BaNa2 Guildroom at Delphianna’s Guildhall. Day 04.

“You really threw them overboard? After they saved you?” Nix asked, interrupting Raine’s story for the first time.

Raine nodded solemnly. “I told you before, I was not a good person. I forced Rien to watch them go over and be eaten alive by the scytherfish. That was one of a few acts I regretted more than anything.”

Nix and Raine sat in silence on Nix’s bed for a long moment. Nix, with his knees to his chest, while Raine sat cross-legged. Caliburn leaned on the bed post beside her in its sheath.

Raine had agreed to tell Nix, and only Nix, this story to help him better understand not only the monster guarding the islands bearing her name, but also of the weapon she carried and its potential ties to him and every other player. What he later did with that information, she assured him wouldn't impact their relationship as Summoner and Summoned going forward.

Ever since finding out that she could, and would, refuse his Summoner’s Call if he took any action against her moral code, it had been a source of anxiety for Nix. A big reason for that was due to the fact that his actions before arriving to this world in this body had persisted to today. Raine had fought alongside Nix for nearly five years since he'd unlocked her summoning spell at level fifty. She considered him and his cause to be a form of penance for the life she lived. But perhaps more importantly, she offered the strongest possibility of a path home to a family he had come to miss over the last four days.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Nix had noticed the pain in Raine’s breaking voice as she spoke of the loss of her crew, but also of the punishment she had inflicted on Rien in her misplaced anger.

“We can stop for today. Your spell timer is about to elapse,” Nix offered. He had extended it three times already even after their role in putting out the fires beyond Delphianna had stopped.

“I have borne this guilt for over five hundred years. I can continue, but thank you for your consideration,” Raine replied. Then, with resolve, she continued where she had left off. “While we towed Executioner back to Respite, we held a vote to replace our lost officers. I was named Captain of the Fleet as Avanyu predicted. He became Stray II’s quartermaster and most of Stray’s surviving officers moved to Executioner. Stray became the new flagship.

“Under my leadership, we united the disparate pirate groups that called Respite Island home. And we inflicted coordinated attacks on the coasts of both Navorinelle and Navoradreus to a scale which had never been seen before.

“No small part of that was due to the power of Caliburn and Clarent, once I had learned the true power of the twin swords. I think that, combined with my leaning more on Rien for advice, is what led to Avanyu's jealousy and eventual mutiny…”

As Raine set into her story once again, Nix cast the spell to extend her time in this world.