The man’s gaze shifted away from Vi’s future self and towardher—as though he could look straight at her.
Raspian saw her.
Vi took an involuntary step back, though she didn’t know how she would escape even if she wanted to.
In the vision, lightning cracked through the scythe. It shattered into a thousand pieces, magic propelling outward in a shock wave. Raspian grabbed for the throat of her future self and his nightmarish mouth ripped soft flesh from bone.
The Vi facing off against the dark god collapsed, grabbing her throat and gasping. She gasped as well, her consciousness blurring between reality and the Vi she witnessed die. Then, the air that filled her lungs was salty. Her throat was in one piece. And Taavin’s face appeared over her.
“What did you see?” he asked solemnly, kneeling down by her, ignoring the helm.
“I… I don’t know.” Vi rolled onto her elbow, just in case she was going to be sick.
“Vi—”
“I don’t know. I think it didn’t work right because I forced it. Or because I let Raspian’s power in me. Or because—”
“What did you see?” he demanded harshly, both his hands closing around her cheeks and jerking her face toward his. They were inches apart, his green-eyed gaze devouring her soul far more effectively than Raspian ever could.
“The scythe won’t work,” Vi whispers. “In the end… he wins.”
Taavin’s grip on her face relaxed. His eyes slowly widened as all tension left his face, his lips parting. He sat back heavily and breathed a soft, “No.”
“I fight him, and he wins.”
“No.”
“I saw it.”
“You saw wrong,” Taavin snapped.
“And if I didn’t?”
“Then we are headed to Risen, and we will find the information we need there to change this future. There’s still time, there has to be time…”
Taavin stood, grabbed the helm and turned east, but set his gaze westward toward the fading sun. That was the problem with her vision: she didn’t know what choice led to the outcome she saw. Was the scene she just witnessed the result if they chose to go to Risen, as Taavin wanted? Or if they headed to Norin, as she intended?
She rubbed her throat thoughtfully.
“For now, we stay on course. We’ll decide if we are off to Risen or Norin later. I’ll speak with my Father—” though Vi doubted she’d ever find the right words to explain that “—and make the best choice for us all.”
* * *
Vi eventually relented to the need for sleep, leaving Taavin at the helm. He hadn’t argued with her for hours, so she decided their plan was settled. Arwin was just stirring as Vi entered the cabin, but her father slept on.
As soon as she was horizontal, a deep and thankfully dreamless sleep overtook her as well.
When she woke, it was still dark.
Moonlight winked through the cracks in the curtain that closed off the cabin from the main deck. She blinked away the sleep from her eyes. Her head felt heavy and aching, but it was nothing compared to her body.
It felt as though a noru sat on her chest.
There was creaking and the sound of ropes straining… andvoices. Her eyes widened and Vi shot upright, heart racing. More hushed voices than Vi could count lingered on her ears. She pushed off from the cot slowly, reaching over to her father. He was rousing as well with a soft groan.
“Father,” she whispered. “Father, do you hear—”
Vi never finished her thought.
