49. One Lock, Two Keys
One Lock, Two Keys
SYORAN
Night bled into the sky, stars dusting across the expansive darkness.
Even as shadows danced across the deck, sharing stories foretold, warmth clung to the air.
Only when the lanterns swung languidly in the gentle breeze did the blackened corners of the ship slip into view.
Their flickering hue worked in tandem with Ellira’s waters, which brushed against the hull with a coax that had always felt like far more than comfort.
The sea had always been home.
Caspian dropped to sit across from me, Rohen quick to join his side. Metal mug in hand, he cast me that godsdamned cheeky grin I’d become accustomed to throughout the years we sailed. It was one that often carried mischief, a promise for a kind of trouble only he was capable of making enjoyable.
“Not indulging in sin tonight, Kao?” he posed, raising a brow in my direction.
Fingers curling around the lip of my beverage, I lifted it. “Are you a fool, Caspian Vayne?”
His shoulders rose and fell with casual indifference, one corner of his mouth hitching a bit higher than the other. Crimson eyes holding mine, he took a generous swig, the weight he’d seemed to carry beforehand dissipating.
This was the captain I’d missed, the one who wore gentleness on his sleeve without failure.
Since the first day our paths crossed, a mysteriousness had cloaked him, making it nearly impossible to connect with the man beneath the mirage.
He was a brute and brash in his own right, but it hadn’t become difficult to recognize that the venom he wielded through both tongue and blade did not belong to him.
Sorva had stripped him of his autonomy long before we shared the same ship, and that suspicion grew within me months after our first interaction.
The quiet moments confirmed it, a side of him slipping through the cracks to display the selflessness and deep-seated care he harbored.
He was a good man, and I loathed the Dark Mother for stripping him of his truth.
A gentle nudge to my shoulder drew me back, Kael’s seafoam irises gleaming beneath the firelight as he settled beside me.
Clad in a simple white linen tunic and dark trousers, his bare feet had made his approach indecipherable.
Not that I minded. Paths carved through his blonde locks, his fingers having aided in the combed-back style, highlighting the sharpness of his features.
Dark facial hair peppered his angular jaw, painting him with both age and grief.
Gods, he is beautiful.
“Mind if I join?” he asked, the spot where our arms touched igniting with a blaze of heat.
“Not at all,” Rohen hummed, passing a knowing glance in my direction.
Sensing the blush spread across my cheeks and ears, I eagerly brought the mug to my lips.
Throat bobbing with three consecutive swallows, I dared to peer over the rim only to meet her emerald gaze.
She was too observant for her own good, and I knew it was only a matter of time before she acknowledged how far my eyes had truly wandered.
As if able to read my thoughts, she grinned before turning back to Kael. “Where are Parran and Ignis?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve only seen Ignis once since this morning, and Parran seems to have been needed on the Scarlet Tempest. It seems…”
His words faded as I somehow sensed the shift in the air before any of the others. Lowering my chosen vice for the evening, I lifted my chin just as those they spoke of appeared out of thin air. Except it wasn’t just them, Alastair, Leilani, and Lorelie joining in their arrival.
Expressions teetering on the brink of somber, Rohen’s prodding and the warmth Kael brought vanished as I pushed myself upright. “What the hell happened?”
Caspian tossed me a look of confusion before he craned his head over his shoulder. All it took was one glance in Alastair’s direction before he set his beverage down, the contentment I’d admired only seconds ago vanishing. “What is it?”
Jaw feathering, the esteemed captain of the Scarlet Tempest held my captain’s stare. The silence that followed carried every word he had not spoken, further asphyxiating the relaxation we were on the brink of slipping into.
Sapphira’s voice broke the tension as she rounded the corner. “Okay, I found a few more bottles, but…” Pausing, her attention shifted between those of us she expected and those who had newly arrived. “Is… is everything alright?” she asked, aiming the question more at Lorelie than anyone else.
Before anyone could contribute further, Rohen’s building ire tumbled from her. “Enough of the suspenseful fucking bullshit. What Alastair?”
Something akin to hurt flashed in his gold eyes as he gestured to Lorelie. “I feel she should share, as she and Parran are the ones who brought the concerns to Leilani and me.”
Not wishing to test the thinning patience of the Daughter of Ellira, the Shifter stepped forward. “While we are nearing the apex of the prophecy, I… I harbor concerns.”
“Like what?” Rohen snapped, the vibrant hues swirling in her irises pulsing with glowing rage. “Fucking spit it out.”
“The strengthening of your bond with Caspian is proving to be of benefit to him, but I believe Sorva always intended for it to be that way. It seems her control has unwound, not only with your Mizani, but with those of us who serve your parents. The Dark Mother is a Devourer—”
“Wait,” Kael jutted, his shoulders rising and falling with uneven breaths. “I think I… I think I might have a piece of the puzzle that I’ve kept to myself because I did not know how to explain it.”
Heads swiveled in his direction, some gazes narrowed in disbelief, and others widened in hope. A mix of betrayal and anger swelled over me at his admittance, knowledge that he’d been harboring that could have potentially served far more benefit if it’d been given sooner.
“The Others' influence may corrupt the palace, but it offered me time to learn. According to each ancient scroll, Wraelira was flooded with magic before the Others came to be. The story of good and evil in those texts, words crafted by either historical recollection or mere fantasy, hinted at the intention of the Others when read as one.” Voice wavering, Kael nipped at his bottom lip.
“As has been confirmed, the rise of the Others wasn’t something that happened overnight.
They were first lesser-born before transforming into the entities they are today.
“The war on Narvendor that Lorelie mentioned was the start of damnation, for each Divari they slaughtered gave them a hit of the respective god’s power.
The carvings they wear link them to their victims, a ritualistic sacrifice where they would etch blade into skin to form a bind, similar to Caspian.
Once it was set, they would feast, consuming both life force and soul from their victims. So the divide in realms came as a result of the Others draining each god of a fragment of their abilities throughout time, up until they were weak enough for the Others to take over.
And that’s exactly what I think they’re trying to attempt again. ”
“They are,” Lorelie confirmed. “In speaking to the five gods of this realm, when we were enlightened about the double-sided fate, they expressed concern regarding Wraelira becoming what Narvendor is now. Which, if that does happen, as I stated once before, this realm will become a mirror of the dystopia that feeds off Narvendor’s lands.
As you all know, the five Divari share counterparts just as their parents do.
You need both keys to rid the realm of all that awaits.
Without the five of you and the five of them, there will be nothing. ”
A hissed scoff came from Rohen. “You’ve kept this from us for what godsdamned reason when our lives are the ones you are speaking of?”
“I was unable to fully divulge,” Lorelie stated, her honeydew irises glinting with sorrow.
“The nuances of Sorva’s binds have some of us far more silenced than others.
Where some can wield abilities, they may not be able to shift, while others may be able to shift but cannot wield.
Some are capable of doing both, but at a cost, which is why we’ve only been able to gift you pieces of our truths as well as the prophecy.
Until now, when it is evident that Sorva has diverted her focus from us and our enlightenment to all Kael shared.
There is something brewing, something that will serve as a replica of what occurred on Narvendor, and I believe she’s done exactly this—layered the webs of fate—for a reason. ”
“Which is?” Caspian prodded, his agitation palpable.
“To get us back to Serevalen, and to reinstate your bind. You’ve been out of her proximity for a while, which has proven beneficial, but she has not vanished.
The corruption she feeds on has started eating away at everything you are, but your soul tie with Rohen is what keeps you strong.
Sorva’s goal, as it has always been, is to weaken.
It is how the divided gods came to be in the beginning, and as Kael said, she is working to replicate just that.
” She clenched her jaw, tongue roving over her teeth.
“She is confident in whatever she is doing, and we need to be prepared for that as soon as we dock in Serevalen.”
“What if we don’t?” Leilani looked to her other half, her query one she already knew the damning answer to. “If that is what awaits, why the fuck would we go back there?”
“Because it is how fate is woven…” I practically whispered.
Caspian glanced in my direction. “What did you say?”
“The webs of fate.” Putting the reference together, I addressed Lorelie, “There was another piece of the prophecy on Caspian’s desk that I spent some time with, and I feel it may offer some insight.”
A liveliness returned to her. “Do you recall what it said?”