Lorica broke from her surprise in a near instant. "Caspian!"

He jolted at the command, but then he scrambled to the light stone. Swinging his entire body into the act, he punched the stone. The surrounding wood cracked and splintered. Fractures spread over the magical crystal, but light continued to emit from it. Caspian hadn't broken it enough. He pulled his fist back to strike again.

Before he could, a bright flash exploded from the light stone. Caspian sputtered curses as he reeled back.

Two cloaked figures took shape in Ash's light-speckled vision. Her mind slid to a lune ago when she'd been pressed against an unknown man, forced to trust him as they both watched similarly cloaked people slink past their alleyway.

The Modika had arrived.

They didn't spare a second to get their bearings. The taller cloaked individual threw out their hand. They murmured a few quiet words, and smokey white energy pulsed from their palm. It formed an oval around Caspian's form before seemingly hardening. The Modika made a shoving motion, and Caspian flew back, crying out in surprise. The outline followed him.

The energy vanished as he slammed into the opposing rail, and he would have toppled over if not for his vice-like grip on the wood.

They needed weapons, and they needed help. Ash sprinted toward the hatch, which would supply both things. Before she reached it, the air shimmered in front of her, and then the shorter Modika was there.

Their arm whipped out, backhanding Ash's face. She rolled across the ground, and when she pushed herself up, the world swam. Iron coated her tongue, likely from teeth colliding with her throbbing cheek.

"Well, what's this?" The shorter Modika's voice was high pitched, but it was still masculine. Glowering up at them, she found further confirmation in the thin but hard face staring down at her from beneath the hood. Violet curves decorated his ashy skin. "I believe we've found the lost chosen, Brael. Who knew she'd be among the riffraff?"

The other Modika, Brael, grunted out a simple, "Grab her then, Felwin." He dodged Lorica's swinging sword, then whispered to himself again. Another pulse of smoky energy shot toward Lorica.

A simple sword slash dispelled the magic.

"Lunisium." Brael spat out the word like a curse. He rolled out of the way of her next attack, shaking his hood loose and revealing vivid orange hair pulled back into a ponytail. His storm-cloud-grey eyes flicked Ash's way, and then they hardened.

Felwin suddenly shimmered out of existence just as another form barreled into the space he'd occupied. "He's jumping around!" Caspian spun as he searched for the Scion.

They found him from a sudden yelp. Felwin hadn't gone far. He kicked out at Willow, who had been hurrying to the hatch. Confused shouts drifted from below.

"Nightwraths!" Lorica's voice boomed, surely audible to those below. "We're under atta—" She cut off with a grunt. Brael was in her face, his own short sword colliding with hers.

He suddenly yanked his free arm upward, and Lorica toppled. A grey band of energy floated around her ankles.

"Captain!" With an enraged scream that was more akin to a roar, Caspian sprinted in Lorica's direction.

Lorica was already rising, but neither she nor Caspian were quick enough to stop Brael. Another energy circle pulsed from the Scion and shot toward the hatch. It outlined the wood, and after a few foreign words from Brael, it hardened.

A mere second later, fists banged against the hatch, but it didn't budge.

Brael produced four more magical circles, these ones halting in a stair-like pattern over the pirates' heads. He hopped onto the first, landing on something solid, then climbed to the top. Each magical step vanished after he left it. He stood ten feet over their heads, a vicious smile on his face.

More grunts of a struggle sounded behind Ash. She didn't feel safe ripping her eyes from the magic-flinging Scion, but no matter where she focused, there would be danger. Willow, though, had no help.

Both Ash and Willow had come onto the deck straight from sleeping, so neither had grabbed weapons. However, Willow now held a stake-like object, which she used to keep Felwin away from her and the unconscious Emis.

Felwin shimmered out of existence before reappearing behind Willow. He brought the dagger down at her back. Foolishly, dangerously, Ash leaped forward, first trying to catch the Scion's arm, but when his momentum proved too strong, yanking it toward herself. A burning pain spread along her bicep where the dagger sliced into her.

It hurt, but it was better than a stab through the back.

Willow lashed out with her stake, aiming for his face. He shimmered away once more, leaving Ash holding nothing.

He appeared again a few feet away from them, his mocking smirk shifting into a glower.

"You can hear where he's going to pop up," Willow huffed. "It sounds like a sudden wind."

He vanished, and Willow, hearing something Ash did not, swiped her stake to her back-left. Felwin's blade blocked the stone, and then he swung at her face with his free hand. She dodged, but not enough. The blow clipped her chin, and Willow reeled back.

Ash dove for the back of his legs. They buckled beneath her, but then the solidness of his body wasn't there. She heard it this time: the sudden whooshing sound, so close to her ear that it may as well have been a gust. A booted foot crashed into her face. Something cracked. Pain exploded across her face, and then hot liquid choked her.

"You wait your turn, Dreamwoven," Felwin sneered. His eyes flicked sideways, and then he threw the dagger.

A grunt from Willow, the faint whoosh as Felwin vanished again, and then a shout. Ash tried to look up, but the pain in her face intensified, and tears blurred her vision too much.

That familiar painful prickle of her magic feeding from her panic stabbed at her skin. She kept a firm grip on it. Now wasn't the time to lose herself to the power's thrall.

Or maybe it was the perfect time. Just let go, allow the illusions to unnerve Felwin and give Willow a better chance.

Her pride reminded her of where she'd gotten the magic; her logic warned of the frozen state she'd be stuck in.

Her fear for her friends and self didn't care.

She released her hold on both her emotions and the magic. They collided in a storm of energy that ripped its way out of her. She screamed from the pain, but she didn't try to resist it. The pale blue energy darkened into a thick, tar-like substance that grew in size as it slunk forward. By the time it reached the Scion, it formed a humanoid shape nearly his same size.

Felwin spun in her direction as the illusion rasped out indiscernible words. He'd believed Ash to be Odella, and therefore her magic limited to the gods' gifts. It seemed with his confusion he didn't even consider that the form before him could be an illusion. Shouting in his unknown language, Felwin scrambled back, wild terror in his eyes.

Seizing the opportunity, Willow flung herself forward and stabbed the Scion in the shoulder.

Crying out in rage and pain, Felwin spun and backhanded her. She jerked to the side, dragging the stake with her. The sudden yank brought another scream from Felwin, and he fell to one knee, spasming as he tried to find a bearable position.

Another chance. If Willow could recover quickly enough, she could go for a more vital spot—

The stone stake clattered against the deck. Ash's teary eyes snapped to Willow, searching for what made Willow lose her grip.

She stared off to Ash's right. The tar person wasn't the only thing her illusions had created. Linden stood there, simply staring at Willow, a look of acceptance contrasting with the pain in his eyes. His lower half was stone, and as the vision progressed, the grey rock creeped up the rest of his body.

"No!" Tears spilled down Willow's face. She looked like she couldn't decide if she wanted to rush to her brother or sprint in the opposite direction.

Ash's heart plummeted. Her magic didn't care if a person was friend or foe. She should have known that, and now that the sludge being did little but stare at Felwin, he seemed to be figuring out the gimmick.

What was once an opening for her friend was now one against her.

Ash fought to contain the outpouring of magic, all the while sputtering through her pain that none of it was real, that Linden was okay. Bit by bit, she regained control, but it wasn't fast enough.

Willow remained trapped under the vision.

Felwin shifted his grip on his dagger and charged.

He swung, but before it made contact, it bounced off a solid surface. Surprise flitted across his face for a mere second before understanding dawned. "You're not dead, then." He glowered, but not at Ash or Willow.

Emis propped himself up on one arm. His dark skin had grown unbelievably pale, at least where it could be seen under patches of blood. The arm he held out in Willow's direction trembled from the sheer force of not dropping it.

Felwin sneered. "Let's fix that, shall we?"

He'd only taken a single step when a shriek on the opposite side of the ship had him coming to an abrupt halt. His eyes locked onto something, and his thin face paled. His form shimmered away, but not to stand by any of them.

Ash had nearly gotten her glamour back under control, allowing her to move enough to glance backward.

Felwin crouched by Brael's side. The other Scion slouched against a crate, pressing an arm against a wound in his gut. Dark crimson stained the entire bottom portion of his shirt.

Lorica stood less than a couple feet away. She stabbed downward, aiming for Felwin's throat.

Both Scions shimmered away. Willow, finally shaken free of Ash's illusion now that only a faint outline of it remained, was the first to spot them.

"The upper deck!"

Felwin stood at the railing in front of Lorica's cabin, Brael's arm slung over his shoulders. Hate burned in his eyes as he glared down at them. "This won't be the end, vermin. Traitors." He spat this in particular in Ash's and Emis's directions, and then his mouth moved as he whispered words beneath his breath.

"No you don't!" Caspian dashed at the crates in between the split staircases leading to the upper deck. He hopped onto the closest crate, then sprung from it. Slipping his feet through the bars and grabbing the railing with his free hand, he slashed his sword in their direction.

But, with a muted flash, the Modika were gone.

Caspian cursed profusely as he dropped back down to the base deck. The noise was almost appreciated as a somber quiet fell upon the others. Willow didn't even speak when she helped Ash to her feet. The most she received was a wince when Willow saw her nose.

Just as wordlessly, Lorica walked over to the light stone. With a bit of finagling with her sword, the mineral came loose. The pirate captain flung it as far into the ocean as she could. They never heard it hit the water.

Most silent of them all, though, was Emis. He stared vacantly at the sky above him, not a single breath rising his chest.

Felwin had been wrong. Only one perceived traitor stood upon the Nightwrath ship that night.

***

Ash learned Haylan's magic that night. He could heal others, but it only went so far before he started surrendering his own health rather than magical energy. He fixed Ash's broken nose, though its ache persisted, and mended the serious injuries, but he left the minor cuts and bruises to heal on their own. Even with that limit, he looked like he hadn't slept in a week by the end of his care.

Lorica ordered rest for everyone, promising to explain the next morning. Linden sneaked over to the women's side of the sleeping quarters, laying beneath Willow's hammock. It couldn't be comfortable, but he didn't complain. The lapping water covered their whispers.

Ash felt a stab of responsibility at the occasional sob and sniffle she heard from her friend.

Sleep never found Ash, and a few hours after they'd been sent below deck, she gave up trying. With a sense of déjà vu, she slid out of her hammock and sneaked to the main deck.

She didn't seek solace from the ocean view or the salted breeze. Instead, she strode straight to Lorica's door.

There wasn't a moment's pause after she knocked. "Come in, Ash."

She slid into Lorica's cabin, frowning. The captain stood behind her desk, staring out the window. When she turned to face forward, the light stone resting on her desk bathed her in a faint glow. It glinted off the small glass she held in her hand.

"How did you know it was me?" Ash asked.

Lorica smiled dryly as she took her seat. "You had a look in your eyes that I have seen from others in my care. So, tell me why you are here, Ashlin Crest."

Ash met the pirate captain's unwavering gaze. A small voice whispered to her to turn back, that it still wasn't too late.

She had been a fool to believe that. It had been too late the moment the gods hurt her sister.

"I want you to tell me." The words were somehow made heavier in the darkness following the havoc from before. "Tell me everything."

A surprising look of resignation crossed Lorica's face. "Very well, Ash. Have a seat, and I'll get you a drink. This is going to be a long night."

*****

Well, it took more than expected, but Ash has gotten to finally asking her question xD No more interruptions!  Though, really, what more could happen now?  They've been attacked by the gods' assassins.  I think they deserve a break.  Or, well, I guess not Ash and Lorica.  They need to get through story time >:D And with that, we are done with part two!

Let me know your thoughts on the chapter down below, and if you enjoyed it, don't forget to vote and comment! I also have a discord open to anyone who wants to join, and we have a section there to discuss the book :D Let me know if you want to join!