Silence filled the space between the group of four, broken only by the sounds of their steps and the distant crackle of thunder. The approaching thick clouds darkened, both from their heavy rain and from the descending sun.

They'd misjudged the passing of time because of that weather. Ash didn't want to think about how late it truly was.

She didn't have to seep in her wonder for long. She didn't learn the time, but as they broke from the cover of trees and approached the ship, she learned the most important detail: they were too late. The others had returned.

"Do we have time to run back and stay in the orphanage forever?" Linden asked.

Only another rumble of thunder answered him. It felt like an ominous sign.

Caspian sighed from the front and marched unwaveringly back to the dock and up the gang plank. Everyone followed, though Ash hung back, less to avoid the impending scolding and more to keep distance between her and Caspian. Until she figured out a way to wade through the awkwardness lingering after the cliff and the memorial hidden there, she preferred ample space between them.

One of the pirates nearest to Lorica's quarters darted to the door. A few moments later, Garman burst out. Ash flinched. She hadn't seen him in his beast form since that first time, but she could almost imagine it before her again seeing the fury on his face now.

"You four, in here, now."

Caspian strolled far too casually for how much Ash longed to sprint forward and follow Garman's command. Her heart rammed into her chest. She knew that the worst that could happen was more intense duties, but she wanted to quell Garman's and Lorica's anger as quickly as possible regardless.

At least, she didn't think they could do anything worse. The only other option was forbidding her from leaving the ship again, even for the rescue, and Lorica couldn't do that, right?

If not for her heart's rapid beating, she would have thought it turned to stone from the weight in her chest. She could barely breathe by the time she slipped in last to Lorica's quarters. Garman slammed the door behind them.

The pirate captain sat behind her desk with her hands steepled in front of her. She glanced Garman's way. "Careful, please. I did just get that fixed," she said dryly.

Caspian had the grace to look embarrassed.

Garman walked around the semi-circle their group formed. He stopped beside the desk and crossed his arms. Ash wondered if they'd stay there, gazes sharp with frustration and disappointment, letting those looks alone speak for them. It worked. The longer they pinned Ash in place, the worse her shame became.

"When I left," Lorica said after what felt like an hour but Ash knew could only be a few minutes, "it was with two very simple orders. Two of the people in this room were not meant to leave the ship, and the other two claimed they'd ensure that happened. So, who wants to tell me what went so wrong?"

Before anyone else could answer, Caspian took a step forward and bowed his head. "It's my fault, Captain. I snuck off the ship, and the others followed me to ensure I returned safely."

Ash didn't know why she hadn't expected this. Outside of the door incident and him sneaking away that day, she'd never seen him disrespect Lorica. Of course he'd be honest. Maybe it was the way that shielding Linden and Willow from Lorica's wrath also blocked Ash from it, but it hadn't occurred to her that he'd step in front to take the fire's burn for her.

Garman sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Kid," he said in a sigh.

Caspian's head dropped even further down, as if the disappointment before him were a tangible weight.

A few moments passed of Lorica studying Caspian before she spoke. "You know why you must stay off the island. I will not risk you suffering the same fate as before."

"It's not me you should be worried about." The hard edge to his words teetered on becoming anger, but if Lorica took it to be at her, she didn't show it. When he spoke again, the anger had been worn away by a choked desperation. "I had to, Lorica. I had to know that they'd rebuilt."

Her lips thinned as she pressed them together. The cold front remained, but the way she continued to stare at him silently spoke more of concern than fury. As if her gaze would unravel him and reveal what she needed to do rather than branding him with her own frustrations.

Ash felt that pang of being an outsider again. She knew that Caspian's past wasn't hers to know, but it felt like the events around her kept putting her right at its edges. How was she meant to not long to know?

"Your safety is my top concern when it comes to this, Caspian. If you escape onto the island one more time, I will lock you in Garman's room. You are very aware of how impenetrable it is." With the threat given, she seemed satisfied to move on to the others, but Caspian didn't give her the chance.

"You're not even going to let me face him, are you?"

Him. Wolfbane. It had to be. After what he'd told her on the cliff, Ash finally understood his reaction on the Cove. Wolfbane was his villain, his presence lingering over him like a ghost. Roan had hurt Ash, but he hadn't killed Odella, much less hundreds of people that she knew. She couldn't imagine how much more complex her feelings would have been. Or maybe they'd be simpler: hate, more cutting and intense than anything else she felt.

And that consuming hate combined with the fury in his voice, summoning a chill in the room.

Lorica's expression hardened. "Do you want to risk being anywhere near him again?"

Ash hadn't realized how close Caspian was to the desk until he slammed his palms down on its top, splintering the wood where he hit. "After what that drowning piece of scum did, it is my right to be the one who kills him."

Lorica stood. While she and Caspian were nearly the same height, she loomed over his bent figure. "I will evaluate all the information we have, and should I decide it safe enough, you will be part of the rescue, but I will not put you in physical or emotional danger. Do I make myself clear?"

The room itself seemed to hold its breath as the two locked eyes. Ash knew Caspian had lost the fight almost as soon as it began. The tension drained, slowly but surely, until finally everything left at once, leaving him a husk before her.

"Apologies, Captain," he said, his voice so quiet that Ash only caught it because the room was even quieter. "I shouldn't have yelled."

Just as swiftly as it had appeared, Lorica's frosty edge thawed, letting the true concern beneath peak out again.

"Go to your room, Caspian. Get some rest." The gentleness of the words made it more of a request than a command, and she visibly relaxed when, instead of fighting, he nodded and trudged away.

Willow reached out as he passed and squeezed his arm, and Linden nodded to him. Caspian gave them the ghost of a smile before exiting the room. Once he was gone, the room exhaled, releasing some of the building tension within its walls.

Lorica poured herself a glass of whisky before sliding back into her seat. She downed the drink in one gulp.

"Uh, Captain." Even though he'd been the one who chose to speak, Linden still winced as he did it. "Do you need—"

"Your hearts were in the right place," she said, speaking at nearly the same time. She didn't pause to see if he had more to say as she took the reins of the conversation. "However, both Caspian and Ash have clear reasons to remain on the ship. I'm sure the Wolfbane Pirates are already on high alert. We run enough of a risk that any one of us could be recognized because we are known pirates, but those two would eliminate any chance of surprise."

"We wore cloaks," Willow offered as she pulled halfheartedly at her hood.

The raise of Lorica's brow said all that needed to be said about that form of disguise. "I request that all of you think further ahead in the future. Willow and Linden alone would have been enough to bring back our wayward crewmate, so risking Ash's exposure was unnecessary. You're lucky you weren't caught, and you're lucky we need all hands available, or you'd be spending the next quarter-lune scrubbing and scraping the sides of the ship spotless."

Linden blanched. "While at sea?"

Lorica smiled viciously. "Let's remember not to disobey direct orders, shall we?"

Both he and Willow nodded vigorously, and though Ash didn't quite understand, she mimicked their enthusiastic agreement.

"Good, if that's settled, then you also missed our newest information."

Ash perked up as the energy changed, shifting from tension and frustration to adrenaline and excitement. The small curve of Lorica's lips gave Ash hope that the information was very helpful.

"As we already knew, when the Nimfeli open their home to humans, they also host a ball. It turns out that the ball doubles as an auction of sort. The Nimfeli don't traverse the land often, so they use this chance to collect earthen treasures, so instead of exchanging numias, of which they have no use, they exchange precious items."

Ash nodded along as Lorica spoke. "Then that means the artifact is likely one of the auction items."

Lorica tapped the middle of her forehead with her forefinger. "Yes."

"So, what does that mean for us?" Willow asked, eyebrows scrunched together. "Our goal is to rescue Callum, yes? But we also don't want to risk the artifact being in Wolfbane's hands? So, do we split up?"

Before Ash could panic about the prospect, Lorica shook her head. "You can learn a lot from babbling geezers in a pub who everyone else dismisses. Yaja heard him mention seeing Nimfeli wheeling treasures to the Maewyll entrance. It's easy to assume they're preparing the items people plan to exchange for their bids. The most peculiar one he noticed, and the one he kept talking about, was a human. A young man with dark hair, clothed from head to toe."

"Callum," Ash gasped out. The room swayed, and it had nothing to do with the sea beneath them. "But Wolfbane can't bid away Callum."

Lorica shook her head. "No, but he can say he will. For guests to be allowed, they must state first what they have to bid. Wolfbane must be using Callum as a false promise. Once he steals the artifact, he will collect Callum and leave with both. At least, this is what the pieces we have before us would have me believing his plan to be.

"As it turns out, though, the Wolfbanes are not the only pirates here. I have a favor I can call in, and I have a meeting with the same person tomorrow to discuss the layout of the castle. The current plan is to sneak into the ball and enact Wolfbane's plan before he can. It should be easier for those dismissed as the help rather than guests. If my source provides information that goes against this, we'll adjust, but we don't have much time to get all the information."

Linden frowned. "Why? When is the ball?"

Lorica had delivered the information with a cool evenness, but at that question, her mask faded, and she aged with the pressure of time pressing down on her. "It's tomorrow night."

Tomorrow. The word took root in her chest and wrapped its vines around her lungs. That was a little more than twenty-four hours away. The vital moment bounded at her like a Terror that had scented blood. And if they performed the rescue in the stealthy way Lorica mentioned, there was a chance she'd never have to face Roan. The thought both relieved and disappointed her at once.

Lorica shared a few more minor details before reinforcing the need to hide their purpose on the island and sending them away.

The rest of the evening passed in a strange blur.

Tomorrow, they'd have Callum.

Tomorrow, they'd head back to the Cove and restore Odella.

Tomorrow, they had to succeed, because she wouldn't dare indulge the alternative. An alternative painted in suffering and blood.

She recalled eating, having a stilted conversation with the siblings and Haylan as they attempted levity in a too-tense mess hall, attempting a dice game before they decided they needed rest.

Willow didn't think it would ever come for her, yet as Ash lay in her hammock, she caught the soft snores of the woman below her.

Ash wasn't sure what kept her awake: fear of what she'd find in her dreams or fear of what she'd find in her waking world the next day. Either way, sleep eluded her. She needed it, though, desperately. The last few nights hadn't provided true rest, and she needed her mind sharp for the ball.

But her dreams remained as far away as the Dreamer himself.

She squeezed her eyes shut and blew a defeated sigh through her nose. In what was becoming a nightly ritual, she snuck off her hammock and approached the hatch. This time, though, it was for the one that would take her below deck. She quietly lifted the panel and eased the exposed ladder down. A quick glance toward those slumbering revealed them still at peace.

Then, instead of back down the hatch, her gaze traveled to the opposite wall. Garman's lunisium wall glinted in the dulled light stones, and beside that, Caspian's door stared down at her.

He wasn't on watch duty, but did that mean he was in there? Had he slipped onto the top deck to draw by the light of the moon? Or to gaze at the place he'd once called home? Or, perhaps, he stared at his ceiling, just as shunned by sleep as she was.

Biting her lip, she took three steps toward his door before shaking herself and backtracking. She'd caught him in vulnerable moments, but that was timing, not because he felt safe with her. He didn't like her any more than she liked him.

Still, the thought of him found a nook in her thoughts and wedged there like an annoying splinter as she descended the ladder and headed for the infirmary.

"Sorry for waking you," Ash said, wincing as a bedraggled Haylan opened the door. Apparently, he couldn't stand the hammocks, so he took up one of the cots at night.

"No no, you're fine." Even as Haylan said it, he rubbed the heel of his palm against his eye. "What can Dr. Haylan do for you at this fine hour?" he asked, the lightness in his voice bringing more life to him.

"I'm struggling to sleep, and I was wondering if..."

"Ah." Haylan nodded. "If I have any more of the latcia tonic? Of course, come in while I find it."

Ash took a step into the well-lit room. He'd increased the illumination from his lightstones before opening the door. She fiddled with her ring as she glanced around. During her time on the ship, she'd been in this room twice, and the first time had been when she first arrived. It was hard to think of all the things that had changed between her now and the terrified Ash that had awoken in one of these cots.

"Here it is." Haylan appeared in front of her, startling her from her reverie. He smiled softly as he studied her. "Everything will go well tomorrow. I have been with everyone here for four sols, and in that time, I have learned the Nightwraths will accomplish what they put their minds to."

Ash took the vial from him. She rolled it in her palm as she let his words wash over her. As much as she wished to believe him, she had an idea of what they faced. Wolfbane's name proceeded him, and she'd heard a few whispered horror stories that the older crew members tried to pretend they weren't telling, and Roan was, well... Roan. A Scion who had been fearsome enough that the false gods locked him away in fear.

"Thank you," she settled on, because tomorrow would come, whether she believed Haylan's words or not. Hopefully in the light of day she would find it easier to hope.

He went to speak, but before he could, the glow from the lightstones flared a crimson that settled into a lighter but flashing shine. Even with the red tint flooding the room, she caught the way Haylan paled.

"What is that?" she demanded.

"It's the warning signal," he said slowly, as if he couldn't believe it. His wide, fearful eyes lifted to the ceiling. "It means we're under attack."

*****

There were some bits in this I really liked the writing of, so excuse me while I high five my past self VwV But anyway, hope you're ready, because the final act is upon us, and that means everything has to ramp up :D I wonder who could be attacking the Nightwraths 😏 Guess we'll have to see next update.

Let me know your thoughts on the chapter down below, and if you enjoyed it, don't forget to vote and comment! I also have a discord open to anyone who wants to join, and we have a section there to discuss the book :D Let me know if you want to join!