Before him, a river of dark rushing water divided the outerlands from the gates of Hell. Just a few yards from the shore, a fog climbed to the sky above, as if it had been created to prevent the abominations from seeing the innerlands. As Treycore and Eilee walked alongside the shore, lined with capsized boats, they passed a wooden dock, the boards at the end dilapidated, hanging halfway in the water. Though no boats were permitted to pass across the border, Treycore knew these boats were from long before, from abominations who had tried to cross. Higherlings didn’t need boats, as they could fly, but with Treycore’s wings injured during the War, he would have to travel by boat.
He was relieved they’d made it this far, and yet, the border would be their greatest challenge, for it was designed to keep abominations and higherlings from reaching the Leader’s realm.
The remainder of their journey was relatively calm, and Eilee had recovered nicely from the incision Treycore had made. A maroon patch on her dress was now the only indication of the serious incident that had transpired just a day earlier. Now, they only had to cross the river and reach Renovere, the innerlands’ city where Eilee had said she could access portals to various places in Hell.
Treycore and Eilee scavenged the boats that lined the shore, searching for good pieces of wood, and working together, built a functional vessel. As they hadn’t found decent oars, they used scrap boards instead and made their way across the river, keeping their eyes on the water for the sorts of beasts they knew lay just below. They moved through the fog for some time, their arms growing sore, their heads hanging low as they pushed on.
Treycore sat at the head of the boat. As he gazed into the water, he occasionally glimpsed a creature rising to the water’s surface. It made him nervous knowing they were easy prey for any one of these beasts.
A purple-fleshed beast, its sides bent like that of an enormous snake making its way across a pond, swam toward the boat. It was as long as a whale, its body three times wider than the length of their boat.
Treycore clenched his jaw. He turned around and exchanged his board for his sword.
Eilee looked in the direction of his concern.
“That’s a Periondore,” she said. “They’re the real trouble out here. But if he’s surfaced like that, it means he’s not hungry, so I warn you, don’t bother it because they have tempers that rival even your most unpleasant of days.”
As the beast approached the boat, a pair of eyes set on its shark-like head gazed at Treycore before the creature submerged deeper. The shift in the water made their boat stir about.
Treycore watched as it resurfaced several yards from them and continued on its path, granting Treycore some peace of mind. He set his sword back on the bottom of the boat and continued paddling onward, thinking on how much closer he was to Kid. If he could just make it past this river, he would be so close. Then again, he still had to deal with Vera, which would be another adventure unto itself.
“This mortal is lucky to have captured your interest,” Eilee said.
Treycore glanced over his shoulder and saw a sad gleam in her eyes as she gazed over the side of the boat. Even in her tattered state, her dress covered in grime and blood from their travels, it was clear her hair was her ally, as it had dried in the most pleasant of looks, some locked in a band of vines she’d created over her head, others dancing across her face. And though her face was stained with mud and dirt, neither could put a dent on the radiant glow she seemed to naturally emit.
“It’s unfair, isn’t it? The way of love,” she continued. “When you first abandoned me, I cried for so long. It was difficult for me to accept that He who could create a being to need, to crave another, would make it so that being could fall desperately in love with someone else. After I considered this for some time, I realized this was a fault with the creator, for surely had He possessed the power to maintain the Leader’s love, he would have done just that. It’s been a long time since I spoke to you about this, but I’m curious… did you ever see anything in me that was desirable?”
Her gaze lifted and met his.
“All the time,” he said. “But, Eilee, I didn’t know anything about love when we joined. Neither of us did. We believed we were right together because He had made it so. As I went out and experienced the realms, experienced the plight and pain, I saw that there was so much to the realms I didn’t understand, and it also helped me see that there was so much in me I didn’t understand.”
“And she helped you see that?”
“She did.”
“And then you fell out of love with her as well?”
It disheartened him to think about his end with Vera. “Vera was another story. With you, I hadn’t really known what love was. With her, there was some deeper spark… some special magic, something inexplicable.”
“And that magic faded?”
“That magic was destroyed when she transformed into a being I couldn’t recognize… a selfish, wicked creature who only cared for her own needs. That wasn’t the Vera I had fallen in love with.”
“And what of this mortal? What if he becomes something you aren’t in love with? What if he disappoints you just as she did? Just as I did?”
“Then I must go my own way. Love isn’t about forcing someone to be with you. It’s about being with them because you want to be, because it’s the only way you can keep on.”
Eilee’s lip quivered, as if she was fighting an expression that was about to seize her face. She ceased the discussion, Treycore presumed because she was unhappy with the direction it had taken.
They kept on for some time before a dark figure appeared in the mist.
It appeared to be a blob, perhaps a rock several stories high, but as they drew nearer, its shape became more discernible. A ship.
Several shadowy figures scattered from the ship and alighted on the water’s surface.
“Shit,” Treycore said.
Far worse than any creature they could have encountered, was the border patrol, fallens who had been hired by the Leader to protect the innerlands from invasions. Even having never encountered the ways of Hell, Treycore had heard of these gatekeepers.
