“Adrift”
A Nightsea Short Story by Bear Wiseman
There were many things that felt natural when I awoke, but the destruction of all things was not one of them.
The forest had felt familiar, even though I had never seen its trees or plants before, and there was no light to shine upon them to help them grow, save the sconces that lit the rough sandy shore. There was nothing behind me but the forest, so dense with foliage that it seemed an impassable wall. The cobbled stone path that led the way to the long wooden pier at the edge of the shore was well-trodden from the scuffing of endless feet, yet the pier did not creak or sway with age as I approached the wooden boat waiting at the end.
All of this felt natural.
Passing three obols into the thin, porcelain-white hand of the cloaked figure in the boat was instinctual. It was known that the coins, clinking like ingots on bone as the fingers closed around the silver, were always given, even though I had never seen this exchange before.
All of this came naturally.
The oarkeeper, using their long rèmo, which had a luminous iron lantern attached at the top, pushing off from shore and silently guiding the boat out into the dark, still waters, felt like something that I had almost expected.
I felt no fear.
But when the darkness began to shimmer and crack, like broken glass that began to burn from where those cracks spread, and a void began to appear as reality moaned in every dimension… that had not felt normal.
Everything around me was suddenly unmade, but not stripped down to its parts. Through the gaps in the cracks, I saw reflections of oceans emptying through vast crevices, of stars winking out in great cosmic floods, and of worlds breaking apart like stones between the teeth of giants.
None of this felt natural.
As the gaps in reality widened and everything began to fall, as if there was a new gravity, pulling us all down below, our boat fell for what may have been an eternity. The figure beside me, my only companion in this cataclysm, was silent as I screamed and we both clung desperately as we plummeted.
My world, and every other world, had broken.
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“I love it. This gave me strong discworld vibes and Terry Pratchett is one of my favourite authors. But it goes far beyond that, it is very imaginative and beautifully written.”
“This is incredible- your imagery is very strong and your story was an incredible read!”
Word Count: 1868
Written: 2021
Fiction, Nightsea
Image: stock
More info: this was written based on the idea of what would happen if a psychopomp and a recently deceased person found themselves without an afterlife to go to. This story takes place during the Shatterclysm (Islands of Nightsea)
