Spirits of Falajen

by Ginger Salazar

  The task at hand required very little mental presence, and Etyne found his thoughts wandering for the first time in months. Normally, every thought and action was focused on the present task. He rarely wondered about other people or thought about his future. Marinelle, his lover back in Res’Baveth, had barely crossed his mind since the last letter he had sent out to her. However, the more time he spent with his combat partner, the more he caught himself thinking about the wrong woman. Never one to talk much, he wasn’t particularly interested in keeping most people around, and he had never needed more than a handful of close companions. But Brisethi Sen Asel challenged him with her thought-provoking banter on why she felt the need to travel the world and gain influence. She balanced her humor and recklessness with authority and tactics in every challenge or task she faced. Etyne had especially enjoyed listening to her and Antuni trade quips with one another, often sending their whole group into an uproar of laughter. Although she had a hard time recollecting factual knowledge from school, her common sense and quick decision-making had been more influential than repetitive text-book intelligence. He had begun to admire their unique friendship, often seeking her company. When did I start to consider you my friend? He asked himself.

  Etyne ceased his daydreaming when he noticed the other sailors had already completed their tasks and were heading back down to the shore. He peeked over the edge to shout at Brisethi, but the sound of her voice caused him to pause. The song she was singing was one he only heard once at the Citadel’s Sanctuary and had been longing to hear again. He was reluctant to disturb the peace she had found.

  “I’ve seen my destiny; it’s far greater than one can imagine,

  “To the gray with the fates,

  “Spirits guide me, empower me, give me the courage

  “To take sovereignty among the gods of men.”

  She looked up when she realized she was the only one still painting. Etyne nodded at her and began to pull her back up.

  “You do know what that song is about, right?” he asked, helping her climb onto the edge.

  “Of course I do,” she replied. “Sentiar Asellunas created the Dominion and intended to rule the world. Someone needs to finish what he started,” she grinned.

  “Why are your hands wet?” He looked at his hands after letting go of hers to find them covered in red and black paint. Before he could move, she quickly patted his face with both of her hands, laughing hysterically. Etyne attempted to return the favor, but she saw it coming and quickly sidestepped his hands. “Real professional, Sen Asel,” he sarcastically remarked as he attempted to wipe the paint off with a rag.

  When she was done laughing she finally spoke. “We can’t always be serious or we’d forget why we’re even fighting to stay alive. If the small things in life that make us smile are suddenly taken away forever, then why even fight for a life if not to live it?”

  They hiked down to the shoreline, and both began washing paint off of their skin.

  “I’ll remember those words next time we’re doing another project together,” he smirked.

  “I hope you do, Vorsen. You need to lighten up once in awhile. Everyone’s so serious all the time.” She climbed into the row boat where Korteni and Antuni had been waiting for them. The other dinghies had all left already.

  “Everyone’s serious because nobody wants to follow your example and end up getting launched off the ship by Master Chief Braul,” Vorsen quipped.

  Korteni and Antuni dissolved into laughter.

  “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you? It was seven months ago.” She pouted and took a seat next to Korteni to allow the men to take the oars.

  “It will be five hundred years from now when I’m still reciting the story to my grandchildren of the day Petty Officer Sen Asel was hurled off the deck of the DSV Reliant by the most malicious Master Chief to ever enlist into the Dominion Navy,” Etyne said with a grin. He and Antuni effortlessly began rowing the boat back to the ship.

  “Will any of us even talk to one another in five centuries?” Korteni asked, shivering a little from the autumn breeze.

  “Nope,” Brisethi abruptly replied. The sad look on Korteni’s face instantly had her elaborating. “As General of the Dominion, I’ll not have time for petty banter with you lot when I’m trying to occupy other continents.”

  “I hope you’re kidding,” Korteni replied, re-adjusting her uncomfortable headpiece to take her mind off the cool breeze.

  “I’ll be Emperor Crommik in about three centuries, trying to prevent Sen Asel from becoming a power-hungry dictator, which means I’ll also have no time to talk with the rest of you lesser-than’s,” Antuni said loftily.

  “Resarians aren’t insane enough to vote you into the throne, Crommik,” Korteni mockingly glared at him. Their boat peered around the edge of the island allowing their ship to finally be in view.

  “Hold on,” Etyne stopped rowing and silenced the others. He stood up slowly to keep his balance, glaring at a ship that had pulled up alongside theirs. “That’s not a Dominion ship,” he muttered.

  “Is it Kiaran?” Korteni squinted to get a better view of the banners on the foreign ship.

  “I’m not certain; I’ve never seen a Kiaran ship, have you?” He didn’t wait for her reply. “I’m going to summon a distortion field around us so they can’t see us approaching.” Etyne brought his arm up to cast his spell on the row boat and its occupants. The air around them suddenly shifted, as if they were looking through faceted crystals. Etyne’s spirit mystic had created particles forming a shield that appeared on the outside as a blurred diffraction. Although Antuni, Korteni and Brisethi couldn’t see clearly through the shield, Etyne’s vision was enhanced and magnified. He peered at the two ships.

  “Falajen’s spirits,” Etyne whispered. “They’re taking the commander and everyone else into binds and leading them down the main ladder well. They just look like pirates, probably taking our people to the brig. Why aren’t they fighting back, though?”

  “You seem awfully calm about a ‘few pirates’ holding our people hostage,” Korteni murmured.

  “What’s the plan, Petty Officer Second Class Vorsen?” Brisethi asked with the slightest hint of bitterness. She had still not earned her rank back.

  “Hey, he’s not the only second class here,” Antuni reminded her defensively.

  “Since becoming Navy, you haven’t exactly excelled at leadership, Crommik,” Brisethi remarked when she remembered how much he complained about swimming.

  “You are so salty right now, you lowly third class!” Antuni chuckled.

  “Damn right, I’m salty,” Brisethi crossed her arms.

  “Children, focus!” Korteni interrupted. “This could be as bad as that night we were attacked. Except, this time, you can’t just summon molten lava through the decks of DSV Reliant to save us, ‘Sethi.”

  “We don’t need her lava, we can use actual weapons, and the training Sergeant Vilkinsen gave us,” Etyne interjected. “I’ll keep us under illusion while we row to the aft of our ship. I can reach the deck and lower the ladder for the rest of you once I’ve scouted the area and taken care of any threats.”

  “How are you going to reach the deck? Climb the hull?” Brisethi asked.

  “Mystics, how else?” Etyne gave her a funny look.

  Antuni lost his composure and laughed abruptly. “Damn, ‘Sethi, even I knew not to ask such a stupid question.” He took every advantage to give his friends grief.

  Etyne silenced everyone with a finger to his lips to initiate their stealthy reclamation of the Reliant and her crew. When the row boat was within arms’ reach of their ship, Etyne used his spirit’s mystic once more and vanished.

  “That skill would have been useful when he was getting his ass beat three years ago,” Brisethi murmured while staring in awe with the others.

  “I fucking heard that,” Etyne whispered loudly when he rematerialized on the ship.

  Etyne remained under the cover
of his distortion shield, unsheathing his dagger to ready his attack. The overcast sky had darkened as storm clouds formed unnaturally fast overhead. Etyne assumed that Korteni was using her mystic of water to create helpful distractions. He began to wonder why the Commander and Master Chief didn’t defend themselves against a group of bandits by activating the ship’s defenses.

  Although he had been on the way to assassinating the pirate captain, he changed directions, thinking it better to investigate his crew so as to avoid putting them in more danger. He descended the ladder well until he was on the third deck where he’d seen the captives taken. There were only two pirates guarding the prisoners, chatting to one another. Etyne stealthily ran up to the closer guard, dematerializing from behind and knocked him out with a blow to the head. Before the other guard could move, Etyne swiftly jabbed the man’s throat with the side of his hand then bashed the man’s face into his knee, knocking him unconscious. His intent wasn’t to kill them just yet, only to render them useless.

  He grabbed the keys then hastily walked over to the cell where Master Chief Braul and Commander Nessel were restrained. “Master Chief, what happened?” He was glad there were only three keys to try and naturally, the last key he tried opened the cell door.

  “Vorsen, before you do anything else, I need you to go rescue your six shipmates on the other ship. They were taken hostage. Their lives are in danger,” Master Chief Braul quietly yet sternly explained.

  “Aye, Master Chief,” Etyne replied.

  “Who do you have with you? Crommik, Pyraz and Sen Asel?”

  “Yes, Master Chief. They’re still on the boat until I secured the area enough to bring them onboard.”

  “Send Crommik and Pyraz here to help with defense. Take Sen Asel with you to the enemy ship as firepower while you rescue the others,” Master Chief Braul ordered with the consent of Commander Nessel.

  “Aye, Master Chief,” Etyne nodded. He handed the keys over and re-activated his incorporeal form to swiftly travel throughout both ships. He counted how many pirates were on both the enemy ship and their own. He disengaged from his spell on the top deck, where he disposed of two more pirates with a dagger to their throats, tossing them overboard. Rain began to fall from the clouds above as he mentally thanked Korteni for the cover. He dashed to the aft of the ship where the row boat had remained.

  Etyne deactivated his distortion shield from the row boat and its crew and lowered one of the ladders nearest them. He directed Korteni and Antuni, repeating Master Chief’s orders to them. They quickly ran off, then Etyne told Brisethi of her orders.

  “Firepower?. Let’s do this. Turn us into spirits,” Brisethi quietly ordered.

  Etyne hesitated. “Wait. I’ve never used my incorporeal mystic on someone else. I don’t even know if it’s possible.”

  They were both standing under a partial overhang of the cabin’s roof, out of sight of the windows. The wind picked up, blowing rain sideways, drenching the two recruits.

  “Well, try it anyway. What could go wrong?” She was in a hurry to incinerate some pirates before the rain made it impossible.

  “Sen Asel,” he said as though addressing a young child, “when I use my power to become ‘spirit-form’, I de-materialize my vessel. That’s how I was able to instantly transport to the deck from the boat. I take apart my physical structure and store the particles into my spirit, practically becoming vapor. I’m almost certain that your spirit would be unable to do the same if I were to cast the spell on you. I can’t fathom storing your dematerialized body into my spirit, either.”

  Brisethi bit her lip to hold back a suggestive remark that would have made her laugh, but not him. “You’re right. I don’t want to be your first victim to accidentally die from your dematerialization mystic. Just shield us with distortion, then?”

  “You can’t turn yourself into a small flame or something?”

  She gave him the same funny look he had given her earlier. “That’s probably the dumbest thing you’ve ever asked, Vorsen.” She then looked up to the sky when a thought came to her mind. “I can create a diversion, however.” She concentrated briefly. A burst of lightning struck the mast of the pirate ship as the sound of thunder reverberated throughout the air.

  “Lightning? You can summon lightning?” He tried not to shout, impressed by her quick decision and astonished by yet another of her skills.

  She smiled innocently. “The fire isn’t going to spread, though, thanks to this rain,” she stated. She had to fuel her own flames all around the pirate ship’s mast to overcome the damp boons, sails and ropes with her powerful mystics.

  “It will keep them from noticing the blur of our silhouettes running across the gangplank. It’s not the complete invisibility I’d like to use on us, but it’s better than having you seen out in the open,” Etyne said, taking her hand in his to keep her close under his mystic’s shield.

  In the stealth of his mystic, the two Resarians swiftly crossed the slippery deck and the narrow gangplank that connected the two ships. The storm’s growing ferocity made the sea rough and the going tricky. The moment Etyne and Brisethi reached the brig, after dodging out of the sight of panicked bandits who were trying to escape falling, flaming debris raining down upon them, Etyne dissipated his shield to allow Brisethi to target her attack.

  Only one guard had remained in the area of the brig when the alarms sounded. His expression was slack-jawed as he tried to figure out what had just materialized before his eyes in the passageway.

  Before the pirate could come to his senses, Brisethi let loose her crimson flames upon the guard, instantly melting his skin and sinew down to his bones. Etyne retrieved the keys, nearly burning his fingers on the metal after the heat of Brisethi’s fire. He cursed to himself for not taking the flames into consideration and dropped the keys. Ibrienne and two others shouted their thanks, knowing they had been close to going down with the ship if the fire wasn’t extinguished.

  Petty Officer Second Class Trenn gave a slow clap with a bored expression on his face. He wanted the others to know he was not impressed. Brisethi half-heartedly considered leaving him behind. The Dominion Creed tugged at her in the back of her mind to not “accidentally” set him a flame.

  “How’d you end up in here? Why didn’t you use your mystics to defend against a few dozen pirates?” Brisethi asked Ibrienne.

  “Don’t tell her!” Sulica interjected. “She’ll snitch and get the whole division reprimanded.”

  Brisethi rolled her eyes. “That’s completely false. No matter, though. I’m sure at least two of you have conjured quite the elaborate story to debrief to Master Chief and the Commander.”

  Ibrienne was terrified of the unforeseen reprimand. They hadn’t devised a fabrication and knew she would pour out the truth to Master Chief Braul. If I tell ‘Sethi, she will take the blame as she always does. She seems to welcome the physical reprimands. I wonder if she’s a masochist?

  Etyne checked to see if the keys were cool enough to touch and finally unlocked the cell door, allowing the six recruits to escape. Ibrienne gave them both a tight hug, overjoyed to see them again.

  “Everyone, stay behind me. Sen Asel, fire away at the front,” Etyne ordered while summoning his distortion shield on the rest of the group.

  “Aye, Petty Officer,” she muttered out of respect. She moved to stand in front of the others, further distorting the air around them with the heat from her hands readying her mystics.

  Most of the bandits were still in a state of alarm, scrambling about in attempt to save their burning ship. Embers and flaming debris continued to crash to the deck from above, so that even the Resarians had to move quickly while staying out of sight. The more alert of the pirates fired muskets in Brisethi’s direction. She was forced to duck and roll behind Etyne’s shield as she countered by sending a ball of fire back at them. She continued igniting any pirate in her line of sight, shooting fireballs at the deck near their feet, forcing several of the enemy crew to jump overboard to
avoid the flames.

  Etyne guided Brisethi from behind to the opposite side of the heavily trafficked gangplank so that the recruits could board one of the pirates’ row boats. Trenn and Etyne lowered the boat while Brisethi continued causing chaos and destruction to keep the foes away. The ladder was lowered with the row boat as Trenn oversaw his five shipmates safely descend to the rough ocean waves below.

  Trenn was the last to go as he shouted, “Come on, Vorsen, waiting on you!”

  “I can’t leave Sen Asel!” Etyne shouted back.

  “She can take care of herself against pirates! She’s lighting them up!”

  “I agree, but she’s still my responsibility.” He left the area to seek out his combat partner. It was easy to find the battle so long as he followed the bursts of red flame shooting through the sky, igniting the remaining masts.

  “Sen Asel, what the fuck,” Vorsen knelt down beside a puddle of blood that Brisethi was kneeling in, one of her hands propping her up against a crate. “This better not be your blood.”

  She held her side with her other hand and looked up at him. “I’ll live, I’m just hiding out until the ship sinks,” she grimaced.

  “You’re terrible at holding your breath,” he reminded her. “You’ll definitely drown, silly.” He took off both of their neckerchiefs and tied them together around her waist and hip, applying pressure to her puncture wound.

  She groaned at the pain. The musket shell had pierced through her skin, and she prayed it would only be a flesh wound. “Ugh, it hurts, I’d rather be stabbed!”

  “Can you walk?” Etyne helped her to her feet.

  She nodded as she leaned into him but couldn’t keep up with Etyne’s speed. He ended up picking her up like a child and running faster to dodge the last of the three masts coming down on the ship. She held onto his neck and summoned a flurry of flames behind him, though she was certain all pirates had been killed or already abandoned the ship.