”I will give them that.“ Higgins muttered. ”At their level, I’d rather dance with a Kraken than brave the darkness against those Nightmares?“
We stood at the side, watching our men battle the next Nightmare I had lured into the light. With Simue gone I was the only one to reliably and safely bait them. My nights grew longer and longer, the more time passed with me in Ravenport.
”Seriously?“ I raised an eyebrow at Higgins. ”Give me endless darkness over the unknown terrors of the deep any day.“
Higgins shrugged, smiling. ”For me, as I was a young man, I only truly felt calm in the cold embrace of the endless silence. I do not fear her. Your mountains though, and what lurks within? There is no telling what kind of icky things crawl in the dark rifts and corners.“
”Well. That is reasonable. And I would have felt the same, not so far back. But I have no more fear to give when it comes to darkness. There is just nothing left. The ocean, well...I will conquer that fear, too.“
Higgins laughed. ”Aye, just treat her right, the fickle mistress. Respect her. And she will bring you wonders and adventure. At least that is what my old steward used to say.“
I knew where this was going. ”What happened to him?“
”Gone overboard in a storm. Never saw him again.“ Higgins grinned from ear to ear.
”You are predictable.” I snorted.
”Spend enough time with sailors and the sea-loving sort of men, and you too will learn to spin the tales like they are supposed to.“
”And how is that?“
”Colorful, dramatic, predictable and so far removed from any truth, you might as well make it up.“
[Hannibal! You have received one more EP through prayer! Someone is praying right now! -L]
The cold light of Lily’s text interrupted the little banter I had with Higgins, as I frowned deeply when I read the message.
”What happened?“ Higgins asked warily.
”Nothing dire, just something I have to take care of.“ I clapped his shoulder. ”Watch the fights for me, will you? No deaths tonight!“
Higgins nodded and moved closer to the fights, with his peg leg he would be too slow otherwise. Meanwhile, I pushed myself to the people crowding outside of the entrances, which were here to watch their guard fight, and entered the labyrinth that was the interior of the Wreckage.
It was disorienting under the best of circumstances, but how was I to find a needle in a haystack such as this?
”Can you give me any directions, Lily? Anything?“
A moment passed, then: [Not really. This is well above my area of expertise. I do not have any information on the things belonging more to the true god territory. Such as this. Twice-Born are not supposed to be prayed to. Can you feel anything?]
I stopped a moment on the rope ladder I currently was climbing and shut my eyes. The background noise of the waterfall, the wind in the masts and rigging of the ships, the croaking of the old wood on the waves...
Was there a tugging there? An itch waiting to be scratched? Or was that nothing but my imagination, or my exhausted body playing tricks on me?
It did not matter, I had no better idea anyway. I jumped back down, landing lightly on the planks below. This jump alone would have hurt, just a month ago. I understood the reactions of the audience of my fight. I too was a little bit frightened by the unnatural capabilities of my Core Skill enhanced body.
The tugging seemed to come from below. It reminded me of the song of the Wyld, seconds after I had put on the Dragonamber amulet for the first time. The song reverberated through me still, silenced but well remembered. That was what I was feeling now. The memory, the deafening silence after the last note had been played.
I reached ground level again, and swung down the first hatch I found, slowing my steps and moving silently once again. I was near or below the surface of the ocean now, and that feeling only got stronger. An itch I could not scratch. Dissonance in the silence.
Even down here, the people made sure to light the lamps, lest anyone got surprised by a Nightmare. There was no physical possibility for them to get here without crossing a few lit areas, and yet...the Nightmares defied any logic. Where did they come from? Why did they not leave any tracks? We had to be sure.
But there were ships we had not bothered with. Because the Wreckage was not only swimming above the water. A couple of ships had been pressed down under the enormous weight of the others, down under the sea, broken and flooded.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
And I got drawn out there, to the sunken wrecks, deep under the Wreckage. Suddenly the feeling left me, and his sudden absence proved his existence more than anything could have. I peeked around the corner of a broken hull into the open hold of another ship that, on tilting planks, was half-filled with water. The half of the hold that was still above the surface held a little shrine.
Candles had been lit and on the wood of the wall were, painted in coal, the rough, stylized image of a raven. My shrine. I froze.
Until I heard a splash, just a little one. I whirled around and saw the straw blonde head of a boy or young man disappear under the barely disturbed, pitch-black surface of the water.
”Spirits, what...“ I said, watching the ripples of the water, expecting...something to happen. Until I realized: He was not coming back.
I ran forward, diving head-first into the cold darkness, activating [Hold Breath] and [Eyes to Pierce the Darkness] as I ran. He had not gone far. The water was not too deep, and led to a jagged hole in the hull, leading father down in ever darker, ever deeper parts of sunken ships. If you thought the Wreckage above was a labyrinth, you would be truly enlightened how confusing sunken ships smashed together can be. As I learned now.
I saw the boy, disappearing in that first hole, not swimming headfirst, but...being dragged by his feet.
I was not a good swimmer.
But I gave everything I had. The sensation of not having to hold my breath was distracting at first but took away the unease of the constant reminder that time was running out on me. It allowed me to concentrate on swimming faster.
My armor dragged me down, but I was strong enough to keep on going anyway. I reached the hole and pushed myself through it, using strength, where my skill in swimming failed me. I shot through the water, reached the head of the boy, embraced him, and held.
Something even darker than the surrounding darkness, something large for the cramped spaces below moved, impossibly quick, and was gone before I could get a glance of more than its size.
Suddenly the boy moved. Thrashing and kicking, eyes wide open and screaming. Muted sound danced through the waters on a cloud of bubbles, as I desperately tried to drag the boy back to the tilted hold. Zero tried to help, but he was hindered underwater, as he could not lash out with his usual force and speed, but he did help to pull us onward.
In the end, Zero wrapped around the boy and restrained him, which made dragging him much easier.
I had the desire to cough and breathe, and yet, as I opened my mouth, nothing came. My Skill had made all of that obsolete. I ended it and took a proper breath.
The boy though rolled on the ground, spitting water, as Zero tried to untangle himself from him. I was not quite sure what to do confronted with someone who was coughing up water, so I sat him up and made sure he could get everything out. The boy vomited brackish, dark water.
Then he looked up to me, halfway to his senses again.
”You came! You really came!“ There was wonder in his eyes and gratitude, as he stared at me like something that should not be here, but was.
”I did.“ I said, helping him up. ”Can you tell me what happened?“
”I...I can. Or I can‘t. No one believes me.“ He looked to the ground, wet strands of hair glued to his face.
”I will not mock you, speak freely. But speak you must.“
He shuddered under either the cold or the remembrance of what had happened, and I threw my cloak over his shoulders, guiding him to the brighter lit areas, away from the water and the shrine, the latter being to my benefit only.
”It started the day the ships got attacked.“ The boy mumbled, sitting now under the warm light of a lantern. ”I asked around, but no one was hearing what I was hearing.“
I settled down across from him, looking at him with earnest concern. That boy had either entered the waters willingly or had been dragged. I owed him to listen properly.
”What did you hear?“
”A song. Strange and sad. Maybe it was not even a song. But...but I could not forget it. The days were busy and there was not much to do for me, I wanted to help, but...“He looked down.
He could not have been more than thirteen or fourteen years of age. Sure, he could help. But there were only so many things he could help with.
”What is your name, boy?“
”Samson, my lord. Raven. Lord Raven...“ He stammered.
”We are among ourselves. Call me Hannibal. All my friends do.“
His eyes shot up, positively shocked. His next words were hard to find, as he took a while to get them out.
”Ever since...they were...I was alone. People were friendly, but they had their own problems.“ He said bravely. ”And then the song. I heard It. Just me. I was special.“
”What did you do?“
”I came down here. Where I could hear the song the loudest. It was so...nice. To sit and listen. To forget. Just for a little while. It was sad, though. I don‘t know, but I think...whoever sang this song had lost someone, too. And we shared that.“
”What then? Do you remember anything?“
He nodded, as he wiped away a little water from under his nose. ”The song was sad but ...nice. But suddenly it turned...wild. Frantic. It was scary and loud. But the louder it got...I just had to come here. To listen.“
”Did you paint the raven on the wall? And brought the candles?“
He nodded, clearly embarrassed. ”My mum used to teach me how to ask for help. But the others told me that the gods could not hear us anymore. I...needed help. Mum always said I should ask for help when I am in trouble.“
I nodded. ”Are you? In trouble?“
”I don‘t know. I think...the song was a warning. It wanted me to come. So that I could be protected. But...it was scary. And I knew it was wrong to go with it. So I drew the raven on the wall. No one else listened.“
„You needed to be protected? Protected from what?“
”Today the song was different. I had to come. Just like when mum got really serious and I had to stop playing and start doing my chores. I walked into the water. The song was urgent. Time had run out. I knew it was wrong, but I just had to go. Then the song changed again. I heard pain...and fighting. And suddenly it ended. And something else came out of the water.“
”Something else?“
”I don‘t know.“ Samson began crying. ”I don‘t understand. But whatever grabbed me had nothing to do with the song. I...I think...It was the thing I should have been protected from, but...is the song dead? Mum is dead and dad and Josie and now...“ He began sobbing louder, burying his face in his hands.
I grabbed his shoulder, hard. ”You are strong, Samson. And you did the right thing today. Is there anyone you can go to?“
He nodded, teary-eyed. ”I sleep with the workers. [Cook] Aenne looks after me.“
”Come, let us find them. Let us tell them they should listen to you in the future.“