by Todd Herzman
Then he let his veil down.
All the thugs let their veils down.
Huon was faced with the full-force of a Legend’s essence, and each of the other thugs were Champions.
Even through surging fearlessness, Huon wanted to take a step back—but he didn’t. He stood his ground. How long could he get away with bluffing? He couldn’t give his own show of strength.
I disorientated that guard with roar, but that’s not going to work here, is it?
The leader raised a hand, surging a fireball to hover over his palm—the flames were blue. ‘Know when to quit.’ He cocked his arm back, slowly, all the while with that smile.
Huon clenched his fists on his sword hilt, digging his grip so deep his hand bruised.
‘I won’t ask a second time.’
Gale touched Huon on the shoulder. The boy Knight stepped in front of him, the coin purse in hand. ‘It’s not worth our lives, Huon.’
‘A wise kid.’
Huon hung his head. At least they’re not trying to enslave us. Maybe they could gain their passage another way, work on one of the ships… though Huon knew nothing of sailing.
Gale stared at the coin purse in his hand, then at the thugs. He sighed, and moved to hand over the gold.
‘Stop.’ A veil dropped from behind them—another Legend. But this one felt different—stronger.
Gale’s hand froze in mid-air.
A hard-heeled boot clicked on the cobblestones as the newcomer came into view. ‘A Legend picking on children?’ A woman, clad in flexible, close-fitting steel armour, walked right up to the lead thug. She had a sword at her belt, but didn’t move to draw it. At her shoulder, painted into the armour, were three red lines.
‘This isn’t your business, Sea Guard.’ The thug spat at the woman’s feet.
The woman stared at where it landed, raising an eyebrow. ‘Perhaps not, but when I see a dishonourable action I simply can’t help but correct it.’ She surveyed the three Champions, looking thoroughly unimpressed. ‘I’m a Legend of the Third Order, and more than just a Sea Guard.’ She tilted her head. ‘My name is Captain Avery—perhaps you’ve heard of me?’
The lead thug’s arm quivered. He looked to his Champions, but they were already backing away. If the strength of her essence hadn’t frightened them, her name certainly had.
The lead thug looked at the captain, then the coin purse still in Gale’s hands. ‘Not worth the trouble.’ He and his cohorts backed out of the alley, then sprinted off around the corner.
Huon stared at the woman. Her hair was cut short, and she didn’t look more than thirty—though at her advancement level, that would be difficult to tell. Huon bowed to her. ‘Thank you, Legend.’
Captain Avery raised an eyebrow at them. ‘What are the three of you doing alone in a place like this? You should be more careful.’
Liona stepped forward. ‘We were heading to the docks. We’re seeking passage off the continent.’
Captain Avery raised her chin, both eyebrows raised now as she looked Liona up and down. ‘How… unusual. You have a destination in mind out there in the unknown?’
‘Anywhere but here.’ Huon bit his lip, considering what he should say. The woman had saved them from being robbed, and by the sounds of it, she was honourable—not that Huon really knew what that meant. ‘Have you heard of what’s happening in Arisalon?’
The captain nodded. ‘That Everlasting King bastard?’ She looked at the three of them more closely. ‘You’re not from Ganadon.’
Huon shook his head.
She pointed at Gale. ‘He seems too young to be a deserter, but the two of you?’
‘We…’ Huon glanced at Liona—Liona nodded slightly. ‘We escaped the Everlasting King’s realm. And we want to go farther. We want to leave Harolan.’
Captain Avery narrowed her eyes. ‘I thought no one escaped that realm? Not sure why you’d be telling tall tales.’ She tilted her head to the side. ‘If you really want to leave Harolan, it’s no coincidence you bumped into me.’ She looked them each up and down again. ‘I’ve got room for two Champions.’ She nodded at Gale. ‘And perhaps a cabin boy—ships always need cleaning, after all.’
Champions… ‘What about three Knights?’
The captain chuckled, then shook her head. ‘You can’t be serious?’ When neither Huon nor Liona spoke, she stopped chuckling. ‘Really? Sorry, perhaps you’ll have luck on one of the merchant ships—I hope there’s a lot of money in that purse of yours. You’ll be hard pressed to convince anyone else to travel outside of Harolan, only the Royal Navy ever tries to go that far.’ Captain Avery began walking away, then waved over her shoulder. ‘Be careful where you step in a place like this—I won’t be there to save you next time.’
The woman disappeared in a flash of speed, the blur of her outline disappearing around the street’s corner. Now that Captain Avery was gone, and the three of them were alone in the alley again, Huon felt suddenly vulnerable. He’d run out of his fearlessness surge during the encounter with the thugs, and was starting to realise how close they’d come to death. Who knew what those thugs would have done if we’d refused them one more time, or if the captain hadn’t come to our aid?
‘Do you think she’s right?’ Gale asked. ‘That no one else travels outside of the continent?’
Huon shrugged. ‘You know far more about the world than we do.’
Gale frowned. ‘I suppose I’ve never heard of it happening… but I know there are other places out there—other lands.’
‘We should get out of here,’ Liona said, looking around. ‘And we should get me a sword.’
~
The dock markets were filled with people. The hustle and bustle reminded Huon of walking through one of Glenhaven’s markets for the first time, except the people here were far more varied. There were hundreds of ships in port, their sails in dozens of different colours and shapes. And this is just a town. He scrunched his nose—the place smelled intensely of fish. There were lines of the stuff at every second stall. But it wasn’t just fish that were selling at the docks. There were armour and weapon stores, stalls selling spices, blacksmiths plying their trade. There was even one stall that had tables full of glowing cores, with little slips of paper in front of each describing what they were.
Huon knew there had been core merchants back in the Everlasting King’s realm, but he’d never actually seen one of their stalls before. He stared at the cores intently as they passed, suddenly wishing they had an endless supply of gold so they could buy them all up—though he wondered how many of them would be Knight-level.
Gale did the talking. He seemed confident, conversing with these people. He must have been used to doing such things—though Huon imagined it was strange, doing it here and not in Landor. He negotiated what seemed to be a good price for a sword and shield Liona had picked out. When she hefted it, she shut her eyes and felt its essence. ‘It’s imbued with Champion-level strength. The essence won’t last, but it’s better than not having it.’
No one harassed them here, in the open market, but Huon couldn’t help but notice a few people noticing them—people who looked remarkably similar in their dress to the thugs who’d attacked them. The three Knights must have stood out. They would have outsiders here all the time. Was it because they were young? Alone? He touched Jakob’s ring. Maybe they can sense our weakness.
After they’d armed Liona up, they held off on purchasing armour, as they didn’t know how far Gale’s gold would stretch.
‘Now what?’ Huon looked at the ships in port. ‘Do we just bang on their doors one by one?’
As neither of the other two had a better idea, they did just that.
They spent hours doing it—and every single vessel turned them down, laughing at their request.
Apparently, the captain had been right—no one had left the continent for a thousand years. Oh, people had gone on expeditions, but no one had been known to actually return.
There was a rumour that Captain Avery’s ship was braving such an expedition.
The Ganadon Royal Navy—also known as the Sea Guard—tried it every ten years.
It wasn’t just ships that had been sent, either. The dragon riders that had braved the journey—always Immortals—had never returned. One sailor deep in his cups wouldn’t stop rambling to them about it. ‘Is suicide, attemptin’ the journey—even dragons die trying to cross the sea. Dragons!’
Captain Avery’s ship was pointed out to them. One of the biggest vessels in port. Its flag depicted two curved swords crossed on a shield. While the flag looked generic, somehow it remained distinct from the others—perhaps because the flag was blue, where most others were black, red or purple.
As they stood on the dock, staring at the three masted ship, Liona spoke up, ‘Perhaps leaving the continent isn’t the best plan… maybe there’s somewhere else we can go.’
‘How long will we have, if we remain here?’ Huon didn’t look at Liona—he couldn’t take his eyes off the ship.
‘I don’t know. But how long would we last out there? No one ever returns, Huon, that’s what everyone’s said. We’d be trading one danger for another.’
Huon lowered his head—she was right. They had no idea what was out there—what dangers lay across the sea. But there had to be more than this continent.
He recalled the words of the Celestial—what he’d said about their corner of this world—I have not been to this side of your little world in over a thousand years.
Your world.
Huon couldn’t begin to fathom what the man meant—were there truly more worlds out there?
But the other part of what he’d said, Harolan just being one side of the world… And that time frame—over a thousand years—was as long as the Everlasting King had been in power, as long as no one had seen a Celestial. Though Huon knew that part wasn’t true. He’d seen a Celestial, after all. But there must be a connection—a reason—why it has been so long.
Huon had been set on leaving the continent—they all had. But that had been before they’d known it was close to impossible. He was sure the safest place to be was far, far away from Harolan. But maybe this wasn’t the right choice—maybe the other countries would rally.
‘Liona’s right, Huon,’ Gale said. ‘We have no idea what’s out there.’
Huon nodded. They were both right, of course. But… he wasn’t ready to accept that. ‘I need time to think. Time to… figure out what we’re doing.’
Liona tilted her head at him, eyebrows pinching together. ‘What are you going to do, Huon?’
Was he that obvious? ‘I’m going to try to talk to the Celestial.’ He gripped his wrist, where the binding was. ‘He must know what’s out there.’
Liona walked up to him. ‘You told me you couldn’t contact him.’
‘That’s what he said, but… he must be able to hear me, right? I don’t understand how it works, but maybe… maybe he can help us. Maybe he can show me the right path.’ He wasn’t sure if that’s how the soul bond worked, but he hoped it was.
Huon didn’t want to stand around and debate this. It felt wrong, leaving the others—especially Liona—but he needed to find somewhere quiet… and the docks were not quiet. ‘I’ll be back here in an hour.’ Huon turned to leave. He headed back through the press of people—hundreds of surgecallers, all more powerful than him.
They might be more powerful than me, but versus the Everlasting King?
Huon still didn’t understand how the Everlasting King had grown in size—or even if he had—but whenever he closed his eyes he saw the giant surgecaller ripping through Arisalon’s massive wall with relative ease.
When he made it out of the marketplace, Huon stopped. Where was he going? Why was he leaving his friends? His heart raced. This had been their plan. Leave the continent. And they were already getting stopped.
He had his freedom; he wasn’t bound any more. Finally, his life was in his own hands—why was it so hard to decide what to do?
Once the streets were more clear, Huon triple-surged speed, running far from the market. After being in the city for what already felt like too long, it felt good to stretch his legs.
After a while of running, he found a quiet street. It looked to be some sort of square. There was a well in the middle, with a bucket at its top. He walked and sat with his back against it, putting his head in his hands. He didn’t close his eyes—he didn’t want to be caught unawares in this place. As quiet as it was, anyone could be lurking around the corner. What if those thugs came back? Huon didn’t have any money on him, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t hurt him just for the fun of it.
He look a long breath, focusing his mind as best he could. It was easier for his mind to gain the meditative state he needed than he thought it would be—everything just clicked.
Celestial, Huon thought into the universe, holding an image of the man in his mind. I need your guidance.
Nothing happened.
Huon repeated those words, again and again, surging his will as best he could—he even felt it, a trickle of essence somewhere in his core, essence unlike any of the others. Essence is everywhere, he thought, remembering the blacksmith’s words. That man was more right than he probably knew.
Eventually, Huon stood, brushing himself off. He took a canteen from his belt and lowered the bucket into the well, then brought it back up, filling his water. He took a long sip and just stood there, wondering what the right thing to do was.
‘You lot are determined, I’ll give you that.’
Huon whirled.
Captain Avery was standing right behind him.
Chapter 25
‘You must know now, leaving the continent isn’t the best idea if you’re trying to be safe,’ Captain Avery said.
Huon swallowed. ‘Why are you doing it, then?’
The captain tilted her head. ‘Because there’s something out there—and I want to be the first in a thousand years to find out what it is.’ She began pacing. ‘What’s a Celestial?’
Huon blinked. He stepped back, and his boot slammed into the brick of the well. ‘Were you listening to us?’
‘The three of you made me curious. You’re all…. outside of your element.’
She was following them? Why? Huon frowned. This woman, she must have travelled almost everywhere in Harolan. Sir Galen had heard of Celestials—she must have too. ‘Celestials are the rank above Immortals.’
‘That is the myth. But I heard your words—you want to speak with one.’ She narrowed her eyes, taking a step toward him. ‘You’ve met one, haven’t you?’
Huon bit the inside of his cheek. This is a bad idea. He rolled up his sleeve, revealing the soul binding at his wrist. ‘More than that—I’m bound to one.’
Captain Avery’s eyes widened. She grabbed Huon’s arm with a rabid ferocity. ‘Is this…’ After bruises appeared on Huon’s skin, she weakened her grip—though she didn’t let go. ‘This is a soul binding?’
Huon did all he could not to yank his arm back. He surged a trickle of stamina to heal the small bruises she’d left. ‘How do you know what that is?’
‘Because that’s what I’ve been searching for.’ Her eyes were intent—they didn’t slip from the binding.
‘May I have my arm back?’
‘Hmm?’ Captain Avery glanced up at him. ‘Ah, of course.’ Finally, she let go of his arm, though she still stared at it. ‘How do you have that?’
‘It’s a long story.’ Huon paused, wondering what he should do. Curiosity got the better of him. ‘That’s why you’re leaving the continent—you’re searching for a Celestial?’
She nodded. ‘Indeed. If the myths are true, they are far more powerful than Immortals. I want to know why no one has been able to reach such heights here.’
Huon raised an eyebrow. ‘It’s more than that, isn’t it?’
The captain’s gaze finally lifted from his binding, a
nd met Huon’s eyes. ‘Yes, it is.’ She tilted her head to the side. ‘You’re a Knight, and a teenager, how in the world did you meet a Celestial before me? I’ve been searching for them since… well, since before you could walk.’
‘Why are you leaving the continent when everyone who has never survives?’
Avery shook her head. ‘That is a sailors’ tale. There have been survivors… people have returned.’ Her eyes went distant a moment.
Huon didn’t like the way she said survivors.
‘Do you believe you’ll return?’
Captain Avery straightened, that stiff, soldierly demeanour she had when saving them back in the alley returned. ‘I believe I will return with honour, with secrets long lost to us.’
Huon lowered his head in thought, remembering Liona’s words: We’d be trading one danger for another. Could he speak on her behalf, on Gale’s behalf? Leaving the continent had been their plan—but they hadn’t known what risks it would entail when they’d made that plan. We won’t survive here. Liona would refuse to be oathbound again, and she would be killed for that refusal. He’d seen it happen—been forced to do the killing.
Gale might survive, if he chose to, but the life that greeted him on the other side of that bond would not be one he wanted to live—Huon had no doubt of that.
And Huon himself? He still had no idea what they would do to him if they saw his binding.
‘I’ll tell you my story, captain, if you grant us passage on your ship.’ He pursed his lip. If he were going to ask, he might as well ask for more than he thought he could get. ‘And, if you train us to advance.’ Huon surged breath. He didn’t want the woman to hear his breath shake—hear how unsure of himself he was.
Captain Avery seemed to straighten even more. ‘I am confident I will return, but I will admit that the odds are against me. My crew are a crew of volunteers—they follow me because they trust me. If you’re really just running from the Everlasting King, as you said, there must be safer options?’
Huon shook his head. ‘If you saw what happened at the capital of Arisalon… you’d know nowhere is safe.’