The Last Shade: The Finality of Death

Chapter 6

Three men stood on the deck of a small flying ship that had clearly seen better days. One fat, one short and one thin, they were dressed unkemptly with unshaven beards, looking rather worse for wear.

"Nothing for miles!" Fat grouched, giving Thin the evil eye. "If that ridiculous legend of yours turns out to be fake, you're going overboard."

"It's 100% genuine, hmph! We have already come so far, and you still have no faith!"

"That's because there's nothing for miles, you fool!" Fat lashed out, frowning as the exertion further taxed his empty stomach.

"We're almost there, I'm telling you."

Short adjusted the telescope pressed to his right eye.

"Oh, you're right."

"What?" Thin and Fat chorused in unison.

Short pointed towards a tiny speck in the distance.

"There it is- Nephilim, if that legend is accurate."

"Where?" Fat snatched the telescope from his hands, peering through it. "I hope it isn't any old island, or someone's going overboard."

Thin just snorted, and then the sky pirates fell silent once again, anticipation weighing at the three of them.

———————

The pirates landed, Thin skilfully weighing anchor and securing the ship in place. Short was hopping from one piece of floating island to another, and his gruff appearance coupled with his childish behavior gave a rather serious blow to the eyes.

"It's Nephilim, all right, you can tell by the chill. Watch your step!"

Thin pulled his tattered cloak closer to his body, looking around with hungry eyes.

"To think it actually exists, but it's in such bad shape, not one building is intact."

"Hehe, it doesn't matter, any one brick can bring us a fortune," Fat chuckled, his eyes already shining with greed.

The three picked their way carefully through rubble, Fat almost falling to his death at one point. Patting his chest as he clutched Thin's hand in a fearful grip, Short shouted at them from ahead.

"Hey look, an ice wall!"

"How can there be ice still after all this time?" Thin called back, but he still hastened towards Short, Fat struggling to keep up.

"Holy..." someone breathed.

Surrounded by a thicket of very tall and sharp icicles, Thin and Short could barely see through the gaps, a teenager lying in a foetal position, his silver hair splayed out beneath his head. His clothes were dull coloured and simple, and there was a silver necklace round his neck. However, all that paled in comparison to the crown that seemed to be floating above his head.

"Someone who came before us?" Fat broke the silence, looking around nervously.

Thin shook his head. "That's impossible. I don't think he's dead...Scratch that, even if he was from that time, he would have become dust a long time ago!"

Short wielded an axe in his hand, smiling rather simple-mindedly.

"It's easy- we just need him to wake up!"

"Hey-" Thin started, but the first of the ice had been shattered by Short.

The sound was crystal clear and bright like bells, and before the three's astonished eyes, the teen slowly sat up, his head hanging down.

"Hello..."

Purple and green gradient eyes regarded Thin, who had spoken, coldly.

"What...What year is it?" He said in a low voice.

The three men exchanged glances.

"The Year 7046," Thin volunteered.

"Oh. So it's been that long." Kiel stood up, swaying a bit before clutching an icicle for balance.

Briefly holding a hand to his forehead, he looked at the sky pirates and snapped his fingers. Ice instantly encased the three men's feet, freezing them to the spot.

"Hey!" Fat shouted, but Kiel had already dismissed the icicles blocking his way and was some distance away.

"I want to take a look around, just stay there for a while," his voice drifted back to them.

"Hey hey," Short said excitedly, not caring that he had been frozen at all, "Do you think..."

Thin fumbled out a tattered book with shaking hands, forgetting the cold as he flipped towards a certain page, holding it up for his companions to see. On the yellow parchment, a human figure was inked, with a crown above their head.

"It wasn't a legend after all, but real...a Shade in the flesh!" He almost vibrated with excitement.

Fat's greasy face cracked in half with his wide grin.

"If we play our cards right...we'll be rich!"

———————

Kiel had no illusions about the moral quality of the sky pirates- if it were up to him, he would have booted them off the island to their deaths. For now, it was more beneficial to him that they live. Walking through what was once a relatively lavish hall in the main palace, where half the floor was gone and the pillars hung in mid-air - Kiel's chest churned with emotions that couldn't be seen on his face.

Outside, he could see a chunk of Malikayn listing to one side, the main palace's towers breaking apart and debris floating as though the whole island was in a state of suspended animation. That catastrophic day felt to him like yesterday- and so, closing his eyes and running his hand across the familiar walls, he easily recalled the Servants walking through them, his fellow Shades joking and making fun of each other, and his Lord summoning him through his necklace.

Gripping the hard rectangular pendant in his hand, Kiel's opened his eyes and turned back to where he had left the sky pirates.

———————

Seeing him coming from afar, the pirates wisely fell silent.

"Your Honor, you're back," Thin sketched a clumsy bow, his tongue momentarily stumbling over the unfamiliar address.

Kiel raised an eyebrow. "The world still remembers the existence of my kind?"

Thin laughed awkwardly.

"Not really, I just found out about the legend of Nephilim in an ancient text. The current world is...nothing like the past, no one remembers the two Rulers anymore."

Kiel crossed one arm across his chest, propping one hand under his chin thoughtfully.

"So no one remembers the two Flame and Frost kingdoms, Nephilim and Malikayn, the Servants of the Rulers and the original ten Shades? Xerxes, Annabella, Leon, have they all been lost to time?"

The three pirates looked rather uncomfortable at the questioning, an unfounded sense of guilt sprouting in their hearts. Their silence held everything Kiel needed to know.

"...That's right, Your Honor." Short eventually answered. "We didn't believe that legend either, till we arrived here..."

"I see."

Kiel gave them a long look.

"Bring me down to the human settlement in that dingy of yours...and I will be watching you three carefully."

"But-" Fat's lips slammed shut at Kiel's cold glare.

"I hope you understand that mere humans such as yourselves are no match for me."

The ice encasing the pirates in place vanished, and they were forced to walk in a single file in front of Kiel back to their ship, with various calculations in their hearts. Watching them, Kiel could only sigh at their folly.