Suiteonem Prime, Sonombera, Anagolayas, 213920

  A swirling orb of water floated a few meters off the sea floor.

  A beacon in the pitch darkness.

  An empty darkness devoid of life.

  “No, Sin! That’s the dumbest idea you’ve ever had!”

  “We didn’t come this far just to swim away like kids getting their first look at a shelf drop off.”

  The orb pulsed as if in response to the small team of adventurers as they argued.

  Well, one argued against the rest.

  “You can feel the power. Just like the Quest said. This is our chance, guys! To drive out the invaders!”

  “Sin. Look around.”

  Indeed, as the orb of truest blue pulsed it revealed a sea floor littered with dead creatures. Monsters and natural animals. Including many kinds of deep singers.

  Bones.

  Brittle bones that crumbled at the lightest touch or disruption in the still waters.

  “This whole place is wrong, Sin. There should be a strong current here. Northeast to southwest. Yet, it’s still. It’s supposed to be freezing. Yet, I feel like I’m standing next to a fire river vent. But, where are the bubbles, Sin? Where are the bubbles!”

  “I don’t care about the bubbles. I care about the deep singers. Remember what they sang to us?”

  “I remember.” Sin looked around with sad eyes at the uncountable number of deep singer remains littering the area for as far as she could see in the darkness, which was far indeed thanks to a few Skills. “They didn’t want to come here, but they did. They sacrificed for all who live in our oceans! The invaders steal what is meant to be shared freely! They spill their poison in our very homes! They pervert the natural balance with their greed and mindless rage! We will have no world to call our home unless we do something!”

  “C’mon, Sin. Just think about it. We study, then plan. Like always.”

  “This is what our studying and planning has led to!” She thrust her relic-class trident at the swirling orb.

  Small enough to fit in her palm— but she could see it more clearly than the others— it contained all the water in the largest oceans to the smallest pools. Salt. Fresh. All of it.

  Imagine all that power in her hand?

  “I’m not going to make you guys do anything but I’m taking it. Like the deep singers and every creature that came to this place, I’m willing to try. If it means my bones joining theirs, then so be it. If it’s not us— me, then next one to come along will be the one.”

  “We’re not going to let you throw your life away, Sin.”

  “Please!”

  “Just take a moment. Let’s study it before you do anything we’ll all regret.”

  …

  Ragay woke up before whatever happened next.

  The dreams never progressed past that point.

  He hurried to record what he remembered before it began to fade as always.

  Then he watched Talima’s last message.

  The time had crept up on him.

  She was going to or did undergo her trial.

  By now she’d be officially an adult of Sinaya’s Gift.

  He was happy for her… mostly.

  The sadness he felt for missing such momentous events with her and all his friends and peers couldn’t be ignored or driven away.

  In the months since Malali he had been surprised to find such sadness an easy thing to bear rather than something to ruin a younger Ragay’s life.

  Perhaps it hurt more that he had to muster effort to convey that sadness in his last messages back home.

  Four years felt like another life.

  He was still ‘Ragay’, but not.

  “Ahhh!” He began tidying up his room in a burst of confused energy. “I don’t understand…”

  Breakfast needs led him to the communal eating chamber.

  Gossamare and Tagge sat at the table.

  The latter chewed while speaking, splattering half-raw meat all over the place.

  The former didn’t mind it too much due to familiarity and her landsuit providing a shield from errant meat chunk missiles.

  “Good morning.”

  “Hey, Ragay! You look like something crawled up your butt and won’t leave,” Tagge said.

  He blinked at the brown-furred landborn.

  “That isn’t what happened and has never happened before.”

  “Please, Tagge. Do not speak of such foul things while we are eating.” Gossamare placed raw fish rolled with some white grain inside a sea leaf in the little attachment on her helmet that allowed her to partake of solid foods while submerged in water without making it soggy.

  “How are the arm’s and legs today? Growing more, I hope.”

  “Yes! Thank you for always inquiring on my health, Ragay. They are indeed growing back at a pace I’m very happy with.”

  “Oh? You don’t have to thank me.”

  Tagge giggled.

  “She’s just happy you haven’t been weird about it. The others try so hard not to bring it up that they make it even weirder. Or maybe you aren’t weird about it cause you never saw what they looked like in the beginning. Baby hands and feet!” Her laughter erupted like a volcano. “So weird!”

  Gossamare flashed blue behind her faceplate.

  Ragay knew it to indicate mild irritation.

  “Well, I’ll have you know that it is the normal process for my people to regrow limbs. It just takes a very long time to do it on our own,” Gossamare said.

  “How long does it usually take?”

  “Years without added aid from outside sources.”

  “How close are you to being back to, uh, norm— full?”

  “Well, it’s been approximately nine months and I’m very close. The healers say that I’m merely a month or two away!”

  “Wow! That’s great!”

  “Ragay! What’ll it be?” Decqa, the master chef roared from the kitchen.

  Somehow Decqa could hear and make himself be heard through the walls and closed doors.

  “The usual!”

  “Coming right up!”

  Ragay allowed himself to drift away into his thoughts as the other two chatted.

  He only snapped out of it when Tagge flicked a meat bit in his face.

  “Where did you go, Ragay?”

  “Huh?”

  “Your food’s ready.” She pointed.

  Decqa had placed a tray piled with everything a potential needed to get through a morning of hard training.

  Ragay hadn’t even noticed.

  Gossamare leaned forward and lowered her voice to a near whisper.

  “Did you have one of the dreams?”

  “Yeah?” Tagge nodded eagerly with a feral grin. “I haven’t had one in months. Share! Share! Now!”

  “Tagge!” Gossamare flicked Tagge’s brown-furred ear. “Give him space. The dreams are not— they are not pieces of gossip. They are important keys to our future as potentials.”

  “Oh yeah? If they’re so important why doesn’t Miss Karagatan ever say anything about them? Whenever one of us brings them up she just looks at us like she didn’t hear. Tell me that, miss smarty-jelly butt!”

  “Maybe she can’t hear?” Ragay said, though he didn’t quite know why he verbalized what had been on his mind in recent weeks.

  …

  Weeks became months turned into years.

  Miss Karagatan continued to appear to be unable to hear or notice any time one of the potentials tried to bring up the dreams.

  Not even the densest of them could keep denying that the ‘Sin’ in their dreams was just a few letters away from ‘Sinaya’.

  The implications were too much, too staggering, so they did their best to avoid dwelling on the possibilities.

  In any case, they were always busy.

  With training. With accompanying Miss Karagatan on a wide variety of Quests.

  Battles.

  Disaster relief efforts.

  More battles.

  Except for the Empyreal Guards and their semi-regular suicides against Miss Karagatan.

  Those they never directly participated in.

  They had thought that she’d eventually include them, but it appeared that she thought they were still lacking.

  Not that she needed help.

  No.

  She always won those fights without being pushed into true danger.

  Until one day their rhythm was disrupted forever.

  …

  Suiteonem Prime, Sonombera, Bathalas, 213923

  Ragay was in the middle of recording a message home when he stopped suddenly.

  They had steadily dwindled in frequency from both directions.

  He couldn’t blame anyone.

  After all, he hadn’t visited once in seven years.

  Hadn’t seen any of his loved ones and friends in person that whole time.

  The young ones were nearly as old as he was when he had started training with Miss Karagatan.

  He was a man grown.

  Though, he supposed not according to the customs of his home on account of not taking the trials.

  The thought made him chuckle bitterly.

  How was he not a man with what he had seen and done?

  Images of the Bloodtide flashed through his thoughts.

  Those raiders, reavers and ravagers had tried to attack another pilgrimage.

  This time he and the other potentials were strong enough to reap a toll on them.

  Faces flashed through in rapid succession.

  Their deathmasks filled him with satisfaction and happiness of a Quest well done.

  The pilgrims had been beyond grateful and he had exorcised feelings of failure from the first battle with the Bloodtide.

  Perhaps in the future Miss Karagatan with the potentials’ help would be able to track them to their base and destroy them once and for all.

  Talima.

  Talima was now a woman.

  She still promised to wait for him, but he was beginning to think that he ought to tell her to stop.

  Aunty Bilaya thought the possibility required real thinking.

  Talima deserved a future and how could she swim toward it with a Ragay-shaped anchor tying her to the past?

  He agreed, but remained selfish yet.

  The Oath sang through his thoughts as it always did when the tides of doubt crept in like nibbling, little crabs.

  “Not yet.”

  He pushed a final decision to the next time he had to send a message home.

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  It was time for the lesson with Miss Karagatan.

  This lesson was held in a place he hadn’t been visited once during his long stay in the submarine vehicle-town.

  It was a massive chamber somewhere in Sonombera’s deepest levels.

  The water was cold and would’ve been dark had it not been for the generous amounts of glowing gems and underwater luminescent plants arranged with what had to be an artist’s eyes for when Ragay took it in he felt such an upwelling of emotion that he couldn’t put to words.

  “It is like looking upon the majesty of what Sinaya’s oceans should be,” Gossamare said.

  “I’m not crying, you’re all crying,” Tagge cried.

  “The songs… I hear it… so beautiful… I never knew it could be like this,” Sings Too Loud sobbed.

  “Is that…” Justavi pointed down to the center of the chamber where the terraces and lights seemed to want to force all their senses toward.

  The swirling orb of truest blue almost looked like a copy of the Heart of Sinaya dangling from Ragay’s hooked staff.

  Until he understood without needing to comprehend that the floating orb was like the blazing sun at the center of their solar system next to the flickering candle in his hand.

  “It is time.” Miss Karagatan appeared in their midst as if she had been there the entire time. “The choice is upon you, my students. The final choice.”

  She swam down to the orb almost hesitantly and reached out, but stopped well-short of touching it.

  “The true Heart of Sinaya from which we all borrow her power. I wish I could tell you more, but I can’t.”

  “Why not, Miss Karagatan?” Abygale said.

  “I don’t remember. I am the Karagatan. I have always been the Karagatan. Some of you will learn as I did.”

  Though none spoke for what felt like a long time there was no silence.

  The Oath sang through the water, the plants, the gems, everything in the chamber.

  It passed through their flesh and touched their souls.

  “I am proud of you all. No matter what currents you decide to swim. Your last test is this… I shall send you home. You will live. You will wait.”

  “Wait for what, Miss Karagatan?” Abygale said.

  A slight smile broke free from the hero and protector of all Sinaya’s waters.

  A rare treat treated like precious treasure by all of them.

  Ragay counted on one had how many times his actions or words managed to win a smile.

  None of them needed more than two hands to count.

  So few in seven years.

  “You will know when the time comes. Then you will choose. Know that I demand you choose for yourselves. Do not choose for anyone else, let alone me. One cannot carry Sinaya’s Will with even the most infinitesimal drop of doubt in their soul. That is all.” She swam away slowly, looking at each of them in turn, seemingly noticing them for the first time. “Stay. Ponder Sinaya’s Will.”

  Ragay dared to swim closer to the orb than the rest.

  Justavi tried to surpass him, then settled on matching, before having no choice but to accept failure.

  The green-scaled landborn stopped to float a finger’s length behind Ragay.

  It truly was like being next to the sun.

  The Oath was deafening.

  The swirling water pulled him in like a vortex.

  Ragay blinked and found himself in strange, yet familiar waters.

  Home!

  He’d recognize the reef anywhere and anytime.

  …

  Ragay instinctively cloaked himself in hard water before the reefguards could reach him.

  He barely swam, allowing the current to carry him toward and through the gap in the reef.

  There were easily avoided nets. The other defenses and detection methods were of higher quality, but the Heart of Sinaya proved superior.

  He considered dropping concealment and presenting himself properly. He was a citizen of Sinaya’s Gift and had every right to swim into one of the water tunnels or walk right out on to the beach and to his old home.

  To see his family and Talima.

  His heart pulsed.

  Was it real?

  Or was it another test laid out by the true Heart of Sinaya?

  If so, then it was the cruelest test yet to allow him to believe that he was so close to seeing those he had missed for seven years while in truth he floated deep inside Sonombera.

  He decided to remain hopeful and hidden.

  Revealing himself to the reefguards only led down one current.

  They would detain him. His identity needed confirming, after all. This only led to one outcome. One or both of his progenitors by virtue of their positions would get him before anyone else. They would then parade him around as Miss Karagatan’s precious apprentice to increase their own status and power. It would be days, if not weeks of parading before he’d be able to escape to Talima, his family and friends.

  He made for one of the many nooks and hidden alcoves deep in the mangroves near the main beach.

  Night hunters swam around him in search of prey.

  He was one with Sinaya so they didn’t even register his presence.

  Not that it would’ve made a difference.

  They were too small to bother even child Ragay.

  Any creature truly dangerous to the weakest adult were kept away by artifice, spells, Skills and patrols.

  It was a real advantage that the average citizen of the archipelago had the strength and toughness to wrestle sharks and crocodiles twice their size.

  Once through the tight, twisted underwater roots and branches of the mangroves Ragay was forced to drop his concealment.

  The moon shone bright through the treetops.

  Insects and amphibians sang to the night.

  They sang for mates or to warn of the night hunters.

  Bright light bugs flickered and flashed like floating candles.

  Ragay stopped and sat on a gnarled root wet by the gentle lapping of the brackish waters just to take it all in.

  Home!

  He had forgotten what it was like to sit in the dark and just listen to the animal songs while taking in the pleasing brine through his nostril slits.

  If he strained his ears he could almost hear the murmurs of happy, boisterous conversation from the distant beaches vying with the music to be heard.

  Eyes closed, he could almost remember the laughing faces in the soothing warmth of the orange glow.

  The reverie didn’t last.

  He reminded himself that the test could cruelly take him away at any moment.

  There was no time to waste.

  He had to move quickly.

  …

  Once past the reefguard he forced himself to walk like he belonged.

  Head held high with eyes ahead and a smile on his face like the others. His fellow citizens.

  The thought struck him with a painful pang.

  He didn’t feel like a fellow citizen.

  Most of them hadn’t seen what he had, hadn’t fought against what he had, hadn’t nearly died more times than he could count if forced to do so on the spot.

  He felt like hunching over and casting furtive glances at eyes and faces that were surely on the verge of noticing that he didn’t belong amongst them in their happy night of play and parties through the loudest and most vibrant district on the island.

  Music and chatter assaulted him from all directions.

  Appraising eyes followed him.

  He had almost dived into the waterway and cloaked himself once again before he realized that the gazes weren’t suspicious.

  Women and men from young to older.

  They all cast him more than a passing glance.

  He supposed he was a little underdressed even compared to them.

  As he glanced over the crowd’s heads looking for street signs he struggled to keep the vaguely happy and definitely not bothered demeanor on his face.

  “Just out on a normal walk,” he muttered. “Like I do at least a couple of times a week.”

  Talima had given him her newest address a few messages ago and he was getting close.

  At least he hoped he was.

  He had never actually been to this part of the island before. Not at night, at least.

  It wasn’t a place for unattended children and no responsible carer would ever take their charges there at night.

  Much too loud and bright.

  Overstimulation when a child was supposed to be asleep was direly irresponsible.

  He could’ve taken the waterways but he had foolishly wanted to walk to take things in. Or maybe he was dreading meeting Talima?

  “She’s probably not even home. She’s young and hot. She’ll definitely be out partying in one of these…”

  To think that before Miss Karagatan had selected him one of the things he had most looked forward through after passing his trial was doing exactly what the young people around him were doing. Namely, being loud, drunk and obnoxious.

  With his friends.

  With Talima…

  Her home was one of those given to those you pass their trial into adulthood.

  The quality of the home and the location was dependent on the quality of the individual.

  High achievers like Talima were given their choice. Low achievers ended up in less desirable homes in less desirable areas or islands within the archipelago.

  Ten thousand islands meant lots of less desirable ones.

  Although, Ragay could admit that he had the inherent bias of growing up on one of the best islands.

  Even if Aunty Bilaya had taken pains to punch it into his hard head that he should take pride in the works of his hands and mind rather than taking pride in an accident of birth.

  The homes seemed nice. Low-lying buildings built to resemble coral reefs with ample access to pools and waterways.

  There were more levels below ground where homes were partially or completely submerged in Sinaya’s waters for those that preferred it that way.

  He found Talima’s home and hesitated at the door.

  “She might not even be home,” he muttered. “What if she’s not alone…”

  While agonizing over whether to ring the brass bell or come back in the morning the door slid open with an aggressive hiss.

  “You know there’s a camera, right?” Talima snapped. “You were warned about bothering us— Raggy?”

  “Hi, Talima.” He waved lamely.

  She stood there. Cerulean scales and skin glistening. Prettier and shapelier as an adult. Large, round dark eyes wide.

  “Is this real?”

  She hesitantly poked him in the chest.

  “You’re here, but why are you topless? And your so big and tall? Like a giant. This is a trick…”

  “Um… I don’t know how to prove I’m me.” He shrugged.

  “Reporter’s Truth: Are you Ragay?”

  “Yes.”

  And then she was on him.

  Pressing her body tight to his, her legs around his waist.

  A deep kiss that lasted a lifetime, yet was over in an instant.

  Then her forehead was pressed to his as he fell into her deep black pools.

  “Get a room!” a voice called out from one of the other homes joined by the laughter of young people.

  In any case it was good advice.

  For one night, Ragay had no worries, no concerns about the future.

  He just allowed himself to float in a whirlpool and think of nothing else.

  …

  Talima had work the next morning, so he went back to his childhood home by himself.

  Aunty Bilaya met him at the door with a scrutinizing gaze.

  He now recognized it with complete certainty as a dangerous warrior’s.

  “You look like our Ragay, but you stand and move like a warrior. And your eyes… your eyes have seen—” She embraced him. “Oh, little Ragay. You have seen what I hoped you would never see.”

  “It’s okay, Aunty Bilaya. I understand now.” He smiled lamely. “I don’t think I’d be standing here without your training. So, don’t blame yourself for anything. I wouldn’t change any of it for any reason.” He squeezed tightly. “I request permission to enter your home.”

  “I welcome you with open arms.”

  He sat in the common area, exchanging stares with children too young for outside lessons.

  None he recognized.

  He exchanged stories with Aunty Bilaya.

  The other carers were out running errands or spending time on personal pursuits.

  The children he remembered were no longer children.

  They were like the Ragay of seven years ago.

  Ulus was apprenticed to a singer.

  The frivolous entertainment kind, according to Aunty Bilaya.

  She grumbled about it, but Ragay could somehow tell that her displeasure was more performative than genuine.

  Visay split her time between junior reef defenders and some kind of complicated mathematics course. She had the talent for the latter, but her desire was for the former.

  Aunty Bilaya approved, while the other carers preferred Visay stay away from anything remotely violent.

  “It isn’t your fault, Ragay, but losing you so suddenly and totally affected all of us deeply. All our children leave one day. It is our purpose to prepare you for your lives. It’s just that most are able to visit, even if some rather not, the possibility exists. For you, it was an impossibility. Your messages were greatly appreciated.”

  “As were yours.”

  “But, I could see what the others might not have truly seen. Of the toll it was taking on you. You were— are too young. There is a reason we don’t allow children to be warriors. You should be a young warrior early in your career. Not a veteran that has seen seven years worth of… well, I won’t presume to speak for you in this.”

  “Warrior!” One of the children giggled then threw a cup at him.

  “Siar! That is bad!” Aunty Bilaya scolded.

  “It’s okay, Aunty.” Ragay had caught the cup without thinking.

  Luckily, it was the child sippy kind with the liquid secured by a firm lid.

  Siar’s giggles turned into tears after the swift spank to the bottom.

  “What are you smiling about, Ragay?”

  “Sorry, Aunty. This brings back happy memories.” He gazed around the common area. “It seems a lot smaller…”

  “Well, what do you expect? It’s a humble home not a city-sized vessel.”

  “Sonombera? Do you want to know about it?”

  “Why not. You can tell stories while you help me clean up. You remember where the diapers and cleaning cloths are?”

  He hesitated.

  “Yeah…”

  “Good. Go get them. Changing the children will go quicker with two hands.”

  “Um, do you know where Chamba or my other friends are?”

  “No. Why would I?”

  “Uh, I would like to talk to Cousin Tandol for some, uh, combat advice.”

  “Tandol? He’s gone. Left three years ago to serve the God on another world. No idea when, if he’ll be allowed to return. The hidden price of levels in an upgraded class. Stop stalling.”

  “Um, I need to see Talima.”

  “No. You saw her already. Probably last night.”

  “How…”

  “You mentioned Chamba and Tandol before her.” Aunty Bilaya narrowed her eyes. “The mind is the last thing that loses its edge. Plus, you have love marks on your neck.” She shook her head with disappointment. “I suppose I can’t blame you for forgetting to conceal vulnerabilities this once.”

  Defeated, Ragay grabbed a squirming, stinky child and got started with his day as an assistant carer.

  …

  “Karagatan. It’s time once again.” Suiteonem appeared in a flash of golden light to stand in the air above the roiling surface of the Sea of Shattered Teeth.

  The towering God’s size made the largest blue-skinned people of the frozen mountainholds look like children. The people of Sinaya were like those children’s dolls to him.

  Today his skin was as pale as snow wheat. The better to show the simmering gold of his rage bubbling in his veins just beneath the surface.

  Miss Karagatan hesitated underneath the waves for a long moment before rising on a jagged pillar of twisting water equally roiling, threatening to burst out in violent hatred.

  “Suiteonem God. I request this duel take place in the Frozen Seas. There no living there, only the dead that walk.”

  The God of many angers, of quick violence, of arrogance and other things sneered.

  “You listen and comply, little fish. Your ‘god’ listens and complies. Why would I want to fight over the dead? They make for a listless and unappreciative audience.”

  Miss Karagatan could see the golden eyes all over the sky and under the waves. They joined the eyes standing atop the pillars scattered all over the islands of the Sea of Shattered Teeth.

  Through her connection to the Heart of Sinaya she could feel all of her people underneath those eyes.

  She had warned them, but the timeline had been short. No doubt by the God’s design.

  Her people would take to the depths.

  Those would have the best chance.

  Those that couldn’t were relegated to surface ships and boats or the rare flying machine or summoned creature.

  Those would have nearly no chance.

  Those that had no other options would hide in shelters on their islands.

  Those would have no chance.

  “The whole world is watching,” she said softly.

  She wondered how her potentials were doing. She hoped that they were happy to return to their homes, their families, their lovers, their friends. She hoped that most would remain in that life and reject the call to come. Sinaya only needed one sacrifice, after all.

  Suiteonem boomed laughter for a world to hear.

  He flexed impossible muscles because, naturally, he was naked but for a loincloth.

  The better to show his contempt for a conquered people.

  “You’ve had more time than most Karagatans to grow strong. Entertain me and the only people of Sinaya culled today will be those beneath me in the Sea of Shattered Teeth. Fail and who knows how far I’ll extend the culling boundaries. Go elsewhere and those people will be culled. Try to run and hide and anyone in and close to your path will be culled. Do you accept my generous terms?”

  Miss Karagatan snarled.

  “Enough with your mockery!”

  Gold clashed with the deepest blue.

  Scattered across the world, seven potentials and stunned millions began to weep.