I ran in a daze, hardly able to truly comprehend what was going on around me.

A god. One that I had never heard of, yet still… a god. A being of prayer, reverence and power had come to my rescue. To my sister’s rescue. Through no clear benefit to him or his worship, he had deigned not only to save me but also every soul that I had been imprisoned alongside. He had come and brought with him what must have been his champions. They had been nothing short of magnificent. With every element conceivable at their disposal, these heroes had cleaved through the pirate crews and sent them fleeing back to their ships.

But they weren’t content to let them slink back into the seas, where they could lick their wounds and continue their piracy. No, they would not allow a single vessel to slip into the night.

The three at the front were glorious. The towering, bald, flame-wielding man of giant’s blood cleaved through every pirate who he caught up to. The steel-skinned witch let loose blasts of silvery light that froze their targets in place. Her followers cut them down with fire and force moments later, hurtling burning chunks against the cavern wall. Some pirates rallied under a towering brute layered in guns, but the mechanical knight slammed his hammers into the ground, causing the earth to open up and swallow that mote of defiance.

The rest were holding together, not engaging, but moving together to ensure that one pursued us. Evidently, one of the leaders of this did not approve of this strategy. Cursing, a woman with a winged helm stormed away from the group.

And began calling my name.

“Sune!” she barked. “Sune Elgar!”

“Here!” I responded, still in a star-struck daze.

She strode towards me, the crowd of now former slaves parting to make way. She tilted her head to look up at my eyes, something furious in them. Had I been more centred on the moment, I likely would have felt afraid of her.

“He told me to give you this,” she said, planting her spear in the ground so that she could pull out a translucent, white orb. “Said for you to crush it in your hand, and that you would know what to do next.”

I took it in my grasp, choosing to utterly adhere to the words of one… of my god’s champions. I crushed it, the orb breaking easily under my strength.

There was a sudden flash of white, blinding me to all else. There were sounds of metal ringing on metal as I felt myself being encased in something heavy. More than that, something hard and smooth had adhered to my stump. Something weight clasped itself around my waist, causing reinvigorating energy to surge through me. Suddenly, I felt strong enough to rip ships apart with my bare hands. Such was the almost ecstatic burst of might that I only dimly felt the weight now resting at my hip.

As the light faded, I opened my eyes, only to find my vision both dimmed and incredibly enhanced. A helm had been placed upon me, somewhat marring what I could see. Yet when I focussed through the sockets… I could see more clearly than I ever had before. I could discern insects crawling through cracks in the cave wall, where before I could only see darkness. I could see the exact details on the clothing of the fleeing pirates.

And I could see the naked contempt on the woman’s face. But her regard wasn’t for me, it was for what was on my hip.

Curious, I reached down with my talon-tipped artificial and swiftly drew the longsword that had been gifted to me. It was a beautiful weapon, worth more than all the gold I had ever collected in my life. The blade itself was silvery, almost perfectly reflective. The crossguard was straight and emblazoned with a blue and golden griffon, its wings spread wide. But as I continued to examine the wondrous gift, my attention was turned to the fact that I was holding the weapon at all.

My arm.

The god had given me a new arm.

It was a metallic, beautiful ornate work of craftsmanship. The core of the prosthetic was a spiralling, silvery-grey metal that ended in a perfectly sized hand. It was armoured and adorned in intricately patterned plates, feather patterns carved into the metal. The fingers were capped in retractable talons, that I realized I could move with the same effort it took to walk. It wasn’t the same as the flesh and blood arm that had been taken from me… but for now, it would do.

I could fight now.

I could fight.

Murderous fury overtook me, turning my hawk-like vision red.

Aethos…

“Oh, don’t you dare,” the woman warned. “You may have his old armour, but there is no way I’m going to be chasing you down like I did for-”

I was already gone.

The armour did more than protect me and enhance my vision, it also made me incredibly fast. I nearly tripped on the first dash. I recovered quickly, trusting in my instincts to carry me the rest of the way. Like a bullet I shot through the caves, easily navigating them now that I could both see and move unburdened by chains. I passed by the god’s champions, bounding forwards through the fleeing pirate crews until I emerged back into the cleaved open jungle.

And saw her.

She was running down the open path, fleeing with what few remnants of her crew had survived the ambush. If she made it to the Stalker, there was no telling how long it would take for someone to catch her. She was a patient bitch. She wouldn’t draw attention to herself, but would repair, rebuild and recruit before ravaging shores so distant that not a soul living on them had even heard of her. To her pursuers, she would become a bad memory, easily forgotten. She was clever enough for it, that was certain. There were so many more notable pirate lords here that she could easily hide in their shadows and survive into a future absent of her rivals.

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No fucking chance.

Heedless of the dozens of other pirates scrambling through the jungle, I darted straight for her.

“Aethos!” I roared, raising the griffin blade.

Reacting with lightning speed, Ophilia Aethos managed to duck underneath my swing, my new sword only severing a single lock of her hair. Even as I turned she already had two pistols drawn. She fired twice, the bullets striking me directly in the chest. Though the bullets bounced off the armour, the force carried by the projectiles still sent me stumbling backwards. The moment the shots had gone off, she had tossed her empty guns to the ground and drawn her second pair. She fired again just as I was recovering my balance, her shots slammed into me again, knocking me off my feet and right onto my back.

A heartbeat later she was above me, one of her cutlasses held in both hands. She brought it downwards, the tip of the weapon aimed at a chink in the armour directly towards my throat. With pure reflex I brought my arm up to shield myself, my heart panicking at the idea of her weapon taking my limb. But her cutlass glanced off the prosthetic and pierced down into the earth to the right of my head.

Moving as fast as I could, I kicked her off me and surged back to my feet. By the time I rose back into my stance, Aethos had already regained her balance, unleashing a whirlwind of attacks, her cutlasses lashing out like a scorpion’s tail. I mustered as much of a defense as I could, but in the end, only the armour truly kept me alive, causing her weapons to bounce off the silvery grey plate. Trusting in this divine gift, I pressed a counterattack, heedless of my own safety. I brought my blade down in an overhand strike, terribly obvious and predictable, and her instincts caused her to raise her weapons in a cross to block the blow.

My blade sliced cleanly through both of hers, splitting each of her weapons into two pieces. The gifted sword then continued its strike, down past her shocked expression to slash open her stomach. Before she could pull back, I brought the blade up again and thrust it directly through her stomach.

“How does it feel, you predatory bitch?” I snarled, seizing the back of her hair and pulling her in close. “How does it feel to finally get what you deserve?”

She coughed, dark blood pouring from her lips. Yet, unnervingly, she didn’t seem to be showing any fear. In fact, she smiled.

Revealing two perfectly pale fangs spearing out from gums.

“I’m a long way off from that, sweet Sune,” she purred, her eyes turning dark crimson. “And if there is a Judge, you won’t be sending me to him.”

She lunged forwards, her features turning feral, hands reaching out to seize me in a vice grip. If it wasn’t for my newfound strength, I wouldn’t have been able to fend her off. As things stood, I was able to push my way free of the vampire, but the sword remained embedded in her guts as I broke free,

With a smile painted red with her own blood, Aethos pulled the weapon free, triumph alight in her hungry gaze. But the moment both hands closed on the sword, the weapon shone with pale blue light, and she dropped the weapon with a serpentine hiss. Steam coiled from her burnt hands, and she stepped away from it like she was expecting it to bite her. I wanted to dash for the sword, to reclaim it and finish the job, though I had no idea how. Was I supposed to cut off her head? Ram the thing through her heart? Make her choke on garlic? This was a creature of nightmares, and I had no way of knowing if I even could beat her.

Thankfully, my dilemma was resolved, as a towering figure split Aethos in two with a flaming axe.

Her melting flesh poured out onto the ground, her heart still beating. The giant crushed it underfoot, rubbing his heel into the organ until it exploded with a disturbingly satisfying pop.

“Th-thank you,” I managed, rising to my feet.

The bald man punched me in the face, knocking me right back on my ass.

“You idiot!” he roared, his thunderous voice reverberating through my helm. “You were supposed to lead the prisoners! You were told to do so!”

Blinking stars out of my eyes, I stumbled back to my feet, but the giant kept pressing.

“He gave you his armour,” he snapped, pushing me backwards. “He gave you his family sword!” The giant shoved me again, and I only barely kept my footing this time. “We were making damned good progress slaughtering those bastards, but you just had to run down this one bitch. Who do you even think you are?”

To answer his own question, he ripped off my helm, exposing what was likely my throbbing bruise.

He paused, blinking. “You’re just a boy.”

I scowled up at him, the pitying remarking stinging worse than the punch. “I’m two winters past manhood.”

He shook his head. “A boy. A child.” He sighed. “Get back into the centre, Sune. We’re almost done here. This is not a battle for green swords.”

The woman who had given me the sphere stalked up beside the giant, her features seemingly set in a perpetual scowl. “We’re routing them, Uherion. Less than half of what started in the cavern will even make it to the port. Diantha, Frodan and Yrsa are preparing to rip the ships apart. No one will escape.”

The giant, Uherion, nodded. “Good. Let’s finish this.”

Suddenly, I fell to my knees, my heart hammering. I saw visions of darkness, of something rising beneath the island. I saw through his eyes and knew with stark clarity what he was feeling. His terror ran through me, slithering through my veins. He was a god, a man ascended into the oververse. He had come to my rescue, shattering the crews of some of the most dangerous and vile pirates in less than an hour. But he was horrified.

“He’s in danger,” I said, feeling panic shaking my voice.

“What?” snapped the woman, seizing me by the gorget and lifting me to my feet. “What did you say?”

“He’s afraid,” I said, my vision fading into black, a wall of eyes staring back at me. “There’s something here, something beneath the island. And he think its going to kill him.”

Uherion traded a look with the woman who was manhandling me.

I was dropped unceremoniously on the ground, dimly watching as the pair took their followers and raced back into the heart of darkness.

Tears streamed down my eyes as guilt pounded in my heart. I had failed my charge. I had let all my anger overcome what was my divinely given mandate. Was I now damned? I had ignored the commands of a god who had saved me, despite no prior form of worship. Would I be lost forever in the worlds below, condemned to wander because I had been selfish?

What would Eir think of me?

My fists closed. No, I would not lie here in self-pity. The other champions had this handled without my interference. But my god? My god was in danger. He had given me his armaments. I had to prove worthy of his faith so that I could go home proud. I could go home as more than just the brother who had left his baby sister alone in the world.

I rose to my feet, put the helm back on, grabbed the sword and rushed into the silent dark.