Page 32 of The Song of the Void

Vaetrik took off his tri-cornered hat, combing through the waves of thick blond hair I once had begged him to let me touch. He jerked his head at Reiven. “Kill him then.”

“I wouldn’t,” Shaddan said, his words punctuated by another crash of thunder that rattled the windows. “These binding artifacts were once used to keep servants from turning on their lords, so they’re lethal if forcefully broken. If you kill him, she dies.”

“Fine then. Break it off her.”

“Mm, can’t really do that either. Unless you’re willing to risk accidentally killing her that way, too. Besides, we only need her to tell us what the Song of the Void is.” When Vaetrik gave him the slightest nod, Shaddan rolled his eyes and held the palm of his hand out towards me. “Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

I strained against the ropes that held my arms behind the back of the chair, dread flooding my system as the golden collar around my neck quivered with Shaddan’s power. A flash of white light burst through the dirty windows, accompanied by a boom of thunder directly overhead. Rain pelted the roof, leaking through in some spots, no doubt the reason for the heavy scent of mildew in this place. I stared up at Shaddan, pleading with my eyes for him not to do it.

Whatever happened to “we non-Humans have to stick together?”

“This ‘Song’ that protects the Voidtome…What is it, Siren?” He clenched his fist. The gold ring around my throat constricted, then expanded slightly, as his Druinnic power tried to force the magic-infused metal to shatter.

The unnatural strain on the relic shot white-hot pain through my body. Agony skittered up the veins in my neck, up into my head, like tiny spiders made of burning metal crawling inside my bloodstream. He furrowed his brows, and another, more intense flash of pain rendered me completely blind.

“Tell me.”

A scream ripped from my throat.

“Stop!” That was Reiven’s voice. How odd. He sounded a bit panicked, not at all like the overconfident man I knew.

Another knife-like shot of agony throughout my entirety made me scream again and sob incoherent pleas for Shaddan to stop.

“You’ll kill her!”

Vaetrik’s laughter echoed in my ears, but whether it was at my anguish or Reiven’s alarm, I wasn’t sure. I would have given anything to be anywhere else, away from him. I would even take being locked in the hold again. Wave after wave of pain slammed into me until I was certain I was either going to throw up or pass out. Maybe both.

Someone grunted off to my right. There was some kind of movement before me, and then the pain was gone. My vision blurred into clarity, just enough to register that the hazy, dark shape of motion was Reiven, loose of his bonds somehow. His arm shot out and connected with Shaddan’s jaw with enough force to throw the Druinn general in a dumbfounded heap on the floor. The closest pirate jumped at Reiven with his sword, but he ducked under the strike and swept him into a headlock. He snapped the pirate’s neck with a crack.

A gunshot rang out, but Reiven let the corpse of the man he just killed take the bullet for him.

What’s he going to do? He can’t possibly fight off all these⁠—

Perhaps it was silly of me to underestimate him. After all, he had dispatched the three Druinns at the banquet with nothing but a makeshift club. Even without a weapon, he was deadly.

He dodged the pirates’ clumsy attacks and either broke their necks or used their bodies to protect himself from the incoming bullets fired by Vaetrik. Reiven actually chuckled as the pirate captain continued to kill his own men.

A vein bulged in Vaetrik’s forehead, and I didn’t think I’d ever seen him so close to dropping the composed facade of a powerful member of the Eventide Brigade. His lip curled as his eyes slid towards me, along with the barrel of his gun.

He fired.

I didn’t even have time to shriek, but the shot merely grazed my cheek in a burning line. It was enough to distract Reiven for a split second, and that was all Vaetrik needed to turn his pistol on him and fire. The bullet struck his arm.

Shaddan popped up to his feet, an odd, pleased grin on his face. With a twitch of his hand, the spear on his back came free of its holster and flew at Reiven. An aura of silvery light surrounded it as it moved like it had a will of its own, streaking through the air right towards his chest. Reiven turned to dodge it, but the spear whipped around and slammed its metal shaft into the back of his knee, forcing him off balance.

The last remaining drugs in his system, combined with the gushing wounds in his thigh and arm, slowed him down enough for two of Vaetrik’s crew to rush forward and seize his arms to hold him still. Shaddan swept past him to examine the rope used to bind him to the chair.

“How did he get loose?” Vaetrik growled, keeping his pistol trained on Reiven’s forehead.

With a scoff, Shaddan held up the rope and a tiny stick of blackened wood. The thin, fraying rope had been burned through, leaving it in two pieces with dark, brittle ends. “Scrappy, aren’t you?” Somehow, it almost sounded like a compliment, coming from Shaddan. “Hey…is that Sirensteel?” He raised a hand towards Reiven. The golden necklaces he wore lifted off his chest with the Druinn’s power, but the Sirensteel necklace stayed still.

Shaddan yanked the pendant off of him. “Holy shit…Flamevein Obsidian, too.” He stole the knife out of Reiven’s belt, apparently fascinated at how it didn’t heed him.

But Vaetrik wasn’t impressed. He shoved the muzzle of his gun against Reiven’s head.

“Wait!” My voice. When was the last time I had the courage to speak to him, much less raise my voice? Whatever bravery had taken hold of me instantly drained when his icy blue eyes met mine. I couldn’t hold his gaze. “D-don’t kill him.”

“The Siren found her voice, has she? I suppose you are the only one who can free her to be mine again,” Vaetrik said, smirking down at Reiven. “Now, release the hold you have on my pet, Miyasagi.”