Gwenyth felt how the ship rocked, its movements disorienting enough to make anyone sick. Yet it did nothing to phase her. She had simply gotten used to it. William, on the other hand, hadn’t gotten used to it. He still looked pale and sickly, his eyes closed as he tried to will the sickness away. Yet he continued to turn to his recently emptied bucket. Gwenyth ignored him, her focus on the man who sat across from her. Arthur was stone faced, his gaze fixed on the elf.

“Are you going to speak?” Gwenyth asked. “You owe us an explanation.”

The elf and herald were the only ones below the deck with Arthur. Eilif and the rest of the men were above, awaiting to be called back.

“I don’t owe you a damn thing,” Arthur responded coldly.

Gwenyth scowled. “Three hundred years. Three hundred years in this world and I have never seen something as twisted as on that island.”

“You think I knew what we were going to find?” Arthur asked.

“No.” The elf shook her head. “I don’t think you knew about the extent of it. But I know you know something. You know why this is happening. You know its cause. Explain. Now.” Gwenyth slammed a fist on the table, shaking William’s bucket and causing a nearby tankard to roll off the table’s edge.

Arthur stared at the elf for a moment, each passing second feeling like an eternity. Finally, he spoke.

“This is something beyond our control.” Arthur closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Beyond what we know. Not even the golden goddess knows what it is.”

“The goddess?” Gwenyth furrowed her brow.

“Not to speak ill of her holiness, but Delphine is practically panicking in her heavenly temple,” Arthur explained. “The clerics are trying their best to fulfill her wishes, to fix this. They think they know what it is, but I seriously doubt it.” The former apostle brought up his sheathed blade and placed it on the table. “This is the blade Delphine bestowed upon me.”

Arthur proceeded to unsheathed the sword, revealing its golden edge and imprinted runes.

“This… This isn’t..?” Gwenyth started, her eyes examining the beautiful engravings and ivory hilt.

“It’s only a fragment of the real sword,” Arthur revealed. “Delphine wouldn’t entrust me with the real one. You are a silver-haired elf, right? Read the runes yourself.”

Gwenyth looked at the sword. Aside from the enchanted runes, there were words that were inscribed on it. Written in a dead language once spoken long ago, it read:

Blade of Divine, wielded to slay thy Outlanders to bring back ye peace of pure Azuran

Gwenyth blinked at the translation. “Outlander.”

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“It means otherworder,” Arthur answered. He grabbed the sword, sheathing it once more.

“I know what it means,” Gwenyth muttered. She closed her hands into fists. “Does this mean I think it does?” The elf felt her mind go to many things, many possibilities and implications. None of them were good.

“You knew it was happening. The summonings.”

“I thought they stopped,” Gwenyth growled through gritted teeth. “I was told that Myr had been stopped. That the gods prevented him from summoning people.”

“Summoning people?” William spoke up finally. “What are you two speaking about?” The question reminded Gwenyth that William was the only one in the dark about the situation.

The elf turned to the herald. “You don’t know, do you?” She asked. “For the past century, people from other worlds have been summoned to Azura.”

“Other worlds?” William’s face had its color returned. It looked as if he had forgotten about the moving ship. “Aren’t those stories?”

“They were,” Gwenyth answered. “That is until the mad god himself started pulling innocent people from other worlds into ours.”

William stared at the two in disbelief. “I…What?”

“It’s hard to believe,” Arthur sighed. “It’s something unthinkable. Impossible to perceive properly.” The former apostle rested his arms on the table, his gaze moving to the elf. “The man we are hunting is from another world. One called Earth.”

“How is he here?” Gwenyth demanded. “Myr was supposed to be stopped! How was he able to summon this man?”

“He didn’t,” Arthur muttered.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean the clerics don’t know how. According to Delphine’s holy message, the man from Earth was not brought upon by the mad god.”

“Something else is summoning people?” The elf felt a pit form in her stomach. She could not bear to think about the consequences. “How many?” She muttered. “How many Outlanders are in Azura?”

“Three,” Arthur responded. “There are only three.” The grizzled man sighed. “The one we’re hunting is somewhere in southern Valenfrost. Possibly around the edge. The second is a woman who was summoned to Kasan. Last we heard, she fled that continent, but I don’t doubt we can track her down. The third…” Arthur seemed to hesitate a bit. He broke eye contact, his gaze moving to his drink. “It’s classified.”

“What are you going to do about them? What’s Delphine’s plan of action?” Gwenyth questioned. She had a bad feeling about what Arthur was about to say.

“Delphine believes that if they continue to live, they’ll forever corrupt the world. The ley lines breaking was proof enough that Outlanders don’t belong here,” Arthur explained.

“So we kill them?” Gwenyth felt disgusted towards the golden goddess. “Can’t she send them back to their worlds?”

“Of course she can. However, Delphine worries that sending the Earthlings back to Earth would only offset the balance in their own world,” Arthur revealed. “You see, unlike Azura, Earth’s divinities are long gone. No gods to govern them like on Azura. Sending magically powered beings there would only upset the balance.”

Gwenyth bit her tongue, holding back the urge to curse the goddess’ name. “So death it is? No other option?”

Arthur scowled at the elf. “You, of all people, should understand the necessity of this.”

“I understand that there should be a peaceful way of doing this,” Gwenyth argued.

The former apostle sighed at that before he stood from the table. He grabbed his sword, sheathing the blade. “The peaceful option was thrown out once the ley lines were fractured,” Arthur muttered. He turned around, his back facing the elf. “Complain if you want. Question my ways if it makes you feel better. I don’t care. I’ll do what I can to make sure this world’s balance is set right once more.”

With that, Arthur left, leaving Gwenyth with a twisting, sick feeling that she had not felt in decades.