Chapter 18
Hours later, we found ourselves picking our way through the most unsettling place I'd ever seen.
I could only describe it as a graveyard of broken ships stretching as far as I could make out in the murky First Dark.
Wing ships of every conceivable design jutted from the landscape, their once-proud sails now tattered ribbons.
Smaller skiffs lay scattered between them, some crushed beneath larger vessels, others merely abandoned.
"How many people have ended up here?"
Cypher moved ahead of me, his steps careful as he navigated around a shattered bow section. "Thousands. Maybe more."
I ran my fingers along the splintered wood of what must have been a luxury vessel, its gold inlay still gleaming faintly despite the centuries of decay. "Did any of them make it out?"
"A few perhaps," he said, though his tone suggested those numbers were vanishingly small.
We hadn't spoken about what happened in the captain's quarters.
Once we'd dressed and gathered our things, we'd fallen into an uneasy silence, both of us pretending the encounter was nothing more than a shared fever dream.
My body still ached pleasantly, but my mind was spinning in circles.
I couldn't decide if I regretted it or not.
"Stay close," Cypher murmured, holding out a hand to help me over a particularly unstable section of debris.
I ignored it, finding my way. His sigh was not the first in the hours that passed.
The way-finder in his hand pulsed more insistently now.
"We're getting closer," he said, checking the device.
"The Genesis Engine must be beyond this ship graveyard.
It makes sense that the ships would have been drawn to this area. "
Shadows moved between the wrecks. Not denizens, something different. They slithered and coiled, lacking solid form. I felt them watching us, tracking our progress through their domain.
"What are those?" I asked, pointing to where darkness pooled beneath a listing skiff.
"Echoes, but not like the ones you've seen in the Gallery. These are older. Remnants of people who've been here so long they've started to become part of the First Dark itself."
As if hearing him, the shadows rippled in response, several of them flowing together to form a vaguely humanoid shape before dissolving again. I shuddered, instinctively moving closer to Cypher despite my decision to maintain distance.
"They won't hurt us," he said, though he didn't sound entirely convinced. "Not unless we threaten them."
We continued through the maze of wrecked ships, the wayfinder's glow growing stronger with each passing minute. The shadows followed, more joining their ranks until it felt like we were being herded rather than merely watched.
"Cypher," I said uneasily. "I don't think—"
"Juno?" A familiar voice called out, and my heart leapt. "JUNIE!”
I whirled around, searching frantically for the source. There, perched atop the broken mast of a wing ship, was my cousin.
"KORA!" I shouted, abandoning all caution as I scrambled toward her.
She slid down the mast with the agility of a cat, landing in a crouch before racing toward me. We collided in the middle, arms wrapping around each other so tightly it hurt.
"You're alive," she sobbed against my shoulder. "Gods, I thought—when we got separated—"
"I'm okay," I assured her, pulling back to examine her face. She looked exhausted but unharmed. "Where are the others?"
"Here," came Jask's voice from behind her. He emerged from behind a broken hull section, followed by Zoya and Vic. Their faces lit up at the sight of us.
"Captain," Jask acknowledged Cypher with a curt nod. They were obviously going to have words later in private.
"Where's Tor? And Knives? Omri?" I asked, looking around for the rest of our crew.
"Right here," Knives called, appearing from behind another wreck with Tor beside her.
Omri trailed behind them. Click was perched on Omri's shoulder, and he scrambled down and practically threw himself at me.
I caught my little friend, tears of staggering relief springing to my eyes as I cuddled him close.
"How did you find us?" Vic asked, as he looked between Cypher and me.
"The wayfinder." Cypher held up the device. The crystal inside was now pulsing so intensely it cast flickering light across all our faces. "It's been leading us to the Genesis Engine."
Vic rushed forward, his eyes wide as he stared at the pulsing wayfinder.
"The Engine is real," he breathed, running a hand through his disheveled hair.
"I knew it. The codex wasn't lying." He fumbled in his pack and pulled out several pages of notes, covered in his cramped handwriting.
We were lucky he never removed his satchel, even while on the ship, because the rest of us only had the clothes on our back and the weapons we'd been holding.
He muttered to himself about theories and hypotheses that I couldn't hope to understand.
"How far?" Jask asked, looking at Cypher's wayfinder.
"Another few hours of walking, maybe less."
"We should rest first," Kora said, eyeing me with concern. "Everyone looks dead on their feet."
I nodded gratefully. My limbs felt like lead. I wouldn't be any use to anyone like this, much less prepared to harness the power of the engine.
"There's a relatively intact wing ship over there," Zoya pointed to a medium-sized vessel whose hull remained mostly unbroken. "We could set up camp inside, get some sleep before we make the final push."
"Good idea," Cypher agreed. "We'll take watches in pairs. First Dark isn't safe, even with all of us together."
We made our way to the ship, clearing enough space in what had once been the main cabin for everyone to get as comfortable as they could. The echos continued to watch us, pooling in corners and sliding along walls, but they kept their distance.
"Do you think the engine will really be able to restore Nytheris?" I asked Vic quietly as we helped Omri set up a small cooking apparatus with only what was available on the ancient ship, plus the power from his emerald anchor crystal hanging around his neck.
"If the codex is accurate, yes," Vic whispered, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he pulled the book from his satchel.
"It's not just a terraforming tool. It's the original creative force that shaped the first realms. The codex says it exists in a state of pure potential, that it can be molded by strong enough will to—"
A deafening sound cut through whatever he was about to say. Blinding white light flooded through the broken windows of the ship, so bright it felt like daggers in my eyes.
"DOWN!" Cypher shouted.
Before I could react, he tackled me to the floor, covering my body with his own. The light intensified, burning through closed eyelids, accompanied by a high-pitched whine that made my ears throb.
"What's happening?" Kora screamed over the noise.
I cracked my eyes open beneath Cypher's protective weight, squinting against the glare. Through a shattered viewport, I could make out a massive tear in the First Dark. It wasn't like any portal I'd ever seen, as if someone had ripped through reality with brute force rather than skill.
"Someone's coming through!" Jask yelled.
The light began to dim as the portal stabilized. Through the tear, massive shapes emerged—five Assembly barges, their heavy, brass and iron hulls groaning as they slipped through the portal.