o
FATHOM
Clearsight shrieked and dove down after Darkstalker. Fathom and the others, meanwhile, threw themselves into the air in a panic. "What the heck was that?!" he blurted, eyes darting to and fro in case another rock suddenly catapulted their way.
The scavenger began shouting barbaric gibberish. "Vey ooness eeay daro! Pawb! Mi ooness ee daro'r bwistvill anhooeleedig!"
"I think the scavenger threw a rock at Darkstalker," Indigo said, landing beside Darkstalker and Clearsight.
"How?" Fathom asked. "Darkstalker was invisible! How good are scavengers at throwing things?"
"Guys, hurry up and help me get Darkstalker away from here!" Clearsight shouted. "He got knocked out."
Fathom and Listener swept over to Clearsight. She was holding onto Darkstalker, who was slumped over and had blood covering the right side of his face. Fathom bent down to lift him up from his other end when the scavenger ran their way. His foot was mere inches away from trampling Listener when he finally stopped, and Listener let out a terrified scream. She put her talons on her head and shouted, "Get me out of here!" She was gone in an instant. Indigo flew up into the air, soaring over trees. Fathom guessed that she was scanning for other scavengers that might be coming their way.
The scavenger crouched down, looking carefully at them. Fathom pulled Darkstalker in the opposite direction, but the scavenger was much faster. He reached forward with both hands and dexterously grabbed both Fathom and Darkstalker while catching Clearsight's forearm between two of his digits. The scavenger's grip was so strong that Fathom could feel himself suffocating. He let out a panicked croak to signal for help.
Clearsight opened her maw and blasted a plume of fire at the scavenger's face. From the scavenger's point of view, it was no larger than a torch flame, but it was still big enough to startle him into dropping them.
Fathom and Clearsight wrapped their wings around Darkstalker, and he crashed to the ground in a daze of whiplash. He craned his head over to see if the scavenger was still after them, but he appeared to be overwhelmed by the fire he'd just witnessed — shouting more savageries in his native tongue.
Darkstalker suddenly groaned, snapping Fathom's attention his way. "Darkstalker, you have to get out of here!" he told him, ducking low and spreading one of his wings to cover his friend from the scavenger.
"Wha…?" Darkstalker muttered in response.
The scavenger suddenly shrieked and began scurrying. When Fathom looked back up at him, he saw Indigo clambering all over his face and body. The scavenger was flailing his arms about trying to get her off.
"Indigo, what are you doing?!" Clearsight shouted. "That thing can break your neck!"
Fathom's talons dug into Darkstalker's scales. Please, no.
"I'll be fine," Indigo said as she squirmed out of the scavenger's grasp and sunk her talons into his leg. "Go and find somewhere to hide with Darkstalker. Once the scavenger loses track of you, I'll teleport out of here. Now move!"
Clearsight and Fathom picked Darkstalker up and scurried off into the woods without another word of protest. The two of them had their eyes fixed on Indigo and the scavenger, though. "Is she going to be okay, Clearsight?" he asked.
"I think so," Clearsight assured. "She looks like she knows what she's doing."
"But you said she could break her neck," he said. "Didn't you see that happening?"
"I see a lot of things, Fathom," she said. "She knows how dangerous that scavenger is now, and she's being careful. Almost all of the futures I see end in her survival."
Fathom moaned. "I'd really prefer it if it were all of them," he said.
They circled around a tree trunk and found a cavity between a pair of roots. Just as they started to take shelter between them, Darkstalker spoke again.
"Clearsight, what's going on?" he asked, his voice scarcely more than a murmur.
"Darkstalker, cover your head with your talons and say, 'get me out of here'," Clearsight told him pressingly.
Darkstalker winced and put his hands over his forehead. "My head…" he muttered. "Get me out of here."
At once, Darkstalker disappeared. Relief washed over Fathom, and he leaned back against the tree bark, exhausted.
"Indigo, Darkstalker's back at the palace!" Clearsight shouted. "Get out of here now."
"Understood!" Indigo responded. "Get me out of here!"
The scavenger shouted something in surprise.
Clearsight covered her head and teleported back to the palace, and Fathom soon followed. When he reappeared near the golden goblet on Darkstalker's desk, he glanced around pensively to make sure that everyone was actually there.
Listener, thankfully, hadn't gone back to the scavenger den, and was there when they all returned. She and Clearsight hugged each other as Listener apologized for chickening out. Indigo wasted no time retrieving her whale tooth spear that leaned against Darkstalker's bedpost, and attentively returned to Fathom's flank.
Darkstalker was shaking and disoriented, lying curled up on the floor with his talons on his head and his face locked in a tight wince. Clearsight was already at his side trying to help him stand. He was bleeding from nose to horns, and huffing with every exhale. "I feel like my head's being crushed by a boulder," he moaned. "Where's my emerald bowl?"
"It's over here, next to the fountain," Clearsight said, leading him out of Darkstalker's bedroom and into the main room of his suite. Fathom and the others followed them as they made their way to the fountain, which was bubbling idly, reflecting the muted light coming in from the balcony. On the ledge of the fountain was a gold bowl studded with emeralds.
Darkstalker filled the bowl with water from the fountain, drank from it, and sighed. He dipped his face down into the fountain water and washed it off. When he turned to face his friends, not a single scratch was left on him. "Well, that was exciting," he said with a chipper ring in his voice.
Fathom felt like he'd just been betrayed. He looked at the bowl in Darkstalker's talons as if it were a slaughtered hatchling. "That's another enchanted item," he said.
Darkstalker looked down at his bowl and pursed his lips. "It is," he admitted. "I enchanted it to heal anyone who drinks from it."
"Darkstalker, how many times do I need to tell you this?" Fathom asked, pinning his ears sadly. "You said that you were going to stop using your magic frivolously, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did," Darkstalker said, setting the bowl aside and scowling at the ground. "And if it were up to me, I would be keeping that promise."
"What do you mean?" Indigo asked. "It is up to you, isn't it?"
Darkstalker shook his head. "Queen Vigilance has been getting bolder with me ever since she moved me into the palace," he said. "She has been demanding that I make enchanted items for her to help with the war effort."
Fathom went stiff. Memories of Queen Lagoon and Albatross thundered through his mind. The orders Lagoon had imposed on Albatross, the stress that she'd put on him to use his animus magic as much as he could, the constant focus on his powers and enchantments — these were the things that helped accelerate Albatross' deterioration. His grandfather's soul might not have been so badly broken if Queen Lagoon hadn't forced him to use his magic as much as he did.
And now Queen Vigilance was doing the same thing to Darkstalker.
"I know, Fathom," Darkstalker said, breaking him out of his mental trance. "I don't like it either."
"You can't let her do this," Fathom said desperately. "Please Darkstalker, stop making enchantments for her. You can't let her destroy your soul — even if you think it might be protected."
"I can't just stop," Darkstalker said begrudgingly. "But I've been trying to minimize the harm. Clearsight has been keeping a closer eye on the futures where my soul is in danger, and I've been doing what I can to keep Vigilance from asking for new enchantments too often." He grinned mischievously. "Right now, she's convinced that my magic takes time to build up. I told her that it can take weeks or even months to prepare a new spell after making the last one."
"That was pretty close to what Albatross was doing for Queen Lagoon," Indigo said. "Darkstalker, you can't keep doing this — not with enchantments like this. If the other things the queen requested are like the ones you put on this bowl, then they can really hurt you." Fathom looked at Indigo, a little startled. She'd never sounded this worried about Darkstalker before.
"I'm afraid there's not much else I can do," Darkstalker said. "If I don't do what she wants, she could have me arrested. And trying to convince her that she's putting my soul in danger has been next to impossible. It's hard for her to consider what my spells might be doing to me when her mind is so preoccupied with her boring new idea for a spell."
"Could I talk with her?" Fathom asked. "Maybe she'll start listening if another animus dragon asks her to stop."
"I doubt she'll listen to you, but you can try," Darkstalker said. "I'll let her know that you request an audience with her the next time I see her."
Fathom smiled, relieved. "Thank you. I'll try to get her to stop, Darkstalker. For your sake."
Darkstalker dipped the bowl into the fountain again and lifted it back up. "Did anyone else get hurt?" he asked. "We might as well make use of this before Vigilance decides to keep it all for herself."
"I think we're all alright," Listener said. "What about the scavenger? Did he get hurt?"
Indigo shook her head. "He was perfectly fine when the rest of us teleported away."
"Good. At least we didn't burn their entire village to the ground."
"Indeed," Darkstalker said cheerfully. "I'd consider our little visit a success."
"You're joking," Listener deadpanned. "Darkstalker, you ruined the sanctity of their peaceful community! Now they know that invisible dragons are watching them."
"First of all, yes, of course I'm joking. Secondly, you can't blame me for that," Darkstalker said defensively. "I grabbed the scavenger's attention completely by accident. All I did was lean forward a little bit, then I stayed completely still the moment he was looking at me. Why should I have expected it to throw a rock at me like that?"
Listener didn't seem to have anything to say in response to that, but she still looked like she wanted to remain angry. "I need to get home," she finally said.
"Did you at least have fun?" Darkstalker asked, smiling a little.
"No!" Listener shouted, flaring her wings. "I was terrified!"
"Well, I found it exciting," Darkstalker said. "I wasn't able to hear everything that was happening, but I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my body. I could only imagine how thrilling it was for you guys."
Fathom found himself secretly agreeing with Darkstalker. He hadn't had a genuine adventure in such a long time. The spirit that he once had had gotten completely swallowed by fear the day Albatross went mad. But Darkstalker was trying to give Fathom that spirit back, and he was pretty sure it was working. And just like pretty much everything else Darkstalker was doing, he was really appreciating it. If Darkstalker or Listener asked him to come back and use this enchanted goblet a second time, he'd probably say yes.
But on the other talon, that was dangerous. He was trapped in a world where his species wasn't the apex race, and where everything had the potential to kill him. What if Indigo had gotten hurt, and Fathom had to use his magic to keep her safe, and he started turning evil as a result? What if that rock had killed Darkstalker? And besides, this was animus magic he was messing around with. Wasn't he kind of condoning the use of Darkstalker's magic by letting himself have fun with that goblet?
"Look, I'm tired," Listener said. "I need to get home and get to bed."
"I agree with Listener," Clearsight said. "It's been a long day."
Fathom rubbed his eyes and yawned agreeably. Even though he'd adopted a NightWing sleep schedule a long time ago, his body seemed naturally resistant to it. His body had forgotten that he was supposed to be asleep when he was watching the scavengers, but it was reminding him now — now that he was shrouded under the ceiling of the palace instead of under the bright blue sky.
He knew that he wasn't sleeping as much has he had been when he was in the Sea Kingdom last year, but that was probably a good thing. When he was in the Sea Kingdom, he never had anything better to do with his life, so he stayed in bed for sixteen hours a day just to burn time. He'd take being friends with Darkstalker over that any day, even if it meant being a little sleep-deprived.
"Alright," Darkstalker said. He picked up the goblet and handed it over to Listener. "Have a good sleep, Listener."
Listener took it from him and nodded. "Thanks, Darkstalker."
Once she was on her way out of the palace, Fathom turned back to Darkstalker. "I should probably be going back to my chamber as well."
"Hold on," Darkstalker said. "Before you go, I want to talk to you for a moment, alone."
Fathom was startled at first, but soon after nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay with that. Indigo?"
"That's fine," Indigo said, standing up and stretching. "I'll see you back at the suite."
That was the third time Indigo had surprised Fathom that day with her attitude towards Darkstalker. When she walked away, he realized that this was the first time that Indigo willingly let Darkstalker alone with Fathom.
"I wasn't expecting that to go that smoothly either," Darkstalker said to him. "Maybe she's finally warming up to me."
"I hope so," Fathom said. "Thank you for being so patient with her."
Darkstalker picked up his emerald bowl again and started tapping the surface of the water in it, making little circles that spread out to the edge of the bowl. "You know she's only hard on me because she cares about you, right?"
"I know," Fathom said. He sat down and began fidgeting with the claw on the joint of his wing. "We've been friends ever since I can remember, so she's kinda protective. But she does have a good heart."
"How come you haven't told her how you feel yet?" Darkstalker asked.
Fathom snapped to attention, his heart racing. For just a second, he stared wide-eyed at Darkstalker. Then Darkstalker gave him a knowing smile and pointed a talon at the teardrop scale next to his eye. Fathom sagged his body. "Right. Of course you know that."
"I really think you should," Darkstalker told him. "Would you like to know how she feels about you?"
"Absolutely not," he said sternly. And it wasn't because he was afraid she didn't feel the same way about him. He just hated the idea of delving into someone's thoughts without their consent — especially someone like Indigo. He knew that NightWings saw it differently, but he'd never be comfortable with it. Indigo's mind belonged to her: nobody else should listen to it without her letting them.
"Alright," Darkstalker said with a shrug. "I'm just saying, I think it'd go over well for you if you did."
"I don't want the rest of the Night Kingdom to know about how much she means to me," Fathom explained. "As far as the NightWings are concerned, she's just my bodyguard."
"Oh, let the Night Kingdom know!" he said joyfully. "Let the NightWings know that you're in love and happier than all of them because of it."
"Darkstalker, you don't understand," Fathom said. "Indigo and I can never be together. If were were, Queen Pearl would have us separated the moment she found out."
"Well, it's a good thing Queen Pearl isn't here in the Night Kingdom with you. She doesn't need to find out." Darkstalker sighed. "Fathom, look, you know you're not going to be truly happy until you decide to be with her for the rest of your life. You may as well make that decision now." He walked over to Fathom and handed the bowl to him, letting some of the water splash onto the floor. "Don't worry about the consequences. You're with the NightWings, Fathom: you're in my kingdom. And as long as you're in my kingdom, I promise that I'll do whatever I can to keep you two together."
Fathom smiled at Darkstalker, feeling a lot better hearing that. Taking the bowl, he raised it to his maw and took a drink, washing down an odd bitter taste that was starting to coat the back of his throat. Despite knowing that the water was enchanted, it didn't make him feel any different. "I'll think about it," he said tentatively.
"I hope you do," Darkstalker said. "Now go on and get some sleep."
He nodded to Darkstalker and returned to his chamber. The palace was quiet during the morning — everyone was asleep or away. His talons echoed against the dark marble columns and mirrors until he heard the soft chirping of birdsongs that came in from his chamber balcony.
Indigo was waiting for him when he stepped in. Her face lit up like a lantern in the middle of a pitch black island cave once she saw him, and he couldn't help but smile back, feeling a little nervous. "How'd your little talk go?" she asked quietly, as Wharf and Lionfish were busy snoring in the corner of the room.
"It was nice," Fathom said as he walked across the hall into their bedroom. "Thanks for letting us talk by ourselves."
Indigo tilted her head and followed him. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you've been on his case ever since we moved in here," he said. "I wasn't expecting you to leave us alone together."
"Oh." Indigo folded her ears, looking ashamed. "Yeah, I guess I've been letting my guard down around him, haven't I?"
"I think that's a good thing," Fathom said, brushing his wing with hers. "Haven't I been telling you that this whole time?"
"I know," Indigo said. "You're probably right. But I still feel like someone needs to keep an eye on him."
Fathom stopped in his tracks and gave Indigo a sideways glance.
Indigo turned around to face him, raising a brow at him. "To be clear, I still don't think we should totally trust him," she said. "It's bad enough that you probably already tipped him off that we're friends."
Fathom winced. "Yeah, he — he definitely already knows that."
Indigo face-palmed. "Great. That's just absolutely wonderful."
"We actually talked about that quite a bit when we were alone."
Indigo pinned her ears. "Fathom, I get that you like him, and I get that you think he's on our side. But can't you at least try to keep some of your secrets?"
"I did try. But he's a mind reader. He probably knew we were friends the day I arrived here. He probably knows how much you mean to me more than you do."
That last part came out suddenly and without any level of thought, and he immediately regretted saying it the moment he saw how Indigo's face transformed. Her eyes lit up with curiosity and excitement, and then they softened as she gave him an impish smile, and then she took a step towards him — and he started feeling really, really happy, and no no no no, he was not ready to feel that right now!
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" she asked him.
"I … probably am," Fathom said — even though he wanted to say, 'Please ask me again later when I know how to answer that question without worrying about what's going to happen.'
And he sat down on the carpeted floor — even though he wanted to scurry to his bedroom and order Indigo to do the same.
And Indigo touched her nose to his, and Fathom smiled in a way that let her know that he thought she was the most beautiful and brilliant dragon who had ever come into his life, and he never wanted to spend another moment without her by his side — even though he wanted …
… even though he wanted to act exactly like this whenever she was with him, and it made him feel like the tiniest sea slug in the ocean whenever he held back.
"I thought so," she said, brushing her cheek against his and resting her head on his shoulder. "You were being kinda weird about it, though."
"I love you, Indigo," he affirmed, letting go of anything else that mattered to him.
"You're the only reason I'm here, you know," she returned. "I was so miserable when we were separated in the Sea Kingdom. And I knew that I'd keep feeling miserable if I didn't come here with you. That's why I begged Queen Pearl to let me be your bodyguard." She lifted her head and looked at him, her eyes glistening like they were hiding the brightest stars in the sky. "The feeling's mutual, Fathom. I love you too."
They spent a long while staring at each other, accepting each other's love, realizing how long they'd both been waiting for this and how much they both wanted this. He couldn't remember a time in his life when he was this grateful to be alive.
Perhaps there'd be consequences to this that he wasn't ready for, or unhappy compromises he'd have to make. But in this moment, he didn't want anything about his life to change. In this moment, he couldn't have asked for a better world.
