Ellyrie reached down for her sword. Melnia, Melthaine, stayed still, a weak smile on her face. "Demon princess, yes. That is what your history called me and my siblings. I do not blame them, it is wise of the usurper to vilify those they succeeded."

She looked down at Ellyrie's blade and then back into her eyes. "Does this make me your enemy, captain?"

Ellyrie's hand was trembling, she stared down at Melthaine, ghostly pale in her face. She let go, and knelt down to pick up the supplies she had dropped. "We can talk about this later, we have people to help."

In a morbid sense, Kaya had made their work easy. With the exception of Fiona and Mellador, there were no wounded, the Sky Knights had either made it through unscathed, being out of her way, or they were dead. With fastened ropes the helped their comrades who had been thrown overboard back up, bringing their tally up to ten. Only ten had survived.

It took four of them to carry Mellador into his room, which had been spared the destruction of Kaya's attack, while Aeneya carried Fiona into their shared quarters.

When Aeneya returned to the helm, Ellyrie could barely recognise her, the shadow of their loss darkened her face. "We're lost, El. The lower decks have been wrecked so badly that it's a miracle we're still in the air. The fires below are enough to keep us flying, but we can't call for wind. And even if we could, where are we going?"

Ellyrie paused and looked to the ground. Where could they even go? "We've lost the thieves, and with how weakened we are, that is probably for the best. We should just head back, pick up Cairon and the others and inform Elias."

"We do need to get him back." Aeneya looked at the open hole in the deck and sighed. "But Elias is probably in Median by now. There's no way the Guardians haven't already infested the entire town, getting in there and out without them noticing is simply impossible. But not like it matters, since we can't even move without the wind."

Melthaine took a step forward and cleared her throat. "If it is wind that we need, I may be able to help."

Aeneya glanced over to her, rising an eyebrow. "I mean I'd appreciate the help, but we really don't have the crystals for it."

"Those are not necessary." Melthaine answered, closing her eyes. "Just have the sails adjusted, I will handle the rest.

Aeneya looked to Ellyrie for confirmation. The captain nodded, and Aeneya turned around to instruct their fellow Sky Knights to shift the sails.

"All clear for whatever it is you're planning, Mel!" Aeneya called over to her.

Melthaine took a deep breath, and rose her voice. The words were of a language Ellyrie had never heard before. They sounded across the ship with an otherworldly echo. Some of the Sky Knights drew their weapons, but did not step forward. Head´s held low they stood in silence.

Ellyrie closed her eyes, but her sight did not darken. Instead she saw bright colour, streaming from her chest and towards Melthaine, who was enwrapped in a fine web. She could see every last string of a different colour. Melthaine was still singing, but despite the foreign language, Ellyrie could now understand the meaning.

"Eastern wind, companion of my beloved sea. Heed me, Melthaine, princess of the deep blue. You are needed in this time of desperation, to aid my subjects where I cannot. Our covenant is holy, untainted by treachery and untouchable by the despicable betrayer. Shine resplendent, oh wind of mine."

Her song was answered by the winds. They picked up the "Herald", pushing it forward at greater speed than it could achieve even when feeding the fires with copious amounts of crystals.

Ellyrie was almost swept off her feet, she opened her eyes and saw a figure appearing before them. It was vaguely humanoid, shaped out of gale, without any facial features. It´s melodic voice was carried by the very winds surrounding she ship.

"Great Melthaine, how long has it been to hear your voice!" The figure bowed deeply, still speaking in the same tongue. "How can the eastern wind serve your excellence?"

"I must hurry south-west." Melthaine ignored the myriad of stunned looks she was getting. "It took us two days to reach this place from here, I wish to see us returned within one."

"Your will shall be done, your excellency." The eastern wind replied, his shape fading as quickly as it had appeared. With his disappearance life returned to the crew- and with it, fear.

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"Back to your posts, and try getting the damages least dealt with!" Aeneya turned to the Sky knights. "Our comrades are awaiting our return, and I will be damned if we have to greet them with the "Herald" looking like a wreck."

With the crowd dispersed, Aeneya turned to Melthaine, her lips a single red line. "Who, no, what are you? I know you're not human, but that, what you just did." She shook her head. "I spent five years in the east as an outrider, and not once did I see someone do what you did, nor speak that way."

'She must not know.' The words, spoken with Melthaine´s voice, echoed in Ellyrie´s head. The captain eyed over to the woman, but Melthaine ignored her, keeping her gaze on Aeneya. 'The danger is too great, I hope you can understand.'

"Yes, you wouldn't have known, because there is nobody like me you could've met." Melthaine batted her eyes who were brimming with tears. "My people used to live on the edge of the eastern Landsea before one of the rulers sought to wipe us out. My family fled towards the empire, but we ended up in chains. I am sorry, for not telling you all." She hid her face in her hands and started to sob. "I was, so afraid that you would see me as a monster."

Aeneya and Ellyrie looked at her in shock, though for very different reasons. Aeneya pulled her in for a hug. "It's alright Mel, I understand. I'm sorry, everything is just, all this chaos." She took a step back, swallowing her tears. "Thank you, you're really saving us over and over today."

Ellyrie took Melthaine´s hand. "I am going to try figuring out how to proceed from here, Neya. You take charge in the meantime."

"Understood captain." Aeneya had found her smile again and saluted as the two went down the stairs toward their quarters.

"Why are you lying to your comrades." Ellyrie kept her voice quiet, even after closing the door. "What with this fake story?"

Melthaine walked over to the closet and picked at her clothes that were now several sizes too small for her. "I did not want to lie, El." She said while undressing, causing Ellyrie to look away with a red face. "But from what I read from your history I can't risk letting someone know my true identity. Not when we are in a position of weakness like this one."

"Neya is my friend, I've known her since we were little!" Ellyrie clenched her hand to a fist. "If there is anyone on this world that I could trust it would be her."

"And what of the other knights?" Mel had picked out one of Ellyrie´s more formal dresses and underwear. "What if one heard, and his belief that I am an evil, grave idol is rooted more deeply than his loyalties to you? What if he then contacted the Guardians, or conspired with others who think like him, or he simply breaks in here at night and kills us? You never lock your door, you don't have guards."

Once more fully dressed, Melthaine began to comb her hair. It had grown along with her body and now almost reached the floor. "I am weak, and your position is not much better than mine. We cannot afford the risk."

Ellyrie had to swallow her reprisal, though she hated it, Melthaine had a point. "We should still tell her later, it is not right to keep secrets from her. I would trust her with my life."

"Yours and mine?" Melthaine sat down on the bed. "Listen, El. I cannot tell you how many bodies I have inhabited by now." She put a hand on her chest, a pained look on her face. "A hundred, a thousand, more? How many years have passed since I was stripped of my power, I have lost count. And every time I die, I am reborn somewhere else. And every time I am, I lose another memory, another bit of knowledge."

She shook her head. "And finally, finally I hold a few meagre, sparse pieces in my hands again, El. Reading your history, seeing what unspeakable monsters now roam this beautiful earth, it brought back enough. Enough for me to know that we cannot stay within this empire."

Their gazes met, and Ellyrie shuddered at the intensity of her look. "We are linked, you and I. And there is only a single place on this earth that we will both be safe from the usurper you worship as a god. We can retrieve your friend, but once we have him we must turn east, towards the sea."

"And what, lead the "Herald" to water and sail into the unknown?" Ellyrie´s body trembled at the very thought. "They say no ship can go further than a few miles from the shore before it gets swallowed by the sea or the things that lurk below, it's suicide!"

"Is that what they say?" A weak smile appeared on Melthaine´s lips as she ran a hand through her hair. "That gives me hope, hope that some things are still as they should be." She rose back to her feet. "The sea is my home, El. If we can reach it, I can take us to a place where Aeterna will never be able to reach us. She may be playing god, but you let me see her works."

Disgust and amusement both flashed across her face. "They are the works of a child playing in their parent´s atelier, painting nightmares on canvas. Once we reach the ocean, I will tell your friends my true name, but until then I ask, I beg of you, El." She folded her hands in front of her chest. "Please let this stay between us."

It was not merely her arguments, her tone or the logic behind her thoughts that made Ellyrie nod her head.

It was that she just could not say no to her eyes.

The Eastern wind had kept it´s word, and within the turn of a day the "Herald" reached Rean. They had left the city a ruin, and returned to it as a battlefield. A guardian´s Sky Ship had docked at the tower, and the bodies of Gardists and black-cloaked Guardians littered the ground.

Cairon was there to greet them, the right side of his body covered in ice, the other in blood. He ignored Ellyrie and Aeneya´s questions, the look in his eyes silencing them. "Whatever it is, it can wait." He held a letter in his left hand, fury screaming from his eyes. "They are having Elias executed in two days."