Gabriel woke to the sound of waves.
Not the gentle lapping of harbour water, but the steady rush and crash of open ocean. The ship moved differently now, rolling with deep swells that made the hammock sway in slow arcs.
He opened his eyes and imdiately regretted it. The cabin spun slightly, his body protesting the movent after days of hard riding and
violence.
We’re at sea.
The realisation ca with equal parts relief and unease. Three weeks to the Isle of Giants. Three weeks away from the Church, from the Order, from Paladins hunting Castor’s killer.
Three weeks trapped on a ship with limited space and nowhere to run if things went wrong.
Gabriel sat up carefully, testing his ribs. They still ached but the sharp edge of pain had dulled slightly. Sleep and the ship’s surgeon had helped. His throat felt less like crushed stone, though swallowing was still uncomfortable.
The cabin was empty except for packs stowed beneath the hammocks. Daylight filtered through the porthole, suggesting late morning or early afternoon.
How long was I asleep?
Gabriel swung his legs off the hammock and stood. The floor moved beneath him and he grabbed a support beam until his balance adjusted to the ship’s motion. Once steady, he made his way to the door and erged into the corridor.
The Serpent’s Tooth was alive with movent. Crew mbers passed in both directions, carrying supplies, adjusting rigging, performing the thousand small tasks that kept a ship running. They glanced at Gabriel as he passed but didn’t stop or speak.
He found stairs and climbed to the main deck.
The ocean stretched in every direction, grey-blue water eting grey-blue sky at a horizon that seed impossibly distant. Wind filled the green sails overhead, driving the ship northeast at a steady pace. Kelmar was long gone, swallowed by distance and ti.
Gabriel moved to the railing and gripped it with both hands, feeling the ship’s rhythm through the wood. The motion was hypnotic. Endless water, endless sky, the ship a small point of wood and canvas between them.
"You’re awake."
Gabriel turned to find Tess approaching. She wore practical ship clothes, her hair pulled back against the wind, and carried two bowls of sothing that stead in the cool air.
"How long?" Gabriel asked.
"Two days." Tess handed him one of the bowls. "You collapsed after I left to get the others. Surgeon said your body finally gave out from exhaustion and pain. Said it was a miracle you made it back to Kelmar at all."
Gabriel looked at the bowl. So kind of fish stew, thick with chunks of potato and onion. His stomach rumbled at the sll.
"Eat," Tess said. "You’ve lost weight you can’t afford to lose."
They ate standing at the rail, watching the ocean roll past. The stew was hot and salty and exactly what Gabriel’s body needed.
"The others?" he asked between bites.
"Gilbert’s below, probably sleeping off last night’s drinking. Torrhen keeps a good stock of ale and Gilbert’s been taking advantage." Tess finished her stew and set the bowl on a nearby crate. "Ennu’s been watching the crew, learning ship routines. Adan’s been helping with rigging when they need extra hands."
"And ra?"
Tess’s expression tightened. "She stays in the cabin mostly. Barely speaks. When she does co up, she stares at the water like she’s waiting for sothing to erge."
Gabriel’s chest tightened. "Did anything happen while I was gone? The six days I was away?"
"Nothing specific. She just... withdrew. Stopped talking to , stopped eating with the group. I’d find her standing in the inn hallway at night, just standing there staring at your door." Tess t his eyes. "I think not having you there broke sothing in her."
Shit.
Gabriel finished his stew and set the bowl aside. "I need to talk to her."
"Later. First you need to recover." Tess gestured to the open deck. "Ship’s surgeon said you should walk, keep the ribs from settling wrong. I’ve been keeping your spot open."
She led him across the deck to a clear space near the mainmast. Open enough for movent but sheltered from the worst of the wind.
"This is where I’ve been training," Tess said. "Morning and evening, sword forms and balance work. Ship’s motion makes everything harder."
Gabriel watched the deck roll beneath his feet. "Good for training, though. Forces adaptation."
"That’s what I thought." Tess drew her sword in one smooth motion. "Show your forms. Slow, because of the ribs. Just enough to keep the muscle mory active."
They spent the next hour moving through basic sword forms. Gabriel’s ribs protested every extension and twist, but Tess was right about keeping mobile. The movent helped, blood flowing, muscles rembering patterns even through pain.
By the ti they finished, Gabriel was sweating and breathing hard, but he felt more human than he had in days.
"Better?" Tess asked.
"Yeah."
"Good. Because starting tomorrow, we train properly." Tess sheathed her sword. "You need to push that fire control higher. Fifteen seconds isn’t enough."
Gabriel thought about the book’s warning. Forty-five seconds maximum before death. He was a third of the way there, but each second gained would be harder than the last.
"I’ll train," he said. "But it drains . Recovery takes hours."
"Then we work around it. Fire training in the morning when you’re fresh. Sword work in the afternoon when you’ve recovered." Tess’s expression softened slightly. "We have three weeks, Gabriel. Use them."
The days settled into a rhythm.
Gabriel woke before dawn and climbed to the deck. In the grey pre-dawn light, he’d find his spot near the mainmast and begin.
Fire training started small. He’d create flas in his palm and hold them, counting seconds, watching his stamina drain. Fifteen seconds remained his maximum, but he could feel the cost more clearly now. The way his body burned through energy, the exhaustion that followed.
He practised shaping the fire. Not just holding it, but forming it into basic shapes. A sphere. A blade. Anything that required precision and control rather than raw power.
The crew watched at first, wary of fire on a wooden ship. But Gabriel was careful, containing every spark, and eventually they grew accustod to seeing him wreathed in controlled flas each morning.
After fire training ca breakfast in the ss. Crew and passengers ate together, simple fare of porridge or bread and whatever fish had been caught overnight. Gabriel ate with his group, though ra rarely joined them.
Afternoons were for sword work with Tess. They’d spar on deck, testing balance against the ship’s movent, working through forms until Gabriel’s healing ribs scread and sweat soaked through his shirt.
"Again," Tess would say, and they’d go through the sequence one more ti.
Gilbert joined them sotis, providing comntary that was equal parts helpful and sarcastic. "You’re dropping your guard when you turn. Either commit to the spin or don’t do it at all."
"Noted," Gabriel would say, and adjust.
Adan watched more than participated, but occasionally he’d step in and demonstrate a technique or offer quiet suggestions that always proved useful.
Ennu was everywhere and nowhere, observing crew routines, cataloguing ship operations, gathering information in her silent way.
And ra stayed below, erging only for als she barely touched, her eyes distant and haunted.
A week into the voyage, Gabriel finally cornered her.
He found her on deck at sunset, standing at the stern railing and watching their wake spread across darkening water. She didn’t acknowledge his approach, didn’t turn when he stopped beside her.
"ra."
Nothing.
"We need to talk about what’s happening with you."
"Nothing’s happening." Her voice was flat. Empty.
"You’re barely eating. Barely speaking. Tess said you were standing outside my door at night while I was gone."
ra’s hands tightened on the railing. "I was worried. You’d left without explanation. I didn’t know if you’d co back."
"I told the group I had to pay a debt."
"You told them." ra turned to face him finally, and Gabriel saw sothing broken in her eyes. "You told Tess more than that, I’m sure. You always tell her more."
"Tess is..."
"Your lover." ra’s laugh was bitter. "I know. Everyone knows. The way you look at her. The way she touches you like she owns you."
Gabriel’s jaw tightened. "ra, whatever you think is happening..."
"I think you’ve forgotten your purpose." ra stepped closer, her intensity suddenly focused and sharp. "The Maker sent you to do sothing important. Sothing that requires you to be more than human. But you’re letting her drag you back down to mortal concerns."
"I am mortal," Gabriel said carefully. "Whatever the Order did to , whatever Dracarian blood I carry, I’m still just a man."
"You’re so much more than that." ra’s hand moved toward his face but stopped short when she saw him tense. "Why can’t you see it?"
"Because it’s not true." Gabriel kept his voice gentle despite the unease crawling up his spine. "I’m not divine. I’m not chosen. I’m just soone who’s been hurt and changed and is trying to survive."
ra stared at him for a long mont. Then her expression closed off, shutting down like a door slamming.
"You’re not ready to understand yet," she said quietly. "But you will be. The Maker’s plan will reveal itself when the ti is right."
She turned and walked away, leaving Gabriel alone at the stern.
Tess was right. She’s breaking.
And I have no idea how to fix it.
That night, Gabriel stood on deck long after the others had gone below. The ocean was black glass reflecting stars, the ship cutting through water that glowed faintly with bioluminescence.
Tess found him there, appearing silently at his side.
"Can’t sleep?" she asked.
"Too much on my mind."
They stood in comfortable silence for a while, listening to waves and wind and the creak of rigging.
"I talked to ra," Gabriel said eventually.
"How’d that go?"
"Badly." Gabriel’s hands tightened on the railing. "She’s convinced I have so divine purpose. That you’re preventing from fulfilling it."
Tess was quiet for a mont. "She sees what she wants to see. A savior instead of a person."
"I don’t know how to break through that."
"You might not be able to." Tess moved closer until their shoulders touched. "So people need to believe in sothing bigger than themselves. You saved her life. For her, that’s enough to build an entire worldview around."
"That’s not healthy."
"No. But it’s human." Tess looked up at the stars. "We all need sothing to believe in. She chose you. It’s not fair to either of you, but it’s done."
Gabriel turned to face her properly. "What do you believe in?"
Tess smiled slightly. "I believe in sharp swords and solid ground under my feet. I believe people are capable of both extraordinary kindness and horrific cruelty. I believe you’re a good man trying to do right by people who’ve wronged you." Her smile faded. "And I believe I love you, even though you’re not ready to hear it yet."
Gabriel’s chest tightened. Not with panic this ti, but with sothing warr.
"I’m getting there," he said quietly.
"I know." Tess kissed him, soft and brief. "Take your ti. I’m not going anywhere."
The voyage continued.
Gabriel’s fire control improved increntally. Fifteen seconds beca sixteen, then seventeen. Each additional second cost more stamina, drained him faster, but he pushed through.
His ribs healed enough that sparring didn’t leave him gasping. His throat recovered until swallowing no longer hurt.
The group found their rhythm on the ship. Gilbert kept morale up with stories and humour. Adan helped crew with tasks that needed extra hands. Ennu catalogued everything, learning the ship’s patterns.
And ra withdrew further into herself, erging less frequently, speaking even less.
Two weeks into the voyage, storm clouds appeared on the horizon.
Torrhen ordered all passengers below deck. "Weather’s turning. You stay out of the way until it passes."
They descended to the cabin and waited while the ship began to pitch and roll with growing violence. Rain hamred the deck above. Wind howled through rigging. The ocean that had seed vast and calm revealed its true nature.
Gabriel lay in his hammock and listened to the storm rage.
Sowhere above, crew fought to keep the ship running. Sowhere beyond the wooden walls, the ocean was trying to tear them apart.
But down here, in this small cabin, they were safe.
For now.
The storm would pass.
And then they’d have one more week until the Isle of Giants.
One more week until answers.
If we survive that long.
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