Iftaya limped over, using her spear as a crutch. "Your Grace. What are we facing?"
The Duke had already turned back to the water, though his hand lingered a half-second longer against Kaelen's spine before it withdrew, casual as breathing, careless as a man who'd never once considered that anyone might be watching. The dark still churned. Shapes moved beneath the surface, too many to count, none of them in a hurry.
"Anything," he said. "Everything. Unlike a dungeon, we can't predict what comes or how often."
"That's…" Iftaya swallowed. "That could be thousands of them."
"More than that." His eyes stayed on the bay. "The seal never held a fixed number. It held an ecosystem. Predators, prey, scavengers, parasites. Every link in a chain that was believed would hold forever."
