Page 47 of The Divine Lies We Weave

Shut up.

What if I told you I could help Leela?

Rajesh steadied himself against the table. What do you suggest?

I’ll help you train Leela to never let the Viperess control her. That way, she’s stuck in Leela’s mind forever. I see it as a win-win situation here. Me alive in your mind. Us working together to control her. You’d be able to be near your dearest love. Who else is strong enough to really help her? Your crew?

Rajesh hadn’t given a thought on who would train her. He’d stormed off without giving a second glance. He could help Leela. Admittedly, he was the strongest of the Vessels in the guild. His mental capabilities and the way he held the Scorpion back with generational knowledge were just some of the reasons.

It seemed like the proper solution. No one else came to mind when he ran through the list of people he knew. None were capable of holding back a Flame like the Viperess.

Fi—

Before Rajesh could even take a breath, the ship lurched and groaned, and shouts were emitted from the deck. He stumbled forward, smashing into the table. Steadying his footing, he burst out of the captain’s quarters.

He froze, his hand tightening on the doorknob. Giant yellow eyes bore down on the crew. Emerald scales glinted in the moonslight as Rajesh traced the mammoth, its elongated neck down to the long tail which ended in another head.

A two-headed angstent.

The monster reared its two heads back. Multiple curved horns cut at the skies as the snake-like creature sank into the desert sands.

“MOVE!” Rajesh called. “FLY US OUT OF THIS NAVYA! EVERYONE ELSE, WEAPONS! VESSELS!”

The crew didn’t need to be told twice. Those hunkering downstairs sprang up onto the deck or ran to the cannons underneath. Vessels prepared their Flames, and the deck was suddenly filled with an assortment of Bulls, Bats, and Hawks. Multiple shadows emerged and zipped forward, merging into a bigger, materialized versions of a Flame. Bulls rose to their two hind legs, hooves turning into sharpened claws. Bats stretched their wings and took flight alongside the Hawks, which were as big as the mast howling in the wind.

Rajesh’s gut sank, deeper and deeper. He didn’t have time to be sorry for himself. He had to move. Had to ensure his crew could kill the angstent before the two-headed monster swallowed them, or worse, threw its body over the ship and left them stranded thousands of miles from their home base.

He stood still, centering his gravity to the deck and shutting his eyes. He let his shoulders relax and his mind level, despite the raging emotions inside him. The Scorpion’s shadow slunk through his body, starting from his spine, hitting each vertebra with a spike of heat, and then dripped down into the base of his tailbone.

When he opened his eyes, a purple scorpion stood beside him, and his animal shadow had disappeared. Pinchers hit the cold skies, its pedipalp as big as several Rajeshs. The Scorpion’s beady eyes stared ahead, locking on to the angstent bursting from the sands as it raced through the red desert and sprinted forward like an impenetrable wave.

“Do what you must,” Rajesh ordered.

The Scorpion with all six legs jumped from the deck and landed on the sand, scampering toward the angstent.

Rajesh ran to Navya. Her Peacock stood like a graceful dancer beside her, ruffling its feathers with the hundreds of eyes. With the Peacock, the ship flew as if the wind were its prey.

“I’m sorry,” Navya said, focusing on the angstent. “I swear I knew it was coming. I… I was distracted.”

“Don’t worry about the past when we can’t change it,” Rajesh assured. “What matters is getting out of this without losing our own. Keep us steady!”

Navya nodded. “Rajesh…?”

“Yes?” He met her gaze, the familiar emerald eyes entrancing him as they had for many years. Only ever intriguing, never anything more.

“Stay safe,” she said.

Rajesh nodded. He couldn’t say whatever she wanted him to say. Besides, he had an angstent to destroy. A crew to protect.

He grabbed a godsblade from the weapon rack against the shrouds and prepared to fight. Hema stood to his left, her Silvery Fox poised and its tail swaying. Vedant’s Bull stood on his right.

“Ready?” Rajesh called.

His crew nodded.

Tanmay continued to drive them over the dunes. A chorus of schwiiing echoed as the crew unsheathed their weapons and the Flames took flight or fought beside their Vessels. It wasn’t like this was their first angstent to kill, but the last time they fought one, he’d lost half his crew and his ship’s mast broke. The serpent-like monster would use the sands to hide and hit from the higher points—it wasn’t an easy opponent at all.

Breathe… Focus…