Or Worse

Oliver had slept fitfully since Ravenhill's ship departed from Tabbakust. They had confined him to a spartan room and manacled him to bed. At first, he had expressed his indignation at his captivity by relieving himself in a corner of the room, a decision he had quickly regretted. He had played the moments over and over in his head he had been helping Ken by bringing supplies onto the deck when Ravenhill's ship had caught them by surprise, the things he commanded had swept over the harbourside, and the two of them had been taken prisoner. Ravenhill had marched them through the streets towards his confrontation with William. A confrontation that had cost Ken his life.

He had watched William best Digbar in a duel and had sentenced that one raider to his death. He understood William's reasons for those actions. One of which was honourable combat in a culture where that was respected and a means of settling disputes. Both men had entered knowing their lives might be forfeit. The raider had been a form of justice for the deaths of some of the Fancy's crew members. Ravenhill's murder of Ken had just been chaotic savagery. Whatever demons possessed Ravenhill, he had long since submitted to.

Oliver simply just felt sadness, an ache he could not overcome. In some ways he did not want to overcome it, to do so meant being numb to the mindless slaughter and pain such things could inflict. He knew William had clearly become a cynic after long years of experiencing such things. Oliver heard his door opening. The corpulent form of Codgeson entered the room, bringing him a meal.

Codgeson was the only person Oliver had seen in the past few days. Ravenhill had secluded himself in his quarters with the journals he had recovered from Abigail. Codgeson placed the meal down on the bunk. Oliver took it without thanking him. He was grateful for the meal and was surprised that Codgeson was a better cook than he expected. The plate had some form of sausage, mashed potato, and some vegetables. Codgeson left him in peace to eat his meal and returned later to retrieve the plate. When he did so Oliver was surprised that Edward accompanied him.

The Surgeon stood in the doorway. Oliver noted there was a certain madness in his eyes.

"I have spent some time considering things and have decided to give you the freedom of the ship. We are at sea, so there is no means of escape. If you were to try something I will ensure you regret it. You are a guest, Oliver." Edward told him.

"Well, I have so loved your hospitality, Master Ravenhill," Oliver replied venomously.

"Sarcasm is unbecoming of you, Oliver." Edward replied.

Codgeson approached and unlocked Oliver's manacle. Oliver rubbed his wrist to try and soothe where it had been pressing into his flesh. He considered striking Codgeson but knew Edward would likely kill him where he stood. He simply sat there in silence and watched the two of them depart. He sadly knew that Edward was likely right escape would be next to impossible. He had not seen much ot the ship, but from what little he saw, it had looked barely seaworthy. He got up and found his legs aching due not having moved properly in days. At the very least, exploring the ship would provide some exercise.

He stepped out into the corridor. There were staircases at both ends. One led up to the deck and the other down into the depths of the ship's hold. There were a few doors along the length of the corridor. He knew one was Ravenhill's quarters. Another was the ship's galley and several smaller chambers, one of which he expected was where Codgeson slept. He was cautious about going down into the hold, as he knew that was where most of Ravenhill's crew were kept. They were strange creatures but oddly docile unless being ordered in such a way by Ravenhill. The size of a man, but they were often malformed. They appeared to be sapient in some way but lacked the means to speak, or perhaps Oliver thought it was denied to them by Ravenhill. He was curious as to their origin but doubted Ravenhill would furnish him with the truth.

Against his better judgment, Oliver descended towards the ship's hold. He saw it was divided into three sections. There was a general storage area, which contained crates filled with rotting or discarded cargo. There was what looked to be a giant cage filled with scores of Ravenhill's wretches. He was relieved in a strange way that there was a finite number of them, that Ravenhill's numbers could be depleted. Oliver chastised himself for thinking in such a callous way. He saw that they were packed into the cage heavily and that they were mostly inert. He continued descending the steps, curious to investigate the other room.

He was stopped in his tracks on opening the door. The centre of the room was taken up by a large grey figure, it was kneeling and, from what he could tell, entirely naked. He was two stubs on either of its shoulders, there looked to be wounds at the end of each of the stubs that were not fully healed. It was larger than a person, at least eight feet tall. As Oliver approached further, he saw that there was a part on its back where something had been gouged out. He walked around it, curious to see it from the front. Its hands were held together in supplication. He looked up to gaze on its face. It had human features, impossibly beautiful, as if its face had been created by a painter capturing the essence of beauty. Then Oliver saw the eyes and how that beauty had been marred. Only one of the two eyes remained, a single piercing green. The other socket was empty, and he noticed the scars around it. He saw now that this creature was staring at him. It was something under its breath, repeated over and over.

Oliver managed to suppress the urge to vomit when he made a realisation.

"What are you?" Oliver called out.

"An Archon." A broken voice called from elsewhere in the hold.

Oliver's curiosity had meant he had missed the figure lying on the ground. He was an older blonde male in ruined clothing. He wore glasses, although one lens had long since been smashed or removed. His body was covered in bruises, and it looked like his arms and legs were broken and set poorly. Oliver approached him.

"I'm sorry I failed to see you before. It feels very rude that I ignored you." Oliver apologised

"I've grown accustomed to being ignored at this point. But it is nice to see a new face. I'm Johannes." He said, coughing.

Oliver could tell that he found it difficult to speak without some level of discomfort.

"I'm Oliver. I was with William until Edward took me prisoner." Oliver explained.

"I have been..." Johannes coughed and wheezed before finishing his sentence. "Edward's prisoner for a long time. I think he sees it as some twisted punishment to keep me like this. It is good to hear that William made it out and relatively in one piece."

"You said that this was an Archon?" Oliver made a sweeping gesture towards the figure. Then caught himself wondering why he did when Johannes clearly shared a room with it.

"Raziel", Johannes answered.

Oliver reflexively made the sign of the Archons.

"Heh. A fellow believer." Johannes laughed.

"You're telling me I stand in the ship's hold with an apocryphal myth? Oliver asked.

"You know of the Flood?

"The Ithican church tells that Yod commanded the Archons to flood the world and wipe things clean to start again. Raziel was the greatest of the Archons and had grown fond of the life it had helped create. He gave knowledge of the secret ways to isolated pockets so they could survive."

"Like the Umthakathi?"

"Them and others that are more secretive."

Oliver considered mentioning William's connection to them but was not sure if anyone else could be listening and decided against it.

"The other Archons discovered what Raziel had done, and they cast him down. Entombed him within the earth. We found his resting place" Johannes seemed troubled with what he was trying to say. "And a means of finding Penemue's hall."

Oliver noted there was a hint of regret in Johannes' words.

"And there you found Edward's prize, The Logos," Oliver remarked.

"It was never the goal of our expedition. I simply wanted to find the knowledge that Penemue's had accrued. To prove to the world that Archons really existed. The logos was Penemue's greatest work. An unobtrusive thing, the workmanship was only something an Archon could have forged, and it could contain an echo of creation within it." Johannes informed him.

Oliver could see that Johannes was in considerable pain. There was much he could ask, but he decided against it for now.

"Back in Tabbakust. There was a young woman. Blonde, beautiful. She looked determined, confident. I didn't get to speak to her, and I think she's with William," Oliver told him.

Johannes smiled but also started to cry.

"Abigail. I'm growing tired. I would like to speak to you more later." Johannes advised him.

"I would like that," Oliver told him

Oliver left the storage deck feeling uneasy and enlightened in a way. The faith that he had followed his whole life, the angelic figures behind it, were truly real. He wasn't sure how to fully comprehend that revelation. He passed Ravenhill's room and realised the surgeon was inside. For the second time today, he decided to do something which went against his better judgment. He knocked on the door.

"Enter." The voice from within called.

Oliver opened the door and stepped inside.

Oliver was not surprised to discover the only room on the ship that was in decent condition was Edward's quarters. He was sitting with his back to Oliver. Edward was seated at a writing desk, there was a cabinet behind him, and Oliver noticed there was a heavy lead figurine. Oliver approached it and started to pick it up.

"Are you that hasty to reject my hospitality, Oliver?" Edward said without even turning around.

Oliver stopped and put the figurine down.

"Why do you seek the Logos Ravenhill?" Oliver asked.

Ravenhill turned the chair round to face Oliver. "I'll entertain your questions. After all, you only had the word of that old drunk and betrayer. The Logos contains the word of our creator. It needs someone to guide it, to mould it into shape. With it we could rewrite this flawed creation. Begin again like our creator once tried."

"And you are the person to whom that responsibility should fall?" Oliver scoffed.

"I see you mock me, Oliver, but I will let it pass. I'm a devout follower of the archons. It needs someone who understands the scriptures and a learned individual. Not some debased fool like William." Edward retorted.

Oliver supressed a laughter at the irony of the situation, as William was not even aware of The Logos' location at present. He knew of their intended location.

"Where are we headed?" Oliver asked.

"I have an appointment with some other old friends," Ravenhill answered.

The pair were interrupted by Codgeson shouting something as he ran down the corridor towards Edward's quarters.

"A ship," Codgeson shouted.

He stood in the doorway out of breath. Oliver was quite pleased when he heard Edward curse under his breath. Oliver followed as Edward headed onto the deck. Oliver never thought he would be pleased to be on board a ship that was about to be attacked, but he smiled when he saw The Wren on the horizon.