Noctis trudged toward the Aetherkin Bound gates in silence at first, driven by the anguish and peril evident in his motions. He glanced in my direction periodically, inspecting my body, calculating my comfortability. I followed closely behind, barely needing to push myself to cooperate with the help of his powers.
The horizon lit with lanterns across the villages, peeking out from the cracks of hills, and I just wanted a moment to say goodbye to the peace of the Aetherkin Bound as we approached the edge of the realm.
No commotion stirred at the gates, only solace and serenity, our only companions the pillar to take us back to the Terraguard Bound and the low hanging clouds that settled along the ground. I stood firm and clutched my stomach as the land at our feet dropped us back to the realm below.
Raven trampled me when we met the cobblestone flooring of Neryssa’s shop. His paws instantly met my shoulders, tongue lapping at my face.
“It went well?” Neryssa’s gentle voice called out as she polished a blade.
Noctis nodded, but his eyes diverted away.
His sister clutched his arm quickly from her seat, turning him to meet her gaze.
“What is it?”
He said nothing, only tilted his head toward me.
Neryssa slowly shifted to look at me along the floor with Raven, and she gasped. Her head flew back to Noctis.
“Why is she cursed?” she yelled, a stark contrast to her usual soft tone. “You better fix this, brother. And do it fast.”
“I know,” Noctis responded, his eyes trained on the stone floor. “I will.”
A long pause settled between us as I raised myself from the ground. Neryssa shifted back to her stool where she worked on the blade.
“We’ve retrieved the fragment. One more to go,” I said, attempting to lighten the conversation.
“I saw another harbor taken down in your absence off the coast of Brigg Isle. In the Terraguard Bound. Everyone in the surrounding villages is missing,” Neryssa mentioned, ignoring me.
Conversation with her unraveled the same way it did with her brother.
“Missing?” I gasped as I lowered Raven’s paws to the ground. He shifted into his bird form and perched on my shoulder.
“All gone. We’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Are you sure they weren’t found dead, and you received incomplete notes?” Noctis asked.
“No. Just… gone. Empty homes, abandoned markets, no sign of life still in the area until the neighboring village. I saw it all.”
“Did it happen already? Or soon to come?” Noctis asked.
Neryssa’s visions intrigued me in a way that should be terrifying. Knowing the future was dangerous, but being exposed to it without searching seemed worse.
“I’m not sure,” she answered, and my heart fluttered. We could have a chance to stop the massacre if it didn’t happen yet.
“The crew needs to know,” I murmured in disbelief. If anyone could help, it was the ones fighting in that realm already.Noctis and I needed to relay the information and make haste to the villages. Lives depended on us, and by the sounds of it, hundreds of lives waited.
“Thank you for having us, sister,” Noctis acknowledged, and he and I turned to leave.
“Take Raven with you. He will kill me if I keep him behind.”
“A raven is usually a gothic poet's pet, not a pirate’s sidekick,” Calvin quipped, overlooking the main deck’s railing as Noctis and I approached on the harbor deck.
“Are you going to tell him Raven doesn’t like to be called a pet, or are we just going to see how this pans out?” Noctis whispered with a soft hint of glee.
Raven fluffed his wings and dived down to the ground, leaving behind his bird form and landing heavily on his massive paws. I had never seen Calvin so shocked.
“You have a Zephyreon as a pet?” Calvin stuttered in disbelief.
