Advent of Eternity - Chapter 14 (Patreon)

The next day of their trip passed quietly. Unfortunately, the calm did not last into the dawn of the third morning. Scattered throughout the ocean before them were hundreds of jagged gray rocks, each as tall as small islands. Ship wreckages, rotted and in various states of disrepair, littered the horizon.

“We’re growing close to merfolk territory,” Jesnah warned. “Last chance to turn back. We’ve got an hour at most until we’re near it.”

“No,” Knell replied. “We continue.”

“Fair enough. I brought extra sails,” Jasnah replied with a shrug. “You do realize that earplugs won’t stop their song, right?”

“It is of no consequence.”

Jasneh shook her head. She pulled a wooden lever beside the wheel down with a grunt. “Come on then, Stix. Belowdecks for us, until your friend gets himself torn to shreds.”

“Wait, how will you keep the ship from running aground?” Stix asked.

“This,” Jasneh said, patting the lever. “This’ll lock Foamrunner into a straight path. Nobody runs aground of those rocks of their own volition. So long as we don’t hear your friend screaming, we go straight and through the rocks. If he starts and then stops, we come up to turn around. Simple enough.”

Stix sent Knell pensive glance, then nodded and followed the captain below deck. Jasneh pulled the trapdoor shut behind them with a final thud, and several clicks rang out as she locked it, leaving Knell alone.

He walked up to the front of the ship, just before the bow, and leaned against his staff. Sunlight prickled his skin and a gentle breeze danced past him. Knell settled down to wait, slipping into meditation. There was no point wasting good time waiting for the merfolk to arrive.

Time passed. The Foamrunner grew closer to the rocks, heading straight for a wide opening between two of them. They drifted past the remains of a galleon run into a jagged spike of stone. Knell opened his eyes as they crested a large wave and he was sprayed with saltwater.

A tiny white ripple passed through the sea to their side, so fast that Knell barely noticed it. A few minutes later, it flashed past the other side of the ship. Another one flickered up, and the skipper lurched slightly as something struck it.

“Only chance,” Knell called out. “Turn around. You’ll find no prey here.”

A chimelike laugh rang out, setting Knell’s hair on end. Two blue hands reached over the edge of the boat and a merfolk woman pulled herself aboard the deck. If not for her blue skin and the scales around her eyes, she would have looked exactly like a human.

The woman had wide, doelike eyes. Her features were strikingly beautiful, and she was completely naked. She rose to her feet, a blood red tongue flicking out and running across her lips.

“So eager to step into my embrace,” she whispered. Her words sent shivers down Knell’s spine, like he were a harp and she the musician. “Who am I to deny you?”

“Your words hold no alure to me,” Knell lied. His eyes lit a dull yellow. “Leave.”

She giggled and opened her mouth. A faint musical note slipped from between her lips. It wrapped around Knell, seeping into his very soul. It took every fiber of his being to keep himself from throwing the staff to the side and falling to the deck at her feet.

The merfolk smiled, revealing dozens of sharklike teeth. She continued to sing, the melody enveloping Knell more with every note she wove. A trickle of blood ran down from Knell’s right eye, tracing across his cheek.

Her song urged him to raise his chin, baring his neck to the beautiful woman before him. She took a step forward, leaning in as if to kiss him. Her plump lips parted, inviting him to lean in and let his worldly troubles fade away in the passions of love.

Knell stepped forward, twisting his staff. It split in two and he pulled it apart, driving the blade that had been hidden within it into the woman’ chest with a single, clean blow. Her song cut off in a ragged gasp and her eyes went wide.

He twisted the blade as she weakly scrabbled at his shoulders, trying to push him back. Her mouth worked, trying to form words as disbelief warred with dismay on her face. The trickle of blood running down Knell’s face turned to a stream. Knell cradled her head as he pulled the blade out from her chest, maintaining eye contact with the merfolk the entire time.

“Your call has nothing on my hatred,” Knell whispered, driving the blade back in. The merfolk’s body jerked and the light bled out of her eyes. Knell rose to his feet and flicked the blood from his sword.

Knell slid his staff back together with a click, then grabbed the merfolk’s body. He dragged it across the deck and up to the bow. Knell jutted the end of his staff between the planks in the deck. Knell’s leg ached furiously as he worked. He struck the staff a few times to drive it deeper, then grabbed the merfolk and pulled her upright with a grunt.

With a heave, he positioned her over the end of the staff and shoved her down using all his might, driving the hilt of the staff out through her chest. Knell swung the corpse around so that it dangled over the front of the ship, her dripping blood down the wood and into the water below.

The water around the ship rippled. Knell looked out over it, but no more merfolk rose to challenge him. He carefully sat down behind the body of the dead merfolk and wiped the blood from his face off with his sleeve.

Magical energy rose up from her body and entered his, making his hair stand on end.

The gods have granted you Experience for besting your foe.

You have defeated an entity more powerful than you. Experience Granted. Your level has been adjusted accordingly. New skill gained.

The second message appeared, just like it had the first time. But, this time, there was another line along with it. Knell stared at it, a slow smile creeping across his face.

Name: Knell Twist [Age: 0]

Path: Scion [Rank Zero]

Magical Energy Level: 10

Attunement A: Foresight of the Vulture

Attunement B: Empty

Attunement C: Empty

Attunement D: Empty

Attunement E: Empty

Bloodline: Eternal Body [Epic]– Time magic bends around you, modifying your lifespan and granting you resistance to spatial magics.

Path: Epoch

Magical Energy Level: 3

Abilities:

Mental Clock – Use time magic to keep time or set an alarm audible only to you.

Slow – Impede the movement of a single creature by warping the time around them for a brief instant.

Sunlight reflected off the blue woman’s scales, dancing over the water as the Foamrunner slipped past the jagged rocks. It grew brighter as the sun rose further overhead. Yet, to Knell, it somehow felt as if the day had grown a little colder. His grin grew frigid and he sat down, watching the waves lap at the side of the ship. He’d been given an advantage, and he intended to use every drop that he could squeeze out of it. He couldn’t afford to do anything less.