Chapter 12: The Blue Expanse

  Corin once again found himself back in Bothia, with Cyril next to him.

  “If you could go to Khorsor, where do you think you would you go first?” Cyril asked Corin.

  The two of them sat at the edge of the beach, the warm sand covering their feet. Staring out into the sea, basking in the infinite blue expanse. This was one of the brothers’ favorite things to do.

  Corin was not surprised by his brother’s question. Every now and then, he would ask something like this.

  “That’s easy. I would never go to Khorsor, so I don’t even have to think about it,” Corin declared proudly.

  Cyril laughed at his younger brother’s remark. Sometimes Corin’s brash attitude caught him by surprise.

  Corin was slightly upset at his brother’s response. “I have everything I could want here. It’s bad enough we deal with leviathans and dragons, but there are also giants we would have to worry about. I think I am where I need to be.”

  “But think about the things Simeon told us! Wouldn’t you like to see Bartaz’s wall that spans such a distance that it would take the strongest steed a full ten day of galloping to cover?” Cyril began. Unlike his brother, he only saw the opportunity in such an adventure, not the dangers. “Or the inland sea of Brusk, said to be the watery grave of a giant who faced Takaxluet in combat? Or the abandoned city of Vivenah, which is said to have been home to a civilization almost as old as the oldest titan? What kind of civilization existed there? Or the forest of tall trees?”

  Corin remained silent. He brooded as he stared at the ocean, picturing the great big continent with all the dangers it posed.

  “No?” Cyril asked with a large smile.

  “Trinixo has all I need,” Corin replied matter-of-factly.

  Cyril laughed at his brother’s remark.

  A sudden push woke Corin up. Suddenly the seashore from Bothia disappeared.

  As he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was an animated Livia. With her eyes closed, Corin could tell she was in the process of describing something with precise details to someone in her dreams. Whenever she did so, she would move her hands, pointing out specifics about her dream inventions, and flail from side to side. Being woken up by one of Livia’s dream explanations was a common occurrence for Corin.

  “Dad, I told you… It is meant…not like that, like this,” Livia muttered.

  Corin could barely contain his urge to laugh. Any meeting between Livia and her father ended in some sort of disagreement over how a certain process or item should be handled.

  After looking at Livia for several more seconds, Corin closed his eyes, but sleep now eluded him. He decided to walk around for a bit. He quietly got up and walked up to the steps.

  As he stepped up the stairs, the sound of the sea increased. Corin heard the rhythmic ebb and flow of the ocean. He felt the salt spray in his face, a nice, cooling sensation. It almost made being in a small vessel in the middle of the ocean worth it, almost. Corin reached the top to where an awning covered the hatch.

  Corin walked beyond it to the ship’s bow to take in the sights of the sea around them.

  It was as Simeon had told him. In every direction he looked, Corin only could see a large black expanse that stretched out. In the pitch-black night, only the moon and its reflection on the crystalline sea were visible.

  Corin held the pendant in his hand as he stared out into the sea.

  Cyril, why do you keep appearing in my dreams? So many years have passed, and I would barely see you in my dreams, but now you are an almost daily presence. Why? Is there something that you are trying to tell me?

  Corin held onto the pendant tightly, as if he expected an answer.

  “Seems like something is troubling you, my boy.”

  Corin turned around quickly, his heart nearly jumping out of his chest. He balled up his fists as if expecting an imminent attack.

  Simeon was lying on the awning, staring out into the sea. Corin had forgotten it was Simeon’s turn to be on watch.

  “Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to scare you,” Simeon said.

  Simeon relished the opportunity to be the night sentry. All six nights they had spent at sea, he had taken over night watch. Normally they would take shifts during the night, but Simeon had refused. He had never been a fan of cramped spaces and enjoyed the quiet nights at sea.

  “By Jokasta, Simeon. Next time, drive a knife straight through my heart if you’re plotting on ending me,” Corin said as his heart struggled to calm down.

  “Hah, I’ll keep that in mind,” Simeon laughed. “Reminds me of Cyril always jumping out of every corner trying to catch me by surprise.”

  Corin laughed. It had been a while since he had thought about Cyril’s “training” that he undertook to try to be as good a hunter as Simeon.

  “He never could catch you by surprise, could he?” Corin said.

  “Well no. He did come close to it on some occasions, but I never admitted to it,” Simeon laughed. “That brother of yours, he really was something.”

  Corin could not help but laugh as well. He remembered how intent Cyril had been on “hunting” Simeon and how frustrated he would get at never catching him by surprise.

  The two of them were silent, observing the sea.

  “So what is it, my boy?” Simeon asked.

  “I… I don’t know why, but lately I’ve dreamt about him a lot more than usual. I feel as if he is trying to tell me something, but I don’t know what it could be,” Corin said while keeping his eyes on the sea.

  “I see,” Simeon said and thought about it for a second. He got off the awning and walked next to Corin to observe the sea with him. “Is there anything specific you dream about?”

  “Most times, I relive that day when Arandu and Telletioh clashed. In those dreams, I try to tell myself not to leave, to bring him with me, but there is no use. My body does not listen to me. It follows along with what happened that day. I know that if I leave him, it will be the last time I see him, but it doesn’t matter. I always leave. I always leave him to die and never see him again,” Corin said.

  “That thinking is not going to do you any good," Simeon replied with a stern tone. “Nothing was going to take your brother away from the village. When he agreed to stay back from the hunting party, he knew he was to take care of the rest of the village no matter what came.”

  “But I left him there—” Corin began

  “You came to us,” Simeon interjected, “and you warned us of the clash and helped us find shelter, no? Without you, we were determined on going back to the village, and myself, Livia, and many others would have probably died.”

  Corin tried to think of something to say, but Simeon continued, “Your brother did what he had to for the survival of the village.”

  “I…” Corin began but he saw Simeon’s stern face. “Thanks.”

  The two stood over the ship’s railing, staring at the sea.

  “But that’s not all. Sometimes I remember other conversations I would have with him. A lot of times, he would talk about Khorsor. He would always wonder what he would find there if he ever went there. He would talk of all the different places you told him about and wonder how amazing they must be to witness in person,” Corin said.

  “He spoke of that? I remember him asking me endlessly about the different wonders in the continent. About Bartaz’s wall. If it was true that it would take a steed ten days to cross,” Simeon said.

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  “Well, is it true?” Corin asked.

  “I never did try riding for a full ten days across it, but I can attest that it was very large and impressive.”

  “He also mentioned the forest of tall trees,” Corin said.

  “Ah, what a sight to behold. Worth the risk of being discovered by a giant,” Simeon laughed.

  “He also loved the story of the abandoned city, Vivenah. He always wondered about what kind of civilization built it.”

  Simeon seemed lost in thought, as if something Corin had said perplexed him.

  “Vivenah you said?” Simeon asked.

  “Yes, Vivenah. Cyril would always say that it was as old as the oldest titan. He always wanted to know what its inhabitants looked like,” Corin replied.

  “That’s odd,” Simeon said as he kept pondering.

  “What is?” Corin asked.

  “That name, Vivenah. I don’t ever recall hearing such a name. If Cyril did indeed tell you about it, I wonder where he heard it from,” Simeon muttered, lost in thought.

  “Oh,” Corin looked to the sea in confusion. He was sure he had heard about Vivenah from Cyril.

  “Perhaps he heard it from someone outside Bothia,” Simeon said, finally giving up on trying to determine the origin of the mystery city.

  “Perhaps.”

  ***

  It was now early evening. Corin’s stomach rumbled and grumbled. His time on watch was coming to an end soon, and all he had to look forward to eating was fish.

  The thought of eating fish again made Corin’s stomach turn over in disgust.

  “One more day, and then we’ll be back on solid ground,” Corin muttered to himself.

  While Corin did not mind life on the ship at the beginning, the monotony got to him quickly. His days of talking with his wife and the others, of playing the same card games with them, unintentionally enraging Nanaua for what she perceived to be underhanded tactics, going on guard duty, and eating the same food started to wear on him.

  The only activity he looked forward to was Zhi’s lessons on the draconic alphabet. Corin could now identify around two thirds of the nearly fifty letters that comprised the alphabet and could understand how to write certain words and write simple sentences.

  One of the first things Corin learned to write was a recipe for pumpkin pie. Corin had never seen a pumpkin and now was curious what a pie made of pumpkin would taste like.

  Most words in the draconic alphabet were spoken the same as they were in the common furtive dialect, but a certain subsect required the physiology of the dragons to speak. Hearing Zhi speak try to imitate specific draconic words sent a shiver through Corin’s spine. It reminded him of the dragon attack on his home many years ago.

  Livia learned all the letters within three days of beginning the lessons and was able to write several paragraphs by the seventh day. Even Simeon, who had spent a major portion of his life surrounded by the letters in that alphabet, had not picked it up as easily.

  Nanaua, who had learned some of the alphabet previously, took little interest in the lessons. As a furtive servant to a titan, her entire life she had been taught that furtives should not learn the alphabet for its negative effects on their minds. What exactly those effects were Nanaua could not say, but it deterred her to the point that she had a deeply settled fear that some type of madness might set in if she continued studying the alphabet. Of course, she had long ago learned that there was no truth to such tales, but it was hard for her to ignore something like that.

  But Corin’s next lesson would have to wait. They had already met up for their last lesson of the trip that day and were not sure of continuing their lessons on land. If a rumor spread that there were furtives in Khorsor who could read and write the draconic alphabet, then the number of eyes looking for them would certainly increase.

  RING!

  Corin looked down the stairs beneath the awning to see what exactly the noise was. Livia and the others should be eating, and he was curious why they were trying to get his attention. He started to go down the hatch when he heard it again.

  RING!

  Corin stopped dead in his tracks. The ringing sound did not come from below decks. It came from the bow of the ship.

  No please, no.

  RING!

  Corin ran to the bow and looked down. He saw it ringing clear as day. The bell that was attached to the titan sensor rang loudly. In their nine days at sea, it had been quiet.

  We must have several minutes before we encounter them. Maybe they’ll miss us. Maybe they’re not even moving in our direction.

  A slow-churning whirlpool started to materialize. The calm seas that Corin had been enjoying mere moments prior instantly disappeared.

  “No, no, no!” Corin screamed.

  He ran to the hatch and yelled, “Leviathan!” As he went to look at the edge of the boat, it lurched sideways.

  Corin lost his footing. The next moment, he was falling backward, facing the sky.

  His back slammed into a hard surface. It took Corin’s breath out of him. He was now sinking into the sea. In the water, he started sinking fast. Something was dragging him down.

  Corin turned to face the whirlpool to see what was attacking them. Corin could not believe his eyes.

  In front of them was a giant pair of black eyes filled with hatred he thought they had escaped. The same pair of large eyes they had seen after escaping the underwater palace. Those black eyes glared at Corin, the leviathan’s captive audience. The island-sized Leviathan had his full attention on Corin.

  “The furtive thief!” The deep voice resonated through the sea.

  He…spoke to me?

  “You think you can steal from Arandu and live to tell the tale?” The deep voice seemed as if it was coming from all around him. Arandu’s mandibles flared as he spoke.

  Corin was frozen. He could not react.

  I am going to die.

  “Not only are you thieves, but you are fools! You continue searching for the pieces of the artifact. The powers you are searching for are beyond your comprehension. What you seek is more dangerous than you can imagine! Arandu bellowed.

  Corin could see the maelstrom that had knocked him off the ship continue to grow. Their ship would soon be swallowed whole. If he did not act they would all die.

  From inside one of his pockets, he pulled out of one the metal canisters that Livia had prepared. It might not save him, but it could save the others.

  He crushed it in his hand and threw it in front of him.

  As soon as he released it, the metal canister was completely encased in a large ball of ice. The canister detonated, tearing the ice ball apart but without the deafening noise or the blinding light.

  “You fools already used that trick! Did you not think I would have learned after our first encounter? You furtives think you are the only clever ones. I knew you would come here. I waited, ready to destroy you and your fellow thieves. After I am done with you, I will destroy all furtives from your homeland. You will learn your place as the lowlifes you are!” Arandu’s deep voice echoed.

  A long tendril wrapped itself around Corin and instantly started squeezing him. Arandu brought Corin nearer to his face.

  Corin was now face-to-face with the leviathan. In the creature’s presence, Corin’s thoughts all went away. This was not an attempt at doubting his fate, since Corin knew he was about to die. There was only one thing he thought.

  I’m sorry, Cyril. I tried to do this for you, but I failed. Maybe now we’ll be together once again.

  Corin could feel the tendrils tightening and his life slipping away. One by one bones in his body snapped. First were his arms, and a short moment later his legs. Arandu was slowly but surely breaking him, exacting his revenge upon the furtive. The pain was so immense that Corin could barely stay awake. He looked up, the ship his companions were on caught in the ever-growing maelstrom. There was no escaping the wrath of a titan.

  Corin looked into the leviathan’s eyes, so clouded with rage.

  “Furtives will never stop fighting,” Corin uttered with his last few breaths. He wasn’t sure if anything he said could even be understood underwater.

  “What was that?” Arandu replied.

  A rumble came from below the leviathan.

  This is it.

  The leviathan screamed. Corin felt the tendrils loosen around him. Corin looked into Arandu’s eyes. No longer did he see the insatiable rage. Something else had replaced that feeling.

  Is that fear?

  In one second, Arandu was in front of Corin, and the next he was being pulled into the abyss beneath him.

  What is happening?

  Corin looked up above. The maelstrom that was pulling the ship dissipated.

  Corin attempted to move his body, to swim to the surface, but his body would not respond. Arandu’s tendrils had crushed his body. Even if he made it to the surface, he was sure to die. Nothing could stop that.

  As his consciousness faded, he saw a bright light emanate from the abyss, from the depths from which Arandu disappeared.

  In an instant, a large figure appeared in front of him, larger than Arandu.

  What is this?

  The figure in front of Corin was unlike anything he had ever seen. It was long like a snake, but it seemed to be covered in white feathers instead of scales. Its face was long, like a dragon’s face, but its gaze did not inspire fear. Its eyes were massive, and they seemed very much like a human’s eyes, with brown irises and circular black pupils. The creature focused its entire attention on Corin.

  What a beautiful feeling. Such calmness, such bliss.

  Corin did not feel as if he was drowning anymore. He felt as if he was above sea. He could breathe normally. The excruciating pain that had overcome his body from being crushed disappeared.

  The figure’s massive head neared Corin’s face. As it did, a warmness overcame Corin. He was slowly pushed to the surface, gently and with the utmost of care.

  Corin could not help but look back at his savior. Whoever it was.

  As Corin neared the surface, he could see the feathered serpent turn around and dive into the deep recesses of the sea and disappear.

  He breached the surface.

  “Corin!” Livia screamed.

  Corin heard the water next to him splash.

  He looked over and saw his friend Simeon’s face drenched in water.

  “Corin, my boy. Are you hurt?” Simeon asked in between sobs. Simeon’s eyes were red.

  Corin stared back at Simeon.

  Why are you sad, Simeon? I am here.

  “Corin, are you fine? Please say something!” Simeon said as he stifled tears.

  “Of course I am,” Corin replied in a dreamlike trance. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Corin, I…” Simeon was confused. He looked at Corin but could not see anything wrong with him.

  “I thought I lost you, my boy. I can’t go through that again,” Simeon said.

  Corin looked to the ship. Everyone seemed concerned for him.

  But I am here.

  “Let’s get you out of here,” Simeon said.

  He pulled Corin to the ship, and Nanaua pulled them aboard.

  On board the ship, everyone looked over Corin. They looked at his limbs, his eyes, his face, everything to see if anything was wrong with him. Corin did not react, merely amused by his companions, not bothered by anything and simply content being there in the moment.

  “He seems to be fine,” Livia said as she looked at the others.

  Corin continued to stare at the others in a haze.

  “Corin, what happened to you? One moment, we heard you screaming about a leviathan, and then you were gone! We saw the large whirlpool and thought we were all going to our graves,” Simeon said.

  “Oh yes. Arandu laid a trap for us,” Corin replied calmly.

  Upon hearing the leviathan’s name, the rest of the party went silent.

  “Arandu, but how? How did he know? The device should have detected him,” Livia asked.

  “He waited for us. He knew we would come to seek the rest of the artifact,” Corin replied in the same calm affectation.

  The group looked at each other in terror.

  “They know,” Zhi started. “They know what we are planning on doing.”

  “But how, Corin? How did you manage to escape? How are you alive? How are any of us alive?” Livia asked him.

  Corin looked at her. A deep confusion set in.

  “Well… Arandu, he was dragged into the depths of the ocean,” Corin answered.

  “He was dragged into the depths? Did another leviathan attack him?” Simeon asked, confused.

  Corin struggled to remember what happened after Arandu had been snatched into the depths. He only stared back at Simeon.

  “Yes, my boy. How exactly did Arandu get dragged into the depths?” Simeon asked.

  “I remember calm. Yes, that’s right. I remember feeling such joy, such bliss,” Corin said while looking at no one in particular.

  “Corin, how did you—” Livia began but Simeon raised his hand.

  “It seems like you have had a long day. Your watch is over. Why don’t you go eat something and get some rest?” Simeon said.

  Corin still could not understand why everyone else was so concerned, but Simeon’s suggestion sounded excellent.

  “Ah yes. I am quite hungry,” Corin laughed. No one else laughed with him. “I think I’ll do that and get some rest. It has been a long day.” He got up and promptly went downstairs, leaving behind a trail of salt water behind him.

  He ate and fell asleep. He did not remember the last time sleep came so quickly to him. His dreams were pleasant, and nothing about the previous day bothered him during the night.

  ***

  All night, Livia, Zhi, Nanaua, and Simeon kept a close eye on the waters. Even the smallest fish jumping out of the sea scared them.

  “So what was it then? What do you think could have done that?” Nanaua asked Simeon.

  “Everything points to it being another leviathan. There is nothing else I know of that can face a Leviathan and best it. But Arandu is a formidable leviathan. One of the strongest of his kin. This domain here belongs to Arthax. As a leviathan close to the coast of Khorsor, he is well-known.”

  “So you think it was this Arthax? A territorial dispute?” Nanaua asked.

  “Arthax, though well-known, is not as mighty as Arandu. Even the prime leviathan Anciudu would have to struggle quite a bit in a fight against Arandu," Simeon replied.

  “But perhaps,” Nanaua started, “there is more to the story that Corin did not tell us. He seems to be forgetful.”

  Slowly, Zhi moved away from her post. She stood close to them, listening though trying to be secretive as well.

  “Let me ask you something, Nanaua,” Simeon began. “Have you ever seen two titans fight?”

  “I have not. It is not wise or common for titans to engage each other. No titan leaves a clash unscathed,” Nanaua said.

  “Precisely,” Simeon said.

  “Precisely what?” Nanaua said.

  “A struggle between titans, a true clash, would have caused an untold amount of carnage. Not the relative ease with which Arandu was dispatched. That is what you mean, isn’t it, Simeon?” Livia asked.

  “Exactly!” Simeon replied. “Although I myself have only been a witness to a small number of titan clashes, the end result is always the same. Catastrophe on a scale that cannot be imagined.”

  “So if not titans, then what was it?” Zhi asked.

  Everyone looked at Simeon, hoping that the old ape-man might provide some sort of insight that they all were missing.

  “The sea is deep and full of mysteries," Simeon replied.

  The answer was not expected, but they all knew what occurred was something they could not comprehend. All they could hope was that whatever lurked below would not turn its attention toward them.

  They all quieted and returned to their sentry duties.

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  "In the dark waters of death, he kept watch."

  He was the Silent Hunter. A Reaper with no name, no emotions, and no mercy for those who disturbed the cycle. Pulled from the void by a God-Emperor and forged into a body of divine flesh and crystalline mana, he is now Voss Truechild.

  A Prince of the Empire. Engineered for a war the living are losing.

  The Empire is rotting. The Damned—the predators Voss once patrolled—are rising. They think they have cheated the cycle. They think the Empire is their hunting ground.

  They are wrong. The Reaper has been reborn. And he will set the balance right.