Edda coughed, felt the acrid taste of bile in her mouth, and water, lots of salt water. She raised herself, the weight of her armor a surprise to her, and wretched her guts out on a carpet. She stared at the ground, puzzled, she peered about the room. The last thing she recalled was fear, fear of death. There had been danger and now she woke in a room with walls fashioned from coral stone. The carpet was embroidered with a pattern of what must have been a leviathan if it wasn't for her vomit rendering it otherwise. There was a table with stew on it, a jug of a water and a roll of bread. She lurched for it, collapsed on the ground between the bed and the table. Edda felt very weak, but the hunger was stronger. She crawled to the food and water, took a long drink straight from the jug then began eating in a fashion unbecoming of a Knight.

  In a moment, the bowl was empty of fish broth and she chewed the last crumbs of the bread. That's when she raised her eyes to the door and found Master Kissit framed within it beside a woman in a robe the color of dry leaves. The woman was of the same age as Master Kissit, of the same build too, spindly muscle stretching over hard bone. Face all sharp angles and void of expression with wrinkles that did not draw the eye.

  "Yeap, she ate the heavily salted food." The old woman said, her voice one of mild amusement.

  "She didn't even notice it. It should have been the first thing she noticed." Master Kissit said.

  Edda wondered what they were talking about. "Are you two siblings?" She didn't know why she asked it, there was such an uncanny similarity between the two.

  The woman laughed. "Kissy isn't my brother, silly!" She waved a hand. Then her face turned serious. "He's my sexual partner." Edda cocked a brow.

  "What?" Kissit retorted. "You thought I was a virgin?"

  "Yeah." Edda said. Her voice came out rich, and she noticed she wasn't tired anymore. Edda shifted her weight, raised her arms. She found the armor she was still in weighed just as much as Master Kissit's blue robes. She found it odd, the fatigue had vanished.

  "You feel strong?" The woman asked. And Edda nodded. The woman turned to Master Kissit and gave him a look that said, 'I told you so.'

  "This proves nothing." Master Kissit said. "She might have collapsed due to some deficiency whose remedy is salt."

  "All that salt we put in the stew, she ate it all without noticing and her strength returned. Let's even discard that point. You said it yourself, Kissy, she drowned on dry land. Water emerging from the crown of her head. She wears the crown of Alietsi, Kissy, you know the old religion as well as anyone our age." The woman turned to Edda, an expression of awe mingled with pride on her face. "She is the one, Kissy, the Goddess is awake. The Depth is stirring, she must touch the sea, she must claim the Leviathans! Set us free of this prison of the Leviathan belt. So we can venture far, go to other lands. Away from war, a place we can build and thrive."

  "You are one superstitious woman, Daduts." Kissy said.

  Daduts rolled her eyes, then raised her hands before her face. "I had a choice between Master Fijit and you, and I made the dumbest choice!"

  "I have twice the penis length Fijit has and you know it. Don't act like your choice in a partner had anything to do with my personality or character, you made your choice based on anatomy." Master Kissit answered.

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  "You said it yourself!" Daduts screeched. "She lifted a horse and flung it at someone! Lifted a horse! Kissit, a horse!"

  "I didn't see her lift anything, I only saw a man get hit by a flying horse."

  Daduts crossed her arms beneath her chest and glared at Kissit. "Okay, explain it, scientifically, how a flying horse came to be."

  "I've thought about it." Kissit started, hand absently scratching the sandy beard on his chin. "And I think it might have been mass hysteria."

  "What?"

  "We were facing the Binorians and I'd already killed one of them, in quite a superb manner mind you, the other Binorians must have seen how adept I am at combat and the thought of death made them hallucinate. And me facing the same threat of death, hallucinated exactly the same thing as the Binorians had."

  "What the fuck?"

  "It makes sense if you think about it, odds are low but the probability of hallucinating the same thing is possible. Compared to the odds of a woman lifting a horse by the leg and flinging it at someone."

  "What about the water coming out of her head? Making her drown?"

  "It must be a disease of some sort. You know how diseases are, they just come out of nowhere. Speaking of which, avoid contact with her." And Kissit pointed at Edda. "It might be contagious and I'm too old to go looking for another sexual partner. Not after all the sex we've had, imagine having to start afresh? Learning someone's sexual preferences anew and them learning yours! I won't die from a blade but the mere thought of starting afresh with someone new makes me want to run into one."

  "You have an odd way of saying you love me." Daduts said with a silly grin and twitchy nose. Then her expression changed, it was quite impressive how she shifted her features so quickly. She put on a serious air, tilted her neck back and spoke. "What is the mission you've been given?"

  "It wasn't a mission, Daduts. It is a punishment. The Council is punishing me for something. I've been on a lot of missions, kill this one, kill that one, save this one, etcetera. But never before has a mission been, 'Go to the sea and awaken a sleeping Goddess.' Do you understand how absurd such a mission is? It's like telling me, 'You see that sun? Your mission is to kill the sun.' What kind of nonsense is this? When they told me the mission, I wept, Daduts, I wept and cursed the day I was born a Remu."

  Daduts took a step closer to Kissit. "The Kings of Binorian, you doubted their power too. How many times did you see them in the wars? How many times did you fail to bring one down?"

  Master Kissit broke eye contact with Daduts. Not facing Edda either, he faced the ground. "Their ability makes sense, to see Order, to move according to what it dictates until it serves you in turn. The Kings of Binoria fought without tiring, fast and strong, their every movement one of grace and calculation." Then Kissit lifted his eyes to Edda. "They were strong enough to punch a hole through armor, but not to lift a horse, Daduts." He turned to his lover. "Not to lift a horse."

  Edda maintained her silence, she'd learnt from the Masters the value of listening other than speaking.

  "Alietsi," Daduts said. "Is the Goddess of Depth. You said she came to Edda as a child? She is the Patron of the Innocent. Depth, Kissit! He Binorian Kings were strong, add depth to Order, what will happen to the strength? It will increase in intensity." Daduts motioned at Edda. "Every aspect has its ultimate degree, the furthest one could arrive at. This young woman can touch the Depths of Order, of Time, of..." She hesitated "Chaos, Madness."

  "Depth of Madness. Huh." Edda said. "Well, thank you for the food." Edda stood up. "I'm going back to the Remu court and reporting that our mission failed. Then we'll both be on our separate ways, me a Knight, you a Master. Nothing more nothing less."

  "You have to touch the sea." Daduts said.

  Edda recalled the feeling of drowning, the inability to breath. She took in a deep breath just then, to make sure she wasn't under water. "No thank you. Now, where's my sword?"

  "You have to touch the sea." Daduts repeated.

  "I want nothing to do with the fucking sea!" She screamed the last words but her audience reacted as if she'd shouted them at the wall. "I don't want anything to do with Gods. Or depth. Or whatever! I don't want any part of this! I don't! If I have Alietsi's attention, I'll ignore her until she chooses someone else."

  "To give in to rage is unbecoming of a Knight of the Remu court." Master Kissit said.

  "Yeah sure." Edda turned, looking for her scabbard.

  "What if instead of going back and lying about your mission, you can actually fulfill it?" Daduts asked.

  "What do you mean?" Edda turned to the woman.

  "Well you can contact the Goddess Alietsi and see what her will is, then you can report to the Remu Court. Isn't it your duty to fulfill the tasks allotted to you by the ruling Remu faction?" Dadut's casual way of pointing out the oath Edda took as a Knight did not deter Edda's resolve.

  "If contacting Alietsi involves touching the sea, then I'm not doing it." Edda said.

  "It does not."

  "How then?"

  "Through a Salt Seer."

  Edda laughed. "Let me guess, a Salt Seer who resides somewhere out at sea?"

  "No, a Salt Seer whose standing before you, in fact." Daduts said with a smile.

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