CHAPTER SEVENTEEN #2
“No, no. There’s no need for that.” I replied, flustered by the heat that slowly radiated through my cheeks and body. Cocky, indeed. “What is it you are wanting me to remember?”
“I can show you on the way to the Aetherkin gates if you don’t mind,” the god offered.
I agreed, though I wasn’t sure what I’d just signed up for, and he spun on his heel like the matter was already settled, continuing our trek.
We walked the market streets for half an hour before I realized my steps met the rhythm of the music flitting through the breeze.
Somehow the island eased my mind, only a trace of fear inkling through.
The joy radiating through the air was electric, and I forced myself to focus on the scent of metal.
If the Oricaans attacked, I would be prepared.
Market stalls dispersed the further we walked from the harbor, the music fading as we approached inland.
Noctis veered off and stopped before a shop that sat nestled in the forked street. Its wooden walls held firm, clearly built by a skilled craftsman. Two barred windows opened outward and allowed the wind to blow the soft lilac curtains inside.
The god knocked six times, each hit evenly spaced apart. Only seconds passed before the door swung open.
I didn’t see it coming; the tackle dropped me, and everything went black. Wetness streaked my face, lapping at my skin roughly, and my body shook under the warm mass above me. No pain harmed me, but shock paralyzed all senses until I recognized the musky, slobbering mutt.
A dog.
He flopped his tanned, curly haired head atop my chest, his massive paws at each of my shoulders, and panted in my face. He shook feverishly in excitement, awaiting a scratch. I laughed and ran my nails down the fluffy beast’s back. He relished in the feeling and kicked up his back leg.
“His name is—”
“Raven.” I interrupted underneath the mass and fur of the animal.
Suddenly, as if commanded by his name, the air rippled around Raven’s body. His fur dissolved into smoke that coiled and reshaped into onyx feathers. A small raven with gleaming eyes of glassy coal sat on top of me. He fluffed out his wings, then nuzzled his tiny head into my chin.
Noctis huffed, but his quirked lips lit his face. “It’s enlightening to know you remember a pet over myself.”
“Priorities,” a soft female’s voice said from the door frame of the shop. “Besides, Zephyreon are not pets, Noctis. Raven will pierce the eyes from your skull without a second thought.”
I recognized the truth in that statement—knowing that Raven would kill if I demanded.
The first night my feet ever touched land replayed itself behind my eyes.
Fragments surfaced—sharp, uninvited. The young Thirstling pair clinging to my throat.
My nails tearing into their cool, pale flesh as I fought them off in blind, violent desperation.
A screech split the memory in two, long and wrong, enough to scatter the adolescent Varaxi into the dark.
Then, the wet sand. Their bodies collapsing into it.
And Noctis—standing over them like something already decided.
Their heads tilted at impossible angles, as if listening for a sound only the dead could hear.
For a moment, I thought he was alone. Then, I saw Raven at his side.
Feasting. Not rushing. Not frantic. Just… devouring. As if Ducharne’s nephews were nothing more than something left out too long in the sun.
They saved me—Noctis and Raven.
“Don’t give Caelyn any tips, Neryssa. She may just command Raven to attack me herself,” Noctis drawled, ripping through my thoughts and snapping me back to the storefront.
I shuffled to my feet, bringing my finger up for Raven to perch, and then, I froze.
Neryssa wasn’t just beautiful. She was the reason beauty learned to exist. Curly orange-hued hair billowed around her body, framing her peachy face.
But what caught my attention the most was her nearly white eyes, cracked through with jagged blue faults, like porcelain just before it breaks.
“I’ve never met you before,” I said, but it sounded more like a question.
Neryssa nodded. “That is true, Wavebreaker. My brother kept you to himself until he abruptly needed me.”
She scowled at Noctis like any normal pair of siblings, and my mouth dropped.
Brother?
“Then, when he did finally find me after decades of absence, I’m asked to keep his lover’s Zephyreon alive with no explanation,” Neryssa added calmly, her voice soft. She slowly shifted her gaze to Noctis. “I’ve been looking for you, brother.”
The god bowed low at the waist, peeking up at his sister, who did not return the gesture. He slowly straightened. His expression faltered, raw pain glinting in his eyes.
“I thank you, Neryssa. We have returned n—”
Neryssa slammed into him, his words abruptly cut short, wrapping the god in a hug. He melted into it as if it were the very embrace he longed for.
“It is an honor to be your sister, Noctis. I saw you coming. Dreamed of it for many nights,” Neryssa offered into her brother’s shoulder.
They split slowly as if lingering would heal the wounds from time apart, and Neryssa turned to face me.
“Let’s prepare you for entrance into Aetherkin Bound.”
Rows of potions lined the wooden walls, and the iron bars at the windows suddenly felt less like decoration and more like protection.
From the outside, the building only spanned about ten meters in each direction.
From the inside, the walls stretched for miles.
Sconces lit the space, casting shadows in each direction with the accompanied opened windows.
“My Bound does not discriminate; however, we will prepare you for the court,” Noctis’s voice wavered as he spoke of his people, and for an instant, I pitied him. He abandoned those he loved for me—who carried no recollection of the god in return.
“Court? I will not dance if that is what you’re implying. Nor will I wear a gown,” I replied.
Noctis huffed, “You’re not there to be pretty for them. You’ll turn heads without trying, and I'll enjoy every moment.”
“Then tell me how we are supposed to get in and get the trident piece,” I said, eager to retrieve the third part.
A wave of panic washed over me as the fleeting image of Evelyn returned to my mind. My heart sank at the thought of Evelyn potentially being dead. If not, then mentally shattered beyond repair.
Raven tightened his grip on my fingers, pulling me from the spiral in my mind.
“Law is written and followed. It holds order in the Aetherkin Bound,” Neryssa recited over her shoulder.
Noctis smoothly continued. “They will ask for the Trials of Maerjko. It’s an ancient tradition of many decades, formed when the God of War and Anguish, Alanpor, disguised himself and tricked the Bound into giving a precious artifact from their collections. It’s a test of character.”
“What are we expected to do during the trials? Do you already know?” I had hoped the god of the realm we were about to enter would have an understanding of what we would encounter, but as he shook his head, needling anxiety overtook me.
“No. I have a council, and those few—hand picked by myself—are the only ones who know of them. Besides, I will most likely not be welcomed back, so I cannot participate.”
“Then who is supposed to participate?”
Neryssa’s soft voice cut through the hallway right before we stopped at a massive iron-clad door.
“You. I’ve seen parts of it happen already. It’s brutal, yet brave. And for some reason, I can’t see the outcome.”