Advent of Eternity - Long Interlude (Patreon)

Heya! This interlude goes right after chapter 28. (As a reminder, Ch. 28 was when Knell & the crew escape Blackfoot Bay and are sailing toward Silver Ridge.)

Enjoy some Knell backstory!

Blackfoot Bay faded into the horizon. The three of them watched it shrink behind them between tasks to make sure the ship was moving as fast as it could. Luckily, there seemed to be no sign of further pursuit.

None of them relaxed until that night, when they finally sat down on the deck, watching the darkening waves lap against their hull. It was a surprisingly calm day for all the chaos that had precluded it.

“Well… that was something,” Cyll said. “How about it, Moon-eyes? Feeling like we’ve done something exciting enough yet?”

Stix grimaced. “I never said I wanted exciting. But I’m with you all now, one way or another.”

“So you are,” Knell agreed. “Welcome to the crew. Officially.”

“Thanks,” Stix said. “Was that the welcome party?”

“It was. Did you enjoy it?”

They all laughed. It was slightly hysterical, and the stress and adrenaline from the day slowly left their bodies as they were left alone in the chilly, calm sea.

“I think now is as good a time to tell you as any,” Knell said.

“Tell me what?” Stix asked.

“You’ve been wondering what happened to my face and leg ever since we first met.”

“I never said anything!” Stix exclaimed. “That would have been rude.”

“But you were wondering.”

“Yeah,” Stix admitted. “I was. I just figured you didn’t want to talk about it.”

“To most, I don’t,” Knell replied with a shrug. “But you’re part of the crew now, as is Cyll. We really haven’t had a quiet moment in some time, and I honestly don’t know when we next will. I think you should know the source of my hatred for the gods.”

Stix swallowed and nodded. Even Cyll looked interested as he swung himself into a cross-legged position and leaned forward, his cold eyes transfixed on Knell.

“As you know, the Twelve Gods were shattered many years ago,” Knell started. “Broken into the Shards influence the world today.”

“They deserved it,” Cyll muttered.

“Can’t disagree there,” Knell said. “But that’s not the point. My parents were leaders of a mercenary company called the Last Laugh. Considering Cyll’s been in a dungeon for the last few hundred years and I think this is basically the first time Stix has left her forest, I doubt you’ve heard of them.”

They both stared blankly at him.

“Right. Well, it isn’t important. What is important is that my father was a brilliant tactician and my mother was an incredibly powerful fire mage. They led one of the strongest groups in the Shattered Sea and made a lot of enemies amongst the gods.”

“I can see where this is going,” Cyll said darkly. “One too many enemies, perhaps?”

“Quite so,” Knell said. “My father knew he’d angered the gods, but he didn’t care. I saw him kill half a dozen Scions himself, together with my mom’s help. But there’s only so long you can keep yourselves defended, especially once you have a child. Their company was constantly under attack and the assassins were going after the child – me – in addition to them. They had no choice, so they sought help.

They’d made enemies of shards of the goddess of the sky, the god of man, and the god of nature. There were just too many, and they were desperate. When a shard of the Goddess of Death, Mordrigal, showed up offering her protection, they had no choice but to take her up on it.”

Cyll’s lips pressed together, but this time he said nothing.

“At first, it went well,” Knell continued. “Mordrigal was a powerful Shard, and she kept the other weaker Shards away. She helped my father train me in strategy, helped me grow stronger, and taught me how to fight.”

“That… doesn’t seem so bad,” Stix hedged.

“That’s what they thought as well,” Knell said grimly. “When I was sixteen, Mordrigal started pushing me to do more. To draw more power and press deeper than I had. My parents didn’t want me to, but she insisted. I, foolishly, thought that there would be no reason for her to betray us. We were on the same side, after all. Mordrigal had been helping us for years. And so I listened. You see, before I became Mordrigal’s Scion, my original Path was a Flame Sage, just like my mother. My father warned me that she was dangerous and that the gods were not to be trusted, and while I believed him, I thought that Mordrigal was different. I pulled more and more fire, overdrawing the magic as much as I could to try and please her.”

“But it was never enough, was it?” Cyll guessed. “She wanted more.”

“She did,” Knell said, casting his gaze out to sea. “And I gave it to her. One day, I drew more than my body could possibly handle at her encouragement. She insisted that it would be fine, so long as I maintained control. But there’s only so much a sixteen year old can really do. I attempted to create magma, but the spell went completely wrong. I completely drained my right leg of not just energy, but of a significant amount of my lifeforce. At the same time, the spell went haywire. It should have collapsed, but Mordrigal pumped me full of her own magic to keep it going. I didn’t have the resistance to fire that my mother did, and when it erupted, the molten rock destroyed the left half of my face.”

Stix’s eyes widened in horror, but Knell wasn’t done.

“Mordrigal was there, of course. She saw me collapse and believed that I had lost consciousness, but I was holding on by what little energy I had left. I saw my mother run to help me, and I saw Mordrigal cut her down. My father saw that happen and had to choose between us. He knew his wife was already gone, so he went for me instead. He managed to knock me out, stopping the magic, but my own magma killed him in the process.”

“That’s horrible,” Stix said, her mouth agape. “But why? Why would she betray you like that?”

“Because she’s a god,” Cyll spat.

“Because she’s a god,” Knell agreed, his eyes smoldering with fury. “When I awoke, Mordrigal was there. She lied and told me that I had simply lost control, killing my father and that my mother was nowhere to be found. I wanted to kill her then and there, but I knew I stood no chance. There was no way that I could fight her. So I used what she and my father had taught me. I challenged her to a game.”

“A game?” Cyll asked. “The gods never lose at their own games. That was a damned fool thing to do.”

“Well, I cheated,” Knell replied, his lips quirking up slightly. “I said I wanted to become her Scion to ‘grow strong enough to make my parents proud’. She agreed and offered me a weak Boon, likely to gain amusement from my repeated struggles to grow stronger. And so I challenged her. I wanted her eyes. The power of future sight would be invaluable, and it was the only way I could see myself surviving all the enemies my parents had made.”

“What was the game?” Stix whispered, enamored.

Knell started to laugh. “A simple one. I said we had to be on an even playing field, so that it would be perfectly fair. A match of skill on skill. Since I was mortal and she was immortal, she had to promise to make an artificial realm, where whatever happened within it would be reverted to normal once it was over.”

“Clever,” Cyll said begrudgingly. “But she was a god. How did you beat her? They’re evil bastards, but they aren’t stupid.”

“It wasn’t actually that difficult. The gods are arrogant, and their desire for entertainment eclipses everything but their yearning for power. Since Mordrigal was a Shard of the goddess of death, I proposed our game take place in a perfect recreation of a nearby city. All we had to do was guess who the next person to die would be. We couldn’t guess the same person, and we could not attack anyone or otherwise affect each other.”

Knell paused, savoring the expressions on Cyll and Stix’s faces. He didn’t often get a chance to tell this story, and he was just ever so slightly proud of it.

“Well?” Stix demanded.

“She already knew who would die next, of course,” Knell said. “An old woman on her deathbed. Mordrigal was prepared to pick her up only a little over twenty minutes after our game ended, so she guessed first, confident that there was nobody else in the city that could die before her. I couldn’t attack anyone, after all. Once she’d guessed, I went to the moat around the city. I tied myself to the largest rock I could find, loaded all my pockets down with stones, and jumped inside it.”

“Sixteen Seas. You killed yourself,” Stix said.

“Which didn’t count as an attack against anyone. There was no violence,” Knell said smugly. “And she couldn’t step in or fish me out because that would be affecting me. It doesn’t take too long to drown. Horrible experience, I can’t recommend it, even if it was all technically fake since it didn’t happen in the real world.”

“That’s brilliant,” Cyll said, chuckling. “I bet she was furious.”

“Livid,” Knell said with a nod. “But she had no choice. I’d made her swear on her powers, and that’s one promise the gods can’t break. She had to dig out her own eyes and give them to me. They took almost a year to regrow, and I don’t think they’re back to their full strength, even now. Ever since, I’ve bided my time. I maintained cordiality with her, and she still doesn’t realize the full extent of what I know.”

“I – I think I can see why you hate the gods so much,” Stix said. “Did you ever find out why she did that to you?”

“All I can presume is that it was for entertainment,” Knell replied. “But, on the day I kill Mordrigal, I’ll be sure to ask her.”

A chilly breeze washed over them as the sky started to turn black. It was well into the night now. Knell shivered slightly. He grunted and stood up with the help of his staff. “And now you know. This is why I cannot allow their reign to continue. I won’t allow other innocents to have their lives ruined by the gods. I’ve got some meditation to do, so I’ll be taking my leave. Do not share what I have told you with anyone. Welcome to the crew, Stix. The only way out will be paved with the bodies of every last Shard.”