Surly’s captain launched into a reckless offensive, pressuring his would-be killer with Titan-felling swings of his hammer and knife. But he left himself open as he did so, and the enemy was quick on their feet, reacting and adapting to the change of tempo. More gashes opened on Kredig and blood flowed freely through his clothes and down his limbs.

Splinters flew through the air as Kredig’s weapons took chunks out of the walls, his blood rage consuming him and leaving him unable to think clearly. The enemy’s daggers were now full short swords of gleaming blood, giving him the reach needed to back away from the predictable, berserk attacks while still countering. Ground he could give because of the ground Shaya was giving to her own opponent as he shoved her back.

I need to do something before Kredig loses any more blood. The rage is letting him push past it right now, but...

Release me. Whispered the rage in her blood.

Shut up! You’ll get me sliced to ribbons like Kredig!

WHY AM I EVEN TALKING TO MY BLOOD LIKE ITS SENTIENT!?

Shaya shook her head to clear it, her temples pounding from the aether required to keep her inefficient spell circuits operating. She couldn’t keep this up for much longer either. She needed to take a risk, or both of them would die – then perhaps everyone else on this boat.

Seconds passed as she waited for the right moment, then it came. Her opponent shoved her shield again, pushing her back another step, and she lunged back at him with her dagger and a growl, not even bringing her shield back to defend herself. He slashed at her fully exposed arm, scoring a deep gash across her bicep where her quickened armour spell didn’t protect her, and then pinned her weapon arm against the wall with his forearm.

Just as planned.

With her arm pinned, he stopped pushing her back down the hallway and moved to make her arm permanently useless by eviscerating it. Rather than interject her shield to defend it, she slammed the edge down on his foot as hard as she could, pinning it to the ground and locking them in place together.

He yelped in surprise, but still went to slash open her wrist while he controlled it.

That’s when his comrade stumbled into him, still trying to give ground to Kredig.

Without ground to give, Kredig’s hammer slammed down onto the mage’s clavicle with a sickening crack, bone splintering from the blow and rupturing through the man’s rippling flesh. The mage dropped with a gurgling shriek no human’s throat could make and Kredig finished him off with a thrust to the chest, his knife chipping as he slammed it through intervening ribs. The ephemeral scales and teeth faded from the man moments later, evaporating into aetherial mist.

Shaya’s opponent was left open, still staggered from his dying comrade stumbling into him. She uppercut him with the rim of her pavise and reversed the grip on her dagger before stabbing it down into his thigh as he reeled back. Her weapon arm was spent, so she focused on maintaining a grip on the dagger and slammed him again with the shield, forcing him to stumble back and drag the knife through his leg with his own weight.

“It’s over,” she spat at him as he stumbled to the ground. The thundering pain in her head made the storm outside sound like a pleasant spring shower, her spirit burnt out from the aether channeled into her spells and the effort spent fending off her own blood rage.

Reveal your plans to me out of spite, you piece of crap. She willed. Spill your guts expecting death, only for me to heal you with what little energy I have left.

A bloody sneer split open his face and he tone was haughty as he spoke. “You’re too late, we alread-”

Kredig’s hammer smashed into the man's skull and hurled his body into the wall from the force of the blow. The killer’s body went limp, sliding to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut.

“Gods damn it, Kredig!” Shaya shouted, looking up at the giant, “We needed information!”

The captain’s burning eyes turned from the corpse and met hers, his nostrils flaring as he growled at her.

“Captain!” A few crew members called from the far end of the hallway.

He snarled as he turned towards them, grip tightening on his weapons.

Oh spit.

“Get back!” Shaya shouted as he took a lurching step towards them, emitting a constant growl. “Kredig! Look at me!”

He took another step towards them, his breathing heavy. The growl was intensifying.

It’s not working, he’s...he’s lost all control.

She curled a hand into a fist and jabbed him in the kidney, as hard as her injured arm would allow. The captain’s next exhalation was a grunt, and his glare snapped to her. The ferocity in his eyes promised violence, wood splintering as his grip tightened around the hammer's haft. A deep snarl emerged from his throat, so deep that Shaya felt it in her bones more than heard it.

He can’t tell friend from foe right now.

“Kredig,” she spoke with as much calm as she could muster given the tension, “you don’t want to hurt me. You don’t want to hurt anyone on this ship.”

The enraged giant whirled towards her with a roar, the hammer slamming into her shield. The force of the blow sent cracks spreading across the light-forged construct and the hammer shattered, the iron head flying off. Shaya stumbled back, her shield arm numb.

That’s not working...

“Wait,” she said, gritting her teeth through the pain, “feel the crashing waves as Surly cuts through them.”

Her shield screeched in protest as she deflected a slash from his knife, his nostrils flaring as he continued his attack against her.

Destroy him!

No!

“Listen to the rain out there as it beats against your ship’s hull.”

His massive hand grabbed the top of her pavise, yanking her within easier reach of his knife. She didn’t have the strength to resist – wouldn't have even if she were healthy. His knife slammed down on her magic armour, cracking it. His fist rose again, readying to strike again in the same spot.

DESTROY HIM!

Her vision went red as her blood burned with the rage of her ancestors.

I won’t let you... we can’t win if you take over.

“Remember your friends, your crew,” she said, dismissing her spells and Esper entirely, “They still need the real you.”

Second by second, Kredig’s breathing slowed as the knife hovered over Shaya, ready to deliver a killing blow. What felt like an eternity later, the knife fell from his hand and his body sagged as the blood rage released him. He shivered as he looked up at Shaya, giving her a quick nod before glancing away in shame.

“It’s okay,” she murmured, “Now let’s get ourselves healed and stop whatever plot those bastards have hatched.”

So that’s what a blood rage looks like... I can’t believe how close I've come to attacking – maybe even killing – my friends in the past...

“Captain,” a crew mate said, as a few approached them cautiously. Their pale faces spoke of what they thought of the carnage around them, “what can we do?”

Kredig slumped to the ground, his gaze distant.

“You,” Shaya said with as much confidence as she could muster in her state, “I have a leather roll with healing potions in my pack, fetch it quickly.”

The first sailor did as he was told, so Shaya guessed she sounded assertive enough.

“You two,” she turned to the remaining crew down here, “organize a search party, any hands you can spare in this storm. They had other plans, you need to search the cargo hold, their room or anywhere you may have seen them in the past. Their room is likely trapped, so don’t stand in front of the door when you open it. Go, fast.”

They rushed off as the first sailor returned, holding out her potions to her.

Shaya looked down at her bloody arms and shook her head. She wanted to chug all the potions and be done with it, but Lorral’s lesson returned to her mind. “Do any one of my wounds look deep enough to be lethal? I can’t...feel any specific pain any more.”

“Uh...” he stammered, unsure of where to check.

“Any cuts on my torso, wrists, thighs or neck?”

He shook his head.

“Good, feed me one of those potions then. I don’t trust my blood slick hands to do it.”

He did as told, then looked to the captain, another potion already in hand.

“Wait,” she said, checking Kredig over. He was covered in so much blood it was hard to tell here his injuries were, but even more blood still seemed to be pumping from one of his thighs. “He has a gash on his thigh, pinch it shut while I heal it.”

The sailor blinked, but put away the potion and did as he was told.

“Phaedra,” Shaya invoked without enthusiasm.

She dreaded drawing in Jade in her state, again.

I need to get better.

I refuse to end each fight like this.

I refuse to rely on other people to fight my battles.

She felt her rage simmer from the frustration she directed at herself.

Throne take you, cursed blood.

“Sailor,” she murmured, her teeth grinding together against the pain hard enough she feared she might break them. “I’m probably going to black out in a minute, you need to bind the captain’s wounds before feeding him the healing potion or it might kill him faster. Do you understand?”

The man nodded, sweat streaming down his forehead.

“Good, and make sure we get a lot of hardy broth or something while we rest. The healing process is going to take a lot out of our bodies, and we’ll need the energy to recover.” Shaya said, nearly finishing her spell. “Oh, and don’t let the passengers know what happened, or anyone else, it wouldn’t do to ruin his reputation over this... misunderstanding.”

Shaya pumped the remaining aether into her healing spell, concentrating the energies on his deep gash so it would seal the artery. A crude approach, but the only one she was capable of. As the Jade energy flowed from her and into Kredig, she heard Quill’s panicked squawking and everything went black.

++++++++++++++

Shaya was bed ridden for two days, with Quill laying at her feet the entire time. She was thankful for their companionship, achieving consciousness only a few times over the forty-eight hours and finding comfort in their reassuring, rumbling purrs in those moments. The sailor had done as instructed and, though she still felt famished, she had strength enough to stand and shamble around the ship.

She was thankful to be up and about on the final leg of their journey. She leaned against the railing at the bow of The Surly Serpent, watching Imperial city grow in her view with Quill sitting at her side. Mount Arcadia loomed over the world, Imperial City jutting out from its plateaus and the slum cantons growing ever further into the sea. At this distance, she spotted islands floating in the skies around the mountain, with what appeared to be even more spires and castles built into them – something Shaya didn’t recall existing even a few years back when she departed this place. The sun shone on the rest of their journey, but her mind was a storm of thoughts that lashed out at her.

Heavy, methodical foot falls snapped her back to reality. She turned to watch Kredig walk over and lean on the railing next to her without greeting, the giant also taking in the sights. He was covered in more bandages than her, the crew having to slash up multiple bed sheets to get the two of them patched up while the potions did the hard work.

“Ye saved Surly,” he rumbled, “the bastards had punched holes inta the hull using their gods damned magic, but nothin’ we couldn’t patch up before it was too late. All because ye intervened. We lost much o’ the grain though, the hold was floodin’ with water as we fought ‘em – the bastards.”

Shaya nodded, “Anything in their cabin to suggest why they planned this?”

"No,” he replied, shaking his head and wincing at the pain it caused him, “The door was trapped, like ye warned, which saved another man’s life. Inside, the crate they brought was empty, save fer a bunch o’ hay and some shattered pieces o’ pottery.”

“Pottery?” She frowned at him.

He shrugged, “That’s our best guess. Not sure what they did with the crate’s contents.”

“They threw it out the port hole,” Shaya replied after a moment of thought, “They sounded sea sick a few times a day, likely to cover it up.”

Alchemical sea mines? Illicit goods?

What could they have been dumping into the sea?

He grunted, but didn’t add anything. After a pause, he cleared his throat, “There’s a bounty on pirates and apostates, I want ye to take it.”

“I can’t in good faith,” Shaya said, “They would have killed me if you hadn’t intervened, no question about it.”

“And they would have killed me as well, if it weren’t for your tactical thinking. Then, I may have killed...others,” he said, choking on the words, “if it weren’t for ye as well.”

“Alright, fine,” Shaya said, “we’ll split it fifty-fifty – that's my final offer.”

Being friends with a naval captain will be worth more in the long run and I want to build up as much good will as I can.

His eyes narrowed, but he nodded in grudging acceptance. “If ye’re gonna be that way, then fine.

“Thank ye,” he mumbled after another minute, “It’s...been a long time since I've dealt with... one o’ those.”

“Don’t mention it,” Shaya gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, knowing what he referred to, “I’ve dealt with my fair share.”

He turned back to her, a look of surprise on his face. “Ye’ve the blood too? Sorry, I didn’t think- you just don’t look it very much.”

She gave him a nod and then returned to leaning over the railing. “Yeah, I’m barely a nephilim, but I’ve inherited enough from our Progenitor for it to be a problem.”

They stood at the stern in silence for some time, just enjoying the sea breeze and mulling over their own thoughts. After a while, Shaya gave an audible sigh and spoke again, “Can I ask you a personal question?”

“Sure,” he said, some of his levity returning, “but I don’t promise to answer ye.”

“Heh, fair enough,” Shaya gave the wooden railing a squeeze as she wrestled with her nervous energy. “Do you know how to control it? The blood rage, I mean?”

A low growl rumbled from Kredig’s throat as he thought it over. “There is no controlling it, Shaya. If there was, I wouldn’t be out here ferrying grain and nettlin’ nobles.”

She sighed, “I...I can’t accept that. There has to be some way of controlling this damn curse. Must be,” she insisted.

“I thought the same thing when I was yer age,” he replied. There was a long pause before he continued, “It...it didn’t help my comrades when the rage took me. I’m sorry girl, I really am, but ye just have to avoid the triggers as best ye can and hope fer the best if it tries to take ye.”

Shaya nodded without turning around and heard the captain walk away a moment later.

I’m going to find out how to control you. She promised the cursed blood flowing through her veins.