by Jeremy Dwyer
When they were done, Amaltheia called out: “Erikkos, now you must come to me with your sweet voice.”
Amaltheia then coupled with Erikkos, so that his seed could also be within her, and she brought him considerable pleasure, while satisfying her own powerful urges.
She was already expecting a child, but she wanted to use these men as much as she could in pleasure before the time of mothering came, when she would be tired and drained by the child’s needs.
When the pleasures had come to a pause, Seleukos used his powers of light to discover the next sign hidden within the mausoleum – a marker made of carefully arranged human remains. He decoded its meaning – according to the secret symbols of the Explorers of the Quiet Sea – and then said: “It leads to Waderav.”
Days and weeks passed, and they booked passage to Waderav, traveling over the Nabavodel Ocean to get there. When they arrived, they sought out the next hiding place, hoping to find a fellow explorer. Instead, they spent weeks searching through the burnt forest until they found a cave. The flames that had earlier devoured large sections of woodlands made it difficult to identify and reach the hiding place. Within the cave, they found another marker that was a peculiar and hideous arrangement of human remains that was distinctive, so they knew this was the proper location where another Explorer of the Quiet Sea had previously been.
“The Colossal March Warpath,” Seleukos said, reading the marker.
“I do look forward to seeing those marvelous statues yet again,” Amaltheia said.
“Is there any meaning to those statues, or is it all legend and myth?” Erikkos asked.
“The meaning is unknown, but worth pursuing, some day. Their architecture is what impressed, and their great number was even more impressive, as if they were an army,” Amaltheia said.
“Don’t discount myth and legend as the absence of meaning. They call out to the soul, and ask deeper questions. The fables that surround them could be as important as the factual history, because those tales reveal something of the people who tell them,” Seleukos said.
“I agree – a good story can be enjoyed, true or not,” Amaltheia said.
“Even when the truth is discovered, the story still has its place,” Seleukos said.
“Some mystery should always remain. Like whose child I carry,” Amaltheia said.
“How far along are you?” Erikkos asked.
“Just one (1) month. Do I look more?” Amaltheia said.
“Looks can be deceiving. The paternity of the child will not be discernible,” Seleukos said.
“Or relevant. Only the curiosity matters, that the child may explore,” Erikkos said.
“And the proper choice of water, more than any other decision,” Amaltheia said.
CHAPTER 9: Pursuit of the Path to the Quiet Sea
Seleukos, Erikkos and Amaltheia made their way to a port on the northeastern coast of the continent of Waderav. From there, they booked passage on a ship heading southwest, then northwest, across the Nabavodel Ocean.
On board the ship, Seleukos stood on deck, where he listened and watched as the crew moved about. There was more than the usual number of light benders – Lujladia Ocean water drinkers, of course – that he was used to seeing. As he drank the same waters, he could see what they saw, enabling him to partially overcome the reduced visibility that slowed their navigation. The sky was like that at dusk, but perpetually so, as on their previous travels. This condition troubled him in that it made exploration more difficult – of course he could generate his own light, but that was not the same as the bright light of day. However, it also made for a curious question of why the skies remained dark.
What puzzled Seleukos more was the talk he overheard from the crew and other passengers about those who drank the Atrejan Ocean waters. Ordinarily, those drinkers could hear the movements and positions of the stars and thereby navigate quite efficiently. However, now they were unable to do so, because they felt dreadful, life-threatening pain and horrid sounds coming from above. No one knew why, and it had been growing worse.
~~~
Inside the ship’s cabin they had paid for on their voyage, Amaltheia enjoyed the carnal pleasures of Erikkos even further, until she became tired due to her pregnancy.
“The child is growing quickly,” Amaltheia said, sitting up on the bed, holding her hand over her belly.
“The voyage is not going quickly. We’ve been going for four (4) days. It should have been two (2), at most,” Erikkos said.
“Ask Seleukos what he can see at a distance,” Amaltheia said, fading into exhaustion as she spoke.
Erikkos left the cabin and went on deck to find Seleukos.
~~~
Out on deck, Seleukos looked out at a distance – over one hundred ten (110) miles – and he could see the Colossal March Warpath land bridge growing larger as they approached. It had a busy port with many ships, mostly transporting cargo and few passengers. His far sight powers given by the Lujladia Ocean waters he drank were very finely tuned – more than those of most – and he could ascertain many details, including caves in the mountains above sea level. He thought that he caught a glimpse of someone hidden, because his vision also penetrated into the deepest darkness, and not just the darkness of the twilight sky.
Erikkos caught sight of Seleukos on deck, but only after Seleukos already noticed him and held up his hand, gesturing for Erikkos to approach slowly and quietly.
Erikkos waited several minutes before Seleukos said to him: “This situation is more than darkness: the stars cannot be read, and it is getting more intense over time. Anyone who tries to sense them by drinking the Atrejan waters feels searing pain. I’ve heard that a few navigators have fallen over from the pain and drowned at sea.”
“If you look to the sky, what do you see?” Erikkos asked.
“A dark presence accompanying each of the suns, partly obscuring it from view,” Seleukos said.
“What of it?” Erikkos asked.
“It is impenetrable, even by my light. I can see that it is there, and it accompanies each of the suns,” Seleukos said.
“This is making our travels slow and thus our explorations less productive, so we should seek to limit it, or to end it,” Erikkos said.
“Or to understand it. There is something more to be seen when we arrive, which will be soon,” Seleukos said.
“Amaltheia is greatly tired by the child. She will need more rest after this voyage,” Erikkos said.
“Perhaps you should give her rest,” Seleukos said.
“Are you now displeased at my relations with her?” Erikkos asked.
“You have lost your focus to lust. That may cost you your life, and limit your perceptions,” Seleukos said.
“Have you applied this thinking to limit your own relations with her?” Erikkos asked.
“I am not in her favor nearly so often,” Seleukos said.
“Often enough that she has cause to wonder,” Erikkos said.
“We will arrive in a day. It is time to rest for all of us,” Seleukos said.
Erikkos and Seleukos returned to the cabin they shared with Amaltheia. There, they actually rested, preparing for the walk ahead once the ship reached the land.
The following day, Erikkos, Seleukos and Amaltheia left the ship and went onto the Colossal March Warpath land bridge. Dozens of large statues – each standing over one hundred (100) feet tall – were positioned throughout the port. Thousands (1000) and tens of thousands (10000) more extended in different directions along the coast and up into the mountains.
“The statues are impressive. I can understand why you wanted to see them again,” Erikkos said.
“I want to sit down,” Amaltheia said.
“Now, you’ve lost your focus,” Seleukos said.
“No. It’s because I’m pregnant! Did you forget?” Amaltheia said.
“That must not get in the way,” Seleukos said.
“Carrying a child is work. You try it some time,” Amaltheia said
.
“We’ll help you in some other way,” Seleukos said.
“Here’s a way: hold my hands,” Amaltheia said to both of the men, who then did as she asked.
“We’ll lend you physical support, of course,” Erikkos said.
“Where are we going?” Amaltheia then asked.
Seleukos drank anew of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean from his vial and was energized further with the powers of light. He looked up the side of the mountains and spotted the cave from earlier. Only, this time it was clear to him that there was someone hiding inside.
“There,” Seleukos said, gesturing with a nod of his head.
“Up the mountainside? I don’t know if I can make it,” Amaltheia said.
“We will hold your hands the entire way,” Seleukos said.
“When we get to the top, I’m going to sit for a long time,” Amaltheia said.
“Perhaps. Yet, let’s move quickly. Time to show some muscle, young man, and help her,” Seleukos said.
Seleukos and Erikkos held Amaltheia by the hands and escorted her along a rough pathway leading up the mountainside. They made their way to a cave and saw a single man standing there, except that Seleukos saw a pair of men.
Seleukos looked at the man who was not in the darkness and said: “Well met, fellow explorer. I am Seleukos. This is Erikkos. She is Amaltheia.”
“I am Pandaros,” the man who was not in the darkness said.
“Who is the man in the dark, holding the candles?” Seleukos asked.
“That is Abrax,” Pandaros said.
“What of the lights that he holds?” Seleukos asked.
“We have much to talk about. These are the luminaries of old, and their lights bring darkness, which is why the skies are those of dusk,” Pandaros said.
“Candles are bringing the darkness everywhere?” Erikkos asked, surprised.
“It is more than darkness. Even the sounds of the stars no longer give knowledge of their path: those who listen feel only pain,” Seleukos said.
“In pursuit of knowledge, the pain is of little concern,” Pandaros said.
“It’s more difficult to find what we seek, when the skies are dusk and ships take far longer to navigate without the stars to guide them.” Seleukos said.
“That is a lesser concern. In the darkness, knowledge can be found,” Pandaros said.
“What knowledge do you believe is contained in darkness such as this?” Seleukos asked.
“Knowledge that can be gained when the world is plunged into confusion, which leads people to war, and annihilation of each other. Without the distraction of their existence, and their meddling, we can have the Quiet, wherein many secrets will be revealed,” Pandaros said.
“You’re not yet sure, then,” Seleukos said.
“If I were sure, then I would already have the knowledge, rather than seeking it,” Pandaros said.
“Perhaps that is true. What is it you drink?” Seleukos asked.
“Zovvin. Lujladia for you, no doubt,” Pandaros said.
“Indeed,” Seleukos said.
“Kazofen,” Amaltheia said.
“Pirovalen,” Erikkos said.
“Perhaps you could be of assistance to me in some way. These luminaries, only when lit, bring about the transition to darkness in which we can be free to find what we seek. Each adds to the obscuring of the suns, deepening the darkness, and bringing the Quiet closer. Yet, I do not have them all, and have met resistance in acquiring some of them,” Pandaros said.
“Resistance?” Seleukos asked.
“There are agents who know the power of the luminaries, and who have secreted them away for some time, even using false candles to mislead. A man who presides over a mining town in the Volaraden desert – Baron Ottokar – has one (1) of these,” Pandaros said.
“To see that deep darkness and Quiet which the luminaries might yet help to reveal, we should have use of this other luminary, if only for a brief time, before resumption of normal day and night,” Seleukos said.
“That is not the only luminary that was denied to me,” Pandaros said.
“Where is the other luminary you were unable to acquire?” Seleukos asked.
“I lost it in a confrontation in the Wandering of Shadows. There was a man with blue fire and skin – one (1) of the Torches of Majesty, no doubt,” Pandaros said.
“That luminary is not likely to be recovered easily,” Seleukos said.
“They put up a good fight, but they’re not as powerful as some like to think,” Erikkos said.
“Where he took it, I do not know. Yet, there may be more,” Pandaros said.
“And how would you find them?” Seleukos asked.
“I have a way,” Pandaros said. At this, he drank anew of the waters of the Zovvin Ocean from his vial. He was then energized and reached out into the spirit world and called to the spirit known as Havatissa, but using a voice that only the spirit could hear.
A voice that only Pandaros could hear then spoke to him, saying: “Ssspeak, little man, that I may know your desssiresss.”
Pandaros then communicated back to him, saying out loud: “Reveal to me yet another luminary of old.”
“Whom will you sssacrificcce to me to pay for thisss gift of knowledge?” the voice asked, once again in a way that only Pandaros could hear.
Pandaros then said out loud: “Abrax: take the spiral blade and cut the growing child out of this woman as a sacrifice.” He did this while looking toward Amaltheia.
“If that is for the best, then I will do so,” Abrax said, and he emerged from the cloak of darkness he had generated around himself using the powers he gained from drinking the waters of the Ikkith Tar Ocean. Then, he held up the spiral dagger that he kept in his belt and prepared to pierce Amaltheia’s pregnant belly with it.
“No!” Erikkos said, holding up his hand to protect the baby within Amaltheia.
“This child has a use to us, and your sacrificial victim will need to come from elsewhere,” Seleukos said, holding up his hand to block Abrax.
“Who, then, shall be the sacrifice?” Abrax asked.
Amaltheia looked at Pandaros with venom in her eyes: she did not trust this man in the least, even if he were a fellow Explorer of the Quiet Sea. She believed that you didn’t kill your own, and he was too ruthless for her tastes, lacking any sense of loyalty.
“Which of you is the father?” Pandaros then asked.
“It is a mystery, and shall remain that way: to all of us, even to you,” Amaltheia then said.
“Very well. Then I shall sacrifice a victim along the way,” Pandaros said.
“You mussst kill thirteen (13) in your travelsss for it to be enough. My hunger growsss and I tire of waiting,” the voice said in a way that only Pandaros could hear.
“As required, I shall kill thirteen (13) on my journey in sacrifice to you. Now, reveal to me the secret,” Pandaros said out loud.
The voice then spoke, in a way that only Pandaros could hear, saying: “In Ihalik, a preccciousss gem merchant named Mercator hasss the luminary. Take it from him that you may have it, and then take thirteen (13) livesss that I may have them.”
“I will travel to the continent of Ihalik. There, I will meet a man who has yet another luminary. As there is darkness, and that is a land of many swamps and marshes, it would be best for Seleukos to join me and give his light,” Pandaros said.
“I will go to the desert in the continent of Volaraden, and meet with this baron, and take the luminary which he keeps secret, but that you were unable to obtain,” Erikkos said.
“He has armies. How will you confront him?” Pandaros asked.
“I have ways. And they don’t involve putting a knife into her belly,” Erikkos said.
“Your loyalty may fade if the child’s paternity is determined to be other than you,” Pandaros said.
“It’s not going to be determined,” Erikkos said.
“The baron will anticipate your arrival, and attempt to thwart or dece
ive you. He has been alerted to our interest in the luminary because I have already visited with him, and he attempted to intimidate me, and then sold to me a counterfeit,” Pandaros said.
“Leave that to me,” Erikkos said.
“Abrax, you shall remain here and continue to guard the luminaries,” Pandaros said.
“Amaltheia, you should remain here with Abrax, and rest. I will accompany Pandaros, that we may meet with this merchant and deal with him to obtain the luminary in his possession,” Seleukos said.
“No. Amaltheia should go with Erikkos, because she will be able to analyze the crystal structure of the luminaries, to separate those which are false from the one (1) that is true,” Pandaros said.
“I’ll go. That way, if he gets the urge to stick that blade somewhere, it won’t be in me,” Amaltheia said.
Erikkos and Amaltheia then left the cave, went down the mountainside and made their way to the port, where they booked passage to the continent of Volaraden. Following them down the mountainside, Pandaros and Seleukos also arrived in the port, and booked passage to the continent of Ihalik.
Abrax remained behind, slightly disappointed that he wasn’t able to use the spiral dagger. He drank anew of the waters of the Ikkith Tar Ocean from his vial to energize himself further. He then used the powers he gained to create a cloak of darkness around himself and the candelabra – which held the twelve (12) lit luminaries – yet again.
CHAPTER 10: Spirit of Terror on the Open Sea
Captain Tychon, as a ghost, was more fiendish than he ever was while in the flesh, as it imposed many limitations on his movements. Now he could enter into places in spirit form – passing through walls and doors – and temporarily take on a material form on the other side. In this way, he could torment his victims and return to his spirit form to dodge their retaliatory strikes.
The ghost of Tychon stood on the deck of the Obliteration, sailing upon the Zovvin Ocean, seeking out his next target. The skies were much darker now, which was no difficulty for him or his ghost crew. It was, however, a challenge for the living. The source of the darkness was unknown to him – and he had a mild curiosity as to its cause – but his primary concern was tormenting the living. Of these, his favorite target would be Captain Pradrock, who had held him in a binding due to their wager over the game, and who later evaded him with another maneuver. Vengeance would be sweet, but the ghost of Tychon would not settle for just that one (1) victim, and there would be many more before and after.
