The hole had grown.

But of course it had. Roan had performed many reality-bending acts of magic in his time, but that had been while he was still a Modika for the Scions. At his full strength, such feats had left him drained for days. Why wouldn't it expand the hole if he did it now?

He had been an imbecile to use such a large amount of magic. If he wished to enact his revenge before he fully lost himself, he had to be smart about his usage.

He'd found he wasn't often smart when it came to her.

Odella had amused him with her self-assurance, though also frustrated him, as it made her harder to manipulate.

Ashlin, on the other hand, had been clay in his hands. She was so desperate to fill a shadow that only she saw. It should have made her pathetic.

Yet somehow, it made him care. No, care wasn't the right word. A fondness, maybe. Or, at least, a desire to see her accomplish the same thing he sought. Yes, that was it. He wanted her to be able to fill that hole within her, just as he wished to do for himself.

Why, he still wasn't sure, but he'd come to learn in his time as an Unwoven that sometimes he couldn't understand the things he wanted anymore. It required access to fragments of himself that he'd lost.

That the Grand Twelve had stolen away from him.

"You're still in there. They hurt you because you believed in what's right. Don't let them steal that from you, too. Please, do the right thing here."

Roan blew out a long, controlled breath through his nose as he crossed the deck of the Wolf's Prowl. The slime of the crew tended to their duties. He wished one of them would give him a reason to draw a blade. Or, perhaps, to order them to draw their blades on each other.

That emptiness within him throbbed as it ached for the violence. He ignored it and forced himself onward without looking at any of the humans.

He entered Wolfbane's quarters without knocking. A dagger flew through the air and sank into the wall inches from Roan's head.

"I see the news is right. You are awake. If only someone had informed me you are also in a foul mood," Roan said as he shut the door behind him.

Wolfbane sat upright in his bed with his legs thrown over the edge. The hulking man reached over to grab another dagger from his bedside table, but he didn't throw this one.

"If I wished for you to be here, I would have summoned you," Wolfbane said. "If you're here without a summons, either you have a death wish or important information. For your sake, I hope it's the latter."

Instead of answering, Roan walked over to the pirate's desk and leaned against it. He took the captain in and gave a low whistle. "They have you very wrapped up. I'm surprised you can even move. If you were a mere mortal, that would have killed you."

Wolfbane grunted and rubbed at his chest. "Yes, Unwoven. I get it. Thank you for having the forethought to bring extra lunisium rings. Can't believe I had to lose my others to survive that little rabbit." He spat at a nearby bucket and dropped his hand.

With no shirt and the wrappings absent from the spot, Roan had his first true look at the complete Dreamweave marking the man's chest.

"Well, Unwoven?" Wolfbane snarled, his bruised ego leaving him in no mood to play. "If you're only here to stare, come closer. Just be warned, I make no promises of safety."

The temptation arose to do just that. To step up to the savage man and dare him to try.

Once more cursing the mortal woman who had made him use so much magic, Roan took a deep breath to calm himself. "I have another purpose, actually. One I believe you'll be happy to hear."

He reached into his pocket and pulled up a small, cylindrical object with a bow at its bottom formed out of two crescent moons. Although it didn't have the typical teeth associated with others of its kind, Wolfbane recognized it immediately.

"The Key," he said. "How did you retrieve it? I heard the girl got away with the bag. No thanks to you, apparently."

Roan shrugged. "She had your little rabbit with her. I didn't think you'd want to wait until you found the next earthen child."

Wolfbane's only acknowledgement to this was a grunt.

Roan spun the key around, letting the glow from the lightstones reflect off its glass-like surface. "I went back to the site of the battle after we lost the Blade and the Hold. Imagine my surprise when I discovered this lying about the wreckage."

Wolfbane flashed his teeth with a wide smile. "Then we're the ones with the Granting Key, and they likely don't even know it was there."

"Exactly." Roan deposited the Key back into his pocket. "Get your rest then, Captain. We still have work to do."

The Nightwraths may have stalled their plans by taking the Blade, but with the Key, they would be able to gain him back and so much more.

The ones who dared call themselves gods would fall, and Roan would be the one there burying them in their own kingdom, brick by bloody brick.

*****

I hope nobody thought that I was done with the plot twists >:D Yes, there apparently was a missed artefact which Roan was actually after (you did see it very briefly before), and Wolfbane was a Dreamwoven??? And, ya know, alive, but everyone saw that coming.

Now, the story is over, and we have one final author's note to go through...