Chapter 12

  Zari sat leaning against the veranda railing while having her fill of baked apples stuffed with caramel tart filling. With the sun sinking below the western horizon, she already anticipated Huoyan’s announcement before the girl came back from the docks.

  “It’s time for the funeral. Is Sannan still holed up in there?” Huoyan peered at the golden doors as if she might go down to check herself.

  “No need,” Zari said around a mouthful of apple filling. She bit into the fruit with a satisfying crunch. “I trust he will come out by himself.”

  Gods, but she was not looking forward to the funeral. Not that she did not want to pay respects to her crew and her father, but everything had happened so suddenly. And her father’s murderer was still out there. Zevros was the one who killed mom, that she was all but certain.

  “Did Erbosa entrust you to keep an eye on the two of us?” Zari raised a questioning eyebrow.

  Huoyan blushed in embarrassment, tapping her index fingers together. “N-No, but I get why you might think that. I know you two have been through a lot, so I thought I might keep you both company. It’s really saddening, being able to heal physical wounds but being unable to do anything about… well…”

  “I do appreciate your company, Huoyan, but I’m doing fine,” Zari lied. “As for Sannan, he seems to be taking his mind off things.” In truth, she wanted something to help take her mind off last night’s events. Exploring the world of Etheria, joining the Reisender Alliance, those prospects were enticing. One look at her bow, however, reminded her of the deceased crew she was leaving behind. It felt like it was only yesterday when her father gifted it to her, following an excursion to hunt down a sea beast that was terrorizing the shores of Isle Durna.

  “You are clearly not fine, Zari. Nobody can be after… after what just happened.”

  Huoyan took another glance at the setting sun, squinting with one hand over her forehead to mitigate the glare. “In any case, we should be heading over to the beach about now.”

  As if answering to a summons, Sannan came through the golden doors clutching a large metal object in his arms. It was a bulky thing covered in bronze overlapping plates that shone with an orange hue in the evening light. On closer inspection, Zari noticed sockets on the object’s sides as well as a glowing Lumix core embedded in its center.

  “This here will be Khanrea,” Sannan announced proudly. “Not the original, but it will have to do.”

  Tossing aside her last apple core, Zari got up on her feet. “So what if it is not the original? You never gave life to that empty husk that was left behind on the ship. What is there to feel sad about?”

  Sannan chuckled in embarrassment. “Ah, it is silly of me to think of that old model like that. I’m just sentimental, that’s all. Anyways, I understand we have a funeral to attend.”

  Zari nodded. “Indeed we do.” The streets were less packed around this hour, with most shopkeepers and entertainers retreating to the comfort of their homes. Many of the pirates, on the other hand, were making their way to the funeral gathering as well. It was well known Olberan was one of the Pirate Empress’s most trusted followers. Try as she might, but Zari failed to hold back some tears whilst following Huoyan back to the beach.

  “It’s alright,” Huoyan said with a reassuring smile. “Don’t feel ashamed to let it all out.”

  …

  Crackling blue flames engulfed the funeral caskets, sending up billowing plumes of smoke into the night sky. A quartet of flute players contributed to a soothing dirge, their individual parts weaving in and out of each other before all came together to play the chorus in unison. Though wordless, Erbosa mentioned the tune was derived from a song Ocean’s Embrace, the lyrics revised numerous times over the passing of the Ages.

  Lost, forgotten soul

  Carried across the sea

  Struck by fate’s hand, a death he’d not foreseen

  Caressed by ocean waves, drifting through shoal

  A body wrapped in Ocean’s soft, calm embrace.

  O graceful goddess of the sea.

  Cherish the sailor who pursues a lofty dream.

  Through death, let him be free,

  Free to dance to Nereid’s tune, free to redeem,

  A life cut too short, a life erased.

  By way of the Ocean’s embrace.

  Captains under Olberan’s division lined up to pay him respects, some muttering to themselves that this would never have happened if they were there to assist him. Zari fingered the unstrung bow in her lap. Her cheeks were still streaked with tears, though she was starting to regain her composure. Erbosa, alongside her first mate and helmsman, stood on the other side of the burning caskets, facing the sea. Right as the dirge finished, the Pirate Empress brought out her greatsword and swung it in a circular arc to let out a gale of ice. In that moment, blue fire and ice coalesced to dissolve the caskets into shimmering particles of ether, the icy gale settling the particles across the ocean waves. Sannan had seen Neheri pull off something similar, but not like this. Those particles were miniature stars brought down from the sky; a collection of ice blue pinpricks of light.

  …

  Erbosa laughed in reply to Sannan’s inquiry the following morning. “Well of course there is no such thing as an ice element, just as there is no such thing as an Ice Aa’sar. You can consider this a special application of water element channeling.”

  The Pirate Empress flashed the near transparent sky blue orb nestled within the hilt of her greatsword, Leviathan’s Bane. About as large as Olberan’s serpent spine, with intricate sculpt work along the blade’s edges reminiscent of crashing waves, Leviathan’s Bane looked the part of a blade that can fell a sea beast.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “In that case, surely there must be dozens of special elemental applications out there.” Sannan stood on the edge of the docks, leaning on a wooden railing crusted with barnacles. Crew members scurried about adjusting the ribbed sails on the Jormagand and carrying up crates of provisions on board.

  Erbosa shrugged. “Perhaps there were more during the Age of Divinity, but we will never know.” Zari sped past the laboring crew members, hurrying over to where Sannan stood. She fixed him with a perplexed expression. With Harandal strapped to her back, she looked just as ready for a voyage as the Pirate Empress herself.

  “Are you sure you want to stay here at Isle Durna?”

  Sannan replied, “I want to spend more time honing my skills, building the new automaton. Besides, a break from being out at sea would be most welcome.”

  “Suit yourself, but I will surely miss your company.” Zari turned to the Pirate Empress. “We’ll be sure to snag some amazing loot, and maybe some sea beast spoils, right?”

  “To be honest, it is not the loot I am after, but the thrill of the hunt.” Erbosa strapped her gorgeous blade behind her back.

  “Not to boast, but I have enough loot to last me a lifetime. No, most of it is split amongst the Iron Serpent crew members with the most merit.”

  Zari said with a grateful smile, “by the way, Erbosa. I cannot thank you enough for honoring my father and crew with that funeral last night.”

  “Don’t mention it, any member of my fleet would have done the same. Without further ado, we must be off. I do await the fruits of your labor once we get back, Sannan.” The Pirate Empress motioned a sign of farewell before turning on her heel to board the ship. Zari followed suit, her lavender hair streaming in the wind as she made her way up the gangplank. In another half hour the Jormagand was sailing off into the horizon, powerful sweeps from eight pairs of paddles propelling the colossal vessel against the ocean waves. Once the ship was far enough from the coast it gradually began accelerating, though nowhere near as fast as Olberan’s sleeker vessel. A shame. Sannan would have at least wanted Zari to be there when he placed the finishing touches on Khanrea.

  On his way back to the workshop Erbosa provided him the previous day, Sannan thought of the conduit. The piece was an anomaly, more so considering Azala was not around to guide him. Trial and error was as troublesome as stumbling around in a pitch black cave trying to find the exit by chance.

  His destination lay on the top story of a slate roofed building that belonged to a metalworker. Ardan Besovi bore a misshapen look to his face like it was pounded on an anvil. Four iron vats lined the back of his room, blowing out steam as they heated discarded materials to be reshaped as needed. Besovi barely paid any attention to Sannan as he made his way to the staircase leading to the upper floors. Wringing his blackened apron nervously, all his attention was on a bald headed engineer inspecting a freshly made Kalsan screw.

  At the top floor, Sannan took the time to explore the room. Although he had gotten a brief look at it yesterday after the funeral, he was too tired to give it more than a perfunctory overview. Khanrea’s torso lay unfinished against the right wall, next to a shelf containing an impressive assortment of machine parts, though nowhere near as impressive as what Erbosa’s repository contained. Drive pistons, cylinders of varying length, and mechanical joints lined the shelf from top to bottom. Across the other two walls were schematics and diagrams detailing everything from ship engines to artifices. It only felt fitting to drop “automaton” in favor of the term used by denizens of the High City. Sannan did have a sleeping chamber across this room, but this workshop would effectively be his home for a very long time.

  …

  The coming week came and went in what felt like the duration of a single day. As Sannan became more absorbed by his project, time seemed to accelerate. He quickly became acquainted with the bald engineer who operated the adjacent workshop. Stern faced, with a hard nose that looked chiseled from stone, Hassian Urgad was the engineer Sannan remembered seeing at the machine part repository.

  “Go get some sun, kid.” Hassian stood by his door, on a day Sannan estimated was close to the end of the week. He was not keeping track anymore. With his workshop lacking windows, he was not always so sure whether it was even night or day. Bright white light provided by a ceiling lamp was his sole source of illumination.

  “Once I get the conduit to work,” Sannan replied absently.

  “We humans are not machines. I can see just how weary you are without getting close.”

  “Once I get it to work.”

  Hassian scowled, walking over to the young man to drag him out the room by the scruff of his neck. Given how worn out he was, Sannan’s attempts to resist were pathetic. Once out of the building, he squinted at the glare of the sun, just an hour past its noonday position.

  “If you are too tired to walk, just sit by the side of the building. But by no means am I letting you back into that workshop. Not until you promise to take regular breaks.” Hassian had taken on a lecturing tone, arms crossed. The man was well built, and looked like he was from one of the Zaran Kingdoms judging from copper atah he wore around his neck – cross-shaped with a teardrop loop at the top.

  “I’ll take breaks,” Sannan answered with hesitation.

  “Believe me, there was a time when I thought life was too short to see all my planned engineering projects to fruition. I spent the better half of a year wasting away in a workshop the same as what you were doing. But with regular breaks I actually found I was being more productive. When you take the time to clear your mind, issues such as getting a conduit to work become easier to resolve.”

  “I understand.” You hare brained fool. Sannan could almost imagine what Azala would say if she were with him right now. Closing his eyes, he tried recalling the meditation technique espoused by the Indurans. Ashva, they called it. Becoming one with nature’s rhythm. Picture yourself as a lotus, petals unfurling ever so slowly…

  Sannan awoke under the light of a waning moon, partly hidden behind a veil of clouds. So he had only succeeded at putting himself to sleep. Looking across the darkened streets, he was glad he did not have any money or any other valuables on his person. Gods above, any thief would have succeeded at robbing him. Considering the guards were also pirates, he would not put it past them either. Scrambling to his feet, Sannan made his way back to his sleeping chamber, where he pondered on how he would get the conduit to work. A few minutes passed before a spark of an idea blossomed in his mind. Maybe it was thanks to Ashva, maybe not. What Sannan felt was akin to a mosaic puzzle aligning itself, all the interlocking pieces snapping into place. That coming morning, he went into the workshop with a promise to Hassian not to spend more than an hour in there. There he labored on until three fourths of the hour had passed. At which point a cascade of channels glowed all at once with the power of the Lumix core. Though Khanrea was only a torso and a head, the head swiveled from side to side ever so slightly.

  “I did it! Welcome to the world of Etheria, Khanrea.” The artifice’s head was a dense work of composite metal centering around a single eye. An iridescent blue eye fixated on Sannan with curiosity, almost reminding him of Emra’s eyes. Khanrea turned its head to the socket where its left arm should be.

  “Oh, don’t you worry friend. You will have all your limbs in no time.” The machine inclined its head before powering down. Its ether veins dulled, but did not subside completely. Sannan had known for a long time about artifices possessing some degree of human intelligence. Knowing is one thing, but witnessing it firsthand was a spectacle of its own.