Faith and Vallen ran toward the docks. Faith glanced back and Hew and Riley were fighting. Vallen put an arm around Faith’s shoulder and jumped, pulling both of them into the sea. They swam to the silty sea floor at the end of the docks. Altunei stood not far off, a hand pressed to his bleeding side. He looked both furious and exhausted.
“You won’t stop Quivis from waking up,” Altunei said. “Nothing will.” His voice was a little muffled in the water, but Faith could hear his words clearly.
“We’ll have time to prepare, to come up with a plan,” Vallen said, but he didn’t look convinced.
Altunei looked away. “We had a plan and look where it got us.” He looked at Vallen. “Sky and Sea had a plan and look what it did to you. Your plan will fail and you know it, just like every other plan against Quivis there’s been.”
“This time we know what doesn’t work,” Faith said. Water rushed into her mouth, but the warmth inside of her held it at bay.
Altunei laughed, the sound muffled underwater. “You’ve fallen victim to the same failed plan as Vallen. At least you won’t be alone when Quivis kills you both.” Water gathered around him, becoming darker. Tentacles reached toward Faith and Vallen.
Vallen drew his sword, cutting through a tentacle. Faith drew her sword and cut through another, then another. They fought their way closer to Altunei. A tentacle grabbed Vallen from behind, pulling him further away. Faith reached Altunei and pushed against the sword as hard as she could, driving the blade in between his ribs. Altunei seemed to inhale, then he smiled. Faith pulled the sword back.
A tentacle wrapped around her from behind and threw her. She smacked into the dock support behind her. The water had slowed her enough that the blow wasn’t hard enough to break any bones, just to bruise her. Faith dropped to the silty rocks and stood.
“His heart isn’t where it was,” Vallen said, cutting through another tentacle.
“You won’t be finding it,” Altunei said.
More tentacles came through the water toward Faith and Vallen. The two stood together, cutting through them. The tentacles came fast, seeming endless. They were the water, they were endless. Vallen ducked under a tentacle, then cut through another. More came at Faith, blocking her path. She barely cut through the first of them before more came. Vallen reached Altunei and drove his sword into him, below his ribs. Altunei frowned, his certainty twisting into pain. The tentacles became nothing more than water.
Riley broke through the surface above, as though he’d been thrown in. The scales were gone, and his hair wasn’t white. He swam back toward the surface. Vallen pulled his sword from Altunei. Altunei dropped to his knees, his head tilting forward. He didn’t move, but neither did he collapse into darkness. Vallen looked away, his expression almost the same as Altunei’s had been the moment before. He sheathed his sword.
Faith and Vallen swam back up to the docks. Riley was the only one there. The blue mark was gone from his neck. The rain had stopped, the dark clouds pulling away to reveal the stars and the bright moon.
“Hew escaped,” Riley said. “His mark was gone.”
“So is yours,” Faith said.
Riley looked at Vallen. “Then Altunei…”
Vallen nodded, his expression hard to read. “He’s gone.”
Faith hesitated. “How did you know where his heart was?”
Vallen smiled. A sad smile. “I didn’t.” He looked at Riley. “I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Hew.”
Riley shook his head. “He’ll go to Quivis. Suzie wasn’t with him.”
“We’ll get her back from Quivis’s will only when Quivis is stopped,” Vallen said. “At least we’ll have a little time to prepare, though I don’t know how long.” He frowned. “Perhaps not long at all.” He glanced at Faith. “We’ll find the wyvern after. I think I know where he is.”
“Is there time to find him first?” Riley asked.
Vallen frowned. “I don’t know.” He looked at Faith. “I think we’ll need you how you are to fight Quivis, but I don’t know what that will mean for you if you wait to undo what’s happening.”
Faith thought about this, but there wasn’t much to think about. Stopping Quivis was the only way to get Suzie back. If becoming like Vallen was the only way to stop Quivis and get Suzie back, then she would do it. “We’ll stop Quivis first.”
Riley seemed worried, but said nothing. He drove them to Sills, where they got a room at a hotel. They would leave for Gull Bay in the morning. Vallen was the first one asleep, his wings stretched out across his entire bed. Faith and Riley sat at the table in front of the window. It was a clear night, with no rain or dark clouds.
“Are you sure about this?” Riley asked quietly. “We could find the wyvern first.”
“I’m sure,” Faith said. “If this is the most likely way to defeat Quivis and get Suzie back, then it’s worth the risk.”
Riley frowned at the table for a moment, then he nodded. “I wonder if Hew will be there. When we fought in Holden… It was like he was trying not to hurt me. I think he’s afraid to fight Quivis. I don’t think he’s gone to Quivis for power.”
“Maybe he won’t go to Quivis,” Faith said. After all he’d done and said before, it seemed likely Hew would go to Quivis, but she didn’t know him as well as Riley did.
“Maybe…” Riley muttered. He seemed about as convinced as Faith was.
Faith barely slept that night. The next day, they would be in Gull Bay. This was it. Now they just had to fight Quivis and get Suzie back. Being so close was terrifying. The idea of what would happen if they failed was even worse. Faith pushed that far from mind and closed her eyes.
They left early in the morning. Riley drove through Baylis and on toward Gull Bay. As soon as they passed Baylis, it was clear something was wrong. The sky was dark with clouds. Soon it started to rain, getting only worse as they neared Gull Bay. Either Quivis was close to waking up, or he already had.
Riley drove into Gull Bay, the windshield wipers moving as fast as they could. It wasn’t fast enough. The roads were flooded, and Faith didn’t see anyone out. Theirs was the only car on the road. Riley parked at the side of a back road. If it was raining this hard, so far from the shore, it would be worse up close. They continued on foot. The rain seemed about to wash them away, but at least for now it was warm. The roads were rivers.
Faith, Riley, and Vallen were on a road of houses, but there were no cars out front. The houses were close to the ground and surrounded by water. Most of the people on the street had probably left with the flooding. It was worse the closer the three of them got to the harbor. The water was up to their knees when they reached what should have been the docks.
If Faith hadn’t lived there before, she wouldn’t have known they’d reached the harbor. She could barely see the docks under the water and waves. The rain had become a wall of water. Faith and Riley looked at Vallen.
“Quivis is awake,” Vallen said.
When they took a step closer to the harbor, Hew and Suzie came around the corner of the building on the right. Suzie was as distant as before, but she held on to Hew’s hand. The water went up to her chest.
“Did you come to Quivis for power?” Vallen asked.
“I didn’t come here to beg for it, if that’s what you mean,” Hew said. He glanced at Suzie, who continued to stare straight ahead. “He led me here.” Using Suzie.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“You don’t have to go to him,” Riley said.
Hew looked at him with pity. “Do you think we can just be normal again? The marks may be gone, but do you feel any different? Simply removing the mark won’t undo what we are, what we became.”
“Night came and went and nothing happened,” Riley said. “You don’t have to go to him.”
Hew nodded. “I know that. I’m not a fool, Riley, and neither are you. I don’t need Quivis’s power, I have all that I need. Nor do I need to beg him to spare me.”
Suzie tried to let go of Hew’s hand, but he held on. He lifted her into his arms. Faith tried to take a step closer, but Vallen stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
“What are you going to do?” Vallen asked.
Hew’s expression was odd. He didn’t look away from Riley. “It would seem I joined the losing side after all. Killing Quivis won’t change what’s happened.” He looked at Faith. “Quivis won’t be needing his will. He has no allies left, and a good half of his power died with his allies. As I said before, I won’t let any harm come to your daughter. I will take Suzie to the old house.” He looked at Riley. “The one Collin and Orva bought together.” He hesitated, then he didn’t say anything more. Hew walked past them, none of them stopping him. He would get Suzie away from the sea, keep her from being swept away.
“Ready?” Riley asked.
Faith and Vallen nodded.
The three of them walked toward the sea, the water rising, waves crashing over waves. Dark water in the shape of tentacles reached toward them. Vallen and Riley cut through them with the swords, while Faith pulled them apart with her hands. The swords were too heavy for her. She could move much better without one. The tentacles were much harder to pull apart than messengers, the water denser and colder. A much larger tentacle came out of the water, but this one wasn’t made of water.
“We have to hurry!” Vallen cut his hand with his sword, then grabbed Faith’s hand and cut it with his nails.
The three of them ran to the harbor wall, barely visible beneath the water, and dived in. A cloud of red trailed after Faith and Vallen in the water. More of the real tentacles came toward them, but they pulled away sharply when they got close to the blood in the water. This was it. Suzie was safe. They just had to get down there and end Quivis.
Faith, Riley, and Vallen reached the harbor floor. A support of the docks was to Faith’s left. Quivis was massive. His darkness was a lot bigger than that of Ninivus, Vibis, or Elaita. His eyes were the same bright blue theirs had been. Someone lay in the rocks in front of Quivis. He got to his feet unsteadily. There was hardly anything left other than bones, but Faith recognized him.
“Collin…” Just as before, water rushed into her mouth, but she continued to breathe.
Collin was missing an eye, and the other was clouded. He stared blankly at nothing. Faith knew he was dead, but how was he standing? And after so long, how was there so much left of him? Something dark caught her attention. Half of his ribs were bare, and Faith could see something dark and clay like in there. They would have to fight Collin.
“Quivis must have put his heart in him,” Vallen said. He frowned at Faith. “Do you know him?”
“That’s Collin,” Faith said. “Suzie’s father.” Her chest tightened and she couldn’t say more.
“I’m sorry, Faith,” Vallen said. “He’s not alive. I know that’s not comforting.”
It wasn’t, but at least stopping Quivis would put Collin’s body to rest. A tentacle grabbed Riley and pressed him up against the support of the docks, wrapping around it and holding him there. The support cracked. Riley tried to get free but couldn’t. The sword had fallen from his hand, landing among the rocks.
“Get to the heart!” Vallen grabbed the tentacle, cutting through it with the sword. It didn’t let go of Riley.
Faith ducked under the tentacle and ran at Collin. He stumbled toward her slowly. When Faith was close, Collin grabbed her shoulders, his bony hands much stronger than they should have been. He continued to stare blankly at nothing, but he held her at arm’s length. She fought to get closer, and he continued to hold on. Faith stopped fighting toward him and pulled back hard. He let go, stumbling forward.
Looking away from his face, Faith lunged, reaching her hand between two broken ribs and grasping the clay like heart. Collin grabbed her shoulders again, trying to push her away. Faith squeezed the heart as hard as she could. She tried not to look at his face, tried to focus on the heart. She squeezed harder. It was stronger than the others. Quivis roared, a wave going through the water. The heart became mud that slid through her fingers.
A blast of water threw Faith back, Collin’s body falling to the sea floor. Faith stood quickly. Quivis’s darkness seemed to pulse, then it rushed in on itself and was gone. Faith’s lungs were burning. Collin’s body didn’t move, sinking into the silt and rocks, as though being swallowed by them.
Vallen pulled Faith toward the surface. Faith, Riley, and Vallen broke the surface at the same time. The rain had stopped. Water flowed out of Gull Bay, down to the docks and back into the sea. The three of them climbed up onto the docks. Faith looked back at the sea. The water was the stillest she had ever seen it. A few ripples from the three of them were the only movement.
-- --
Faith and Vallen were far out in the forest. They had set out from Eads, walked through the day, made camp at night, and continued to this small clearing in the morning. At first it seemed there was nothing there other than grass and wildflowers, but Vallen had stopped. The air in front of them stirred, then the wyvern was there, as though he’d been there all along.
Faith hadn’t known wyverns could go invisible. That would explain why no one had seen him while walking through the forest, or seen him flying overhead. The wyvern loomed over Faith and Vallen. He resembled a giant, scrawny wolf, but he was covered in big red scales in places and feathers in others.
His front and back legs were narrow and long. His head was the most wolf like part of him, with feathered ears. His tail was feathered. His red feathered wings were pulled close to his sides. He looked at the two of them with bright amber eyes. He smiled briefly, showing sharp teeth.
“I had wondered when you would find me,” the wyvern said to Vallen. “I am Aellis.” His deep voice rumbled in the ground.
Faith and Vallen introduced themselves.
“I feel my blood in you,” Aellis said, looking at Faith. “Though it has not revealed itself so clearly as it has for Vallen.”
“Can you undo what it’s done to her?” Vallen asked. “Can you remove it from her somehow?”
Aellis sighed. “I cannot remove it, but I can put it to sleep.”
Vallen hesitated.
“I cannot do the same for you,” Aellis said. “There is no human left in you.”
Vallen looked away, but he didn’t look surprised.
Aellis stared at Faith with his big amber eyes. She couldn’t look away. The warmth inside of her flared hotter, then it was gone and she could look away from his eyes. She touched the back of her neck. The feathers were gone. The scales had gone from her arm as well.
“Thank you,” Faith said.
Aellis nodded, a slight tilt of his head. He looked at Vallen. “It is good to see my blood has not died out.”
“Quivis is gone,” Vallen said.
Aellis grinned, a frightening expression with his sharp teeth. “Tell me what has happened.”
Faith and Vallen told Aellis the whole story. Then it was time for the two of them to head back to Eads. Several days later, Faith had returned alone to Billen. There were a few dark clouds overhead, but it wasn’t raining. She hoped it wouldn’t rain. Billen had seen enough rain for a long time. She stopped on the sidewalk, at the beginning of the stone paved path that led to the front door.
Riley was waiting for her at the other end of the path. She joined him there, feeling herself smile. After what had happened in Gull Bay, Faith and Vallen had gone to find the wyvern right away, not knowing if it was already too late for him to help Faith. Riley had gone to find Hew and Suzie. He had called Faith and Vallen in Eads to tell them he and Suzie were with Hannah and Bradley back at their house in Billen.
“How did it go with Hew?” Faith asked.
“He wasn’t at the house,” Riley said. “Suzie was asleep in a chair. How did it go with the wyvern?”
“I’m back to normal, as far as I can tell,” Faith said. She hesitated. “Has anything happened?”
Riley smiled. “Nothing bad.” He frowned. “Suzie remembers what happened while Quivis had control.”
Faith had hoped she wouldn’t.
“She seems alright,” Riley said. “The fact that we all know it was real helps.”
“And you?” Faith asked.
Now it was Riley who hesitated. “So far nothing has happened. I don’t know if Hew was right, though I stayed underwater when we fought Quivis for much longer than should have been possible.”
A silence hung over them for a moment.
Riley held out a hand, his smile returning. “Suzie’s been asking every day when you’ll be back.”
Faith put her hand in his. “Then let’s not keep her waiting any longer.”