The Dragon in the Sky.

Nate and Sasha ride the sky barge and already find magical things will follow them...

There exist places in our universe far reaching from our time and space. One such place there is a world known as Terresama, a world comprised of floating continents separated from each other by a distance of air instead of water. The people of this world travel from land to land on flying ships never really knowing what lay below the continents. Due to the unknown nature they have decided to call the space below “The Abyss” or “The Void”. One such important place in Terresama is a series of small floating lands known as the Islands. Not only are they the trading hub for all the lands, but they are important for the way the float in the air. Each one floats at different levels slightly above the others. Most importantly The Islands are seen as the last place where all mystical things in nature happen.

 

                Sasha was looking outside of the porthole window of her cramped room. The sky was clear and the sun shimmering like a diamond through amber glass. It had been two weeks since her thirteenth birthday and her master seemed to be cracking the whip even harder when it came to studying. On her lap was Shanks, her new puppy that her master gave her as a present for her birthday. The party was fantastic in its own way even though there were not very many guests. There was Gilbert who was laughing over a few drinks and a couple of his Knights-Guard buddies who looked older than him. Then there was a man everyone just called “The Minister” who only said the words, “Happy Birthday” to Sasha and walked over to his own little corner of the pub. She felt a little out of place with so many adults around, but there was very nice round cake and Shanks as her gift. She even got a new set of robes after what happened to her other pair in the Hannover estate.

                Shanks yawned and stretched out his tiny white paws before relaxing back on her lap. Sasha petted his head and thought about how boring the ride in the sky barge really was. There was nothing for her to do inside of her cabin besides listen to the constant drumming of the machinery that was obviously below her room.

                “Okay Shanks, you look even more bored than I do. Let’s go see if we can’t find anything fun to do on this ship. Would you like that boy?” Sasha rubbed Shanks’ back which caused him to spring awake and bounce around on her bed.  Sasha took one more look outside the window before picking up her satchel, with the words “MAGIC IS LIFE” on the flap, and turned to the door.

                Only when she turned she noticed that there was a very tall man sitting in the chair on the other side of the cramped room. This caused her to yelp and fly back onto her bed as he was blocking her way to the door. She wondered who the man was or how he even managed to get into the room without even so much as making a noise. The more she looked at him though the more she felt as if she could not get a clear image as to what he looked like. Only his hands and the top half of his face were showing. It looked as if he was wearing a large black trench coat that emanated a kind of swirling black fog from it. His skin was very pale and his head completely bald. Despite all of those features the one that caused Sasha to quiver were the eyes. His eyes were a dark gray and they were staring directly at her.

                “Oh, hello,” said the man. His voice was slow and deliberate yet with a very loud reverberation.

                “What are you doing in my room?” Sasha was clutching to Shanks.

                “I am just obtaining passage on this barge the same as you,” he replied.

                “In my room?”

                “I am terribly sorry about that. I do hope I did not startle you.”

                “You did and if you don’t get out right now I am going to scream.”

                “Please do not do that. That would be…most unfortunate.”

                “Why shouldn’t I? For all I know you could be some pervert planning to do something,” Sasha paused to look for her words, “all I am going to say is that you’ll regret it if you try anything. I’ll have you know that I am the apprentice of a very powerful sorcerer.”

                “Oh a sorcerer is he? That is most intriguing.” The man sat there giving Sasha a stony gaze. “You need not worry young Sasha I am not here to harm you.”

                “Wait, how did you know my name?”

                “I know much about you young Sasha. I am, however, somewhat a man, if you wish to call me as such, of ambiguity and I wish not to reveal too much of what I do know or why I chose to appear in your room. Do know that I have greatly looked forward to meeting you, but I fear I may have not chosen the appropriate moment to do so. So, again, I greatly apologize for any misunderstandings on my part.”

                Sasha considered this for a moment. The man spoke very politely, but his appearance was more than off putting. She decided that she was still going to keep up her guard and knew a few spells if she needed to make a hasty getaway.

                “What is your name then?” Sasha asked.

                “As I have said,” he replied instantly, “I am a man of ambiguity and I wish not to reveal much of myself. I have been called many things, but if you are hoping for an exchange of titles so that we may have a more formal conversation then you can call me ‘Passenger’.” 

                “Okay, Passenger, I, um, “Sasha didn’t really know what to say to him now. Everything seemed so strange right now. Shanks began growling at Passenger, but that wasn’t enough to break the tension of the moment. “I would, um, like to leave my room now if that’s okay.”

                “But of course ,I am here merely to observe at the moment. To tell you the truth I have never been on a sky barge before. Just listen,” he slowly put his right hand to his pointed ears, “the rumble of the engine as the pistons churn over and over in unity. It is almost a poetic sound of manmade achievement. The soft whirl of the propellers almost unnoticed if you truly do not listen. The gentle glisten of sunlight as it beats down on the decks as those people above move about waiting to reach their destination basking in its warm glow. I do not consider many things to be beautiful in this world, but for something such as this to be created, yes, that is a thing of beauty.” He closed his eyes for a moment and lowered his hand back down to his side.

                “Yes, you can go and I shall be gone. Do not fear me young Sasha.”  He rose from his chair. “I am but merely an observer.” A quick puff of black smoke filled the room completely and dissipated soon after. Sasha looked around for Passenger, but there was no trace of him.

***

                Nate wandered around on the deck as busy passengers passed him unnoticed. The reason for this was that Nate was honing his abilities and cast an invisibility spell on himself. It had taken a lot of energy and will to cast this spell and keeping his focus was difficult as he found himself to be hungry. His stomach growled every once and a while which cause some passengers to look over in his direction even though they could not see him. After walking about on the deck, and even blowing on the hair of an attractive blonde for a bit of fun, he ducked down behind a set of crates and released the spell.

                Nate strolled out casually as if everything was normal. He decided to forgo his robes for the trip as he wasn’t really up to attracting attention to himself as a sorcerer. He had much pride in his abilities, but felt worn from the past few weeks that included the training of Sasha. So he dusted off some of his old formal wear and decided to walk about as a regular passenger.

                As he walked casually over to the side of the barge he noticed a young woman leaning against the cracked wooden railing. She wasn’t dressed as elegant as most of the other women sightseeing on the deck in fact she was actually dressed quite plain. She had thick shin high leather boots with a plain brown skirt running down to her ankles. She wore a plain white long sleeved shirt with a brown vest over it and a dirty looking cap on top of her head. Nate leaned on the railing next to her and her blue eyes shifted in his direction for a split second.

                “The skies are amazing aren’t they,” Nate said to the woman.

                “If you think so,” She replied never taking her gaze off of the distant skies. Her long dirty blonde hair was waving like a flag in the breeze.

                “Do you travel by barges much?” Nate asked. He was hoping he could get more of a response out of her.

                “Nope,” She pushed her tongue in her cheek after she said that. Nate was getting a hint that this woman did not want to talk to him. Just before he was about to wish her a “good day” his stomach let out a loud roar. The woman’s head slow turned to his direction, but instead of a stony expression she was smiling. The smile turned into a laugh and Nate slumped a little bit.

                “Hungry are you?” she asked.

                “You heard that? Sorry, yes, I haven’t had much to eat today to be honest.”

                “Don’t worry about it,” She pushed herself from off of the railing, “I hear there is a tavern below the deck and I am actually pretty hungry myself. How about we both get ourselves something to eat?”

                “Sounds wonderful,” Nate was almost taken aback by her sudden change, “I’m Nate Griffon by the way.” He extended his hand.

                “Beatrice Yellers is mine,” she reached out and gave his hand a quick shake. “Don’t worry about payment Nate. The meal will be one me.” She began walking to a doorway that led down below the deck. Nate fallowed beside her.

                “I’m going to be honest; I am not used to a woman paying for my meals.”

                “Why is that? Do you have such a masculine personality that you have to take charge? Save me, I am perfectly capable of giving you the honor of having a meal with me.” Nate was about to open the door for her, but she pulled it open and slipped in before him. “Besides, wouldn’t it be a nice change of pace to not have to worry about silly standards about what men should do for women.”

                “I guess, if that’s one way that you want to look at it Ms. Yellers.”

                “That is how I am going to look at it Nate. Oh and drop the formalities. Just call me Bea or Beatrice if you feel too uncomfortable about calling a woman by her first name. If I will not be formal then I expect you to return the favor.”

                Nate grinned. He was already beginning to like this woman. After a small amount of chatting about where they were both traveling from. Nate told her he came from Lerntos Island while avoiding a discussion about the business at the Hannover estate. He still wasn’t comfortable confronting that mess in public, but rather said that he was there doing some work for an aristocrat. That much was true. Beatrice told him that she came from the continent of Eyaros to the high Island of Julian and was now looking to return home. They both found a table inside of the ships tavern called, “The Sky’s Drink” and she ordered a wine for the both of them.

                “I’ve been to Eyaros a few times. Some people on the Islands call it a place that borders the Abyss. They say if you look over the edge you’d be staring straight into it.” Nate said to her. As he said this a waitress brought over a large bottled filled to the brim with red wine. She dropped down two dusty cups and glared at Beatrice who only gave her a slight smirk.

                “Oh that’s just rumors that come from people who live in a superstitious land. While I have not been near the edge myself, and let’s be honest who has ever stood close to the edge, I’ve found Eyaros to be a fine place. It is my home after all.”

                “A rough one too,” Nate blew into his cup and kicked some of the dust out of it. He looked for the bottle, but Beatrice was already pouring herself a cup. She gestured for his cup and he held it over the mouth of the bottle, “I don’t mean to criticize your home, but things have gotten a bit out of hand over the past few years. Last time I was in Bernin I almost got mugged three times.” There was a loud crash over near the bar. The young waitress from earlier had dropped a tray of drinks which caused her to be scolded by her dirty portly looking boss. Nate turned back to Beatrice who had her hands placed firmly on her lap. She was smiling at Nate and he admired the beauty in it.

                “How long ago was that?” She took a small sip from her cup.

                “Well, I would say about 2 years now. I was there with,” Nate paused, “a friend of mine doing some work for a local merchant.”  Nate did not want to explain to her that he was actually there with his former master and that work was stopping a local sorcerer’s guild from trying to place a curse on him and his family. Nate took a big drink from his cup. The wine tasted bitter and almost caused him to spit it back up, but he swallowed it anyway to save face.

                “Well, I haven’t had much trouble living there. Sure, it has its ups and downs, but I have managed to take care of myself so far.” She took another small sip from her cup. “Now, how about I order us both a plate of some squawk. I haven’t actually tried it, but I’ve heard some of the people talk about it on the ship.” Nate nodded and Beatrice motioned to have the waitress come back over. Beatrice ordered for the both of them and Nate took another large drink from his cup.

                After some time had passed and idol talk about current events their food was given to them. The tavern was starting to fill up with passengers and the noise level was starting to rise. The food was delicious and it, combined with the wine, had settled Nate’s stomach for the time being. He had even ignored the bitter taste, but was starting to feel a bit tipsy.

                “Thank you for the meal by the way,” Nate took a big drink from his third cup of wine. “Forgive me, I don’t usually swill this much.” He laughed.

                “Ha, don’t worry; I can swill with the best of them. I’m just glad that you are having a good time. It’s been a while since I have had company with a man like you. You are a bit different from the other kind that I have met.”  Beatrice said. She removed the napkin that was placed in her shirt and wadded it up on her plate.

                “A man like me huh? I can’t imagine what other men are like around you,” Nate attempted to get another drink from his cup, but his hand was feeling weak. He didn’t realize that the wine could have an effect on him like this. He leaned back in his chair and noticed that the wooden ceiling above him was swirling a little bit. He leaned his head back to Beatrice who was still smiling.

                “Well, I don’t get many chances to have dinner with a sorcerer,” Beatrice said in a pleasant tone. Nate was about to sit back up in his chair and ask her how she knew, but he found all his strength had left him. In fact he couldn’t move any muscle in his body.

                “How…what…” were the only words that Nate could spit out.

                “I wasn’t exactly sure how much paralyzing powder I should use on a sorcerer.” Beatrice was looking at her nails and quickly bit off a cuticle. “The normal dosage for a person is about a spoon full, but for you, I couldn’t take any chances so I used the whole pouch.” Beatrice reached into the pocket of her dress and threw out a red leather pouch on the table. It was obviously empty by the way it landed gently on the hard wooden table. “Honestly, I thought it was a bit reckless for a sorcerer to appear and disappear like that if they obviously wanted to go unnoticed. Did you know that you were this close from being thrown over the ledge when you came up next to me?” Her fingers were held an inch apart from each other. “Then I thought to myself, ‘I could probably follow him, sneak up to him in his room and slit his throat while he slept’, but that’s a lot of risk when you are dealing with a sorcerer. Lucky for me your stomach gave me the opportunity that I needed.”

                Nate groaned and tried to think of a quick spell he could mumble under his lips. He tried anything that could get someone in the tavern to realize what was going on or at least to get her to shut up. He couldn’t even draw up enough will inside of him anyway as the paralyzing powder left him feeling too disoriented. Nate now had a sudden realization as to why his master had such an aversion to alcohol.  “We can wield the power of the elements, but something as simple as wine can destroy you if you are not careful.” Nate felt like his old foolish self again and couldn’t believe that he let something like this happen to him.

                Beatrice reached over the table and grabbed Nate by his hair and pulled him close to her face. He supposed he would be able to feel this if the powder hadn’t of dulled all of his sense. “Pity, you are actually pretty handsome now that I can get a good look at you.” She threw him back in his chair. “Well,” she stuck her tongue in her cheek, “I obviously can’t do you here there are too many people around.  I guess I’ll have to take you to my room and I can finish you there.” She stood up from the table and casually walked over to Nate. Beatrice took his arm and slumped it over her shoulder dragging him out of the tavern.

                “Miss, is he gonna be alright?” The portly bartender asked Beatrice. Nate shot the bartender a desperate look with his eyes in hopes that he could notice the distress in them.  The bartender took no notice.

                “Don’t worry about it. He’s had a bit too much to drink. He’s going to my room and I’ll take care of him there.” Nate looked up and saw the same smile on her face. It no longer looked beautiful, but malicious. The bartender gave her a wink as an indication that something else other than murder was going to happen there. The room and the people were moving out of focus too much and the squawk in Nate’s stomach was moving up his throat and out his mouth. Beatrice dropped him on the puddle of vomit and gave him a nice kick in disapproval. She picked him up again and the world began to fade to black. 

***

                Sasha decided to leave little Shanks in her room for the time being. She didn’t expect Passenger to come back like as he said he wouldn’t and even if he did she had a feeling that harming a little puppy probably wouldn’t be worth his time. She wandered around the small halls of the ship and bumped past a clearly intoxicated couple trying to unlock the door to their room. “Watch where you’re goin’ you little brat,” the drunk man said to her. She ignored them and wandered down the wooden hall aimlessly. Meeting Passenger like that just seemed too strange for her to try to clear it from her mind. Who was he exactly and why did he decide to show up in her room? For that matter, what was Passenger?

                Sasha formulated a few theories to herself as to what he was. She thought he could have been a skillful thief, but he didn’t try to take anything. Then she thought that he could be a sorcerer like her master, but he had the power to aparate and dissipate into thin air something her master told her was very hard for any magic user to do and next to impossible. If he was a sorcerer then he must be a very powerful one and that was something she couldn’t ignore. For a moment she almost had herself convinced that Passenger could be from the Void. The thought of that made her stomach churn. Whoever or whatever Passenger was Sasha knew she would have to find Master Nate and tell him about it so they both could have this figured out.

                  As she was turning a corner she saw a young boy crouching on the floor. Instantly she could tell he was rough around the edges. His trousers were ripped and his green shirt a bit stained. His black hair was a little shaggy and sticking up from the back. The boy was bent over what looked to be a sliver tray on the floor with half eaten food left outside of a room for a wandering steward to come pick up. He turned his head, with a half eaten sandwich sticking out of his mouth, to Sasha. He opened up his mouth and it fell to the floor in front of him. The boy stood up quickly and made a full on sprint towards Sasha.

                This surprised her and she had to think quickly. Out of instinct she held up both of her palms and shouted, “Athos!” and a bright blue spark flew out of her hands and struck the boy squarely on the chest causing him to double over on the floor.

                “Wha’ in the hell?” The boy shouted clutching the spot that Sasha struck him. This time, without saying her incantation, she gathered her will and held an energy spark in her hand and rushed up to the boy. She placed her foot on her chest and raised the sparking energy ball above her head.

                “Next one you get right in your face,” Sasha said. She enjoyed how that sounded out loud, but thought that her smile probably wasn’t going to make her look threatening so she stowed it. “Why did you try to attack me?”

                “I wan’t tryin’ to attack you, honest, I was tryin’ to get away from you, yeah,” the boy tried to stand up again, but Sasha put pressure on his chest and it caused him to fall back down. The sparks from the energy ball were making loud popping noises and she could see that the boy was looking at it. “I didn’ wan’ no one knowin’ I was stealin’ food so I was tryin’ to get away, yeah.”

                “Are you being honest with me? I would hate to have to hurt you again,” Sasha didn’t mind that she was smiling now.

                “I wouldn’ want that again girly. That knocked the piss outta me and didn’ feel quite right. Sides’ nothin’ back that way. Jus’ a little hungry is all, yeah. Could ya let me up girly I promise I won’ try nofin’.” Sasha looked at his dirty face and considered him. She closed the energy ball into her palm and allowed her will to reenter her body. Releasing her foot off of the boy she offered her hand to him, but he ignored it and stood up by himself.

                “Wha’ was with that stuff anyway. One minute I’m runnin’ and the next I’m flat on my arse. You some kind of sorcerer or something girly, yeah?” He moved his head side to side making distinctive cracks each time.

                “I’m an apprentice actually and my name is not ‘girly’ it’s Sasha,” Sasha crossed her arms.

                “I’m Billum if ya wanna’ know, but if it’s alright with you I don’t want no one knowin’ what I was doin’, yeah. Specially anyone knowin’ I just got my arse kicked by a girl.” Sasha fumed at this remark, but decided to let it slide.

                “What were you doing anyway?”

                “I was hungry alright, is that a crime?”

                “No,” she raised one purple eyebrow, “but I wouldn’t eat food someone else has already touched.”

                “Yeah,” Billum quickly stuck his pinky finger up his flat nose and flicked it to the side, “not everyone can afford good food alright.” Billum began to walk past her as if she was something to be ignored.

                “You’re a stowaway aren’t you?” She decided to blurt out. This caused Billum to stop and quickly turn back to Sasha. He looked Sasha up and down for a moment. He looked like he was about to say something, but his mouth closed up. “It’s alright I won’t tell anyone if that’s what you are worried about. To be honest you just kind of startled me. I mean, if someone was making a mad dash towards you out of the blue what would you do?”

                “I’d probably show them what’s what, yeah.” He replied.

                “Okay, if it makes you feel better I’m sorry that you got your ‘arse’ kicked by a girl,” Sasha grinned when she said this. Billum sniffed after she said this and straightened up from his slouch.

                “Ya jus’ caught me off guard is all. It’s not every day ya run into a magic user so I wasn’ expectin’ it. That was brilliant by the way,” Billum said changing the subject, “I never seen anything like that before. How did ya do that?”

                “Oh, this?” Sasha burst her palm open and her energy spark returned. Billum stared at it in amazement when to Sasha it wasn’t exactly anything special. Still she felt a little cocky that someone was amazed with her talents. Most of the time her master would just tell her to repeat the same spell over and over again until she got tired of doing it. There was no real praise other than “Good, well, that will be all for today,” and a nice bowl of fowl and rice for dinner. She clenched her palm back into a fist and the spell dissipated.

                “Do ya think you could show me anymore?” Billum asked.

                “I guess so, but, I shouldn’t really be doing it. At least not outside of my room,” Sasha said remembering that her master told her not to be practicing spells outside of her room.

                “Well, les go to ya room, yeah. I’d love to see some more magic!” Sasha felt her cheeks turn red. The idea of taking a boy to her room felt a little wrong and she didn’t even know him the well to begin with. Besides, there was a chance that Passenger could have come back and she didn’t want to explain that to Billum. Not to mention there was a chance that Passenger could be dangerous.

                “Uh, my room is, uh, not, uh,” she was stumbling over her words, “it’s just not a good place to go right now.”

                “Alright, no need to get all fussy about it,” Billum said. Without warning Billum grabbed Sasha’s hand and she could feel her face get really warm. It was the first time a boy had ever held her hand and she didn’t know what to think about it. “Let’s go down to the engine room. Lot’s of open space in there and many of the crewmembers don’t bother goin’ in some of the rooms, yeah.” Billum started tugging on Sasha which caused her to run alongside him. Before she knew it they were darting down the narrow halls and down a rickety stairwell and into a very noisy room.

                The engine room was a very large and loud room with big bulky machinery filling up most of the space. Large pistons rose up and down in unison at a hurried rate and every few moments puffs of steam would emit from the top of the machinery. They passed by a couple of sweaty crew members who were taken aback that a couple of kids were running around in the engine room.

                “Hey, you can’t be down here!” One of them would yell, but they were out of sight before anything could be done about it.

                “Wait, Billum, I don’t know anything about you,” Sasha yelled trying to be louder than the droning machinery.

                “What’s there to know?” Billum yelled back. “I’m 14 and a stowaway. I think that bout’ sums it up. How bout’ yourself, yeah?”

                “Well, I’m 13 and an apprentice to Master Nate Griffon. He’s a freelance sorcerer and he teaches me everything he knows about magic. We usually spend most of our time hopping on sky barges looking for work or at least anything that could get us some Royals.”

                “Like mercenaries, yeah?”

                “Nothing like that,” Although now that Sasha considered it their work could be construed as mercenary work, “We deal with jobs that are more mystical in nature. Curses, angry spirits, demons from the Void and stuff like that.”Sasha recalled the first time she encountered a demon from the Void, but shut her eyes tight and blocked out the memory as best she could.

By the time she opened her eyes she found herself in a room that was even smaller than the one she was staying in. If she didn’t know any better it could be considered as a slightly larger broom closet. On one side of the door was an open doorway that they just passed through. On the other was a large collection of clothes, discarded food and items Billum must have boosted off of passengers who weren’t paying too much attention. He let go of her hand, but that didn’t do anything to cool her face down. Although now she realized it wasn’t from embarrassment, but the amount of heat that was in the area.

“It’s hot in here,” Sasha said.

“Yeah, ya get used to it,” Billum walked over to the cot that he made for himself and sat down in front of Sasha. “So, ya gonna show me some magic or what?”

“Hold on aren’t you forgetting something?” Billum looked around. He picked up a small pouch and extended it to Sasha as if he was giving it to her.

“Not much in it, but this should work, yeah.”

“No, you are forgetting to say please,” Sasha crossed her arms. Billum looked down on the ground for a moment. Sasha figured it was hard for him to say because he probably never said it before. Billum placed the pouch back to his side and looked back at Sasha.

“P-please can I see some magic now?”

“Well, okay.” Sasha held up her hands to her face and gathered up her will. She lightly exhaled and a small glowing butterfly appeared out of nowhere. Billum sat there in amazement as the butterfly fluttered towards him. He extended his finger and it landed on it gently. He cocked his head in amazement as the butterfly burst into thousands of tiny lights that lit up the room.

“Wow, that is jus’ brilliant,” he said in wonder.

“Oh that’s nothing,” Sasha replied, “wait until I get into the really heavy stuff.” Billum took no notice in what Sasha said instead swatting at the tiny lights that littered the room. They passed through his hand and burned out as he did. Sasha sat down herself and watched Billum as he took in the magic that surrounded him.

***

                Nate felt a hard slap on his face that was almost painful. He slowly opened his eyes and found his vision to still be very blurry. The sensation he noticed was the distinct smell of vomit that was already crusting on his vest. The room before him was starting to come into focus. Oddly enough he was staring at himself which caused him to wonder if he was having an out of body experience, but as the world began to become more clear he realized that he was staring at a large mirror that was attached to a beauty table. He could see that he was sitting on a pink two seat couch and his arms outstretched to both sides as if he was getting ready to give a great big hug to himself. He struggled to move his arms, but found himself unable to. Then he started to remember meeting the woman Beatrice and what she did to him. He was still paralyzed, that much was clear, but he wondered if he could talk. He started to open his mouth, but was interrupted.

                “If the first words out of your mouth aren’t, ‘I have nothing to say’ then I’m going to throw this dagger right between your eyes,” came a familiar voice. Nate turned his head upwards, that much he could do, and his gaze caught Beatrice’s who was holding the tip of a very sharp dagger in her hand and it looked like she was more than ready to keep her word.

                “I have nothing to say,” Nate replied deciding to play this smart.

                “Good, then you are going to listen,” Beatrice started to pace in front of him, “You are only going to speak when I ask you a question directly. If the words resemble any sort of incantation then your bloody corpse is the next prize that the Abyss is going to see when I throw you right over this barge. Am I clear?”

                “Yes.”

                “Good, now that we have that settled I’d like to point out that you are very lucky to be alive right now. I don’t know if it’s that pretty face of yours or I’m feeling bored today, but you have been pretty fortunate to be alive so far. You better pray that I don’t consider this a mistake. “Beatrice started to clean her fingernails with the tip of the dagger. “You made some terrible mistakes trying to do me in.”

                “What are y-“Beatrice shot Nate a dirty look and that was enough for him to keep quit while she was talking.

                “First mistake was appearing out of thin air around someone who has a keen eye.” Beatrice took the dagger and tapper her left eye with the tip of it. It made a distinctive sound like a fork being banged against a wine glass. “Had this put in a while back thanks to some sorcerers down in Bernin who owed me a favor. It can see through the unseen as they said. Sure, I saw you walking about up on deck like no one could see you. I bet you didn’t expect that I could, huh? Oh well, that was a mistake you aren’t going to make again.” Beatrice smiled and went back to cleaning her nails. “If you get to make it again.”

                She calmly walked over to Nate and sat next to him. He began to breathe hard out of the anger he had for Beatrice at the moment. For a moment he started to think about just grabbing her by the throat and breaking that slender neck of hers. For now he was just going to have to accept her placing her head on his chest and listening to his heartbeat.

                “So, I’m going to ask you only once, who sent you?”

                “No one sent me. I’m just a freelancer,” Nate replied. Beatrice lifted up her head and began to stroke Nate’s chin. She then quickly jabbed the dagger into his left leg and a jolt of pain shot up his body. Nate began screaming, but Beatrice covered his mouth with her hand to muffle the noise. After Nate had let out his pain through his voice she lowered her hand and quickly withdrew the dagger from his leg and stood up. He could feel blood trickling down his leg despite the fact that he was unable to move it.

                “Aw, that wasn’t the answer I was looking for,” Beatrice said this as if she was talking to a baby. “Do we want to try this again?”

                “You can try, but the answer is going to be the same,” Nate replied. Beatrice threw the dagger and for a split second he thought it was on a path to his head. Instead it stuck in the wall just inches next to his head.

                “You are no fun tonight Nate. I buy you a meal and drink and I can’t even get an honest answer out of you.” She reached over and retracted the knife from the wall. “I might just have to carve that face into little pieces and send you back to Perro as a warning not to mess with me. That is assuming that is was Perro who sent you.” She laughed. “I owe money to so many thugs that I can’t keep up on who’s tracking me down.” Beatrice leaned down and gave Nate a quick peck on the cheek. “Listen, Nate, I’ve got some business to take care of. I don’t expect the powder to wear off anytime soon so I’m going to leave you here to think about things.” Her voice got deep. “Otherwise I’m going to be forced to make another hole in your leg.”

                Beatrice turned the dagger upwards and sheathed it under her vest. She waved at Nate as she turned to the door and left the room. Moments after a thick black mist filled the room and converged onto the center of the room. A tall man in black was standing there with very pale skin.

                ”Oh, hello Nate,” Passenger said.

                “Great, an Observer isn’t exactly what I need right now,” Nate said to the brooding figure. He remembered the first time he had seen an Observer. Great pale skinned dark figures that roam outside of the Void oblivious to human nature and, in what Nate considered a futile attempt, observes them and everything that they do. They are invisible to almost everyone except for the magically adept and even most sorcerers consider them a nuisance. The last time Nate had an encounter with an observer he was 25 and hanging off of the ledge of Highland castles tower after some guards tried to throw him over. Those memories weren’t exactly fond and he wasn’t going to dwell on them at that moment. Passenger let in a deep breath and motioned his hand to move a chair from the other side of the room to directly in front of him. Passenger moved around the red wooden chair and sat down in front of Nate.

                “I see that you are having troubles at the moment Nate,” Passenger said.

                “Oh, you could see that then? Listen, I don’t exactly need any observation at the moment. So unless you plan on releasing me from the paralysis I suggest you go piss off back to the Void.”

                “Observing is just one aspect that is in my nature Nate,” Passenger was sitting straight in his chair and giving Nate an unblinking stare. “I have had the opportunity of meeting your young protégée earlier. I may have picked the wrong moment to introduce myself to her, but I have found her to be a fascinating young girl. Perhaps she would grant me the ability to observe her more once you are both out of this situation.”    

                “You went to see my apprentice? What’s the matter with you? Never mind, I’ll deal with that later. I wouldn’t be wrong in guessing that you just saw what happened.”

                “Yes, I believe that woman means to kill you Nate. It is quite a shame really as I will not be able to observe what happens when ‘he’ arrives. It would be quite an event to witness.”

                “’He’, who exactly is this ‘he’?” Nate asked realizing that he didn’t really care.

                “He is the pit lord of Alheyashima,” Passenger turned his head slightly. To Nate he looked like a confused, and disturbing, dog. “You know who I am talking about do you not? The great dragon Helldon, eyes that light up like eternal fire and teeth as razor sharp as the pits themselves. You have heard of him have you not?”

                Nate knew exactly who Passenger was talking about. To some sorcerer’s Helldon is a myth, but to others a great terror that wondering sky barges should pray never to see. Nate had never seen what the dragon looked like, but was able to listen to a Seer describe to him the monstrosity. The seer said that it was a large beast bigger than any sky barge in existence. It looked to have a head of a fish and a long body that resembled a snake. It was bright blue with spikes running down its spine and, like Passenger said, eyes that lit up like eternal fire.

                “If it’s not one thing then it’s another,” Nate spoke softly and lowered his head, “Why would the pit lord decide to come up to Terresama anyway?”

                “He does this from time to time. As for his reasons I cannot truly say why he chooses to do so. I can tell you of the wreckage of many sky barges that litter the pit of Alheyashima. They were crashed upon the sharp rocks and mountains that point like daggers to the sky. The crewmembers and passengers were less fortunate than the ships as his minions dragged all of them away kicking and screaming in the darkness. Such a pity.”

                “Observer, listen to a proposition I have,” Nate was hoping to find some kind of reason within the Observer.

                “I am not fond with making deals with the sky people Nate. If you wish to tell me anyway I will consider that you have given me a proposition.”

                “You want to observe what is going to happen if I wasn’t numb from the waist down, right?”

                “That is correct, but from the time I’ve spent observing you sky people I have learned that one does not always get what one wants.”

                “Well, what if you can?” He had to be careful about this. Observers usually do not help any human at all unless they considered it a benefit for further observation. Even if they do the effect is so minor that it could be considered as a waste of time, but to Nate it may be more than enough to help him out of his situation.

                “If I die then you won’t be able to see me do…whatever with the pit lord. If you help me, however, if you remove my paralysis then I won’t die and you’ll be able to observe what will happen.” Nate hoped that Passenger was going to consider this. There was no telling when Beatrice was going to return and he assumed the deranged woman was going to much worse to him then jab a dagger through his leg.

                “That is an interesting thought, but I could also observer what could happen when the woman returns.”

                “Yes, but what sounds better: A crazy woman killing a helpless person or a battle between a pit lord and a sky person. To me your options fare better with the latter.” After Nate said this Passenger calmly stood up and walked over to him. He extended his finger and poked Nate’s chest slightly. Already he could feel the sensation returning to his fingers, but he still couldn’t move his arms and legs.

                “I have decided to speed up the effects through your body, but I am not sure how long that will take. Either option is acceptable to me, but I do hope things turn out well for you Nate.” It wasn’t what he was hoping for, but Nate could hope that Beatrice takes a lot longer returning to the room.

                “Don’t worry, it will.”  

***

                “That’s just brilliant,” Billum said looking at Sasha’s fireball spell. She quickly extinguished it as the spell itself was never meant to be held for a long period of time and her fingers were starting to get hot. Sasha was starting to feel a little bit weak and thirsty. She sat down next to Billum and held her knees to her face.

                “Why are you a stowaway Billum?” she asked him.  

                “I don’ like talkin’ bout it,” Billum replied to her sharply. They sat there quietly for a moment for a moment. Billum was staring at a corner of the room hiding his face from Sasha. “How did ya manage to learn magic anyway?” He was still looking at the corner.

                “It’s not something I like talking about either, but if I tell you will you promise to tell me what happened to you,” She replied.

                “Okay, but only if it’s a good story,” Billum turned to her. His brow was furrowed as if he was trying his best to mask his expression.

                “I don’t remember what happened before, but when I was 10 I suddenly found myself in a village that was in ruin. I couldn’t remember how I got there or where I was. I just remembered bits and pieces of my old life and my name. I spent a few months just moving from house to house, most were in bad shape, looking for food and trying to stay alive. That was when he came.”

                “Who was that?”

                “My Master, Nate Griffon, a powerful freelance sorcerer who came by the town to figure out why there was no response for months. When I first saw him he was with a few Knights-Guard all suited up as if they were ready to go to battle. There was something different about him though. He was hooded so I couldn’t see his face, and different from the rest of the men there. He directed them to look around the town and I was scared because I hadn’t seen a face in a long time. There was no one there in Rock Peaks. Now all of a sudden there are about twelve different men all armed and I thought that they were going to hurt me. So I ran around the ruins trying my best to avoid all of them and I was sure that I was going to get away, but when I was hiding under a bed in one of the houses I sneezed. I couldn’t stop myself and one of the men heard it. I was so scared when he leaned down and grabbed me, but when I looked up it was Master Nate. He looked so concerned when he saw me. It had also been a while since I ate so once I finally relaxed I passed out,” Sasha chuckled a little, “I woke up outside of the village around a campfire with a blanket over me. I could hear laughing in the distance, but in front of me was Master Nate looking through some books. I tried to pretend that I was still sleeping, but he noticed I was awake.

                “He said that he was worried about me and offered me a plate of some bread and soup. It was so good that I didn’t even care what was going to happen to me anymore. He tried asking me what happened, but I told him I didn’t know. It felt like the first time I was speaking to anyone and the fact that I did felt like a relief. After a while I stayed with him, but he was starting to feel restless. I think it was because he didn’t like staying in one place for a long time. I ended up coming with him to a few of his jobs and eventually he asked me if I wanted to learn magic. Seeing everything that he could do there was no way that I couldn’t say yes. So he took me up as his apprentice and it’s been that way for three years now.”

                “Must be terrible…not knowin’ anything about your life,” Billum replied.

                “There are days when I wish I could remember my past. Like, if I had parents or what I was even like during that time, but I’ve learned to accept the way things are now and they have been good. If it wasn’t for Master Nate I don’t know what would have happened to me.”

                “I was a servant,” Billum blurted out.

                “What was that?”

                “I was a servant, had been one since I was little. My parents, I wish I didn’ remember them, but they sold me when I was young to a Merchant guild. They ended up sellin’ me to some aristocrat named Chricion.  That b*****d kept me in his cellar cause’ he said I don’ speak good enough for him. So all I did down there was scrub the pots and come up to the kitchen whenever the cook needed me. That man was a real b*****d. Anytime I mess up I get a real beatin’ from him. He asked me to take this big ol’ pot of stew to the table, but it was so heavy. I didn’ mean to spill it. He gave me a good thrashin’ and I just snapped on him.” Billum had tears coming out of his eyes. “I didn’ mean to. I jus’ pushed him. I didn’ know he was gonna hit his head. So I ran. Not gonna have a lot of people be sad for me even if I did kill that b*****d.”

                Billum buried his face in his hands and his sobs were really quiet. Sasha flattened her legs on the ground and looked at the sad boy next to her. Slowly she reached her left arm around his back and hugged him. Billum buried his face in her shoulder and he continued to cry.

 

 

***

                Passenger was gone and Nate was still trying to move his extremities. Pain was starting to sear from his left leg meaning that the paralysis was starting to leave him, but it wasn’t enough to move. He decided to try something drastic. He focused his will on moving his body and spoke his incantation.

                “Celici,” The spell worked a little too well as Nate launched himself off of the couch and onto the floor. He landed face first with a dull thud, but still couldn’t move his body completely. He turned his head and felt something warm trickle from his nose to his mouth.

                “Great, I broked myd nodse,” he said out loud. This made things more complicated as he could say his incantation, but it would sound odd and nothing may happen. He flopped his body on the ground and felt as if he was a fish on dry land desperate to get back in the water. After realizing that this was accomplishing nothing he tried to move his legs. There was no progress there so he tried moving his arms instead. There was a sudden breakthrough when he found that if he tried really hard he could move his left arm a few inches. Better for him was the fact that his left side was facing the door. He might be able to take Beatrice out when she returned, but she had been gone for a while and he needed to work fast.

                It felt like something was dragging his arm down. Every inch was a battle as he put all of his strength into it. As he was moving his left arm he started to nudge his right arm as well into a push up position. Every inch and second was important. Nate knew that once Beatrice came back she wasn’t going to be happy that he managed to move from the couch and may take care of him from there. He gritted his teeth and tried to move his muscles.

                Suddenly, the doorknob began to turn. Nate stopped breathing and the door knob stopped mid turn. He had almost forgotten about her Keen Eye, but didn’t know if she could see through the door. The room felt electric and his hand wasn’t even close to pointed to the door. His right arm, however, was still in the push up position and he could use this to his advantage. There were only seconds left and if she moved faster than him it was all over. He had to release as much will from his body as possible and get this right.

He could feel the sweat drip off of his forehead on the floor. He could see the figure standing there under the door. It was a shadow waiting to make its move on Nate. He was anxious and angry at all this waiting. The second seemed to drag on for hours and yet nothing was happening. The doorknob still was in mid turn. He heard a loud thud of a boot and prepared himself.

The door flew open and crashed against the wall like the sound of thunder. Nate yelled, “Celici,” and launched himself into the air. In that split moment it felt like time slowed down again and Nate could see Beatrice in mid throw. However, she was aiming down to the spot where Nate was laying. He could see her keen eye zip to his direction and her desperately reaching under her vest for another dagger. She was too late. Nate gathered enough will into his flailing left arm. Gravel, dirt and rock gathered quickly into his hand and he shot an explosive earth spell in her direction. The spell hit her square in the chest and launched her into the door across the hall. She broke through it with a loud crash and crumpled on the floor. Nate hit the floor as well.

Pain shot up from his left leg and a feeling of weightlessness covered his body. He wasn’t sure what it was, but suddenly now he could move as free as he wanted to. Either it was the adrenaline pumping through his body of the power of his magic pushing the paralysis out of his body he felt as if nothing even happened.

Nate pushed himself from off of the ground and noticed the large stain running from down his pants. He cracked his neck and moved his arms around in a circular motion just to get a feel of things. Other than his leg and his nose he was fine. The bad part was that he was no priest and sorcerers usually do not even bother with healing magic. So he was going to have to deal with his injuries the old fashioned style. He held his hand to his nose and snapped it back into place. He grunted in pain and shot the remaining blood out of his nose on to the floor. He then ripped the sleeve from his shirt and began wrapping it above his wound tightly. The sensation was worse than fixing his nose.

Despite taking care of his injuries Nate never took focus off of Beatrice for a moment. She was gasping for air and moving her arms and legs around like a flailing baby, but other than that she did not seem like a threat anymore. Nate looked over to Beatrice’s bed, which had various clothes scatter about it and no bed sheets, and used his good leg to kick off the long wooden banister. It splintered in half and he used the top part to support his body like a cane as he limped over to Beatrice.

She was still coughing and gasping on top of the splintered door. Another dagger was in her open hand. Nate was surprised that she still managed to grab after it that fast in those few seconds. He kicked it out of her hand and stood over her.

Beatrice wasn’t going to die. He could tell that much just by looking at her. He also knew this because he hadn’t gathered enough will for his spell and it was barely powerful enough to do what it did. Still, there was blood coming from the side of her head where she must have slammed against the door. He surmised that she may also have a few broken ribs.

“How…how…” Beatrice coughed out.

“How did I take you out? I’m a sorcerer Beatrice. You are cunning I will give you that. You also look like you could get yourself out of a lot of rough situations. Today, though, you just put yourself in one that you can’t handle.  I’ve dealt with spirits from the Nether Realm and demons from The Void. I’ve encountered dark sorcerers and situations that you couldn’t even dream of being possible. I strived to be an example for all that is good in this world and I’m not about to let some rough scrapper from Bernin take me down. I would be lying if I said you didn’t come close though.” Nate leaned against the broken bed post.

“Spare me…” she coughed out a laugh, “just… do it…already. Kill me…” Nate considered this for a moment, but saw the broken woman before him. She was still beautiful even in her pitiful state.

“I’m not going to kill you.”

“What…didn’t Perro…”

“I don’t know who Perro is and I don’t care. It seems like you are in a bit a trouble with this man and if things were a little more civil with us, and if you believed me, I probably could have even taken care of it for you.” Nate sighed. “It was just all a misunderstanding.” He raised his eyebrows and pushed himself off of the broken bedpost. “Thanks for dinner anyway.”

Nate turned and began to limp away from Beatrice.  He stopped when he heard her call out from behind him.

“W-wait...a minute…” Nate turned back to her and saw her hand outstretched before she dropped it on her side. “I’m sorry.”

Nate grinned, “Pity, you are actually pretty beautiful now that I get a look at you.” Beatrice twitched a grin and coughed out a short laugh. Her head fell on to the ground and she started to cough again. Nate turned down the hallway and walked away from her.

 

                He had reached the end of the hall to a wooden staircase before he remembered what Passenger told him. The dragon, Helldon, was on his way. Nate cursed passenger for passing along this knowledge to him, but there was nothing to do about this now. He never dreamed of facing off with a pit lord much less one like Helldon. Nate was confident in his abilities, but even he knew that he was one man and a wounded man no less.

                Nate climbed the staircase out onto the large deck. The passengers outside were still cheerful and walking around unbeknownst to what was about to happen. A few of them stared Nate down and a woman with two children hurried them along away from Nate. He looked up at the captain’s deck and limped his way up the stairs.

                “Hold on there, sir. You can’t come up here,” said a clean well dressed crewmember. He wore the typical navy blue outfit with a green beret on top of his head.

                “I need to speak with the captain,” Nate replied.

                “You can’t go in there, sir. If you have a complaint you need to go to the…”

                “This isn’t a complaint damn it! Something serious is about to happen and the lives of the passengers are in danger.”

                The man reached to his belt. He was carrying a fire pistol in his holster. It was odd combination of magic and machinery that had only been around for a few years. It shot out a blast of controlled fire from the metal tube and burned out as soon as it hit its target. Nate wasn’t worried about this, but was worried about causing a scene.

                “Wait, sir, are you alright?” The crewmember obviously noticed Nate’s wounds, but he wondered why it took him this long. He used this to his advantage.

                “No, I was trying to tell you that you have a woman down on deck two who tried to murder me. She’s down for right now, but if you don’t do something quick there is no telling what she’ll do.” The crewmember looked nervous and considered him. “Hurry man there is no time left!” With that he sped down the staircase and below the deck. Nate quickly moved his way into the captain’s cabin.

                Sitting in a chair in front of an oversized wheel and lever protruding from the side was a young man in a fancy naval uniform. He was ornamented with golden shoulder pads and a dark blue naval coat. He was in the middle of sipping on a cup of what looked like tea when Nate barged in.

                “Yes? Is there something I can help you with?” He said politely. He set the cup of tea on a small table to the right of him.

                “I’m Nate Griffon freelance sorcerer and former member of The Island’s Sorcerer Guild. Forgive me for barging in captain,” Nate said returning his politeness.

                “Well,” the man stood, “I am Captain Jean DeRutin and I must say you are not looking too well sorcerer. Is something the matter?”

                “Forgive me captain, but we have more important matters at hand. How much do you know of The Void?”

                Captain Jean crossed his legs, “I know as much as anyone knows. That it is a world below ours covered by a black mist with unknown dangers for anyone foolish enough to venture into that area.”

                “More dangers than you know captain. I just came upon some information that the pit lord of Alheyashima, Helldon, is on his way right now and if you do not turn this ship around I fear that we may all be in grave danger.”

                “Enough,” Captain Jean looked calm, “I appreciate your concern, but I know my history and there hasn’t been a sighting of a pit lord for over 300 years. If I’m not mistaken it was sorcerer’s that brought him to our world am I correct?”

                He was right, but those were different times. Foolish sorcerer’s who tampered with dark magic managed to bring a pit lord to the lands of Terresama. Many people died because of this and the reason why The Islands are no longer a continent. The sinking feeling in Nate’s stomach told him that this captain was probably not going to listen to reason. If only they could just divert from their course maybe they could avert danger. Helldon had to be on his way now and Nate had to do something.

                “I am…sorry for wasting your time then captain. I apologize for interrupting you then.” Nate walked over in a gesture to shake the man’s hand. Captain Jean stood up, but Nate quickly dashed over to the wheel and turned it to the left as hard as he could.

                “What are you doing?” Captain Jean yelled. He pulled Nate away from the wheel and slammed him on the ground with great force. The ship made a sudden and hard turn to the left when knocked the captain off balance and away from the wheel. Nate could hear the passengers on the deck outside gasp and cry out as the wheel turned. The gentle gasps suddenly turned to screams of horror. Nate pushed himself from the floor and saw why.

                Outside advancing straight in the air with such velocity the dragon Helldon missed his mark. He was bigger than Nate imagined him to be. The barge was eclipsed by the massive size of the dragon. It scales were a pale color that Nate could not describe in words and the spikes a blue that was as dark as the captain’s coat. It moved through the air like a snake would move in the sand and the force of it was enough to knock the barge even further away from the monster. Its roar pierced the skies and Nate’s head shook from the pitch. Finally the dragon’s tail passed through their view and it turned away from the ship. Anyone looking at this would assume that the creature was leaving. Nate knew better.

                “Monster, monster from the Void!” The captain screamed into a large brass tube that carried messages into the engine room.

                Nate had no time to waste. He had to act now.

 

***

                “Hold fast!” a crewman from above shouted through the pipes. A roar began to reverberate through the engine room and came upon them like a crashing wave. Suddenly the ship began to shake violently and Sasha lost her balance falling on top of Billum. He caught her with both hand, but the shaking was too much and they both fell to the floor.

                “Wha’ in the blazes was that?” Billum said after the shaking stopped. Sasha was still laying on top of Billum as the crewmen around them began to frantically work on the machines.

                “I don’t know,” Sasha replied.

                “Monster, Monster from the Void!” A yell came down from the pipe again which caused all the crew members to stop abruptly. The room was dead silent after the call came through. The crewmembers stared at each other and made slight whispers as to what that may have meant. There was then a monstrous roar the echoed through the pit of the engine room. The men suddenly became frantic as some began to quickly work on machinery and other desperately began to climb to the upper decks.

                “C’mon Sasha, let’s go see wha’ goin’ on.” Billum pushed her up and helped her to her feet. He held her hand again and started to run frantically to the upper decks. Passengers were coming out of the cabins. Some were looking befuddled while others were in complete panic. Billum weaved through the people with such intensity and grace that it surprised Sasha that they didn’t hit anyone.

                “Wait! Stop, we got to go get Shanks!” Sasha pulled on Billum and slowed him down.

                “Wha’ are ya talkin’ about?” Billum pulled again on Sasha this time it hurt her arm.  

                “Let go!” Sasha slipped away. “Shanks is my dog and if something is wrong I’m not going to leave him!”

                “Alright, don’ get angry. Let’s get the damn dog then.” Billum looked flustered. Sasha felt a responsibility for Shanks. Her master had given it to her for her birthday and she wasn’t going to lose something that precious to her.

                Sasha was less graceful than Billum running through the people as she led him to her room. The people were more panicked now as they shoved and pushed their way through the thin halls. She finally made it to her room and pushed open the door. Shanks was in the middle of scratching his ear right where she left him on the bed. He let out a happy bark when he noticed her and Sasha quickly scooped him up off of the bed. She also picked up her pink bag and placed the small puppy inside of it.

                “Alright we got the dog now let’s…” Billum stopped speaking and slowly began to walk to the porthole window. His pushed his face up against it intently as if he was trying to push his head through it. “Oh…”

                “What is it?” Sasha squeaked. She pushed Billum aside a little bit and looked out the window. In the distance was the monstrosity that the voice in the pipe was talking about. It was far away, but even from that distance Sasha knew it was huge. “We have to go find my Master. He’ll know what to do.”

***

                “Sorcerer, is it going to leave?” Captain Jean asked. He masked his fear poorly.

                “No.” Nate parsed his lips. “You need to get all the passengers out right now. If you don’t do this quickly then it will drag us into the Void.” Captain Jean stood in shock for a moment. “There are life ships on the sides. I suggest taking everyone out; as many as you can and as fast as you can.” Nate grabbed his shoulders, “Captain, if you don’t do this we are all going to die.”

                Captain Jean nodded his young face looked to suddenly age and spoke into the message tube again. His orders were for everyone to abandon ship as quickly as possible. The life ships were to leave in 20 minutes.

                “If the creature returns I want all life ships to cast off immediately,” was his final message. “What are you going to do sorcerer?”

                “What needs to be done and to give everyone enough time to escape…I won’t be leaving this barge captain.” The captain nodded immediately after Nate said this and moved out of the room. Nate stared out at the creature its body still turned from the ship.

                “20 minutes isn’t enough time,” he said out loud. Nate unbuttoned the cuff of the sleeve that was not ripped and pulled it up exposing the other runic markings. They were all elemental runes of old that he had inscribed on his arms many years back.

                “Dedication my apprentice,” his Master’s words echoed in his mind, “dedication to the craft and you may control the very elements themselves instead of manipulating them. You will direct the wind, move the earth, dance with fire and create oceans. Such a power is not to be taken lightly. Always use this for the greater good and never for making yourself greater.”

                “I will,” he whispered to the memory.

                Nate limped down the stairs attempting to ignore the pain in his leg. The deck was crowded as the passengers were slowly climbing down the ropes from the side into the life ships. They were small cramped 30 person vessels with glider wings and a propeller. In the crowed Nate spotted a distinctive purple head.

                “Sasha! Sasha!” Nate cried out to her.

                “Master!” Her arm barely peaked over an older lady who was complaining about being woken up from her nap to an irate crewmember. “Master I’m over here!” Nate pushed his way through the crowed to Sasha who was holding the hand of a dirty young boy. Conflicted feelings were rising up inside of him at the look of this. He glared at the boy who shrunk when he did so.

                “Sasha, are you okay?” Nate asked in a direct manner.

                “Yes master I’m fine. Billum helped me find you.” Sasha replied. Nate glared at their hands and then back at Sasha and she promptly let go. Her cheeks were getting slightly red. “S-so what are we to do Master? What do you need me to do? I’ve perfected the barrier spell now. I can use it to protect the ship…” Nate just placed his hand on her head.

                “Remember when I found you?” Sasha looked up at him. “I never told you what happened at Rock Peaks. A servant to a pit lord came to your village, yes, that was your village. It had the power to not only destroy the body of its victims, but their spirits. They were eradicated from existence. Every last person in that village was gone, but you. My master had requested that I go find out what happened because he felt a great serge of magical energy come from that village. At first I thought it was the beast, but upon looking at the village there was no trace of it. Not a single one. Instead I found you. You were the only one left, but you were such a small girl. That was when I knew what happened. That great power my master felt was not the pit lord’s servant, but you. Sasha in whatever horror you witnessed when you lived there you released a great amount of magic and destroyed that creature. You were so little then, but very powerful and had great potential. I took you as my apprentice because I knew you had it and you have exceeded my expectations. I am very proud of you.”

                “Master…”

                “Little boy,” Nate removed his hand from her head, “take her to a ship and get her out of here. Push, shove, bite, do whatever you must to get her out of here. When you do I want you to take her to Elzar Island and help her find her Grand Master, Renold. I will stay here and take care of things.” Billum’s mouth was agape, but he nodded in agreement to this.

                “Wait Master,” Sasha clutched on to his arm, “I want to stay and help. I can fight. I know I can!”

                “Sasha, this is too much for you. You are powerful, but you are still young and inexperienced. You need to go now.”

                “No Master…I can help…” she was crying now.

                “GO NOW!” Nate yelled at the boy who took Sasha away from Nate. Nate looked on as they began to climb over the rail and down into the life ship. Sasha stopped with just her head poking over the edge.

                “Will I see you again?” she cried out.

                “I promise! We will see each other again!” Nate yelled out to her. “In this world or the next,” he whispered to himself.

 

 

***

                Sasha sat down on a hard bench just as a crewmember was climbing over people to the front of the life ship. Billum was silent and looking at the wall directly in front of him. Women were crying and men trying their best to be brave for their families. A merchant was cursing out loud about an item from his room that he could not get. Next to Sasha was a tall pretty lady who was clutching her sides and doubled over with her head between her knees. She looked as if she was vomiting, but nothing came out of her.

                Sasha began sniffing trying her best to be brave. She knew her Master was strong and powerful. If he couldn’t beat this monster then no one else could do it. Suddenly she thought about him not being able to do it. This thought turned her stomach into knots and thought that she may now actually vomit. Sasha clutched her head as if to push the painful thoughts out. Not only was she leaving her Master, but the things he told her about her village. She actually destroyed a pit lord servant, but had no memory of what happened. Everything was so conflicting and painful that she felt like she was in her own Void.

                A whine came from her bag and suddenly everything was gone. Shanks was still in there. She quickly opened it up and pulled the puppy onto her lap. For some reason everything felt a little bit better as she saw it whine for attention. Sasha suddenly remembered that she had her magical index with her. It was a large book that was passed down to her from her Master and notes made by him and Grand Master Renold. It contained all collected information on spells, alchemy, creatures, spirits and anything mystical in nature.

                Sasha began to flip through the creature index under the section “P”. Her eyes caught Poltergeist which simply read: see Revenge Spirit and the irony was not lost to her. She stopped when her finger was placed over “pit lord”. A sketch of a dark towering figure was below it with the eyes hollowed out. Sasha read the contents.

                Out of all the creatures from the Void the pit lord is by far the most powerful and deadliest of creatures. The only one to be seen in the lands of Terresama was the pit lord Kel’des (see: Pit Lord: Kel’des) in 1257 when a group of rouge sorcerers worked with dark magic’s and summoned the famed pit lord. At the time no knowledge was known about the pit lord’s existence until the fateful arrival of Kel’des. After his departure from the lands seers began to look into the Void to gather knowledge on the creatures. Over time they learned that the Void was not what the people of the time thought it to be. Perceptions at the time were that the Void was a dark space filled with mindless creatures that the God’s cast down from the lands of Terresama. Perceptions at the time had to deal with a misunderstanding of a place that no one ventures to willingly.

                What the seers found out was that the creatures were not mindless at all. In fact the Void was not even a dark space. It was lands not unlike Terresama divided into loose territories know as “pits” (see: The Void). Each pit had its own lord and there are at least seven pit lords of the Void. The pit lord Kel’des provided great insight into the life and motivation of the creatures that reside in the Void.

                The pit lords all have an equal distrust of each other, but all the same share an equal and intense hatred for humanity. They seethe in their anger and wish to inflict cruelty and malice to those who reside in Terresama. Though they often war with each other they would gladly stop if they knew there was a way to move onto the sky lands and kill every last man, woman and child that resides in these lands. They do not wish for domination. They are waiting and holding in all their anger for a day they can be released as Kel’des was.

                In the unfortunate event that a pit lord is released DO NOT under any circumstances attempt to engage the pit lord on your own. It took an entire army and the lives of several hundred sorcerers (see: The Great Decline) and priests lives to banish the creature from whence it came. Even the most powerful sorcerer can be destroyed by the power of a pit lord. It will stop at nothing until your end. If encountered by one, flee until a proper strategy is made.

                The last paragraph caused Sasha’s stomach to churn again. The book essentially told her that there was no hope for Master Nate. Still, she had to believe that he could do it. That Master Nate could take down the pit lord and return to her. She wanted to believe and she would be damned if a book was going to tell her otherwise. Before she closed the book she noticed a small note at the corner of the page. It read: The Soul Eater?

                Sasha flipped through the book trying to find “Soul Eater” but there was no mention of it in the book. It was a strange marking in the book that she would have to ask her master when he returned to her. If he returned…

                “Are you okay little girl?” the woman next to her lifted her body, but winced when she did. Sasha slammed the book shut and stuffed it back into her bag.

                “I’m fine,” Sasha sniffed. The woman just looked down at her and then smiled.

                “That’s a cute little puppy you have there. What’s his name?” the woman asked. Her smile brought out the beautiful features in her face.

                “Well, what’s yours?” Sasha snapped at her. She realized how she sounded and quickly apologized. “His name is Shanks by the way and you can pet him if you want. I’m Sasha by the way.”

                “Hello Sasha,” the woman reached over and scratched the puppy behind the ear, “I’m Beatrice.” Sasha forced a smirk when the woman looked at her. Beatrice had a very nice disposition to her and looked like a sweet woman.

                “Where are your parents?” Beatrice asked.

                “It’s just me right now.” Sasha leaned in, “Don’t tell anyone, but I’m actually a sorcerer’s apprentice. My Master, Nate, is up on deck and he’s doing to take down that monster. He’s so powerful and brave.”

                The side of the woman’s mouth quivered and she quickly stuck her tongue in her cheek, but she never broke her smile. She clutched onto her side a little harder. Sasha heard a yelp come from Shanks. Beatrice quickly retracted her hand.

                “I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to hurt your puppy. Is he okay?” Beatrice asked.

                “Just be gentler next time, okay?” Sasha held Shanks close to her. Beatrice smiled and nodded her head in agreement.

                “Oh, and don’t worry about anything little Sasha,” Beatrice’s smile was wider now, “I’ll take good care of you until your master returns for you.”   

***

                The dragon was approaching closer now. Nate ripped off his vest and threw it over the edge of the barge. The wind was blowing hard and he could hear the whistle of the wind in his ears. His mind was blank. He threw Sasha, Beatrice and everything he could ever want to think about out of his mind. His focus was to throw this beast back into the Abyss or die trying. At the very best he could give the life ships enough time to get away.

                “A moment for ruin, a last stand, this is the time. I am not afraid demon from the Abyss. COME AT ME!” Nate yelled at Helldon. The dragon roared and lifted its head slightly to the sky. It whipped its tail faster and swam through the sky towards Nate. It knew that Nate had called out to him. Nate was gathering up as much will as possible. He held up the broken bed post to the sky and started chanting fast.

                “They will not be victims to the Void,” he said softly. The sky began to turn dark and the distant roar of thunder came rolling in. “I command the elements. The elements are the life of this world and you shall not overcome them. Go back to the Void!” The dragon was just moments away from striking the ship but Nate stood his ground.

 Before Helldon could strike the ship a large bolt of lightning came down and struck the dragon directly in its midsection. It began to move below the ship and Nate turned for the creature to either double back or start charging to the life ships. Instead the ship shook violently and Nate fell to the ground. The tail of the creature barely clipped the bottom of the barge and was more than enough force to do what it did. The barge began to slowly turn on its side and turn downward at an angle.

Nate began quickly crawling upwards trying to find anything to hold on to so he didn’t fall off of the barge. Large crates were barely missing him as they cracked against the railing and fell off of the ship. He was a few feet away from the mast, but it was becoming harder to grip onto the smooth surface of the deck. The ship was turning faster and he started to slip backwards. He used all of his physical strength to hold on to anything that he could. His fingernails were even digging into the grooves of the wood.  This wasn’t going to be his moment to fail. He made one last leap and made a reaching motion to the mast. His left hand grasped the smooth oval surface. Already it was slipping when he gripped. There was no grooves or splinters and the ship was now fully on its side.

Rain now fell upon him. His storm elemental was strong, and he did not predict this to happen. The strong drops of rain could cause him to plummet to the Void below and to certain death. No, he wasn’t going to let this happen. He was ready to defy every weakness inside of him and hold on as best he could. Legs dangling in free air and his arm sorer than he could possibly imagine he held on for dear life. Fingers bent and as much adrenaline he could muster he swung himself to the right his arm flying up to grasp the mast. It almost slipped, but he held on. He pulled himself up slightly so he could lock both of his wrists together. He now had a tight grip and knew he wasn’t going to let go.

Nate looked down. He could see nothing but blackness below him. The Void was an endless ocean of darkness and evil. Nate never spent too much time looking at the Void. No one really has. Yet, before him, it was more real than he could possibly imagine and, as the barge began to plummet, the reality of it was more than he wanted to bare. Nate pulled himself up and lifted his good leg around the mast. It locked around as his turned his leg. It wasn’t going to slip despite the rain. He could now just slip his body on top and have a full foot hold on a solid surface.

He was straddling the mast now looking into the distance. Helldon was staring Nate down. Its eyes burning a bright red and teeth clenched together. It did not strike though when it could easily do so. Nate wondered why it did not do so.

“You dare do what none have done before sorcerer,” Helldon said in a commanding other worldly voice.

“Do not speak to me filth of the Void! I will not let you take another life!” Nate yelled at the creature spitting a bit of rain water out as he did.

“You are bold, but you cannot save them. When you enter my domain you are nothing but a whelp. I will feast on your flesh and then return for the rest. Your efforts are futile,” Helldon made a low growl as he said so.

Nate lifted his arms up quickly and a flash of lightning entered into his arms. He felt a sudden surge of energy he had not felt in a while. It flowed through his body and gave him a great strength. He held it as long as possible even though it wanted to expel. He held out both of his arms and released the electricity to Helldon. It struck Helldon in the head and his body twitched in the air as the lightning surged through his body.  

Helldon looked as if he was about to fall, but he remained in the sky. A boom emanated from his jagged mouth and the roar itself almost knocked Nate from his feet. The creature was still resisting. Its eyes were surging with fire now as if it was focusing all of his hatred on Nate. The lightning subsided and Helldon stayed in his position.

“You do not think you can defeat me sorcerer. I am eternal. I command the spawn of Alheyashima. A flea in the rain is what you are. I will place your head upon my throne. Kil’lon grik osh thelundiona osh mish.” Helldon spoke in a language Nate was unfamiliar with.

The blackness was getting closer. Nate knew certain death was coming. His last effort would have to be him focusing his will and his spirit on the last attack. It would kill him to release this much magic all at once, but anything to prevent Helldon from taking the lives of those people was enough to give his. Nate held his palms forward gathering all of his will to that area. His wounded leg buckled and he fell on his knee. Gritting his teeth he held a large lightning ball that shot out randomly like ribbons in the wind. In this last moment he would have to put his entire spirit into this and after its release he would be gone. Nate began drawing upon his very life energy.

Before he could even finish a massive flaming boulder came barreling out of the sky. It hit Helldon with such force that it dragged the dragon back into the deep parts of the Void. It was all so sudden that Nate almost released his spell. It took as much of his personal energy to let it all back inside of him as it was to release it. The lightning ball dissipated and Nate began gasping for air as if he just came back to life.

“Wha…Wha…What was that?” He said to no one. The rain continued to pour and the barge rock back and forth still plummeting to the Void. It almost seemed like it didn’t matter if Helldon fell into the Void. Nate was still on a one way trip to the bottom of it and Helldon would be waiting. It was okay thought as Sasha was safe and she would be in the good hands of Master Renold.

A light appeared before him. It was almost blinding, but he could barely make out a female figure that seemed to be enveloped in a clear sphere. She emanated a brightness that baffled Nate.

“Dear sorcerer I have found it curious that a lone man would have the courage to stand up against a pit lord. What is your name?” her voice was sweet and almost poetic. 

The barge shook and almost knocked Nate off balance. He winced in pain as he used both legs to help brace himself. "I don't think now is the time for pleasantries." Nate called out to the woman.

"Of course, I suppose that is all in due time. You intrigue me. If I were to save your life from the Void could you perhaps return a favor for me."

"A favor?"

"Yes," the lighted figure crossed her arms, "just one and you will be bound to this one task until it is complete. Do you accept or forever be subjected to the Void? Make your choice now sorcerer."

"I accept," Nate called out not wanting to experience what lies in the Void. He felt he had no choice. 

"Very well...come with me."

Author's Note

Only halfway through. Rough and wanted to get an idea of what people thought of the progress so far. A continuation of the first episode.

Update: STILL not finished, but I've made a lot of progress. Here is the continuation.