as far as Calder could see, churning the ocean white.
Among the lesser spawn, more powerful Elders rose like towers.
One appeared to be nothing more than a circular mouth big enough to swallow The Testament, filled with teeth on all sides. Another could have been the Lyathatan’s cousin: a six-fingered humanoid fish giant with spines running down its back. Dark green tentacles rose from a different shadow in the water, plucking Elderspawn up and holding them for a moment of consideration before taking them beneath to devour.
There were human ships among the enemy as well—not any he recognized from the Navigator’s Guild, fortunately. They looked like regular ships. But there were a dozen of them, each bristling with men.
He was surprised to see humans fighting for a Great Elder, but he supposed he shouldn’t be. The Sleepless had never lacked members, and Kelarac had spent his entire existence making deals for servitude.
The Elder army toed an invisible boundary, waiting for orders as they stared down their enemies.
The Navigator fleet bore down on them.
Cheska’s ship, The Eternal, blazed a line of fire across the waves to the port side of The Testament. The others sailed behind, dozens of them, each Awakened with Elder power of its own. One ship’s sails were like parchment filled with text in a strange language, the characters constantly shifting. Another was covered in black feathers, and still another rowed itself through the water on insectoid living oars.
Jorin and Loreli stood at the helms of different ships, each clutching a sheathed sword. Loreli knelt and murmured as her Beacon glowed, so presumably she was praying. Jorin cradled his bandaged blade and looked like he was trying to stay balanced on the deck.
Estyr flew overhead. He only knew it was Estyr because of the three skulls floating around her and the fact that she was levitating unaided. She wore a set of armor that looked identical to the Emperor’s, only black instead of white. Her face was hidden behind a full-face helmet with a darkened glass visor.
But that wasn’t the only ancient weapon she’d unearthed for this fight.
Seven rough spikes of iron big enough to impale apartment buildings flew in her wake, casting shadows on the ships below. He had sensed them buried beneath the Capital, and though Calder hadn’t personally seen her take them, he shuddered as he imagined her tearing them up through the Capital streets.
Bliss hadn’t said a word since boarding The Testament, staying curled up in the rigging. Mostly, she stared into the battle that spanned the void.
He recalled what she had once told him: “For untold thousands of years, the Great Elders have bickered and jockeyed with one another, but in the end they all have the same goal. To be free of this prison.”
Finally, the day they had been waiting for had come. No matter what it took, they had to be stopped. Even if it cost everything.
Worst of all, no one had been able to find his hat.
As Calder firmed his resolve, his forearm began to burn.
He yelped, grabbing his right arm with his left, but he seized only the Emperor’s armor. His skin blazed without relief.
He wished he could have gone without the armor. He had been forced to hide it as best he could from the Regents, but now that he was wearing it out in the open, they would surely take it from him after the battle. This was a priceless treasure, and they weren’t blind.
In the meantime, the handprint on his arm continued to burn.
From the wheel, Calder shouted behind him, “He’s coming!”
Andel stepped up to his right, bracing his own hat against the wind of their passage. Foster stood on his left…and a moment later, Petal crept up between them, shivering and looking as though she might bolt at any second.
Shuffles rode on the railing, chuckling and letting the wind flow through its wings.
Bliss dropped down in front of the wheel, her pale hair falling into place behind her. “The spawn part for their master.”
The white water split as the Elders made room.
And a deeper, darker shadow rose from the depths of the Aion Sea.
Kelarac’s fin broke the surface first, and his skin resembled an ancient stone wall. It was dark and pockmarked with age, dotted irregularly with lichen and barnacles.
His back rose next, covered in the same rocky skin, and the sound of water sloughing off him to either side was like thunder. It looked as though adding every other Elder present together would not match