The evening air had a cold bite to it, the first signs of the coming winter. Tens of thousands made their way to the sea wall for the send off, families and friends caught up with one another after days of field work, drinks and food were served to thank the people for their hard work. Small circles formed in the crowd where some played music or danced. The whole of Navalia was alive with laughter and joy. As the sun was falling low in the night sky, green lanterns came to life across the sea wall.

  All along the shallow sea were hundreds of linen covered bodies; it had taken the House of Mourning all day with the help of nearly a hundred volunteers to transport all of the remains from the cryocrypt to the shallow sea. The family of the dead stood in the ankle deep water sharing final goodbyes, or offering gifts for the dead for when they arrived in the endless sea.

  Even after all these cycles, Fel couldn’t bring themself to tell anyone the truth of it all. The endless sea, the starless ocean, the abyssal depths, every few centuries the term would change slightly without anyone but them noticing. Fel had seen it with their own eyes, the countless dead, frozen in time, torn between realms. The sight was haunting.

  Walking along the railing of the upper plaza, Fel could see the whole of the sea wall. Thousands of candles were lit in honor of Alnur. Last they heard from Bynard and Zo was that they would reach the capitol by morning. Fel turned their gaze to the other guests of honor for the night. Those that felt they had lived long enough, and those that were too ill to keep going. They laughed and cried with their families, trying to squeeze every last second of time they could. It always feels like you have all the time in the world, until you’re faced with the last moments. The old ones tended to accept the send off as a way of keeping their dignity, they had lived long enough that they wanted to leave before their bodies completely gave out. The sick ones however, those were the painful ones to watch. Some would have second thoughts, change their mind at the last moment, but if the send off was already on the table, they would simply be buying themselves a brief respite. There was honor in that though, trying to beat fate, to spit in the eye of your illness and fight on.

  It wasn’t hard to see where Tayla was in the crowd, one just had to look for the largest gathering of people. She was walking the length of the sea wall in lieu of Alnur, it was up to her to say goodbye to those that were ready to move on to the next world. As tradition dictated. Though, Tayla didn’t walk so much as hobble on crutches. The wheelchair they had dug up for her wasn’t great at traversing uneven cobblestone.

  Fel for their part, was keeping an eye from up above. It would take truly deprived scum to try anything on the night of the send off, but they liked to keep an eye open just in case. Considering what happened during the morning, they felt it best to stay up here. Over the great ocean barrier, a sliver of the full moon began to appear, it wouldn’t be long now.

  Soft footsteps from behind caused Fel to turn, expecting to see a guard. Instead, there was an old frail man, he must have been close to eighty years old. He walked towards Fel with a determined step.

  “Venerable one, have you come to enjoy the view? Shouldn’t you be with your kin saying your farewells?” Fel spoke respectfully.

  The man walked to the railing, leaning against it for support. Much of his hair was gone, but there was still a spark in his eye. He seemed to struggle to speak. “I’m sorry.”

  Fel blinked in surprise. “What?”

  The man turned to her, his eyes filled with remorse. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault that the king was hurt.” The man’s eyes were watering, his voice came in bursts.

  Leaning down to speak closer, Fel spoke softly. “How could that be? You are not to blame for what happens on a hunt honored one, calm yourself.”

  “But I am! The gods chose to strike down the king because I had the nerve to ask him to see me off tonight! I am the reason he was nearly killed! Because of my audacity.” The man was clutching at what little remained of his hair.

  “Please, breathe. The gods are not so petty as to harm our king because you asked him to show you kindness. Where is your family?” Fel glanced around, hoping to see the man’s minders.

  He froze up. “Dead, they’re all dead. Taken from me in the purging crusades, those that survived fell to the fleshwarp. I’m all that remains.” His voice was hollow now, devoid of any emotion at all.

  Fel reached out a hand, the old man smacked it away like it was a viper. With a sigh Fel continued. “I am sorry for your loss, but you are not to blame for what happened to my brother. Are there none who will guide you to the shallow sea?”

  Shaking his head the man looked down. “No, the king offered to do so for me, I could not dare ask the lady Tayla to honor such an arrangement.”

  “So why did you seek me out?” Fel asked, returning to their full height, a suspicion growing.

  The man snapped his head up, a zeal taking over him. “Kill me! You are an omen of death, the soul stealer! I know the legends, your kind is born without the Nightfather’s gift, but instead are cursed to steal the souls of those you kill!” The poor old man was practically frothing at the mouth. Such a sad sight.

  There was a sliver of truth to the words the man spoke. The pair of shades hovering just out of the corner of their eye was testament to that. Fel reached down and removed part of their armor to reveal their bare arms, neither one had any rot or decay. “You are right, I do not have the entropic touch of my Father. But I do have something else. I cannot steal souls, but I can help them find rest.” Staring at the bare flesh of their arms, Fel felt the wave of unwanted memories threatening to come crashing down on them and put their armor back on.

  “Rest? I don’t deserve rest! I deserve punishment!” The man was growing confused.

  “What is your name sir?” Fel said, their tone soft and calming as they scanned the area with their second sight to be sure they were alone.

  “Huh? My name, my name is Braum Wheatstone.” Braum seemed to visibly calm a bit after recalling his name.

  “Braum, would you like to see your family again?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Fel reached for the effigy of the Nightfather, the white mask with three perfect circles cut into it. “Are you ready to be sent off Braum? To the endless sea? To the embrace of your family? Close your eyes, can you see them, their smiling faces?”

  Braum closed his eyes. Fel kept one hand on the effigy, and placed the other on Braums chest gently. “Yes, I can see them! Their smiling, gods, I forgot what they looked like after all this time!” Tears of joy ran down the old man's face.

  “Are you ready Braum, are you done with your business on this plane? Are you ready to rest?”

  Through a shaking voice, Braum nodded. “Yes.”

  It was barely a whisper.

  As Fel tapped into the gift of their Father, they could see the realm beyond, vast and empty, no pain, no happiness, just a gentle nothingness. The last words that came from Braum were an almost silent. “Thank you.”

  The power surged for a split second, Fel’s body bulging and breaking for a moment, Braum’s physical form was unmade as a splash of seawater fell to the stones below. In a second it was over, Fel’s form compressing once more, their flexible, expandable armor shifting back into place. They turned back to overlooking the crowd below, looking back towards Tayla, she was almost done with the final goodbyes, the ceremony would begin soon.

  ◆◆◆

  Tayla was almost at her breaking point. Between her leg that was screaming in pain, her body aching all over, the lack of sleep from the night before, and the pain she felt at blowing up at her Uncle and Lillian, she was feeling pretty done with all the crap life was piling on top of her. She struggled to climb the flights of stairs up to the ceremonial upper plaza of the main road. It was raised enough to give the best view of the send off. One could take in the whole of the sea wall from there.

  Her foot slipped for a moment, the guards on either side of her caught her mid fall. It was embarrassing how much she had to rely on others right now, what was next, Fel carrying her on their back. Regaining her balance, Tayla made it up the last flight of stairs, offering a word of thanks to the All Mother that it was finally over. She slumped into the wheeled chair one of her guards carried for her. “Thank you all for your help, I know this isn’t the most dignified of duties.” She said, wiping the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief.

  The half a dozen guards stood up straighter, their senior officer shaking her head. “Nonsense my lady, it is a great honor to be trusted with watching over you while you recover. Though, I do ask again, that you be careful even in the Keel.”

  Tayla had already been given three separate lectures about that today, not including this one. She would have to be more careful now that she was the de facto leader of the Black Coast for the time being. No more strolls in the morning on her own for the foreseeable future. “Yes, I will do my best not to try and sneak away from my escorts, though, if I do manage to lose you while stuck in this infernal chair. I would almost be proud.” She cracked a smirk while looking at the guards. A few of whom stifled a laugh. The officer simply raised an eyebrow. “I will not try and slip away, I promise.”

  “I’m glad to hear that my lady.” The officer said with a curt nod.

  Looking over to the other side of the plaza, Tayla saw Fel leaning against the railing. As awkward as things were between them, they were still siblings. Tayla wheeled over to join them. As they got closer Tayla noticed a large wet spot next to Fel.

  Fel answered her question without looking over at her. “Mind the water, I spilled my drink earlier.”

  Tayla gave the wet spot a wide berth and came to stop next to Fel. The majestic view was a bit subdued on account of the fact that the railing was head level while she was sitting in her chair. She tried to crane her neck to get a better view of the festival down below, but it did little to help.

  There was something that was bothering Tayla. She wanted to ask Fel about it, but ever since they were kids, they had sworn to not ask too much about Fel’s ‘unique’ quirks. Yet she still found herself wanting to ask regardless. The longer she went without saying something, the harder it became to say anything at all. Her mouth opened and closed over and over again.

  “You wanna know why I wouldn’t go to the capitol?” Fel said, their tone soft, with a touch of remorse.

  A feeling of guilt hit Tayla hard, she wanted to deny it but all she could muster was a meek. “Yes.”

  Fel tapped the railing. “You know I am not like other Twins. I can’t answer all of your questions, I am sworn to silence, but you have to understand that the only reason I am able to live a quiet life is that I made certain agreements. One of those conditions is that I cannot leave the Coast, unless I am given permission.”

  Tayla wanted to ask a thousand questions. Fel was a mystery on so many levels, but Tayla had long since realized that her sibling didn’t keep quiet out of choice. Now they spoke of swearing some oath of silence, like it was just a casual thing to mention. “Is the word of your sister not permission? The word of the ruler of our people?” Tayla asked knowing that she would get no proper answer in response.

  “I cannot say more.” Fel said with the usual line, in the usual pained tone. They averted their eyes.

  The urge to press the matter died as it always did. Tayla knew there was no force that could pry the whole truth from her siblings' lips. Instead she cast her gaze at the full moon that was almost completely risen on the horizon. It’s form almost sitting right above the barrier wall, the send off would be any second now.

  Tayla’s heart leapt from her chest as she heard one of her guards let out a gasp in surprise. She and Fel turned together to see the source of the alarm. There, walking down from the main road's staircase, were the diplomats.

  Before Tayla could scream, Fel was already shouting. “You idiots! You were told not to come down here!” Tayla had never seen such anger from them.

  The diplomats were continuing on, their Ono guards in heel, with the Cabal sheepishly following last. Thoren looked cross, his body still covered in bandages under his robes. “I’m sorry, I have tried to talk reason to my fellow members of the Court, but I was outvoted.”

  Fel crossed the plaza in the blink of an eye. “You don’t understand, turn around this instant and run, you need to leave before the ritual starts!”

  Tayla was trying to catch up. She looked over her shoulder, past the barrier the full moon was about to crest the wall. There was no time left. “They are right! You were forbidden from joining us, I should have you all thrown in the brig for such a disregard of our laws and customs!”

  Thoren and Graum averted their eyes as they looked downwards. The lady merchant from Seru stepped forward. “You said the All Mother demands that anyone in the Coast take part in your festival, we hunted, we worked the fields. Now, we shall watch the ending, it only seems fair.” Tayla wanted to crack that smug look off her face with the butt of her rifle.

  The guards looked confused, to lay their hands on the agents of the Court and Cabal could be a huge diplomatic issue. Fel’s hand was as quick as a viper, wrapping around the merchant's throat and lifting her off the ground with ease. “I was not asking! You brainless fools have no idea what you are doing, you will all die!” The Ono wasted no time, Ophelia brought down her blade at Fel’s wrist. The sword was made from the finest steel, yet it shattered like glass. Leaving only a slight mark on Fel’s hand.

  Fel dropped the coughing woman, paying no mind to the attack they had received. They turned to look at the full moon as it came to rest on the wall. “It’s too late.”

  There was still a soft glow above as the sun, although it had set, still cast a fraction of its light. Stars could be seen above dotting the sky, clouds hanging in the air here and there. The mountains in the distance were blue pastel shapes. The ocean beyond the barrier was a dark expanse. Then, everything froze for a moment, before slowly being pulled towards the ocean. No, not the ocean, the moon. The shape remained, but the white glow was gone, replaced by a perfect circle of nothingness. The clouds were the first to fall into the dark abyss, followed by the water of the Shallow sea as it was pulled upwards by the tremendous force, until the entire basin was emptied.

  The diplomats fell to the ground, gasping as the very air from their lungs was ripped out by the force. Nothing could escape the moon's pull. The Twin’s could survive without air for some time, the Ono seemed to regain themselves as their armor compensated for the lack of air. Thoren was turning blue, he held his hands together in prayer, arcs of energy cascading across his body as a globe of light burst forth surrounding the diplomats. The orb seemed to offer some protection thankfully.

  Tayla watched as they looked up in horror. As one by one the very stars themselves were sucked into the grasp of the moon’s pull, streaks of light, millions of them cascading across the heavens as every mote of light was devoured, the sun's dying light was long gone. Leaving the whole universe devoid of a single speck of radiance.

  All that remained was the Moon, a perfect black circle, somehow blacker than the darkness of space itself, like it was alive with power. The gentle green lanterns somehow kept their glow, casting an ominous light over the thousands below. Without air for sound to travel, Tayla could see those in the golden orb of light screaming or praying, but could not hear a single thing.

  Thoren looked haggard, he had somehow cast a chant without uttering a single word, a feat that should be impossible by Tayla’s understanding. He walked to the edge of the globe, staring at Tayla with bloodshot eyes.

  Tayla floated out of her chair and bounded towards the globe. Floating between each step. Gravity was still there, but only a fraction of its usual power, the Moon’s power was disrupting it. She stood there looking at Thoren, she was glad he was okay. She placed a hand on the globe's surface. He was hesitant, but he placed his hand on his side opposite of hers. Mouthing the words slowly she tried to say ‘I’m sorry. Hold on.’

  Thoren was looking worse by the second, but he nodded solemnly. Mouthing back, ‘I’ll try. No promises.’

  Glancing to her side, Tayla could see the mountain ranges heave as they were sundered into chunks the size of cities, those pieces breaking up further and further until they too were consumed by the Moon. When it was done, there was nothing but the plaza, the barren shallow sea, the stone walls, and the Moon.

  A ripple broke across the surface of the Moon as a torrent of black liquid poured down into the empty shallow sea, quickly forming in a wave that spread outwards. It wasn’t water, no, this cast no reflections, it was just oblivion in a viscous form. The families of those being sent off left to the high ground of the sea wall. The crashing torrent slowed to a gentle tide as it reached the edge of the sea walls base. The linen covered bodies were enveloped gently, pulled under the jet black waves. From the many stairs leading down, the old and sick began to wade into the consuming waves. A few steps in, and they simply fell forwards into the inviting current, never to be seen again.

  It lasted all of a few minutes in total, as the dark waters began to recede, back into the Moon that spawned it. The ritual was ending. Fel was looking with a forlorn stare at the Moon, the exact nature known only to them. The water had almost fully pulled back when it stopped.

  Almost immediately, the gathered Twin’s below seemed to sense something was wrong.

  This was not part of the ritual.

  Fel took a step forward, a panicked frenzy on their face. As a thin line of the black water began to flow out once more, causing the crowd below to panic. The only benefit of the lack of air was that there was no way to hear the screaming that was surely taking place. The black line oozed up the sea wall, the onlookers below the plaza fell over one another trying to make a path for the dark tendril. Tayla leapt to the railing to keep sight of the tendril, only to watch in horror as it flowed up towards her like some insane waterfall in reverse.

  She threw herself back away from the railings edge as the black water flowed onto the plaza, moving towards the golden orb of light. Tayla kicked off the railing she was beside and flew towards the thing’s path. Skidding her feet to slow to a stop directly in its path. It rushed towards her without signs of stopping, she felt the chill of death on her spine and knew she would surely die.

  Fel calmly walked between Tayla and the black water. It came to a stop at their feet. From the depths of the darkness rose a figure, it was from this shape the darkness spread, it was from this thing that the Moon seemed small in comparison. Although it wore no towering form, in truth only coming to a head taller than Fel, it was the white bone mask it wore that radiated a blinding amount of power and dread. Its body was an oozing mass of darkness that shifted constantly, the only thing that remained still was its mask, an elongated skull of off white, the only features were three perfect black circles. It was from these holes the endless darkness was pouring forth from.

  Tayla and everyone on the plaza fell to their knees aside from Fel, for standing there, was the Nightfather in physical form. Tayla wept as she bowed her head before her people's God. Behind her, Tayla could see the orb of light fading, it wouldn’t be long now until Thoren faltered. She stole a glance at her God, it remained motionless as it regarded Fel. Tayla’s heart was pounding in her chest, she had to do something or everyone in the orb of light would die.

  Summoning all of her courage, she stood up, her body screamed at her for daring to stand before such a holy being. Knees shaking, she stepped towards death itself. She came to stand beside Fel, daring not to go any further. Still she did not have the Nightfather’s attention. She tried to raise a hand, but still nothing. A thought dawned on her, that void sorcerer Vauhn had somehow used the link to communicate. Perhaps it would work here. Tayla tried to open the link, but willed it to speak to the Nightfather before her, to her shock, it opened.

  The Nightfather turned its gaze towards Tayla, as an incomprehensible series of voices smashed into her mind. With just a single phrase, it felt like the whole of her mind was filled to the brim with knowledge, a cluster of migraines burst along her skull as she fell to her knees racked in pain. Her eyes felt like they were about to burst from the pressure inside her skull. She clenched her jaw so tight that at least two of her teeth chipped from the force. At that moment Tayla would have gladly thrown herself into the shallow sea to end the pain.

  She flailed for the Tranquility, yet even that was simply a trickle of cold water being thrown on a raging wildfire. Mustering all of her strength she sent. Ancient one, please, we have guests of the celestials that will die if you do not return us to the mortal plane soon!

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  For the first time the Nightfather seemed to notice the people inside the golden orb, it cocked its mask in confusion as it took in the situation. Suddenly, the world exploded with light and sound once more, the stars and mountains returned in the blink of an eye. Tayla gasped as she realized she could breathe once more. She looked up in horror to realize that not everything was returned like usual, half of the world had been restored, while the side towards the ocean was still cast in darkness, overlooked by the frozen Moon.

  The world seemed to groan at this, it was one thing to pull a small part of the world away for the ritual, it was quite another for the world to be sundered in half. The Nightfather didn’t show any signs of effort at having defied every law of the material plane.

  The light of the golden orb flickered and fell, revealing the terrified faces of those that had been inside. Now Tayla could hear their cries and pleading for mercy. The Ono stayed perfectly still, even with one of their arch enemies within striking distance, they knew that they were like insects before a storm. Thoren walked forward on shaky legs, just making it far enough to be heard when he spoke as he fell to his knees. “Thank you for granting us your mercy.”

  It seemed not to matter to the Nightfather what anyone had to say, it simply turned back to face Fel. Then it spoke, the effect was similar to before, but much less agonizing. The syllables were of the void, but even if you tried with all your might you could not discern any pitch or tone. It was like the words just appeared in your mind fully formed, Tayla had a terrible realization, it was her own voice she heard speaking the Nightfathers words. No doubt her mind was trying to desperately hold onto its sanity by doing anything and everything to protect itself from the horror it was experiencing.

  The only one that seemed unphased was Fel, who seemed to fully understand what was being said. They even responded calmly. “If what you say is true, I must go and stop whatever force is trying to upset the balance. I will be your hand Father, I will find those responsible and bring an end to this.”

  Tayla could feel her nose bleeding, just being close to an Old God could kill lesser beings, if not for the blessing of the Nightfather, she would have surely passed out by now. She turned to Fel, she wanted to ask what was being said, but she couldn’t even speak over the pain in her head.

  Fel glanced down at Tayla with a concerned look. They turned back to the Nightfather and to Tayla’s surprise, spoke the cursed void tongue fluently. Her brain still recoiled at the vile, shifting syllables, but at least it wasn’t killing her. Whatever they said caused the God to turn towards Tayla once more, this time, it seemed to stare through her. There was a shudder that ran through the being’s form, as claws of liquid night crept from its shell, reaching towards Tayla. She could do nothing to stop it, she simply watched as the fingers of death came closer. A claw opened wide as it ran a bladed edge against her chin, wiping the blood from it before lowering to her leg, with a tap her thigh burst open like a flower blooming. There was no blood as the skin peeled back, muscle loosening as they floated aside, and beneath it all, her shattered bones. Fragments and slivers of bone hung in the air, the claw grew dozens of new digits as it began to weave the broken pieces back into place with shocking speed. Just as soon as it had begun, it was done, as the flesh coiled back into its rightful place. The claw came to rest on her dead hand, as it gently tapped it in what Tayla could only imagine was some form of comfort.

  Another phrase burst into her head, thankfully this time it was less painful, the words meant nothing to her, but through the link she could feel the emotion, gratitude.

  The Nightfather turned back to Fel as it laid claws on their cheek, a gentle and paternal gesture from a thing that should be incapable of such things. Fel reached up and held the claw in their own hand. It pulled away, finally turning its attention towards the diplomats. The Nightfather didn’t move, one moment it was standing beside Fel, the next it was standing in front of Thoren. He looked up, his face pale from overexerting himself again. Tayla noticed that there didn’t appear to be any fear in the Stormpriest's eyes.

  The masked face of the Night Father extended towards Thoren until it was inches away, a soft whispering escaped from the Old God, words only meant for him alone. There was a confused look that crossed Thoren’s face as the Nightfather turned back to face the Moon, its body still connected by the dark tendril. Its body collapsed like water, flowing back towards the Moon, as it passed the people below that had had time to collect themselves and were now offering fervent prayers to their God as it passed them. Soon it had returned through the shallow sea and flowed back into the Moon. A moment later two more Moons appeared beside the first, three perfect circles in a triangular formation. The Moons pulled back, shrinking into the void, and with them the curtain of darkness was pulled back as well, the night sky returning once more to its rightful place.

  For a long few minutes there was only silence, the whole of the Coast was still and quiet. No one dared to move or speak, not wanting to be the first to break the reverence of the holy moment. Tayla stood on shaking legs, her broken leg a thing of the past as she walked towards Fel. She grabbed onto them for support. When she looked up at Fel, she felt like she was looking at a stranger, this wasn’t something they could just look past, they would have to talk about this.

  Fel spoke in a quiet tone. “I have to go.”

  “What happened to your oath to stay in the Coast?” Tayla said weakly.

  “Someone has stolen an artifact of great power from the Nightfather and he has given me a task that is vital to protecting the balance of our world. I cannot say more, but I need you to trust me, Tayla.”

  “Who would dare?!” The sorrow that Fel was leaving was quickly moved aside by a blinding anger at the thought that someone had had the audacity to steal from their God. “We will hunt down whomever did this and drag them to Xon’tec so they may answer to the Old Ones for their crimes! We will send our bes-” Fel held up a hand for her to stop.

  “No, I must go alone. Having a large armed force will only slow me down, and time is of the essence. I would also prefer not to draw attention to my movements, traveling alone will make that easier.”

  Tayla didn’t like it, but Fel was making fair points. “Will you at least take a member of the Hall of Whispers with you so you can check in?”

  Fel cast a look to their side towards the guests. “It would be safer if you cannot get a hold of me, it gives you a chance to deny knowing where I am going, or what I am doing. I suspect the Court will be most interested in my mission, and I for one am keen to keep them out of it until we know who we can trust.”

  Tayla was still reeling from everything, her body and mind were at their limit after the last few days. She wanted to ask so many questions, what had the Nightfather said, what was their connection really; but she knew that right now wasn’t the time for it. “Go. And please be careful.”

  Leaning down, Fel gave Tayla a hug goodbye. As they parted, Fel’s face took on a look of deadly seriousness. They held nothing back as they launched into a full sprint, bounding up the harsh slope of the main road in a few inhuman bounds. In a few seconds they were gone from sight.

  The diplomats were finally standing and calming down. Now that they knew they weren’t going to die, they started screaming and shouting. Tayla tuned most of it out as she walked to the railing overseeing the seawall below; something about heresy or the perils of the void, she didn’t really care much. Her mind was on her siblings, would they ever go back to the peaceful days of their morning routine together?

  Her thoughts were interrupted by one of the diplomats grabbing her shoulder violently and pulling her around to face him. He was a portly man, Tayla seemed to recall he was from a port town up north. For the life of her she couldn’t remember the man’s name, and frankly, didn’t give a shit about him anymore. “You vile creature! You lured us here to offer us to your dark God! If not for the miracles of master Thoren you would have seen us sacrificed!” Tayla reached a hand up to wipe the man’s spittle from her face calmly.

  Her guards were stepping forward to grab the man, but Tayla held a hand up to stop them for the moment. Soon, almost every member of the Court and the Cabal were surrounding her and lashing out with some tirade or vitriolic sentiment. Aside from Thoren, Graum, the Sanguinite, the Ono and that shaman fellow. Though they did come to stand around her still.

  The lady merchant from Seru was rubbing her neck where a vibrant red hand print was still visible. She pulled a knife out from her dress and pointed it at Tayla. “How dare you bottom feeding scum lay a hand on me! Where is that freak of yours going?!” A flash of black leather and her face grew still. Around her neck were the blades of a thresher whip, the sharp teeth of it gently digging into her skin drawing pinpricks of blood. It would only take a quick snap of the wrist and she would find herself in the unfortunate position of having her head and body separated from one another. Holding the whip was Admiral Broadsen, his face made it clear he was quite ready to carry out the deed if need be.

  The Ono were getting ready to protect their charges, everything was reaching a crescendo. Tayla spoke, drawing all attention to her. “Honored guests, I cannot express how sorry I am that you were put in such danger, even after all of our warnings that the ritual was off limits to outsiders. Even after my sibling tried to stress on you the importance of leaving, even after I pleaded with the Nightfather to spare you. I think it’s time we come to an understanding.” Tayla gestured to the seawall below. “There is one very simple reason we Twin’s have survived for as long as we have.” The guests looked at the tens of thousands below, the people of the Coast were abuzz talking about what had just happened, seldom few were looking up at the plaza.

  Tayla raised a hand towards the sea of people.

  A ripple ran through the crowd as the whole of the Coast froze, and turned their gaze’s upwards towards the plaza. They saw the image of someone laying a hand on their leader, of a knife being drawn against their lady of shadows.

  The diplomats grew still as they looked down at a sea of glowing green eyes staring up at them, seething with anger. Almost every Twin had a thresher whip, it was commonplace, and now many reached for their farm tools, though none had farming in mind while doing so.

  Tayla turned to look at the fearful faces of the diplomats. “We have survived, because we are of one mind. We are united in one purpose, to protect our people and home. From any threat.” Turning to the Ono she continued. “Honored cousins, I think it’s about time you disarmed yourselves. I am not my brother, I have little care for Ono tradition or the like.”

  The Ono shared a look.

  From the shadows dozens of cloaked Twin’s emerged, their ancient weapons drawn and readied. The pair of Ono snarled as they held out their weapons for the guards to take.

  Removing his helmet, Mikal asked. “Are we your prisoners then?”

  “No, not at all! You are our Honored guests. We just need to reevaluate some of your privileges after recent events.” Tayla smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes.

  Ophelia narrowed her eyes as she spoke. “Will we be permitted to send word of tonight's events to the Celestial Court?”

  Tayla turned back to see her people. “Of course, tomorrow we will bring the Keel back to full power and you can all have access to the transmission network. I am sure you will have plenty to say, just be sure to emphasize that when you were so wrongly mistreated it was only in response to your complete disregard of our customs and traditions.” Tayla’s face was illuminated by the green glow from below.

  A pair of guards flanked the merchant lord of Seru as they removed her knife from her hands roughly. Holding her by either arm. She looked up at Tayla. “What about me? My king will not take it lightly that you assaulted me?”

  “Indeed.” Tayla said, turning to the woman. “I will personally send a message to your king about your actions, and stress the need to strengthen the bonds between our nations. We just so happened to have come into a large quantity of Krak’un meat recently, you said it was worth its weight in gold to your nobles yes? I wonder how many pounds of crab meat your life is worth to your king? I hear he isn’t really the caring kind of man.” The blood drained from the woman’s face as she realized how absolutely her life was ruined.

  The guards walked her away without another word, taking her to the Keel’s brig for the time being.

  Tayla signaled for the rest of the guests to be escorted back to the Keel, thankfully none of them had the nerve to whine about their treatment. Thoren was silent, he simply stared forward while deep in thought. Tayla had hoped to ask him what the Nightfather had whispered to him, but that could wait.

  As the guests were escorted away, Tayla turned to face her people. She raised her voice, trying to be heard by as many as she could. The Heralds in the Hall of Whispers would make sure the message made its way to the rest. “My friends, we have been blessed by the appearance of the Nightfather in the flesh!” She paused as a chorus of cheers rang out, the air seemed to shake from the combined voices of thousands. “Someone has wronged him, they have stolen an artifact of great power!” At this the crowd gasped, a moment later the shock turned to rage as screams of revenge rang out. Some even calling out for a crusade. Though after the toll of the last crusade, she was hesitant to let such an idea take seed. “The Nightfather came himself to choose his avatar, his champion. He has chosen my sibling, Fel as his hand, to go out and seek those responsible and bring them to justice!” She could see some confused looks in the crowd, but it was quickly replaced by a war cry from her people.

  It was hard to tell where it started, but a single chant began to win out over the myriad of others until it was the only word on anyone’s lips. There were no cries of scorn or malice towards Fel, it had only taken the appearance of their literal God to stop all of the stupid superstition surrounding them. No, now they called for them as the champion of the Nightfather. They cheered Fel’s new title, chosen by the people. Manus Mortis, the Hand of Death.

  Tayla heard a crack of thunder from up the hill, a flash of lightning illuminating the sky for a moment. She turned back to look but there wasn’t even a cloud in the sky, for a moment she thought it an omen.

  Her stomach dropped as she realized what that sound meant.

  ◆◆◆

  Fel ran like the wind. Normally they had to be careful not to reveal too much of their physical skills, but now that didn’t matter in the slightest. They held nothing back. They were already well on their way to the highlands in a matter of minutes, with their genetically altered constitution they should be able to keep this pace up for another eight hours before having to slow a bit to rest.

  A crash of lightning hit the ground in front of them, causing them to skid to a stop. Standing in the middle of the road was the Stormpriest Thoren, he had a grim look on his face.

  Raising an eyebrow, Fel called out to the man. “To what do I owe the honor? I’m afraid I don’t have much time for chit chat.”

  “Did you know that the study of the void tongue is still taught at the Spire’s monastery?” Thoren spoke like he was sharing a fun factoid at a pub.

  “Uh, no. I can’t say I knew that. I don’t really have time for this Thor-”

  “I couldn’t make out the whole of the conversation, but I know that you lied to Tayla.”

  Fel let the smile drop from their face. “I would choose your next words carefully Thoren, I would hate to have to carve them on your tombstone.” There was little time for this, if the need arose Fel was sure they could incapacitate the man without too much issue.

  Thoren for his part seemed to gloss over the threat of violence. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell someone so fluent in the speech of the void that words and phrases can mean any number of different things depending on numerous factors. You see, as we speak, my fellow representatives of the Court seem to believe that the Night Father said something along the lines of ‘The weapon that can snuff out the stars is within our grasp, we must retrieve it at any cost’. I tried to tell them that it sounded to me like it was saying ‘The weapon that can snuff out the very stars is no longer in our care, we must retrieve it at any cost’.” He looked at Fel with a grim pleading.

  With a sigh Fel put their hands on their hips. “Well, I can’t speak for the Spire’s curriculum, but you get a passing grade from me. As for the rest of those fools, they failed spectacularly. The truth is I can’t tell you the exact words, it would put countless lives at risk. But I can tell you that what I am doing is for the good of everyone you love and care for, and that I really need to keep going. Now, are you still going to stand in my way?”

  “No.” Thoren looked up from his deep contemplation, his eyes were determined. “I want to join you.”

  “What?” Fel blinked in shock. “Did the lack of oxygen earlier kill the brain cells in that thick skull of yours?”

  “The Night Father whispered to me earlier. He asked me to join you.”

  Fel hadn’t been able to overhear what their Father had said to the priest in private, but the fact he had chosen to speak to a mortal at all was almost unheard of. “What did he say exactly, maybe you misunderstood.”

  Thoren shifted uncomfortably for a moment.

  “You can say it in the common tongue, I can work with that.”

  That seemed to ease the man’s nerves. “I only got pieces of it. ‘You show nemesis respect, your mother’s pride, watch over my child on their journey.’”

  Fel quickly switched the words and phrases into voidspeak, trying to see if the priest had misunderstood. Indeed he had, but not in the way Fel would have preferred. “He said ‘My respected foe, make your Mother proud and keep an eye on my child. They will need you.’ Gods help me, he really did tell you to join me. Is this what you want? You might be seen as a traitor for running off with me to serve the Nightfather’s will?”

  Thoren put a hand on his holy symbol. “If this weapon can truly harm my Gods, then I owe it to them to make sure it is retrieved from the hands of those that would misuse it! The Nightfather could have simply said nothing and sat back while his arch enemies were struck down, but instead he sent you to try and retrieve it, to keep balance. I for one do not wish for another war between our Gods, there has been too much lost already.”

  The man was right, Fel couldn’t argue that having his help could prove to be invaluable. “Fine, you may join me. But I don’t see how you’ll be able to keep up on foot. Last I checked, you can’t do that little lightning trick of your’s for long.”

  With a look of pride Thoren held out a hand to his side as he chanted some spell of some sort. Fel hated listening to miracles, they were worse than arcane chants. At least with arcane chants you were saying something that sounded like magic, miracles were just telling a long winded story and hoping your God was listening at that moment and gave a damn enough to lend you a mote of power. Fel had lost focus for a moment as Thoren finished his chant and from the sky came a ball of light, landing beside the priest. The light swirled and shifted until it became the form of a horned horse.

  “Oh neat, you made a pony.” Fel said unenthused.

  This is one of the most… it’s more than just a pon-. Bah! It’s faster than a normal horse, it should be able to keep up with your ridiculous speed.”

  Laughing, Fel lowered into a starting position, preparing to sprint. “We’ll see about that.” Just as they were about to take off, the sound of an approaching horse interrupted them. “For the love of the night, what now?”

  There was a brown working horse running towards them, its head moving erratically. It came to a stop before them, awkwardly walking side to side in place. As it opened its mouth a torrent of blood flowed out.

  “Oh not this again.” Said Thoren with a tone of disbelief.

  Fel knew who it was. The question was why were they here?

  From the pool of blood emerged the bandaged form of Phi. The horse looked shaken by the whole ordeal, but didn’t flee.

  Phi spoke in their usual polite fashion. “I am glad I was able to catch up to you my liege.” He said as he bowed to Fel.

  “Weren’t you still in bed from your injuries?” Thoren said, chastising the man.

  “Yes, but as I slept I had a vision. The All Mother appeared before me and told me to join you on your mission. A holy quest for me to prove myself in her eyes!” Phi was shaking just thinking about the dream. His voice was one of wonder and awe. Tears flowed from his blind eyes.

  “Dream’s are not the realm of the Celestials- I don’t have time to explain, and frankly, I don’t care! You can tag along if you can keep up, but I do not have time for this!” With a twist of their heel Fel launched into a full sprint, leaving the two zealots behind in a cloud of dust. To their surprise, the two holy men wasted no time in following Fel. The horse of light true to Thoren’s claims could outpace any mortal horse. Phi’s stead was running like its life depended on it, its eyes white from fright. Phi seemed to be doing something to the horse to allow it to run much quicker than it had any right to, the real test would be to see if he could keep that up for the whole night.

  A priest of storms and a holy hybrid. Fel would never have expected to have such odd traveling companions. The threads of fate were being pulled from the sidelines, Fel only hoped that it was by those they could trust and not by this unseen foe that could steal from Death himself.

  ◆◆◆

  Alnur was fighting to not be drowned by thoughts and wills that were not his own. The pain was unimaginable. In his half sleep he heard Zo and Bynard talking, they were worried about him and were preparing to sedate him. As they grabbed his arm Alnur reached a hand up and grabbed the cuff of the person above him. Slurring, he begged them not to sedate him, but his words wouldn’t come out. The needle sank deep as he hyperventilated, the nightmares were bad enough, when he was sedated they were maddening. He was desperately holding on to life, his subconscious dredging up random thoughts and images in a cascade of vivid nightmares, some real, some imagined, and others belonging to those long dead. One moment he was a child running through wheat fields with his father, the next he was back on the world of Helion two, running from the aggressive native lifeforms that were trying to devour him. He looked up to see the boulder suspended above him by calcium spikes shift to reveal a jagged mouth from within the rock. It dropped towards him, he thrashed in his fitful slumber as he avoided the creature. His subconscious brought up another memory.

  This time the memory was of Alnur, standing in one of the forgotten data access chambers of the Keel. He shifted uncomfortably, trying to expel this memory again. The screen in front of him showed the logs of encrypted transmissions from the Keel to the old network. There in front of his eyes were the signs of his subterfuge. Messages to each of the Celestial Courts children, and more yet to the great clans of the Cabal and free nations. The Keel was only minutes away from powering down for Finis Messis. He stared at the logs for a long time, dread, excitement, fear, shame. So many emotions swirling around his mind.

  He remembered the series of commands that the crown had revealed to him. “Admin authorization, Lord Admiral Ebontide. Authorization code Upsilon one, Gamma six, Theta five. Purge all records of photon transmissions within the last hour. Confirm.”

  Alnur watched as the Keel scrubbed every trace of his act of treason. The die had been cast, just as the crown had pushed him to do so. Now he only had to play his part as the clueless pawn.

  His mind wandered again, he drifted between layer after layer of memory. He saw the old world from orbit, he saw the very stars consumed by the Old Ones, again and again he saw and felt the death of those that had come before him. The pain threatened to drive him insane; if he wasn’t already. Tears fell down his face, in the real world he was being carted into a surgical suite to undergo an incredibly risky procedure to save his life. He wanted to offer a prayer to whatever would listen, but recoiled from that idea, he had lived a hundred lives and seen the truth of the so-called ‘Gods’ with their eyes. Perhaps he would be remembered as a heretic, but he would do so with his eyes open.

  ◆◆◆

  Tayla dragged her feet towards her room. The past few days had drained everything she had and more. She needed sleep, hells, at this point she cared little if she ever woke up again from it. The tiredness was bone deep, it had gone from tired, to over tired, to the point of energetic, to this new level of exhaustion that felt like it would take a week of sleep to recover from.

  Opening the door to her room she walked straight towards her bed. She barely had the strength to kick her boots off. Pitch black, windowless, the walls made of steel; to others her room seemed more like a prison, but to a Twin raised in the Keel, this was comforting. She was just about to fall face first into her bed when she remembered she still had her side arms on her person. Even as tired as she was, she mustered the power to ensure she locked those up properly.

  Swaying as she walked, Tayla made her way to her desk. It was real wood, with a mirror built atop it, it was perfect for paperwork or for trying to desperately get her unruly hair in check some mornings. She reached down and opened her safe, depositing her weapons in their homes. Now she could sleep, she stood upright facing the mirror, looking at her own reflection she frowned. And now we’re all alone. She thought to herself.

  Then a voice responded in her mind that was not her own. Well, not exactly, you still have me! Tayla looked around the room in a panic, although in her head it had felt like the voice was right behind her. She whirled around. There was nothing, maybe the stress had finally broken her. She turned back to the mirror, and saw the decaying remains of Vauhn standing beside her reflection.

  Tayla’s mind broke a bit.

  To keep her safe it caused her to faint, one of the oldest defense mechanisms of the mortal mind. Vauhn’s voice was the last thing she heard as she blacked out. I can’t wait to see what fun we get up to together, bestie!

  END OF ACT 1

  Thank you so much if you've managed to read all the way here so far. I can't believe I did it, feels like a huge accomplishment to go back to what I wrote 3 years ago and clean it up to a better level.