The next morning, the world slowly returned to me through fragments—sounds before sight, warmth before movement.
I barely opened my eyes, but even in that half-dreaming state I could hear the world alive and busy around me.
People were bustling nearby—voices rising and falling in chatter, the creak of wooden carts, the steady thud of boots across stone.
Somewhere, I caught the faint smell of smoke and cooked grain drifting through the air. It was nothing like the silence of the barren land.
Here, life breathed.
"Boy, you are awake," a voice came from close by. It was one of the cloaked figures, the one who had carried me before.
I struggled to push myself upright, my body still aching under the layers of bandages.
My throat was dry, but I managed to whisper, "Yes… I am awake."
The man leaned forward and his hood was shadowing his face.
"Good. You've slept long enough. The worst of your wounds are healing."
Blinking the blur from my eyes, I finally asked, "Where did we… reach?"
Another of them, seated near the massive turtle's reins, turned his head and replied, "We have reached Blackwin's Estate. Welcome to Marshed City."
I repeated the name, almost tasting the unfamiliar word on my tongue.
"Marshed… City?"
Marshred City!
The moment I said it, I lifted myself carefully and peered past the edge of the wooden cabin.
My breath caught.
Marshed City sprawled out before me, vast and strange, unlike anything I had seen before.
The streets stretched wide, filled with people moving in all directions.
Towering stone walls guarded the edges, banners fluttered from poles, and the hum of trade filled the air.
But what caught my eye most were the creatures.
Just like the great turtle that I came along with, other massive beasts roamed the city carrying cabins and goods.
A wolf larger than a house padded steadily past, a wooden cabin strapped to its back like a royal carriage.
Not far away, a sleek, muscular cat the size of a wagon carried crates stacked high, ropes crisscrossing to hold them in place.
Everywhere I looked, the city thrummed with strange sights and sounds.
I forced myself to stand, clutching the wooden railing for balance.
"Why… Why are there so many cabin-carrying beasts here?" I asked, my voice full of awe.
The cloaked man glanced at me, then followed my gaze.
"Since the war started, boy, we have been short of food and goods. The dungeons broke balance, and the land grew hostile. That is why we carry supplies on the backs of these great beasts, from places hundreds of kilometers away."
I frowned, trying to picture the distance. "From where?"
One of the younger cloaked figures replied softly, "From Belltower. The city there still has fields, granaries, and craftsmen. They send their resources here so Marshed can survive."
"Belltower…" I murmured, the name stirring something faint within me, though I could not place it.
As we slowly descended from the turtle's back, I noticed more details of the city.
Merchants shouted prices from behind their stalls, waving dried fish and bundles of herbs.
Blacksmiths hammered away at molten steel, the clanging ringing down the narrow alleys.
Children darted past us, chasing one another with sticks, their laughter cutting sharply against the backdrop of war I had carried in my mind.
And yet, even here, scars of battle lingered. Some of the buildings bore cracks along their walls.
Soldiers in dented armor marched through the streets, their faces grim.
On one corner, I saw a woman handing out bowls of thin soup to ragged men who looked too weak to stand.
Marshed City was alive—but it was surviving, not thriving.
The cloaked leader stopped walking and turned to me. His voice was steady.
"Remember this sight, boy. This is what the war has done. Every step, every burden we carry, is for survival. Marshed stand because of sacrifice."
I lowered my eyes, feeling the weight of his words press on me. I had seen death already, back in the dungeon.
Here, I saw the aftermath—the struggle of those still holding on.
For the first time, I realized how wide this war stretched, how far its claws reached. The battlefield was not only blood and blades.
It was here too, in the markets, in the empty stomachs of children, in the caravans dragging food across cracked earth.
I whispered again, almost to myself, "Marshed City…"
The name settled in me like an echo, strange and heavy. Perhaps this was where my path would begin again.
The streets of Marshred City buzzed with noise a moment ago—children laughing faintly, merchants calling out their wares, the creak of carts and the stomp of beasts carrying cabins.
But then, suddenly, all of it stood silence..
I didn't understand at first. My ears picked up something strange, low and distant, like the groan of thunder.
WWOOOOOOOOO…
It rolled across the sky, long and deep, vibrating through my chest like the voice of some terrible beast.
The sound grew louder, until even the stone beneath my feet seemed to hum.
My heart skipped a beat. I looked up, my mouth half-open, when a cloaked hand gripped my arm tightly.
"Boy, don't move," one of them hissed. His eyes, shadowed beneath the hood, were sharp with fear.
I froze. Around us, the bustling people of Marshred turned into statues.
The merchants silenced their cries mid-sentence.
The children stopped mid-step, clutching one another. Even the beasts carrying cabins lowered themselves, their massive frames trembling.
Everyone was silent. Everyone was still.
And then I saw it.
From the clouds above, something emerged—so massive, so unnatural, my breath caught in my throat.
A ship.
But not like any ship of water or sky I had ever imagined. This one was monstrous, black as coal, stretching endlessly across the horizon. Chains dangled from its sides, glowing with faint crimson fire.
Its hull was covered with jagged spikes, and its underside burned faintly with runes that shifted and twisted like living things.
It flew. Not on sails, not on wings, but with a darkness that kept it afloat—unnatural energy pulsing like the beat of a heart.
"D-demon ship…" one of the cloaked figures whispered hoarsely, voice trembling. "Above… it is flying above us."