Chapter 2

Hollow

Hesitantly, she stepped back from the console and drew her blade from its sheath. She felt her muscles go tense and then felt silly at the reaction. This ship had fallen before she’d even been born, whatever—or whoever—had been in that pod had died of thirst and starvation long ago. But still, something about the blackness of the void caused the hair on her arms to rise.

Slowly, tendrils of darkness seeped from the pod, curling and coiling along the floor like mist, but too deliberate, too aware. Maia’s breath hitched. Her pulse hammered in her ears. Oh hells no.

Her hand shot up to her overlays, but her fingers stopped short. She was frozen, locked in place as the air around her thickened, pressing against her skin like a heavy shroud. Her mouth went dry.

Then, out of the shadow, it emerged—pale, featureless at first, until the darkness peeled back to reveal a face. Hollow eyes, black as the void. A grin stretched impossibly wide, revealing jagged rows of sharpened teeth. Maia was frozen in horror, unable to move, unable to breath, unable to think.

The creature stepped out slowly from the chamber, sleek and sinuous. Its body was not pale like its face, instead taking on the appearance of manifested shadow.

Maia’s breaths came in ragged now, her entire body tensed. She felt the grip of her blade in her hand, it was as though a veil had been lifted and she had control of her body again. She shifted into an offensive stance, blade raised towards the monstrosity.

The creature seemed to sense this and then flickered, and shifted. Its colour began to change in rainbow hues, like light catching particles of water. It shimmered like this for a moment before settling on blue. A mystical blue, almost as if it had become one with the neon blue glow panels. Its smile deepened, the sinuous form coiling in itself in the shape of a person. The creature’s new appearance did little to ease its disturbing presence.

“Stay back,” Maia warned, raising her blade. The creature rippled, a shimmer of rainbow light passing through it. Its eyes flicked to a violent red, matching Maia’s own eye colour. Then, it moved its mouth and a sound unlike anything Maia heard in her life came out. It was deep, but nothing at all like the gravelly deepness of her father’s voice. This was deep in the way that the ocean was deep, the way that night sky was deep, it was the deepness of an empty void.

“Child of Solas,” the creature’s voice had a reverb. As though many voices were contributing to the sound to form the syllables. Tendrils of blue mist wafted about the creature as it edged slightly closer to her.

“I said stay back,” Maia growled, her gaze flicking to the control room exit.

“I have seen past the farthest star, and I have gone to the edges of the cosmos,” the creature rasped, “I can see in you the desire to explore all.” Its words were drawn out as if speaking was alien practice to it. “I can take you there... if you so choose. I can give you all the things you never knew you wanted. Taste from the tallest chalice. Dine in the largest halls. All I ask in return.. Is a taste. For a chance at a life without pain... without heartache. All of this I can give you and more… Simply give to me.”

Maia tried to speak but her voice caught in her throat. It was speaking to her. And she could understand it. Her overlays weren’t even translating. The thing was speaking in Arkis.

This was something of their world, not the Verdant. Nan had told her stories of demons wreathed in shadow that fed on the souls of unwary children. Her father had always told her that demons weren’t real, and that there was plenty to be scared off in the world but ghost stories weren’t one of them.

She slowly drew her hand to her overlay and clicked the comm.

“Baba,” she breathed.

"Drain you of woes,” the creature made no move towards her, although it made a gesture like sniffing, a large sharp inhale. “Your god has turned his back on you,” it teased, “I can sense his absence. There is nothing here, only death."

“Maia, what is it?” his voice sharp with concern.

“I… I don’t know,” her voice was weak.

“I’m coming.”

“You resist,” the creature pulled up in affront, “I offer you… everything.” Its head cocked to the side.

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In the distance, in some other part of the ship, there was the grinding of metal on metal. Like an engine starting.

“I will offer you this deal once more,” the demon promised, “and then never again.” And then in a blur the creature burst into a cloud of black smoke. The blackness rose up towards the vents, faster than any normal smoke and then was gone, leaving Maia panting in the dim light of the glow panels.

“Maia, something’s moving in the ship,” Matthias’ voice crackled with urgency over the comm, “we need to leave now.”

Before she could respond, the control room door slammed open, but it wasn’t Matthias standing there. Instead, a hunched, cloaked figure loomed in the doorway, insect-like legs skittering forward across the rusted floor.

“Scuttlers!” Maia hissed into her earpiece, her pulse spiking.

The creature rose higher, its segmented legs lifting it nearly a metre off the ground. From beneath the ragged, oil-stained cloak, two enormous claws slid out, they were wrapped in bent metal, chipped and rusted from years of neglect. But sharp enough. Always sharp enough to kill.

Her breath steadied, eyes narrowing as she sized it up. No room for mistakes here. If it closed the distance, she’d be dead before she could blink.

Its face, or what passed for one, was a hollow skull-like mask, smooth and yellow-stained, with empty eye sockets that stared vacantly. The absence of features made it worse somehow—a faceless predator, its expression fixed in an eternal, cold grin. But this was the kind of monster Maia was familiar with. She’d fought scuttlers before.

The scuttler shifted, cloak billowing out like the wings of some grotesque insect, and its claws twitched as it took a step forward. Maia gripped her blade tighter, her body dropping lower into a defensive stance. The creature’s skull-like face remained expressionless, but its teeth-like mandibles twitched. It was hungry.

Come on, then.

The creature sprang at her with terrifying speed, two of its claws lashing out in a wide arc. Maia ducked under the first swipe, twisting her body to avoid the second as she slashed upward with her blade. The edge caught the scuttler’s side, cutting into the chitinous armour. It screeched, rearing back as black ichor oozed from the wound.

Got you.

But the creature wasn’t done. It lunged again, this time faster, its four arms striking out in a flurry of blows. Maia dodged and deflected as best she could, but one claw grazed her shoulder, sending a jolt of pain through her arm. She hissed, spinning to the side as the scuttler pressed its attack.

In the corner of her eye, she saw movement. Another one, moving quickly through the doorway. Shit. She barely had time to react as the second scuttler joined the fray, skittering from the shadows with the same unnatural grace.

Her heart raced. She couldn’t take on two of them. Not like this.

The second scuttler was already on her, its claws flashing in the dim light. Maia barely raised her blade in time, deflecting the first strike, but the force of the blow sent her stumbling back. The first scuttler took advantage, swiping at her legs. She jumped back just in time, but her balance wavered.

Too fast. Too many.

The creatures closed in, surrounding her. Maia’s mind raced. She couldn’t let them pin her down. She had to move—now. With a grunt, she slashed wildly at the first scuttler, creating enough space to roll between them, coming up on the other side, blade ready. But before she could catch her breath, a third one appeared, its skeletal form emerging from the darkness.

Oh, hells.

Just as the three scuttlers began circling her, she heard a familiar sound—a low hum, almost like static, but deeper, charged with energy. Her head whipped toward the source.

Matthias.

He stepped into the control room, his hand raised, fingers crackling with an eerie, pale blue light. The nearest scuttler turned, sensing the new threat. It screeched, leaping at him.

Matthias didn’t flinch. He flicked his wrist, and a pulse of energy shot out from his hand, slamming into the creature with enough force to send it flying across the room. It hit the far wall with a wet crunch and crumpled into a heap.

Maia’s mouth dropped open. She’d seen him use his scrav powers before, but never like that.

Before the other two could react, Matthias was already moving. With a snarl, he thrust both hands forward, sending a crackling wave of energy through the air. The second scuttler didn’t even have time to scream. The force hit it full-on, disintegrating its cloak and sending shards of chitin flying across the room.

The third scuttler hesitated, its body twitching as it assessed the situation. That hesitation was all Matthias needed. He strode forward, his face hard, eyes burning with an unnatural light. He extended his hand, and the creature’s body convulsed, trapped in the grip of his power. With a flick of his fingers, Matthias twisted the air around the scuttler, and it crumpled like a discarded rag, falling limp to the floor.

Maia stood there, chest heaving, staring at the remains of the creatures. She swallowed, half in awe, half in frustration. He made it look so damn easy.

Matthias turned toward her, eyes narrowing. “You know, I thought I said ‘don’t be reckless.’” His voice was calm, but there was an edge to it.

“I wasn’t—”

“You were. You should’ve called me the second you saw them,” he cut her off, stepping closer. “You’re not invincible, Maia. You can’t just wade into a fight with three scuttlers and expect to walk away.”

Her jaw tightened. “I had it under control.”

He raised an eyebrow, glancing at the black ichor dripping from her blade. “Really? Looked more like they had you under control.”

She bristled, gripping her blade tighter. “I don’t need you saving me every time.”

“Your life is too important to risk foolishly,” he grumbled, stalking out of the room. Her own temper flared at that.

She never asked for her Fatebond.