Chapter 141 - Cursed Wings

Burchakan hovered in place nearly a hundred feet above the battlefield, his wings extended and motionless, though the air blurred with strange energy around them, keeping him in his place.

He extended an arm and pointed toward me. The gesture was almost casual, but Mana Sense flared with immediate warning.

I jumped aside just as a pinprick of blue light slammed into the ground, erupting with a half-dome of magical light that sprayed dirt, chunks of vaporized tree stumps, and rocks in every direction. The blast left a crater several dozen feet wide, kicking up dust that stung my eyes and made it hard to keep sight of Burchakan, who still floated overhead.

Vay’nar swore under his breath, running as if trying to get as far from me as possible. Dark Pebble, who was down to one arm and leaking purple magic from cracks in his rocky body, came rolling toward me. I could hear him shouting something but couldn’t make it out yet.

Mana Sense lit up as more attacks came. Another pinprick of light I barely deflected in time with a Reflective Mana Shield, sending it bouncing toward the outpost and pulverizing half the building in an instant. A dragon-like manifestation of magic that curved in for me, mouth gaping before it snapped for my head, but a quick burst of power into my Mana Bender’s Raiment gave me the armor to deflect the attack at the last moment.

I couldn’t get room for a breath as he bathed the area in deadly magic that rained from above. Beams, summons, and undulating orbs of destruction that were like small bombs when they landed, sending out razor sharp spears of magic like quills. If not for my Rage Blood enhanced muscles and the split second of warning I felt from Mana Sense, I would’ve died several times.

Even with my edge, I wasn’t sure how long I could keep this up. I skidded to my knees as something exploded behind me, sending me tumbling as an invisible shockwave propelled me into a tree.

Wincing and healing what I could with Devour Mana, I tried to catch my breath and form a plan. But Mana Sense warned me of another attack, forcing me to push off and sprint away. Somewhere behind, I could hear Dark Pebble still shouting things over the carnage and trying to keep up with me.

I finally slid down into a crater, using the edge to temporarily shield me from his view and buy a few seconds to think.

Vay’nar was hiding on the other end of the battlefield, and I doubted I could reach him easily, even if I thought that would be smart. Using the necromancer as an emergency escape pod lost its appeal once the fucking guy with wings burst out of the worm.

Yeah. Escaping wasn’t an option. 

I had to find a way to get up to his height. Climbing Mana Shields would technically be possible, even though I was already below half mana. But the climb would be slow and awkward, and I’d be far too exposed on my way up. There was no way I’d survive that.

I needed something better.

I ran through a quick list of what was at my disposal, mentally checking off the bad and good ideas as I felt Burchakan drifting closer. Dark Pebble ramped over the raised lip of the crater, flying dramatically through the dusty air before landing in the center on one knee with his fist in the ground.

He straightened as his mouth split into a crooked smile. He waddled up to stand in front of me, the top of his head only barely reaching my thighs. “FATHER. HAS PEBBLE DONE GOOD?”

I patted his head. “Pebble always does good. But I need to ask you to do something that might be scary.”

“PEBBLE IS SCARY,” he said simply. “PEBBLE NOT SCARED.”

I grinned, then pointed back in the direction of Burchakan, who was taking his time drifting closer, probably thinking I’d given up.

Hardly.

“That guy up there is trying to kill us. I need you to distract him. As long as you can manage.”

Pebble tilted his rounded body up and I could feel his limited brain power struggling to compute. He wanted to help, but didn’t know how to get up there. He raised his remaining hand and scratched his bald head.

I flexed my arm a few times, urging the enhanced muscles to grow even more. “Take my hand.”

Pebble looked at my outstretched hand and his smile widened. He took it gently.

“I’m going to sling you up there, but I can’t throw you that high. So you’ve got to try to land on my Mana Shield when you see it, okay? It’ll bounce you higher.”

Dark Pebble either understood, or he was too confused to know he had no idea what was going on. But it would have to do.

I gripped him tight, wound up, and then slung up upward, roughly aiming for Burchakan. Pebble shouted something as he flew, his voice rapidly diminishing with distance. To my surprise, my Blood Rage enhanced throw got him almost all the way to Burchakan, but it wasn’t quite high enough.

Burchakan spotted Dark Pebble as he was still rising. Pinpricks of blue light flashed from his hand, each coming dangerously close to piercing through Dark Pebble. Thankfully, he was having trouble getting a direct hit.

I summoned a Reflective Shield once I saw Pebble lose upward momentum, placing it a little lower so he’d have time to gain enough speed for a proper rebound.

“Bounce!” The Burned Man laughed in my mind as the spell formed.

Pebble hit the shield, causing it to glow brighter for a moment before he was launched upward like a cannonball.

Burchakan fired off a few more beams, but Pebble was moving too fast for him. Dark Pebble steered himself through the air and slammed into Burchakan, knocking him several dozen feet to the side. It was hard to see from this distance, but it looked like he was locking his rocky legs around Burchakan’s hips and using his remaining arm to punch the shit out of him.

Good job, little buddy.

I didn’t stand around and wait to see how it was going. Every second Dark Pebble could buy me was precious, and I intended to use each of them trying to reach Vay’nar at a blistering sprint.

I crossed the distance in mere seconds, feet pounding so hard into the earth I was making small craters in my wake.

Vay’nar never saw me coming as he crouched behind a large boulder, hands covering his head protectively. When I grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt, he let out a high-pitched scream. “Shut up,” I said, quickly infecting him with Touch of Sapphire again before dragging him out into the open and looking upward as beams of light fired from the fight high above. Pebble was getting blasted to bits up there, and I knew I could still resummon him if he was destroyed, but I hated thinking he was in pain or scared. 

“What are you doing? He’ll see us!” Vay’nar hissed. He was trying to claw his way back to cover, but I was far too strong for him to have any chance.

Once we were roughly below the fight, I gripped Vay’nar’s head and tried to twist with a sudden, brutal motion. As I’d hoped, his body lit with blue instead, triggering his stasis. I took a firm grip on his ankles and let his body drag me upward. Toward the airship.

Toward Burchakan.

We rose quickly, and I saw Pebble’s body had split in two but both halves were fighting. His lower half was hooked on one of Burchakan’s wings and kicking him in the side of the head with one foot and desperately clinging on with the other. He was missing more kicks than he landed, which was understandable since that half of his body had no eyes.

Pebble’s upper half was one arm and a mouth. The arm was holding on to Burchakan’s armored leg while the mouth gnawed on his ankle. 

Blue magic exploded in every direction, each shot blasting away bits of glowing purple rock and pulverizing Dark Pebble, but the little guy was going to keep fighting and biting until he couldn’t.

Vay’nar’s body floated straight upward, dragging me toward the airship, which meant I was gaining height, but not exactly steering toward Burchakan. So once I felt I was high enough to have a little wiggle room, I slid down Vay’nar’s body and gripped his ankles so my own body dangled below his. I kicked my legs, starting to swing until I had as much momentum as I could get. I tried to collect Touch of Sapphire from him while I was still close, but to my annoyance, the stasis field seemed to have cleared the magic from his body.

There was no time to be irritated, though. Less than half my mana pool would have to do.

I gave one final swing and let go, launching myself toward Burchakan and Dark Pebble, who now fought below me. For a moment, I flew forward, but then I was falling once again.

Despite free falling from insane heights several times in the last hour, I still hated the sensation of my stomach floating up to my throat. My kick got me close, sending me on a diagonal path through the air toward the fight, but it wasn’t close enough.

I summoned a few carefully placed Mana Shields, using angles to keep me from gaining too much speed and also to help correct my course. I tumbled over the first few, then managed to get my feet and started skipping over the newly summoned shields like stones across a river. 

I jumped from the final shield toward Burchakan just as he blasted away the final remnant of Dark Pebble and turned, face unknowable beneath a dragon-winged helmet of metal that glowed with dangerous magic

He flapped his wings, hoping to dodge me as I launched myself toward him, arms open like I was coming in for a bloody muscle hug. But I stacked a few Mana Shields behind him so he bumped into them instead of retreating.

And then I slammed into him, swollen muscles letting me easily keep hold, even as the many spikes and flared bits of armor cut into my flesh. I was dangling from his waist, but I wrapped my thighs around his legs, pinning myself to him just in time to free one hand and knock away his finger. He was pointing it straight for my head, blue magic gathering as Mana Sense flashed an alarm in my mind.

I pushed his arm away just in time, watching the beam of mana fire far to his left.

The spell hit one of the other airships hovering at least half a mile to my left. I didn’t know if it was the slave or aspirant airship, but the thin beam of light sliced through the ship, splitting it from bottom to top and leaving a glowing red line of destruction. Both halves drifted apart, raining down to the ground as they fell.

I gritted my teeth, reached up, and put one hand on his wings. And then I channeled an ability I hadn’t used in quite some time. It wasn’t one of my active or passive abilities. It was the Divine Ability I had woken up with on my first day. The ability that meant I could safely risk claiming cursed items without fear of being stuck with the consequences.

Delete.

The ability activated with a rush of power that started in my center and flowed out of my hands, both of which were touching Burchakan’s cursed wings.

Time seemed to freeze. The wings flickered, and then they snapped apart. One moment they were hole, and the next they had been split into thousands of fragmented pieces, each hovering inches apart and slowly spreading away, as if being ripped away from some magnetic pull at their center, bit by bit.

For a moment, it was oddly beautiful as I stared behind Burchakan and noticed the field of debris still formed a much larger, vague shape of wings. Red magic threaded between each piece and black smoke gathered, but it all shook and shuddered, as if struggling against a powerful force trying to keep them together.

And then a crack in the sky opened. The pieces were sucked backward, swirling in a vortex of blue metal, red magic, and black smoke. The rest of Burchakan’s armor was ripped from him, leaving the man naked and bloody.

It all happened in fractions of a second, and then we were falling.

Fuck.

I gripped Burchakan’s arm, keeping him beside me as we fell. I used my rapidly dwindling mana supply to summon Mana Shield after Mana Shield, carefully angling them to keep us from falling too quickly. It was still a rough fall, and my mana was almost completely spent by the time we slid off the last shield and landed in the grass, rolling and tumbling to a stop.

I got to my feet, summoned my polearm even as I felt the Rage Blood potion begin to fade, my muscles shrinking back to normal size. I pointed the tip of the spear part to Burchakan’s throat. “Your curse is gone. Do I still need to kill you?”

The man looked diminished, now. Smaller. More frail.

When I inspected him, I was surprised to see the description had changed.

[Human, Level 37 (Silver)]

Level up notifications and accomplishment notifications pulsed for my attention, too, but I ignored them for the moment.

He looked up at me. He was handsome, with flat features and upturned eyes. But when he smiled, I thought I saw madness there.

“You took my power,” he breathed.

“I saved you. From the curse.” I gave the point of the spear a harder press into his neck.

“IT WILL COME BACK FOR ME!” He screamed, gripping the edge of the polearm. “IT SWORE IF I EVER ESCAPED, IT WOULD FIND ME AND MAKE ME PAY. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”

His eyes were wide with such visceral fear that I actually felt a moment of doubt.

I braced for him to try to rip the weapon from my hands and attack me. I planted my feet and held on tightly, but I was bracing for him to take the weapon, and I wasn’t ready when he reached up with shocking speed and tugged it, point first, toward his own neck.

He gurgled once, twitched, and then sagged, almost seeming to feel immense relief in that final moment. 

I reached inside him to see if there was anything I could heal, though I wasn’t even sure if he would have wanted me to. But it was too late, anyway. He was already dead.

I went to one knee, feeling more exhausted than I could remember ever feeling.

Rake was dead. Kalcus was dead. The beast and the man within it was dead. And several people I’d come to care about were dead, too.

But the tournament was over, and I’d come out far stronger. If I could keep pushing myself to grow, the days of watching people I care about be killed would eventually end. Eventually, I could save them all. So there was no time to rest.

I stood, healed what little damage I still had left that my Silver Boon hadn’t already passively healed thanks to the blood soaking my skin. And then I looked up.

To my relief, I saw the airship was getting closer. They’d managed to convince the Windrunner to help, I guessed, and they were coming down to pick me up.

I sat down—though it was more like collapsing to my ass with how tired I felt.

I meditated and read through the list of notifications.

You’ve Reached Level 5…

…

You’ve Reached Level 27!

I was already more than halfway to Gold Rank. It was a good feeling, but I suspected the second half of the climb would come more slowly than the first. Without Rake’s shadow leech letting me punch above my weight class, I wasn’t planning on seeking out more level 50 gold monstrosities. I’d hardly even faced Silver Rank enemies, and frankly wasn’t sure where to find them.

I also knew it had been far more difficult to push through the ascension to Silver than it was for Iron. There was no guarantee I’d be able to reach Gold without an Ascension Token, though I hoped I was wrong about that.

But those were problems for tomorrow.

The airship drifted closer, its shadow falling over me as I moved on to reading my accomplishments.

[Epic Accomplishment] Defeat ten or more nobles within a tournament. [Reward - Epic Tournament Master’s Token] “Nicely done, Seraphel! I can happily report your allies didn’t die when they went up to that airship full of nobles you had just eliminated in the outpost. But I will say it might have gone a little worse if Vitus hadn’t stepped in and calmed down the tensions once he was eliminated. Good thing he tried to go after Burchakan, huh?”

[Epic Accomplishment] Defeat an elite creature at least one rank above yourself. [Reward - Epic Personal Space Upgrade] “Am I the only one who felt kind of bad for that guy? I mean, sure, he was trying to kill you and everyone you cared about, but REALLY, when you peel back the wormy layers and the centuries of curse-induced madness, was he so bad?

“Okay, yeah, probably. And you were even going to be all heroic and save him. Very honorable, Seraphel. If anyone asks, I’ll back you up and confirm he definitely pulled that spear into his own throat.”

[Legendary Accomplishment] Be the final person standing within a tournament. [Reward - Legendary Tournament Master’s Personal Space Upgrade] “That’s fun, right? Obviously those jerks in the city aren’t going to give you the REAL reward you deserve for winning like riches and noble titles, but at least you’ll get something for your troubles. You know, something other than skyrocketing from Iron to Silver and getting halfway to Gold, that is. No big deal, but you do realize your new Rank pretty much puts you at honorary noble status in just about every city on Eros, right? People are going to start treating you differently, Mr. Seraphel. So I hope you’re ready for the attention.”

[Cursed Accomplishment] Remove a curse from another individual. [Reward - Cursed Loot Chest] “That’s a bit ominous, don’t you think? What do you imagine it’ll be? A cursed toothbrush, maybe? Sparkly teeth, but your breath is terrible? Or it could be like this one cursed item I heard of once. I think it was a trophy that made eating food grant experience, but the problem was the poor girl got a bottomless appetite. She couldn’t ever stop eating, and legend says she literally ate until she exploded. Poor innkeeper was cleaning that up for weeks.

“You know, not to be a damper on your excitement or anything, but the vast majority of cursed items are just… bad. Your chances of getting two you can live with in a row are probably low. I’m just trying to set your expectations for realism here, Seraphel, because I can already see the sparkle in your eyes.”

I sat back with a small smile. Maybe the cursed item wouldn’t be usable, but I had so much more to claim. So much to do.

But I supposed I had one hell of a loot party to attend before any of that.

The airship landed in a nearby clearing with a soft thump.

I got up and approached as I saw people begin filtering out of a ramp near the bottom. All my surviving allies were there, and so were the nobles we’d put into stasis during the brawl at the outpost, minus Kalcus, of course.

They came walking out in two groups with the nobles lingering a little behind the others. I felt a sense of awe and fear in all of them as I approached. Behind me, the forest and tournament grounds were a blazing ruin. An airship burned in the distance. Burchakan’s naked human corpse lay slumped against a rock, and the ruin of flesh that was his worm form was there, too. Boulders and flames prickled the landscape and our first outpost was a flaming pile of carnage.

Everyone but Lyria took what seemed like an involuntary step back as I came within view of the group. Even Vay’nar, who had recovered from his stasis, stood near the back and watched me dubiously.

Lyria hesitated, then stalked across the distance toward me. I braced for a very uncharacteristic hug, but she stopped short and punched my shoulder. “That is for tricking me. I would’ve helped you fight it, and you’re an asshole for tricking me into going up without you.”

I nodded. “I know.”

“You—” she cut herself off from saying what looked like it was about to be more insults, frowned, and then shook her head. “I’m glad you survived.”

“He didn’t just survive,” Ramzi said with a broad smile, showing pure white teeth below his feline nose and sparkling purple skin. “He has done it again, hm? The power radiates from you. You have ascended again, have you not?”

Everyone gathered reacted to the question, fidgeting, murmuring, or taking yet another step back.

I thought about standing on a rock or something to give people a better view before trying to address them all, but I was already nearly a head taller than most of the people gathered. So I settled for raising my voice, which echoed from within my helmet. “Some of you just finished killing people we all cared about,” I said, addressing the nobles who had followed Kalcus. 

I let the words hang. 

I knew the nobles might take my statement as a threat, and part of me wanted them to sit with that fear for a moment.

Part of me wanted them to give me an excuse.

But I knew they just saw what I did to Burchakan. I didn’t have to fight them. It was more valuable to let them live and let them feel what it was like to squirm for a change—to look upon someone with the power to crush them, and to know their only option is to obey.

I doubted it, but maybe that feeling would make them less likey to lord over others in the future.

They all shifted uncomfortably as the silence stretched on, and I could feel the fear in Kalcus’ allies. Some hung their heads. Others looked away, unable to meet my eyes.

“I’m not interested in revenge,” I finally continued. “At least, not against you all.”

Thorn stepped forward. “Some of these bastards followed Kalcus. He’s the one who killed Sylara. He killed Erasmus, too. An ally of his is an enemy of mine.”

I nodded. “I can’t tell you what to do, Thorn.” I looked to the nobles. “I can’t promise he won’t try to kill any of you in your sleep. But I think we’ve all had enough fighting for today.”

I looked around, curious if I’d need to say more to stop my allies from wanting blood, but the simple words seemed to be enough. Maybe they were all as tired of the bloodshed as I was. Or maybe they simply didn’t want to cross me after what they’d seen.

Leading by fear wasn’t what I wanted, but for the moment, I’d use it if necessary.

Vitus let his heavy axe come to a rest between his feet. The thump of metal on dirt drew everyone’s attention. “You have my respect, Brynn. You and your friends. You all fought bravely. You stood by your word. For that, I call you all friends. But my place is in Thrask for now. There are… things I need to see done.”

I shrugged. “I won’t stop anyone who wants to leave. But this airship is ours, now. Anyone have a problem with that?” I asked, scanning my eyes mostly over the nobles, most of whom looked more like beaten dogs than the peak of Thraskian society.

“Good,” I said. “Mongrels… I’m going to Riverwell. You’re all welcome to come. In fact, I’d strongly advise you to join me. I can protect you if you’re close, and I think it’s better if we are all gone before Thrask comes looking to see if anyone survived. They’ll see the beast was killed, but Vitus is going to claim that was his doing, aren’t you, Vitus?”

Vitus gave a snort, half smiling as he shrugged. “If you say so, Brynn.”

I nodded in appreciation, turning my attention back to my allies.

“Riverwell?” Lyria asked. “Why in the name of the gods would you go back there?” Her expression fell. “You’re not planning to fight that thing again, are you?”

“I am,” I said.

“Will you need good soup where you’re going?” Portus asked. “Because if so, I would be happy to come. I don’t know about fighting liches, but I’d be happy to come and see if the area has any new ingredients to discover.”

There were some smiles. And more nods of agreement. 

“Oh, one more thing,” I said. “If anybody asks, Vitus didn’t just kill the beast. He was the last man standing. You all saw me and the rest of the mongrels destroyed by the beast. This airship we’re about to steal blew up in the carnage.”

The nobles looked among themselves, clearly uncertain.

I let a little anger seep out, knowing my Red Tide Boon would reach into their minds. The effect was almost instantaneous. I saw the doubt cross their features. It was only momentary, but it clearly had an effect.

Where there had been uncertainty, I now saw them nodding their heads eagerly, as if worried about what would happen if they didn’t play along.

I started walking toward the airship, cutting my way through the group. They all spread out, practically jumping out of my way. A moment later, I heard what was left of the mongrel army moving to follow after me.

I paused at the top of the ramp leading to the belly of the airship. “But if I find out anyone but Vitus was declared victor of the tournament or hear any rumors that we lived, I’ll come back. And I have ways of finding out exactly which one of you talked.”

I lingered a moment, making sure my message was received by the nobles, and then I turned and entered the belly of the ship.

Inside, I stopped to talk to the ship’s Windrunner as everyone else headed to the top deck of the ship. There was an atmosphere of levity and celebration. Everybody seemed to finally believe they were going to survive this. They were going to escape with their lives, against all odds.

The Winderunner was a girl in her late teens with tattoos all over her body. “You’re the leader?” she asked.

“Something like that,” I said.

“And you aren’t one of them?” she asked. Something in her tone made her meaning clear enough. Not one of the people who had mistreated her, she meant.

“No. I only want you to take us to Riverwell. After that, you can do what you want with the ship. I won’t keep you prisoner.”

She frowned, staring at me for several seconds before tilting her head. “Do what I want with the ship? What do you mean, Sir?”

I shrugged. “I can’t fly this thing. And I’m not going to keep you here against your will. So once you get us to Riverwell, it’s yours, if you want it.”

She chewed the inside of her lip, nodded her head thoughtfully. “Thank you… that is… kind.”

I gave her a quick nod and stepped back as she began the dance that operated the ship. I felt it lurch upward and begin to fly again.

I was about to head to the top deck to join the others when movement in the shadows at the other side of the lower deck caught my eye. I froze, watching as Cassian peeled himself from the corner, dark hair falling over half of his face as he offered a sardonic smile. “Hello again.”

I mentally grasped at mana, reached into my slip space, and prepared for a fight.

“Easy,” Cassian said. “I’m still here to help you.”

“Convince me,” I said simply.

“In front of her?” he asked.

I glanced over my shoulder at the Windrunner, who looked deep in concentration as she danced and gestured, controlling the ship. I moved closer to Cassian, doubting she could hear if we kept our voices down. “Start talking,” I said.

He let out a soft breath through his nose, then spoke in a low voice. “Alright. I need your help, like I’ve said. And you aren’t strong enough, like I’ve said. But I fully expect you to become strong enough.”

“I gathered that much already,” I said. “It’s time you tell me exactly what it is you expect help with.”

“Freeing your sister, of course.”

I tilted my head, not certain I’d heard him correctly. The sudden and intense laughter of the Burned Man didn’t help, either. He was losing his fucking mind, laughing and laughing.

“My sister is dead,” I said. She was back on Earth. She had to be. The Burned Man had mentioned her and made comments, but I was certain he was only trying to get under my skin. To pick away at my own sanity.

Cassian gave a sad shake of his head. “No. She’s not. But I imagine she wishes she was right now. I know everything.” He took a step closer, voice going even lower. “My father worked for all of you for centuries. He has records. He even found the place where… you all did what you did.”

A cold fist tightened around my chest. I was keenly aware this could be some sort of trap or trick to get me to admit something, so I waited. “The place.” He had to be talking about the area I’d seen briefly in my vision when I was fighting the briarwraith. He was talking about the chamber where we activated prestige mode.

Cassian continued. “I think if we get your sister back to… that place. I think maybe we could undo what was done to her. Maybe even what was done to you?” he added. “If you wished it, of course.”

“Are you trying to say my sister was a god?” I asked.

Cassian’s eyes lit with surprise, but then he nodded. “Yes. I should’ve realized you wouldn’t remember. Sylphara. She was one of The Nine. And she was your sister. But her prestige path has turned her into a monstrosity.”

The words crashed down on me until it felt like the floor was unsteady in ways that had nothing to do with our flight. I blinked rapidly, trying to ignore the rambling of the Burned Man growing louder by the second.

My sister was alive? But her name wasn’t Sylphara, it was Sylvie. But I guessed my name was Brynn, not Seraphel…

Fuck. I swallowed hard, trying to get a grip on my spiraling emotions.

“I know this must be a lot to think about,” Cassian said softly. “But—”

“I thought she was dead. I’d accepted that much,” I said. “You’re sure?”

He met my eyes through my helmet’s visor, nodding. “Very sure. But she’s not as you would remember. The cost of her prestige path was great, but so was the power it granted. And now my father is using her powers for his own gain, keeping her prisoner as he uses her as his personal oracle. With time, I fear she’ll be able to guide him not just to finding and destroying you and the others, but to his own divinity. If there’s a way, she’ll guide him to it. She’ll have no choice.”

I could feel a coldness coming over me. I believed him, but it all felt too unreal. Too strange. I couldn’t afford to fall apart because I was worried about my sister. There was too much at stake, and I’d need to be practical about this. Careful. Because getting myself killed to help her only for this whole world to be destroyed would be pointless.

“You say I’m not strong enough. How are you so sure?” I asked. 

Cassian’s eyes flashed with something, triumph, maybe? He could probably feel how badly I did want to drop what I was doing and go help her.

“Because my father won’t simply let her be taken. He’s Mythril Rank, Level 50. He has equipment granted from the gods themselves. Ancient things. Deadly things. You aren’t ready yet, but I need to know you’ll come when you are.”

“And what do you care about my sister?” I asked.

Cassian took one last step toward me until he was uncomfortably close. “My father wants to take the Crystal Court for himself. To ascend to divinity and unseat the gods. He’s hunting all of you. He knows what happened, and he’s planning to kill every last prestiged god before they can ascend again, threatening his plan. That carnage back there?” Cassian said, hooking his thumb in the direction back toward the tournament grounds we were drifting away from. “He may not have publicly made his involvement evident, but you can be certain he was behind many of the attempts on your life. With luck, he’ll think you actually died back there. It may buy you the time you need.”

I shook my head, letting it all process. “And you’re willing to risk turning against your father for this? To help the gods everyone else has forgotten?”

“Yes,” Cassian said simply. “My family was once tasked with a divine command from your sister herself. We were the keepers of her House, Brynn. It’s how my father found her so early. It was a betrayal of the greatest magnitude. I can only hope my actions will earn our forgiveness in this life or the next. But consider me yours… Brynn,” Cassian went to one knee as he finished, lowering his head in a deep bow.

“You can stand,” I said, feeling suddenly awkward. “Someone is going to ask why you’re bowing to me.”

“Anything you need,” Cassian said, pressing a fist to his chest and then sinking back into the shadows at the edge of the room.

I spared him one last look, then decided to put the topic of our conversation from my mind for the moment. If it was all true, they were problems for the future. Problems for me after I found a way to reach Gold, Diamond, and then finally Mythril. But for now, I needed to focus on the steps directly in front of me. It was the only way I could keep my sanity.

I left the bowels of the ship and found the mood far lighter in the open air. I caught up with my surviving allies, quickly becoming infected with their cheer and lightness. These were all people who had accepted death and now found they had a fresh chance at life. Slaves who were escaping their masters. Aspirants who may be leaving behind families for the moment, but they had all known they weren’t going to leave that tournament alive after the first few days.

It was a good day for everyone.

I was struck by how much larger my group of friends had now become. I’d returned to Thrask with Lyria, Thorn, Sylara, Ramzi, and Zahra. Now I had a group of nearly a dozen members of the mongrel army, Vay’nar, and Cassian too, I supposed. I still didn’t trust the Vay’nar, especially after he’d tried to run off on me several times during the fight with the beast. I also wasn’t entirely sure I trusted Cassian, even though I felt that distrust was less justified. So far, everything I’d seen from him lined up with his story, but I wasn’t ready to let my guard down around him just yet.

And I also had Bloody Steve, Perch, Kass, and Minara who would be waiting to catch up in the Guild Hall, I had no doubt. 

It was quite the growing group of allies, and I felt a swelling of responsibility and pride at the thought.

Lyria found me near the edge of the deck. Unlike everyone else, she wore a grim expression. “What will we do if Riverwell is just a ruin when we arrive?”

I nodded. “I wondered that, too. I’m not sure, yet.”

“Brynn?” she asked.

“Yeah?”

“You’ve got to start letting me help. You’ve been pushing me away, but I dropped everything to follow you. To help you. If you keep trying to protect me, you’re just insulting the sacrifices I’ve made. Do you understand that?”

I sighed. “Yeah. You’re right. And I’m sorry.” I looked around the ship at the large group of people. “Back in the tournament, you stepped in and did a great job of organizing and leading them. Why don’t you keep doing that for me? If they’re all going to follow me, I’ll need someone who can keep things running when I’m not around. I can’t think of a better person.”

Lyria arched an eyebrow. “You want me to be your second-in-command? Is that what you’re saying?”

“If you want it.”

She bit back a smile, then hugged me suddenly. “Thank you,” she said near my ear before pulling back. She frowned suddenly, and punched my arm. “That’s for… well, you probably did something to deserve it.”

She walked off stiffly, going to join Zahra and Yolo, who were having an animated discussion about something I couldn’t hear.

I smiled as she left, and then Naia walked up to join me. She leaned her forearms on the railing, the wind blowing her curled hair as she looked at the rising clouds as we climbed higher into the sky.

“What will you do now?” I asked her.

“I’ve got a family to think about,” she said. “Without the winnings from the tournament, they’re going to be in serious trouble. But going back to Thrask and getting myself killed won’t help them, either. Tell me, Brynn Stygos… how are the financial prospects in this Riverwell place you’re taking us?”

I chuckled. “Bad.”

She sighed. “I figured as much. What about the prospects of growing stronger and making a name for myself?”

“Better. With a not-so-small risk of death.”

“Nothing new, there,” she said with a shrug. “You know, I’ll admit I only stuck around because I was expecting you to fail. You seemed to think you could save all of us once the tournament started. It was so ridiculous I just wanted to be there when the realization hit. And now… well, you actually did it.”

“I didn’t save everyone,” I said.

“But you did what you could. More than anyone could’ve imagined. You have my respect for that, Brynn. And my loyalty.”

I leaned on the railing, too, watching the clouds flow past.

She was quiet for a little while before speaking again. “Those grommet creatures won’t follow us all the way to Riverwell, right? I’ve seen enough hairy vermin and guinea pigs to last me a lifetime.”

“There will be grommets. There will always be grommets.”

“I was afraid you’d say that,” she said, drifting off to join the others.

They were all talking about setting up makeshift places to sleep below deck or above deck. Ramzi guessed the journey to Riverwell would take at least a few hours, and everyone was tired, exhausted, and likely in various states of shock.

But it wasn’t long before I heard laughter and happy voices drifting up from below deck. There was even singing as Ramzi started something that was pleasant, but it quickly turned hilariously horrible as the others—mostly Portus and Yolo—joined in and sang proudly off-key.

The sun was setting, coloring everything in a burnished orange when Lyria poked her head up from below. “Are you going to come down?” she asked.

“Soon,” I said, though I felt no urge to move from the place where I stood, eyes locked on the horizon.

The Burned Man laughed in my mind, his cackling amusement echoing in my thoughts until I felt madness creeping at the corners of my mind.

It was only temporary, though. A good night’s sleep would silence him again. He was just a tool. One more tool in my arsenal, and a tool I’d successfully used once again.

“Are you using me, or am I using you?” he asked, breaking into laughter again.

“Brynn?” Lyria’s voice brought me back to the present.

“Yeah?”

She hesitated, gave a small smile, and shook her head. “Nothing. Just make sure you don’t stay up here the whole time. It’s getting cold.”

I cracked a smile. “I just killed a Level 50 Gold and you’re worried about me catching a cold?”

She scowled. “Shut up. And come down eventually. Even you can get sick.”

“Understood, second-in-command, Lyria,” I said sarcastically.

She disappeared without another word, leaving me to stand at the railing where my thoughts could drift.

I stood at the bow and watched our ship cut through the clouds, racing toward the outer rings of Ithariel’s influence, toward the town where it all started for me. Toward the lich that killed Circa and deeply deserved payback.