damaged bed. He looked up at Petal, who gave an apologetic smile instead of looking surprised. Then he moved to Andel.
The quartermaster had regained his normal, impassive look. “Would you like the good news first, or the bad news?”
“How bad can it be?” Calder asked. “I’m not dead.” His voice was starting to improve, which was faster than he’d expected.
“Bad news it is. You’ll be on a tightly controlled regimen of elixirs, potions, and supplements most likely for the rest of your life. Otherwise your bones will snap, your body will fill with cancerous tumors, and your eyeballs will pop like bubbles.”
Petal’s brow furrowed and she looked over to him. “Eyeballs?”
“You can’t say for sure it won’t happen.”
Petal considered for a moment, then shrugged and nodded.
Calder waited for the good news, but when Andel didn’t seem inclined to say anything else, Calder prompted him. “And the good news is that you only restrained me with cheap tin?”
“More bad news first. The bad news is that you’re not technically a Champion.” Andel held up a hand. “I know, it’s outrageous. It’s unfair. They have requirements regarding training and the nature of your Soulbound, none of which you meet.”
The shattered chain dangled from Calder’s wrist. For the first time, he noticed the gold crown symbol on the aprons of the two alchemists busying themselves in the background.
His eyes grew so wide that they actually hurt.
When he remembered Andel’s words about his eyeballs, he blinked rapidly. “So I’m…I mean, this is…”
Petal swiped more tears away. “You almost died. But it worked!”
“The Emperor’s armor kept you on this side of the grave,” Foster explained. “We needed you to be strong enough to survive removing it, and Petal had kept on with her research on borrowing the power of a Champion. We tried a temporary potion, but the armor fought against it. So we went all the way, and Andel healed you up so you survived the process.”
Andel was slipping the silver chain around his neck. “I only had to embrace the power of an organization I abandoned years ago, thus making myself a wanted fugitive of the Luminian Order for the rest of my life. Don’t let my crisis of faith and personal sacrifice cause you any guilt.”
Calder let his eyes close for another moment.
Kelarac had laced his lies with truth. He had almost died, and would have had he not been preserved by the Emperor’s armor.
But his friends and allies had rescued him and were already saving his life.
Kelarac would have woken up in Calder’s body with the addition of superhuman strength. And no one would have suspected a thing.
Calder shivered and opened his eyes.
“You all…”
Tears sprang to his eyes, but he wasn’t the least bit ashamed. “I don’t deserve you,” he whispered.
Petal cried with him and Andel smiled slightly. Foster barked out a laugh.
“You’re not a real Champion, remember that. I might not be able to beat you in arm wrestling anymore, but Urzaia would still tie you in knots. Now get some sleep. We’re still a few days out from you walking without a crutch, and if the Regent finds you, the best we can hope for is you ending up in a Palace cell.”
“The Regent…” Calder said aloud.
Of course. Even without his body, if Shera had removed him, the Independents would have taken over the Capital.
“Tell me everything,” he said.
Over the next hour, they filled him in on the situation. They shared with him their plan: they were confident they could get aboard The Testament. It was under heavy guard, for fear of what the Lyathatan would do, but most of the troops defending it were part of the Imperial Guard.
They had transferred their loyalty to Jorin, but not eagerly. Foster was certain they could talk their way through.
And once they were on the ocean…well, the Independents didn’t control much outside the Capital. And the only ones who could catch them on the Aion Sea were fellow Navigators.
Calder wouldn’t be able to do much about the crack in the sky or the fate of the world, but at least he’d be alive and free.
By the end of their explanation, sleep had crept up on Calder. He let himself slip from consciousness clutching on to one thought: he wasn’t going to run.
He had a plan of his own.
Chapter Nineteen
Seek not the coming of the darkness which crawls, for his jaws will swallow the sun.
All that lives shall pass away, leaving only the darkness eternal.
His domain is death, and his wisdom is