The Interitus Series Homepage

  Chapter Thirteen: The Weight She Carries               “Vaida, do you remember? Do you remember that night in the hospital, after the Interfectus attacked and took everything from us? I saw you lying there in that bloody bed; I’d never seen anyone sadder than you! You had only one eye open, but you stared dead ahead like there was nothing left. I’d heard what happened! I saw what the fire did to your body. I sensed your sorrow just by standing in the same room as you! I felt your misery like it was a part of me . I just started crying. I threw my arms around you! I remember it because that was probably the sincerest sadness I’ve ever felt! Do you remember?” Harvey asked as he stood over her.             Harvey was soaking wet from the rain, so the candlelight glistened in the tiny droplets which clung to his hair. These same reflections caused Vaida’s skin to ...

  Chapter Twelve: A Heart Hidden in Shadows “Vaida, have you ever gone boating out here before? It’s so beautiful.”             Hatasuko rowed both oars with his powerful arms, propelling the sail-rana over the top of a small wave. Their boat fell a short distance and slammed onto the water with a small splash, but then they both resumed rowing toward the southwest. Steam lifted from the warm ocean and sailed gently in the wind. Sweat and condensation drenched their bodies. Vaida’s long hair stuck to her skin as her strong arms rowed through the weak waves. Vaida said with a mystified voice, “I’ve been to the first three Isles of Aether, but I forgot how nice it is! I really feel like we’re boating past the edge of the world.” A cloud of faint gray steam concealed the stars, but it absorbed the starlight and broadcasted it across the darkness as a white glow. As Hatasuko and Vaida rowed through the waves, they saw tiny i...