by Thomas Green
Luna pulled out a few gold coins from her pocket to slam them onto the bar.
The innkeeper sighed, took the money and handed her the bottle.
She downed a half in one go.
‘Drinking will not get you away from your problems,’ the beast inside of her said.
I can’t know until I try.
‘You don’t have to go through every bad habit to verify it’s bad. Remember how it went when you were trying toxins?’
Right!
Luna reached into one of her many inner pockets, pulled out two molds of a black substance and swallowed them.
‘That’s not how I meant it.’
A pair of gentle arms wrapped around her from behind and the scent of myrrh weaved into her nose, making her mind go blank. “You could have said you needed time for yourself,” Miranda whispered into her ear.
What? She wasn’t supposed to find me! And she agreed when I told her I would be late!
‘How long did you expect her to wait?’
At least till the morning. It’s still dark outside!
‘That window on the wall is a painting. We’re underground, remember?’
This is unfair! The picture is too realistic!
‘There is a blue bear drawn inside it.’
See? Realistic! Anyway, now hush, I need to concentrate and form the best excuse I can think of.
Luna focused, but her mouth failed to form words, releasing but gibberish.
Miranda chuckled. “You don’t know when to stop, do you?”
Luna grunted. Shut up!
‘I said nothing.’
But you wanted to!
“Are you paid?” Miranda asked the innkeeper.
The man straightened into a textbook salute. “Yes, general.”
Miranda smiled. “At ease. Where did you serve, soldier?”
“Fourteenth Legion, ma’am.”
Miranda nudged Luna off the chair. “Let’s go home.”
What home? I am a wanted criminal everywhere I’ve been and you sleep in whatever Palai barracks is the closest. Luna tried to stand up. Her legs failed her, and she collapsed onto Miranda.
With an annoyed sigh, Miranda lifted Luna over her shoulder.
Luna did not bother to resist and let Miranda carry her up the stairs. When she opened the door to the outside, light pierced through Luna’s eyes, blinding her for long moments before her pupils adjusted.
The buzzing streets and the piercing sun suggested it was the afternoon rush.
Miranda carried her all the way to the Palai barracks where she washed her and put her into the pile of furs that made their bed.
I don’t deserve her. As she was falling asleep, she formed the image of the Palai symbol within her mind and focused on it. For my battle ends at dawn, the last dawn of my soul, the dawn of the thousand suns.
She woke up in her soul chamber, lying on her wolf while Lucas stood by the frozen waterfall, jar of wine in hand. Luna formed an awkward smile as she quickly arranged her mud brown hair and leapt down from Volk to face him.
He arched an eyebrow. “What’s this one about?”
“Ehh…” she formed an awkward smile. “I want to use the medium favor I have on you.”
“For?”
She scratched the top of her head. “I know I’ve already been enlisted in the special forces, but I don’t want to serve under Miranda. So I’ve been wondering if you couldn’t fix it.”
“Why?”
Luna’s cheeks flushed as she gazed into the ground. “It’s not that your daughter would be a bad commander or anything, but when I was young, James spent a lot of time telling me never to have a relationship with anyone from the same chain of command.”
Lucas laughed from the bottom of his heart, forcing Luna to smile. “Well, if I put you under Merewen, Miranda will find a way to sneakily transfer you, so I will have to place you in the navy.”
Luna gulped. She hated both salty water and fish. But she saw no alternative because the remaining option was to become a priest. “Okay, one more thing...” Her words got stuck in her throat.
He drank from the jug, waiting. As the awkwardness turned Luna’s color to the shade of an old tomato, she dug her nails into her palms and tried to stutter out the words. “The devil made of darkness that saved me in Illysaeas. It was you, wasn’t it?”
Lucas nodded and finished the jug.
Before he turned to leave, Luna steeled herself and raised her gaze from her feet to meet his. “Thank you. For that… and for giving me a chance. I know I will never be able to repay any of it… so all I can do is thank you.”
He waved it off with his hand. “It’s not worth mentioning.” He turned into pure darkness and blasted out of her soul chamber, disappearing in the Void beyond.
***
Within the stone chamber atop the Palai barracks, Luna woke up with a nightmare of a headache.
Miranda gently stroked her hair. “Feeling better?”
“I’m sorry, I… I don’t know what got into me.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I do… I thought it would be... easier?” She pushed herself onto Miranda’s body, letting its warmth calm her down.
“Don’t worry. Things will go alright.”
You lie so sweetly, but nobody in this world knows how the ritual will go. She hugged Miranda tight. “I wish you were right.”
Miranda sneered. “Stop overthinking it! Elias is good at what he does so he will complete the procedure without fault.”
Luna sighed. “I’m just a bit rattled.” I may have spent the past two months preparing for this, but that does not make this easier.
‘You must tell her.’
I can’t. I’ve been trying to force myself to say it, but I can’t do it to her.
‘You have to.’
Miranda pushed herself onto Luna, caught her head from the sides and dove in for a long kiss, making Luna forget everything else. “That’s natural. Are you sure you can do it?”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
They rose from the bed, dressed and walked to docks.
***
A single glance over the packed docks froze Luna’s heart. Akin to a shining ruby atop a pile of coppers, the massive three-mast galleon named Angry Judith dominated the docks. The golden symbol of a sword with wings, the symbol of Palai, shone on its garnet sails.
They approached the boat and announced their presence to the soldiers manning the ship. Within moments, they led them to the admiral’s cabin.
Admiral Elias la Grace was a tall man with a well-trimmed beard, sharp blue eyes, plain uniform, and an overly decorated hat. He welcomed them with a smile and offered them a seat by the table amidst his cabin. He prowled through the bookshelves-besieged room to grab a massive tome, a bottle of whiskey, and poured them each a glass.
He filled the classes and offered them to Luna and Miranda.
Luna stared into the brown liquid, hoping it would contain the strength she lacked, yet the one she so desperately needed. She down the glass and let him refill it. Her gaze stuck on the tome. “That’s a big book, sir.”
“Ah, yes, the rituals related to your kind aren’t well-described, but from what I had translated in this tome, I should be able to redo your spiritual bindings.”
Luna reached under her brigandine to pull out a stack of tied parchments covered by scribbles. “James gave me this and said you would need it, sir.”
“Please, skip the formalities.” Elias smiled and grabbed the parchments to study them during an awkward minute of silence. “These are the notes from how he made your original bindings, aren’t they?”
Luna shrugged. “He didn’t say.”
“This should be most helpful. The procedure of redoing your soul bindings will be neither pleasant nor pretty. You will be chained for an extended period of time, during which will my men feed and wash you.”
“How long will this extended period of time be?”
He shr
ugged. “Anything from days to years.”
Years… everything other than her being a wanted criminal would be gone by then. Everything but that and her entering the Order, which was mostly Miranda’s accomplishment. Luna gulped and dug her nails into her thighs. “I still want to do it.”
Elias smiled. “Let me walk you give you a quick walkthrough of the procedure.” He rose and led them through his ship to a large compartment deep inside its bowels. By the far wall stood a large metal capsule, held in robust, wooden construction. The capsule had a small door in the middle and looked to be made from a single piece of metal.
This must have cost a small fortune to make. She guessed it was another thing to thank Miranda for because her life wasn’t worth half the cost. Luna stared at the capsule, enthralled.
Elias led them to the open door, revealing the capsule’s insides. The place was four meters tall, had a foot-thick steel wall, steel grid in the middle and chain holders at the bottom.
Luna’s heart sank to her stomach as she drew in the cold, wet air full of the stench of damp wood and sweat. She wanted to run. She wanted to faint. She wanted to cry. Not here! Not now! Not when Miranda is next to me!
Elias stepped onto the grid. “This is the cell where the ritual will take place.”
Luna steeled herself and followed him.
“Your head will be held here in the middle, wrists here to the sides and legs caught by chains from the bottom,” he pointed out as he motioned toward the grid.
Luna measured the place with a gaze as calm as she could. “This grid isn’t tough enough to hold me.”
“The purpose of the grid lies in measurement and convenience. For the procedure itself, I shall encase your neck and wrists with about four to six inches of strengthened ice. Half an inch of my ice is enough to stop a ballista arrow so four inches should be more than enough.”
Luna gulped. This was the last point to change her mind. Once she would be sealed in the capsule, if Miranda walked away, she would never have the chance to see her again. She frowned, forcing herself to think about anything else. “This thing is deeper than how tall I am.”
“Intentionally so, for your body growth has been stifled. During this process, you will grow into your natural proportions, so leaving space for growth is a necessity.”
Miranda chuckled. “Ooooh… you might stop being a little bitch.”
Her laugh sent Luna’s heart back into her chest and heat into her veins. “Looks who’s talking! The few extra inches you got over me mean nothing!”
“If you ever did something with a man, you would have known how much of a difference can a few inches make.”
While the joke had no effect on Luna’s mood, Elias laughed. “Anyway, in terms of security, the room is airtight once the doors are closed, and they are enhanced by an aether trigger that will seal the door were the capsule to shake violently.”
“That means she will suffocate if it’s closed for too long,” Miranda said.
“There is enough air inside the room for at least a few hours, which is much longer than what drowning would take. Should the ship sink, the capsule will drop to the bottom of the ocean and stay there until fished out. The ensured death would not be a pretty death, so let us hope we do not face the eventuality.”
Miranda raised an eyebrow. “Weren’t you supposed to stay docked in Xona?”
“That is the plan, but you know how things work around the Order. There is a massive war on the horizon, so while I do not expect us to depart soon, fate may decide otherwise. The timeline I’ve set for redoing Luna’s spiritual bindings should have her in the recovery phase by the time the fleet leaves the port.”
Luna turned to her inner spirit. Why aren’t you stopping me from doing this?
‘I will consume you if we keep going as we have.’
Isn’t that what you want?
‘I used to.’
What happened?
‘I consumed my previous host, and it wasn’t what I imagined. I couldn’t turn into human shape by myself, so I had to hide in forests until I ambushed the wrong caravan.’
I would almost say you care about me.
‘You have been feeding me well. Keep going, and we will keep being friends.’
You like the comfort, don’t you? A warm bed, comfortable clothes, plenty of food… you got spoiled, didn’t you?
‘Maybe a little.’
Luna shook her head to snap back into reality. “So… I will eat by being fed while I defecate over myself to be cleaned by your men, hanging around immobilized and naked, all for potentially years.”
Elias nodded.
Luna shook her head. Panic flooded her veins, and all her instincts told her to run. Yet she remembered what Lucas told her back on the roof in Grimdawn. When you don’t know what to do, stand and fight.
And so she stood, biting her tongue to blood, so the pain calms her down. “When can we start?”
He motioned to a side. “Immediately. I had a cabin cleared out for you so you can deposit your belongings within. It’s at the end of the third corridor to the right.”
Too soon. Luna forced out an awkward smile and headed in the direction with Miranda at her heels. They entered the cabin and closed the door behind them. Luna undressed with a sad smile. “Well… guess that’s it.”
Miranda put her hand on Luna’s shoulder. “Not looking back, are you?”
“No. The last time I met James, he told me nothing but future matters. Somehow, it now puts me to peace.”
“Why are you telling me this now?”
This was her last chance to dig herself into Miranda’s heart so she would have at least one person after the ritual ended. And so she tried. She fought. “Because… because I want someone to know.” Luna sagged to a chair as she started crying. Miranda wrapped around to hold her from behind. “If I die there… I want someone to know who I was.”
“You are not going to die, Luna!”
Luna gripped her hands and tried to recompose herself if only a little. “For me to survive, James removed all blood from my body and replaced it with his. But that wasn’t enough… binding a werewolf spirit to a child is impossible, so he used a part of his soul to make it happen… he made me his daughter in every way there is.”
Miranda held her tight and whispered in her ear, “don’t worry… it will be alright.”
Luna reached into pants to pull out a wax-sealed envelope. “This is my letter to James. Please keep it… it will save your life if things go wrong.”
“I can take care of myself,” Miranda said but took the letter, examining the wax seal with the symbol of a rose.
“James was the great general of the armies of the Old Kingdom, of Strauss, the Immortal King himself. He fought and slaughtered dragons, conquered over half of the world, and wiped out eight entire races.
“I… I can’t express how much he and what he had done for me means to me. He is way more than a father, and I cannot go in without being sure you know how important it is. If something happens, James will find out. And then he will find you, and he will kill you if you don’t have the letter because he will think it was your fault. He still might, but this is the most I can do.”
Miranda kissed Luna on the neck. “Thank you. I will keep it.”
“There’s one thing I didn’t tell you. Who I am now is a blend of the wolf soul and mine, so I have no idea who will I be if I walk out of that cell. Nobody does.”
Miranda rubbed her back, forcing out a smile beneath her pain-filled eyes. “Oh, come on, you little puppy. You keep talking like this is the last time we see each other. I will come to see you every day so it will be alright.”
“I... I can’t do that to you. Please promise me you will never come to that cell after I’m put in.”
“There is no way I am just leaving you in there alone.”
Luna caught her head, forcing Miranda to look in her eyes. “Please, I can’t live with the idea of making you suffer… Promise me you won’t c
ome.”
Miranda pursed her lips and raised her chin. “No. Nobody should suffer alone, especially not you.”
“Please, I beg you to do this for me, please.”
“Oh, fuck this fucking shit. Fine. I promise I won’t come after you are put into it. Happy?”
Luna grabbed her, pushed her down and kissed her. The soft touch of her lips put her to peace while the gentle taste of strawberries lingered within her mouth after she detached. “Thank you… you have no idea how much this means to me.” She buried her head in Miranda’s chest and exploded into tears.
Miranda stroked Luna’s back. “There, there… it will be alright.”
“Miranda… I love you and no matter who will I be when it’s done, I will still love you.”
They sat in silence for a long while, and then Luna finished undressing, threw the white cloak over her naked self and walked to the steel capsule.
Elias awaited them by the door as he finished inscribing runes around the walls of the capsule. “Ready?”
Without a word, they entered.
Miranda scanned the walls with her eyes. “Got a spot where I can carve something myself?”
Elias pointed to a clean spot on the wall.
Luna stood in silence, staring at her bare feet. The cold steel of the grid bit into her skin as if it was made of sharp spikes. She felt so vulnerable, so weak she thought she would collapse at any moment.
Miranda approached the wall, drew her dagger, cut herself and used the bloodied dagger to carve a symbol into the steel, an oval for a face with four large horns, the symbol of the Faceless Goddess. She surrounded it with runes.
“Can we proceed?” Elias asked when she finished.
Miranda nodded.
Luna threw off the cloak and placed herself into the holds on the floor. Her neck went into the large shackle at the center and arms into rings by the sides. Using a ladder, Elias slid down under the metal grid and caught her legs into the heavy shackles, restricting her movements to a mere few inches.
He climbed back up and put a metal object inside her mouth, which made it impossible for her to close it.
“One more thing,” Miranda said and slid down the ladder. She wet her dagger in her own blood and rammed it into Luna’s heart. Luna shouted in pain and horror, her regeneration focusing on the heart.
