“You’ve got it all wrong!” Ren holds up his hands. Not in surrender, but as a means to pacify. “The one who’s evil here isn’t us.”
“It’s not my place to question our Mother Gaia.” Vane shakes his head, his face taut. His hand dropped to the hilt of his sword, slotted into the belt at his side. His fingers play with it absently, the metal scraping against its scabbard as he slides it in and out, almost imperceptibly. “But…”
“But…” Penny prompts, a hopeful note in her voice.
“Having travelled with you for such a long time, I cannot bring myself to imagine that you could have done a heinous deed…” Slowly, but surely, he draws Claymore, his fingers clenched tight around its grip, till the whole blade is unsheathed. It gleams in the dim light.
Ren holds Ifrit out, its ruby glowing with crimson, and he sweats from its emanating heat. Penny, too, has drawn Mira, her blade swirling with a cooling stream of water, droplets splattering to the ground in dark splotches.
“What did we do?” Penny challenges. “What did Gaia say we did?”
“I…” Vane holds Claymore in front of him, and a shiver travels up Ren’s spine. “She said that you had committed high treason, and that I was to take care of the both of you as soon as possible.”
“Take care, meaning…” Ren can’t bring himself to say it. He cannot bring himself to think that Vane, who had accompanied them on their adventures, who had selflessly protected and looked after them whilst they journeyed, is now turning his sword on them. The sword that shielded them from agony and death is now the tool that he would put through their hearts.
He’s not sure he’s up to the task. For one, he doesn’t think that he can hurt his friend. And the second—
“I apologise for what I am about to do,” Vane says, and in a split second, he’s in the air, Claymore drawn back and ready to strike.
Ren isn’t sure that they are up to snuff, when it comes to fighting ability.
He barely manages to raise Ifrit to block his attack, and Vane’s blade meets his staff’s shaft. The metal hardly makes a dent in the hardened wood, and for that, Ren is grateful. But Vane is strong—much more muscular than he is—and so with a single swipe, he tosses Ren aside.
Ren grunts as he hits the ground, pain arrowing up his spine, Ifrit slamming hard to the rough floor. He lifts his gaze just as Penny gives a battle cry, leaping up from behind Vane, Mira raised over her head.
Vane spins on his heels, bringing Claymore up to clash with Mira. He throws her back with nary any effort whatsoever. Water bursts from their point of contact as they break free from their deadlock. Penny’s heels dig into the loose soil, keeping her from sliding.
Ren pushes himself to his feet, ignoring his smarting back, and he summons magic to his staff. Fire erupts from Ifrit’s ruby, two jets curling around each other like the snakes of a caduceus, spiralling towards Vane.
The fire catches Vane off guard, and he dives away from where the serpents slither, rolling on the ground, then hopping to his feet. The fiery snakes fizzle away, and as Penny rushes him, he plants Claymore into the ground.
“Penny! Get back!” Ren shouts.
Jagged stalagmites rise and ripple like a shockwave. Penny cuts through the walls of packed rock with Mira, slicing and slashing, sending high-pressure blades into the stone. Ren, on the other hand, aims his palm towards the floor, and he launches himself into the air with a blast of flames.
One moment, he’s soaring in an arc across the air. In the next, he’s shooting backwards, gasping as the oxygen is knocked from his lungs, a stalactite stabbed into his arm and sending him tumbling into the wall.
Ren grits his teeth, hissing as an ache pulses where the stalactite, launched from Claymore’s tip, pierced his flesh. Blood oozes from the stab wound, and Ren can hardly stand to look at the ruined skin. The stalactite pins him to the wall, disallowing any sort of movement at all. He needs to get this out of his arm, or he’s going to die from the pain, if Vane doesn’t slit his throat first.
Mustering enough strength to lift his other arm, Ren stabs Ifrit into the earth. Magma springs forth, a wall of fire separating him from Vane. Now’s his chance. He touches Ifrit’s ruby to stalactite, and the rock begins to burn. When the fire dashes it to smithereens, cinders raining around his limb in black ashes, he sees the wound in its entirety.
Blood oozes from the wound like there’s no tomorrow, staining the ground with puddles of red. Bile rises in his throat, and it takes everything that he has not to puke. He tries to lift his arm, only to wince and grit his teeth when the pain shoots straight up to his chest. His breaths come short and fast, and his vision goes blurry. The fire wall dissipates, revealing Vane standing on the other end, the edge of his blade at Penny’s jaw.
Even after all this time, he’d hold a sword to her neck?
“So,” Vane says, “I think we should be leaving soon.”
“Leaving?” Ren furrows his brows. “What do you mean? Let go of her, you bastard!”
“Quiet.” Vane stomps, and a stalagmite rises so quickly in front of Ren that he finds himself stilling, immobile. The pointy end of the stalagmite pauses just inches from his Adam’s apple. Any closer and Ren would have his throat punctured.
All of a sudden, the ground rumbles, trembling as though it were in the midst of an earthquake. Vane removes his sword from where it held Penny’s neck, seconds before the dirt crumbles underneath them. One second, Ren was sitting on hard earth, and the next, he’s hurtling through thin air, down a tunnel that just so happened to have opened up under his butt.
Needless to say, he and Penny’s screams fill the air as they hurtle down towards the core of the earth.
They don’t fall for long, though. Ren gasps as he’s caught by a swirling tornado, the wind tousling his hair and whipping his robes around him. Slowly, but surely, the green-tinged spiralling winds lower him to flat earth. Never before has Ren wanted to kiss a plot of land so dearly.
Where is he, though? He appears to have arrived in a broader tunnel, a familiar earthen network with the sound of sloshing water in the distance…
“That’s a nasty wound. We have to get that patched up immediately.”
Ren glances towards the voice, jumping ever so slightly when he realises just how close she is. Gridel snaps open the lid of one of her pouches, her other hand unravelling her coil of white bandages. Before Ren can even tell what’s going on, she’s already bandaged his arm up with those dried, flaky medicinal leaves that poke at his wound and makes him gag.
“It’s not safe here,” Gridel says, grabbing Ren’s other arm. “Let’s go and meet up with Vane and Penny.”
“Wait, what?” Ren blinks. He can’t even find the energy in him to resist, and he just lets himself be dragged along. Where in the world are they going? What in the world is happening? Didn’t Vane just try to kill them, or, at the very least, tried to turn them in to Gaia?
Gridel doesn’t even so much as shoot a glance back at him. “I will explain later. For now, we must head out of Gravelle.”
They soon come to a waterway, rivers flanking the very path they walk. Ren recognises this place—it’s the same one that leads to the docks. It was at those piers that they took that ship down the canals and out to sea, headed for Ilecthia. Not far ahead, he spies two figures—two very familiar people.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Ren!” Penny dashes towards him. She looks unharmed, and that is all that Ren can really ask for.
Well, unlike himself.
“I have no idea what the hell’s going on, but…” Penny’s gaze falls to the wound in his arm. “Ren, you’re hurt!”
“Yeah, well, that was a mishap—” Ren starts, his hand unconsciously cupping his wound. It doesn’t hurt all that bad anymore—Gridel must have had a refill of that good painkilling stuff. However, he’s interrupted by a man—namely, the prince of Gravelle—dropping to a kneel in front of him, his head bowed, his sword sheathed at his side.
“I apologise, Master Ren!” Vane all but bellows. “I hadn’t expected that one attack to—”
“Oh, no, it’s fine,” Ren says. More than half a journey of Vane calling him “Master” and he’s still not used to it. “I’ll live.”
Vane lifts his head. “But—”
“Yeah, you’d better make him pay later,” Penny says, clapping her hand on Ren’s good shoulder. “This whole place is like Gaia’s dominion. We gotta get out of here.” She turns to Gridel. “I’m assuming you guys have got some amazing plan?”
“Well…” Gridel purses her lips. “Escaping by ship appears to be our best option. Vane should have talked to Clemon and Isla yesterday.”
Those sure are names that Ren never thought he would hear again. He wonders how they’re doing, and why they agreed to help them. It’s not easy to revoke the name of the god you believed in, especially if you were at their mercy your whole life.
“Which way’s the docks?” Penny asks. “It’s been a long time since we’ve been here.”
“Follow me,” Gridel says, and she takes off down the narrow corridor. Ren and Penny follow closely behind, whilst Vane takes up the rear. When they get to the ship, and when they leave Gravelle behind again, their companions have got a lot of explaining to do.
The dash to the docks is uneventful, and Ren thanks his lucky stars for that. As soon as he catches sight of the stone pier, memories flood right back into him. Memories of standing here, getting onto their ship after dealing with the Horseman of Death, sailing out to Ilecthia. It felt like such a long time ago.
Now, they’ve come full circle. All the Horsemen have been defeated, and all they need to do is to ascend the set of stairs that should take them up to the Pandora’s Citadel. Whilst evading Gaia’s wrath, that is.
Several boats bob up and down in the water, rolling waves splashing against the sides of the jetty. The water looks clearer, cleaner, than what Ren remembers. Illuminium lanterns hang from the ceiling, their only source of light—no matter how dim—in this dark cave.
At the far end of the pier, Ren spots more familiar faces. Two people are standing before a ship, speaking to each other, the sound of their voices just barely audible over the rush of the water through the canal. When they approach, Clemon greets them with a wave, and Isla, with a bow.
“Is this our way out? Where are we headed?” Penny asks.
“We’re going to travel along the beach of the Ashen Plains. Get as close to the stairs as possible,” Clemon says. “Then you can ascend the tower and take down the citadel.”
“The ship’s ready to sail,” Isla says. “Shall we go? I can’t imagine the soldiers would be far behind.”
Being out on the water is a rather smart plan, if Ren does say so himself. After all, if they’re in Aqua’s domain and not Gaia’s, then they wouldn’t have to watch their backs every waking second. They can just focus on their journey to the floating tower in the sky.
The six of them scramble onto the ship, with Gridel hopping onto the deck the same time Ren hears voices behind them. Arriving from where they did are several guards, waving their swords and spears like madmen.
“There they are!” their leader shouts, pointing a sword their way.
“Quick! Go!” Clemon yells.
Vane and Ren grab the handles of the winch the anchor is hooked up to, and they push with all their might. Slowly but surely, the hunk of rusted metal is lugged out of the water, clanking against the side of the boat. Ren’s arms shake—clearly his muscles aren’t cut out for this—but the sheer drive of the adrenaline keeps him going long enough for the ship to begin sailing.
Isla stands at the steering wheel, keeping her grip tight on it as the ship sets off on its voyage down the canal. The rush of water pushes them along, the vessel careening down the waterway and almost knocking the side. Ren yelps, the force of its rocking nearly throwing him to the ground. It would have if not for Vane gripping his good arm, the prince’s other hand holding on to the side of the ship.
Isla frantically spins the wheel, piloting the ship with the expertise of an experienced sailor. Clemon tugs at the ropes holding the sails in place, the things knotted so tightly together, tangled after being tossed about. Penny goes smack against its main mast, crying out as she claps a hand onto her forehead where she hit it.
But Ren can see the light coming up, shining into the mouth of the cavern. He remembers the people of Gravelle sending them off that day, standing on either side of the shore as they headed out to the sea. However, he can’t expect them to be friendly this time. After all, their god has just painted a target on their backs.
The only people that he and Penny can really trust now are Gridel, Vane, Clemon, and Isla, it seems.
The ship makes it out of the cavern and out into the open ocean, and with the help of the waves and the wind, they tear away from the shore of the Ashen Plains, away from Gaia’s influence. From where he stands, Ren can see the quaint village that the citizens of Gravelle have carved out for themselves. It wouldn’t be right to infringe on their newfound peace—they can’t afford to bring the soldiers to them.
“Let’s find somewhere nearer the citadel, and then we’ll anchor down,” Clemon says.
“Make sure not to get too close to the land,” Gridel reminds him.
The trip out into the wild waters again is calming, unlike what Ren expected. Maybe he expected the soldiers to chase after them with one of their boats, or maybe he expected Gaia to launch one of her surprise attacks from the land, piercing their sails with jagged stalactites or something, but none of that ever came to pass.
Maybe Gaia never intended to stop them—maybe She just wanted to chase them from Gravelle…
Or maybe She’s waiting for them just down the road, popping up when they least expect Her.
They reach a bluff of sorts, their ship floating listlessly in the water after Isla dropped the anchor. Clemon wipes the sheen of sweat from his brow as he totters down the stairs leading from the higher deck to the lower one.
“Okay,” Penny says, planting herself squarely in the middle of the deck, and she pats the floor next to her, which Ren plops down in, “you guys owe us an explanation. I have no clue what’s happening and what the plan is from here on out. I hope you have one.”
Vane coughs. “Indeed, I suppose Gridel and I have to fill you in.”
As it turns out, Gridel hadn’t left Ren all alone that night when he confronted Gaia and Rayfel. She stayed back mostly out of curiosity—after all, what could Ren, but not Penny, have to ask Gaia about alone? After witnessing the tense questioning, she hurried to find Vane and told him about how Gaia is quite possibly not the deity he thought Her to be.
“It took some convincing, but I think he had his own suspicions,” Gridel says.
Vane nods. “You must understand that Gaia has provided for us and protected us the whole time from the Horseman that threatened to destroy our settlement. It’s hard to see her as a, well, an enemy of Zenthos’ recovery.”
“But what I don’t get is why she sent us on that whole quest to defeat the Horseman when all she could have said is that we’re complete weirdos?” Penny asks. “Like, she didn’t need to give that whole spiel about how we were the Luminaries or chosen ones or whatever.”
“Yeah, what’s up with that?” Ren asks.
“I suspect that Gaia may have been trying to offer an explanation and some hope to her people,” Isla says. “After all, Clemon has told me that you appeared out of nowhere.”
Penny nods. “Yeah, we kinda did. But now that you bring it up, it sounds like so long ago. We said the Sun’s Blessing prayer, which just beamed us here.”
“Indeed, and if you came into town with that story, and Gaia didn’t offer up a satisfactory explanation, it would cause people’s belief in Her to sway,” Vane says. “The power of a great spirit is dependent on the strength of the people’s faith in them.”
“Is that why…” Ren starts, but he dips his head and pauses. Is that why Gaia took over Terra as the new great spirit of the earth? Could that be the same reason that She chose to open the Box?
“What is it?” Penny asks. “Spit it out.”
“No, Gaia was just power-hungry, I guess. Or maybe She was just jealous,” Ren says. “Like, She’s been protecting her people from the Horseman of Death—I have no clue whether she’s affiliated with all of them—to, like, gain their trust. And She opened the Box to… well, become an Old One, I think.”
“What’s this about Gaia opening the Box?” Clemon asks.
Ren relays his suspicions to both Clemon and Isla, citing Gaia’s suspicious behaviour and tone when he asked about it, as well as Ignis’ own testimony. The whole time, Clemon and Isla listen with rapt attention, though it looks like Clemon wanted to interrupt a couple of times.
“So, you think that Gaia was responsible for forming a pact with the Horseman of Famine, and She tried to kill you when you attempted to kill him?” Clemon asks, his words coming out like a rapid-fire machine gun.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Ren says.
“Okay, but here’s the thing I don’t get,” Penny says. “Why is She trying to stop us? Why does She want the world to stay as it is?”
Now that’s a good question. It stands to reason that She’d have more followers and believers if Zenthos was flourishing again. Could it have something to do with her primary motive?
“Maybe…” Gridel says. “She wants people to revere her, and the only way she can do that is through the apocalypse.”
“How does that work?” Vane asks. “How would the apocalypse—”
Penny snaps her fingers. “Because by keeping people in fear of what’s outside and offering them protection, She can assure that they’d be dependent on her and she’d maintain her power.”
Of course, why didn’t Ren see it before? He nods. “I think that’s exactly why.”