It took some doing to recover in those first few hours. Elowen guided the Manaship through the Dark Passage, keeping clear of the mountainous floating islands and skimming the banks of clouds that filled the silvery blue expanse around them. His people got to work, patching up holes in the deck, cut lines, and even sails with ancient replacements that were—surprisingly—stored away in the hold.

The foremast was harder to fix. Apparently the ancient Nym hadn’t planned on getting crucial structures dissolved into dust, so there weren’t any spare masts hidden away. Fortunately for them, they had more than enough Skills to bridge the gap. It took some clever shaping and the structural advice of Beef and his father Wendell, but they were able to make a fair approximation of ancient Nymean craftsmanship. At least, Felix thought so. Beef was a lot more critical, much to his dad’s delight.

“No no, it’s not flexible enough. I’m tearing it down!”

Beef grabbed the chitin pole, but Felix stopped him. “We need speed right now, Beef. Not having this mast is extending our travel time.”

“But if it’s not flexible enough it could break again!”

“It’s solid enough,” Wendell assured him, patting his son on the shoulder. “You’ve done an excellent job.”

Beef grumbled, but he quickly added on the yards and various bits before the crew climbed up and installed the spare sails. There was a fiddly bit where they had to patch the internal workings into the ship’s complicated sigaldry, but with a combination of skilled Inscriptionists and the ship itself, things just sort of connected. Felix didn’t really understand it—none of them did—but Elowen wasn’t surprised.

“Nymean technology doesn’t make sense. It keeps doing things we don’t have rules for.” She adjusted the wheel and the sails billowed as Mana gathered behind them. “All I can say is that it’s working.”

“That’s good at least.” Perhaps they were not at the top speed of the Sunaran craft at its height, but they moved along at a steady clip. “Stay away from the islands and the clouds.”

“Why?”

“Voidbeasts.” Felix scanned the silver-blue sky. “Or worse.”

For a few hours, his people had some peace. The anomalies were left far behind, and though the liminal space around them was a bit frazzled at the edges, the sky wasn't attacking them. Felix counted that as a win.

"So your Skill allows you to access this place?" Ondine asked. She’d found Felix after those first few hours had passed. Much of the time she had spent calming down her protectors—the Sylphaen, Korvaa, and Chimeras were all concerned for their princess. They had gone to war to protect her, after all.

"Yeah. Void Nexus.”

“But this isn’t the Void.” She tilted her head, her big eyes and sharp features vaguely birdlike. “Curious.”

“Every liminal space is Void related. Like Domains. They poke into the Void but they’re separate. So I can access this place because of my Skill, but I only have the Skill because of my Authority.”

“A result of becoming emperor?”

“No, just a Territorial Lord. And this,” he said, patting the hooked blade at his waist.

“The Inheritor’s Will. I’ve heard many legends of it from your people.”

Felix blinked. “Really?”

“A blade that can slice through mountains and change the course of rivers. A weapon used to cut down entire armies, and the sword that slayed the Hierophant.” Ondine smiled, pleased at his look of surprise. “Your people speak of you often.”

“I don’t think I ever moved a river…”

“And I’m sure most legends never did the things the stories claim. My own people tell the wildest tales about me and I’ve had less than a quarter of your adventures. But they mean well, as do your Legionnaires.” She gestured to his hip. “So, your sword…?”

“Oh, right. It’s a sort of…Authority booster, if you can match the prerequisites. It’s allowed me to get in more trouble than I have a right to, which includes these Dark Passages. Void Nexus lets me enter, and it stabilizes things. Without it, this would be way more dangerous.”

“So anyone can enter a Dark Passage?”

“If you know the way. Zara does, for instance.” Felix grimaced. “She’s braver than I am.”

"Why is that?"

"Usually folks that enter a Dark Passage get eaten by the first voidbeast they run across," Evie said as she passed by. She gave a lazy salute to Felix. "The giants have finished patching up the holes down below. We should be good when the beasts come for us."

"Great news. Get some rest. We’ll be leaping out of this Passage soon enough, and that’ll be the end of our calm ride.”

“Good. This quiet is puttin’ me on edge.”

Evie stalked away, presumably to take a nap. Felix had no doubt he’d find her sparring with someone later.

Ondine watched her leave. "Ms. Aren mentioned voidbeasts. I’ve seen many of those when I use Corporeal Breach; they usually try to flood out, like hungry piranhas. Why haven’t we been attacked by them yet?”

“Same answer as before. My Skill stabilizes the Dark Passage and strengthens the boundaries between the Void and this place. But with the moonfall, everything is screwed up. Look,” he pointed at the clouds in the distance. “See the jittery edges there? Where the clouds look like they’re jumping?”

“Yes,” she said slowly, following his gesture. “Unpleasant. It’s like my eyes are crossing just glancing at it.”

Felix dropped his hand. “Whatever the moon did when it hit affected the entire Territory, and this place is anchored to Amaranth. Until I can claim Authority here, I can’t do much more than this—outside of this place I can do even less.”

He recalled the heaving landscape out in the Continent, and judging by Ondine’s pale expression, so did she.

The princess cleared her throat. “So these passages are like natural corridors across the world?"

"More like the back alleys of the Continent. In the past, I’m told people used them often to travel, maybe transport goods, who knows. Eventually better options were invented. The Dark Passages are shortcuts, for sure, but they are annoyingly more complicated than that.”

“Quite useful, though."

"They have been. But like Evie said, they're dangerous." He looked out over the railing. "Void Nexus might stabilize things, but it doesn’t stop voidbeasts from stalking us. By this point, I should’ve sensed at least two or three of the larger varieties slowly trailing behind us, looking for an opening. But I haven’t even seen a Tenebril."

"That is good luck, no?" Ondine asked.

"It's good, but I've never really been particularly lucky.”

Ondine laughed. “And what of these other passages you mentioned, the safer ones?"

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"Did Pit mention how he got to Sunara originally?”

“He did. Something about shadows. The aftermath of our meeting was quite hectic, so forgive me.”

Felix grimaced. Hectic was an understatement. Soon after Ondine had met Pit, the gods had attacked Sunara and captured her. The woman before him still bore some bruises and markings across her wrists and neck and even around her mouth and jaw, where the muzzle had been fitted.

"He traveled there through the Shadowgates. They’re a network that essentially piggybacks on the same concept as the Dark Passages with extra protections."

"And why aren't we using that now?" She paused a moment before answering herself, "Because of the moon."

Felix tapped his nose. "The moon destroyed the Amaranth Shadowgate's working pair. There's a hub back in my capital, Elderthrone, kind of like a train station. The gates meet there, and I can travel through any of them provided both gates are operational. If one of them is destroyed, the whole thing is useless.”

“I see.”

She was quiet for a time, and Felix stood with her there, just to the side of the helm where he could watch the islands pass by. The floating rocks were forested much as they had been in the other Dark Passages he’d traveled recently, though he hadn’t expected it. He’d passed through Amaranth before—with Vess—and the Passages had been darker and far more chaotic. Full of voidbeasts, too.

The only thing different between then and now is my Authority. He drummed his fingers on the railing. I’ve got a claim over Amaranth, but it isn’t solidified, but maybe that’s extended my abilities with Void Nexus?

“Perhaps you would understand the why of this, Felix.”

“Hm?”

“My Skill, Corporeal Breach. It’s grown stronger.”

“It leveled up?"

"No, it didn’t. Yet the sense I have of it is far more potent. It feels…unruly. Is that due to the instability as well?”

Felix rubbed his jaw. “Could be. I really don’t know how the moon is affecting the world as it is, so affecting a Skill is just as likely as anything else.”

“That worries me,” she admitted. “The ability has always required a great deal of Mana, Will, and Intent to manage. But here it feels like I could whisper and the world would tear."

Felix frowned. "Maybe it’s not due to the instability then. We’re closer to the Void here than anywhere else on the Continent. If it was gonna be easy to rip a hole into the Void, it would be here.”

“I…suppose that is a comfort.”

“Just make sure you watch what you whisper.”

She smirked. “I will.”

Ondine excused herself, stepping gracefully down to the main deck, where she was immediately mobbed by her attendants. Even a few Dragoons had joined in, led by their Chimeric allies, and the princess engaged them all in wide smiles and calm discussion.

She was almost as good with people as Vess. That thought sobered him as much as it rekindled the sour flame that burned in his gut. Their fight and flight had been a distraction, and as the quiet resettled on him, so too did his anxiety.

They traveled on further, hours stretching out long and interminable as the skies never darkened or faded. A perpetual daylight, diffuse and a bit dreary. If it weren't for his excellent memory, losing track of time would have been all too easy. Instead, he worried about how long it was taking them. The Dark Passages should have sped up their travel, turning hours of travel into mere minutes on the Continent side—but with everything so unstable, Felix had no idea what to expect. And he couldn't help but worry.

Vess was out there. He was certain of it. There was no feeling or magic or evidence to suggest that she had made it into her Omen Path. Still, alongside that sour flame of anxiety was a gut deep certainty. The only other person who came close was Evie, and even she seemed to harbor some doubts. He could feel it in her, boiling across her Spirit in strains of frustration and irritability. She ordered the giants about with increasing particularity, her rest interrupted to spar anyone willing to face her. The other Unbound were a bit more unfazed. Felix wasn't quite sure if that was because they simply believed in his assurance, or if they just wanted to believe.

Ondine was a cool, even-keeled sort of person. Her questions about the Dark Passages hid a deeper anxiety, one that seemed only alleviated when she was interacting with her people. Then her anxiety faded into a cautious glee, a joy in others' company that seemed drawn from the depths of her soul. Despite the trouble she had about returning to Amaranth, it was clear that she was ready to face the place again.

Strong lady, Pit sent to him. He perched above the sails, wing’s tucked close as he stared out into the distance. No wonder they call her Princess, huh?

Felix smiled in answer. Ondine was impressive. All of the Unbound really were, in their own ways. Wendell, in addition to being Beef's father, was remarkable in his perseverance and his ability to plan and survive. Elowen was smart as hell, gifted with her magic, and eager to help. Archie, for all his brashness, was increasingly loyal and kind, though Felix would never accuse him of such things. Beef was a stalwart rock, ever loyal.

The Kobold twins were interesting. They too suffered from their imprisonment at the hands of the Hierophant. Their bruises and sores were less obvious than Ondine's, hidden beneath fur or bolstered by their scales, and their quiet competence masked a lot but it was there if you looked. Unlike with Beef, which had required Felix to remind himself often that he was still just a young teen, the Kobolds were slight and small. And no matter how gruff or casual they may act, they were so young. Barely seventeen, they were just kids, and their Spirits were shaken. They’d calmed down a while ago, but with each passing hour they drew closer to Amaranth and Kevin and Shadow's unease grew. Felix didn't blame them.

Still, they were just as capable as any of the other Unbound. Not only had he seen them in action against the Dustbringers, he’d been incredibly impressed with the quality of their Skills, their teamwork, and output of devastation. Most of all, they’d managed to gather a following in Jaast. Not the gathering itself—Felix was proof enough that you grow hangerson by accident so long as you were strong enough. He'd had people bowing and scraping down since the early days. The values of the people of the Continent were usually entirely hinged around respecting that strength.

What he found impressive, instead, was what the Kobolds had done with their following. They'd fought against bandits that had been enslaving folks to profit off of their suffering. The Kobolds organized and brought them down, forming a ragtag army that kept on protecting people. Even when the Adamant godslaves had shown up in their town, they fought tooth and nail to push them back out.

Hallow said they fought really hard, Pit sent. There are a few of their followers in the hold. They snuck aboard when they thought we weren’t paying attention.

Felix chuckled. Did they get food?

Scylla made sure to set some out for them. It was gone last I checked.

Good.

Beef and Harn had listed out how many deaths had occurred during their assault in Jaast and the toll had been paid heaviest by the Kobolds’ army. They were weaker than Felix's Legionnaires, but their passion and ferocity knew no bounds.

For a pair of teens to have accomplished all that, Felix wasn't surprised that the Song of Arrival had ensnared them.

“My Lord! City spotted!” From the repaired crow’s nest, a pair of Legionnaires pointed into the distance where a trio of large, floating islands loomed out of the hazy clouds.

Pit chirruped. Oh yeah, that’s a big one.

Felix jumped across the deck, an easy effort of Will and Alacrity that landed him on the bowsprit. From there, he stared into the distance as the clouds cleared away.

“Whoa.”

Three massive islands sprawled out before them, all but blocking the way forward. They were legitimate landmasses too, replete with tall forests, overgrown meadows, and mountains that pierced the sky. Creatures loped among the trees, though Felix didn't identify them as voidbeasts at all, just simple animals: foxes, birds, even rabbits.

Dominating the islands, above the forests and mountains, were a network of massive fortresses. They bridged the landmasses with roads so delicate they looked likely to break apart at the first stiff breeze, while fluted towers and delicate traceries of stone were built up high, piled atop one another in a confusing but somehow elegant mess of structures.

Reminds me of Aja Nadir, Pit.

That was one of the only real cities he’d seen in the Dark Passage, and they’d found it nearby in Gharion.

“Do we keep flying?” Elowen shouted over the wind.

“...Yes.”

They had no reason to stop. Felix dearly wanted to disembark and look around. He’d found very interesting things in Aja Nadir—but Vess was waiting.

He wasn’t interested in wasting any more time.

As they passed over the nearest of the three islands, a couple of Claw members shouted in surprise. On the backside of the mountain, chunks of the islands had been torn apart. Vast pieces were cut away, smoother than any knife, as if someone had taken a red-hot melon baller to the stone and scooped out huge, city-block-sized spherical chunks.

Evie spat over the edge. "Noctis’ tits. What is that?”

Felix knew of only one thing in the Void that could cut through stone, tree, dirt, and root so cleanly. "That, Evie, is the result of Desolation."

He raised his voice. “Full speed. Now.”