Maren's POV
The knife slipped from my shaking hands and clattered onto the dock.
I stared at it—my third dropped tool in ten minutes. My fingers wouldn't stop trembling. When did I become this weak? Three months ago, I could tie a sailing knot in a storm with my eyes closed. Now I couldn't even hold a stupid knife steady.
"Get it together, Maren," I whispered, bending to pick it up. My reflection stared back from a puddle—hollow eyes, cheekbones sharp enough to cut, hair that hadn't seen a brush in days. I looked like a corpse that forgot to die.
Perfect.
I grabbed the last water canteen and threw it into my pathetic excuse for a boat. Calling it a boat was generous. It was basically floating firewood held together with stolen rope and desperate hope. But it would get me to the Starless Sea. It had to.
Behind me, the tavern erupted with laughter. Through the dirty windows, I could see them—sailors and merchants drinking and celebrating. Living their lives like the world hadn't ended three months ago.
Like my sister wasn't dead.
No. Not dead. Taken.
"There she is! Crazy Maren!"
I tensed. Three drunk sailors stumbled out of the tavern, pointing at me and cackling.
"Going fishing, Captain Crazy?" the tallest one shouted. "Oh wait—you're not a captain anymore!"
The others howled with laughter. One made circling motions around his ear. "She's going to find her imaginary sea monster! Someone stop her before she drowns!"
My hand tightened on the knife handle. I could feel my pulse pounding in my throat. Three months ago, these men would've saluted me. Called me Captain Stormbourne with respect in their voices. Now they treated me like a joke.
"Leave me alone," I said quietly.
"What was that?" The tall sailor swaggered closer. His breath reeked of cheap rum. "Can't hear you over the sound of you being insane."
"I said leave me—"
"Your own father disowned you!" He leaned in, smiling cruelly. "Even he thinks you're crazy. The Guild Master himself called you a liar in front of everyone. How does that feel, huh? Knowing your daddy thinks you're—"
I punched him.
My knuckles connected with his jaw with a satisfying crack. He stumbled backward, landing hard on his backside. His friends rushed forward, but I already had my knife out.
"Touch me and lose a hand," I growled.
They froze. Something in my eyes must've scared them because they grabbed their friend and dragged him away, muttering about "psycho" and "lost her mind."
Good. Let them think I'm crazy. Let them all think it.
I turned back to my boat, ignoring the blood dripping from my split knuckles. Pain was good. Pain meant I was still alive. Still fighting.
"That was stupid."
I spun around, knife raised. A figure stepped from the shadows—Finn, a young sailor who'd served on my ship. He was one of only five crew members who survived that night. One of the only people who still believed me.
"You shouldn't be here," I said.
"Neither should you." He nodded at my boat. "You're really doing this? Sailing into the Starless Sea?"
"Yes."
"Maren, that's suicide. Even if the serpent is real—"
"He's real." My voice came out harder than I meant. "I saw him, Finn. I watched him take Lira. She's down there, alive, and I'm getting her back."
Finn's face twisted with pity. That look—I was so sick of that look. Everyone looked at me like I was broken glass about to shatter.
"Let me come with you," he said softly. "You shouldn't go alone."
"No." I couldn't let anyone else die because of me. My crew was already gone. Lira was already taken. I wouldn't add Finn to that list. "If I don't come back, tell everyone what really happened. Tell them Marcus and Selene are liars. Tell them the serpent is real."
"And if you do come back?"
I smiled, but it felt wrong on my face. Smiles didn't belong there anymore. "Then I'll have my sister with me."
Finn pulled something from his pocket—a small carved whale, the kind sailors kept for luck. "Take this. For Lira."
My throat tightened. I took the carving, closing my fist around it. "Thank you."
He hugged me quickly, then disappeared back into the shadows before I could say anything else.
I loaded the last supplies and checked my knots one final time. Everything was ready. The moon hung fat and silver above the water, lighting my path. Three months I'd waited, planned, learned, and prepared for this moment.
I pushed the boat from the dock and climbed in. The wood creaked under my weight—a sound that should've been comforting but just reminded me how fragile everything was.
As I raised the small sail, footsteps pounded on the dock behind me.
"Maren! Maren, stop!"
I looked back. My heart dropped into my stomach.
My father stood at the dock's edge, breathing hard like he'd been running. Aldric Stormbourne—Guild Master, my father, the man who'd called me a liar in front of the entire Guild.
"Don't do this," he called out, his voice cracking. "Please. You're all I have left."
Rage burned through my chest. "I stopped being your daughter the day you chose them over me."
"Maren, listen—there are things you don't understand. Dangerous things. If you go to that place—"
"What? I'll die?" I laughed bitterly. "I'm already dead, Father. I died the night you chose to believe Marcus instead of me. The night you let them take Lira."
"I didn't have a choice!"
Those words hung in the air between us like poison.
"What did you just say?" I whispered.
My father's face went pale. His mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. And in that moment, I saw it—guilt written across every line of his face.
He knew.
He knew about Marcus. He knew about Selene. He knew about the serpent.
He knew everything.
"You let them take her," I breathed. "You knew what they were going to do, and you let them take Lira."
"Maren—"
But I was already sailing away, my tiny boat catching the wind and pulling me toward the open sea. Behind me, my father's voice called my name over and over, but I didn't look back.
My hands gripped the wheel so hard my knuckles went white. My father knew. My own father was part of whatever conspiracy had taken Lira.
The rage inside me crystallized into something cold and sharp and absolutely clear.
I was going to the Starless Sea. I was going to find the serpent god everyone feared.
And when I freed Lira, I was going to burn down everyone who'd betrayed us.
Every. Single. One.
The lights of the harbor faded behind me as I sailed into the darkness. Ahead, the water stretched black and endless under the moon.
Somewhere out there, the Starless Sea waited.
And so did the serpent who'd taken my sister.
I was coming.