Chapter Eighty Two - 082

Enjoy.

* * *

The Harrowings flew silently, perfectly hidden from their prey as they wheeled through the Void. Their flesh was one with the nothing around them, their eyes as inky black as the Void from which they were born. Their minds were clear, only concerned with food, blood, and Mana. The truth of their existence was infallible: eat, or be eaten.

Closer they flew, gliding without movement, their talons poised to strike instantly. The small, strange things that squirmed upon the rocky surface had no chance. Their form was vivid against the darkness, writhing worms of unusual construction, but they leaked Mana at a tremendous rate. The Harrowings gathered, nearly a thousand of them now, a deadly, invisible tornado of restrained violence just waiting to be set loose. The flock leader drew closer and shrieked. That was the signal.

The Harrowings dove. The worms, however, stretched out toward them as if embracing their death. Wing after wing, the angular predators found themselves bound to the writhing tendrils, unable to escape. A low, almost echo-like groan shook the air and knocked the last few to the rocky ground. Tendrils snaked out and captured them too.

Then the ground opened up, and teeth bigger than any of them emerged from the sundered earth. Shrill screamed tore through the black before being silenced by the closing jaws of a mountain. The Corrupted Narhollow fed.

But it was not enough.

The flesh and Mana the anemic Harrowings provided were...adequate for restoring its ruined flesh. The white death had nearly undone its eternal life, but after feeding upon everything it could, the corrupted Narhollow was nearly healed to full. Its flesh was less rocky than before, and more of the red tendrils had burst from its once impenetrable hide, even as massive scales formed in patches along its massive length. The creature knew it had been altered though it barely remembered life before the Hunger had found it, before it had become one with the essence of eternity.

Even now, in the dark corners of the beast's mind, a discordant whisper sent soft susurrations across its being. The whispers promised things, concepts that the beast did not entirely understand...but it was growing. Learning. And from that learning it discovered Want and Desire, and the ache in its immense, unending belly called out for one thing.

The boy.

He carried what it Needed. What it Desired more than food, or drink, or Mana. An ineffable burr upon the Void, a piercing chord that should not be in the black, one that resonated so clearly with itself.

Then, though it had moved many leagues away, it felt it.

The boy had stepped back into the dark, away from the white death. 

With a keening groan, the creature banked and began the long process of turning around. It had no choice.

It must eat.


* * *


Piloting the sloop was a lot like willing himself to fly in the Void, only insanely faster. The Maw had been right: there was no way they could have outrun even the slowest of these ships on their own. The floating rock formations whizzed past them as Felix guided the ship into the black.

Well,"guided" is a strong word.

The speed the sloop traveled combined with the asteroid field nature of the area meant Felix spent most of his time dodging up and down or side to side. The ship responded to his Willpower, moving how he directed it, and perhaps more easily than if he had less points in the stat, but it was still taxing. A nameless feeling in his bones told him that moving so fast strained his Perception as well as his Dexterity and Agility, and that he couldn't keep it up for too long. After an hour of full speed flight, Felix reigned it back in and began to cruise at half-speed.

Mana Manipulation is level 10!

What are you doing? The Maw spun toward him, its pale dress floating ephemerally behind it as if in a breeze. Even as a construct of his own mind, the Maw kept up its tricks. They are surely chasing you!

Felix frowned and steered the sloop up and over another rocky island half the size of their craft. Maybe. But I sure as hell can't keep that speed up all the time. I'll end up crashing. He looked over at the Maw and raised an eyebrow. And what do you care? You were practically goading the Harrowings to kill me, and that Whalemaw thing too. Why does it matter if pirates do it versus a bunch of monsters?

The creature didn't answer. Not that Felix expected it to; the Maw was a study in contradictions. He'd noted before, when he still thought it a Nymean woman named Lhel, that the Maw was insane. Felix didn't know what new twist the Primordial's mind would take, but it was capricious at best. He was only glad that it couldn't physically harm him, or Pit.

Felix heard snuffling and rustling somewhere forward of the cabin, where the deck dropped a foot or so. Pit's butt was in the air, and his wings were askew as the snuffling sounds continued. Piloting the ship around another obstacle, Felix stood slightly and saw the tenku's head was in the burlap bag they'd been given.

Hey! Cut it out, lil pig! Felix felt a smile curl his lips involuntarily as Pit lifted his head and looked back. A string of what Felix assumed was sausages hung from Pit's neck, and a faintly glowing piece of meat was clenched in his beak. The chimera slurped up the meat and a radiant glow flickered around him for an instant.

+1 to END

What are you eating? The only thing Felix knew that gave Pit bonuses like that were elemental cores. He recalled the distant swells of System energy he'd sensed throughout his evening with Captain Nokk. Have you been eating those things all night?

Pit's only reply was a small burp. However, it was followed up by a curious trilling. Pit emerged from the sack with a thick, rolled up piece of paper in his beak.

What is that? Bring it here. Pit trotted over to him and dropped the thick paper into his lap. It was grayish-pink and when he unrolled it, Felix found it was a map, easily two by three feet in size.

A map! He immediately attempted to find their location. The map was littered with lines of different varieties, some solid, some dashed or dotted, each one denoting a path or heading. Felix wasn't really sure. Navigation and sailing had never been a thing he'd gotten into back on Earth. His family was entirely too poor to own a boat, though he had hung out at the marina a lot one summer. That had less to do with ships than it did with a stupid crush. 

The lines were all over the map, but many of them intersected in an oversized drawing of a castle: the Ten Hands' secluded home, Felix guessed. There were a number of places marked out on the map, things like outposts and towns floating off out there in the Void. But Felix's eyes focused in on one particular spot that was marked with a series of skull and crossbones.

That's--

A groaning call echoed all around them, startling Felix up onto his feet. Suddenly, a pod of Narhollows (normal ones, his Eye assured him) rose up from below, not a hundred yards from the port side. Starboard? he briefly wondered. No, port is left. I remember that at least.

The creatures were majestic, craggy forms somehow sinuous from a distance. There were three of them, one larger than the others, and they each paddled their massive tails and left brilliant streamers of Mana behind them. Huge and slow, they spun and undulated like an earthquake given form, their paddle-like flippers nudging rock formations out of their path. Felix smiled as he saw them, then frowned. In their wake traveled hundreds of Tenebrils, and he didn't doubt a flock of invisible Harrowings were lurking behind them.

More monsters. We should put some distance between us and them. He shifted the sloop into a faster speed, angling it to the right and upward. Starboard and...was there a nautical term for up?

Your thoughts make no sense, boy.

Felix didn't even bother to look yet was somehow able to perfectly imagine the Maw's sagging grimace. Get out of my head and you won't have to suffer them. Deal?

You head toward destruction.

That grabbed him.

Felix made sure the way forward was clear for a bit before turning toward the Maw. It wasn't floating, upside down or otherwise, nor was it too close or glaring at him. The Maw stood firmly on the deck, a few feet away, and seemed to be considering their forward path. Her--its--face was...troubled.

What destruction?

Don't be coy, Felix Nevarre. Your senses may have grown sharper, but I am Primordial. I was here long before you or anything else living on the Continent. I can tell where you head. The Maw regarded him with a gimlet eye, verdigris irises flashing. Your thoughts burn with it. Surely you understand that you cannot hope to find salvation in Desolation.

Felix cursed inwardly. The Maw was in his head, of course it could read him. He cursed extra hard, just for its sake. Do you have a better idea for escape?

Better than heading for a death trap? You could perhaps go anywhere else! Why would you even consider going near that disgusting place? The Maw sneered with its perfectly white human teeth. 

Nymean teeth, he corrected himself. He didn't respond to the Maw, only accelerated further, pushing them in the direction the map suggested. Mungle said the Temple was where I had to go. It's my only lead, and something tells me I'm on the right track.

A bone-deep chime sang out, like a tuning fork had been struck on his soul. Felix felt something change. Then a notification popped up.

Escape the Void!

You have saved the Continent from the Maw, but all choices have consequences. As a result of becoming the Maw's Vessel, however briefly, you have been banished to the Void! 

Find a way out, if you can!

You have learned of an ancient Temple to an unknown deity may hold the key to your escape. Find the Temple and inspect the ruins.

Rewards: Freedom, Title, Varies

Felix grinned at the Maw.  See? That proves it. So sit back and relax, monster. We'll be back in the Continent in no time.

KATHOOOM!

The small rocky island next to them exploded in a shower of grey shrapnel. Cuts opened up on Felix's face and Pit cowered beneath a lifted wing. A bloom of iridescent green fire engulfed the remains of the island, and Felix whipped his head backward. Behind them, perhaps half a mile away, was a colossal ship that looked merely gigantic due to the distance. Dark sails and a black flag featuring a white hand with ten fingers flew high from their mast.

FASTER! Cried the Maw.

Felix didn't need the encouragement. He poured more of his Mana into the control orb and the sloop shot off.


* * *


Full speed ahead! Catch the bastard!

Captain Nokk paced at the helm of his ship, the Hippocamp's Fury, venting his spleen on all and sundry.

He'd been interrupted during a very important meeting with several nubile guests, only to be told that his promising new "recruit" had gone missing. Moreover, the boy had killed three of his men and stolen food from the larder, unseen and presumably laughing at Nokk the entire time. And then they have the audacity to tell him that the bastard stole a ship! One of his ships! Who would do such a thing! Stealing another man's property! Outrageous!

Nokk fumed, just barely able to contain his rage and not rip his favorite tricorn hat into pieces.

Faster you mangey curs! My left nut could sail this ship better'n you!

Screams could be heard down below, but Nokk grinned to hear it. It meant more fuel was being added to their fire, and soon they could push the Fury that much faster. His men, dirty and irascible to the last, cursed and shouted at each other as they loaded up the balistae with more Manashot. The stone spears weren't much to begin with, but once infused and launched from their deck-mounted siege weapons, they'd take down just about anything. Nokk had destroyed his share of settlements with these weapons, and his new flagship boasted twice as many as normal. He was unstoppable, as long as they kept pace!

Faster!!

He couldn't let the boy get away, not when the scum had lied to his face. Once or twice use on that lightning storm spell? The freak was pumping enough Mana into that sloop to cast such a spell a half dozen times, at least!

I'll catch him, and that dumb bird of his; I'll chain em to the Fury for the rest of his days!

No one double-crossed Captain Nokk.

Not when he was gonna double-cross first!


* * *


The pirates' flagship was gaining on them, having suddenly surged with Mana in the last few moments. Other than feeling it loom closer, Felix couldn't pay it any mind. His entire focus was absorbed by the thickening rock field all around him. According to the map, it was only gonna get more hectic the closer they drew to the Desolation.

Hopefully we'll even make it that far..!

Felix strained himself, pushing more and more Mana into the control orb and devoting his attention to bobbing and weaving through the maze of shifting rocks. A few times, he attempted dual casting Reign of Vellus to shove aside an impeding formation, but it was extremely difficult to also maintain Mana Manipulation. It also ate away at his Mana, more than his regen could bring back, so Felix couldn't afford it. He could only focus on speed.

Stones burst into shimmering green flame all around, but they were moving too erratically for the pirates to draw a bead on them. The floating islands were as much an impediment to the pirates as to Felix, but where he had to dodge and evade them, the flagship plowed through. The weight and bulk of the ship rammed the stone formations aside, though the hull was taking a beating. Felix could only hope it got too damaged to continue, but he wasn't even sure how these ships operated. Was hull integrity a concern?

Apparently not; the question answered itself as the pirates put on a burst of speed, crashing through the islands and cutting Felix's lead in half.

They're burning them up to catch us. The Maw stared backward, brow furrowed and teeth bared. You must go faster!

I'm trying! It's too-- Felix cut himself off as he heard the near-musical groan of the Narhollows again. More importantly, he remembered what followed in their wake.

Hang on Pit! I'm trying something! The sloops shot outward, banking to the left and the swimming pod of Narhollows. Felix weaved the ship up and over, cresting the giant whale-like Void creatures like a craggy hill. More stone arrows were fired, and bursts of green flame ignited along the flesh of the Narhollow. The beast basically had rock for skin, but that got its attention; it cried out and lashed its immense tail. The Mana that spewed from its tail swerved and jittered, its steady pattern interrupted by the Narhollow's agitation.

Felix banked hard, turning toward the pod's rear and those self-same Mana trails. He didn't care about the Mana, but a lot of other things did.

Brace for it!

The sloop darted forward, and what seemed to be empty Void turned out to be a mass of angular wings and flashing talons. A flock of Harrowings burst in all directions as Felix drove through them, scattering...except for the tantalizing flare of lightning that Felix released around the ship.

Come and get it! Felix yelled at the beasts while holding a low powered Reign of Vellus, and Pit offered him a look of disbelief. Felix just grinned, though it was more rictus than humorous. He pivoted again, this time heading straight for the pirates.

What are you DOING? The Maw screamed as she dragged its nails down its face.

Felix didn't answer. He was too busy avoiding the green detonations all around him. They were clipped several times, and parts of their sails started to burn, but he pressed forward.

He's coming this way! Fire at will! Distantly Felix could hear the pirates shouting and cheering, and more stone spears were launched at them. Taking shelter behind the slew of islands, Felix wove through them until he reached the hull of their ship. He was going entirely too fast, but he knew he could do it. It was just a matter of Willpower...and Alacrity, he realized.

Pulling hard on the control orb, the sloop shot upward, the hull of his ship scraping loudly against the flagship. He burst into the cleared Void above the ship, which he saw was named the Hippocamp's Fury, and for a moment everyone just stared. Time seemed to slow down as the sloop arced over the deck, and Felix could see dozens of pirates swarming below to man the balistae. Captain Nokk's forehead veins bulged in fury, and Felix grinned.

He shot off, back into the distance.

You fool! We're in range and in full sight of the ship! We'll be taken down easily! The Maw's eyes were bloodshot and blood dripped from its mouth, it was so angry.

Then behind them came the sound of a thousand furious mouths screaming in shrill hunger. A wave of angular darkness descended on the pirates as the Harrowings flowed over them.

Hah! The Voidborn feed on Mana, remember? Felix laughed and fed the sloop more Mana, urging them further and faster. I just gave them a new target!

Behind him, the Fury  was swarmed by Tenebrils and Harrowings, their mottled bodies clogging the decks and rigging. Felix could hear panicked screaming, and then the thump-hiss of something being shot off into the air. The pirates had shot off brilliant purple flares, and these arced high above them, drawing a good amount of the Voidborn away from the ship. Felix sniffed and tasted the tang of Mana even as his eyes identified it as some sort of mixed type. It drew the creatures up and away like flies to honey, but there were so damn many. Felix grinned as more simply piled on from the darkness. The frustrated screams of Captain Nokk were more than satisfying.

But the screams of the Nixie were interrupted by groaning screams of agony. There was a buzzing hum in the air, a dark reverberation in his skin and blood and mind. He risked a look back.

The lead Narhollow, the largest of the three and the one Felix had crested along, had been ripped in half. A mouth more than third its size was tearing into its mountainous flesh, while ten thousand eyes pivoted and focused.

On him.

Whalemaw...