Erik flew over the ocean in the form of a hawk. His magic gave his feathers a fiery nature and he trailed embers and wisps of smoke behind him as he soared through the sky.

  Wind whistled over him, whipping his feathers. The salty tang of sea air filled his lungs. He closed his eyes and reveled in the exhilarating bliss of sensations.

  He flew with incredible speed despite his form being slightly smaller than an ordinary hawk. He hoped his smaller size would make him harder for anything to spot. It was also why he dimmed his fire down to embers.

  Not that he saw much of anything besides their ship upon the dark blue ocean.

  There were some cliffs flanking a small cove but it was far away and the only thing of note were the countless storm wyverns that covered the cliffs.

  The beasts were unlikely to even notice their passage and even if they did, they’d be little more than pests. What mattered was that there was no sign of any sentient species.

  This was to be expected of course. Their route had been well planned.

  But, every precaution was required when it came to the secrecy of their base of operations. If it were ever found, it would not be by his mistake. Their work was too important. The sacrifices too great.

  The ship looked impossibly small from so high in the air, despite being a massive vessel.

  He circled around it at a considerable distance, but never so far that it was entirely out of sight.

  The sun was setting, painting the sky a fiery orange amid smatterings of blue and violet. Dark clouds were approaching, and the wind was picking up.

  I’ll have to warn the captain about that storm. It’ll surely fall upon us tonight, Erik thought.

  He saw no other dangers though. Not in the sky at least. Still, he completed his circle around the craft.

  I’m probably being paranoid. There’s not much I can’t handle… he thought. He’d had that thought many times as he scouted repeatedly each day. But he’d been entrusted with the safety of the two young ones… could any precaution be too much?

  He wished not for the first time that he could just enlarge his size and carry them in his talons. To race through the air to their destination… but the journey would be long, and a ship would attract far less attention than an enormous fiery bird.

  He supposed it would be uncomfortable for his passengers too. Not to mention difficult… and who would watch them while he slept?

  He shook such thoughts from his head. They would be safe and secure soon enough. Then, they could finally be told the truth of things.

  It would be good to talk to Connor after that. Some of the things Connor had said had been bothering Erik. Just a tiny bit. Like an itch in the back of his mind.

  I shouldn’t blame him. He doesn’t understand our cause. Not yet… but he will. Then, he’ll apologize for ever doubting us… he’ll see that everything we’ve done was a necessity, Erik thought.

  But, somehow, it failed to dispel that nagging sense of unease that squirmed in the back of his mind.

  It’s necessary. It’s all necessary, Erik told himself.

  The unease was beginning to annoy him. Connor was beginning to annoy him… but he would understand soon.

  Then, he would see as Erik saw. As all of them did. The world needed them to do what they were doing. Everything they were doing was done for the best of reasons. For the good of all. For justice.

  He rolled in the air, bringing himself back to the moment as he completed his circle around the ship. There were no threats he could see. He flapped his wings and sped toward the ship.

  He felt some reluctance as the ship grew larger in his vision. When he flew, he felt so very free, and he did not wish for this sensation to end.

  He drifted lower, down to the deck of the ship. A moment before his taloned feet touched the wooden deck, he shifted. He grew out, claws turning to leather boots upon the deck as wings stretched into arms and hands.

  He adjusted his robes as he settled into his human form, feeling that pang in his heart for the freedom of the air like a knife in his breast.

  Maybe I’ll request a week for myself once we arrive. It’ll take time for them to learn, and I could use the chance to enjoy the wilds for a time, he thought.

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  He noticed the crew and captain looking at him expectantly. It further reinforced the weight upon him in his natural form and he felt the inexplicable desire to simply turn back and fly for hours.

  But, he would not forsake his duty. He ignored the crew for now and sent out a pulse of unseen magic, calling the water elemental servants back to him.

  Moments later, two swirling streams of water rose out of the ocean. They slithered over the railing, sloshing water over the deck. The crewmen stepped back from the watery creatures and several of them cursed.

  The shapes widened out into two slender, swirling creatures with two arms, a head, and an almost snake-like lower body. Though they shifted and changed even as they stood before him.

  Erik’s eyes drifted to the thick rings of enchanted metal that bound the creatures to the Eternal Veil’s service and he suddenly felt a rising sense of anger bordering on loathing as he looked at the creatures. Though he wasn’t sure why.

  Elementals had certainly never upset him before. He dismissed the thought and raised his hand, a circle of magic appearing outward from his palm as he closed his eyes and focused on the elementals.

  He saw what the elementals had seen from their scout below the waves during his scout above.

  Endless blue filled with fish and all manner of aquatic creatures. Deep below them, he saw the sand and rock of the ocean floor. Like a desert beneath the waves. No lairs of great beasts nor aquatic civilizations that he could see. Nothing that should pose any real threat to them.

  “It’s safe. Though I saw a storm coming. It’ll reach us tonight, I expect. If it gets rough, the elementals will help protect the ship,” Erik said as he opened his eyes and sent the water elementals back to thick metal chains at the front of the ship.

  “Thank you, milord. It’s a pleasure to have you onboard with us. Smoothest voyage I’ve ever had, thanks to you,” said the captain shortly before he began barking orders.

  Erik nodded absently, his mind still upon the elementals. With a thought and a pulse of magic, he altered his mental order and allowed the creatures a chance to move around free of the chains at the front within a limited space near the ship.

  They could take up their chains and pull the ship along tomorrow… there was no harm in loosening their leash just a little. It might even help them protect the ship should that be needed.

  We only do what’s necessary, Erik thought. As though trying to convince someone.

  He took a last longing look at the setting sun and went below deck, leaving the sailors to prepare for the storm and ensure no light was visible outside the ship.

  Sailors stepped aside for him as he made his way to Connor’s cell. Erik sent out a pulse of magic that unlocked the door to the room and he stepped inside, closing it with another pulse.

  Connor lay in his hammock, his sheets pulled high over him. Magic orbs lay upon the table, untouched and glowing with their soft blue light.

  Erik sighed. It seemed Connor was still not out of whatever mood had taken hold of him in the last few days.

  It seemed so unlike the man he’d spoken with before or of what he’d heard of him.

  “I see you’re still sulking,” Erik said.

  There was no response from the bundle on the hammock.

  “You hardly have any right to complain,” Erik said.

  The bundle stirred. “Don’t I?” Connor asked.

  “You’re being treated well enough,” Erik said.

  “You can decorate a prison as much as you like, but it’s still a prison,” Connor said, “you’ve taken everything from me, Erik. Please tell me you don’t expect gratitude.”

  “In time you may well find yourself grateful. I assure you that I do only what has to be done,” Erik said.

  Laughter came from the bundle upon the hammock. Erik bristled with irritation, a feeling further reinforced by speaking to cloth rather than face to face.

  “You’re a learned man,” Connor said, “what good has ever come from enslaving others? Can you point to a time in history when people were enslaved and wars begun and say that it was a time of good triumphing over evil?”

  “There’s no comparison,” Erik said, “we’re nothing like any who’ve come before. It may not be pleasant, but we do what we must. I’ve told you this again and again.”

  “Are these your words? Your beliefs? Or the beliefs another has given to you?” Connor asked.

  “They’re mine!” Erik snapped, “And soon you’ll understand. Then, you’ll share them. Don’t preach to me as though you stand on some moral high ground. I know some of what you’ve done, Connor. You know better than to pretend the world is black and white. Sometimes, horrific things need to be done because there’s no better way.”

  “I’ve never pretended that my hands are clean,” Connor said, “but I’ve spent my life fighting to free people from slavery. To stop wars. To prevent suffering, injustice, death, and worse. I’ve made hard choices. But at least I can honestly say I did everything I could to help people. To facilitate peace and to make that peace worth living.

  “I’ve seen what lies beneath Zauberer, Erik. The Syndicate isn’t trying to stop a war. You’re trying to start one. And one of horrific scale at that. Did they tell you it’s going to be a righteous war? A just war? Do you think the people you ripped from their families and homes to work as your slaves feel that it’s just?

  “And you, Erik? Will you still feel that you’ve done the right thing when you walk the blood-soaked streets of a burning city amid the terrified screams of people who never did anything to you? Will you stand there then, and say to me that all you’ve done has been in the name of good? What good could possibly be worth such a price, Erik?

  “My hands might not be the cleanest. But, yes, Erik. Of the two of us, I do have the moral high ground. If not because of the mountain my actions have built beneath me, then definitely because of the chasm your own have created beneath you.”

  Erik clenched his fists as rage burned through him and his magic roiled within.

  “You’ll understand soon, Connor. Maybe better than anyone. I suggest you not speak more of this until you know the truth. You speak from a position of ignorance. Soon, you will be enlightened, and you’ll feel regret over every word,” Erik said, “sulk if you must. You’ll see. Then, you and I… we’ll do this together.”

  Connor said nothing and it took Erik an enormous force of will to keep from striking the metal bars in anger. He turned away, almost ripping the door off the hinges with his magic as he stormed out.

  They should’ve let me tell him. If he knew, he would see that we’re doing the right thing. We’re doing what has to be done. We’re the only ones who can, Erik thought.

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