by Rosie Scott
Cerin and Anto led me to the ward, which was little more than a cabin with four cots that smelled of sweat. Fresh water and wash rags were brought to me, and the excess blood soon stained the clean water a deep red. Cerin and Nyx helped to clean me up, because I still felt so weak. Jakan brought me a biscuit from the kitchen, so I could try to clear my mind and regain some strength. He also used his dull senses spell on me, which stopped my throbbing headache and allowed much of the soreness of my throat to dissipate.
I was cleaned up and re-dressed within the hour. Calder waited in the doorway of the ward, both so his crew could find him if there was news of Koby, and so he could keep his eye on us. We didn't trust him fully, and it was obvious the feeling was mutual.
Finally, the news came. Two sailors approached Calder, and one of the men was a wreck.
“Did you find him?” Calder insisted, standing up from the door frame.
“We did,” the calmer sailor said, before the other one sobbed. “He...was murdered, sir.”
For a moment, Calder didn't move. Then, he began to shake again, a tell-tale sign of his anger I was becoming used to. “Where is he? What do you mean murdered? Who?” He demanded.
“I don't know who, sir. His—his body was found stuffed in a barrel, in storage.”
“Show me. Show me!” Calder stalked out of the ward, passing the men before spinning around and yelling, “Show me, I said!”
“That's not a good idea, sir.”
Calder pulled one blue hand down his face, on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “Why? Please.” He took a breath, before his voice trembled over his next words. “Please. Please, somebody, explain. Something. Something. Anything.”
My heart was breaking for the man. Literally within the span of the weeks we'd known him thus far, everything he knew was breaking. I felt like most of it was my fault.
“His body was barely recognizable, sir,” the sailor explained. “I could only recognize him by his tattoos, and this.” He held up a chained necklace. Hanging from it was a key.
Calder stared at it, and his red eyes swelled with tears that fell on their own will. Whatever the necklace was, it meant a lot to him. “What did they do to him?” He asked the sailor, his voice thick and defeated. “Why was his body unrecognizable?”
The sailor took a deep breath. “He was decomposing, captain. Koby's been dead for weeks.”
Eleven
Contrary to our plans, we did not speak to Calder that night about our situation. He was inconsolable over the loss of the best friend he'd had for over a century, and locked himself in his cabin. The crew's only orders were to keep the ship on track for the northwest. At this point, I wasn't even sure if they were doing it right. We should have seen the shores of the wildlands by now, where we could follow them up past the border of Eteri, and sail into the port of Scirocco by late Dark Star.
The ship was weeks out of the way, now, at the very least. The freedom of the seas suddenly felt like a prison, because our choices were limited, and we were stuck on one vessel in the middle of endless waters. I found myself thankful that I was able to supply the ship with fresh water. Otherwise, the crew would have to subsist on ale alone, and we were lost enough as it was.
My friends and I talked through our thoughts on what had happened that night, throwing theories out into the air to see which ones would stick. Calder knew much more about shapeshifting than I did, but little of that mattered unless he knew exactly what we were dealing with, which were the gods. Despite having the blood of the gods running through me, I felt green to their ways and powers. After all, as far as I knew, I'd only come across three of them besides myself.
The following morning, a sailor came to our bedrooms to summon us to Calder's cabin. We followed the woman up to the quarterdeck, and waited outside his door as the sailor knocked. After a hoarse, “Come in,” we entered the captain's cabin, finding Calder slouched in a chair behind his desk, looking hungover and fatigued.
“Sit,” he managed, throwing a finger around at the two beds in the room. Jakan and Anto sat on the edge of one, while Nyx, Cerin, and I sat across the room on the other.
“I'm so sorry for your—” I began, but Calder jammed a fist down onto his desk.
“Don't. Don't,” he insisted, glaring up at me with his two blood red eyes. I saw a flash of silver and bronze, and noticed he was wearing the necklace the sailors had taken from Koby's body. My eyes moved from the jewelry to his finger, which pointed straight at me. “Who are you, and why did you choose my ship?” His body shook with laughter or sobs, I couldn't tell which, and he hung his head between two hands. “Why?”
“I am Kai Sera,” I said, “Of Sera. Ex-royalty.”
“That means nothing to me,” he grumbled in response.
“What do you know of Chairel?” I asked him.
“As little as possible. It is their coin that allows my sisters underground to enslave us,” he seethed, before glaring up at me. “What does this have to do with anything?”
“Everything,” I replied. “Do you know anything about the war?”
“What war?” He retorted.
“Oh jeez,” Nyx sighed beside me. “Where have you been?”
“I was in the wildlands for the past few years. I traveled back to Killick mere days before you arrived there,” he replied.
“So you lied to us,” I called him out. “You said you've been by there, not that you'd been there for years.”
“Does it matter?” Calder stared back at me, having lifted his head back up to face the conversation.
“I don't know, does it?” I retorted. “You tell me. As far as I know, you brought the assassin with you.”
“Don't you fucking dare,” the captain retorted, his voice trembling. “I would not for one second have knowingly brought that bitch on here. I wouldn't put my guests in danger, and I would never do anything to put Koby in danger.”
“Let's not make accusations,” Anto spoke up, peacefully. “Perhaps if we lay all of our cards out on the table, we can talk our way through this.”
I took a deep breath, then two, trying to calm myself. I could tell Calder was trying to do the same. He had an attitude problem much like myself. It would make it easy for us to butt heads.
“Okay. Let me start over,” I finally said, softly. “I am Seran ex-royalty. Sera is Chairel's magic capital. I had disagreements with my father there, who is the queen's regent of Sera. He executed someone very dear to me for very political reasons, and I devastated his city with my magic. We fled to Nahara, formed a rebellion, and gained allies there. We are on our way to Eteri to try to convince them to join us, because they have a hatred for Chairel and probably won't need much convincing. We needed to hire a mercenary to take us there, because the ships of Narangar's harbor might have attacked if we took a Naharan ship. So we came to Killick, where we hired you.”
Calder took all of this in with silence. Finally, after a moment he asked, “You devastated a city with water magic?”
“With fire,” I replied.
“You wield water and life,” he said, watching me for explanations.
“I wield all six elements.”
Calder's eyes cleared a bit. “Then I have heard of you. I didn't know your name, but I've heard gossip of you.”
“Good, because then you'll believe me when I say that I am a god, and so was the assassin.”
The captain blinked a few times. “The gods live?”
“Oh, they live, and they're pissed with us,” Nyx chuckled dryly.
Calder frowned. “Wait...how do you know who is a god? How can you tell? There are thousands of Alderi assassins.”
“All of the gods have golden eyes,” Nyx answered him. “The eyes on this one mocked the colors of the men she imitated, but after death, her body reverted back to her own. I cut one of her eyes out, and lo and behold, it was as gold as hers.” She jerked a thumb toward me.
Calder studied my eyes carefully. “I have noticed your eyes before. I fig
ured them just to be beautiful. I had no idea it was a trait of your race.”
Race. I noticed Calder did not seem to much care that I was a god, nor did he make any attempt to act like he was amazed by me. I was thankful for that.
“Why are the gods after you?” Calder asked. “I thought you said your beef was with Chairel.”
“They are seeking their assistance. My adoptive father Sirius from Sera is, anyway. He knows of the gods because they have contacted him before about killing me. I am a half-breed, which is not allowed. The gods treat their blood much like the Icilics do, and do not wish to tarnish their line.”
“Which god was this, then, who tried to kill you?” The captain asked.
“We don't know,” I said.
“I have an idea of who it was,” Nyx spoke up. “Given her powers and appearance, I think it was Judai.”
“The goddess of lies and deception,” Calder murmured.
“Do the Alderi worship her?” Jakan asked. “If so, it would make sense she would look like one.”
“They do,” Nyx replied. “But they also worship Nanya and believe her to be Alderi, and we all know that wasn't true. She was human in appearance. And Malgor didn't look like an orc.”
“You have met these others?” the captain inquired.
“Nanya is my mother,” I replied. “I bested Malgor in battle in the coliseum of T'ahal.”
At this point, nothing I could say would surprise Calder. He simply looked overwhelmed.
“Speaking of my mother...” I trailed off, my mind connecting puzzle pieces. “She's the goddess of lust, and her powers were to make romantically unattached people fall in love with her.”
“Kind of like charming someone,” Jakan mused, since he knew the spell well.
“Yes, but not quite. Your spell works on someone for a few minutes. Because my mother is a god, her powers are exaggerated and run by different rules. Much the same way mine do. My spells are more powerful, and I can wield all the elements rather than two. Malgor was immensely strong, and he regenerated his health.” I turned to Calder. “Perhaps that could explain why Judai was able to shapeshift the way she did. Not only could she take the form of people, but she could do it within the span of a second. There was a woman who became a wolf in T'ahal, but it took her time because her body had to switch its form. Judai was able to do this in a second.”
“There are other things she could do better,” Calder added. “Shapeshifters are only strong enough to know one form, so you cannot change into more after you decide on the animal. And you said she wore Koby's clothes?”
I nodded. “And Cerin's armor. And I felt that, because we were embracing like lovers.”
Calder exhaled. “Yeah, that's impossible with shapeshifting, too. I am sure you saw that with the woman you said turned into a wolf. Magic does not create armor.” He hesitated. “I mean, perhaps Judai's did, but I am ignorant to the ways of the gods.”
“We are too,” I sympathized. “Mostly. It's to be expected, with how hidden and secretive many of them are.”
The room was silent for a few minutes as we all pondered the recent developments. Calder broke the silence, albeit begrudgingly. “I've been thinking about Koby all night, since learning of his death,” he admitted, his eyes glazed over as they stilled on his desk. “And speaking to you all about this has allowed me some relief, because there have been things these past few weeks I could not look past.”
“He was acting weird with you, too,” Nyx commented.
Calder nodded slowly. “And it all leads back to that night in Killick, when the woman from the tavern was told she could not board. She fought me in my cabin, and Koby came in to kick her out. He eventually got help from some mercenaries on the dock who overheard the scuffle.” He paused, before his eyes welled with unshed tears. “I am pretty sure that was the last night he was alive, because the next morning, he was sick and not his usual jovial self.”
“Do you think the sickness was a ploy?” I asked.
“Perhaps she was sick because of the way she gained her powers,” Nyx commented.
I glanced over to her. “What do you mean?”
“We know she turned into three people, right?” My best friend replied, before lifting up a finger at a time as she counted, “The woman in Killick, Koby, and Cerin. We know that the people she mimicked didn't have to be dead, because Cerin is still here. Perhaps she had to touch people to gain the ability to turn into them. Maybe turning into them meant she took on their physical form in all of its ways. If she murdered Koby in Killick before becoming him, perhaps her form mimicked his corpse, not his body.”
“You're assuming that for no reason,” Cerin said. “She did not touch me.”
“Yeah she did,” Nyx argued. “That first day, when Koby acted overly interested in how you and Kai were together, and he grabbed your arm instead of your things to put them in the bedroom. Koby was dead already at that point. That was her.”
Cerin thought back, before he nodded. “You're right. She also touched Kai, too.” He looked to me. “When she apologized to you as Koby during breakfast. Who knows what she was planning with that?”
“She took knowledge from her victims,” Calder said, then. “Perhaps she was looking for intel. Perhaps by touching you and Kai, she figured out your suspicions and how you two interact with one another, so she could corner Kai and kill her.”
“How do you know she took knowledge?” I asked.
“Because when she mimicked Koby, she knew everything of us. She knew how to work a ship. She knew Koby's daily duties and how to fill out his logs. That's what made his deception more obvious. He tried to divert us from the path many times during this trip, even though he knew better.” Calder sighed heavily. “I have been used to giving Koby the wheel for years, because he was as much as a captain as I. Each morning on our trip, I would wake up and he would have the ship facing south. It is of little wonder why we are lost. It's why I called a meeting yesterday. I thought confronting him in front of my crew would make him come clean.”
“That might be why she acted then,” I commented. “She knew we were all getting suspicious.”
“Can I point out something positive?” Nyx questioned, holding one finger in the air.
Jakan laughed dryly. “I think we could use any positive news at this point.”
“Cerin killed a god,” Nyx stated, simply. “Kai's theory was right. It does not take a god to kill another.”
“She died just as easily as any other,” Cerin said, remembering the confrontation.
“She was the goddess of deception, not war,” I pointed out. “Different powers bring different strengths and weaknesses. Perhaps she wasn't strong in her own form. She was as strong as you in yours.”
“Do not give excuses,” Cerin mused, his voice edged with jest. “I killed a god for you. She was not weak. Perhaps she was the strongest.”
I couldn't help but chuckle softly, and I leaned into him, kissing his cheek. “Yes, you killed the god of gods. Thank you.”
Calder watched our exchange from his desk, distant from it. I knew he had a lot on his mind, and though his friend had died weeks ago, he was only beginning to mourn. “There is more positive news than that,” he finally said, though his fatigued tone was mismatched with his words. “With the god dead, perhaps we will finally be able to right our course. At the moment, I believe we are farther south than even the wildlands.”
“That means...” Jakan trailed off, appearing defeated.
“It means we're farther from Eteri than where we started,” Calder finished.
“At this rate, Hasani might think we've failed come the turn of the year,” I murmured. “If he hears no word of our arrival in Eteri.”
“Who is Hasani?” Calder asked.
“The prince of Nahara. Our ally,” I explained.
“I apologize if the complications of this trip affect your war,” Calder offered, though he still sounded mostly beside himself.
“I am
sorry that my problems have become your own,” I replied. “And I am so sorry for your loss. Losing a friend is one of the greatest pains someone can have.”
Calder nodded slowly, subconsciously fingering the key which laid softly against his chest. “Would you guys mind if I was left alone for awhile yet?” He questioned, his voice low.
“Sure,” I replied, standing. The others followed my lead, preparing to leave the captain to his mourning. I waited to exit for the moment, as I watched Calder delicately light another ferris cigarette. “Let us know if you need anything. I'll help you in any way that I can.”
Calder's red eyes followed me as I left. “I appreciate the sentiment, Kai. Thank you.”
The crew regarded us distantly as we left Calder's cabin without him. Of course, they'd always been somewhat distant from us, for they had a job to do and were constantly working together just to keep the ship sailing. I wondered if the recent events made them suspicious of us. After all, they were just as confused by everything as they had been the previous day, because Calder wasn't talking. And though I didn't fully trust the captain yet, I was not nearly as paranoid around him as I had been around the impostor Koby. There were still things about him that were mysterious, but then again, some people just had that air about them.
Calder left his cabin the day after our talk, and returned to oversee his ship. I overheard him apologize to his crew for his absence, as if he needed to be sorry for mourning someone who had always been there in his life. The crew was in the midst of mourning Koby as well, for the two Alderi men seemed to have found a following of loyal sailors who had also become friends.
My friends and I attended Koby's funeral and burial at sea, which was held the day after Calder returned to his wheel. We stood on the crowded deck as his corpse was carried out, wrapped in a shroud. The stench of death was heavy in the air following his body, and I could tell the sailors were right. This man had been dead since we were in Killick, for the advancement of his body's decomposition smelled much like the zombies Cerin and I would often raise.