The Reaper's Wicked Obsession
Chapter 273: Sail To The East

Chapter 273: Sail To The East

Rav pulled on the bowstring so tightly that the string snapped, but the arrow was released and pinned to the mark he had made on the tree.

He cast a sharp breath. His hand quivered from overuse, but he didn’t want to stop.

He tossed the bow with the rest of the many others he had ruined, then grabbed another.

However, before he could get into position, an arrow made of ice zapped past him and hit the mark.

Staggered, Rav turned and found Vanya snickering.

"You’ve ruined far too many bows, we’re already short on weapons," she signed.

"I’ll just make more bows. It’s not that hard," Rav replied.

She raised an eyebrow. "You mean Logi will make them. I’m not sure he will be too happy when he finds out you snapped them all because you were training. That is what this is, isn’t it?"

Rav scowled. "Yes, what else would it be?"

She sighed, stepping down the ridge to him. "Emotional turmoil?"

Rav’s teeth clenched. "It has nothing to do with emotions."

Vanya glanced over to the many bows he had ruined and then back at him. She was not persuaded at all, and she knew why he was so torn.

It was plastered on his face, and he did no better to disguise it.

"Is it that hard seeing them together?" she signed, willing to cut to the chase and not dwell in circles.

Reckoning how anxious he became, she’d hit the right spot. Too forward? She didn’t think so. She’d always preferred things to be clear before her eyes, it was easier to deal with.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"Kraven and Isadora."

He swallowed thickly. "None of that concerns me." He tugged the bowstring and got into position, but Vanya was suddenly in front of him.

Rav quickly lowered his aim. "What in seven gods’ name are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed!" he yelled.

Vanya didn’t convey her words to him; she simply grabbed his hand, and he stiffened at her actions. She stroked against the blisters and bruises that marked his fingers.

How many days had he been doing this?

Rav swallowed hard, trying to overlook the softness of her touch.

"You should stop," She signed with one hand. "Staying out here, alone, deep in thoughts? Not healthy."

"I’m fine."

"Are you?" she pressed. "I know you have feelings for Isadora, but it’s too late. She has a mate."

Rav quickly took his hand away from her hold. "I know that, and I don’t need a constant reminder." He sat on the boulder, more torn by the second as the disarray of countless emotions buried his gaze.

Vanya gazed at him with sad eyes before sitting beside him. There were a few minutes of silence before she grasped his attention by signing. "I don’t blame you, and I understand your feelings."

Rav huffed. "I’m sure you do."

"I’m being serious, we don’t get to choose who we love. And it’s hard to bury those feelings when we finally accept and understand them. So tell me, Rav, do you want to hold onto it, or let it go?"

"Am I a bad person if I said I want to hold on?" Rav said, hopeful.

He didn’t want to lose Isadora, not yet, not when he finally understood his feelings. He knew it was too late, but he didn’t care.

"I’d say you’re stupid."

Rav’s lashes flickered, not expecting that from her.

Vanya sneered. "Do the right thing."

"And what right thing is that?" He questioned.

"I won’t tell you what to do." She tapped on his bare chest, her hand lingering there far longer than she expected. "Follow your heart, but in doing so, don’t hurt the people you care about because of your selfish desires."

~♧~

Isadora supervised the port from the hill, a veil concealing her face, leaving only her eyes. Her golden blonde hair was hidden in her hood.

Suddenly, she rose to her feet and saw Nyssa. Without a word, Isadora walked past her, but she halted when Nyssa spoke up.

"Isadora." Nyssa gnawed the inside of her mouth. "Why did you bring me along for this mission?"

This has troubled her since they left the mountain. Why did Isadora choose her?

"Because we would need all the power we can get." She faced Nyssa. "I heard you’re a whisperer, a talent of your family to bend lies into truth, by simply reading the movements of a person, able to tell their emotions if they show too much and use those emotions against them."

Nyssa gulped at her words.

"I also heard you made an oath not to use it on the ruling council."

"Yes. What is this? Are you questioning my loyalty?"

"How could I?" Isadora amused. "You’re loyal after all, aren’t you?"

Nyssa tensed but didn’t say a word.

"Which is why I brought you along, because of that loyalty." Isadora turned on her heels and walked away.

Nyssa’s teeth clenched as she glowered at her. She was toying with her, but to what end?

Dismissing the questions in her head, she followed.

Isadora walked back to Kraven, observing the port. "How many?"

"I’ve lost count," Kraven said, eyes tracking down every single Riddari that plagued the place. The people couldn’t go about their sales in peace.

"We can’t get close without fighting," Ekko said. "We have to avoid that."

"Where do you think that ship is going?" Kraven nudged his head at a distant one.

"The South?" Ekko replied. "But we need it east if we want to venture deeper into pirates’ territory."

"Then I think we should be on that ship," Kraven said, and then in the wink of an eye, they all vanished, leaving behind a trail of dark weaves.

They reappeared on the deck, materializing out of thin air.

The sailors were alarmed by the sudden intruders in black attire, and the most ferocious one of them all was the one who had shadows leaking off him and taking over the entire place.

"Who’s the captain?" Kraven demanded. "Or shall I make my guess?"

The sailors turned to the captain, who stood close to the bulwark with a terrified expression.

"T-Take whatever you want. I-I cooperate."

"We’re not here to steal," Ekko said. "You just need to sail east, far deeper into it."

"B-But that’s p-pirates’ territory, we w-won’t make it!"

"You mentioned earlier you’d cooperate, didn’t you?" Kraven said with a dark look in his eyes. "I suggest you stick to your words, I’m not opposed to throwing you off-board and letting the sharks have their fill."

~♧~

Ekko sat on the bulwark, eyes on the horizon. His head was in deep thought, and even the sight wasn’t enough to ease him as he’d hoped.

Isadora ambled toward him, tucked her arms, and leaned against the wood. "You’ve had experience with the pirates?"

Ekko stiffened at her words, but he replied. "Once, before I joined the Raven Court, I roamed these waters for a long time."

"Why?"

"I left home," he replied. "That place was no longer my home."

"Did something happen?"

"I lost my sister."

Isadora’s eyes saddened. "What happened to her?"

"Something bad, something I couldn’t control or stop. I hated my family for it."

"They did something to her?"

Ekko didn’t say a word, just kept his attention on the view.

Isadora could feel his pain through his words. She knew nothing of Ekko, but for some reason, those little words he said made her chest feel tight.

Isadora turned, hands placed on the wood. "I lost my family. I hated them too."

With a heavy heart, Ekko asked. "Why?"

"My mamma never liked me, she hated the fact she gave birth to a mannfae, she said the gods cursed her with me," Isadora said as memories plagued her, but for some reason, she wanted to keep talking.

"I never knew my father, he died from an illness when my mamma was pregnant with me, hence why I was the curse in her life. I had two brothers, twins. The youngest hated me so much that he kept screaming at me, he told me how much he hated that I was his sister. And eldest..."

Ekko gulped when he noticed a smile on her lips.

"He was nice to me, the only person I could trust and lean on when I was young. But he was just a boy as I was a little girl, there was nothing much to do to shield me away from my mamma’s cruelty, but he was my light."

Then her smile fell. "But he betrayed me. I trusted him with my secret." She held out her hands. "I healed a cat and made him promise not to tell Mamma. He broke that promise, and at long last, my mamma finally found a value for her unwanted daughter."

"Do you think he broke his promise?" Ekko asked. "What if he never did?"

Isadora faced Ekko with stern eyes. "It’s all the past now, it doesn’t matter anymore. I probably won’t see him or them anymore. They are halfway across the world for all I care."

"Time is a short essence for Faes, but even in that shorter time, they can’t escape death."

Isadora chuckled, but it was a sulky sound. "Then I would praise the gods for taking that cruel woman’s soul, at least its mercy. If Kraven had gotten his hands on her, she would have experienced a fate worse than death." She sighed. "The truth is, I don’t want to see them ever again."

Ekko faced the view back, his eyes forlorn. "I’m sure you won’t. Ever."