Elias woke before the sun appeared.
It was a habit formed over years of walking from city to city. The streets were usually more honest before people began to speak.
The small inn room was cold. The fire in the hearth had died, leaving gray ash.
Elias sat on the edge of the bed and opened his bag.
The small book was still inside.
Its cover was cracked, and several pages almost detached from the binding. He opened it briefly, not to read for long, only to ensure something simple.
That the words were still there.
After a moment, he closed the book again.
Greyhaven felt different from other cities he had visited.
Not because it was more ruined.
But because it was too quiet.
A truly dead city was usually full of signs of destruction. Empty houses. Abandoned roads. Nature beginning to reclaim what humans had built.
Greyhaven had not reached that stage yet.
The people were still here.
Yet they moved like those who had lost their way.
Like a ship without a compass.
Elias went downstairs to the inn floor.
The woman who kept the place was already awake. She was sweeping the wooden floor that was actually clean enough.
Work done only to fill the time.
"You're up early," she said without looking at Elias.
"I'm used to it."
The woman stopped sweeping for a moment.
"Sailors used to wake like that too."
Elias turned slightly.
"Used to?"
The woman finally looked at him.
Her eyes were not cold. Just… empty.
"You saw the harbor yesterday?"
"Yes."
"Three ships left. Two of them can't even sail."
She continued sweeping.
"There used to be more than fifty ships docked there."
Elias said nothing.
That number explained many things.
A port city lived from trade. Without ships, a city like this slowly died.
"Why did the ships stop coming?" Elias asked.
The woman shrugged.
"Some years ago, a great storm destroyed many sea routes. Then war happened in the south. Merchants began looking for other harbors."
She stopped again.
"And after some time… they never returned."
In the corner of the room, Luca sat at the same table as last night.
He was still drawing.
Elias walked closer.
"What are you drawing now?"
Luca turned his paper.
This time the drawing showed Greyhaven from atop a hill.
Small houses.
The harbor.
And the old church in the middle of the city.
But Elias saw something the same as the previous drawing.
The tall figure was there again.
Standing near the dock.
Elias sat in the chair across from the boy.
"Do you really see it?"
Luca nodded.
"Sometimes at night."
"Does it move?"
"No."
"Do others see it?"
The boy hesitated a moment before answering.
"My father did."
Elias waited.
"He stopped going to sea after that."
Luca looked at his paper.
"Now he just sits at home."
The woman behind the counter suddenly spoke.
"Enough, Luca."
Her tone was sharper than before.
The boy immediately fell silent.
Elias understood.
There was something the people in this city did not want to discuss.
He stood.
"I'll walk for a bit."
The woman did not stop him.
"If you're looking for breakfast, the bakery is still open at the end of the street."
Elias nodded slightly and went out.
The morning air was sharper than the night before.
Sea fog hung low over the harbor.
Several people were already walking on the main street, but not many.
A man carried empty fishing nets.
An old woman pulled a small cart of firewood.
No one spoke to each other.
Elias walked until he reached the dock.
The wooden planks creaked softly beneath his steps.
The seawater below was dark.
He stopped at the end of the dock and looked toward the city.
Greyhaven looked small from here.
Aging wooden houses.
A slightly leaning church tower.
A city slowly sinking into exhaustion.
Footsteps sounded behind him.
The large man from the inn stood several meters away.
He still carried the same metal cup as yesterday.
"You walk far for someone who just arrived," he said.
Elias turned slightly.
"I wanted to see this city."
The man laughed shortly.
"Not much to see."
He walked closer and stood beside Elias.
"You're a preacher."
It was not a question.
Elias did not deny it.
The man looked at the sea.
"Many preachers came to this city some years ago."
"What happened to them?"
"They left."
The sea wind blew stronger.
The man pointed toward the water.
"Greyhaven doesn't need words."
"Then what does it need?"
The man was silent for quite a while.
"I don't know."
He finally sighed.
"And that's the problem."
Several seagulls flew low over the water.
Elias followed their direction.
For a moment he felt he saw something at the end of another dock.
A tall silhouette behind the fog.
But when he focused his eyes, there was only an old wooden post standing there.
The large man spoke again.
"If you're truly a preacher…"
He paused.
"…perhaps you can do something the other preachers couldn't."
Elias turned.
"What is that?"
The man looked at Greyhaven.
"Make someone in this city believe that the future still exists."
There was no mockery in his voice.
Only exhaustion that had lasted too long.
The sea wind blew again.
Fog moved slowly over the water.
And far behind that fog…
something truly stood.
Watching the Greyhaven harbor.
Waiting.