In the harbor, at berth, was the Lady of Liseu. The very same ship whose captain, Torrez, had plucked Nelys from their home to sate their wanderlust. Who had taken in Seyari and given her purpose, and who had been the first person other than my wife and Nelys to truly accept me as a demon.

  Though it was only for a few days, every moment of my time on the Lady was a treasured memory. Including my conflict with the Elnie, the elf on board. Even the fight where Aarsh, Seyari’s then-rival-slash-friend of sorts died and I met Mereneth had a sort of rosy tint. I killed my first humans on that deck right there. Learned Cavenish in a small cabin. Made the choices that would put me into contact with Lillith and set me on the path I currently walked.

  Of course I probably should have considered what I looked like landing. Human form or no, it wouldn’t be interpreted as the friendly gesture it was. Rather it could be considered an attack.

  When I landed, Nelys stumbling to stand next to me, I found a familiar hand cannon pointed at me, the barrel squarely aimed at my center of mass. And that wasn’t all. Several figures, including one pointy-eared one that I recognized, all had weapons pointed my way. Not all of them were on the ship either. Figures that looking human wouldn’t excuse flying in on wings of fire.

  Slowly, I raised my hands in a gesture of surrender.

  The man behind the hand cannon, a mountain of a human who was nearly as tall as I was, eyed me from behind a long, bushy beard.

  “Well I’ll be damned!” Captain Torrez boomed in Turquoiser. “Looks like someone picked up a few new tricks.” He looked down at Nelys and grinned. “Or someones! Good ta see ya! ‘Cept I’d like it if ya didn’t draw the whole damn city’s eyes this way.”

  He gestured, and the weapons lowered. “Get aboard now, ‘fore I need ta explain the big flying lady to the fine folks of the Liseu city guard.”

  Nelys and I nodded, then followed the captain aboard. The Lady of Liseu was just like I remembered it, in a way that suddenly made everything vivid. Blood on the deck, nights learning both Cavenish and Turquoiser—mostly the latter—in a hammock-swaying, too-small cabin… Positive and negative the memories rushed back, and with them a flash of discomfort.

  Of unsurety in myself, my future. I still had both in spades, but they weren’t the same sorts of concerns. In a way, the future was more worrying for all I knew, but I felt like I could manage with the friends I’d made and the truths I’d learned.

  As for myself? Well, I was walking aboard in human guise, but I wasn’t worried about it slipping. Instead, I listened to the whispered snippets from the nearby crew, mostly old telling new who—and what—I was.

  “So,” Captain Torrez started once we’d entered his quarters, “you’re back, with no Seyari. I’ll get straight to the point—if ya need me to take ya somewhere, I won’t do it. World’s gettin’ dangerous of late, and I won’t be throwin’ my crew to the sharks.” He didn’t sit, just leaned against his desk.

  So I stayed standing, along with Nelys. I inclined my head to defer to them, and they took the lead.

  “We’re here for directions—a map if you have one. I’m going home.”

  Both of Captain Torrez’s eyebrows shot straight up, and his put-on frown slackened somewhere in his bushy, dark tangle of a beard. “Home, ya say? Never thought I’d…” He heaved a sigh. “That I can do.”

  He finally gestured for us to sit, and we did so, watching as he rifled through the cabinets along the walls. It didn’t take long before he found what he was looking for: what I assumed to be a rolled-up map, and a small, engraved abalone shell with pearls affixed to the holes.

  “This chart’s the best I’ve got,” he said, handing the shell to Nelys. “And you know what this is.”

  Nelys took the shell reverently, with shaking hands. “How…”

  Torrez laughed, the sound booming around the office, and sat down to unfurl the parchment map before us. “Ya didn’t think yer folk’d trade with just any old merchant of the seas?”

  Nelys held the shell to their chest, the first tears rolling down their cheeks. “They… did my parents…?”

  “Aye. Ocean’s a big place, but it’s easy to be isolated in.” Torrez took a quill and carefully filled it with ink.

  “So they knew.” Nelys’s voice was a whisper as tension left their shoulders, only to ramp up again. “But I’ve been gone for so long!”

  Torrez laughed again, holding the quill safely above the map. I snuck a look—it was hand drawn, a scattering of islands in a literal ocean, which itself was filled with markings and warnings. The edges were faded and yellowed.

  “You’ve been gone for a few years at best!” Torrez boomed. “Took me longer ‘n that to figure out that bein’ straight-laced wasn’t for me. And I’d say that’s pretty damn obvious, ain’t it?”

  Nelys smiled a little, and I took the chance to lean over and put an arm around them.

  Torrez continued, more quietly this time, “So don’t worry about a bad welcome home. Just make sure your flyin’ friend knows you’ll need to show that crest.”

  “Don’t you need it?” Nelys asked.

  Torrez shook his head, a bit of melancholy seeping into his voice as he replied, “Not soon, anyway. Not with the war how it is. All the jobs’re ‘smuggle this here, get this aid here.’ Not to mention there’s more demonic… stuff goin’ on lately. Summonings, illegal bindings here in Liseu, attacks here and all over Ordia. Can’t risk my crew on such a long trip.

  “But if ya do get up there, and if ya get the chance, let me know how they’re doin’. I’ll get ya a place ya can send a letter to that I’ll see.”

  Nelys nodded. “Okay! Um, Renna, could you do that? Letters are hard from home.”

  I smiled. “I can work something out. Probably won’t have time to stop by, but even if I don’t I’ll send a letter.”

  “Good. Now just give me a minute here to get this marked up—don’t worry, this chart’s all wrong anyway. For the sailing stuff, that is. Since you’re flyin’, it won’t matter and I won’t need it back.”

  Together, Nelys and I watched him work. Outside, I could pick up a commotion back on the dock—guards probably. But the crew looked like they were keeping a handle on it. More importantly, I spied a certain small island along one edge of the map.

  Korzon Island. My island.

  It looked out of the way and isolated, even on the parchment, but it was closer to Nelys’s home than I’d expected. More importantly, I could use this map to get there again, especially with Port Princely down in the corner for reference.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  I wanted, selfishly perhaps, to know more about my predecessor. To see if there were any secrets that could be of help. And also more than a little just to visit, as the person I am now, the place where I’d spent two years in isolation.

  Torrez finished with a final, sweeping arrow, and he handed me the map. “Follow the coast up north, then there’s an island chain ya should be able to see goin’ northwest. The last one’s here.” He pointed to port Princely. “Biggest city in the region—only city in the region if ya can only breathe air. Then just follow these arrows, lookin’ for these islands. Shapes might not be quite right—but look for the bays and sea stacks. Those’ll be right.

  “Up here, this island, that’s the reef. If ya land on the island, someone’ll find ya. Just be sure ya show ‘em the crest. They might not recognize ya at first look, Nelys.”

  “Do I need to have a human guise?”

  Torrez looked up from the map to me. “I would, yeah. There’s a good chance none of this has reached ‘em, but if it has, then the last thing you’ll want to be’s an unknown demon.”

  I nodded. “Understood. Oh, do you mind if I give us some privacy?”

  Torrez waved his hand dismissively. “No need.”

  I shrugged, but I wasn’t about to second guess a captain on his ship, especially when I wasn’t exactly divulging earth-shattering revelations. “These demon attacks, Envy and Avarice are behind them. I think Envy’s the one who orchestrated the war in Navanaea.”

  “Envy and…” He furrowed his brow. “Demons strong enough to take those names, aye?”

  I nodded. “Something like that. If you want, I can—”

  “Don’t.” Captain Torrez waved. “I’ve got a good idea, I think. Demons above demons and all the legends like that. All I need to know is if I can stay clear.”

  “I don’t think you’ll be a target,” I answered honestly, after some thought.

  “Good enough for me.” Captain Torrez whistled. “And damn, that explains it. I won’t ask how ya know all this, but I trust ya. We’ll keep up the careful watch then. Oh, d’ya think they’ll go after the Coast on the whole?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. Probably at some point? Maybe they already are?”

  Torrez laughed. “Ya know, I wouldn’t be surprised if this damn city were run by demons already. Ya got a point. Anyway, you’d best head out now, make the most of the daylight while ya can.”

  I nodded. “Nelys?”

  They looked up at me, still clutching the crest. “I’m ready.”

  “Good.” I stood up. “Thank you, Captain.”

  He took my hand and shook it, firmly for a mortal. “Good luck to the both of ya. And don’t forget that letter. I wrote where ya can send it on the back.”

  “I won’t. But I can’t promise how soon.”

  With that, the two of us made to leave Captain Torrez’s quarters.

  “Oh, don’t take off from the deck. My crew should’ve paid off the guards already—I won’t make ya pay us back—but don’t give ‘em a reason to come sniffin’ around again. Get some distance before ya go.”

  “We will,” I replied, chuckling.

  “Thanks, Captain,” Nelys said as we left, holding a fine salute.

  Torrez responded with a wide, toothy smile as the door closed. Before we’d made it past the first mast, a dimly familiar voice called out to me.

  “Demon.”

  It wasn’t an accusation, more of an address in place of a name.

  “My name’s Zarenna.” I turned to look at the speaker.

  The speaker had pointed ears and a familiar willowy figure. Elnie, the elf whose anger I’d broken, then fixed, and who definitely absolutely hated my guts. She was smaller than I remembered.

  “I have a task for you since you can fly,” she said with one blonde eyebrow arched. “A missive for you to deliver to the royal palace in Thiliel, Aloria.”

  I blinked. “Uh, I’m in a hurry—a big hurry. I can’t—not now, and probably not any time soon.”

  “What?”

  “No. I need to get home before it’s attacked again—I can’t just fly to Aloria. And didn’t you hate my guts? Why would you ask me?”

  Her brow furrowed. “This concerns the succession war. It could bring a measure of stability to the entire region. And I’m asking you only because you can fly, demon.”

  “If it’s that important, why haven’t you found another way to deliver it?” I looked at what she was holding. “And why does it look hastily scrawled?”

  Elnie rolled her eyes. “Because you can’t just send a message from human lands to elven royalty. But you’re strong enough to get there, and I know you have a hero complex.”

  I blinked again and crossed my arms, wishing I had a tail to lash at the moment. “I had a hero complex.”

  She pointed at Nelys and smirked. “What are you doing right now, then?”

  “Fulfilling an overdue promise for a dear friend.” I pulled Nelys into a side hug, and they blinked up at me in surprise. “Which you are not.”

  Elnie took a step closer, leaning in to whisper. “Listen, demon. My idiot brother is going to take the throne after our six older siblings managed to let themselves die. I left Aloria to not be a liability, but unless I make a declaration and return, then he’s going to—”

  I shook my head to cut her off. “I can’t, Elnie. Not soon anyway. You’ll need to find a ship. The Turquoise Coast has to have connections with Aloria, and you know Captain Torrez knows people.”

  “You think I haven’t tried?” she hissed. “None are going right now! It’s this moronic war over useless sand!”

  I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath, trying to focus on the promises I’d made and needed to keep rather than add another one to the pile. Elnie, the… unpleasant elf on Captain Torrez’s ship was apparently a literal runaway princess, and by ignoring her request I could endanger the succession of the elves.

  Or by granting it, I could put her on the throne. Actually…

  “Do you want to become queen or something?” I asked.

  “Fuck no!” She swore some more in what was probably Elven. “But if my idiot brother is going to be a puppet for those stuck up, overconfident, fuckhead imperialist advisors, then I’d rather go there, kill them all myself, and keep us from bashing ourselves against the damn Ordians.”

  “Wait.” A cold shiver ran down my spine. “Imperialist, bashing against the Ordians?”

  Elnie rolled her eyes and jabbed a finger up into my chest. “Yes. They think the humans’ infighting is a good time to conquer them, but they’re stuck two hundred years in the past and don’t understand how fast the mice multiply. Or the strength of the actual angels on their side.

  “It would be an awful, brutal war, as you can doubtless imagine. And you can prevent it, by delivering this missive.” She shoved it at me.

  Even though my head was swimming, I managed to keep from grabbing the hastily written letter, instead letting it fall to the deck below. We both stared at it, and I had a horrible, creeping realization.

  “Elnie, how long ago did all your siblings kill each other?”

  “I don’t know.” She sneered. “News barely makes it out to the short-lives. But I’d say a year, hence that missive!” She pointed at the ground.

  I don’t have fucking time for this! And now she’s got me fucking swearing like a sailor again, too!

  But a year ago or less. No way, that was too much of a coincidence. If Envy had already kickstarted the war in Navanaea, and they were putting more work into Ordia now… then they could have been targeting Aloria in the gap. Or it could be what Avarice was up to. Shit.

  And Elnie didn’t know enough to give me concrete details. If Aloria invaded through the eastern forests while Ordia and Edath fought a rekindled civil war… it would be disastrous. But I also was not about to abandon Astrye for a piece of paper and the word of an old.. enemy? Friend? Frenemy?

  “Elnie, I’m sorry, I really am, but I can’t take the time to do this, especially if there’s no guarantee. And I don’t care if they’ll recognize handwriting or a magical seal. And I know the point of me delivering it is to show you’ve got a powerful backer.”

  The elf in front of me winced.

  “But I can’t deliver this.”

  “Then fuck you!” She stomped a foot on the missive sitting on the deck. “You’re gonna have a lot of deaths of those humans you like so much on your hands!”

  It took a second to reign in the flash of white-hot fury her comment sparked, but it gave me an idea. I leaned down and forward, unable to stop a toothy grin spreading across my face. “What if you had the power to go there and take the throne?”

  She could be lying about all of this, but her anger is different than I remember. Raw and personal.

  She pulled back from me and threw me a quizzical look. “Then I’d do it of course. Why?”

  “One moment.” I walked back inside of Torrez’s quarters after a quick knock. “Is Elnie—”

  “Yes,” he answered. “You two were right outside my door, ya know. And yes, she’s Alorian royalty and you should have seen how she acted for the first few years. A right damn princess.”

  “I heard that!” Elnie hissed from behind me.

  “Ah, you’re one o’ the crew now!” Torrez fired back.

  I felt stuck in the middle, and shot a glance at Nelys who was rubbernecking with an increasingly frustrated look on their face, still tucked under one of my arms.

  I closed the door and turned to Elnie. “Fine, so you’re really an Alorian princess. And you want to take the throne and not invade Ordia, or anywhere, correct?”

  “I make no promises if Navanaea falls and there’s land for the taking.”

  “I… fine, I suppose.”

  Aretan had Lilly’s protection, and if Envy were taken out, there was a probable chance to get rid of the instigators and let the two sides come to peace in Navanaea.

  With that, I lifted my chin and put on a more imperious voice, heedless of the crowd of crew watching us. “Would you like to make a contract, Elnie?”

  2 years of real time later? Thankfully, it's not anything too major, but it's definitely a sign of how scope and pacing creep as time moves along. I've been working to reel things back in and keep things moving plot point to plot point. It's one reason (of many) for the (unfortunately consistent these days) delays.

  discord is open to all!