Chapter 42 The God of Luck
The God of Luck
ALASTAIR
Hues of vibrant orange and goldish yellow bloomed as fires devoured a handful of buildings in Veilmar. Just as quickly as the commotion had died down, it returned tenfold, townsfolk running, screaming, and begging for someone to put a stop to the atrocity.
With the rainfall subsiding, its aid in taming the flames had vanished.
Each inferno grew with lashing intensity.
Determined to destroy whatever they touched, tendrils of annihilation spooled from each blaze, crawling with predatorial lethality.
They devoured stone and brick alike, swallowing structural members and frames with sickening ease.
The sight of decimation confirmed the king’s hand: no matter if a treaty were in place, he would break the terms if it meant getting what he wanted.
Caspian Vayne.
Rushing toward a collapsing storefront, I ripped a woman and her child from where they stood. With one strong yank, I sent the three of us stumbling just as the building fell and crushed the spot they’d been seconds prior.
“By the grace of Ellira!” I shouted, turning toward the two lives I’d saved. “Do you have a fucking death wish—”
Familiar sapphire eyes met my stare, a life of hardship lingering in her watering gaze. Bottom lip quivering, she cupped her hand around the back of the young boy’s head as if the action would grant them both comfort.
She nipped at the corner of her mouth in an attempt to steel herself before she spoke. “O-Our livelihood…”
I glanced over my shoulder at the structure she referenced before turning back to offer her a saddened smile.
“Believe me, I understand all too well. And while you may have lost one thing, you kept what matters more, what is irreplaceable. This little boy’s life, along with your own.
” Reaching forward, I waited for her to retreat.
When she didn’t, I squeezed her arm. “Starting fresh is never easy for anyone, and I can speak to that statement confidently. But you’re alive and well, on an island where family reigns and where the people will, without question, aid you. ”
“Mama,” the child stated, with admirable strength. “The pirate is good. That is what the sea says. What the true goddess speaks.”
The woman blinked, partially stunned by her son's statement. “I–I don’t know what to say…”
With a soft grin, I bobbed my head. “What the boy claims is true. Have faith in the old gods, for they never truly left.” Brushing my thumb over her shoulder in an attempt to offer solace, I pulled away slowly. “Now go help your neighbors. These fires will not take everything.”
Pivoting on my heel, I moved away from them. Not even four steps into my stride, she called after me, “What are we supposed to do with the coin you gave me?”
My shoulders rose with a soft chuckle before I turned back toward her. “Use it to rebuild. There is enough in that pouch to accomplish such a thing, as well as a handful more. Take care.”
Not allowing her to shout her gratitude, I slipped into the alleyway to my left.
Boots drumming against the cobblestone, I made quick work of navigating the small village.
Weaving in between homes and shops, the shoreline quickly fell into my line of sight.
As I picked up my pace, something else caught my attention.
No, someone.
Lying in a heap, crimson dyed his shirt with its deadly ink. Hair soaked to the point that a bloodied puddle had formed beneath him. Those dark locks immediately registered, and as soon as I caught sight of his paling, moonlight-lit skin, I moved without hesitation.
It only took three steps before I was on my knees, fingers slipping to the side of his throat as my attention settled on his face—Syoran Kao, Caspian’s right-hand.
My chest ached at the fickle thought of my ex-best friend, the words we’d shared before I left him behind settling in my gut like a rotting, festering wound.
As my jaw feathered to negate the rising ache of guilt, a soft pulse jumped beneath my fingertips.
It wasn’t strong, but it was notable enough to prove that, while he was unconscious and on the brink of bleeding out, he was still alive.
“Gods, what the fuck are you doing, Alastair?” I grumbled to myself, blowing out a lengthened sigh.
It was a valid question considering the man I was contemplating rescuing had taken my place beside Caspian. Syoran Kao walked alongside the man whom I’d fought to fight, fought to kill for years, and here I was, like a pitiful fucking fool, knee deep in good grace.
I already accepted that there were convoluted emotions lingering beneath the surface, ones that tied me to Caspian in ways no one would be able to understand.
Though outside of that complex feeling, there was an opportunity.
For the time Syoran stood beside Caspian, there had to be some level of knowing, some insight he could offer that would push us toward some kind of answer.
Or possibly… even some understanding about the captain of the Bloodmarked and what secrets he’d kept buried.
There had been a glint in Caspian’s usual hardened stare.
It was an expression I’d only caught once before, and that had been a moment so fragile, so…
intimate, that I’d brushed it out of my mind, convinced he’d never feel like that again.
It was an unspoken plea, a desire to be seen, heard, rescued. But from what, I didn’t know.
Cursing under my breath, I swept both hands up and under Syoran’s armpits. With a grunt and a pull, I leaned him back against my chest before moving to shift myself, which seemed to be the shift worthy of waking him.
A rasped groan was his response, his eyes fluttering. Heavy-lidded, he struggled to focus on my presence, and his brow lifted with quizzical observation. “A-Alastair Seridean, by which god do I owe the grace?”
Eyes rolling, I slipped my arm beneath his shoulder and hoisted him to sit up. “I suppose you can thank Jaskor, as you, my friend, are shit out of luck. Or maybe in luck, considering I’m here.”
“To finish me off?” he laughed weakly, head lolling.
“As enjoyable as the idea is, no.”
My answer was enough of a surprise to elicit a more lively reaction. Head snapping toward me, he blinked once. “What?”
“Oh, good, you’re awake. Could you save us both the hassle and stand up? I don’t mind carrying you to the ship, but you’d be doing me a favor if you elected to use your legs for even a fraction of a second.”
“Captor,” he huffed, his weight sinking with refusal. “You can… leave me here to die instead. I rather enjoy the sight of a skyline over a… cell.”
Rubbing my eyes with my thumb and forefinger, I exhaled. “No. Not in a fucking cell. There are things… Oh, fucking hell, Kao. Get up.”
“Things?”
“You’re going to continue this discussion while you’re actively bleeding out?”
“Yeah, I am,” he hissed as I adjusted, a hand immediately shooting toward his stomach. “Y-You’re our crew's rival. You expect me to blindly trust… you?”
“I am not asking for trust, but if you wish to live and have any chance of finding Caspian again, then I need you to get off your ass.” With another yank, the resistance I was meeting seconds prior lessened. “We can’t—”
“What do you mean? Where is Cas?”
Cas.
The name I used to shout, cry out, and moan.
“Well, considering the royal guard is balls deep in Veilmar now, who knows where Vayne is. I’m sure you’re familiar, but he has the ability to vanish when he desires to.
” Tossing his arm around the back of my neck, I shifted from my knees to my feet.
“The king sent for him specifically, which means there is something Marellan is planning, and as much as I would love to sit here and debrief you on everything, you won’t get any further information if you are dead. ”
With one hoisted yank, I shouldered him from where he sat and dragged him upright with no issue.
Shifting his arm to ensure he wouldn’t slip from my hold, I wrapped one hand around his waist and the other around the wrist dangling from my right shoulder.
I took a leveling inhale, ignoring the pain roaring through my own body before I took a step forward, guiding him toward the shoreline.
He fell silent for the first half of the excursion, head hung, and chin settled against his chest. Part of me contemplated stopping to see if he had fallen into Elaros’s grasp, but the other demanded I push forward.
One second longer, another moment of contemplation, and he could easily slip from this plane and into the next.
And while I didn’t necessarily have an issue with the possibility, he still possessed a well of knowledge I wished to explore.
Boots transitioning from cobblestone to wood, the creak of the knotted surface beneath us seemed to jostle him enough. “Hm…”
“Oh, good,” I answered, my breath slightly fractured due to carrying his weight for the majority of our return. “You’re still alive.”
“D-Did you really think… I’d give you the satisfaction?”
While I could understand what he was saying, each articulation became more slurred than the last. It was a warning that he was undoubtedly toeing the line between life and death.
The increasing coolness of his flesh solidified it, and with the distance between the ship and us shortening, I shouted for the one thing I’d never bothered to demand at any point in my life.
“Help!”
The immediate eruption of activity sounded, and Leilani’s head poked up from the railing of our home. “Ace! What—”
As if her voice awakened another one of the gods’ tests, Caspian’s crew responded simultaneously. Their attention settled on us, and heat immediately bloomed. Cannons shifting and weapons rising, a sharp whoop of demand roared across their deck.
“That’s our first mate!”
“What are you doing with him?”
“We will gut you alive if you take another step!”
“Our cannons are loaded!”
“We will blow these docks to pieces if you—”
“Silence!” The enchantingly sharp, yet commanding voice erupted from behind me, and with it, everything silenced.
My chin turned, attention settling on those all-too-familiar emerald green eyes.
Prowling toward me with ethereal grace, Rohen clutched the head of a royal guard in her hand, tossing it onto the dock without so much as batting an eye.
The wound Caspian had inflicted along her collarbone still bled, but her expression lacked any hint of affliction.
No, this was a woman capable of decimating lands with the simple lift of a finger.
Glower landing on the ship full of Caspian’s men, she spoke again. “If you wish to test my already non-existent patience, then feel free. Though I wouldn’t recommend it, considering—”
Boney arms jutted from the water beneath us, fingers curling around the wooden planks behind her.
Rising as if summoned by the goddess herself, a torso bubbled to the surface, tentacles moving to slither around the various lines and ropes left on the docks.
Heads slipping into view, my breath caught in my throat as I locked eyes with a skull-like shape—something human, yet so far from.
Yxalune.
“Rohen, what… the fuck?” I whispered, skin paling.
The corner of her mouth curled in amusement, but she kept her attention fixated on the men who demanded the hand off.
“I have no issue ordering Yxalune and her summoned Vellari to dismantle your entire ship if you keep running your mouths. In case none of you have realized, there are far graver opponents to worry about, alongside even graver threats,” she gestured to Syoran, who had grown limp once again, “Syoran is dying.”
Nipping at the inside of my cheek, I slowly peeled my gaze away from one of Yxalune’s many heads and peered up at Caspian’s crew. “I brought him here to ensure he didn’t die. We have an esteemed medic on board, and I… I planned to save his life.”
“Why?” a man barked, his question valid.
Swallowing my pride and ego, I shook my head as I raked a freehand through my damp hair. My eyes danced to the side to catch Rohen staring at me with something that looked like a mix of shock, wrath, but most of all… acceptance.
Loosening the breath I held, I spoke the seven words I never envisioned would leave my mouth. Not after everything he’d done to me. And yet, somehow, I was ready to hunt down Caspian Vayne for a new reason.
“I think it’s time we work together.”