Chapter 7
The Night-Piercer hung suspended in the void between shattered pieces of what was once a thriving realm. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the broken landscape, islands of various sizes drifting in the darkness.
"We can't stay here," Tor said, appearing at my side. His massive frame blocked some of the eerie light pulsing between the islands. "The ship's too vulnerable in the open void. We need to dock at one of the larger islands."
"Can we get close enough?" I asked, gesturing to the unstable debris field surrounding us.
"We'll have to. The bigger islands have more structural stability." He pointed to a massive landmass about a mile away. "That one looks solid enough."
Cypher nodded in agreement. "Zoya, plot us a course. Careful navigation, I don't want to clip our wings on floating debris."
As Zoya adjusted our heading, Tor turned to me. "We have two skiffs in the cargo hold. Once we dock the ship, we'll use them to travel between islands. They're faster and more maneuverable than trying to sail The Night-Piercer through this mess."
"I've never seen anything like this," I murmured, watching as we glided past a fragment of what might have been someone's home. A partial wall with a window frame still intact, curtains frozen in an eternal billow. "It's like everything just... stopped."
"That's exactly what happened," Cypher said quietly. "One moment, life. The next, nothing."
We approached the larger island cautiously.
It was mostly intact, just a sprawling section of what must have been a city district.
Buildings of white stone stood in varying states of decay, some nearly whole, others crumbled to their foundations.
Strange, luminescent vines had grown over much of the architecture, pulsing with the same purple-green energy that sparked between the islands.
"Careful now," Cypher called as Zoya guided us toward what appeared to be an old docking platform. "Steady... steady..."
The Night-Piercer settled against the platform with a gentle shudder. Anchor lines were secured, and Cypher turned to address the crew.
"Omri, you'll stay with the ship. Keep the engines hot and be ready for a quick escape if needed." Omri nodded, his ruddy face serious. "The rest of us will take the skiffs to the Reliquarium. Scavenger, Vic, Zoya, you're with me. Knives, Jask, Kora, and Tor in the second skiff."
I felt Click stir in my pocket, poking his small head out to observe our surroundings. I scratched under his chin. "Don't worry, you're coming with me."
The skiffs were smaller than I'd expected, sleek vessels designed for speed rather than comfort or hurried getaways, much nicer than my patched up skiff back home.
Each had a narrow deck, controls at the front, and small crystal engines at the back.
They looked fast and maneuverable—perfect for navigating the treacherous spaces between islands.
We loaded our gear quickly. I made sure my daggers were secure at my hip, and that Click was safely nestled in my pocket. Kora caught my eye from the second skiff and gave me a tight smile. I returned it, hoping I looked more confident than I felt.
"Stay close," Cypher instructed as he took the controls of our skiff. "Follow my lead and don't deviate from the course. The currents here are unpredictable, and there's debris everywhere."
With a low hum, the skiffs detached from The Night-Piercer and glided out into the shattered realm.
The sensation was immediate, a weightlessness that made my stomach lurch, followed by the eerie feeling of currents tugging at us from all directions.
Cypher handled our vessel with ease, his hands steady on the controls as we navigated between floating chunks of stone and twisted metal.
I couldn't help but stare at our surroundings.
Despite its ruined state, there was a haunting beauty to Nytheris.
Fragments of its former glory were everywhere—elegant spires reaching toward nothing, delicate bridges that now connected only to the void, intricate carvings on stone that had survived whatever cataclysm had befallen this place.
"It must have been magnificent," I said softly.
Zoya nodded. "The greatest realm of its age. Their architecture was unmatched."
I tried to imagine what life had been like here.
Families in those now-empty homes. Children playing in what were now broken courtyards.
Scholars studying in libraries that had been reduced to scattered pages drifting in the void.
A wave of grief washed over me, not just for the people who had died, but for the knowledge and beauty that had been lost with them.
"There," Cypher pointed ahead. "The Reliquarium."
Rising from the center of the largest island was a structure that defied the destruction around it.
A massive tower of pale blue stone shot through with veins of golden crystal.
Even in ruins, it was breathtaking, easily twenty stories tall, with multiple smaller spires surrounding a central column.
The upper levels seemed relatively intact compared to the lower sections.
"The archive is at the very top," Cypher explained. "It was designed to be the most protected part of the Reliquarium. Layers of magical wards surround it, meant to preserve the knowledge inside no matter what happened to the realm."
"And the codex is there?" I asked.
"If it survived at all, that's where it would be."
We were passing between two medium-sized islands when Vic suddenly stiffened. "Captain—"
A shriek cut through the eerie silence, so loud and piercing that I clapped my hands over my ears. Click darted deeper into my pocket, trembling.
"Krell!" Cypher shouted, yanking our skiff into a hard turn.
I glimpsed the creature as it dove toward us, a massive winged beast that looked like a nightmarish cross between a reptile and a bird.
Its body was covered in dark feathers that shimmered with an oily iridescence, and instead of a snout, it had a cruel, hooked beak.
Its wingspan was easily twice the length of our skiff.
"Hold on!" Cypher yelled as he pushed our vessel into a steep dive.
The krell shrieked again, and I realized with horror that it wasn't alone. Two more of the creatures had appeared, circling above us.
"What are they?" I gasped, clinging to the side of the skiff as Cypher executed another sharp turn.
"Predators," Zoya hissed, drawing a long knife from her belt. "They evolved after the collapse. They hunt in the void between islands. Not many species survived the collapse, but the krell, and some others were able to adapt."
One of the krell dove at us, its beak open wide. Instead of a roar, a spray of glittering quills shot from its throat.
"Down!" Vic shouted, pulling me to the deck just as the quills whizzed overhead.
"The quills are poisonous," Cypher called over his shoulder. "One scratch will paralyze you in minutes."
I peered over the edge of the skiff to see the second vessel with Kora and the others. They were executing evasive maneuvers as well, with Jask at the controls while Knives and Tor fired crossbows at the diving krell.
"We need to reach the Reliquarium," Cypher said. "We're too exposed out here."
He pushed our skiff to full speed, aiming for the island with the Reliquarium. The krell shrieked in pursuit, one diving so close that I could see the cruel intelligence in its eyes.
Zoya stood at the back of the skiff, her own crossbow raised. She fired, and one of the krell reeled back with a bolt protruding from its wing. It didn't fall, but it slowed, dropping behind its companions.
"Nice shot," Vic said.
"Not good enough," she replied, loading another bolt. "They're still coming."
I reached for my rift senses, trying to feel the currents around us. If I could predict the movements of the void, maybe Cypher could use them to our advantage.
"Sharp current to the right," I called. "It's moving upward!"
Cypher didn't hesitate. He cut the skiff hard to the right, catching the current I'd sensed. Our vessel shot upward with sudden speed, momentarily disorienting the krell.
"There's another one," I said, feeling the tug of a current sweeping beneath us. "Coming from below!"
Before Cypher could react, the third krell burst through the current, smashing into our skiff's underside. The impact sent us spinning, the control panel sparking as it cracked under Cypher's hands. I was thrown against the railing, pain lancing through my shoulder.
"We're losing control!" Cypher shouted, wrestling with the steering. "The crystal is damaged!"
Our skiff lurched violently, tipping sideways as the engine sputtered and failed. I caught a glimpse of the second skiff, Kora's face twisted in horror as she screamed something I couldn't hear, before we began plummeting toward a smaller island below.
"Brace for impact!" Zoya yelled.
I grabbed the nearest handhold, my knuckles white as we hurtled downward. Cypher fought the controls until the last moment, managing to level us just enough that we didn't hit nose-first. Instead, we skidded across a ruined courtyard, metal shrieking against stone as the skiff's hull tore open.
The world spun, a blur of pain and noise. Something struck my head. Then darkness.
I woke to Click's claws digging into my cheek, his mechanical tail ticking frantically against my skin. My head throbbed, and something warm and sticky matted my hair on one side.
"Juno!" Vic's face swam into focus above me. "Don't move yet. You might have a concussion."
I ignored him, pushing myself upright. The world tilted alarmingly, but I forced myself to focus. Our skiff lay in ruins, split nearly in half against what looked like a fallen statue. Zoya was already on her feet, crossbow ready as she scanned our surroundings.
"Where's the other skiff?" I asked roughly.
"Lost sight of them during the crash," Zoya replied. "They were still fighting off the krell last I saw."
Panic shot through me. "Kora—"