Page 24 of The Song of the Void

“I heard a voice while I was driftin’ in darkness after losing my leg. It explained how time magic works, sayin’ it was the key to returning the world to peace. Sirens, Mourners, and Druinns are naturally gifted thanks to the Spirits. Your abilities are just inside you. Now, time magic is real different. Time’s everywhere, right? Can’t see it, but it’s always there, surrounding our world like a web.”

Ashkade motioned for me to hold out my fist, and he wrapped the woven string around my hand to show what he meant. “When I woke up, I could see the web the voice spoke of, high in the sky. Didn’t think much of it until I returned home and started to experiment with pulling on the threads of time. I thought I had it down, so I returned to the front lines and begged the Circle of Gold and the Druinns to come together for peace talks, but…nobody listened to me. Didn’t mean to, but I pulled down every thread in the sky over Terrakor and left them all frozen in time. I couldn’t figure out how to undo it, so the Circle of Gold just razed Terrakor while they were helpless.”

His voice took on a bitter undertone. It made sense that he felt guilty for being the reason for such destruction, but…

“You did it to end the war, didn’t you?” I asked quietly.

“We were fightin’ for such a stupid reason, over a ‘stolen’ god that no one could even see.” His expression grew more serious, and to me, he appeared far older than his sixteen years. “That’s part of what led me to start researchin’ the relics of the Spirits. I thought maybe they could be used to keep the world in order, prevent us from fightin’ again. But since you said that the Sirens’ relic was stolen…I figured it should be returned.”

That’s right…I thought he just said that to make me think he was a good person.

He continued, somber and determined. “Maybe with the Voidtome in the right hands, we can finally sit down and hammer out real, lasting peace. I reckon even the Mourners and the Sirens will come to the table to repair their relationships with each other, right? No more fightin’. No more killin’. Just peace and unity. I guess you could call that my…dream.”

I blinked at him slowly, letting his words sink into my heart. Every vow I had ever made to myself to never trust another Human began to drift away as I stared into his eyes. Calinia’s warnings that Ashkade was just like every other power hungry Human silenced in the back of my mind.

Ash…wants to make the world a better place. He wants to return the Voidtome to my people, not keep it for himself. Not destroy things with it.

This boy just wanted harmony, while I had been plotting to use the Voidtome to eradicate an entire country. If I continued down that path, would I become some villain he’d have to defeat in order to complete his mission?

Of course I would. I hardened my heart into ice and stone, swallowing down the thought of this boy's blood on my hands as necessary.

I pursed my lips and considered him carefully. “Ashkade…you really want to return it to my people?”

“Sure thing. Ain’t that what you want too? ‘Side from removin’ the bond, of course.” He shook himself, like he wanted to move past our topic of conversation. “Anyhow, want to see what I’m workin’ on?” He limped over to his worktable and showed me one of the platinum rings that lay amongst the tools and metal scraps. Complicated symbols had been etched into the ring. “Threads of time aren’t solid; they’re strings made up of millions of tiny symbols like these. I’ve been tryin’ to seal up a piece of time magic in objects by carving the glyphs into them, to keep control of where it affects time, so I don’t accidentally break it again. Time’s awful tricky.”

“Ash…” I tried to imagine the symbols on the ring floating in the air around Ash’s room. Perfect strings of magic glittering in the sunlight that filtered through the porthole window. The mound of jewelry beside his worktable wouldn’t compare. “You’re incredible.”

“Shucks. Not really. Here, let’s see our handiwork.” He helped me open up the sail, and we examined our repairs. My stitches were far lumpier compared to his perfect, neat ones. It was actually embarrassing. He clucked his tongue and shook his head. “Good thing they’re just goin’ to trash it.”

“Wait, what? Why did we⁠—”

Ash gave me a sly grin.

“Ashkade Taleus Synnex, did we just sew that whole sail back together for no reason?”

He grimaced at my use of his full name. “Hey now, that wasn’t the whole sail. Just a piece that the captain said I could use as part of your punishment if I let you out. Would you rather be stuck with Rei still?” At my furious head shake, he laughed and motioned for me to join him as he limped towards the door. “Maybe one day you two’ll get along. Can’t you give him a chance?”

The last man I gave a chance to kidnapped me.

As I followed him out onto the deck for the first breath of fresh air I had in two days, I considered trying to be friendly with Reiven, for Ash’s sake.

No, never. Not with him.

My punishment had been fairly light compared to Reiven’s. When they let him out the next day, he got stuck taking over Gatelo’s chore of scrubbing the deck.

I took great joy in watching him suffer as I sat with Gatelo, Ash, and Lyneca in a circle on crates. Ash had designated me his helper, so I spent most of my time watching him fiddle with his rings, handing him tools and getting him food and water. Not a bad gig, really. I had convinced him to ditch his ugly brown vest for a royal blue one that didn’t look like a burlap sack. Blue was my favorite color anyway, and I thought it matched his personality better. Since the medicine I gave him helped so much with his seasickness, Ashkade spent more time on the open deck, and it was nice to see him squint in the sun as the briny wind ruffled his fluffy hair. Being outside would do him good.

Lyneca dumped a bag of dried beans into a pot of water to soak. She blew a frizzy curl out of her face and said, “So, I’m curious…I know we in the crew aren’t going ashore with you when we arrive at Ghrysim Isle, but do you think you’ll be welcomed? Aren’t they reclusive?”

Ash scrunched up his nose in annoyance at a symbol he had been trying to carve into a new ring and had apparently messed up somehow. I threw a glance up at the sky, but I couldn’t see the threads of time, the symbols that Ash claimed he could.

“Well, I sent ‘em a letter explainin’ the situation, but honestly, I’m not real sure. I think there’s a ritual they have that allows for foreigners to venture into Hell, but...” He dug through the books he had me stack beside him and pulled out one to show to us. The cover depicted three Humans drawn in a childish manner, and a crimson-skinned humanoid with glowing red eyes and long black nails that stood in front of a volcano. “This is all I have to go off of. It’s a story about a group of Humans that journeyed to Hell, searching for a relic called the Phoenix Mirror. According to this, Mourners are demons that channel the power of Hell to destroy all who set foot on their island—but in the story, when the adventurers arrive and demand to enter Hell, the Mourners allow them a day of rest before opening the way for them.”

I took the book from him and flipped through the pages. The artwork within was comically exaggerated. “This is a kid’s book. Are you taking this as fact?”

He shrugged. “It’s all I got. But there’s somethin’ I’ve been wondering. If the Mourners stole the Tome like you said, why is it in Hell? Why don’t the Mourners themselves use it?”

“I'm sure they tried,” I said. “But my people believe the Water Spirit wouldn’t allow them to after the cowardly way they stole it.” I threw a glance at the sparkling waves past the railing. “The Water Spirit sang an abomination of Sirensteel to life and sent it to guard the Voidtome after the Mourners locked it within Hell. She claimed it was our punishment for losing her gift. It would be lost deep within the realm of our enemies, kept from us by demons and fire and her own Sirensteel monster.”