Before he could reach the ship, the ocean reached up and grabbed him, pulling him deep underwater. He kept his eyes on the boat as it sped away, and reached for it in desperation as his vision faded into darkness.
The last thing he heard was Uriel's voice, "do not worry, human. She is under my protection."
***
"Fidelia!" Shiv awoke to the sound of Esmeralda repeatedly calling out that name.
He coughed and sat up to find himself on a ship. Duncan saw him sit up and immediately ended a conversation with a man at the steering wheel to approach Shiv with a relieved expression. "We're after Blaze?"
Duncan nodded in response to the question and motioned toward Esmeralda, his expression becoming serious. "You didn't want me to kill her earlier, and she saved your life at least twice during that conflict with the Hoods, so I figured you'd want me to bring her along."
"Did you do this to her?" Shiv sat up and took a clean set of clothes out of his inventory and began stripping out of the bloody, dirty set he was wearing now.
"No. Actually, we've been healing her. Or he has, anyway." He pointed at one of the sailors, who was manipulating the water beneath the boat to give them extra speed.
"Good. How far from Underwater City are we?"
"Roughly a day, if we maintain this pace."
"Any sight of our prey?"
"Only occasionally, aside from when we first set off. We were able to confirm that they were heading toward Underwater City, and if they were to change course to any of the other nearby cities, we'd catch up enough to see them and adjust ourselves."
Shiv nodded.
"I will say, however… there seems to be another ship that was in pursuit of our… prey, as you called it."
"Who?"
"No idea."
Shiv shook his head. "You're not nearly as good at lying as you used to be."
Duncan laughed. "Well… I'd rather not say just yet."
"Fine. Make sure nobody bothers me for the next while." Shiv stood, now dressed in clean clothes. He walked over to the main mast and used his Imbue ability to create hand and foot holds as he climbed it, making them disappear after they were no longer necessary. When he reached the top, he manipulated it into a chair shape and sat down.
Sitting there, he watched the horizon with hooded eyes. "I should have just killed everyone in the way. I would have reached her in time. I should have set the entire place on fire. All the boats and the people. She would have been fine, and she wouldn't be sailing away from me."
Nobody was there to hear his words, though he almost thought he heard the clinking of china and a familiar arrogant laugh.
But it, just like the breeze, brushed past and left him wondering if it had happened at all.
Several hours later, Shiv descended to the ship deck again. Esmeralda was awake now, and she greeted him with a nod. "How is it, that even the breezes over the ocean are hot and sweat-inducing? They're supposed to be calming and cool. Not hot and infuriating."
Shiv's query was met with silence.
"Who is Fidelia?" Shiv was in a restless mood, so he asked another question as he sat.
"How did you learn that name?" Esmeralda stood up.
"You kept saying it while you were unconscious." Duncan jumped in and put up his hands in a placating manner.
"It was annoying." Shiv said. Though he only heard her say it once, as his perch on the mast was too high to hear anything less than a yell from the deck.
"That is the name of someone I work with." Esmeralda said, though even Shiv could tell she was lying. 'So that's what her daughter is named.'
Duncan looked back and forth between them before settling his suspicious gaze on her. "Listen, high priestess whatever, if you're going to follow us, you're going to have to be honest-"
"Duncan." Shiv cut him off with an annoyed huff. "Leave her be."
Duncan shrugged and stepped back.
Esmeralda was staring at Shiv. "What?"
"What is the matter with you?"
The question annoyed him. "Gee, I wonder. I mean, not much has happened for me to be upset, so I really couldn't say." He walked to the edge of the ship and looked down at the water, then exhaled and pushed himself off the railing and turned back to face her. "Why didn't you kill me?" He walked back to his seat and motioned for Esmeralda to take her own seat back whilst he sat down.
Esmeralda looked around, as if searching for an answer. "I… couldn't."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. I just couldn't."
Shiv growled. "If you are to be believed, your purpose in life is literally to prevent me from completing my mission. And yet here you are, after sparing my life once and saving it twice, sitting across from me chatting like you're not the prophesied 'hero' of Glasmoore." He leaned forward. "I didn't question this earlier because I was, frankly, too distracted to really spend any time thinking about it. But now I want some answers."
Esmeralda met his gaze proudly, and they sat there in silence for an undetermined amount of time, staring at each other before she finally deigned to respond. "It is because I believe I know who you serve. And if I am correct, then… there is simply no defeating you." She smoothed out the wrinkles on her lap. "So I don't think I actually saved your life. I was instead trying to help you save your daughter. And as you know, I am helping you because I… because of what we discussed." She was referring to him sparing her daughter.
Shiv sat back. "So it's fear."
Esmeralda stood up, clearly angry. Shiv didn't move aside from tilting his head back to squint up at her face, which had the sun shining from directly behind it. "I have endured more pain and suffering than you can even begin to imagine, Shiv." She leaned down so her face was inches from his. She was furious. "I have met face to face with gods, Shiv." She leaned forward till their foreheads were almost touching. "I. Do not. Fear you."
Shiv looked into her eyes and saw the furious storms raging within them, but he also saw the small ship sailing steadily. Persevering through the crashing waves of power, howling thunder of pride, and crackling lightning of fury: fear.
He couldn't help it. He threw his head back and laughed. "I'm sorry. It's just that the way you talk cracks me up."
She stood up straight and straightened her dress, at a loss for words. "Your own manner of speech is rather strange to me as well." She said in a way that showed she was choosing each word carefully, clearly trying to figure out what he meant.
That just made him laugh more. "Alright, priestess-"
"Do not call me that." She interrupted. "I have abandoned them and do not deserve the title any longer."
"Right. Anyway, I was going to say that I trust you now. I know for a fact that with you on my side, nothing is going to be able to stop us."
"You were unstoppable before you ever met me. I will merely help to speed up the process of this world's… end." With that, she left to go below deck.
"Whadda you think?"
"I think she's the most powerful earth mage I've ever had the displeasure of meeting." Duncan replied, taking the seat she had just vacated.
"And?"
"I also think she's possibly the prettiest woman I've ever had the pleasure of seeing."
"And?"
"You overestimate the amount of thoughts I'm capable of having on a single subject."
Shiv gave him a deadpan look. "And?"
"Fine. I also also think she's going to abandon us the moment she gets a taste of the work we have to do. Women aren't usually built to handle mass destruction and murder well. Honestly, most men aren't built to handle that stuff… but her, she's especially vulnerable to things of that nature. It will hurt her. She'll get upset. She might lash out at us. But then she'll leave."
Shiv nodded, thinking about what he said. His words rang true. "And?"
"And she's right."
Shiv cocked his head to the side. "About what?"
"You are unstoppable."
Shiv snorted. "You're insane."
Two bottles appeared in Duncans hands. He offered one to Shiv. "I'll drink to that."
***
"Honestly, what did you expect? It's quite literally called the 'Underwater City.' The Underground City wasn't above ground, was it?" Duncan rubbed his face.
"Yeah, yeah. I should have known better." Shiv sighed.
The two were leaning on the railing at the prow of the ship, which was moving downward at great speed. They were in a tunnel of air made by who knows what traveling deep underwater. And traveling deeper still. Shiv could make out the distant flashing lights of a city. A city that was supposed to be housing Blaze and her captors.