The shoreline became chaos.
Pirates poured from rope boats, boots slamming into wet sand, blades flashing like silver lightning. Guards from the Iron Shore Mines scrambled to organize a defense, but most had never faced real pirates—only starving miners.
Kael ran between them, ducking under swinging blades and stumbling barrels, heart pounding like a drum. He felt invisible in the frenzy. Too small. Too fast. Too determined.
A guard spotted him."Hey! Driftwind! Back to the cages!"
Kael didn't stop.
"Boy!" the guard roared, grabbing for him.
Then something whistled through the air.
A dagger embedded itself in the man's helmet with a clang, knocking him sideways. Kael gasped and looked up.
A figure stood on a half-collapsed crane, moonlight cutting around her like a halo of steel.
A woman in a long black coat, one hand empty, the other holding a second dagger.
Captain Seraya Vale.
Her eyes—razor cold, glimmering with fire—locked onto Kael as if she already knew him.
"You," she said. "Run faster."
Before he could speak, she hurled her second dagger. It spun past Kael's shoulder and struck a guard behind him who had been raising a rifle.
Kael didn't look back. He ran.
Behind him, Seraya leapt from the crane, landing silently on the sand despite the drop. She moved like gravity was merely a suggestion, weaving between guards, her curved sword flashing in a blur. Every motion was precise. Efficient. Beautiful in a deadly way.
Kael sprinted toward the Silent Dagger, still locked in battle with the wounded Leviathan. The ship's harpoons glowed red-hot where they pierced the monster's hide. Snarling, the beast tried to thrash free.
A pirate with bright copper goggles called out from the rigging."Captain! The creature's heart is accelerating!"
"That means it's scared," Seraya replied, barely glancing up. "Lioren, overload the harpoon turbines!"
"Yes, yes, delightful idea—if you enjoy explosions!" he shouted back.
"Only when they're ours," Seraya smirked.
Kael nearly tripped.
They were still fighting that thing?Most people would've sailed the other way the second it surfaced.
But pirates from the Dagger weren't most people.
A shadow blocked his path. A guard twice his size grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him off the ground.
"You little rat! You think you can flee?"
Kael struggled. "Let go!"
The guard raised his fist—
—and then his eyes rolled back.
A wooden handle stuck out from the back of his neck.A hammer.
Kael blinked.
It wasn't thrown. Someone had placed it there.
A young woman stepped out from behind the falling guard, face smeared with soot, hair wild from smoke and wind. She wore a patchwork coat full of pockets and belts.
"You're welcome," she said.
Kael stared. "You… killed him?"
"Knocked him out," she corrected. "Probably."
Then she grabbed his arm.
"Come on. Seraya wants you."
"Me?" Kael choked. "She doesn't even know me!"
The girl raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?"
Kael didn't have time to think. The girl yanked him into a sprint toward the landing boats. The Silent Dagger loomed above them like a black-winged beast, sails flaring as pirates fought to keep it steady against the thrashing Leviathan.
A wave crashed over the side, soaking Kael to the bone.
Up close, the ship felt alive—creaking, rumbling, vibrating with energy that wasn't natural. He reached for the rope ladder.
"Wait," the soot-stained girl said. "Before you climb…"
She grabbed his chin suddenly and twisted his face toward the sea.
"What—?!"
"Shh." She peered into his eyes. "Seraya wasn't sure if it was true. But it is."
"What is?"
"You hear it, don't you?"
Kael froze.
The whisper. The Deep.
"You hear the ocean's voice."
Kael's heartbeat stumbled. "How do you know that?"
"Because the ocean called you," she said simply. "And only a Tide-listener would run toward a Leviathan."
Kael trembled. "I don't even know what that means."
"You will."
She shoved him toward the ladder. "Now climb. The Captain doesn't wait."
Kael scrambled upward, hands slipping, legs shaking. The closer he got to the deck, the louder the ocean's whisper became, vibrating through every plank.
When he pulled himself over the railing, drenched and exhausted, Captain Seraya Vale was waiting for him.
She wiped a streak of Leviathan blood from her cheek and looked at him not like a boy… but like a weapon she had been searching for.
"You climbed aboard my ship," she said. "That means you made a choice."
Kael swallowed. "I… I only ran—"
"No." She stepped closer. "You followed the call."
Her eyes narrowed with curiosity."With the Deep whispering in your bones, boy… what exactly are you running from?"
Kael didn't answer.
Because for the first time, he wasn't sure.The mines?His past?Or something inside him?
Seraya smiled faintly.
"That's all right," she said, turning toward the raging Leviathan."On this ship, we don't ask what you're running from…"
Her sword ignited with blue fire.
"…we discover what you're running toward."
The Silent Dagger lurched as the Leviathan roared again.
Seraya pointed her blade at the heart of the beast.
"Ready yourself, boy. This night isn't done."