by A F Stewart
“I know. We are good, you and I.”
She smiled. “We are.” Shadows swirled from all the deep corners of the ship, converging on Bevire. She floated up and over the rail, ready to journey across the water to the Star’s Hope. She paused for a moment as she cleared the railing. “Though you still owe me a night’s sail, brother. Someday.” She smiled and sped away, trailing wind and wisps of shadow.
“Quite the adventure, sir.” Blackthorne appeared at his elbow carrying two small glasses of amber liquid. “I believe you said something about rum, sir.” He handed a glass to Rafe who grinned.
“I believe I did.” The captain took the glass and sipped. The liquor burned a welcome path down his throat. “So, what’s the damage? How long before we can sail?”
“Minor, sir, and, with the extra crew, we’ll be good inside of an hour or two. It’ll be longer, though, if you want to wait for Pelham. His ship took more damage.”
Rafe glanced at the position of the sun in the sky. “That may put the hour rather late.” Reluctantly he added, “Maybe we should consider staying in port at Raven Rock until tomorrow.”
“Begging your pardon, sir, neither crew wants to stay in port here for the night. However late the hour, as soon as we’re able, both ships want to sail. Even if we face night sailing. And Storm Point or the Stone Fire Islands aren’t that far.”
“Very well.” Inwardly Rafe smiled, relieved. He had no desire to linger at Raven Rock either.
“Sir.” Blackthorne’s voice paused, holding a note of unwillingness to voice his thoughts. Rafe waited patiently until the man continued. “Is this the end of our troubles? It seems not to me.”
Surprised, Rafe asked, “Why? Ashetus is dead. The worlds are safe.”
“Are they? The creature truly behind this, the Nightmare Crow, is still out there. And...” Blackthorne turned his head towards the sea.
“What is it?”
“Something happened during the battle. After the horn was destroyed. Bevire cast her shadows to hide us, but—It shouldn’t have stopped it, sir. Ashetus should have attacked. But it didn’t. And when the shadows vanished, Bevire seemed surprised. She didn’t lift them, and I don’t think Ashetus did either. I think some other force was at work. And...” He drowned the rest of his words in a swig of rum.
“And what, Blackthorne.”
“I think it was the Crow. I don’t think he’s done with us yet, sir. I don’t.”
Rafe sighed. “I wish I didn’t agree, old friend, but I fear you are right.”
Epilogue
THE WIND BLEW A HINT of salt air and the fresh smell of night blooming roses. Overhead, the soft light of an ever-shining moon sparkled its radiance among the treetops. A whoosh of air tracked a faint echo in the clouds, and the flutter of wings gently settled on a topmost branch of a tree.
The Nightmare Crow looked up at the moon and the pinpricks of stars in the canopy of the sky. He knew the name of each constellation, each luminescent gateway that dotted the black sky. He stared at them, their names itching on his tongue, the burning memory of his other home tumbling through his thoughts. He missed the sweet comfort of the stars.
He spread his wings and let out a breath. He spoke to the night, softly, sadly. “I should be there, beyond this cold, dark world. I should be in the light. I should be among the stars.” He fanned his wings, letting the wind ruffle his feathers. Then he cawed, harsh and strident, screaming to the world.
“I flew between heartbeats, between eons in time, along the pathways to see the shine of starlight! And now! Now?” The tree branch shook under the weight of his anger. “Now I am trapped in this form, cast aside like filth under your feet! Abandoned on this world! Shut away from the stars!”
The Crow closed his eyes and then opened them, calming his rage. He stared once more at the stars. “You did this to me. Hunter. Great and mighty. False friend.” He cawed, bitter anger in the sound. “You wronged me, Hunter. Wronged us all with your quest.” The Crow spat.
“You led us back down to this muck of a world, my brothers and I. We followed willingly. We trusted you.” The Crow’s eyes glittered in a sheen of tears reflecting moonlight. “All those years ago. You led us to death and then turned your back. Left me as this pitiful shell of what I was, and my brothers gone.” His wings swayed, fanning the air. “I know you can hear me up there in the stars. I know you see me. You think me weak, but no longer. I have taken back what was mine. I have avenged my brothers. Soon it will be your turn. My game is coming to its end.”
The bird chuckled and settled down to sleep. As he nestled to roost, head bowed, wings tucked by his sides, the wind blew through the leaves of the trees. Shards of radiance shone down from the sky, the reflected light of the moon and stars dancing diamonds over his black feathers.
A Brief History of the Gods
Interpreted from the Writings of Osratis
Property of Lord Merrill
In the Time of the World Before the Light, there was Death.
She ruled the lands and seas, and the world knew its place in Chaos.
In the Time of the World Before the Light, there was Eternal Night.
Darkness covered the land and seas in stillness and a timeless void.
THE CREATURES OF THE world existed between Death and Darkness, lost in a measure of shifting realms, of life outside the dominion of the beings we call gods. In the Night they drifted under muted Moon, voices calling, the static air singing to all: monsters, giants, serpents, misshapen things of terrifying beauty and more. And in the smallest part of this world lived mortal men.
How long the world of Death and Darkness existed no one knows. An eon, a second, a breath of time in an ocean of eternity. The world simply existed in life and its end and life reborn.
In the Time of the World Before the Light, there was Death.
And Death changed the world.
Death fell in love.
With whom or what is lost to time and memory, though some say he flew on the wings of shadow and nightmare. All that is known is a child came from the union of Death and her paramour. A being like her of shadow and night, of mortality and endings, but yet...a child of flesh and substance, a child of the corporeal world.
She named the child Ashetus.
Soon he would have another name.
Ashetus grew, as children will, as the darling of his mother, coddled, doted on, and loved. He followed her path through the world like a pup at his master’s heel. He watched her, saw Death in all her glory, studied mortal and monster alike as they fell into her arms with their last breath.
And he grew envious.
Envious of her stolen attention, jealous of her power. He craved what she had. He craved the touch of Death. He wanted to both embrace it and wield it. It festered in his soul, in his heart, this envy, this greedy desire. And slowly it ate at him, transforming him.
Until one day his mother looked upon him. Until the day Death truly looked upon what her son had become. That is the day the world changed.
I do not know you, my son.
You are beast! You are Abomination!
Death raised her hand to strike, but could not end her son.
Ashetus fled in the Eternal Night.
Fled into the faraway seas.
There, in the black waters, in the cold touch of Night, he succumbed to all his envy, all his greed, all his anger. There, he let loose his power. The perfection of his form shattered, giving way to monster, to eyes of crimson and grasping tentacles. To blood black and cold and skin a sickly green.
And he laughed.
Thus began his reign of the worlds, the reign of Ashetus.
The Terrible One.
In the Time of the World Before the Light, there was the Terrible One.
He stalked the lands and seas, and the world knew horror.
In the Time of the World Before the Light, there was Eternal Pain.
Darkness covered the land and seas in screaming and timeless torture.
Everywhere voices shrieked, calling for escape, for the end...
In the Time of the World Before the Light, the stars heard the screams.
In the Time of the World Before the Light, the Hunter answered the call.
He came riding on starlight from the sky, in the company of the three Shadow Birds. Into the Eternal Night, he came lighting the world for the first time. Past the seas turned blue, through the air now sparkling with radiance to land upon the ground fresh in emerald green. His feet hit the earth with a thunderous crack and the lands shook with the force of his power. The ground split asunder and flung chunks out into the seas.
This woke Ashetus.
When Light Came to the World, the Hunter battled the Army of Bones
When Light Came to the World, the Hunter battled the Terrible One.
The dead fell to the Horn of the Gods
The Shadow Birds died, save one.
Ashetus fell, wounded by the Bow of the Hunter.
It is said that Death herself appeared then as the Hunter raised his Bow for the killing shot. It is said she begged the Hunter to spare her son’s life. It is said the Hunter was moved by her pleas and showed mercy. Perhaps it is true, perhaps it is not. It is also said she begged him to kill her son, and he rejected her plea. Or the Beasts of the Realm begged the Hunter for the death of Ashetus, and he refused. Some even say that the Hunter heard no plea, gave no reason, simply refused to kill the beast.
The only truth we know is the Terrible One was imprisoned and the monsters—giants, serpents, and misshapen things—were banished to a place called the Archipelago of Nightfall, a place where the Eternal Night continued to exist.
The rest of the world was given to the mortals...
When Light Came to the World, the Outer Islands were born
When Light Came to the World, the Seven Kingdoms were born
When Light Came to the World, Death created the After World
When Light Came to the World, the Hunter gave us gods.
When Light Came to the World, the Hunter brought us his son.
When Light Came to the World...so did destiny.
Pronunciation Guide
A PARTIAL LIST OF NAME pronunciation
Manume –Man-You-May
Lynna –Lin-Ah
Bevire –Bev-ear
Abersythe –Ab-Er-Sigh-th
Llansfoot –Lans-foot
Amaratha –Am-Ara-Tha
Ashetus –Ash-et-us
Ulerne –Ool earn
Reis –Ray-iss
Jainna –Jay-na
Rafe’s Family Tree
Coming Soon...
Renegades of the Lost Sea
(Saga of the Outer Islands Book 3)
Saga of the Outer Islands
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Did you love Souls of the Dark Sea? Then you should read Ghosts of the Sea Moon by A. F. Stewart!
In the Outer Islands, gods and magic rule the ocean. Under the command of Captain Rafe Morrow, the crew of the Celestial Jewel ferry souls to the After World and defend the seas. Rafe has dedicated his life to protecting the lost, but the tides have shifted and times have changed. His sister, the Goddess of the Moon, is on a rampage and her creatures are terrorizing the islands. The survival of the living and dead hinge on the courage and cunning of a beleaguered captain and his motley crew of men and ghosts. What he doesn't know is that her threat is part of a larger game. That an ancient, black-winged malevolence is using them all as pawns…Come set sail with ghosts, gods and sea monsters.
Read more at A. F. Stewart’s site.
About the Author
A steadfast and proud sci-fi and fantasy geek, A. F. Stewart was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada and still calls it home. The youngest in a family of seven children, she always had an overly creative mind and an active imagination. She favours the dark and deadly when writing—her genres of choice being dark fantasy and horror—but she has been known to venture into the light on occasion. As an indie author she’s published novellas and story collections, with a few side trips into poetry and non-fiction.
Read more at A. F. Stewart’s site.
