Advent of Eternity - Chapter 132 (Patreon)

“Am I right in guessing that you aren’t going to tell me what that little necklace does?” Lillicent asked.

“You are,” Knell said. “It would defeat its purpose. You’ll come to know in due time, I’m sure. Don’t worry yourself with it. For now, focus on figuring out exactly what you will require to complete the task we have agreed upon.”

Lillicent chewed her lower lip and nodded, lost in thought. “Yeah. It’s going to take some time for me to really line everything up. I’m still kind of learning how this path works, but I think those particular Boons are going to have a mind of their own, so I’ll just have to make sure they can reach their full potential.”

“I’m sure you’ll think of something,” Knell said. “We’ve got quite some time at sea before we arrive anywhere, so make yourself comfortable.”

He turned and headed into his cabin, pulling the door shut behind himself to try and mute out the arguing voices of his crew. Knell lowered himself down onto his bed with a grimace, then leaned his staff against the wall and sighed.

With a grunt, he pulled his lame leg onto the bed and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes and banishing the sounds of the outside world. They had around a week before they hit land and had anything to do, so it was time to meditate.

***

“Where is he?” Eliza demanded, her teeth bared in fury as she tightened her bloodied hand around the throat of the slaver. The man wheezed, spite burning in his eyes. He fruitlessly struggled against her grip, trying to break free, but it was pointless.

Eliza slammed him into the ground and blood splattered across his face, pooling beneath his nose and from his lips. She released his throat and the man drew in a gasping, desperate breath.

“Where is he? What did you do?”

The light of life within the slaver’s eyes sputtered. He let out one last, rattling breath. Blue light bloomed from his chest, emitting a low pitched whine.

Emma stepped out of the shadows behind Eliza, grabbing the girl by the back of her shirt and yanking her into the darkness. An instant later, a brilliant crack split the air. The windows of the building blew out and an enormous explosion rocked the world.

Flame washed across the ground, passing through Emma and Eliza harmlessly. Massive fragments of the walls hurtled through the air, the deadly shrapnel ripping through the slaver forces outside.

Men flew, many cut into multiple pieces or knocked unconscious by the sheer force of the blast before they even hit the ground. Those were the lucky ones. A wave of molten flame bloomed within the house, washing out like the waves of a furious ocean and consuming the entire camp around them.

Emma and Eliza shimmered, vanishing from the shadows and reappearing on a hill half a mile away, in the shadow of a large tree. A thick mushroom cloud rose into the sky, and hot ash rained down. Eliza stared at the camp in disbelief. She fell to her knees, her hands passing through the grass as she looked down on the smoldering remains of the slaver camp.

Had they been outside the safety of the shadow, the heat alone probably would have burned their skin. Instead, Emma squinted through the light, only slightly discomforted.

“I don’t understand,” she whispered. Her hands balled into fists. “Where was Milo? Why wasn’t my brother there?”

Emma was wondering the very same thing. Veil was never wrong. He told her that Eliza’s brother was kept in this camp, and so he was. So he should have been.

He wasn’t.

She’d checked the entire camp while Eliza went on a rampage, tearing through the bandits ranks like a scythe through dry wheat. She’d personally gone through every single part of the camp, leaving no stone unturned.

There were no signs of Eliza’s brother. On top of that, the amount of energy that the slaver had detonated with was immensely unsettling. If Emma had been caught in the blast, she was pretty sure it would have killed her instantly. Even Veil might have been injured, had he been away from his place of power.

Emma swallowed. This wasn’t the cut and dry mission that she’d been expecting. Something was wrong. Part of her wanted to head straight back to the Veil, but returning with an objective uncomplete filled her with distaste.

“I don’t know,” Emma said. She paused for a moment, then slowly put a hand on Eliza’s shoulder. Emma was fairly certain that physical contact was typically considered to be comforting. “Perhaps the Veil means to test us.”

“Why?” Eliza demanded, turning her bloodshot eyes to Emma. The green scar running along her back shifted, curling up her neck like a snake beneath her skin. “Has he not tested me enough?”

“Forgive me. I spoke without thinking,” Emma said. “Veil is not an unfair man. If he told you that your brother would be here, then he truly believed it. Someone has acted against him intentionally.”

“Why? What could anyone ever hope to have from kidnapping my brother again?” Eliza’s hands trembled in fury. She squeezed her eyes shut and drew several slow breaths. The green scar released its hold, shifting back to hide beneath her shirt. Eliza rose to her feet and opened her eyes again, the rage contained by determination.

“I know not, but they will die,” Emma said. “None can stand against Veil. Someone has died today. Their body simply does not realize it yet.”

“Can you track them?” Eliza asked. “You’ve got magic, don’t you?”

“I am an assassin. I can only track those who the Veil sends me after,” Emma said, shaking her head. “And the force of that final detonation is significant enough that it cannot be ignored.”

“Seriously? You’re scared?”

“I am not scared,” Emma replied. “I do not feel the fear of death. I feel the fear of failure. While I am confident in my abilities, I may not able to protect you if our opponent possesses magic like we just saw. We must report to Veil.”

“My brother doesn’t have time for us to screw around reporting,” Eliza ground out. “He could die. He could be dead! Someone clearly knows I want to save him. Doesn’t that mean he’s in danger?”

“Chase after the rabbit blindly and you’ll find yourself the prey rather than it,” Emma said. “We will not give chase. If your brother is dead, then dying yourself will not help him. If he lives, then they will not kill him for no reason.”

Eliza ground her teeth, glaring at Emma for a few seconds before she forced herself to nod. “Okay. Let’s go.”

“We have another task to complete before we return,” Emma said.

“What? Where?”

“One that the Veil deemed appropriate for you to accompany me,” Emma replied, largely skirting the question. She’d picked that particular habit up from Veil and found that she quite enjoyed it – keeping people guessing about her true motives and goals helped greatly in the occurrence that they betrayed her. “You performed admirably, despite everything. Your strength grows. The Veil will be pleased.”

Eliza bit back what Emma suspected likely would have been a scathing sentence. Instead, the girl just gave her a curt nod.

“Fine. Let’s get it over with, then. The sooner we get back, the sooner I get to figure out who in the Sixteen Seas is screwing with me.”

Emma pressed her hand to Eliza’s back and both women vanished, leaving the scene of the bandit camp behind as fire roared even louder, consuming what little was left of it.

Veil’s command guided Emma, pulling her through the darkened paths beneath the world. The scent of brine fresh air greeted her as she and Eliza emerged on the deck of a ship, hidden within the shadow of a mast.

Green energy curled off the planks of the ship’s wood and rose into the air, and a skeleton stood at the ship’s wheel, humming and clacking its jawbone in a discordant tune. Emma scared it in awe.

A man with a long beard and cold eyes stepped straight through them, passing through their bodies on his way toward the bow. Eliza flinched, still unused to the sensation of being immaterial.

“Calm yourself,” Emma said. “They cannot see us.”

“No. I know him. That was the man that saved me,” Eliza said, stepping after the man. Eliza put a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“Stop. The past is just that. I have tailed this group before, and they have some ability. As little as the likelihood is, I will not risk your safety.”

“They wouldn’t hurt me. They saved my life!”

“That was before you became what you are,” Emma said flatly. “My last interaction with them was… less than ideal. We will observe before we make our presence known. It is too dangerous to enter a battlefield without sufficient information.”

“Battlefield? Why are we here? And why did you seek them out before?” Eliza demanded. “Does this have anything to do with my brother?”

“No. They are unrelated. One has drawn the attention of the Lord Veil. I am simply here to invite him to speak with our master.”

“I have no master.”

Emma ignored Eliza. She walked down the deck of the ship. Two women stood beside the bearded man, speaking avidly. One of them missed an arm, but a strange energy curled off her body. It almost felt like the ocean itself. Emma and Eliza stopped beside them, studying the one armed woman.

“For the last time, I didn’t steal your last piece of cheese,” the bearded man insisted. “I would never do something like that. If I’d actually taken it, I’d be bragging the entire time.”

“You hardly have a good track record for this, considering I caught you stealing grapes from my plate yesterday morning,” the other woman, a moon elf, said as she crossed her hands. “That cheese was rare. I spent nearly a gold on it, you know! I’ve never seen any cheese that bright orange, and I was looking forward to eating it. I bet you didn’t even taste anything when you shoved it down your gullet.”

“That was different! Those grapes were begging to be stolen. If you didn’t want me to take them, then you should have eaten them instead of rolling them around like toys. Besides, orange cheese sounds gross.”

“If they didn’t want to be rolled, they wouldn’t be round. And I’ll never know if it was gross because you probably ate it.”

“She’s got a point,” the one-armed woman said. “But I can’t really blame Cyll for stealing those. You really did leave them undefended.”

“Yeah. Even Maya stole one!”

“Seriously?” the moon elf asked, glaring at the other woman.

“Hey! I gave you a piece of jerky to keep that to yourself.”

“Oh. Whoops.”

Emma pressed her lips together. “They’re speaking in code. I have absolutely no idea what they’re saying. I’ll have to report to Veil. They may suspect that they’re being watched.”

“Seriously?” Eliza asked, glancing from the crewmembers to Emma. “I’m pretty sure they’re just talking.”

“That would be completely illogical. Nobody would argue over stealing grapes. I suspect grapes is a word for some powerful treasure or artifact,” Emma said, rubbing her chin. “We must be wary.”

“Right,” Eliza drawled. Emma stepped away from the arguing crew members and Eliza followed her over to the captain’s quarters.

Emma stepped straight through the door and Eliza squeezed her eyes shut, doing the same. She shuddered as she emerged.

The scarred captain sat at his desk, hunched over a paper. A massive black perched on his shoulder. Emma gave Eliza a small nod.

“You will grow used to shadow travel in time. It is a powerful tool.”

“It feels like my insides get rearranged every time we pass through something solid,” Eliza said. “It’s certainly useful to scout things out, though.”

“Precisely. Any amount of discomfort is worth it if we can gain information on potential threats,” Emma said. She stepped around the captain, peering down at the paper he was working on with a frown. “I do not understand why Veil shows such interest in this man. His power was considerable, but there are many deadly men in this world. What do you know of him?”

“Not much,” Eliza admitted, joining Emma. “He saved my life for no reason, and that was it. Joseph found me right after. He didn’t even ask for anything in return. I think he’s a good man.”

“He stinks of death,” Emma said. “No man is good. Their goals just align with yours more than others.”

The man pushed back from his desk. Eliza jumped, but he just grabbed his staff and got his feet out from under him with a grunt. Strangely, he leaned it against the wall instead of using it to continue supporting himself.

“He cannot see or hear us within this realm,” Emma said. “Do not fear. Simply observe.”

Eliza shivered as the pirate’s gaze passed over her. Emma watched the girl with a small frown, but she couldn’t help but agree with her sentiment. There was something deeply unsettling about the pirate.

Even though Emma knew he couldn’t see them, his eyes had landed straight on hers – likely looking through the window at her back. She stepped to the side instinctively, and the pirate reached into his coat with both hands.

With one hand, he pulled out a small metal necklace. With the other, he drew a flintlock. A deep chill bound around Emma’s body and her eyes widened in surprise as the pirate raised the flintlock, placing it against her forehead before she could react.

A clean note rang through the air and a wave of light emitted from the necklace around his throat, shattering the shadowy world and leaving Eliza and Emma standing in plain sight before the man.

“On the contrary,” Knell said, cocking the hammer on his flintlock back. “I can hear you quite well. I was wondering when you’d come by again.”