The house was quiet, other than the sound of the storm outside. Hew opened the door a crack and looked out into the gloomy hall before stepping out into it. Faith followed, closing the door gently behind them. She didn’t know if Umbris already knew they were there, but she didn’t want to tip him off to their presence if he didn’t. At least they already knew where the stone was.

The floor creaked beneath their feet the closer they got to the attic stairs. The door up ahead on the left opened, water rushing straight toward them. Hew pushed Faith to the side of the hall, the water hitting him straight on and throwing him to the floor. He got to his feet quickly. White spread through his hair from the roots. Small blueish scales came through his skin, and his eyes turned light blue. The water rose up along the wall behind Hew.

“Go! I’ll hold him off!” Hew said.

Faith ran toward the attic stairs. The stairs creaked loudly with every step, but it didn’t matter now. She was breathing hard when she reached the top of the stairs, but there wasn’t time to stop and rest. She tried the knob of the bathroom door, but it was locked again. The key was barely visible at the top edge of the doorframe, too high for her. Faith jumped, her fingers brushing against the cold metal. Almost…

She jumped again, nicking the key just enough for it to fall. She picked it up quickly and unlocked the door. The old tub was still full of water, with the darkly shimmering stone resting at the bottom. Faith reached in and grabbed the stone, having a bad feeling when she touched it. She shoved the stone into her pocket and headed for the stairs back down to the second floor hall. When she reached the end, she didn’t see Hew.

The hall was full of water. The water lapped at the bottom two steps, getting higher by the moment. That water was Umbris. She couldn’t just run through it. Faith ran back up the attic stairs, her every muscle protesting. The attic window was encrusted with dirt and dust. She unlocked it and pushed up, but nothing happened. The window was stuck. A quiet laugh behind her drew her attention back to the stairs. The water had reached the top of the stairs.

Umbris was approaching slowly, the water creeping across the floor. He knew he had her cornered. Faith pulled against the window harder, as hard as she could. The window came free with a crunching, wrenching sound. It slid upward. Faith climbed out onto the broken shingles of the roof, turning just in time to see the water that was Umbris rushing at her. She brought the window down hard.

The water sloshed against the window, searching for any crack to slip through. Faith didn’t stick around to see if Umbris could get through. Rain poured down just as before, making the already treacherous roof slick. She moved to the edge carefully, staying low. She peered over the edge and saw Hew standing below, looking up at her.

“There’s a drainpipe to your left!” Hew called up.

Faith followed the rusted gutter to the even more rusted pipe. It didn’t look as sturdy as the one they’d climbed before. A glance back at the window told her there was little choice. Umbris was seeping through the cracks around the window. Faith climbed down onto the drainpipe carefully. It creaked loudly, but it stayed attached to the house for the moment.

The pipe creaked and squeaked louder the further she climbed down. The decayed bolts and screws pulled free of the house with a wrenching sound far louder than the attic window had made. The upper part of the pipe swung away from the house, taking Faith with it. The pipe snapped off from the rest of it, sending her plummeting toward the ground.

Faith’s feet hit the ground much sooner than she’d thought they would. She rolled, the pipe barely missing her when it hit the ground. Hew helped her to her feet. He still had white hair and scales.

“The stone?” Hew asked.

Faith nodded.

Hew breathed out. “Good. I couldn’t hold him off for long. I thought he might have gotten to the attic before you could get the stone.”

“He was almost out onto the roof,” Faith said, glancing back up.

The rain was coming down even harder now, but Faith was already so soaked it didn’t matter. Lightning flashed and thunder shook the ground. Someone was standing at the edge of the roof, just outside the attic window. Umbris had taken the shape of Westby again. Faith couldn’t see his expression from where she stood, not with how dark the sky was getting.

“We have to get to the boat,” Hew said.

The two of them ran back through the forest, down to the dock. Waves tossed in the dock, but the boat was intact and not flooded. Hew untied the boat quickly. They rowed away from the island. No matter how quickly they left the island behind, they wouldn’t leave Umbris behind. He could already be back in the sea around them.

“How far out to sea do we have to be?” Faith asked, her voice almost lost behind another rumble of thunder.

“This should be far enough,” Hew said.

The island was barely still in sight behind them. This was it. Vallen wasn’t there, and they certainly wouldn’t have Aellis’s help with this. They still needed the blood of a wyvern. Faith knew what she had to do. She desperately didn’t want to, but there seemed to be no other way. The waves around them were getting more violent, tossing the boat around.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Hew was staring at Faith, as though knowing what she had decided. “We can find Vallen.” He didn’t sound certain.

“There isn’t time,” Faith said. “Do you think Aellis can wake the wyvern blood from a distance?”

“If he could, he would have by now,” Hew said, frowning. “Though it might make a difference if you’re willing.” He shook his head. “You know what this will mean?”

“I know,” Faith said, her words almost lost in the storm again.

“I might be able to bring you back from it,” Hew said, “but there’s no guarantee it will work.”

“I know there might not be a way back,” Faith said, “but I have to do this.”

Hew sighed, then he nodded.

“Aellis showed me nightmares before,” Faith said. “Maybe I can reach him if I try.”

Water tossed against the boat. Faith heard a scratching beneath them. Was it Riley? Or was it Umbris? Faith closed her eyes, trying to block out the panic and uncertainty. They had gotten this far. Only one more thing, then they could open the abyss. Keeping Umbris from escaping the abyss before it closed was another matter. She had to focus on opening the way first.

“Aellis,” Faith thought, focusing hard on the wyvern as she had last seen him, in the forest around Billen. “I need you to wake your blood.”

The feel of the rain on her face vanished, along with the sound of the storm. Faith opened her eyes to water all around her. At first she panicked, but then she realized she didn’t feel the water and could breathe. Aellis was swimming around her, only a blur of red before he slowed, coiling around her. She felt something warm inside of her, getting warmer until it was an almost uncomfortable heat.

Suddenly the rain on her face and the storm were back. She opened her eyes just as the boat rocked violently. A huge wave loomed over them, then crashed down on the boat. The wood shattered, sending Faith and Hew into the water. The water wasn’t as cold as it seemed it should be, not with the heat inside of her. Hew took her hand and swam down, further from the storm tossed surface.

At first Faith held her breath, her lungs burning, then air that hadn’t been there before filled her lungs. Aellis had succeeded. Hew took the sheathed dagger from the pocket of his coat, unsheathing it. Faith took the stone from her pocket. Water pulled Hew away from her sharply, leaving behind the dagger. Faith grabbed the dagger. Hands grabbed her shoulders from behind, trying to drag her down deeper. The hands, Riley’s hands, still had blueish scales on them.

She had to do this quickly. Faith couldn’t see Hew in the darkness of the water, and neither could she see Umbris. She cut the palm of her hand, a cloud of red spreading in the water around her. The salty water stung. Faith grasped the stone with her bloodied hand. She reached back with the knife and slid it under a scale on Riley’s hand. He pulled away sharply, but there was blood in the water. Faith tossed the stone into the cloud of blood.

The water seemed to shake, the vibration radiating from somewhere below them. A deep darkness, deeper than what had been there before, yawned open right below them. The water rushed toward the abyss like a stopper had been pulled out of a bathtub. The current of the water pulled Faith and Riley straight into the abyss.

The darkness wrapped around Faith, the water getting warmer. The abyss wasn’t like the ocean. It was like floating in an expanse of nothing, a void. But that darkness wasn’t empty, it just swallowed all light. There was something out there, watching. Faith could see Riley not far off, looking around them with panic in his eyes. Then the panic was gone, his eyes distant again. Was Umbris in there with them?

Something swam up next to Faith, causing her to tense all over. It was just Hew. The water past him looked strange, as though it had a shape. Faith didn’t see much of it before it darted upward. She hadn’t looked up before. There was a faint light up there. Was that the way out?

“Umbris,” Hew said, the vibration of the word barely audible through the water.

Riley swam after Umbris, but Hew darted forward and grabbed him. The two struggled, then they stopped. The distant look had left Riley’s eyes again. It didn’t come back. The three of them swam toward the faint light above, but it was getting dimmer. Was the way going to close with them inside the abyss? Umbris had already escaped. They had failed.

The light above seemed to rush in, then they were floating back in the sea. Faith looked down and couldn’t see the abyss. It had already closed. The three of them swam to the surface, none of them gasping for air when they breached the surface. Faith felt water moving through something on the back of her neck that wasn’t hair. She already had feathers on the back of her neck. She didn’t reach back to see how many. Had allowing Aellis to awaken his blood in her been for nothing? She couldn’t bear to think about that just yet.

Riley pulled her close in the water. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“I know,” Faith said. “It was Umbris.”

“As touching as this is, we can’t stay here,” Hew said. “Umbris escaped, he could be anywhere in the water. We should get to land, where we’ll see him coming.”

The three of them swam toward the island. They had no boat. How would they get back to Billen? What would they do about Umbris? The island seemed much too far away. The water pulled against Faith, resisting forward movements, but no more than it should. Where was Umbris? At last they reached the shore, not far from the dock.

“We can’t just send Umbris back to sleep,” Hew said. “The abyss is closed, and the stone and dagger are gone.”

The dagger was somewhere in the sea, along with the stone. Unless they’d both been pulled into the abyss.

“There has to be another way, a way to defeat him,” Riley said. “There was a way to defeat Quivis.”

“We may have you back from his will for now, but as soon as he’s close again, he might take you,” Hew said. “Until you have control of what you are, he can control you.”

Riley frowned hard, looking away.

A flash of red to the right caught Faith’s attention. Vallen landed not far off, staring at her with amber eyes.