Irthos watches Es as she rises out of the water, like some ancient goddess of the sea. He blinks, watching her as she goes to him, sits by him, watches with him. His gaze returns to water.
He closes his eyes, taking a moment to slowly breath a long breath of the salty air. Es. His thoughts drift...
He dreams of the first time they met.
He walked beside her, the one called Grendle watching him curiously. He ignored her. His listened. The Sjach, after gorging themselves on the feast they had taken, had grown hungry again... he could feel them as they moved through the walls, unseen by his new found friends, hungry for those he walked with. But he bade them be still, to hold their hunger. Wait, he said. There will be more soon.
But something was wrong. He listened to the Shadows, feeling their hunger through the link, but something was wrong. They hungered for only two.
He walked with Mem, Grendle, and Es.
Confusion drifted into his mind, and he probed through the link. He isolated them, sending a question. They hungered for Grendle. They hungered for Mem. But they did not hunger for Es.
He slowed his pace, turning his head to watch her.
...She had no soul for them to consume.
Irthos opens his eyes, the rolling sea coming back into view. His mind probes the link, and his thoughts mingle with the shadows, intertwining, melding. They do not hunger for Es.
They do not hunger for Es.
A smile slowly comes to his face, broadening until he can hold it no longer. His laughter cuts through the air, breaking the silence, flooding him with joy. After all these years...
When it dies down, he glances at her, and he smiles again, and laughs for a second time. When his gaze returns to the sea, the silence returns as well- yet a small smile remains etched on his face.
They do not hunger for Es... and for once, there is peace.