The first thing Fritz felt was cold.
The second was pain and the grainy texture pressing into his back.
He sucked a sharp breath and rolled onto his side, coughing as seawater spilled from his mouth and nose. His vision swam, blurred by exhaustion, but he forced his eyes open anyway.
They were on shore, sohow.
Fritz pushed himself up on trembling arms and imdiately looked around.
"Taylor—Jay—" His voice cracked halfway through the words.
Taylor lay a short distance away, on her side, her chest rising and falling in shallow but steady breaths. Jay was closer, face-down near the waterline, one arm twitching faintly as another wave crept up to his boots.
He moved imdiately.
Fritz staggered to Jay first, dropping to his knees and rolling him onto his side just as Jay coughed violently, choking on water. Fritz held him there, one hand braced against his shoulder, counting breaths under his own.
"Easy," Fritz muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "Easy... you’re good. You’re good."
Jay hacked again, then sucked in a ragged breath.
"Gughhh....."
Taylor groaned behind them.
He was on his feet instantly, crossing the sand and crouching beside her. Her eyes fluttered open slowly, unfocused at first, then sharpening as she took in his face.
"...Fritz?" she asked hoarsely.
"Yeah," he said, relief flooding his chest so fast it almost hurt. "Yeah, I’m here."
She blinked once. Twice. Then winced. "Everything hurts."
"That ans you’re alive," Jay croaked from behind them.
The realization hit him fully then, and for a brief, dangerous mont, his gaze drifted toward the open sea.
Then turned and looked around once more, hoping to see two more figures washed up among the wreckage.
There were none.
"Ryn and Alia..." Fritz muttered.
The others followed his gaze, the sa thought settling in heavy silence.
"Shit," Taylor cursed under her breath. "They’re gone."
Fritz didn’t answer right away.
He took one more look at the sea, then deliberately turned his back on it.
"We don’t know that," he said, "And standing here freezing isn’t going to help them—or us."
Taylor swallowed, jaw tight.
Jay wrapped his arms around himself, teeth chattering now that the adrenaline was fading. "I, uh. I hate to admit it," he said weakly, "but he’s right. I can’t feel my fingers."
Fritz nodded once, seizing the opening.
"Good. Then, first things first," he said. "We get warm."
He crouched, already scanning the shoreline for driftwood, anything usable.
Taylor hesitated, then forced herself to her feet with a quiet groan.
"And after?"
Fritz didn’t look back at the water.
"After," he said, "we move. They’re probably together."
"And we know Ryn can pretty much survive anything," Jay added.
Fritz nodded.
"So until we know otherwise," he finished, "they’re alive."
They didn’t waste any ti at all.
Frit dragged up pieces of driftwood while Taylor tore strips from a ruined sailcloth tangled among the debris. Jay, thankfully, still had his heat stones with him.
He dropped them into the pile and gently covered it from the wind until the pile finally caught.
The fire was small, but it was enough.
Heat pierced through their soaked clothes, steam rising as most of the cold began to loosen its grip. Fritz flexed his fingers near the flas, feeling sensation slowly creep back into them.
The fire crackled softly between them.
For a while, none of them spoke. The warmth sank in slowly, easing the ache in Fritz’s limbs, but it did nothing for the knot sitting in his chest.
Jay was the one who broke the silence.
"...That monster," he said, staring into the flas. "That wasn’t normal. Right?"
Taylor didn’t answer imdiately. Fritz did.
"No," he said. "It wasn’t."
They both looked at him.
Fritz exhaled slowly. "Krakens are territorial, sure. Dangerous if you provoke them. But they don’t attack ships like that. Not without reason."
Jay frowned. "It grabbed us like it wanted us gone."
"Exactly," Fritz said.
Taylor’s gaze darkened. "And the blood."
The image flashed in Fritz’s mind, oozing black ichor that spilled into the sea, wrong in a way that made him shudder.
The fire popped, sending sparks briefly into the air.
Taylor hugged her knees closer. "Ryn and Alia knew sothing was off the mont it appeared."
Fritz nodded once. "Yeah."
Jay looked between them. "And?"
"And they didn’t say anything," Fritz replied.
It was an accusation against their Captain, more like stating a fact.
Fritz stared at the flickering flas for a while.
Ryn wouldn’t hide sothing like that without a reason. Alia wouldn’t either.
If they kept quiet, it ant whatever they knew was either incomplete or dangerous to explain in the middle of a crisis.
"They’ll tell us when they can," Fritz said finally.
Jay tilted his head. "You sound sure."
"I am," Fritz replied.
Because if there was one thing he trusted absolutely, it was this:
Ryn, even with all his secrets, ultimately wanted good for the world.
Whatever that creature was, whatever was hiding in the shadows. It wasn’t sothing they were ant to understand yet.
Taylor huddled closer, arms wrapped around herself. Her gaze drifted inland, toward the horizon.
"...Over there," she said after a mont.
Fritz followed her line of sight.
Stone walls rose in the distance, dark and angular against the sky. Towers lined the horizon like watchful guardians, massive and immovable.
A fortress.
"That has to be Khaz Vordun," Taylor said quietly.
Fritz studied it for a long mont. Even from here, it felt imposing.
"You’re sure?" he asked.
"Used to be one of Gremory’s biggest trade partners," Taylor nodded. "My father used to gush about the sheer size of their fortresses."
Fritz stared at the fortress city, the fire crackling softly at his back.
"Then that’s where we’re headed."
***
The path toward Khaz Vordun was little more than a worn stretch of stone and compacted dirt. As they drew closer, the scale of the fortress beca harder to ignore.
The walls weren’t just tall.
They were thick. Layered. Built to endure sieges, not welco guests.
By the ti they reached the outer road, the gates were fully in view. Massive slabs of reinforced stone and tal stacked atop each other, etched in protective runes that warded against all sorts of threats.
Guards stood posted at the entrance, eyes alert and heavy.
Fritz stepped forward first as they approached, posture straight, hands visible. Before he could even open his mouth, one of the guards raised a hand.
"State your business," the guard said, voice flat.
Fritz took a breath. "We’re the Gremory Hero Party," he said. "Our ship was attacked at sea. We were separated during the landing."
The guard didn’t react.
"Hero Parties are supposed to arrive by airship."
"Our airship ran out of fuel," Fritz said quickly. "We took a sea route as a contingency. We were attacked on the way."
Another guard stepped closer, eyes flicking over their soaked gear and travel-worn clothes.
"City is under lockdown," he said. "No entry without official clearance."
Taylor instinctively reached into her pocket, but panicked and started checking every part of her clothes until she cursed under her breath.
The guard’s gaze sharpened.
"Then you don’t have clearance."
Fritz clenched his jaw, forcing himself to stay calm. "We can provide identification. Testimonies. Anything you need."
The guard shook his head. "Orders are orders. Official individuals only. Or refugees."
He looked them over again.
"You don’t look like refugees."
Silence stretched before Fritz sighed and turned away from the gates.
Jay leaned in slightly. "Hypothetically," he whispered, "what if we just—"
"No," Fritz said imdiately, without turning. "We don’t sneak into a city like this. And even if we tried, we’d be caught in minutes."
That was when they heard a familiar noise of wheels.
The slow, familiar creak of a carriage pulling up beside them.
The carriage rolled to a stop beside them with a low creak of wood and iron.
Fritz turned just in ti to see the driver pull back the reins. The animal snorted softly, steam rising from its nostrils in the cool air.
The side panel slid open.
Bright red hair spilled out along with the cold authority of soone used to being a leader.
Alia Grandal.
She leaned out from the window.
"...You look awful," she said mildly.
Fritz stared at her for half a second too long.
Then he laughed, a short and incredulous sound he hadn’t planned on making.
"You have no idea how good it is to hear that."
Taylor exhaled sharply, relief written plain across her face.
"You’re alive!"
Alia blinked. "That was never in question."
Taylor was the first to climb onto the wagon, hands gripping the side as she hauled herself up. Jay followed right after, already scanning the interior.
Then he frowned.
"...Where’s Ryn?"
Fritz had been halfway up when the question landed. He paused, then looked inside as well.
The wagon was mostly empty, just supplies and travel gear.
Fritz’s brow furrowed. "He’s not—?"
Taylor leaned forward, searching more carefully. "Did you two get separated at sea too?"
For a fraction of a second, Alia didn’t answer.
"No," she said calmly. "But rest assured—he’s alive."
"So where is he?" Fritz asked.
Alia clicked her tongue softly, urging the wagon forward as the gates continued to open.
"Investigating sothing," she said. "On his own."
Taylor exchanged a look with Jay. "That sounds like him."
Fritz didn’t smile.
"Should we be worried?" Jay asked.
Alia glanced back at them, expression unreadable.
"It’s fine, he’ll co back," she leaned forward, staring out the carriage window.
"He made an oath to after all."
They didn’t question it further, all focused on one thing.Khaz Vordun.
The gates finished opening with a deep groan as Alia got them through.
Inside, the road widened into a proper city, one far bigger than any he’s ever been to before.
The fortress-city swallowed them whole.
Fritz faced forward again, shoulders squaring.
Whatever waited for them inside, there was no turning back now.
He’d have to step out of Ryn’s shadow, because he knew...
Sowhere out there, his Captain had already surpassed him.
Reviews
All reviews (0)