Morning in Ashport Haven wasn't a sunrise. It was a bell.
The third bell tolled low and steady, echoing through alleys and up masts, shaking gulls off their perches. The fog peeled back to reveal the city like a wound: layers of planks, tar, and metal stitched together with rope. Markets already buzzed with bargaining, crates slammed open, and a boy ran down a pier with a fistful of someone else's coins before anyone noticed.
In the yard, Ponyo sat cross-legged in a cage, chains coiled loosely in his hands. Koby was hunched beside him, gnawing his fingernails and muttering to himself.
"We're dead," Koby whispered. "We're definitely dead."
"Probably," Ponyo said absently. His eyes tracked every guard's route, how long they stopped, which ones looked bored enough to miss something. He noted the sound of a loose board three steps to the left of the gate, the squeal of a wheelbarrow as it passed every half-bell. He was mapping the yard without lifting a finger.
Lemra strolled in, ledger under one arm, scarf loose around their neck. "By dusk," they said casually, "you'll have a price on your head so high half the city will kill you for free. Fun day, huh?"
Koby's head snapped up. "What?!"
"Relax," Lemra said with a little smile. "Nobody dies before dusk. Paperwork takes time."
Ponyo didn't answer. Lemra tilted their head, intrigued. "Not scared?"
"Busy," Ponyo said, twisting the end of his chain around a finger.
⸻
Across the yard, The Lantern Spine tavern breathed smoke and low conversation. Inside, the world was quieter but no safer. Pirates leaned against the bar, knives loose at their hips. Traders passed sealed letters for coins. On the back wall, Tao leaned on her carved cane, a knife flashing in her other hand as she skinned something small and scaly.
"You sure about this, Tao?" a hooded man murmured, sliding a pouch of coin onto her table.
"No," Tao said. "But the Widow's been sniffing around my pier, and I don't like dogs I didn't feed." She flicked the blade, skin peeling in one neat strip. "This boy's making waves already."
"Worth it?"
Her golden eye lifted to the fogged window, where Ponyo's cage was barely a shadow. "We'll see," she murmured.
⸻
Back in the yard, Ponyo squatted low, testing the boards beneath him. They groaned softly, like tired ribs.
"This plank's old," he said.
"I know," Koby whispered. "It's wet."
"No. It's old." Ponyo rapped it with his knuckles. The sound was hollow. "Someone fixed this cage in a hurry. Top hinge's new, bottom hinge's bent. Weakest point's under us."
Koby blinked. "You're saying we can dig out?"
"Quietly," Ponyo said.
Varis, the woman in the next cage, leaned forward. "You won't get five steps before they gut you."
Ponyo glanced at her. "Where do they drink?"
She smirked faintly. "Hook Pier. Third bell if it's dry."
Ponyo nodded. "Thank you."
Varis tilted her head. "You're strange."
"Mapmakers usually are."
⸻
The bell tolled again. Guards shuffled. Ponyo crouched lower, timing his breaths to their steps. Koby watched him like he was watching someone defuse a bomb.
"Ready?" Ponyo murmured.
"No," Koby said immediately.
"Good answer." Ponyo slid the chain down through the slats, feeling for nails, searching for a weak point.
⸻
Lemra leaned against a post nearby, ledger open. They didn't look up as Ponyo worked, but their mouth quirked. "If I didn't know better," Lemra murmured, "I'd say you're making yourself at home."
Ponyo didn't respond.
"Careful," Lemra said softly, flipping a page. "Some doors aren't meant to open."
⸻
Ponyo ignored them. He slipped the chain around a nail and twisted, slow and patient. The nail squealed softly. Ponyo froze. The guards didn't notice. He eased it again, one turn at a time. Sweat stung his cut shoulder.
The board loosened. Ponyo's heart slowed instead of racing. He counted breaths. Four in. Four out.
⸻
"Almost there," Ponyo whispered.
"Almost where?" Koby hissed.
"Anywhere but here."
⸻
A guard shouted across the yard, distracted by something off-screen. Ponyo used the noise to yank the nail free. He pried the board up a few inches, enough to see damp earth and shadows below.
Then—thunk. A crate tipped off a cart nearby, crashing into the mud. Heads turned. A guard squinted their way.
"Keep moving," Ponyo muttered.
Koby tried to look casual. He failed. The guard strode closer, suspicion in his eyes. Ponyo's fingers curled around the chain.
Then something small and sharp sang through the air.
Thunk.
The lantern above their cage went dark, its glass shattered. The guard swore, startled.
"Wind," another called.
Ponyo's eyes flicked to the source. A shadow leaned in the tavern doorway, a golden eye catching the light. Tao.
"You've got two minutes," she called calmly, voice carrying over the rain. "Don't waste them."
⸻
Ponyo didn't hesitate. He yanked the board up fully and slid through the gap, landing in the mud beneath the cage.
Koby's eyes went huge. "What about me?!"
Ponyo hissed, "Down. Now."
Koby scrambled after him, barely squeezing through. Varis caught Ponyo's eye. "Keys," she mouthed.
Ponyo flicked his chain up and hooked the keyring off a guard's belt as he crawled past.
Chaos rippled through the yard as pirates shouted and stumbled in the dark. Ponyo unlocked Varis's cage with a quick twist. She slipped out, eyes sharp.
"Follow me," Ponyo said.
⸻
Lanterns swung wildly as guards rushed to relight them. Lemra stood above the chaos, scarf fluttering in the wind. Their smile was faint, curious.
"Interesting," they murmured. "Very interesting."
⸻
Ponyo ducked low, weaving between crates and barrels, Koby and Varis close behind. He hooked a chain to a stack of timber and yanked it down, blocking a path. Guards cursed.
"Go, go!" Ponyo hissed.
They slipped through a gap in the fence, into a narrow alley that smelled like dead fish and oil. Shouts filled the yard behind them.
From the tavern doorway, Tao leaned on her cane, watching. She took a sip from a steaming cup of tea as the trio vanished into the maze of Ashport.
"Let's see if you can swim, mapmaker," she murmured to herself.
⸻
To be continued…