Days passed in busy preparation, nights passed in bloody excitement. The morning after tomorrow we would leave the bay with the frigate, the two longboats, and the more or less restored hulk. It was repaired to the point that a pair of carpenters could keep working on it while it was underway.

After the training and culling of the day had been done, I returned to my ship on the top of the pile, now called Raven’s Nest by the people of Ravenport, and who was I to deny them? I had to prepare myself as well, for my task was no less dangerous than the expedition Simue had planned into the heart of the Fallen Empire, another new term that had stuck around.

Did I fear Bones, the self-declared pirate? No. But I was wary of him, as any reasonable man would be. The problem was simple. I just had one thing to give him and it was the one thing I did not want to give away to anyone, a pirate least of all. A way to sail the Shattered Sea without succumbing to the song of the Wyld.

Was there something else I could do? Something I was missing?

I hoped to get answers soon because Lily had called me to my Demesne.

”Hello, Lily.“ I said as I entered meditation and my Demesne. I would need to work on it soon, but I was not in the right frame of mind at the moment. Too many thoughts and doubts were haunting me.

”Hannibal. I am glad you came so quickly. Our exploration of the Limbo has been successful.“

”Already? What did you find?“

”Our probe touched a couple of...presences. But we have lost the one we sent out without a goal in mind.“

That worried me. ”Was that to be expected?“

”Just as all those probes I destroyed which came sniffing for our door, yes. I expected something like that.“

”And the other two?“

”The one looking for the Demesne of the Wanderer is still searching, but the other one came back. We could form a Gate to a place called the Afterlight.“

”What is that supposed to mean?“

”I...I am not quite sure. But as you know we were searching for places that offer wisdom and knowledge and are open to anyone looking for them. Places that do not try to hide themselves. The Afterlight is such a place. It wanted to be found and to be honest...I feel drawn to it. I do not know what it is, but I feel a connection already.“

These last weeks I had been rather loose when it came to spending my Essence. Because I knew that I had a quest to turn in that would give me no less than 1000 Shards. Everything else paled in comparison to a treasure like that. So I was not bothered much by the price of building the Gate to the Afterlight.

”Do you think it will be worth it?“ I asked Lily nonetheless.

”I can only guess here. But if it is a place of learning and knowledge, and it has to be, then maybe we would not need to guess again, in the future.“ Lily would have shrugged if she‘d had shoulders to do it with.

”Let‘s do it, then.“ I decided. ”I do have pressing matters to attend to, and if that place is to be helpful, we need the time to use it.“

I spent the required Essences and upgraded our existing Gate with its new destination.

”Oh no.“ Lily whispered beside me, as I had finished the process, wiping away the mental sweat from my forehead.

”What is the problem?“

”I...I had no idea, Hannibal. Please believe me!“ She said with a hint of shame. ”It is a place for wisps.“

”Does that mean I cannot enter?“

”It seems so. I am sorry. Well, it does not quite work that way, you can enter, it is your mind that made the connection after all, but it would be of no use to you.“

”But I can see it?“

”I think so? I mean, are you willing to try it? Or do you want me to go first?“

I thought for a long second, but there was nothing to gain by taking a risk here. ”Go on Lily, I will wait for you.“

It was a quiet moment of reflection and rest I spend in my Demesne, for once not filled with industrious weaving or difficult conversations to have. I used the time to go over the things I had built and the Essence I had earned.

The Paradigm of the [Freeman] stood there, basically untouched since I had received it and filled it with the first substantial portion of Essence needed to finish the path. There were the statues of the Skill [Unchained Ancestors], a mystery I had not yet solved. There was my tome of Skills I hid in the stump of the silver tree atop the cliff, which had precious little unlearned Skills in it...it did not pay out to live a sedentary lifestyle.

So far, I had come by new Skills, which were worth learning, by conquering obstacles and defeating foes of note. The marketplace of the Fulcrum had been only useful to buy the most basic of Skills. Which made a lot of sense, if you thought about it. If you had a good Skill, why would you sell it in a public forum? Why sell it at all? The least you could do with a good Skill is to make sure it goes to the right being, and not to those that would use it against you.

Soon enough, Lily returned, fluttering up to me from the silken gate.

”And?“ I asked, eagerly awaiting the answer.

”It is a wonderful place worth visiting, if just for the view alone. Come! I won‘t spoil your surprise.“

”Is it worth the price we paid?“ I asked, but got up and returned with her.

”We will see. But I have a good feeling about it.“

We came to the Gate and entered, exiting in near-absolute darkness but for the light Lily emitted at my side.

”Come!“ She trilled, then flitted around a corner. I went through the blackness and suddenly saw the light. My eyes immediately began to burn and water as I laid them upon a ball of light that filled my complete field of view. It was so bright, so colorful. One single ball of light, hovering in the darkness. Nothing around it to illuminate, it seemed. It looked not unlike a wisp, but much much larger and made out of countless little specks and motes of light in every color imaginable.

I shielded my eyes as they began to sting, even turned my back to it, but the afterimage kept burning.

”Ahh. What...“ I said, but immediately got interrupted by a cool but friendly male voice.

”You must be the Raven Lily told me about. I allowed her to bring you back, but you may not go farther than this.“

”What is the matter, Hannibal? Is it not beautiful?“ Lily was definitely concerned, maybe even surprised by my reaction to the light.

”It is a bit bright to my eyes, that‘s all.“ I said, turning sideways to look for the source of the voice, still shielding my eyes from the light.

I opened my eyes to a slit, and saw a man, glowing like a wisp, but with a full body and even clothes sitting on ...darkness. He was clean-shaven, not a single hair on his body as far as I could tell, and smiled warmly at me.

”You are allowed here.“ He repeated but held up a finger in warning. ”Because you let your wisp choose her own name. But the one glance is all you get. Not because I mean you disrespect, but because looking at the light twice as anything but a wisp can burn your soul and leave you a lifeless husk.“

”What is this place?“ I asked, trying to come to terms with him, the place, and the situation.

“A place to rest. A place to learn. But most importantly the place where wisps go when they should be dead.“

“Dead?“ I murmured. “How...?“

“Ahh, a difficult subject to discuss with someone strongly bound to mortality, I fear. Maybe later. But know that when a god dies, the wisp dies as well. Unless it has a name and personality and is strong enough to exist without its host. Sometimes that can happen over time or through chance. Sometimes it has been planned and paid for. Those wisps that find no place for them anymore, come to the Afterlight. To become a part of it.“

”I see...“

“It is the most wonderful and beautiful thing I have ever seen!“ Lily was still over the moon, fluttering around my head in excitement.

“I am...impressed as well, Lily.“ I said. “And you can learn from the wisps?“

”That is the best part! All of those wisps are strong, old and...individuals! The things they have seen! The things they must know!“

The glowing being at the entrance chuckled good-naturedly. ”That is true, young Lily. But nothing comes without a price. Not even the knowledge of the wisps.“

”What do they seek?“ I asked.

”One thing more than anything, I fear. Souls.“

”What?“ I asked taken back. ”Why?“

”Why? Because it is the thing they lack the most, after all.“

I could not glance a second time at the orb of light, but Lily was happily journeying over to the Afterlight, mingling and exploring. It would take time. She knew what we were searching for, had her funds of Essence, should she need it, and would not touch the souls under my protection, that much she had promised.

No remnant of the people of Ravenrock would be bartered away, not as long as I lived. I could sell the souls of the 7th cohort of the Ravenguard, the Avalanche but...that was just as wrong. I just could not do it.

Even without souls, Lily could learn a lot among the more experienced wisps that lived there. I meant to give her enough space to do so. I had never thought about it, and I felt quite a bit of shame once I had realized it, but what did the little wisp do when I was not with her? She defended the Gate, but what else?

Was she...could she be...bored? Lonely? Was that the reason she appeared to be so happy among her own kind? I had been granted with a favor, to look upon the light, for letting her choose her own name. And that made me stand out enough to grant me a privilege. That was not a warm thought to have, thinking of all those that had not even that amount of individuality. And even I had taken the work and being of Lily for granted. Even after everything she had done for me in my darkest hours, down in the endless dark of the Abyss.

I was glad she had something to herself, now. I had not known that she was lacking, but to see her happy...I just was glad. Every ray of sunshine counted these days.

I left her to it. And every time she asked if she could stay a little longer, I allowed it. And so, quietly, the next day passed.

And I stood atop the deck of the Albatross, once more. Seeing the Wreckage, the waterfalls and the floating isles of the Broken Lands grow smaller in the distance. Leaving, for the first time in what felt like forever, even if it had been a month at the most.

I saw the smaller ships around us working through the waves, whereas the Albatross just plowed through. The transport ship was the slowest of the little Armada, closely followed by the longboats under sail, which soon left the formation and turned north, towards the Fallen Empire. The striped, squared sails soon disappeared under the horizon as we passed strange, little islands in an ever opening sea until we were surrounded by the ocean completely, not a speck of land in sight.

I vomited over the railing until there was nothing left to give, and still I retched, seasick beyond anything I could have imagined.