Advent of Eternity - Chapter 75 (Patreon)

Knell woke to the gentle rocking of the sea. The deck was far from the most comfortable place to sleep, but he felt more refreshed than he had in years. He stretched, getting a kink out of his side as he slowly opened his eyes and sat up.

Well, that’s strange.

The Withered Rose had, well, withered. Somehow, during his sleep, the galleon had shrunk to the size of a sloop. That would have been one thing, but it wasn’t just the size of the ship that had changed.

Its shape was different too. Four masts had turned to one, and the rest of the ship looked completely different as well. While it was still made of green wood, the ghostly energy had vanished. Now, faint specks of verdant light occasionally drifted off the planks as if they were smoldering.

“I suppose that’s what Maud meant when he said the ship would change to remain seaworthy,” Knell muttered. “It’s for the best. I don’t know how in the seas we would have been able to sail an entire galleon around on our own.”

He clambered to his feet with the aid of his staff, drawing in a deep breath. He really did feel refreshed. Knell made a note to thank Cyll and Stix. They’d been correct. He was pushing himself too hard, which was a damned fool thing to do.

Knell turned, then paused. He blinked once, then rubbed his eyes. Maya hung from the railing above the captain’s cabin, her limbs bound with heavy rope. Blood covered one side of her body and she swayed with the waves, unconscious.

“What in the Sixteen Seas?” Knell asked. The trapdoor leading below deck flipped open and Stix climbed out.

“Oh, you’re awake!” Stix said, smiling. She was more cheerful than Knell had ever seen her. “You slept a while. How was it?”

“Good,” Knell said slowly. Stix’s eyes flicked back to the trapdoor and Knell’s eyes narrowed. Something was wrong. He went to cast Anchor on her, but paused. When the spell went off, she’d get yanked back into the open ocean, where they’d been a minute ago. “Do you care to explain why our enemy is currently trussed up like a stuck pig above my cabin?”

“I believe clung to the ship after you destroyed Sorfina’s craft,” a chilling voice said from behind Knell. “She was quite determined to survive.”

Knell’s eye twitched. He recognized that voice. He did not want to recognize that voice. He turned, preparing to reach for his magic, and came face to face with Dread. That explained what Stix was trying to warn him about.

“I will never sleep again,” Knell declared. “That was the worst decision of my life. Stix, what is Dread doing on my godsforsaken ship?”

“Visiting,” Dread replied with a small grin. She sat back, shadows reaching up from the ground and forming a chair beneath her. She crossed one leg over the other and gestured for Knell to sit as well, creating a seat behind him.

“What do you want?” Knell asked, not taking her up on the offer. “And where is Cyll?”

“Eating,” Dread said. “He was quite hungry.”

“Have you managed to turn my entire crew against me?”

“On the contrary,” Dread replied, her smile fading. “Your barbarian welcomed me onto your ship when I arrived, then attempted to rip my throat out. It was not a pleasant experience. I had to convince him that I meant you no harm, but it was not easy.”

A smile flickered across Knell’s face. “That sounds about right. Very well. Since I have been recently convinced that I need to… take a break, I will talk. I presume there is something you want.”

He sat down, not releasing his grip on his magic. Dread extended a hand and shadows coiled around it, depositing the key that Knell had thrown her in the pirate’s palm.

“You made my job considerably more interesting,” Dread said. “I was curious. Do you know what this is?”

“No,” Knell replied. “And frankly, I don’t care. I gave it to you for one reason – to keep you from coming after us.”

“Ah. Oops,” Dread said playfully, flicking the key to the ground. It vanished into the shadows, never hitting the deck. “That’s unfortunate.”

“Quite,” Knell agreed. “Care to explain why you’re here, then?”

“Because I’m curious,” Dread said. “I have been since I sent Hau to investigate what had Sorfina stitched up. It’s not exactly uncommon to blacklist pirates, but Kalunga seemed to believe you were more interesting than most.”

“Ah. That explains a lot,” Knell said, pursing his lips. “He’s part of your crew? Why was he working with Sorfina?”

Dread’s lips parted in a thin smile. “Kalunga is part of nobody’s crew, but he and I have worked together upon occasion. He is rarely wrong, and he had quite a grudge against Sorfina. See, she cheated against him at a game of cards a few weeks ago.”

Knell’s brow furrowed, reviewing his interactions with the bearded pirate man. There wasn’t much to go back over. “Are you implying that Kalunga introduced us, specifically knowing that we would clash?”

“He already knew Maya would accept Sorfina’s offer. He couldn’t be certain you would fight, but he clearly believed it was a strong possibility.”

“All because of a game of cards?”

“Kalunga takes his games very seriously.”

Knell sighed. “Thrilling. Why are you telling me this?”

Dread shrugged. “Because Hau was curious about you. That doesn’t happen often. She usually kills whoever I send her after.”

Probably because they try to kill her first.

“I see,” Knell said. “And, despite all these words, you’ve still yet to give me the real reason you’re here. There’s no way you’d visit for no reason beyond chatting and telling me that Sorfina only met her end at my hands because she pissed off the wrong homeless man.”

Dread laughed. “Oh, you’re so to the point. Lovely. Yes, I came here for another reason. You see, you’ve taken two treasures from Mount Bloodwater, not one. I want the other.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Knell said. “The only thing we took was this ship, and considering all the effort we went through to get it, I’m not particularly inclined to give it up.”

“You’re welcome to the ship,” Dread said, shaking her head. “I’ll sail on nobody but the Fuge. No, I’m interested in the massive Boon you stole.”