Chapter 4

-Crypt. Its original form was a dark red and blue rock. Once it's mined in Caecis, they turn the blue part of the rock into dust. This is what the Expanse calls Crypt, it's used for many forms of Sacer, Alchemy. The red part of the stone is said to be so addictive and hot, that when it enters the bloodstream at an extreme amount, it can cause the user to literally melt from the inside out. This is a substance that the Expanse calls Glory. -

The following couple of days cruised by slowly, and on the 5th day, the starlit night sky hid only the anchored Treader that floated just shy of the entrance to Caecis. Kai found himself lying down on his stomach on the roof of the Captain's Deck, a spyglass held to one of his eyes.

Three men could be seen standing on top of the floating platform that held a giant hatch frame in the middle of it.

'There's the entrance.' Kai thought.

The rust and black-colored plated armor confirmed to Kai that they were indeed soldiers from the Faction Relnad. They all carried sheathed swords hanging from their waists.

Kai paid them no attention as he began to scour with his spyglass over the surrounding waters until finally, something reflected from the low waves underneath the bright night sky.

'I'm glad they can't see me from here.'

Locating the sunken delivery was the easy part, now was the hard part. Pushing himself up to his feet with both hands, he climbs back down to the main deck of the Treader. Kneeling down on the side of the boat, he opens up a panel which revealed a small rectangular shaped type of watercraft, no wider than his feet, but long enough to stand sideways on it comfortably.

Reaching into the side panel, he begins to unhook the pipes that are connected to the side of the Glider.

'Hopefully, it's filled enough for this.'

Once it was completely out of the panel and floating on its own next to the boat, Kai kicks his boots off and rests his feet upon the small craft. Reaching down, he puts one hand on the lifted front of the board. His other hand reached to the side, and with a slight grunt from the young man, the blood from his Blackfoot causes small Treader-like combustion with the Crypt and water stored inside of it, forcing him forward at an absurd pace. A single pipe lit up like veins throughout the Glider.

The waves were slightly rougher at this point, making it harder to spot the reflected weight that linked to his pickup.

"Where the hell is it!" Kai stated frustratingly to himself as he searched over the surface of the water.

As he continued closer to the Caecis entrance, a voice found it's way over the crashing water.

"WE'VE GOT A SEARCHER!"

"Shit," Kai said to himself while realizing he was probably way too obvious to the 3 soldiers at the entrance.

They all scattered to nearby watercraft of their own, all of them having the shape of a seat wrapped completely with a barrier that nose-dived at the front. It was a defensive yet the strategic type of watercraft.

"Drifters," Kai claimed to himself.

By the time the three men had left the Caecis entrance, Kai had already spotted the reflected weight only feet in front of him. Leaning down, he raced towards the direction of the three Drifters, hoping to get what he came for before they could reach him. The tension started to build, and stress became a huge factor as Kai's face began to wear it. Two of the Drifters were headed towards him at full speed on either side of where he was headed.

"Shit. Shit. Shit," Kai rambled.

"YOU'RE DONE FOR!" One of the men yelled, both of them pulling out their curved swords, reaching them across Kai's path.

The distance was all but gone, his path was indefinitely blocked, but he still rode his Glider on to his desired destination. Inches separated the three of them, and as they were about to cut Kai into half, the young man had already reached both hands smoothly on top of the flat sides of both blades. With one quick jump, he had forced a complete flip over the swords and back onto his Glider.

Quickly, he threw one hand at the water and grabbed ahold of the weight, dragging his pickup behind him through the water and leaning to one side to begin turning so he could avoid the last Drifter.

"GRAB AHOLD OF THIS!" The final Drifter demanded.

A sword, unlike the others, appeared. A single pipe ran along the hilt and down the back end of the blade, and when Kai leaned to turn away even more to ensure his near-miss and redirection, a giant burst of fire appeared from the blade.

'A Splitter.' Kai instantly thought.

Once his route was aimed back to his Treader, he glanced back to notice the three Drifters not far behind him. Slowly, he began to drag in the duffel-sized bag the hopped across the was at the end of the rope he held as he reached his boat.

Both hands gripped the back as he floated each foot up and onto the main deck, letting his Glider find its way back into the side panel. As fast as possible, Kai ran to the stairs and ran up them to the Captain's Deck. Dropping the bag, he presses both hands onto the steering handles and steps onto the button with his foot, causing the Sacer mixture to occur.

Immediately, the Treader lunged forward at ridiculous speed with a loud 'whoosh'. With a sigh of relief, Kai crashed to the deck floor. His head leaned back and his eyes were closed, thinking he had successfully accomplished what he came for.

That was until he heard the door to his Cab kicked open below him.