sat there, drinking in the endless stream of information, but he only had so much time.
There was something else I was supposed to be looking for. Something more important…
In the constant deluge, it was hard to keep his own memories straight.
Oh right, the crack in the sky.
With no further encouragement, his vision reversed until he stared into the sky.
Through the lens of the Emperor’s throne, there was no crack in the sky. No one could call that hideous wound, that shadow-bleeding gash in all of reality, a mere crack.
It was like the top half of the world had been rent open by a great sword, leaving a slash. He stared into the void from which the Elders had sprung, a deep darkness with distant lights like stars of every color. They wavered slightly as he watched, as though he saw them from underwater or they vibrated in place.
With his senses magnified, he could sense that each one of those colored points was the focus of unimaginable Intent, and if he only reached out, he could taste that Intent for himself. He yearned to do so, craved to sample them, as though those points of colored light held heavenly flavors that he’d never imagined.
But they were too far…and there was someone standing between him and those false stars.
A human figure dressed in black floated in the void, highlighted by a hazy blue light. As Calder watched, he got the distinct sense that this stranger watched him in return.
The Optasia could stretch far enough to reach that unknown person, but it didn’t do so on its own. The network of devices that magnified Intent were all earthbound, so looking into that void would be straining it beyond its original purpose. And how long might it take? The Great Elders could notice him at any second.
But Calder couldn’t waste this opportunity. He would gaze into the void, but he would do so carefully—
The Emperor’s throne picked up on his decision, but not on the word carefully.
Calder instantly regretted his thoughts as he rushed into the void, the darkness swallowing his awareness whole.
Chapter Nine
three years ago
“Let’s go!” Jerri rushed to the edge of the conch-shell ship. “We have to make it to the tower.”
Calder looked past the dense trees of the nameless island in the Aion Sea. The sun was already almost touching the ocean.
“We don’t have much time until dark. If we get caught by a swarm of Othaghor’s spawn in the dark, we’re done.”
Urzaia was still standing on the beach below, and he whipped his hatchet once. The green creature of the Hordefather was launched from his blade, its body slapping against the sand. A dozen frog-like legs twitched into the ground, its crimson stinger flailing, blue blood leaking.
“They haven’t bothered us until now,” Andel noted. “That means they’re directed by a greater intelligence. I would guess they are waiting for us to join up with the other crew, if indeed the others survived. They mean to trap us here once we get deeper into the island.”
Jerri spread her hands. “How could you possibly know that? Maybe that thing is the only one on the island!”
“It is not the only one,” Urzaia responded, looking deeper into the trees. “It is only the one I caught. I have seen others, and I smell even more.”
Calder looked to the tower, mind working. If the crew of The Reliable was alive and in the tower, it might be worthwhile to reach the tower and join forces, even if there were Elderspawn waiting to encircle them. He had contingencies in place for this, and they would have more options once they joined forces.
He didn’t want to leave a fellow Navigator to the mercies of Elderspawn, and he certainly didn’t want to leave the Emperor’s crown to a Great Elder.
On the other hand, walking into an Elder trap on the cusp of sunset was the definition of suicide.
“Urzaia,” Calder asked, “how fast could we reach the tower?”
“If we hurry, we can beat the sun. But we will not make it there and back.”
That settled it in Calder’s mind. “We wait for dawn,” he said. “It’s too risky. We don’t even know…”
A flag rose into the air from the tower. At that distance, obscured by leaves, Calder couldn’t make it out clearly. But he knew what was on it.
The Navigator’s Wheel.
“…okay, they are alive,” Calder said. “But they’re going to have to wait until dawn. They’ve made it until now, they’ll make it a few more hours.”
He was