Dominic stepped back from the wheel. “Steer for a while?” He gestured to the helm.
Adara silently took hold of the spokes, gaze cast on the vast ocean ahead. The sun was beginning to greet the sea, the sky its canvas to paint pastel in the coming twilight.
Dominic stood beside her, wanting nothing more than to collapse from the exhaustion of constantly using his magic, but he kept his posture upright, unwilling to let anyone see his energy ebbing away. They stood in an awkward silence, filled by the droning noise of the ocean waves and the idle chatter of the Andreilians.
Zephyr had taken up his near-permanent residence in the crow’s nest. Wind ruffled his blond hair. A spyglass was lifted to his eye as he searched the water for any sign of mythical creatures. Although the young boy appeared happy in his place high off the deck, Dominic knew Zephyr preferred the crow’snest because it was the farthest from the sea. He was constantly scanning the ocean for signs of danger because a kraken had sunk the ship he and his brother sailed to Andreilia on. Zephyr washed ashore, but his brother was never found.
Tyson and Desmond sparred on the main deck. Tyson lunged with his sword and Desmond nimbly deflected with his spear. Niran and Silas, being younger and less experienced, observed and learned, rooting them on. Sawyer and Vesper sat across from each other, playing a game of cards. Caleb and Tobias stood hand in hand at the forecastle deck while Ace and his brother appeared to be having a quiet argument by the port railing. Dominic read Adara’s name on Asher’s lips and assumed Ace was warning him not to get too close to the Flamecarrier, for this game of love would end in her demise.
Dominic’s attention returned to Adara, eyes catching on the thin chain hanging around her neck that dipped beneath the fabric of her tunic where that golden key lay over her heart. He averted his gaze as something inside him clenched, like claws sinking into him and twisting. How could he ever win her over when she still carried the key to another’s heart? Would she ever wish to carry a piece ofhimwith her wherever she went? Dominic contemplated what it would be like to experience a love strong enough that one could never wholly separate from the other. To have his soul so intimately entwined with another that not even death could stop it.
“Tell me more about the Whisperer.” Adara’s words cut through his thoughts and he never thought he’d be so glad to hear her voice. “I want to know what we’re up against.”
“A monster sent from the depths of Helfarrow to do Belor’s bidding, no doubt,” Dominic replied.That is if Belor and Helfarrow are even real.He didn’t voice his doubt about the God of Death out loud, knowing it was simpler to word it that way for others to understand the immense danger they were in.
“Sounds like someone I know.”
He ignored the jab and the glare she shot him.
Dominic himself didn’t know much about the Whisperer, only what he’d read in tomes or heard in stories. “The Whisperer is an ancient being, ageless like us, and is said to have the ability to see one’s past and future.” A gust of wind threatened to send them off course, but Dominic’s magic held steady, muscles straining with the effort. “It also cannot lie. So when people demand to know their future, the Whisperer must tell them. But time, as you know, is a very delicate thing, as is knowing your fate. Of course, if people don’t see what they want, they’ll try to change their future. But the Whisperer knows their new actions could change the course of another’s fate. So, instead of letting them leave with the knowledge, the Whisperer kills them, and erases them completely from time. That way, no one’s fate is altered.”
Brows furrowed, lips pulled into a frown, Adara asked, “How does anyone know this then? If those who die are erased from time, how does anyone escape to warn others of the Whisperer?”
He sighed, running a hand down his face in irritation. “I don’t bloody know. There’s a lot of unexplained tomes about ancient creatures that supposedly no one can survive and live to tell the tale, like the Whisperer and lykrens and dragons and the Phoenix. The stories just show up in books, and no one knows who wrote them. People say there were once immortals who walked between realms, gods that lived among us long ago, who wrote these ancient tomes and left them to help us in the doomed world they created as they fled to save themselves. For all I know, it could all be a myth, but I’m not taking my chances.”
If Adara knew about anything he was talking about, she didn’t let it show. She only asked, “If you believe it could all be a myth, then why risk it for the Realm Fracturer?”
This sword could be a myth as well. Another legend to give fools false hope for power, another fairy tale to tell childrenbefore bed, another fable too dangerous to accomplish. It could be nothing more than a story meant to drive people insane and lead them to their deaths.
Dominic turned to meet her eyes. She looked up at him with uncertainty, like he was dragging her through all this for nothing. And it might be for nothing, but his desire for the Realm Fracturer was strong enough that he was willing to try. “Because this sword may be the only thing that can make things right.” Something inside his chest strained. “And I suspect your hope for this Realm Fracturer to be real is as strong as mine since you’re willing to help me forge it.”
She stared at him blankly, lips pressed together as if to hold in her words. He didn’t know what she needed the sword for, but she had to be as desperate and insane as he was if she was willing to wage a war of hearts with him and help him make the Realm Fracturer.
“It’s real,” she said quietly but not softly. Her tone was sharp, certain, almost threatening. Like she’d rend the world to pieces with her bare hands if she could not do it with the Realm Fracturer. There was something dark hidden behind the light of hope in her sapphire eyes. “It has to be.”
Chapter 12
Theyreachedthedocksof Gierok before Adara woke from her slumber. The Andreilians had moored the ship by the time she made her way to the main deck.
“It’s about time,” Dominic said as she approached him.
“We need all the rest we can get before taking on the Whisperer. That may have been the last night we ever have,” Adara replied, taking in his haggard appearance as she donned her black gloves, covering her marred hands. Dark circles stained the skin beneath his eyes. There was weariness in hisusually assertive gait as they walked across the gangplank to the dock.
He mustn’t have slept at all throughout the night, working his magic persistently every hour in the dark. Adara wondered how hurried he really was to create this sword if he was willing to exhaust himself—from lack of sleep and use of power—so thoroughly. Even his face, despite the hours spent on the ship under the rays of the beating sun, lacked its usual tan color. Dominic didn’t look entirely well, but he pressed on like nothing was wrong. His unfaltering confidence assured her that he’d be fine, even if they were going up against some deadly creature with unforeseeable abilities.
He was known for defeating the undefeatable, such as death. He had been the first to find the water of Andreilia to make him ageless, and being the formidable opponent that he was, Dominic was on the verge of the immortality of a god.
Although she didn’t need his protection, she was glad to have him on her side.
For now.
What they would do to each other once someone won this game of love, Adara didn’t want to think about. She didn’t want to think about the possibility of being tortured and used again. And though Dominic probably deserved it, she didn’t want to become like her captors and put him through what she’d gone through.
But it was the only option she had.
One of the dockworkers approached them with a smile and said something in a language Adara didn’t understand. At her confused expression, he repeated in Malrynese, “Welcome to Enfider! We hope you enjoy your time in Gierok!”
Adara ignored him, glancing at the many ships moored from across the world. Some flew the dark purple and black colors of Lykrios, and she questioned how long it had taken the ships tosail from Malryn. To avoid the heart of the Plagued Sea, they would have had to sail far north, then cut east, then back south to Enfider.
