Romulus possessed a long, muscular body with a silken coat that ranged from a soft silver to a deep charcoal. One of Amelia’s hands was buried in its shaggy mane that draped its neck and chest, giving Romulus a shawa-like appearance. Its two tails, bushy and thick, like two great plumes, stood erect as they monitored the aetherfield. Romulus mewed again, his ears—tall and tufted—flicked back and forth in response to stimulus. The peeka’s eyes shone a brilliant copper, standing out against his striking coat.
“A fine peeka you’ve found, my anisa,” Menes said, folding his arms and looking down at Amelia half buried in Romulus’ endless coat. “Did you know they first came from the South, tamed by my Ashendi ancestors? Now there are many different kinds in many different places. This one is Northern, I can tell by its fur.”
“It’s not, it’s not, hey—” Amelia wiggled her head, trying to see past Romulus who seemed determined to rub his neck on her chin. “It’s not too hot for him down here? He won’t suffer in Ishaq, will he?”
“They are adjustable creatures, my anisa,” Menes explained. “They shed their fur to cool down. He would be even bigger if you put him in some cold place.” Menes looked proud at his own explanation before frowning and turning to Serena.
“Adjustable?” he queried with a raised eyebrow.
“Adaptable,” Serena corrected.
“Ah.” Menes turned to Amelia and clarified, “They are adaptable creatures, my anisa.”
“Would you like to say hello?” Amelia said, twisting her body a little so Romulus was facing the Arakian captain.
Menes looked confused for a few seconds before slowly raising a hand and touching his horns.“...Hello,” he grumbled.
Amelia giggled. “I mean, do you want to stroke him?”
“Ha…” Menes took a half step back, holding his hands out with his palms forward. “No need, my anisa. They make me sneeze. I have a… condition? No, that’s not right… I have an illness?”
“You’re allergic?” Serena suggested.
“Yes!” Menes laughed as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Imperial is such a trouble language, you know? Hakian is much more simple. We do not have ten words to describe the same thing.”
“That’s a shame…” Amelia murmured, trailing off as she cuddled Romulus. Her eyes were bright, full of thought in the manner Serena knew could only mean one thing.
No doubt, at some point in the future, Menes the Ishaqian Lord would find himself cured of his peeka allergy.
“Romulus here would spend his time with the injured,” Alaric said, “and give company to those that weren’t unconscious.” The Acting Captain reached out, giving Romulus some scritches. “It can be dreadfully boring when you have nothing to do but recover. Captain Halen, I would like to request that you allow Romulus permission to stay in your medical bay. One of ours will look after him.”
“Don’t worry yourself, Acting Captain Voss,” Serena said slowly, not missing the tremor present in the demon’s hands as he stroked the peeka, nor missing the strained tension layered behind his voice, like a piece of string under too much pressure. “I’ll permit it. I know someone who can ensure Romulus’ needs are met.” Serena watched Finella’s group passing by, returning to the shipwreck to retrieve the last of the injured.
Seonmi was already working under Hillbrand in Medical and was an ideal candidate to be Romulus’ caretaker. Although she might have trouble pulling the peeka and Amelia apart for any length of time.
Tsk!
Serena refused to compete with a peeka for Amelia’s attention.
Even one as majestic and fine as Romulus.
“Officer Bright!” Serena called. “Need assistance?”
“Not enough space!” Finella shouted back. “We’ve got it, Captain!”
With that, Finella and her squad worked their way back into the shipwreck.
“If I may ask, Captain Halen,” Alaric began slowly, turning his head to look at Serena and flicking his gaze towards her horns. “Has the Eastern Admiralty taken up hornweaving once more as a means to distinguish rank?”
“Not quite, Acting Captain,” Serena said, trying to sound casual and dismissive. In the corner of her eye she could see Amelia’s lips curling in amusement. “We discovered you at an inopportune time. I was caught off guard.”
“Inopportune for you maybe…” Alaric murmured. “Thank the Moons you came when you did, Captain…” The demon swallowed and Serena watched as he wrung his hands together, unable to keep them from shaking.
She knew from her time on the battlefield that there were injuries that stressed more than just the body. How much had the Acting Captain been forced to endure on this grey rock? Terrified that no one would come? Terrified that they were doomed to be pulled into the Shattered Isles?
She might have to ask Amelia to discreetly step in.
“Thank the Moons, indeed!” Amelia suddenly chirped, brightening the gloomy atmosphere. She ruffled Romulus’ coat, continuing, “We think the Captain’s hornweaving looks wonderful, don’t we, Romulus? Yes, we do, don’t we? Hehe…” Amelia trailed off, snuggling with the peeka that seemed determined to repay every bit of attention with further licks.
“Miss Liona,” Serena intoned, doing her best to glare. “Until we can figure out the logistics of our new resident rat-catcher, why don’t you deliver Romulus to the quartermaster? I’m sure he’ll be able to look after it while we continue with the rescue.”
“Okay…” Amelia said slowly, turning away before quickly whipping back. With an awkward adjustment of Romulus’ position, she managed to give Serena an enthusiastic salute and chirp, “Aye, Captain!” before finally leaving.
“You’re quite casual with your subordinates, Captain Halen,” Alaric said. “I heard the Captain of the Vengeance ran a straight ship with straight horns. Are the rumours misleading?”
“My ship is straight, Acting Captain,” Serena replied. “Miss Liona is an icemage under the Head Chef. You know as well as I that annoying the kitchen staff is a recipe for disaster.”
“Aye…” Alaric responded in a manner that made him seem as if he wasn’t convinced.
“Regarding the Indefatigable,” Serena said, changing the subject. “What—”
A shout from the bridge interrupted her words.
“Ship signature!” Dagon shouted, poking his head out from the bridge. “Fifteen klicks! Ten degrees, at our altitude! Bow-on aspect! Thirty knots!” As he gave further description, Amelia appeared again, running onto the deck and passing Serena towards the railing. Serena followed her, peering out towards the dark murkiness of the Shattered Isles
Bow-on aspect meant the ship Dagon was talking about was pointing its bow at the Vengeance
, revealing the smallest possible profile and smallest possible target. Was it another ship that had seen the signal fire? What kind of mad captain would be even closer than they were to Rhaknam’s home?Amelia peered over the railing, pointing excitedly. “I see it! Wait a minute”—Amelia frowned, squinting her eyes—“It doesn’t look like a ship… it’s too round…”
“Captain!” Dagon’s shout sounded again, a note of panic simmering in his tone, “It’s an arcwhale! A big one!”
“I-it’s…” Alaric appeared next to Serena, his hands shaking so much he gripped the railing in an attempt to steady himself. “It’s the mother. She’s returned.” The demon turned to Serena with a desperate expression. “Captain, we must leave!”
“Hey, I think that’s the same one from before…” Amelia mumbled.
“Steel your mind and harden your horns, Acting Captain,” Serena said, giving the uneasy demon a glare. “Dagon!” she shouted down the deck. “General quarters! Load explosives and”—Serena flicked her head at the open, grey expanse and the fuzzy dot that stood out slightly against the background, growing larger by the second—“load penetrators!”
“My sayyidah!” Menes protested, “Surely you don’t mean to—”
“I mean to ensure our survival, Menes,” Serena spat. “I mean to ensure we make it through this moon-forsaken passage where even the light of the Empress struggles to reach.” She glared at him for only a moment before snapping her head to Alaric. “Acting Captain, at what range did the arcwhale attack you from?”
“I…”
“Acting Captain!”
“...One, one and a half klicks, Captain Halen.” Alaric seemed to be having difficulty keeping his legs rigid. “It circled the island and bore down upon us a bombardment like I’ve never seen or felt before!” Alaric shakily laughed. “You can’t mean to try and fight it? That’s madness!”
“Dagon! Serena called. “Fire explosives at four klicks, penetrators at two!”
“Aye, Captain!” her First Officer responded.
“Sayyidah!” Menes exclaimed.
Serena ignored him. “Acting Captain,” she said, looking Alaric up and down. “I suggest you make your way inside. Let my Medical Officer look over you… and give you a sedative if needed.” She tried to speak softly, but the urgency of the matter meant she couldn’t wait for Alaric. She placed a hand behind his back and gave him a shove. The Acting Captain stumbled before finding his feet and stopping.
He turned and looked at Serena, his face ashen.
“We… we must hide, Captain Halen! It’ll ram us! We cannot fight, we cannot run!” Alaric suddenly started to giggle and began spluttering nonsense. It was then that Serena saw for the first time in a long time, the sight of a man breaking. The Acting Captain, consumed by his fear and panic, turned and ran down the gangway and onto the island. He ran past Finella and the squad, who were bringing out the last of the crew.
“What’s that about?!” Finella shouted, her eyes widening as the Vengeance’s turrets hissed and creaked into life, rotating their mighty barrels ten degrees to starboard. Inside the turret pods, Thorne’s gunnery crews would be working hard to make sure the guns were ready to join the upcoming conversation with their incoming guest.
“Arcwhale!” Serena shouted. “Probably hostile! Get the injured and your squad on board!”
“A-aye, Captain!” Finella replied, hurrying the squad carrying the injured demons in stretchers. As she crossed the gangway, she asked Serena, “What about Acting Captain Voss? What’s twisted his horns?”
“His mind has failed him,” Serena said.
“Oh…” Finella swallowed before asking, “Want me to get him?”
Serena shook her head. According to the information Intelligence had provided her on the Myrmidon, Alaric Voss was capable of red aura. While Finella or even Mel could overpower him and bring him in, a man in his condition could make the process difficult and dangerous. He could throw himself off the island, possibly dragging others with him.
“If he survives, we’ll fetch him after and have strong words about his conduct,” Serena said, chewing her words. “Go on, Officer, get inside.” She jerked her head towards the bridge, and Finella and her squad quickly obeyed.
Serena closed her eyes and gave herself one long exhalation of breath to calculate the upcoming battlespace. There was no way the Vengeance, as slippery and agile as it was, could outmanoeuvre an arcwhale in the sky. If they had time, the best position would be for them to burn towards upper-sky where the arcwhale’s lift organ would struggle to match the Vengeance’s lift engine.
But it was time that they didn’t have. Serena had already calculated that the arcwhale would intercept them before they made it. She clicked her tongue. Thirty knots! What an outrageous speed for such a massive beast! It could ram them out of the sky!
The Myrmidon had crashed after entering an uncontrollable spin. Serena had no intention of sharing that fate.
They would stand off against the beast at their current location, partially shielded by the island. It did mean that, unfortunately, the island would likely bear the brunt of the arcwhale’s magic, ripping what remained to shreds and—
Serena felt her eyes widen as her mind remembered an important detail.
Damn it.
Where was that hole that the Myrmidon’s earth mage had been digging? Was it deep enough to withstand an arcwhale's assault? That was, Serena presumed, where the broken Acting Captain Voss had run off to hide. The very same Acting Captain Voss who was currently in possession of a sketch of the ship that attacked them with aetheric warfare!
Damn it!
Serena bit her lip, coming to a decision. Alaric Voss and whatever information he held within his breast pocket was not her first duty. Her first duty was here on the ship, it was—
“Amelia!” Serena shouted, knocked out of her thoughts by the sight of her girlfriend running down the gangway, the dark brown hair of her disguise flapping in the wind.
Amelia half-turned, shouting back, “It’s the same one as before! I can stop it!”
“What!?”
“The same arcwhale from before! I’m sure of it! It feels the same!” Amelia was making full use of her cloaked wards to sprint at an inhuman speed over the island and towards its peak. “I’ll get away from the ship! Trust me!” she yelled.
“Empress, save me!” Serena yelled, feeling her legs move before her mind came to the inevitable decision to follow her girlfriend.
Amelia was, after all, her first duty.
“My sayyidah!” came Menes’ panicked yell.
“Get inside, Menes!” Serena yelled, running down the gangway. “Anathor! Tell Dagon he’s in command! Explosive at four, tungsten at two!”
“Aye, Captain!” came the hurried, coarse reply from the direction of the ship.
Serena sprinted onto the island, across the grey rock and past the ruined wreckage of the Myrmidon. She passed the jury-rigged aetherscope, following the short path to the island’s peak where she found Amelia standing next to the burning signal fire, her full attention on the approaching arcwhale.
“It’s the same one,” Amelia said, her voice quiet but fully audible to Serena’s aura-enhanced ears. “The one I met that day, remember? When you gave me my first ever swordsmanship lesson?”
“How… how do you know?” Serena asked.
“I just know,” Amelia replied, lightly shaking her head. “Look! It has the same markings as before! You’re going to shoot it when it gets close, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I’m going to shoot it,” Serena answered flatly. “We have a right to defend ourselves against them. What… what are you going to do?”
“I’ll make it go back,” Amelia answered, nodding in a manner that was oddly reassuring. “I’m away from the ship, right? I should be okay to put some effort in?” Amelia turned, blinking her shining eyes at Serena. Eyes full of hope, determination, and sheer will.
“I trust you,” Serena said, glancing at the approaching arcwhale. It was approximately eight klicks away, close enough that Serena could make out the purple and blue markings on its body. She had to admit, it did bear a resemblance to the arcwhale they met on their way to Kenhoro. Its markings were the same, and while it was difficult to guess its size at this distance, it seemed about the same size.
An incredible three hundred metres, more than three times the size of the Vengeance.
Amelia raised a hand towards the arcwhale. “You have to go back…” she murmured. “I’m sorry your child was hurt… but you have to go back…”
Serena sensed Amelia’s aether roar with delight as a momentous amount poured out of her, snaking its way through the expanse towards the arcwhale. For a moment, Amelia’s disguise slipped, and there was a flash of gold in her hair before her Kanaxai spellwork readjusted and covered it up.
A barrier formed in the distant sky. An enormous shimmering ward of translucent red stood firm, directly in the arcwhale’s path. Serena could see Amelia had angled the barrier so it would deliver a glancing blow, redirecting the arcwhale off course and hopefully allowing it to change its mind about attacking.
She held her breath as the arcwhale continued towards Amelia’s barrier, making no effort to avoid it. Then, as the knot in her stomach returned in full force, the arcwhale collided with Amelia’s barrier, barely slowing down as the spell bent and then shattered entirely.
Next to Serena, Amelia shuddered.
“Oh…” Amelia mumbled. “You’re a strong one, aren’t you?” Amelia raised her hand again, saying, “It’s furious. I could sense it when it hit my barrier… It’s stronger than Katalin was when we fought her.”
“Katalin was holding back,” Serena answered. “Can you stop it?”
“Yes, I just… don’t want to hurt it.”
“Do you need to Speak?”
“I… maybe. Let me try something stronger. It feels strange moving so much aether after spending so long being discreet.”
Amelia cycled her aether, pulling in so much from the atmosphere that the rocks around them began to float, caught in the aetheric field her girlfriend was producing. Although Serena didn’t plan to stop her if the ship was facing any trouble, she couldn’t help herself from glancing back at the Vengeance to make sure nothing untoward was occurring.
The ship seemed to be fine.
For now.
Amelia activated her magic. Her aether shot forward once more. Serena caught streaks of silvery blue and even a few specks of the magical colour of ochure before a massive ward manifested itself at the six-kilometre mark. It was a titanic, beautiful ward that Serena was sure the Vengeance’s tungsten penetrators would struggle to pierce. While Amelia had cast higher circle spells after Speaking, this was by far the largest ward she’d ever seen her girlfriend produce.
“You have to go back!” Amelia exclaimed, her voice painted with hope and desperation.
As the arcwhale approached, Serena couldn’t help but ask, “Is that a ward of Marzanna?”
Marzanna, the demonic god of winter.
“Yes,” Amelia nodded, her face full of focus as she continued to pour out aether, further strengthening the distant bulwark. “I thought it would be fitting, considering Lia Liona’s profession. Ah, please work… here it comes!”
The arcwhale hit Amelia’s ward. Unlike the first attempt, it didn’t smash its way through. Instead, the Marzanna ward buckled, but held. The arcwhale, having hit the angled surface with its massive body, found itself forcefully twisted. Its mouth opened in a silent roar as its torso rolled awkwardly. The momentum carried its two tails into a collision with the ward, wrapping them around in a snapping momentum that reminded Serena of a whip.
A whip made from two hundred metres of arcwhale tail.
The beast rolled in the air, righting itself. Its markings took on a hue of red as it lashed out at Amelia’s barrier, shattering it with a magically-enhanced strike that would obliterate any small ship in the sky. Angered, injured, but undeterred, the arcwhale continued to home in on their location with a new vengeance.
“No!” Amelia yelled. “You have to go back!”
“Something’s wrong,” Serena said. “It’s gone mad, somehow. It shouldn’t be this aggressive.” Feeling herself swallow, she turned to Amelia. “The Vengeance will start firing soon. You… you might need to Speak.”
“But…” Serena saw Amelia clench her fists. “But the ship?”
“I’ll take responsibility,” Serena said. “Whatever happens.”
“If only it would just listen!” Amelia cried in frustration. “I don’t want to hurt it….” Her girlfriend's eyes widened suddenly as she turned to Serena and said, “If I Speak Aseco, I could heal it, right?”
“If it’s rampaging because its child is injured… that’s not a pain that can be healed away, not unless you can find and heal the child. I—” Serena was cut off as the sky around them was briefly illuminated with two red flashes.
And then, a fraction of a second later, the roar of the Vengeance’s turrets reached her ears. A pair of explosive shells whistled as they tore through the sky, seeking their arcwhale target.
“Arcwhales are vulnerable to lightning,” Serena explained quickly. “Like aetherscopes, the electricity damages them. If you invoke Taranis, then you might be able to shock some sense into it.”
Two explosions erupted on the arcwhale’s front, briefly engulfing it with fire and smoke. The arcwhale opened its mouth with a frustrated roar that, for a moment, seemed to almost be mocking them.
“T… Taranis, right?” Amelia said.
“Follow your instincts, Amelia,” Serena said. “I’ll back you up, whatever happens. But, uh…” Serena took a deep breath, watching the arcwhale draw ever closer. “Follow your instincts quickly. Dagon won’t wait for you.”
Dagon would have seen Amelia’s attempts at trying to ward off the rampaging arcwhale, but he wouldn’t deviate from Serena’s orders. Her First Officer would faithfully act in the best interest of the crew’s safety, and while Serena had enough faith and trust in Amelia to be here with her right now, Dagon had yet to fully understand the sheer scale of Amelia’s powers.
“Okay!” Amelia exclaimed as she began expelling aether and forming the Word.
Turret Two spoke again, launching another cheerful greeting while its brother, Turret Three, sat in silence, pointing its barrels in line with whatever ballistic trajectory the Ambler Firing Table had automatically calculated. Serena knew within those barrels two penetrator rounds lay waiting, ready to smoothly end the threat they faced.
Menes had said the sky belonged to the arcwhales.
He might be right.
They might be the Greatlords of the sky.
But tungsten was the great leveller above all.
Serena had no doubt the penetrators would pierce through the arcwhale’s defenses.
“Amelia…” Serena said, trying not to rush her girlfriend.
“Don’t rush me! I’m going to”—Amelia’s eyes widened with realisation—“to do that. One moment!” Amelia’s then stopped expelling aether, and instead began drawing it in again. More and more.
“What are you doing!?” Serena hissed. “Are you planning on blowing the island up!?”
“Something different! Stop talking! I’ll lose the feeling!”
“Amelia…” Serena glanced at the Vengeance just as the penetrators were fired. With her enhanced senses, time slowed down as she spotted the pointed projectiles slipping through the battlespace, whispering of assured death and destruction.
“Amelia!”
“Bloody… bloody overgrown fish!” Amelia yelled, raising her hands in frustration as her aether flared, lifting not just the surrounding rocks, but Serena herself. She felt herself become weightless and, for a brief moment, she thought she could glimpse a layer of reality normally hidden from her.
A world of sepia.
And then her girlfriend’s aether changed.
“You… you just listen!”... Amelia puffed her cheeks out, taking a big breath.
And then Amelia Spoke.
“You have to go back!” Amelia shouted, her voice echoing and rippling through the aetherfield and whatever realities lay beyond. Serena felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise as her entire body shuddered at the alien power manifesting from Amelia. Her girlfriend’s hair floated, as if in water. The Kanaxai disguise failed to hold, and Amelia’s golden hair returned in its full brilliance.
It was the same ability she’d demonstrated during the fight in Korvus, where she saved Serena from Narean’s grasp.
It was the same ability she used to expel Taruna from the paladin who tried to kill them in Kenhoro.
It was similar to how Amelia spoke after she’d forced the Asclepius embodiment. Only this time it wasn’t forced and rough, but elegant, aethereal and transcendent. It was an ability that was more. It was…
Godly.
As if Amelia was producing her own divine aether.
The ripple of Amelia’s command hit the arcwhale with immediate effect. The beast’s eyes changed from ones consumed with rage to ones of clarity. The markings on its massive body dimmed from a glowing red to calming blue and shimmering purple. Its body twisted, its mighty fins moving to catch the air as the arcwhale began its enormous turn. Its mouth opened as it released a mournful cry, full of surprise and loss.
And as it did, the two penetrators whistled past its torso, slipping in between the creature's two tails and into the void beyond. The pieces of tungsten fell, dipping lower and lower until they vanished into the lumina.
Hopefully, the fabled under-sky wouldn’t mind the sudden disruption.
“Ha… Ha…” Amelia panted, the surrounding rocks slowly lowering as the atmospheric aether dissipated. Serena stopped floating as her feet made contact with the ground. “That… that felt good. I won’t lie.” Amelia twisted around, her golden hair flowing. “Did I look cool? I bet I looked really—” Amelia paused suddenly, her eyes locked to something just behind Serena. “Ah, shit,” Amelia mumbled.
Serena turned to see they weren’t alone.
“My sayyidah,” Menes said, his face wearing a troubled frown.
“That’s an interesting kitchen mage you’ve found, yes?”