Side-Story – Vim – Vim's Mistake – Prologue – To Betray One's Oath

Stepping foot onto the deck of the ship, I took in a deep breath as I glanced around at the hundred-odd people who had just betrayed me.

Most were on their knees, but a few were still standing. Most looked untouched, implying they had not fought back as Kriss's detachment boarded and took them all under arrest. But a few were bloody. And a few were not standing, or kneeling, but on the ground… dead or knocked out.

The ship went dead silent as I stepped into the center of it, looking around at all the faces.

Some were familiar. Most weren't. I was only able to put names to a couple, notably the ship's commander, but each and every one of them was looking at me with eyes full of fear and… strangely, hope.

"Fleeing battle… I can understand. Death is a foe many break under," I said as I started walking towards the commander. Kriss was standing behind her, the huge bull didn't have a sword or spear at the commander's throat or back but he didn't need one. The giant man has never needed a weapon; his mighty fists had always been enough.

"Even disobeying orders, or acting out of self-interest. Tis' natural, after all. To place oneself, or family and friends, over goals and duties beyond the everyday," I continued.

Most of the sailors were sea-folk. People with scales, webbed fingers or fins. But there were a few birds amongst them. One of which, a woman with huge wings, was kneeling a few dozen feet from the commander of the ship. She had blood running down her pained face, dripping off her sharp nose to the wooden deck. She had a spear's point resting at the back of her neck, held by one of Kriss's soldiers. She looked like at any moment she was going to charge at me.

I stopped regarding the bird and instead returned my focus to the commander. A stunning woman, who even with a blacked eye and swollen lip was likely more beautiful than any other woman I knew alive today.

She was a dolphin, if I remembered correctly. I couldn't see anything obvious about her, or her traits, to tell me such a thing… but I didn't care at the moment for whom or what she was.

I only cared about what she had done. What she did. And who she had done it for.

"But… to side with them…?" I asked through clenched teeth as I stopped right before her. She was on her knees, as most others were, but unlike all the rest… she didn't have a look of utter fear, or any hint of hope. She didn't even have a hint of hate on her face, as the winged woman did a few feet away. She looked calm. Level headed.

The commander said nothing. She simply held my gaze as I glared down at her, waiting for some kind of answer.

Was she not going to try and defend herself? To convince or reason with me, or at least attempt to? Was she just going to sit there silently, until I gave the order?

Did she think she was being a martyr? Did she think this act of defiance; this… faux indifference would sway me or those watching?

"Not even going to try and beg for forgiveness?" I asked.

Her swollen eye twitched. "Why should I…? You're blinded by your hate, Vim. Always have been. Won't change now… even with your victory in grasp."

I blinked, and in the time it took to do so had grabbed her by the throat. I hefted her upward, lifting her up off her knees. She didn't resist. Her legs dangled off the ground, her arms stiff but staying at her sides. She didn't even try to grab my arm as to help support herself, as to keep herself from choking.

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"No!"

I ignored the world around me as commotion tried to interrupt me. I heard people shouting. The sound of flesh being beaten, and stabbed. I heard a pair of huge wings flap, and then land harshly with a thump onto the hard wooded deck.

People had tried to save their commander. And had died doing so.

"My hate!" I shouted as I squeezed her throat. "Fueled your lives! Gave birth to them! Without my hate, you and yours wouldn't even be able to think of betrayal let alone act it out!"

The huge warship shifted, creaking loudly as massive floorboards and the beams that supported them started to crack and shift. I heard cries as people were sent to their knees, and soldiers worriedly tried to steady themselves.

"Vim…" Kriss's deep, guttural, voice cooled my hot blood as I blinked and glanced around. The deck was a mess. People were on the ground, soldiers were clinging to each other or anything they could grab to steady themselves… all while the boat wildly rocked.

The sea was calm. The wind gentle. This huge ship rocking in such a way was because of one and only one reason.

My eyes twitched as I realized I was putting Kriss and his men in danger. I cared not, anymore, for the betrayers. They could, and would, sink to the depths. But those still loyal? I owed them. I cherished them.

Looking back up at the commander, who I was still choking to death, I felt my blood grow hot again.

"Your lack of loyalty, and the seeds of despair that it plants and waters, will not be allowed to grow. I have not come all this way, have not sacrificed so much, just for your bleeding hearts to ruin it all," I said, and then released her.

The commander fell to the deck. It was still rocking, but not nearly as strong as it had moments ago. Most people were already back on their feet and steady.

"You watched their atrocities. Helped me put an end to them. Then you all of a sudden support it? Aid it?" I shook my head at the dolphin, who was puking and heaving up blood and other gunk. I had likely crushed a part of her throat. "Disgusting traitor. Vile," I spat, and then looked up to the giant bull just behind her.

Unlike all the rest he hadn't even budged during the rocking of the ship. He, like the giant masts nearby, was just that solid. Just that firm. Kriss's eyes were huge. Black pools of deep, unyielding intelligence. He, like most the other senators and generals I've carefully raised, were a good portion of our most recent victories. Within those infinitely black pools was a man I could trust. One I could rely on.

One I knew would never break and betray.

I nodded up at him, telling him it was time. I didn't even need to give an order, nor explain my meaning, and the bull understood. He released a huge huff of air, and raised one of his mighty fists above him. "All hands!" he bellowed an order, and without any questions or hesitation… he and all his men disembarked the ship.

I didn't watch them leave. Nor did I join them. I stayed standing before the commander, who had gotten her own body under control. She still heaved and gasped, sounding desperate for air, but was no longer throwing up blood.

"Gods…" someone whispered nearby. I ignored them, as others worriedly whispered amongst themselves.

The crew that were still alive sounded terrified. I could hear in their whimpers, in their whispers, that they knew what was about to happen. They knew.

"Go ahead then…" Glancing down, I watched the commander lift her blooded face as to look at me. The swollen lip was now split, seeping blood. "Do it. Sink me and my ship. End our lives. That's what you're best at, after all," she said through clenched teeth.

"You're right," I said. Her eyes narrowed as I nodded. "Destroying gods, and their… wrongs, is indeed what I'm best at," I said, agreeing.

She made a wheeze of a noise, as if she wanted to take a deep breath as to say something back to me. But she didn't seem capable. It looked, and sounded, like she was about to die at any moment. I had likely crushed her windpipe.

No matter.

Lifting a foot, I held it up above her head.

"What shame you bring me. Your betrayal sickens me to my core. May the sea forgive you, because I do not."

And I stomped down, sending not just the commander to the depths… but the whole warship and its crew too.

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