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I have known for a while now that the xaphan would catch up with me eventually. I might be strong enough to trick and overpower one of them at a time, but I cannot escape an entire army of the creatures.
I slow down in the doorway of an old, dilapidated building and pull my hair away from my face, tying it at the nape of my neck. I pull a cap over my head, and then I remove my jacket and pull on a long fisherman's coat.
The coat is threadbare and covered in pockets filled with silverware. It also stinks like it’s been dragged across the floor of a tavern, with some of the seams coming loose. I kick off my shoes next and pull on a pair of beat-up leather boots, finishing my fashionable ensemble with a pair of fingerless gloves.
I stuff everything I have removed from my body into my already full satchel because I am not in a financial position to throwanythingaway.
And then, peeking around the doorway, I check to see if the coast is clear.
My breath is shallow and the hair on my neck stands on end. I tremble with anticipatory fear as I bolt from the doorway and head down another alleyway just as a host of xaphan soar through the air above me.
This morning when I was getting ready, I didn’t think I would actually be leaving New Solas. But I knew the time was coming, so I packed my bag anyway, giving everything that I couldn’t carry to Mika from next door.
I slow down when the docks come into sight, and turn around for a second, looking out over New Solas. I admire the city that has been my home for as long as I can remember.
“It’s beautiful, I’ll give them that,” I murmur to myself as I examine the city’s skyline.
The buildings are white and gold, each with a glittering spire that reaches to the sky.
They all just want to be closer to Neomia,I think to myself. Sudden rage bursts through me so violently that I feel like screaming.
Why couldn’t they just stay on their own damn planet?
My inner voice is desperate and hopeless. Now that the rage has subsided, all I want to do is throw myself to the ground and sob for everything I have lost.
You killed him.I know that right then my tears must be glittering on my face as I stand directly beneath Neomia’s moonlight.
A host of xaphan, their wings shining like the spires of their city, fly overhead as they search for the person who has been killing their kind.
A shrill whistle resounds through the air, and I jump slightly. I hitch up the strap of my bag and turn to face the docks, a spray of seawater arcing through the air and drenching me in it as a boat leaves the docks.
I’ll be taking a trade vessel out of New Solas tonight.
You make it sound like you bought a fucking ticket. My girl, you’re simply hitching a ride. And no one else on the boat will know you’re there.
I have been scouting the movements of this particular vessel, manned by a Gorgon crew, for weeks now.
Tonight they’ll be leaving for Ikoth, a continent that will take me far away enough from New Solas that I hopefully won’t be found.
Because I know exactly what the xaphan will do to me if they find out I am the one doing all the killing,I think grimly to myself as I head to the side of the vessel where no one can see me.
The vessel is namedThe Medea,and she is a beautiful thing. She is sleek and large and powerful, and it is a pity that she is used as a trade vessel.
There is a ladder on her sidewith a large gap between the walkway and the vessel. Beneath the gap is the ocean, filled with sea monsters that no human should ever have the displeasure of meeting.
I have to stifle a hysterical laugh as I consider what might happen if I don’t make the jump.
You don’t have a choice, my girl.
I wipe my sweaty hands off on my coat, and when I look down, I see that streaks of blood have been left behind.
I didn’t even realize my hands were bloody.
I push the burgeoning thoughts of twisting guilt and blaring rage out of my mind and take a running leap off the side of the walkway.
It is now dark enough on this side of New Solas that no one will see me.
I cling to the first rung of the ladder, nearly slipping off in the process. I shudder as the lower half of my body is submerged in icy cold water. But I manage to pull myself up the ladder and minutes later, I am stowed away beneath several boxes of caesin.
