Chapter 16
Water. Everywhere. Crashing through the terraces, drowning the buildings, sweeping away all in its path. Seoman gripped on harder to his hold on the building, but the water threatened to sweep that away too. With his eyes firmly shut, all he could see was Gilgamesh leaving. Fleeing his duty. Fleeing his oath to Seoman. 'Hyne damn him to a thousand hells. He's the one that deserves a watery grave. Has the scum got no honour?'
He opened his eyes briefly to get his bearings. Was that? It was. It was Natoli, clinging on to another piece of stone. Reaching out, he grabbed her, and with his last strength invoked the dimensional interval. He heard the cry of gulls, and then blackness overwhelmed him.
***
"Seoman."
'What? Who was that?' "Talia?"
Seoman opened his eyes to see Natoli staring at him, worried. "No, it's Natoli. Talia's…Talia's dead Seoman."
Seoman felt tears stinging in his eyes. "Dead? But she can't be. Not Talia. She'd have escaped like us. She's escaped."
"Seoman, I was in the link with her when she died. She couldn't handle the power to make the prison, and she burnt herself out, completely. The shock knocked me out cold."
Seoman wanted more than anything to say…no, to shout that it wasn't true, that it couldn't happen to his Talia. But as Natoli spoke, he looked inside himself, and felt a void where once there was warmth and life. She was dead. Dead, because Gilgamesh hadn't kept his word to look after her. What other reason could there be than that oathbreaking slime?
***
A few days later, Seoman was on his way to recovery. His wound from the Weapon hadn't been as grave as he thought. It would have been enough to kill an ordinary man, but he was confident he could heal himself back to normal in a matter of weeks. His energy would all go into healing though, and he wouldn't be able to use the dimensional interval until he was fully healed. And after exploring as soon as he was on his feet, Seoman learnt they were on an island. All seemed to be going well, and Seoman was sure that in a couple of weeks they'd be able to travel back to the mainland.
Then Natoli fell ill.
For days, she lay, staring into nothing, by turns shivering and sweating. For four days, she didn't sleep, eat or drink, except what Seoman forced down her in the desperate hope of keeping her alive. On the fifth day, the spell passed.
"It was power sickness" Natoli told him, when he awoke to find her sitting and staring out towards the sunrise. "All Talia's power came to me, and it didn't get attuned to me because I was linked. It's too much for me though. Too much for any human to take. I'm going to burn up, Seoman. Burn up, and burn out, and then I'll die when the power consumes me."
"But…."
"But what Seoman? There's nothing you could do to help, there's nothing anyone could do to help. Not even Gilgamesh, now he believes I'm dead."
And then it hit Seoman, a way to avenge Talia, to save Natoli, and to kill Hyne, all in one. But he couldn't tell Natoli all of it yet.
"I…I could become your knight Natoli. I could give you my strength, to help you bear yours. Together, we'll be able to bear the power."
And there, on that beach, witnessed only by the gulls and the rays of the rising sun, Seoman swore to Natoli the Knight's Oath.
Water. Everywhere. Crashing through the terraces, drowning the buildings, sweeping away all in its path. Seoman gripped on harder to his hold on the building, but the water threatened to sweep that away too. With his eyes firmly shut, all he could see was Gilgamesh leaving. Fleeing his duty. Fleeing his oath to Seoman. 'Hyne damn him to a thousand hells. He's the one that deserves a watery grave. Has the scum got no honour?'
He opened his eyes briefly to get his bearings. Was that? It was. It was Natoli, clinging on to another piece of stone. Reaching out, he grabbed her, and with his last strength invoked the dimensional interval. He heard the cry of gulls, and then blackness overwhelmed him.
***
"Seoman."
'What? Who was that?' "Talia?"
Seoman opened his eyes to see Natoli staring at him, worried. "No, it's Natoli. Talia's…Talia's dead Seoman."
Seoman felt tears stinging in his eyes. "Dead? But she can't be. Not Talia. She'd have escaped like us. She's escaped."
"Seoman, I was in the link with her when she died. She couldn't handle the power to make the prison, and she burnt herself out, completely. The shock knocked me out cold."
Seoman wanted more than anything to say…no, to shout that it wasn't true, that it couldn't happen to his Talia. But as Natoli spoke, he looked inside himself, and felt a void where once there was warmth and life. She was dead. Dead, because Gilgamesh hadn't kept his word to look after her. What other reason could there be than that oathbreaking slime?
***
A few days later, Seoman was on his way to recovery. His wound from the Weapon hadn't been as grave as he thought. It would have been enough to kill an ordinary man, but he was confident he could heal himself back to normal in a matter of weeks. His energy would all go into healing though, and he wouldn't be able to use the dimensional interval until he was fully healed. And after exploring as soon as he was on his feet, Seoman learnt they were on an island. All seemed to be going well, and Seoman was sure that in a couple of weeks they'd be able to travel back to the mainland.
Then Natoli fell ill.
For days, she lay, staring into nothing, by turns shivering and sweating. For four days, she didn't sleep, eat or drink, except what Seoman forced down her in the desperate hope of keeping her alive. On the fifth day, the spell passed.
"It was power sickness" Natoli told him, when he awoke to find her sitting and staring out towards the sunrise. "All Talia's power came to me, and it didn't get attuned to me because I was linked. It's too much for me though. Too much for any human to take. I'm going to burn up, Seoman. Burn up, and burn out, and then I'll die when the power consumes me."
"But…."
"But what Seoman? There's nothing you could do to help, there's nothing anyone could do to help. Not even Gilgamesh, now he believes I'm dead."
And then it hit Seoman, a way to avenge Talia, to save Natoli, and to kill Hyne, all in one. But he couldn't tell Natoli all of it yet.
"I…I could become your knight Natoli. I could give you my strength, to help you bear yours. Together, we'll be able to bear the power."
And there, on that beach, witnessed only by the gulls and the rays of the rising sun, Seoman swore to Natoli the Knight's Oath.
