Chapter 6

  The Man Woven with Pain

  Nil

  It has been 3 days since we started our journey, with the weather only worsening. The wind was now biting into my skin, freezing me. Showers became storms, with the weather going from rain to hail. Sometimes the ocean froze over, and we would have to wait for it to melt unless Si-yeir used his fmes. Si-yeir had said that this was a path he hadn't taken before, though it was faster based on the distance. It was like a shortcut, a hard one to cross though, but due to time, it was needed. He had expected the weather to be more harsh in this region. He did say there was another reason that some sea creatures appeared more often on the normal route.

  It was the middle of the day, and it was beyond freezing. I looked out to the distance of the ocean, snow, and ice filled the ocean.

  I asked Si-yeir, “Do you think there's anything out there?”

  “Of course,” he said pinly, but then he reassured me, “Don’t worry, I doubt anything is around here that wants us here. It’s too cold for anything to reasonably stay in this climate.”

  His reply didn’t satisfy me. Something had to be near, like something was in the distance, waiting to strike. Maybe a massive fish or an octopus, just something. The creaking of the boat didn’t help. Maybe it was just me, but I noticed that I’ve been becoming more paranoid. Just since everything that happened, I felt like I hadn’t recovered yet. My chest was always tight, and shaky hands didn’t help me make reasonable movements. My family being dead, my brother being missing, that monster, they lingered in the back of my mind. They haunted me like cancer, and that cancer cwed into my mind, controlling every thought I had. It’s just… I hope my brother is okay.

  Suddenly a tremendous thump rumbled the ship. I yelled out loud, “What was that?!”

  Si-yeir looked at me. “I’m dropping the anchor because I have a job for you.”

  I wondered what job Si-yeir would want me to do. Maybe it was more repairs? “What job? Didn’t I remind you some time ago that I’m only here for the primary mission?”

  “Well, I need you to go down in the sea, you need to find this orb in a temple, it is a sphere of influence that helps one of our enemies. Mainly a Titian named Thassir.” Si-yeir walked into the captain’s deck and I didn't follow.

  I yelled out, “I’m not going! Why would I risk my life for something that doesn’t matter to us?”

  He ughed as if I was stupid. “We aren’t leaving until we get this done. This isn’t just me saying that, it’s our allies, too. It strengthens the seas to creatures, and would make it harder for us to travel without being attacked. People will likely die if we don’t destroy that orb.”

  I walked back to my room, frustrated. This guy was just using me, and he has to be. I knew he wasn’t listening to me. I went back upstairs and to the boat, but the blue fire didn’t allow me through. But then, I thought of the people, of my brother. What would my brother do? Aubin would agree, from what he said some people’s lives could be at stake because of this one object. Maybe just this once, I would agree only to help save lives.

  I went back to Si-yeir. “What should I do once I find it?”

  “You need to destroy it and find a blood ember, a small red glowing stone. You will find them bunched together.”

  Si-yeir leaned back in his chair. “I’m pretty sure your sword will manage your breathing. Since that’s what you manifested. After this, we will be going straight for Eirini.”

  “Alright, so when do I go into the sea? Also, what is Eirini?”

  “I’ll talk about it ter. You should get going now,” Si-yeir said.

  I grumbled to him, “Don’t think you don’t owe me a favor. Also you will need to pay me.”

  “Oh, I already have. There’s a bag of coins in your cabin, as compensation for risking your life. Thank me ter.” I stood there, shocked. He was paying me? I looked back at him, and he was ughing while coming over to pat my back.

  “I guess I’ll do it then.”

  We go back to the outside of the ship, and I go to the pnk. As I get ready for this job Si-yeir wants me to do, he uses his fire to make me float in the air. I held on to my sword tightly as I leveled out at two hundred feet above the ship, also confused as to why I needed to be this high up. It was cold up here, and the wind was blowing like crazy. The wind whipped at my clothes, like freezing needles jabbing at me.

  Si-yeir yelled from below me. “Ready?”

  I answered. “Wait, what was I- '' Not even a second ter, Si-yeir drops me into the sea.

  I free-fall as I yell and scream in protest. Instead of smming into the water like concrete as I expected, I fly through the water, going to the bottom. As I hit the bottom of the sea, the sand gave me a soft nding. I could breathe, somehow I didn’t need air as long as I held the sword. Also I wasn’t being crushed by the water pressure. Because of my sword, I could see. It glowed brightly in the darkness, but I couldn’t see that far with it. I walked in a random direction, hoping to find the location. The seafloor was nearly pitch bck, though I felt like I was going in the right direction. After a while, I found the temple he was talking about. The temple looked like it was old and abandoned, and there were these vines everywhere. It was like a pyramid, with a hole in it for an entrance. Worn-down stone bricks covered in moss built the walls, with pilrs holding up the entrance. Gigantic statues of figures stood over me, old lights broken and walls crumbled. It was pretty creepy, but I walked inside and went through the maze of the temple.

  As I walked through the entrance, the water stopped in its tracks. It was like a bubble, surrounded by the entrance of the temple, and the water couldn’t get in. A barrier separated the water from the air, though I didn’t know what the barrier was exactly. I got out of the water and continued through the temple.

  The entrance room was enormous, with pilrs and staircases down. With three hallways I could go down, I chose to go forward. I descended the stairs in search of the orb Si-yeir sent me to destroy. But as I walked through the halls, strange engravings in the wall intrigued me.

  I touched the walls and swept away the moss, showing walls with symbols. The symbols had pictures of massive giants, serpents, and many servants. It was very interesting, as they and the symbols bowed to a serpent in the middle, a serpent taking up most of the wall. Even though the symbols were there, I couldn’t read them even if I knew the nguage, so I just continued through the temple.

  While walking through the hallways, I got to a room that broke the maze of walls, and the maze was grand. Several times in the maze, I hit dead ends. After a long time of going through the maze, I got to a rger room. There was a dark, glowing blue orb in the middle of the room. I got closer to the orb, and I realized it was also glowing a light blue color. This has to be the thing Si-yeir wanted me to destroy.

  As I got even closer, dizziness clouded my mind. I stumbled as my vision bckened. I looked around, panicked, as everything turned bck, but became something else. The surrounding ground repced the floors with worn-down concrete. There was a cell in the middle of the room, hanging over with chains. Out of nowhere, a man suddenly appeared, that was in chains. It all seemed like an illusion. I could feel that all of this was real, but it didn’t feel like it was where I was, like a dream.

  The man spoke, “I feel someone's presence, but from far away, who may you be?” The man had symbols all over his arms, some with scars or tattoos. Something about him was off though, overwhelming my senses as his existence made my

  “I am Nil. Who are you, and how did you get here?”

  “Interesting name, and this must be some type of dream you are in. May I assist you?” He opened his eyes, and they glowed a dark gray color. “I am Peraclipsis, but some people call me the moon god.”

  My feet became cold, and sweat dripped down my face. Fear and confusion enveloped every fiber of my being. Heart beating, I stuttered over my words. “You’re that monster!”

  Peraclipsis looked annoyed and also confused by my reaction. “And where did you hear that from?”

  “You killed thousands of people, Monster! At Least that’s what Si-yeir said.”

  “And what do you think those people did to me? I protected the children and the families from those beings. People that killed those I loved, destroyed everything I had. That man’s father was my enemy, and don’t you think there was some bias in his preaching?”

  He looked at me, “Whoever you may be, do not always trust what people say. You can’t tell what the truth is in all these lies. We might as well be victims of the ws that govern this world.”

  And as I came here before, I faded back into darkness before appearing back at the temple, and I grabbed the orb and crushed it. Though I thought about what he said, maybe Si-yeir was going to betray me. Maybe Si-yeir was an enemy, but I’m not sure yet.

  As I destroyed the orb, the floor around my feet began to crack. Hands small and rge scraped there away from the ground. I sliced the hands and jumped backward before the hands could grab me.

  More of those hands arose from the ground to reveal a rger clump of hands and legs. It stood at around my height, and had a rge mouth with sharp teeth. The creature came at me, so I sliced it again. It dodged the attack and rammed me into a wall. A barrage of punches nded on me, with me only able to block my face. Jabbing the creature with the hilt, I managed to get it off me. I sliced again, and it backed away before falling over.

  The creature y on the floor motionless before it moved again. I ran back into the maze, away from that monster. But as I stopped to catch my breath, I heard it in the distance. I kept running, going back to where I came from to get away. As I went back into the maze of the temple and out of the temple, I felt a wave of relief that I was far from where that monster was. The voice of it weakened to a whisper from how far I was.

  Now with me being out of the temple, frustration arose, because how was I gonna go back up to the surface? It’s not like I could swim back up. Then it hit me. The path I went across had my footprints. If I got down here from that pce, I should have some way of getting back up. As I went back to the entrance, I came across those red stones Si-yeir talked about. I collected the red stones and continued through the temple. The red stones glowed and soft ones crumbled to dust in my hands. By the time I was back outside, I had two intact. I stepped back onto the sand of the seafloor. While outside, I waved my sword above me and suddenly I swam upward incredibly fast until I reached the surface. When I went to the surface, I climbed back onto the ship. Si-yeir was waiting for me, in all his comforts. How was it fair that he could just sit in his office while I had to do his work?

  I found Si-yeir again, and he brought me back into his office. I gave him the stones that he wanted, and he told me, “Alright, we can get going now. Good work.”

  I looked at the stones again and asked, “What do they do? They have to be somewhat important if I had to run for my life just to get them, right?”

  “Yes, they are. They help with locating beings, and it will be critical for our mission. We need to give it to a few people before we go after that beast.”

  Before I left, Si-yeir stopped me. “Before you go, I need to crify the Peraclipsis story. He tends to go into people's dreams while in those temples, trying to get them to side with him. We have had this problem before, so I will tell you the truth. Peraclipsis isn’t all evil, but he is fwed in his thinking. If he returns, the reason we need to stop him is that of him being wrathful. He does not forgive and therefore will kill many that stand in his way. It would be wrong for me to say he is only evil.”

  I was suspicious of Si-yeir. Why would he need to say this? Peraclipsis was making good points. Si-yeir brought me here against my will, won’t tell me about anything, and is against what Peraclipsis said for what seemed like no reason. They had him in there, chained and beaten, buried never to be seen again. While Si-yeir sat in a chair without a care in the world, having luxuries and enjoying life. It angered me.

  After he crified, I went back to my room and y on my bed. I wondered to myself about who we would need to give those stones to. Probably more of those people like Si-yeir who get to enjoy their life. They don’t know how it feels, and they get to enjoy life as we suffer in the darkness. They used us and punished us if we tried to rebel, and Peraclipsis is an example of that. I found the coins he talked about. The coins were beled exclusively for Eirini. That encounter with Peraclipsis kept reliving in my mind, because is Peraclipsis that bad of a guy? Even with all this going on, I still was worried about my brother. My heart was crushed, ?and I didn’t think he was alive. I lied about not believing, but hope still clung to me, even if it was hopeless. Just maybe, he could be out there, and if he was, I would find him. After a few minutes, my eyes faded, and I went to sleep.