Advent of Eternity - Chapter 15 (Patreon)

Knell was still sitting there, meditating, several hours later when Stix and Jasneh emerged from the trapdoor. Not a single merfolk had tried to challenge him after the first one. The creature’s blood had stained the front of the ship, running down the bow and vanishing the crystal blue water beneath.

Knell reached out as the two women approached him. Stix helped him to his feet. Jasneh let out a slow whistle.

“What in the sixteen seas did you do?” she asked, prodding the Merfolk’s body. It was completely drained of blood, nothing but a dry husk of what had once been a beautiful creature.

“I believe I ensured our safe passage,” Knell replied.

“You want this thing here still?” Stix asked, nodding at the merfolk. Knell shook his head and she pulled it off his staff, dropping the body to the deck and handing knell the bloody metal stick. He took it, ignoring the blood covering its head.

“You want the corpse?” Jasneh asked, eyeing it. “Those scales go for a fair cost.”

“All yours,” Knell replied. “I don’t have the patience to find a buyer for it. It’ll make up for the damage I did to your deck when I stuck my staff through the boards.”

Jasneh grunted and grabbed the merfolk’s body, pulling it into a cabin. “And you were kind enough to drain it for me as well. What a gentleman.”

“Always,” Knell replied, a smile stretching across his features.

The rest of the trip over was entirely boring. No further monsters bothered them and the weather was as calm as could be. A few days later, the faint remains of a gray stone island appeared on the horizon.

Ruined buildings barely crested over the waves, worn down by time and water. The island was rather small, only a few times larger than the Foamrunner. Jasneh raised an eyebrow, raising the sails to half as they grew closer.

“That’s your place,” Jasneh said, nodding at the ruins. “Didn’t fancy you for an arachnologist.”

“Archeologist,” Knell corrected. “Arachnologists would study spiders. And I am neither.”

Jasneh shrugged. “Suit yourself. With the addition of the merfolk, I’m happy to wait here a day. How’s that sound?”

“Should be more than enough,” Knell said, watching the island grow closer until they were nearly upon it. “This shouldn’t take long at all.”

“Then you best start swimming,” Jasneh said. “I’m not running the Foamrunner aground on a crotchety old building.”

Knell grimaced and glanced at Stix. “How well do you swim?”

“There was a pool in my village,” she replied doubtfully. “I did laps around it sometimes.”

“I hope you swim well enough for two, then. My leg does not lend itself well to the water.”

Stix pursed her lips. “You’re as skinny as a twig, I can probably get away with it. Just don’t start panicking and trying to drown me or I’ll kick you off.”

“Don’t worry,” Knell said. “I never panic.”

Stix rolled her eyes and hopped over the side of the ship, splashing into the water below. She swam back a short distance. Knell carefully lowered himself over the edge and let himself fall forward, bracing as the water crashed against him.

The warm sun did little to assuage the freezing cold chill of the ocean as it rose up around him, knocking the breath from his lungs as his head dipped below the water. He fought the urge to thrash around and moved his arms back and forth, kicking with his good leg to try and push up.

Stix’s arm wrapped around his chest and pulled him above the waves. He drew in a sharp breath and tried to make his body as limp as possible while Stix dragged them both toward the island.

When they reached it, she grabbed onto the bleached stone and pulled herself up, dragging Knell up after her. He spat out some water and wiped his eyes off with a soaked sleeve.

“Thank you.”

“You swim like a dead fish.”

“I don’t swim much at all.”

“Exactly,” Stix said, wringing her hair out. “So where’s this Fort Fellwater?”

“Under us, I suspect,” Knell replied, pushing himself upright with the staff. A pile of rubble led up to an open doorway, shielded by the remains of what had probably once been great walls.

Knell started climbing the rubble. He chose each move carefully, trying to find rocks that he could brace his staff against without sending the entire thing clattering down around him.

Stix slipped past him, nimbly climbing up without even nudging a single stone. She turned back to look at him from the top of the pile, a smug grin on her face. It took Knell nearly ten more minutes to get far up enough for Stix to grab him by the collar and pull him the rest of the way up.

“Climbing is not one of my strengths,” Knell said, fruitlessly trying to brush the dust and white powder from his soaked clothes.

“Evidently,” Stix agreed, peering inside the door way. She let out a whistle. “By the Twelve, take a look at this.

Knell moved to stand beside her. Large pieces of the building had fallen many years ago, littering the ground around them. Streams of sunlight poked in through large holes in the roof and walls, illuminating the jagged entrance to a stairwell that wound into the earth. It was partially covered by rubble, but there was still enough room to squeeze in.

“The entrance to the prison. Lucky us,” Knell said. “It would have been unfortunate if it were blocked off.”

“The world probably would have been better off if it was,” Stix grumbled. “I didn’t think we’d actually find a way in. Are you really sure this is a good idea?”

“Of course I am,” Knell replied, sliding through the gap and starting down the stairwell carefully, testing each step with his staff before taking it. What little light they had quickly started to fade.

“Does the Shadow Stalker Path have access to basic magic?” Knell asked.

“A bit,” Stix said. “Why?”

“I can’t see in the dark,” he replied. “Do you have anything to help there?”

“Oh, right,” Stix said, stretching her hand out. A tiny purple orb of energy swirled to life above it, then moved to float above her shoulder. The faint light coming off it was just barely enough to illuminate their immediate surroundings. “I forgot you were a human.”

“You haven’t spent much time away from your village, have you?” Knell asked as they continued to descend. He carefully stepped over a missing step, avoiding what would have been a very painful and likely fatal fall.

“I haven’t,” Stix admitted. “Is it that obvious?”

“It could be worse,” Knell said. “But you aren’t as callous as most are. That’s the biggest giveaway. Your naiveite doesn’t help either, but it isn’t as obvious as it could be.”

“Thanks, I think,” Stix said.

“No problem. And, Stix?”

She turned and Knell gathered his magic. It wasn’t so different than connecting to his eyes, but the feeling filled him with a gentle sense of comfort, as if he were exactly where he was supposed to be.

A flicker of green smoke danced across his fingertips and leapt to Stix. Her eyes widened and her hand slowly moved back, as if she were dragging it through molasses. The affect only lasted half a second before vanishing.

“What was that about?” Stix exclaimed.

“Testing something new,” Knell replied. “Sorry. I wasn’t sure if it would work properly if you were prepared for it. We can continue now.”

“Right,” Stix said with a snort. “Lovely.”