As they journeyed, Terico tried sharing some of the food he bought with Areo, but learned that vampires really did live solely off of blood. Areo said she wished she could still eat human food so she could remember how things tasted, but it had been so long since she had any that she didn’t miss it too much. She had a number of vials and bottles of blood in her small pack, and would down a few gulps each day. Apparently it didn’t take much for her to get by, though she explained it took a lot of blood for her to regenerate. Technically she didn’t need any at all to live on a day to day basis, but having a bit each day gave her the energy she would need to fight in the event she would need to.
They reached Edellerston in the afternoon, and it was cloudy enough there that Areo didn’t need to constantly squint. Though she was perfectly capable now of walking in the sunlight, her sight was still slowly adjusting to it. After living by just the dim light of the mangroves for so many years, it wasn’t surprising that the outdoors would be hard on her eyes for a while.
Terico led the way to the fake bush that acted as the doorway to Jujor’s hidden underground room. He pulled on the bush to open the way to the stairway passage. To Terico’s relief, the stairway glimmered with faint candlelight emanating from the dark room below.
“About time you got here,” Jujor said.
Terico smiled and walked down the lopsided staircase, leading Areo down with him. “Glad you made it out of the cave, Jujor.” Once at the bottom, Terico found Jujor sitting on his bed, holding his book on the Elpis stone. The old man looked tired, but alive and well.
Jujor looked at Areo a few seconds, then grinned at Terico. “I see you’ve been doing well for yourself, boy.”
“Hardly,” Terico muttered. “You’re all right, though?”
“The forsaken gave me hell,” Jujor said, “but that’s nothing new for me. I got back here the same day we got the stone, and have been waiting for you to show up.”
“Glad you made it out all right,” Terico said. He looked back to Areo. “I should introduce you both. Jujor, this is Areo. She is Febraz’s daughter, and just passed the Rite to get the transformative Nexi.
“And Areo, this is Jujor. He helped me find the Elpis fragment in the underground city. Febraz saved his life once when Jujor worked as a miner.”
Jujor smiled at Areo. “It’s good to finally meet you, Areo. Febraz has told me all about you. Sometimes wouldn’t stop talking about you.” He looked to Terico and resumed where he left off earlier. “Speaking of Febraz, I’ve gathered that he’s the reason we were separated. I’m assuming that’s why you randomly vanished back there? Some sort of business you had to perform for him?”
“The mark summoned me to him,” Terico said. “I’m afraid things didn’t end well for him though...”
Jujor looked at Terico sadly, his face turning pale, strained. “He’s gone then? That’s...” He looked down to the floor. “I was afraid this would happen. He had stayed in Merze longer than was safe for a vampire.”
“It wasn’t that,” Terico said. “He was killed by T—” He stopped short. “By a member of the Brotherhood.”
“The Brotherhood again?” Jujor muttered. “Why would they bother with Febraz?”
Terico didn’t want to delve into this subject with Areo there. “I don’t know. Delkol and his followers don’t seem to need a good reason to kill people.”
Jujor sighed and looked up to Areo. “I’m sorry for your loss, child. I hope Terico’s been of some help to you.”
“He has,” Areo said. “Terico fulfilled Father’s wish to bring me back to him.”
Terico felt a pitiful guilt fester in his heart. He didn’t think he deserved any kind of praise with Febraz dead, and with his best friend turned a member of the Brotherhood. A part of him would have preferred Areo’s spite to her praise, and a part of him felt he would have handled Turan’s death better than the fate Turan ended up with.
Areo went on. “Terico says you have a piece of a stone called the Elpis.”
“Yes, I have it right here,” Jujor said. He untied the small pouch on his belt and poured out the Elpis fragment onto his bed. It glowed bright yellow, then silver, then orange, and so on through all the colors of the Nexi. It was perfectly smooth save for the end of the back side, where it was split from the other three portions of the Elpis. Terico was glad to see it here, and know that Jujor hadn’t used it for some ambiguous purpose. It sounded like Jujor hadn’t touched it, which may have been wise considering the torture its power had put Terico through.
“And this has the power to bring down the Brotherhood?” Areo asked.
“It has the power to do a lot of things,” Jujor said. “Is that what you would use it for?”
“I... I don’t know,” Areo said. “My master said it’s unwise to be driven by a desire for revenge.”
“It’s something most people seem to wish for deep down, though,” Jujor said. “We all wish for justice to be served. Blessings for the righteous, punishments for the wicked.”
“That’s only natural,” Terico said. “Why should it be any other way?”
“I’m not saying it should,” Jujor said. “But Areo’s master has a point well worth considering. The road toward vengeance is a bloody one, and often connects to many other bloody roads. Kill one man, and five people will wish to avenge him. And if they kill the murderer, who’s to say five people won’t want him avenged as well? And so the five who killed him are killed, and there’s five people for each one of those killed seeking revenge.”
“Of course I’ve thought of this,” Terico said. “But you said yourself that Delkol could kill thousands of people if he gains the Elpis. You said he could destroy all of Fiefs with that power.”
“Is that why you want to kill him?” Jujor asked.
Terico frowned because he knew what his honest answer would be. “Does it matter?”
“Perhaps not,” Jujor said. “But make sure you understand what you’re getting into, Terico. You know what it’s like to lose people you love. I expect that every member of the Brotherhood has at least one friend or relative in this world.”
“I know,” Terico said. “I won’t let this fact stop me from doing what’s right, though.”
“But how can you know what’s right?” Areo asked.
“What is right?” Terico thought over Areo’s question, not quite sure where she was going with it. “What I decide is right.” There was nothing he could completely trust in the world, save for his own instincts. Nothing was more clear to Terico than the need for Delkol and the Brotherhood to pay for their sins against the world. And if Terico needed to obtain the Elpis stone in order to do so, he would stop at nothing to find each of the Elpis fragments.
With the aid of his map and documents, Jujor decided the next likely place to find an Elpis fragment would be in the eigni city of Vursa. Terico was intrigued by the prospect of going to a city of eigni, but still took the mission of finding the Elpis piece seriously.
“We can take a boat there from Merze,” Jujor said as they made their way through the outlying farmlands around Edellerston. “The eigni have long had a strong connection with the Nexi, so it wouldn’t be too surprising for them to have an Elpis fragment hidden somewhere in one of their cities.”
“Shouldn’t they be using the Elpis?” Areo asked.
“It was likely hidden several hundred years ago,” Jujor said. “If anyone there knows of the Elpis, they would probably just regard it as a legend at best. Whoever broke the Elpis apart put a lot of effort into turning the stories of the stone into just that—stories.”
“It’s just strange that we’ll be finding something in a city that could have been using the stone for hundreds of years now,” Terico said.
“Don’t you remember the forsaken back in Helena?” Jujor said. “I rather doubt that was a natural evolution, boy. The Elpis is incredibly dangerous—even just a fourth of it. You should know from experience.”
“I don’t even understand wh
at happened back there,” Terico said. “First my injuries healed, and then I felt all this energy, and all this pain...”
“The full power of the Elpis is said to be more than that of all the Nexi stones in the world,” Jujor said. “The fact you didn’t die outright is probably a miracle in and of itself. It’s a good thing you’re—” He stopped, and Terico waited several seconds for Jujor to continue.
“I’m what?”
“You have a strong connection with the Nexi, apparently,” Jujor said. “But I would be very hesitant about using the Elpis ever again, boy. It was difficult to see from far away, but you seemed to be undergoing a complete transformation.”
Terico had been too overwhelmed by the pain to notice anything changing about himself at the time. “What do you mean?”
“Well... you almost looked downright demonic,” Jujor said. “I’m not sure if you were affected mentally or emotionally when you used the Elpis, but I was rather worried for a minute there.”
Terico kept walking, staring out at the distant fields around him.
He wasn’t sure how to take all this. He had transformed when he used the Elpis? He thought over everything he did when he had access to its power. He had managed to heal himself and save himself from falling, and then sent all the forsaken running off the cliff. Terico had been in the right state of mind the whole time—it was simply the pain of the Elpis’s power that overwhelmed him. And he had a feeling he’d be able to handle the power the next time he accessed it. Knowing what he was getting into would better prepare himself for the Elpis’s energy.
Once he had all four fragments, Terico knew he’d be able to bring down Delkol. The world would be a better place without Delkol. And once the Brotherhood was crushed, Terico would be content to give up the Elpis stone’s power. He understood that power could quickly drive a man down a self-destructive spiral of cruelty and tyranny.
Terico would only use the Elpis to put an end to the misdeeds of the Shires. He could go back to a normal life once that was done. At least—as normal a life as he could manage at this point. It was apparent that this quest for justice would not go smoothly, but Terico had long accepted that.
The three reached Merze in the afternoon a couple days later. Areo was concerned about how they would find a boat willing to take them to Vursa, considering how difficult it was for outsiders to enter the eigni city without anything to prove they had official business there. The eigni island cities generally liked to keep out of foreign affairs, especially when tensions were high between the nearby Fiefs and Shire Kingdoms.
Jujor assured her that he had connections with the eigni, apparently through the professor who taught some of the Nexi classes at Terico’s school. Jujor’s only concern was in finding a small boat, because Jujor didn’t want anyone finding out about the Elpis. The less people who knew where they were going, the better, he claimed. Terico didn’t think the three of them attracted that much attention, but he couldn’t fault the old man for wanting to proceed cautiously.
They walked up and down the wooden piers of the harbor, speaking with about a dozen sailors who ran small boats. Some of them weren’t planning to set sail that day, and others asked for a price too steep for Jujor to afford. But most simply had no reason to go all the way out to Vursa, which was a foreign, perhaps foreboding locale to them in the first place.
At last they came across a man with spiky blond hair, leaning back against the side of a small wooden boat with one mast, and probably only a couple rooms below deck. The sailor looked to be in his mid-twenties, and wore a loose, light gray shirt and trousers, along with a curious headpiece made of dark green metal. It wrapped across his forehead like laurels, and joined in the middle with a smooth, dark blue Nexi stone.
“Hey, travelers,” he said, pointing a hand toward them. “Welcome aboard the greatest ship in all of Merze! Or rather, in the entire world. Not only does it float on water, but it offers the most beautiful views!” He stood up tall and pointed both hands toward himself, then winked at Areo. “Of course, the ocean is pretty nice to look at too.”
Jujor laughed. “I like this guy.”
“I don’t know,” Terico whispered. “He sounds pretty desperate.”
“In more ways than one,” Areo added.
“We’re hoping to sail to Vursa,” Jujor said, shaking the man’s hand.
“Good to travel with you, kind sir,” the sailor said, nearly a third of his face filled with a grin. He spoke in a clear, loud voice that only a man of the seas could command. “My name is Borely Sen, but you can call me Captain Borely. Or just Borely! I’m not so finicky. I’ve been called much worse!”
“You’d take us to Vursa then?” Jujor said. “How much for three passengers?”
“Anything at all!” Borely said. “Hop aboard and we’ll be on our way... to adventure!” At this he raised a hand out toward the sun in the far horizon.
“Anything?” Jujor said. “How about fifty—”
“Three hundred fifty, and you’ve got yourself a deal!” Borely said, clapping his hands together.
“That’s... more than anything at all,” Jujor said.
“But for a chance to hold the lovely maiden’s hand, I’ll bump it down to three hundred!” Borely slipped by Terico and gently took Areo by the hand, and gave her a light, aristocratic bow. Areo stepped back and jerked her hand away.
Borely chuckled and leaned over to Terico to whisper to him. “You two aren’t—you know—an item, are you?”
“No,” Terico said. “But—”
Borely turned back to Areo and placed his index finger beneath his chin. “What’s your name, heavenly goddess? I still need to come up with a name for my ship, and they say the name of a beautiful woman will ensure a safe journey across the tumultuous waves of the sea!”
Areo simply stared back at Borely, her eyes completely giving away her annoyance toward this man.
Borely leaned back and sighed, tilting his head backward and placing a hand to his heart. “Oh, to hear her sweet voice—I look forward to it with all the anticipation of my soul.”
“Right, right,” Jujor said. “So two hundred fifty, plus we’ll throw in a free presentation of Areo’s speaking ability at some point.”
“Two hundred ninety-nine,” Borely said.
“Two hundred sixty, final offer,” Jujor said.
“Two hundred seventy-five, and a private dinner with the maiden,” Borely said.
“Fine,” Jujor said. Borely instantly took Jujor’s hand and shook on the deal.
“What?” Areo screamed. “I’m not here to be bartered, you know!”
“Ah, what a sweet, soothing voice,” Borely said, leaning back and wincing from the outburst. He turned to the plank connecting the little ship to the pier and skipped up it.
“Right then. Time’s a wastin’!” He turned and beckoned everyone to come aboard. “Setar wasn’t built in a day, and it will take three times that to get there by boat!”
“We’re going to Vursa though,” Terico said.
Borely stared at Terico blankly for a few seconds before snapping back to his default jovial expression. “Right! Vursa it is, then.”
6
Lifeless City
Captain Borely had enough small cots for each of them to sleep in that night, but Terico didn’t feel like he got more than an hour’s worth of sleep total. He certainly doubted he ever had more than ten minutes of actual rest all at once. There was just something unnerving about sleeping on a boat. It never stopped moving, and the constant motion made Terico tense. At any moment the endless waves of the sea could come crashing down on the little ship, and the constant creaking of the weathered wooden planks and groaning of the rusty metal girders did very little to calm Terico’s apprehension. The fact that the captain seemed so oblivious didn’t help matters either.
When morning came, Terico wearily walked up the stairs to the deck. He found Areo leaning against the railing at the very front of the ship, looking out to the hor
izon, while Borely manned the helm situated a ways behind the mast. There was a good breeze, and the sky was dotted with a few pleasant clouds, including one that dimmed the sunrise.
There wasn’t much to look at on Borely’s boat. Above deck there was the mast, the helm, and a room at the back where basic materials and ship equipment were stored. The sail was a nondescript gray, and the ship in general was maintained just enough to keep it afloat, it seemed. Or maintained as best it could be, but could only look as good as it did considering how old it probably was. Terico imagined Borely was a fairly new sailor, so it would probably be difficult for him to afford anything better.
Terico walked over to Borely, who leaned against the helm and gave Terico a quick salute.
“How did you sleep, Terico?” Borely asked.
“I’ve slept better,” Terico said.
“First time at sea, I take it?”
“Yes.” It wasn’t so long ago when Terico stepped outside of his home town at all, in fact. And he certainly never rode a boat in Edellerston.
“How’s old Jujor sleeping?” Borely asked.
“Fine,” Terico said, remembering the old man’s horrendously loud snores. Jujor apparently knew a fair amount about sailing, and had agreed to run the boat for part of the night so that Borely could get some sleep. Jujor went back to sleep once Borely woke up, at which point Terico knew he wouldn’t get another wink of sleep.
“That’s good,” Borely said.
Terico thought the captain would say something more, but the man kept quiet for once. Yesterday it had seemed there was no end to the one-liners at Borely’s disposal.
His thoughts wandering over the events of the past couple weeks, Terico stared at the waters stretching out in every direction for as far as his eyes could see. The air was crisp but stank of the salty waters, which Terico had a hard time imagining people being able to get used to.
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