Eshami had surprised me with her confession of love, but I tried my best to shrug it off.

Love could be a dangerous distraction!

Speaking of distractions, I noticed a door that was partly ajar. Upon closer inspection, I saw a faint bloody handprint over the doorway, like someone was trying to grab the frame for support.

“Eshami — hold up a moment!” I yelled ahead. My elven companion spun around in place and dashed over to me. “What do you make of this?”

Eshami closed her eyes and whispered a quick prayer before opening her eyes — her blue eyes now briefly glowed red before returning to normal. “There is life in here, I can sense it with my magic,” she said, but with a deep frown she added, “but I cannot tell if it is friend or foe.”

I pulled my sword from its scabbard and forced the door open. “On this ship, is there any wonder?”

I stepped inside cautiously.

By my second step into the dark room, my feet failed me! They left the floor and floated up into the air!

“Eshami!” I yelled out in surprise, and luckily my companion was quick to grab my arm and tug me back onto the floor.

Frustrated, I called out for Ketal, who answered without showing his form. “This area has been severely damaged by an internal explosion, and my holographic systems will not function. Rest assured that the breach in the hull has already been sealed, but it will be some time before the artificial gravity can be restored.”

I searched through my bag and revealed a spool of magical string. Though no thicker than thread, it was stronger than any rope. “I’ll tie this to my person, and you hold onto the spool — just in case.”

Eshami nodded with a stern look on her face. “Be careful, Devon.”

I did my best to laugh it off. “Don’t worry about me. I’m the Hero of Pendown!” I chuckled as I dove through the doorway towards a pillar I thought I could grab onto.

I could faintly hear Eshami whisper “But we’re not in Pendown anymore” with such concern for my safety that I wanted to run back and squeeze her.

Without gravity, that would’ve been impossible.

I reached the central pillar and grabbed hold firmly enough to stand up and examine my surroundings. What I saw made my jaw drop.

On one side of the room were the round windows I had seen everywhere on the ship — but between these windows was an enormous gaping hole leading out into the blackness of space. Stars twinkled innocently beyond its maw.

“Ketal,” I began,” what was this room used for?”

“This was the primary living quarters for the crew of the Ark,” he answered back.

Were those one hundred-fifty crewmembers working onboard the Ark with Olear likely in this room when the explosion occurred? I hoped that wasn’t the case…

“Hero, look out!”

I barely had any time to react before a demonic arachnid creature raced over to me and tried to swallow me whole for lunch! It must’ve been lurking in the shadows somewhere.

I extended my sword and activated its icy aura as Eshami lobbed a blast of holy energy at it from the open doorway. It screamed shrilly but did not slow its attack, slashing at me with several legs and a bloody mandible.

It looked wounded, I suddenly realized. Had I the time, I’d try to count its legs to see how many might have been missing, but I could easily recognize the beast as a loathsome bebilith! How did it get here?!

“Stay alert! That’s a bebilith!” Eshami warned from behind me. She began to recite a prayer — was she giving up on me that easily?

I parried the beast’s attacks as best I could, but it had many more limbs than me, and my armor was pierced in several places. Then I noticed the string had been severed! I grabbed onto what was left of the pillar to keep from losing my footing.

Eshami was casting a second spell. Was the first one ineffective? I hadn’t detected any magical effects.

“Burn in holy fire, DEMON!”

Eshami’s second spell came into effect right on top of me and the bebilith: a great firestorm! As I was about to scream instinctively, I realized I was not being burned. Had she protected me from fire before unleashing her firestorm upon me?

The demon on the other hand was screaming in pain as the flames danced and curled around its form. Free from the rules of gravity, the firestorm was a curious and beautiful sight!

Within moments, the entire fracas was over. The bibilith was dead. I had lost my precious magic spool of rope, but I was alive in a situation that I would otherwise not have survived.

I turned to the doorway and kicked off the pillar, floating weightlessly back to Eshami who was ready to catch me. We held onto each other for a long while before she whispered “Never again” under her breath.

“Never again what?”

She pushed me back and locked stares with me. “Never again will you be so reckless with your life, Hero! I almost lost you to that demon!” she yelled angrily.

“I’m the Hero of Pendown,” I reasoned. “Recklessness is the name of the game!”

But Eshami had a wounded expression on her face, and I felt ashamed for having worryied her. “I’m sorry. I will try to be more careful next time.”

Eshami leered at me. “There better not be a next time,” she said.

“Yes, my Lady,” I answered in Elven with a curt bow. She smiled.

“Ketal, where to next?” I asked the empty hallway.

The ghostly Master Servitor spun up out of the floor on cue. “You will need to investigate the Ballast Tanks next. The Ark cannot move until they are balanced properly. Take this hallway, then turn left.” He pointed an arm down the corridor.

I took Eshami’s hand. “Shall we?” 

She smiled, grasped my hand in hers and we continued down the hall towards our next adventure.