him Master. As for you, Harper, well… you’re a Hellswan. I knew Hellswan.”
“Which Hellswan?” I asked, somewhat confused.
“The original ghoul that created your bloodline. His name was Hellswan. The six early kingdoms of Nevertide all started from original ghouls who gathered humans around them and turned them into sentries. They gave their names to the royal bloodlines a long time ago,” Herbert explained. I found myself to be astonished and speechless for a while. I hadn’t known that, and I doubted my father or his ancestors knew about this. We would’ve found something in Nevertide’s document archives or folklore, if they had.
Herbert stopped for a moment and glanced back toward the northwest, where the crater was still visible, albeit significantly smaller from here. “Hm. They’re being destroyed.”
Indeed, the mass of Shills began exploding into pink puffs of dust. Pop. Pop. Pop. One after the other, leaving the battered plain empty but for the Bajangs that had perished in that fight.
“Maybe the Hermessi don’t need them anymore. They probably sensed that Ramin is gone, so they have no reason to pursue aggression against the locals,” I said, watching the storm clouds disband, clearing the sky in wandering grayish threads that eventually dissipated.
“There’s no use in punishing the locals now, when they can just wipe them all out later, right?” Herbert chuckled.
“I take it Ibrahim briefed you on our situation?”
“More or less. I dug through his brain while giving him everything I know about the Reapers,” Herbert replied. “Lots of nasty stuff in the warlock’s head. You people have your hands full, obviously.”
“That’s one way of putting it.” I sighed. “It’s the end of the world, unless we find a way to stop it.”
“Well, I wasn’t there when the first ritual happened. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t even born, but I do remember a few mentions of it during my time as a Reaper. The Hermessi were dormant at the time, though. Nobody worried they’d do it again.”
“We had to awaken them. They were our only way to defeat Ta’Zan. He would’ve destroyed entire worlds,” I said. “We didn’t know any of their history. We had no idea what we were unleashing.”
Herbert continued his trek toward the cliff. He snuck between the thick trees and past the dark bushes, and climbed up the rock wall with expert agility. His claws were long and curved, perfect for gripping without the risk of a slip. I could see him, even though the nearby animals couldn’t. Then again, I was inside him. I was privy to his field of vision.
“I thought you ghouls traveled between worlds,” I said a few minutes later. “Is it necessary to climb this cliff? I mean, you’re not bound by the usual laws of physics, are you?”
“I still respond to gravity, darling. But no, you’re right, I don’t need to. I’m doing this to stretch my legs. If I’m to make my way to another planet, I have to make sure I’m in decent shape,” Herbert replied.
Personally, I kind of looked forward to this trip. Not just because I’d be getting back to my body, but also because I was beginning to see flashes of Herbert’s memories. Nothing too clear, but enough to make me understand that he’d seen and experienced a lot prior to his capture by the witches. Most importantly, he’d said he knew Hellswan, the original ghoul that had founded my sentry bloodline. Needless to say, I was dying to know more about him, since he was basically responsible for my existence, from across the centuries.
“How does a ghoul move from one planet to another?” I asked.
“Like you said, we’re not bound by the usual laws of gravity. Space, for us, is a soft fabric that we can move through. It’s like slipping through doors in a maze of… dimensions. You’ll see for yourself, soon enough.”
“But you respond to gravity.”
“Respond, yes. Not conditioned by it,” he said. We reached the top of the cliff. The ocean breeze brushed past us, cold and salty, as the sun began its descent into the west. “I can jump off this cliff, for example, and graciously land on the bottom. If the physical you jumps off, chances are you’ll sprain an ankle, at least.”
He was right. The height of this peak was too much, even for a vampire. “Okay… Makes perfect sense. So, you respond to gravity. How do you respond, specifically?”
“I use it when I need it. Like now, to remind myself of how my bones, my muscles, and my