Day One Hundred and Ninety-Three

Day 193: 10 Feb 2011

Landed at Wilmington Airport just after sunrise. We had a small delay at Offutt Air Force base in Nebraska. Well, the delay was actually at Eppley International, where we boarded a commercial flight. The airport was closed at four a.m.

Seems even the shadow people don't think of everything.

Anyway, we had a car waiting for us at the airport. A black Charger. I think the military buys these things in bulk. Cassie suggested I drive, as I live in town and all. I had almost forgotten that. But still, it came back to me as I drove.

We made it to Carolina Beach an hour or so after sunrise, and it was pretty cold out. Didn't bother me and Cassie, but the Navy SEAL who met us on the shore was bundled up in a parka and hat.

"Chow and Sykes?"

I nodded, and he led us to a small inflatable raft with a motor on it. A few minutes later, we were back on the fake fishing boat. The same guys were all there, having coffee on the deck, bundled in cold-weather gear.

"You look better than last week," one said.

"Yeah, feeling better too."

My hand had mostly grown back, and was almost completely functional.

"Captain says all yours. You're in charge, just tell us what you need," another of the SEALs said.

"Um. . . I'm good. Chill out. I'll be back in a bit."

Without waiting for them to respond, I dove into the water and went deep.

His corpse wasn't hard to find, and it was a corpse. More than half of his body looked like it'd been chainsawed by a group of angry Canadian loggers. And he wasn't alone down there.

The God of the Skies. All that was left of him was an exoskeleton, some jutting obsidian shards where his wings had once been. He'd died fighting -- I guessed it was his wings that shredded the God of the Seas as they both plummeted, dying, to the sea floor.

I floated there for a moment, just looking at the two dead gods, the two creatures now gone for good.

Then I went back up. Time to report my findings and go back home.