Leira refused to speak, having declared that she would not do so until she ate. She was resolute despite Gwil’s badgering.

He satisfied her demand with bread and cheese and then set to making a beef stew. As he clanged about, Gwil barraged the flower-eyed woman with questions. Reverie didn’t get many visitors, and he’d never had a guest over.

“Do you know why some people come back to life?”

“I already told you I don’t,” Leira said. “Stop rephrasing the same questions. Just count yourself lucky. Even you miserable islanders must know what awaits the dead.”

Gwil glanced at her while stirring the pot. “What? The Hells?”

Leira pulled her cheeks down to make herself look ghoulish. “The Nine Hells. Eternal damnation, eternal suffering, yada-yada. Can you wrap your tiny head around that? Endless, inescapable pain, forever. You dodged it by a hair.”

“Yeah, because of you,” Gwil said. “If that’s true, that’s pretty shitty. But it sounds like nonsense.”

She tore off some bread with her teeth and talked through a mouthful. “Forgive me for invalidating your ignorance-mired opinion, but people have journeyed there and returned. I’ve met witnesses and escapees both. The World is just that cruel.” She ran a finger through the lotus petals as she swallowed. “The Apocalypse had consequences.”

“That’s stupid,” Gwil said. He filled two bowls with stew and set them down on the table. He was starving too, and the next several minutes passed without a word as they stuffed their faces.

Gwil wiped his mouth. “So, there’s no way of knowing who could become a Hallow? Or why it happens?”

Leira picked a fleck of carrot out of her hair and flicked it away. “I bet it’s just luck.”

Gwil brandished his spoon at her. “You don’t know very much, do you?”

She pointed her own spoon back at him. “You’re the one who’s so damned curious. These aren’t little trivialities that you’re asking about. People have been killing and dying for those sorts of answers for a thousand years. No one knows these things. No one ordinary, at least.”

Gwil scraped up the last of his stew and pushed the bowl away. Leira was staring at him. He raised his eyebrows at her.

“What are you being shy for? Bring the whole pot over, eh?”

Gwil took it from the stove and set it down in front of her. Forgoing a bowl, she stood and ate from the pot with the ladle.

“What happened to your big flower?”

“See, there’s something I do know. I killed the fucking thing. It was all fat and happy because it was devouring you and I-” She cut across her throat with her thumb.

Gwil pointed at his own eye and nodded at her. “It doesn’t look done with you.”

“Don’t you worry about me,” she said with a wave. “My turn. Why were you happy about becoming Hallowed?”

Gwil grinned and smacked the tabletop. “Cause now I get to leave these islands. It’s funny. Years ago, someone warned me about this. That I might die.”

Leira leaned forward. “Really?”

Gwil nodded. “That’s why I was wondering about that stuff. The lady who raised me. Her name was Caris. This was her windmill. I’ll tell you something weird and awful…”

***

The bread knife fell from Gwil’s hand. Two dead men lay on the floor. Blood gushed from roughly sawn throats. It pooled beneath Gwil’s feet, sickly warm between his toes. He could not move.

Even as they bled, the corpses disintegrated into ash. Smoke trailed from their smoldering flesh. They wore robes woven of tiny chains. The metal was melting. Their foreheads bore matching brands—a crescent moon with an eye in its embrace.

Caris was on all fours, hacking and spasming. Blood poured from her midsection like a little waterfall.

She tried to speak, and the garbled wheeze sent a chill down Gwil’s spine. He snapped to attention, knelt beside her.

Caris grabbed his shoulders with her bony fingers. She pulled herself up, so they were face-to-face. Gwil staggered beneath her weight. Her fingernails dug into his skin.

“Stop crying and listen, child.” She drew short, sharp breaths between every word. Blood dribbled down her chin. “Stay alive, Gwil. Stay alive no matter what. Run. Hide. Live safe and quiet.” Her eyes rolled back into her skull.

She bared her teeth. Her gums were white as chalk. “If you ever become a Hallow…” A fit stole her voice.

The wound in her abdomen was so deep and dark. Drip, drip, drip, like a ticking clock.

Her head lolled and she went limp. Gwil cried out as he caught her under her arms.

The old woman made a fist and burrowed her knuckles into the wound. A jolt surged through her body.

“If you become a Hallow, go north. North to Ultima Thule. Find Ashkana. Find her.” Beseeching, desperate eyes drilled into him.

“I will,” Gwil said through tears.

She slumped again, bringing Gwil down with her. They laid together in a heap.

“Holy shit!” Leira interjected.

“Wait, that’s not all.”

Caris had stopped breathing.

“The strength of your fate killed those servants,” a voice said.

Gwil looked. A man was standing in the corner of the room. No sound or flash had marked his arrival. He had simply appeared.

“Bravo,” the man said, clapping leather-clad hands. “Those men were fierce warriors.”

He wore a suit of pale gray armor, and though it looked hewn from pure stone, it was immaculate, carved to evoke a draconic visage.

His skin was as black as onyx, his lone eye like a pearl, his hair like rubies. He had a soft, youthful face.

A knife stuck out of his other eye. Scar tissue grew around the silver blade. Its handle was made of bone.

The man threw his head back and howled with laughter. “Is it finally time? Come over here.”

Gwil didn’t move. He was frozen, staring at Caris’s vacant face. Her eyes were still open, but the blood had stopped trickling.

The man sighed. His armor clattered as he crossed the room. His footsteps shook the whole house.

His shadow fell over Gwil. Bright sunlight poured through the window. Gwil thought it strange that something like this had happened during the daytime.

Clawed fingers closed around the collar of Gwil’s shirt and ripped it down the middle. It fell to the floor, soaked up the blood.

The man knelt and touched the deep, divot-shaped scar over Gwil’s heart. “Fascinating. Look at how you cling to life. That fickle bitch usually turns her back on desperation, but she took your hand.” He laughed again. “You don’t even remember, do you?”

He stood and brushed his hands off. “I think you’ll cause an upheaval. It would be a shame to smother such excitement in the crib. Your life is yours. Do with it what you will.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

And then he was gone.

Gwil didn’t move, except to squint against the sunlight.

He heard voices outside. Familiar ones. The villagers, drawn by the commotion. The door creaked open.

***

Leira looked like she was about to burst. She rocked back and forth in her chair, smiling like a lunatic, which Gwil thought a strange response.

“Ashkana!” she yelped. “What have you got to do with her? She’s my hero!” She clamped her hand over her mouth, mortified. “My god, I killed you.”

Gwil jumped up, sending his chair skidding back. “You know her? I’ve never heard the name besides that day.”

Leira’s elation evaporated. Her normal eye twitched. “She’s literally the most infamous person in all the World. How, how, how have you never heard of her? I swear, I’d go insane if I lived on these bumfuck islands.”

“Huh? Why’s she your hero then?”

She began talking very quickly. “Because Ashkana is a hero. The whole World’s hero. The Leviathan says she’s an incarnation of Shiva or Sekhmet or whatever they feel like fear-mongering with. The Lady of the Wastes, the Unholy Traitress, the devilwoman who will bring ruin to the World! But the Leviathan is the real monster, so she must be incredible. Wait—please tell me you know what the Leviathan is.”

Gwil nodded. “Sure, I do. We have a school here. And a library. And old books and a radio. The Leviathan is the World’s ruling body.”

“I wasn’t sure if you could read,” Leira muttered. “Well, good, I would’ve walked out if you didn’t know that. Actually, I wouldn’t, because Ashkana must care about you. She’s the leader of the Vermin! The only force in all the World with the guts to stand against the Leviathan.”

“Oh man,” Gwil said. “I’m supposed to find someone like that? I didn’t even know the Leviathan was so bad.”

“They’re as evil as evil gets,” Leira said. “It’s their fault the World is so shitty. I guess there’s just no reason for them to have any presence in a worthless place like this, so you wouldn’t know.”

Leira banged the ladle against the side of the pot. “As an honorary member of the Vermin, I hereby charge myself with delivering you to Ashkana, Lady of the Wastes. Will you accompany me willingly, or do I have to bring you by force?”

Gwil waved his hands. “I’ll come. I was gonna go on my own, y’know! It was Caris’s dying wish. I have to do it.”

“Yeesh,” Leira said. “Yeah, sorry something so awful happened to you. How’d you think you managed to kill those two men?”

Gwil shrugged. “I dunno. It didn’t matter. They killed her first. I was scared, I think. I must have hesitated. I can’t ever forgive myself.”

“How old were you?” Leira asked.

“Twelve,” Gwil said.

Leira pounded her fist on the table. “You’re even dumber than I thought if you think that’s your fault at all!”

Gwil shook his head. “It can’t be fixed.”

“It did matter, though,” Leira said. “Sounds like that freaky knife guy spared you because of it. You must’ve impressed him.” She let out a long whistle. “That is crazy. So, you just stayed here even after that lady told you to run and hide?” Her eyes went to the dark stains on the wooden floor.

“Well, yeah. But I didn’t have anywhere to go. I was just a kid. And the knight said it was okay.”

“Right, but he obviously orchestrated the murder.”

“Exactly, so the danger was passed, and this was the safest place.”

Leira frowned. “I dunno if that makes sense.”

“It was true until you showed up,” Gwil pointed out. “Nothing ever happened after that day.”

Leira grimaced. “I feel bad for killing you now. I made you break your promise.”

“Don’t,” Gwil said. “It’s done. And I was sick of waiting around. I need to find Ashkana, but you know what I’ve always wanted to do?”

“What’s that?”

“I wanna see the whole entire World. Everything, all the way to the edges. Meet all kinds of people. That’s my dream.”

Leira laughed. “That’s perfect, cause Ashkana is probably really far away by now.”

“Ultima Thule,” Gwil said. “Do you know it?”

“Never heard of it. I hope it’s Ashkana’s castle. Either way, it’ll be quite the journey, because we’re in the southern hemisphere.”

“The southern what?” Gwil said.

“Some school,” she muttered. “How old are you, anyway?”

“Nineteen,” Gwil said.

“Good. I’m older by a year. That means you have to do everything I say.”

Gwil clapped his hands together. “Woo! What a relief. I always thought I’d fall down the stairs or get mauled by a jaguar or something. It’s finally over with. I’m excited!”

Leira watched him, twirling her hair around her finger. “You really seem like a bit of a dolt, though. I wonder why you’d be so important to Ashkana, but who am I to question her wisdom? Damn, I bet she’ll be hard to find, though. She’s eluded the Leviathan for three centuries.”

“What? She’s three hundred years old?”

“At least,” Leira said. “She’s amazing. I can’t wait to meet her. Can we leave today?”

“Sure,” Gwil said. “I’ve been dying to leave for my whole life.”

Leira laughed. “Good one. Hey, you’re not a wimp, are you? You’ve never left these islands?”

“No,” Gwil said. “Cause it would’ve been risky to go wandering off. But I’ve done lots of stuff. Before Caris died, we were always island hopping all throughout Alnam, trekking through the wilderness. And I’ve kept doing it since. There’s a lot of crazy things here. Beasts and stuff. She taught me all about surviving and fighting.”

“That doesn’t sound like a good way of keeping you safe,” Leira said.

Gwil shook his head. “Caris was strong. She strangled a shark with her bare hands once and then we ate it.”

“Oh. Okay,” Leira said. “Strange lady. All of this is strange, actually.”

Gwil shrugged. “Nothing happened yet. Let’s pack some stuff.”

“You’re lucky I came along, or you would’ve rotted away here.”

***

Gwil and Leira dragged two overstuffed backpacks out of the windmill. They’d scoured the place for foodstuffs, clothes, tools, and whatever else seemed useful. It didn’t take long; the windmill was sparse, and most of the stuff was crap left behind by whoever lived there before Caris. Gwil always felt like a guest.

They walked back inside to give the place a final once over.

“Any goodbyes you have to make?” Leira said.

Gwil shook his head. “Those folks’ll be glad to see me gone. I’ll leave a note.”

“Ah, I feel so much better,” Leira said with a twirl. “That cold bath did wonders. Normally I hate that, but I was so groggy.”

Gwil glanced at her as he searched for a scrap of paper. She was in a much better state. She’d scrubbed off that crusty slime, and some color had returned to her skin. She’d also picked out some clothes—a pair of chino pants that barely went past her knees, a wool shirt, and a thick canvas jacket. She’d complained about the selection but seemed to have forgotten her desire to buy a dress.

Gwil wrote:

I’m going away. Let someone who needs a place live in the windmill. Thanks, Gwil

P.S. The doubloons are for my tab with Erwin.

He folded a five-doubloon coin into the bottom of the note.

“Oo, you have money?” Leira said.

Gwil opened his coin purse, revealing a total of eighteen doubloons. “Not really. Damn, if you’d have stopped me before I went to the market, I’d have a bit more. I bought a bunch of stuff that’ll go bad, too. Wait.”

He added to the note:

P.P.S. Take all the food and whatever else. It’s all yours.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Gwil wedged the note under the knocker, gave the old, dusty windmill a last look, and closed the door behind them.

***

The road to the next island wound its way up to an overlook from where they could see the whole of Reverie village. Gwil knew he hadn’t always lived there, but he couldn’t remember anything of the time before.

Things were better when Caris was alive. They hardly ever stayed in the village, always exploring and sparring and hunting beasts. Only after she died did Gwil realize that his upbringing was unusual.

Mayor Guice had allowed Gwil to keep living in the windmill. And his wife, Margaret, even tutored Gwil for a few years. Once he was old enough, he worked with the lumberjacks so that he could buy food and stuff.

Lonely, boring, frustrating. Just running in circles. He always felt trapped, stuck between a rock and a hard place—his desire to see the World and his refusal to betray Caris’s dying wish. So, he waited and waited.

The best part was he hadn’t even died doing something stupid.

Gwil had yet to stop smiling. Finally free.

“Do you know where we’re going?” Leira asked.

He nodded. “I know Alnam like the back of my hand, but once we get to the mainland, I’ve got nothing. Have you traveled much?”

“A fair bit, yeah,” Leira said. “But I don’t know this region. I floated all the way across the sea in the flower, and I was only semi-conscious, so I don’t really know.”

Gwil took a compass out of his pocket. Its casing was tarnished and rusty. He flicked the glass to dislodge the needle.

“Maybe we could buy a big map,” Gwil said.

Leira scoffed. “World maps are illegal. It’s nearly impossible to get your hands on even a half-decent one. Lots of fakes.”

“Huh?” Gwil said.

“Isolation, stagnation. The Leviathan wants to keep everyone in the dark as much as possible.”

“But we live here,” Gwil said. “I hate that.”

“That’s the spirit,” Leira said. A swathe of clouds parted, and Leira raised her hand against the blaring sunset. “Damn, it’ll be dark soon.”

“We’ll still make it to the mainland by tomorrow evening,” Gwil said. “Reverie’s only the second island, so we’re not far out. We’ll cross the bridge to Brakker tonight and then camp. And Brakker isn’t too big, so we’ll get to its other coast by midday. Mikara is right across the strait.”

“Mikara. That’s the mainland?”

“Yeah. It’s huge, I think. But the name’s about all I know.” He grinned. “I can’t wait.”

“I’ve heard of it, but I didn’t realize that’s where I ended up,” Leira said.

They followed the dirt path into the uninhabited, wild portion of Reverie. Faint evening shadows speckled the ground. Buzzing mosquitoes came out in force.

“Hey, what sort of monsters live on these islands?” Leira asked.

“Probably nothing compared to what’s out there,” Gwil said, pointing in the direction of the mainland. “But, uh, there’s lots of spliced wildcats, big snakes, flutter-wraiths, talking axolotl, man-sized stag beetles-”

“Eee!” Leira squealed. “I hate giant bugs. Small ones, sure, but.”

“Noo,” Gwil said. “The beetles are the least dangerous of all those.”

“There were some unbelievable monsters while I was crossing the sea,” Leira said. “The lotus nearly got eaten four or five times.”

“Woah, how’d you survive?”

“Ha! That thing is so poisonous, even the giant squid died the moment it closed its beak. Lightning started blasting out of its corpse.”

“That’s cool! What were you doing out there, anyway?”

“Running,” Leira muttered. “Oh shit! We don’t have any weapons.”

“We have forks and knives,” Gwil said.

“Do you know how dangerous the World is?” Leira laughed. “We’re probably gonna die.”

Gwil laughed with her, and once they got going, they couldn’t stop. His stomach fluttered, and he felt light as a feather. His blood raced through his veins, pulsing. “This is gonna be fun.”

“I should’ve grabbed that shovel from your house,” Leira said. She clasped her hands and cackled. “Imagine, you go to fight someone, and their weapon is the shovel they’ll use to dig your grave.”

“We’ll pass a couple farms,” Gwil said. “Maybe you’ll find a pitchfork or something.”

“No, I won’t settle for anything less than a shovel.”