I woke to warmth.
Sunlight on my face, Salt air in my nose. The sway of the ship beneath me. The sharp ache in my skull, now gone.
The world was quiet.
I lay where I had fallen. Blood dried on the deck beneath me. My body still, but whole. My eyes opened slowly.
A blanket was draped over me. Rough wool. Smelled like brine and old wood.
Yumi sat nearby. A chair pulled close. Knife gripped tight in trembling fingers. Her eyes didn't blink. Her lips moved without sound until she finally spoke.
"I saw it..." she whispered.
Her voice cracked. But it wasn't fear. It was awe.
"You… you died. I saw it. The blade went through your skull. Your eyes rolled back. You didn't move. I thought you were gone. You were gone!"
I rose slowly, bare chest heaving with breath. Her voice trembled as she continued.
"But then… light. Like the sun rising from inside you. It poured from your skin. It burned into my eyes. When I blinked—"
She paused, swallowed hard.
"You were whole. Alive. Like I'd only dreamed it."
I said nothing.
Her awe annoyed me.
I hated awe.
So I lunged.
In a blur, I was on her.
One hand wrapped around her throat, the other lifting her into the air like a rag doll.
She held the knife tight. Pressed it against my ribs.
She didn't scream.
She didn't drop the blade.
She glared at me, jaw clenched.
I grinned.
"You hold tight," I said.
She coughed. "I'll either leave this ship as a corpse… or as your apprentice."
My smile widened.
"You think you're worthy?" I asked, letting her dangle.
"I killed you," she hissed. "The man who killed the sea-god."
"Didn't kill me," I said. "You paused me. Slowed me down."
Still, I liked the fight in her.
I dropped her. She hit the deck, coughed, wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve, and stared up defiantly.
"Have you ever really killed?" I asked.
She didn't answer right away.
I leaned down, face close. My voice was a whisper.
"Have you watched the life leave a thing's eyes? Felt its breath rattle one last time? Killed it… forever?"
She looked away.
"No," she said softly. "I've seen death. Every kind. I've smelled it. Lived beside it. But I've never... done it."
I cupped her face in one blood-stained hand, her skin cold from the sea air.
"Then it's time."
I turned my head.
"Take a life," I said, nodding toward the hallway, "or I'll take yours."
She didn't ask who.
She already knew.
Riku had been watching from the shadowed doorway of the captain's quarters.
He froze when our eyes met.
Then bolted.
Yumi stood.
No hesitation.
Knife in hand, blood still drying on her wrist, she chased after him.
The chase was clumsy. Loud. Bloody.
Beautiful.
She found him hiding in the kitchen. Crouched behind a crate, knife trembling in one hand.
"Stay back!" he shrieked. "Yumi… please… don't!"
But she said nothing.
Didn't slow.
Her steps were quiet, deliberate.
Predatory.
He slashed wildly when she came close.
Cut her arm.
She didn't flinch.
Didn't stop.
She lunged.
They tumbled together, wild and ragged, scratching and biting like feral cats. The small room rang with metal on wood, with gasps and shrieks and the sound of flesh tearing.
Riku screamed as he fled through the galley. He crashed into tables and barrels. Yumi was silent behind him. Bleeding. Breathing heavy. One eye red with blood from a gash down her cheek.
Riku shoved her off, blood gushing from his side.
He ran again, sobbing.
The door to the deck flew open.
The morning light glared off the wet wood.
I stood at the helm, watching.
Yumi followed, limping. Streaked in blood. Her dress torn, face split, hair wild.
Riku backed toward the rail.
"No more!" he cried. "Please, Yumi! I don't want to die!"
His knife slipped from his hand and clattered across the deck.
She stopped.
Dropped her own blade.
Then lunged.
She tackled him. Pinned him. Straddled his chest.
Her hands wrapped around his throat.
Riku screamed. His legs kicked. He scratched at her arms. She didn't blink.
She didn't look away.
She just squeezed.
Harder.
And harder.
I watched from the helm.
She didn't scream.
She didn't cry.
She choked the life from him. Inch by inch.
Until his limbs slowed.
Until his eyes rolled.
Until he was still.
Until he was dead.
She stayed on top of him long after his heart stopped.
Her hands eventually released.
She staggered back, her own breathing ragged and wet.
She collapsed beside the body.
Eyes wide.
Chest heaving.
I walked over slowly.
Crouched beside her.
She looked up at me. Tears mingled with blood on her face.
"I killed him," she said. "I did what you asked."
I stared at her.
Cold.
Expressionless.
Then I said:
"It's only a kill if you survive."
Her breath caught.
She looked at the blood on her hands, her body. The hole in her gut.
She blinked.
Then the world started to tilt.
Her vision blurred.
Her wounds throbbed.
And she slumped sideways, unconscious.
I stood.
Laughed softly.
Then turned and walked back to the helm.
The wind caught the sails.
And the ship carried us ever eastward…
Toward the land of gods.
Towards my next kill.
Toward the immortals.