buldren personally for that blunder.
It would be the first time she thanked him for anything. As she flew to the entrance to the lower deck she shifted back into a humanoid form and felt unsteady as she stared down into the hatch. She yearned for the days when she didn’t have to rely on shapeshifting to take flight. Back in the early days after the Awakening when she had wings of her own, before Buldren had her marked as an abomination and tore the wings from her back.
Down below, in the depths of the ship everything was quiet save for a couple of guards who quietly whispered to one another next to an oil lantern. Verna kept to the shadows and moved deeper into the ship. She quickly found the hatch Sarin had mentioned above. A large steel door set in the middle of the floor, locked by a single large padlock. Quietly, Verna pulled out the captain’s keys and unlocked the hatch with a hushed click. The guards near the lantern looked up for a second before they fell back into their conversation.
Verna took a deep breath, lifting this hatch would likely cause enough noise to warrant a search, she’d have to get Vindus out of here fast before they responded. She pocketed the padlock and gripped one side of the hatch and heaved it open. As she expected, the hatch creaked on its hinges, and the guards called out into the dark.
“Hey, who’s there!”
Before they could come any closer, Verna threw the hatch open and jumped down into the lower deck. A metallic clang echoed out from underneath her as she landed. Verna snapped her fingers and a small ball of light flickered to life just above her hand, illuminating a long corridor made entirely of steel set at the bottom of the ship. There was no time to question it, she ran forwards. Ahead of her were ten cells, likely more if the ship had more decks like this. Verna stopped at the first cell, it was a single heavy door with only a small slit covered by a sliding shutter. She slid the shutter open and let her light shine inside.
Her eyes widened at the sight.
Inside this cell was a child, huddled up in a corner, covering their eyes from the light. Verna didn’t waste a moment, she unlocked the cell door and pulled it open. The child began to weep as Verna approached. Verna noticed many fresh bruises and scabs marking the kid.
“What in the name of-” Verna shook her head and knelt down. “I’m not here to hurt you.”
Before she could ask any question, she heard the sounds of someone stomping up behind her on the metal floor. She drew her sword just in time to lock blades with an Eterna soldier. She followed up by extinguishing her light and used that brief moment of confusion to push past the soldier’s defense and stab them in the chest. The soldier fell to the ground, but more would be on the way, and if they locked the hatch behind her, then this would be the shortest jailbreak of all time.
The child remained unresponsive and Verna could tell she wouldn’t get anywhere with them. She moved on to the next cell and threw the shutter open to find a sleeping old man, she unlocked the cell and shook the old man awake only to find that he was missing an arm.
The old man startled a bit but relaxed when he saw Verna pull back at his discomfort.
“You’re not that thing are you?” He asked.
Verna had no idea what that was supposed to mean.“No,” She answered. “I’m looking for a friend. She’s tall, dark black hair, and could shapeshift into a raven.”
“Yes, she’s here. I think she was two cells towards the aft of the ship.” He pointed in the direction.
“Thank you.” Verna backed out of the cell.
“Are you here to free the rest of us?” The old man asked.
Verna hesitated, she had no clue how she would take so many prisoners out of this place, especially if anymore of them were children or elders. No more guards were approaching now, they must be waiting on the other side of that hatch. They hadn’t shut it on her yet which could only mean they intended to overwhelm her all at once unless Devanir arrived soon. Trying to free everyone on this ship was obviously a doomed venture. She looked back at the old man and said, “Yes, I’m here for all of you.”
The next cell was identical to all the others, she quickly threw open the shutter and looked in. No one was inside.
“Vindus?” Verna unlocked the cell and pulled open the door. “I’m here to get you out of here!”
Crouched, alone with her hand resting on the wall, Vindus looked back at Verna with a mixture of fear and anger. Verna could see that she was visibly shivering.
Verna stepped forwards, but froze as Vindus let out a sharp hiss. “Vindus, it’s me. It’s Verna.”
“Really? You think I’ll believe that now?” Vindus replied, her voice wavered from fear or exhaustion.
“What are you talking about?” Verna knelt down next to Vindus, “I’m here to get you out of here.”
“Prove it.” Vindus shrunk up in the corner, eyeing Verna with a threatening gaze, tears were forming in her eyes. “Prove that you’re the real Verna, or get out!”
They didn’t have time for this. Devanir would arrive any minute now and the Eterna were likely preparing an ambush of some kind. Verna shook her head and spoke, “I wasn’t always a shapeshifter. It’s just something to make up for what I’ve lost, for what the Sovereign stole from me.” She thought about the two vertical scars that ran down her back. “We met before the war, back then I had no idea one could change their form so easily as you do. It was you who let me fly again, Vindus.”
Vindus choked on tears. “You’re not lying, right?”
“I would never lie to you.” Verna held out her hand. “What did they do to you?”
Vindus was still unsteady, but she took Verna’s hand and the two gods rose from the floor. “The Eterna have a monster.” Vindus finally spoke. “It’s a shapeshifter like us, but it can take on any form. It pretended to be you, it taunted me with your face. I had thought for sure that-”
A metallic boom echoed down the corridor. Verna turned and swore as she spotted Revanka standing just under the hatch, a spear in her hand.
“I wondered when one of you would try to rescue these criminals.” She pointed the spear towards the two Celestials. “But I did not think Verna, captain of the infamous Dust Comet, would be foolish enough to volunteer herself for capture!”
Vindus looked like she was eager to fight Revanka hand to hand, but Verna held out her arm. “I’ll handle this, just be ready to fly.” Verna stepped forwards and put herself between Vindus and Revanka. “Your criminals look awfully a lot like children!”
“It is not my place to question the will of the Sovereign.” Revanka prepared her spear for a fight and slowly approached.
“Any day now, Devanir.” Verna whispered before she raised her voice and her sword. It was time for her backup plan, monologuing. “Your Sovereign has already robbed too much from me, I won’t-”
The ship suddenly lurched to the side, everyone below decks slipped and fell to the ground. Revanka’s armor echoed harshly in the steel corridor. Verna felt someone pull her up to her feet.
“Fly!” Vindus shouted as she jumped forwards and shifted into the form of a raven.
Verna quickly followed as a crow, rapidly flapping her wings and dodging around a clumsy stab from Revanka as she was still recovering.
The two birds flew up and out from the lower decks, the wind picked up and sent both of them high up into the air. From here, they could see two ships below like an island of light amidst the dark. The light illuminated the two dark birds and Verna could see Vindus’s wings spread free once more. The crow and the raven locked eyes as they reached the peak of their flight and Verna was suddenly overcome with the realization that she would spend the rest of her life withVindus if she could.
Gravity took hold and they both began to dive back onto the scene where Verna’s ship, the Dust Comet, had rammed into the prison ship, sustaining minor damage to the prow in the process. Ten Meta including Devanir quickly jumped onto the Eterna ship and were already fighting off several guards. Devanir himself was a storm of wrath, taking on two Eterna at once and striking them down just as Verna returned to the deck, shifting back into her Celestial form.
“Captain!” Devanir nodded as Vindus landed nearby. “And Vindus, was it?” He then turned to bark orders at the other Meta. “Form a line around them and cover their retreat!”
“No!” Verna called out. “Press on. We’re taking this ship for ourselves!”
Devanir didn’t complain, in fact he seemed to relish the chance to fight as he let out a hearty cry and began to press forward into a large group of soldiers that were attempting to close in against the Meta. His assault was halted when his sword locked with an Eterna in heavy armor. Devanir’s breath hitched as caught sight of his opponent’s face.
“Devanir?” Revanka remarked through gritted teeth. “So you really did become a traitor.” She sighed. “Here I thought you were just a coward.”
Revanka’s taunt only backfired as Devanir only grew more focused at her insult and his attacks began to grow more ruthless. He was clearly the better fighter of the two, he could break past her defense and even land a blow or two against her. But after a few determined strikes, Revanka’s armor barely showed any signs of damage. In response, Devanir changed tactics, aiming to strike her exposed head.
Verna turned to Vindus, “Get to our ship. I’ll take it from here.”
“Right.” Vindus replied with a weary voice. She climbed over the deck and jumped back onto the Dust Comet, letting Verna fight without concern as she charged in to support Devanir’s attack.
Her attack kept the Eterna from surrounding him. But the Meta’s attack was soon cut off as she heard something growling behind her. When she turned to look over her shoulder towards the noise she spotted it, standing there behind her was an exact copy of herself. The only difference was that this imposter wore a long cloak that obscured most of its body. It looked up at her and smiled before it lunged forwards, reaching out towards Devanir, with long sharpened claws growing out from its fingers.
“Devanir!” Verna shouted.
The red haired god looked behind him just in time to duck under the attack, stabbing upwards into the monster without a moment to lose. The sword sunk through the doppelganger unlike anything Devanir had encountered, it felt like he was stabbing through something far more viscous than a body. He tried to pull his sword out, but now it was somehow lodged in the body, something that looked like stone began to form around the sword at the wound. He abandoned the blade and fell back to the rest of the crew.
Both sides were shocked at the sight. Verna watched as the copy of herself stood in the center of the ship, a sword sticking out from its chest. Dread crept up her spine as she remembered Vindus’s warnings of a shapeshifter.
“You impress me Devanir.” It said in a perfect copy of Verna’s voice. “Most people hesitate when they are faced with familiar faces.” It grabbed the protruding sword and pulled it out, leaving no wound behind as the stone scab knitted itself back into flesh. “War must come naturally to you.” It tossed the sword to the side and reached under its cloak before brandishing an ornate knife, decorated with several pristine jewels along its hilt, sharpened to as fine a point as its eerie smile.
Devanir’s face was stern, he looked to the other Meta. “Kill it!”
Verna’s doppelganger moved at an incredible pace. It charged towards the nearest Meta, deflecting a feeble attack, before it plunged its dagger in between their shoulder and neck. As it pulled the blade out the Meta fell breathless, while a stringy white substance leaked from the wound alongside the blood.
Verna recognized the nature of the wound immediately. “It’s that murderer Vindus and I were tracking! Keep your distance!”
Damn it, how are we going to take this ship now? She thought. But before she could formulate a plan, something moved in her peripheral vision. In a moment fueled purely by instinct and reflexes, she dodged backwards and barely avoided an attack from Revanka that slammed into the wooden boards below. Verna responded by quickly punching her in the face, buying her just a moment to bring her own sword around and go for the killing blow. Revanka deflected the blow with her bracer resulting in a loud metallic thud that echoed up Verna’s arm. Shaking the pain out of her wrist, Revanka recovered her sword and reignited her attack.
Devanir saw the one sided duel of the captains but he was unable to do anything to help Verna while the shapeshifter continued to cut down the Meta with ease. Three more had already fallen, the Eterna soldiers pulled back to hold the entryway to the lower decks, their faces aghast at the brutality before them. Seeing his chance, Devanir dove for his sword. Two more Meta fell with precise slices cut through them. Any time any of them found an opening, it would adapt and counter. Shifting its flesh and bones around stabs, changing to stone to absorb any strikes it couldn’t avoid, and as the fight continued, it began to take on even more disturbing forms. Maws lined with teeth opened up across its body as a Meta soldier was already committed to an attack. The momentum of their weapon prevented them from withdrawing and their arm was bitten multiple times as the other arm of the shapeshifter twisted at an unnatural angle to stab the victim under the shoulder. Devanir’s eyes quickly began scanning the deck of the ship, they would need something more than swords to kill this thing.
There, he spotted an oil lantern hanging from one of the masts. As he moved towards it, an Eterna soldier ran to engage him. There was no competition as Devanir deflected an admittedly skilled blow before finishing his opponent off. He cursed at the fact that such a simple logic could not be applied to this monster.
Another cry from behind him signaled another Meta’s death at the hands of that thing.
He grabbed the lantern in his left hand and turned to face it. The shapeshifter had turned again, becoming a chimera of many different creatures, all blended and melded together in a way where it was hard to tell where one ended and another began, he couldn’t even make out where its true face should be. The only appendage left that resembled a Celestial was the hand holding that dreadful dagger.
Devanir took in a sharp breath as the shapeshifter stabbed into one more Meta, bringing the total up to nine, and he tossed the lantern at the beast. The glass shattered, spraying oil all over the beast and quickly sparking into fire causing wretched screams to erupt from every orifice. The fire was not enough to engulf all of the shapeshifter, but the mass of twisted limbs and maws recoiled from Devanir and began to shift back into a Celestial form.
Before Devanir could advance for the killing blow, he froze as he caught sight of familiar red hair. The beast rose, still half on fire in Devanir’s form. That moment of hesitation was enough, as it tossed the dagger straight past his own sword and into his chest. The force of the blow caught him off balance and he fell amid a crowd of bodies.
“Devanir!” Verna shouted, as she continued the fight against Revanka. A fight that was proving to be useless. She was getting tired now, and had still not pierced Revanka’s armor, who patiently awaited her to slip up and give her an opening. Throughout all of this battle, Revanka remained calm despite the horrific slaughter that was taking place just a few meters away.
As she dodged a strong blow from Revanka, Verna heard a sound above, the ruffling of feathers and the caw of a familiar bird. Verna smiled and feigned an attack, Revanka swung low to try and catch the attack but overcommitted her swing. Verna channeled all of the magic she could and another ball of bright light expanded from her off hand before exploding into a bright flash, causing everyone to shield their eyes, but with the momentum of Revanka’s attack taking all of her attention, she was unable to spare either hand to shield her eyes. Then Vindus swooped from above and clawed at Revanka’s face with her talons, leaving her blinded and bleeding.
With all of her might, Verna charged forwards and slammed her body into Revanka. It was just enough to knock her unsteady and when Revanka reached out for the ship’s railing to fix her balance, her hand fumbled for the railing and she tumbled over the edge. Vindus flew off as a loud splash could be heard below in the dark waters. Verna turned to face the shapeshifter.
Meanwhile, across the deck, Devanir struggled to breathe. He looked down towards his chest to see the dagger sticking out from his chest, it must have just missed his heart for all the good that would do him, he could already see strings of white light leaking out from him. Beyond that he could see the shapeshifter turning to face Verna. She would not be enough, it took considerable effort to deal with that captain, there would be nothing left to face that abomination with. Devanir’s head fell back onto the deck as strands of white light circled around him.
No! No, not yet! I can’t die here! Devanir thought as his vision began to fade. His betrayal, his efforts to make a positive impression to the Meta, all the favor he built with Morven, it was all about to be wasted. Soon he would be forgotten by all those who could not stomach his failure and a pitiable corpse to the rest.
There were whispers in his ear. Small quiet voices that cried in despair, voices that Devanir recognized. A sad whimpering sound emanated from the light, he realized that the dead were talking, crying out desperately to be heard. For a moment Devanir thought that he must have already died, how else could he hear them? But the pain in his chest was still there and the sounds of battle were still vibrating through the wooden deck he lay wounded on. Yet, he could hear the unmistakable sounds of his nine dead crewmates.
A thought occurred to him. He reached out and grabbed the hilt of the dagger, it was humming in his hand and the voices grew clear. Power began to surge through him as the light began to spin faster around him, his heart began to beat faster and his breath steadied. But try as he might, he couldn’t force that power to do anything, it was as if it was locked in place so long as the dagger remained inside of him. Devanir tightened his grip on the dagger, he knew that if his hunch was wrong, then he would ensure his death, but that was a risk he would gladly take if it meant he could taste this new power.
With the last of his strength, he ripped the dagger out of his chest, and poured that power into himself. The wound stitched itself back together and his breath came back to him in an instant. But one of the voices was silenced.
Devanir rolled onto his stomach and groaned as he slowly pushed himself up. All eyes were on him as they witnessed him recover from what should have been a fatal blow. Devanir locked eyes with the shapeshifter as he spit the remaining blood from his mouth between them. The voices grew in a cacophony, eager for revenge and a chance to strike the one who had wronged them. Devanir took hold of the light and it concentrated into his hand, much the same way as Verna controlled her own light. Only this manifested as something with weight and force behind it, Devanir reared back and, without really understanding what he was doing, he tossed the sphere of light at the shapeshifter. As the sphere crossed the distance between the two, it shattered into eight distinct beams of light that pierced the beast and continued traveling through the ship boards and anything that stood in the way. The voices fell silent and a second later the beams of light turned to the color red and faded away, no matter how hard Devanir tried to recall or channel them.
The shapeshifter fell to the ground, still wearing Devanir’s face and it rolled around in pain as it coughed up blood. Devanir approached the creature and held the ornate dagger up to its throat. It froze, sucking in a sharp gasp of air.
He then looked to the Eterna. “Surrender!” He commanded.
The remaining Eterna threw down their weapons with faces of shock and disbelief. Their expressions were mirrored in the surviving Meta, Devanir turned to face them.
“Take their weapons, secure the ship.” He said. “And ready a cell for this thing.”
The shapeshifter met Devanir’s eyes before it began to chuckle in between coughs. “So you can hear them then? The cries of the dead, you fascinate me Devanir.”
Devanir paused and he tried to feel for that power that had just flowed through him seconds ago. Those souls had been cut out with the very knife he held in his hand, and he used them to strike this thing down, but they were gone now. A terrible thought began to dawn on him, was death truly the end for all things? Or could the soul survive long after the body expired? And had he just granted his crew mates a second death for the sake of revenge?
Verna watched as the shapeshifter was hauled off to a cell. Her eyes locked with Devanir as he escorted that creature below decks. She nodded in approval, he had fought valiantly against the foe and likely discovered some new form of magic in the process, this by all accounts should be considered a victory. Her eyes drifted towards the dead bodies, the light that had surrounded them had faded leaving nothing but bloody corpses behind, Verna wondered what price Devanir’s magic would bring along with it. She also looked towards her ship, the bow had taken damage and would require repairs after their ramming stunt. Down below, they would soon free the Eterna’s prisoners and find out just what had transpired aboard this ship.
Would it all make up for the price of her dead crew? Verna hoped so, she hoped that this would be more than a bloodied nose for the Sovereign and his plans. She looked up to see a raven circling above. At least they were all free, for now.
***
Revanka finally opened her eyes and coughed up the rest of the water. Sarin fell back from her side and sighed in relief. “Oh, thank the Sovereign, I thought you weren’t ever going to wake up!”
She shot up to her lap and immediately regretted it. From the rocking of the small row boat she was in combined with the choking she had just recovered from, a debilitating headache took hold of her. To top it all off, her face stung from Vindus’s final attack against her.
“Careful now!” Sarin cautioned, as he took hold of the oars and began to row into the black night. “You swallowed a lot of water before I could fish you out.”
“How did you do it?” Revanka asked.
“Wasn’t easy, I had to cut away some of that armor of yours, but I managed to get you on this little escape vessel of ours and managed to get you to spit up most of that water.” He shrugged. “Then you just lied there for about a minute, for a second it looked like I’d be ferrying a corpse back to land.”
“The ship?” Revanka looked back to see a small fleck of light approaching the horizon.
“Gone, Verna’s crew took hold and that one crewmate of hers, Devanir, I think that was his name?” Sarin shook his head. “Ah, never mind that, what’s important is that he had some unique magic about him. It turned the tide of the battle and they overwhelmed us from there.”
“Damn, the Sovereign won’t like this.” Revanka seethed.
“Yes, yes, how will he cope now that he won’t receive such dangerous criminals.” Sarin scoffed. “Who exactly was it this time? Those troublesome orphans again? Or did the homeless dare to approach their lord’s castle again?”
Revanka turned her anger towards Sarin. He noticed that her hand reflexively moved towards a sword that he purposefully failed to fish her out of the water. “Are you questioning His will?” She asked.
“Yes, I am.” Sarin replied. “Why are we spending so much time rounding up these so-called traitors when monsters like that thing are loose?”
“I don’t expect you to understand.” Revanka huffed.
“No, I don’t understand.” Sarin stopped rowing, they were far enough now that they would blend in with the waters. “Does Palador know about all of this?”
Revanka was quiet.
“Don’t be so petty.” Said Sarin. “I did just save your life, remember?”
She huffed. “Yes, and I owe you for that.”
“Precisely, so let’s go ahead settle that debt now!” Sarin reached into his pack and pulled out an ornate dagger, identical to the one that the shapeshifter wielded, that had now fallen into the hands of the Meta. “What was that thing on the prison ship? And why did it have a dagger that looked exactly like this one?”
Revanka looked at the dagger, the two realized that even in the near perfect darkness a very faint glow radiated out from it.
“Fine. I’ll tell you, if you care so much about it.” Revanka finally answered. “I’ll do you one better, I’ll tell you what those prisoners had to do with this as well! On one condition.”
“I’m all ears.” Sarin smiled.
Even in the dim lighting, he could see murder in Revanka’s eyes. “You tell no one you heard this. Not Palador, nor the Sovereign. This is between you and me.”
“I won’t tell a soul.” Sarin answered.
“Fine.” Revanka sighed before she muttered. “Lord forgive me. What do you know about the Seal of the Sovereign?”
“That Morven broke it, that it holds back the Void,” Sarin shrugged. “Or something like that?”
“Yes, that is correct.” Revanka replied. “Morven broke it, tore a hole right through it. We’ve been asked by the Sovereign to patch it. By any means necessary.”
Sarin nodded, thoughtfully. “Fascinating.” He said. “One more question, who’s we?”
Revanka raised an eyebrow. “Why should I tell you that?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Sarin tucked the dagger away and took hold of the oars again. He started sailing northwards, confident that he had found his way into much better circles, and his best chance for survival. “Because I want in.”
***
The Dust Comet sailed back to land, near to the site where they would soon meet Morven and anyone who rallied to his cause. They were uncharacteristically late, but at least that gave them a chance to settle any remaining affairs after the last battle. The dead of the Meta and the Eterna were buried near the shore where they could look out across the vast ocean they had once sailed. Verna allowed the Eterna prisoners to grieve for their lost kindred as well, except for the Shapeshifter who was kept under close guard. None of the Eterna knew that such a creature had been present on their ship. Verna was still unsure if they were telling her the full truth.
After the funerals, the Meta set to work repairing the damage to the Dust Comet. The prison ship was anchored nearby, there was not enough of the Meta left to crew both vessels, they had to tow it this far already. Verna wondered if they should just scuttle the ship and strip it for anything useful. She contemplated their next move while sitting on a nearby ridge that looked out at the bay where they had made anchor. The sun was setting far off to the west, creating a strange sight where half the sky was a light blue while the other was a deep dark black. Something landed behind her, Verna knew exactly who it was as she stood up from her perch. “Are you sure you should be up and flying around so much already?”
“Probably not.” Vindus walked up next to Verna. “But, I couldn’t rest, something’s been bothering me. One of the prison ship’s row boats is missing, along with Sarin.”
“Hmm…” Verna groaned. “I had run into him on the way in. Makes sense that he would cut and run at the slightest sign of trouble.” She looked into Vindus eyes and noticed the deep hues her iris took on in the sunset. She pulled herself together. “So, uh, did you find him?”
“No, but I’m sure he’ll turn up eventually.” Vindus paused, she looked up into the black sky. “Verna, I’m glad you did all of this to find me.” Vindus pulled her cloak closer to herself. Verna noticed she was shivering in the cold air. “That thing, it kept using your voice. Telling me all of the terrible things it would do when you tried to save me.”
“Ah, well.” Verna tried to think of a witty joke for the moment. “It couldn’t even stand against Devanir, I’m certain I would have been fine.”
“Verna,” Vindus said earnestly. “I was afraid!”
Something about her sincerity terrified Verna.
“I was afraid that it would hurt you, or worse!” Vindus shuttered. “I- I was hoping that you had let me go! That you had forgotten me and moved on, so that it would never come anywhere near you! Or-”
Verna reached out and pulled Vindus into a deep hug, she was surprised by how cold Vindus was. She then felt Vindus embrace her and pull her in closer.
“I’ll never let go of you,” Said Verna. “If you’d let me hold on.”
“Thank you Verna.” Vindus laughed. Verna felt Vindus lean in and kiss the top of her head.
“I’m serious, by the way. I’m stuck to you now.” Verna teased, leaning her weight into Vindus.
Vindus leaned in closer. “It’s a good thing you’re light enough to carry.”
“No there’s no way you could-” Verna let out a small cry as she felt herself being lifted up and into the air as Vindus supported her by her back and legs.
Vindus looked at Verna. “Did you really think I couldn’t carry you?”
The two gods smiled at one another, relief and happiness mixed together between the two of them. Verna whispered a request to which Vindus laughed. “You just stormed an Eterna prison ship, and asking me something like that terrifies you?”
Verna couldn’t help but blush.
“The answer is yes, of course.” Vindus whispered before she lifted Verna closer and they shared a kiss with one another.
For a moment, the war was such a distant thing that the Meta and Eterna were just two meaningless words. Any future would be enough for Verna if it meant that she could stay alongside Vindus. Then she felt herself gently fall back to the ground as Vindus set her down.
“We should get back to the ship.” Vindus smiled. “There’s no telling what trouble Morven might be in right now.”
“Right.” Verna replied as the world came back to her. The moment was already gone, no matter how lovely it was. She realized that this was in part what she was fighting for as a Meta. If they wanted to be the gods of change then no moment could truly last, even the best ones.
The wind was now filling her wings as she flew to the ship as a crow, a larger raven flew at her side. All the while, she kept turning that single peaceful moment over and over in her mind. Now that the moment had become memory, she would have to wait for the next, and she would have to make peace with that fact.
Is that even possible? Verna asked herself.
Her mind gave her no clear answer, and by the time she returned to the ship it was further occupied with all of the work she would need to put in to make her ship sea worthy again. The war would continue, but now Verna knew that there would always be someone by her side till the end of it.
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