Chapter Twenty-Four.

In the end, it actually took almost a week for them to finish repairs.

Teadran grew more irate and short-tempered with each day that dragged on even as frequent Surges hampered progress. Apparently there was a chart in his office that indicated the rough profitability of the caravan. I say ‘apparently’ because the arcane complexity of the damn thing was beyond even [Soul Tongue]’s ability to translate into something I could read. Based on said chart’s predictions, the continued delays indicated the caravan was dangerously close to failing as a merchant venture. If it went in the red, then the captains— particularly Teadran as the Caravan Master— were on the hook for the difference. Failing too badly could saddle him with debt that would take years to pay off, which made the already grumpy captain increasingly difficult to be around.

Luckily for me, I spent the time mostly avoiding other people as much as possible, so I didn’t really run into him during the day. Just hanging out in my cabin, recovering. Practicing magic. Totally fine.

Who am I kidding? This sucks.

I'm not even mad that Shani walked away— just depressed. Our relationship had only been for a couple of days and I came with what could generously be described as, "baggage", which I’d spewed out like a torrent of emotional vomit all over her feet. I’d committed the cardinal sin of an early relationship— oversharing. She’d been avoiding me ever since, and I did my best to stay out of the way. I couldn’t help but notice as the days went by though that she looked increasingly… haggard.

Like her work outfit was always a little messy due to her tendency to get excited and therefore easily distracted, but she’d always been put-together. Now she walked around with bags under her eyes and barely paid attention to the rest of her appearance. Going over the story I’d shared with her… yeah. I really screwed up.

The recent past for me was a big deal, but I wasn’t a native to Haven. I might have lacked the cultural context for a lot of what I’d told her, but I wasn’t stupid enough to not realize in hindsight that there were a few important events someone local could loose sleep over. The Achorai, the planet’s core, Dezzahn, hell I started off with the afterlife and soul-eating eldritch monsters. It’d be a lot for anyone to take in, and the more I thought about it, the more guilty I felt.

There’s a difference between sharing personal things with someone you care about, and telling them you’re a shapeshifting immortal being with apocalyptic power locked in your soul by the gods. Definitely a post-third-date kinda thing.

Too late to fix now, so I just gave Shani as much space as I could.

The first break in the depressing monotony of the week was an annoying development from my Ideal; it was itching. Having your soul start to itch is a distinctly unpleasant and alarming circumstance which led to a frantic session of me hunting down the source— only to discover that the villagers had taken up a new hobby in the form of attaching my [Cosmos] rune to everything in their camp.

It was being sewn onto flags for the boats, carved into bits of wood, someone even did a facepaint. And I could feel every single one. The rune was intrinsically mine and linked worryingly deep to my soul. The ‘itching’ I felt was a slight draw on my magic as each hand-crafted rune was perfected by my order-obsessed Ideal; [Cosmos] (and I suppose my own subconscious mind) refusing to allow an imperfect representation and using its connection with my rune to ‘fix’ things. Of course the villagers (I’m gonna have to get a better name for them soon) viewed this as a sign of my favor and started adding the bloody rune everywhere. They all seemed so happy about it that I didn’t have the heart to tell them to stop, so itchy soul it was.

The second break came in the form of another knock on my cabin door. Having learned my lesson from last time with Shani, I cautiously opened it just a crack to see my visitor.

“Cade?” I asked in confusion when I recognized the older man. “What’s up?”

He arched an eyebrow at my words, but shrugged it off.

“Thought about my offer?”

I froze and had a brief moment of panic.

Offer?? What— oh yeah, fight club.

Flexing my shoulder, it seemed (amazingly) well healed already and all I’d been doing the last few days was mope, so I figured why not?

“Sure.”

He grunted, which I translated to, ‘Excellent, follow me’ and started walking down the hallway. I followed with a rueful shake of my head, still curious as to how someone could be so expressive with monosyllabic grunts.

We went to the same bay that had been used the last time I’d been sparring— the crates still stacked high in the corners to create a makeshift open arena in the center. Nobody else was present this time, so at least I wouldn’t have an audience while we trained. Reaching the center of the open space, Cade turned and gave me a quick once-over.

“We’ll spar first so I know better where you stand.” He paused thoughtfully. “Ground rules. First, don’t hold back.”

I started to question this rule, but he cut me off with a dismissive grunt.

“Don’t worry about me. You’re not the first non-human I’ve trained.”

I froze with reflexive paranoia before forcing myself to calm down.

“How’d you know?” I asked.

“Humanity has limits. They can be surpassed, but it takes time and extensive training. You’ve had neither.” He said confidently in his oddly taciturn tone.

“I guess that makes sense…”

Cade smirked a little.

“Also, I saw you in the infirmary when they brought you back.”

I couldn’t help but deflate with a self-depreciating chuckle.

Everyone in the caravan probably knows by this point.

“I was trying to keep it a secret, but it seems like I’m pretty terrible at that. Guess there’s no point now…” I grumbled quietly.

“Hrmm. Should still keep it to yourself if you can. Some places don’t mind Eldborn, others dislike them and you’ll get worse treatment. A few places won’t recognize rights for non-humans at all, and they hate shifters. Gets worse the less human you look. Don’t tell anyone what isn’t their business to know and you’ll be fine.”

Well there’s some advice I could have used a few days ago.

I nodded my understanding, and Cade continued.

“Second rule, no magic. If we had more time we’d get to it, but for now I want to make sure you have a baseline to grow from. You can already fight, my goal is to teach you the basics of how to fight effectively. My time is… limited, here. Do you understand?”

I did, and I indicated as such. We were both passengers on our way to Terland, and after a couple weeks he’d be gone. If I understood him correctly, it meant he wanted to focus on the basics of fighting rather than get into esoteric things like magic. It was up to me to absorb as much as I could, and figure out how to integrate magic later on my own.

Cade smiled and settled into a loose martial stance, his entire demeanor abruptly shifting like a sword being drawn. The air thickened with pressure that sent a cold weight straight to my stomach. My senses sharpened as the tingling feeling of danger alerted me to the presence of a much bigger threat than I anticipated, and I eyed the older man warily.

“Let’s get started.”

I can’t help but wonder if I made Cade angry somehow before this. That’s the only explanation I can come up with for the absolutely brutal two-hour beatdown I just endured. Don’t get me wrong— I learned a lot. But Cade’s teaching ‘style’ revolved around punishing weaknesses to the fullest extent he was capable of, and boy was he capable.

At first, I’d subconsciously held back to avoid hurting him. Pushing in hesitantly to try and get a feel for how this sparring session was gonna go. A mistake he responded to by straight-up decking me with the fastest haymaker I’d ever seen.

“Rule one.” He said calmly as I blinked the stars out of my eyes.

“Fair, but still. Damn.”

Cade smiled slightly and let out an ‘I told you so’ hrmm, then we reset and started again.

And again.

And again.

There had to be more to this guy than he was letting on, because after two hours of constant sparring my tank was completely empty and I was gasping for breath despite my enhanced physiology. Cade, however, wasn’t even winded. He looked like he’d barely even warmed up from all that. Still, I couldn’t say his teaching wasn’t effective.

His focus had been less on teaching me a specific style— something he said would not only take longer than we had time for but also wouldn’t translate over well to when I transformed— and more about correcting my bad habits. Turns out, watching TV doesn’t accurately depict fighting styles. Who knew?

Two things he’d lasered in on were body mechanics, and commitment. Positioning and leverage were covered extensively via tossing me around the room at the slightest opportunity, and any hesitation on my part was instantly exploited to reintroduce me to the floor. Cade barely spoke through the entire ordeal, but somehow I still felt every lesson he was trying to teach soak into me like a sponge. Which is why despite getting the stuffing beaten out of me and having my trembling arms unable to lift me from the ground… I still felt excited.

I’m actually learning. Improving!

The hatch to the cargo bay crashed open with a thundering *clang* that nearly jolted me out of my skin. Standing there was another man and Cade’s… partner, Sera. The girl looked closer to my age than Cade’s, so I wasn’t sure about their relationship. She glared furiously at my trainer and stormed into the room.

“The protocol is still in effect, sir. What kind of example is it when you abandon us at every opportunity? No one is to go unaccompanied until— you!!”

She pointed at me with shock.

“Me?” I asked incredulously.

“You— what have you done!?” She demanded angrily.

I looked back and forth between her and Cade with confusion.

“Uh… training?”

“Training!?” The girl practically shrieked and whirled on Cade. “I have been tearing this ship apart searching for you— worried sick— and you’ve been down here training him??”

I gave my trainer a quick once-over, and despite him currently looking sheepish at the girl’s chastisement, I couldn’t imagine any kind of threat that could actually hurt him on this ship. Also, she seemed to have a problem with me, specifically. Which was… odd.

Who the hell are these people?

Cade grumbled something quietly that I didn’t catch but turned Sera’s face a livid shade of red. Angrily, she turned and stomped back out of the bay without another word. The older man watched her leave with a heavy sigh.

“Apologies. She’s having some family trouble and it’s put her on edge. Call it for today?” He asked.

I waved off his apology and nodded, happy to duck out of some drama. He gave me a strained smile and walked out to join his upset companion. Somewhat awkwardly, I waited in the room for a bit since that hallway was the only way out and they had stopped to discuss something— which mostly involved Sera animatedly waving her hands around and Cade stoically taking it. I suppressed the desire to eavesdrop, but just as their argument was winding down the girl shook her head and carefully raised her first two fingers before pressing them against her temple and frowning with concentration. The same gesture was seared into my memories when a man had used it before activating the trap that had led to my second death.

Oracle.

White-hot rage flooded my veins instantly, blackness creeping in from the edges of my vision at the sight of one of the Spider’s minions so close. She was following me, it was the only explanation for why she was here. Sera— if that was actually her real name— had even recognized me.

If they’re breaking the deal…

Furious, I reached for the seal in my soul, but as my avatar reached out to it I hesitated. Forcibly reining myself in, I tried to look at things objectively.

Calm down. She just made a hand sign. It could be a common spell or something. Breathe. Breathe. I need more information before I start the apocalypse at the drop of a hat.

While I regained control over myself, the group had finally left the hallway and I found myself hurrying after them— my earlier desire to not eavesdrop evaporating like smoke and replaced with a desperate need to understand what was happening. But I’d barely made it to the first intersection in the corridor when I felt a hand grab onto my wrist from the side.

“Ray, I need to talk to you.”

No! Not now I…

It was Shani. Looking haggard and frightened, completely unlike the confident girl who happily leaned over a high, flimsy railing to blast monsters with magical flames. Guilt stabbed at me again, but frustration bubbled up as I felt Cade’s group getting further away. Shoving down my feelings, I tried to brush her off.

“I’m sorry, but I’m kind of—”

“Please, it’s important; about some of the things you told me. Please Ray.” She cut me off with a hint of desperation entering her voice.

That pulled me up short. Existential crisis(es) I may have caused aside… she shouldn’t be reacting like this. It was completely out of character for her. Shani was bubbly, recklessly confident and a little bloodthirsty. Whatever was driving this behavior, it was more than just my story to have shaken her up this bad. My desire to not be a complete asshole briefly warred with my rage over spotting an oracle on the ship… and my anger snuffed out like a candle.

Damn it, I can’t leave her like this.

With an effort of will, I let go of my chase and gave Shani my full attention.

“Ok. How can I help?”

Without another word, she hugged me, and the warmth from that was a smooth balm to my stormy soul.

“Thank you. Come with me.”

Sparing a brief thought for how much of a sucker I probably was (and pointedly ignoring how nice that hug had felt) I followed her to an unfamiliar area of the ship. We approached a vault-like doorway unlike anything else I’d seen here, and Shani opened it via an exchange of magic with a bizarre control mechanism. The door opened, and I was immediately blasted with nauseating vertigo and wrongness.

What the hell?

Inside the doorway was a large chamber, dominated by a sphere of dark steel covered in innumerable pipes attached from every side that vanished through the walls. There were no ports or gaps in the sphere that I could see, but it still radiated a dim orange light, distorted by visible heatwaves that defied physics to spread out in every direction.

This must be the core. It feels… evil.

Finally in front of it, I couldn’t deny the truth I’d felt from the moment I’d set eyes on the simple lights powered by the thing in front of me. Something was deeply wrong with it, and every instinct in my body screamed about the danger I was in by being so close. Shani seemed completely unbothered by what I sensed, and hurriedly ducked into the room. Warily, I followed her, bracing myself involuntarily with every step. Sealing the door behind us, she sagged in place with relief.

“It’s safe to talk in here. Anywhere else and we could be… observed.”

“Safe? Shani are you ok? Is there someone on the ship—” I felt my blood rising angrily again, but she quickly cut me off.

“No! It’s… I don’t know. You can’t ever with tell anyone these days.” Hugging herself nervously, I couldn’t help my growing alarm.

“What’s going on? And what is that… thing up there?” I asked.

She looked at me with surprise.

“You can— no, of course you can. It makes sense…” She trailed off before shaking her head and refocusing on me. “I’ll explain in a moment, it’s all connected anyway. First, I need to know some things. Ray, do you know how many of you there are on Haven?”

“‘Of me’? Like [Kindred] or…?”

“No, I mean Awakened. From what you said, your kind can change bodies like I change clothes so I didn’t think it was that important.”

“Clothes is a bit of a stretch— I still have to die, and from personal experience that sucks. I honestly have no idea how rare or common Awakened are, though the impression I got was that we’re pretty much unheard of in most places. The initial reaction was pretty… extreme.” I said after thinking about it for a moment.

Shani paused after my answer, nervously biting her lip and wringing her hands.

“And… how do you die?”

I’m not sure if I like where this conversation is going.

“Like, die die? That’s a little… uh…”

“Please, I’m sorry to ask but I need to know.” She begged.

I looked at her seriously, frowning as her unusual behavior continued.

“Why, Shani? I don’t know if I can help you, but can you tell me why?”

“Because—” Shani’s golden eyes darted back and forth, her next words barely a whisper. “I don’t think you’re the only Awakened on Haven right now. And the other one… h-he’s a monster.”

Sinking to the ground she drew her knees up to her chin.

“Have you ever heard of Amunai, the Deathless?”