The storm broke thirty minutes after the attack. As the clouds thinned, moonlight slipped through, illuminating the wreckage further. Ash almost wished it would go away so she could pretend it wasn't so bad.

The ship had faced little destruction. Cuts engraved into the wood, the broken hatch situation, splintered railings, and snapped ropes. The crew took the brunt of the force. Of the thirty people on the ship, eleven had died, and ten had been taken. Of the nine still there, four were forced to rest from their injuries.

The remaining five did what they could. Ash tended to the injured with what little medical knowledge she had. Stars bless Haylan, he had his tinctures labeled, so Linden and Letha scuttled down the gaping hole and brought back ones they could find for pain and infections.

By the time they'd done all that they could, the sun peeked over the horizon. The brilliant light sickened Ash. How could the sun shine while the nightmare continued?

She passed through what remained of the ship. They'd moved their fallen comrades to the bow of the ship and tossed the remains of Wolfbane's eight pirates overboard. Ash spared the fallen Nightwraths a glance and sent a quick prayer to the Dreamer requesting he bless their eternal slumbers. She checked on the injured and did what little she could to increase their comfort.

The other uninjured roamed about as well, as if they thought enough movement would stimulate some sort of idea. Well, no, it was unfair to say the uninjured when only her and two others went about. Linden had been below deck for the last thirty minutes, ever since Caspian refused to acknowledge him.

Caspian, meanwhile, sat upon the steps leading to the quarterdeck, his hands buried in his hair and face hidden. Except for a few brief moments, he'd been like that for the past couple of hours.

Ash flexed her fingers as she recalled twisting them into Caspian's shirt. She'd held him, listened to him wail a scream that belonged in the depths of agony, soaking his tears in his shoulder like she would rain.

Despite all the other things wrenching her heart apart, she still found a piece that still ached for his pain.

There was more to this, to Wolfbane's message, to Caspian's relationship with the pirate captain. Nothing else could explain the rawness of Caspian's despair.

Everyone had seen it, and perhaps that was why they'd only try for a moment to speak with him before they'd walk off in their own numb states.

Ash had experienced that pain, dwelled in it while she held him, and she'd let it keep her away. But as frustrating as the sunlight was, it reminded her of one thing. Time continued to move, and too many people needed them. So, no matter how sorry she was for it, she approached Caspian.

She stopped in front of him. He sat high enough up on the steps that he'd still be slightly taller than her despite sitting if he looked up. He didn't, though. Not even a twitch in acknowledgement.

"We have to do something," she said when he continued to ignore her presence.

Nothing.

"Caspian," she said firmly.

"Go away." His voice strained. The lack of usage since his screaming hadn't cured its hoarse raspiness.

"I need you to talk to me."

"I told you to go away." He lifted his head enough to reveal his glower. He might have meant for their amber glow to intimidate her, but all it did was reveal how bloodshot his eyes were.

"Caspian—"

"Go!" He shot to his feet. Between his shout and clenched fist, it would be easy to dismiss his tremors as rage, but Ash knew better. His pain etched itself into every syllable of his words and every line of his face.

Ash pressed her lips together and stared up at him.

Something in his expression shuddered before he swung around. "Fine, then I will." He stormed up the stairs and into Lorica's quarters.

Dejected whispers arose behind her. Caspian, the highest ranked, one of their strongest, was just as hopeless as everyone else, if not more so. If even if he didn't have any faith, why cling to a hope they could save the others?

That same doubt threatened to worm its way into Ash's determination, but she forced one foot forward and then the other.

She expected to have to fight a lock on the door, but she found the knob hanging loosely. Either the battle or Caspian had damaged the door. Accepting this small bout of luck, she stepped inside.

Caspian stood in front of the desk, his back to the door. The two chairs for company had been thrown at some point, taking scrolls and decorations down with them. She had a feeling this had happened more recently than the battle.

"What part of go away do you not understand?" Caspian snapped without looking at her. "I thought hiding behind others was your specialty, so go do that."

It would be so easy to let his words heat the flames of rage within her. Pain and anger went so hand-in-hand, and if she just gave in to one, the other would fade. She'd seen that in her mother when they'd all been trying to cope with Odella's situation, and now more than ever she understood the desire to let anger take over everything else.

But she couldn't do that. She couldn't meet Caspian in that fiery place. She swallowed it down and summoned something cooler and harder to straighten her spine: determination.

"We need a plan, and soon. The ball is tonight, so soon the Wolfbane Pirates will—"

"Shut up!" Caspian whirled around, and the full brunt of his pain slammed into her all over again.

Ignoring the prick of tears in her eyes, Ash walked forward. She didn't stop until only a foot separated her from him.

"I have too much to lose to just shut up, and so do you, so we're going to figure out a plan to save everyone." She spoke slowly, instilling every single word with an unwavering certainty. It didn't matter if she was devoid of hope; determination would carry her through this.

"You don't get it." Caspian decreased the distance between them to mere inches as he continued to glare down at her. "There is nothing to do. I can't beat him. Last time I tried..." His eyes screwed shut, and a memory of misery flittered across his expression.

"So, that's it? You give up?"

"Do you think I don't want to do anything, Cinders?" Caspian's glowing amber eyes snapped back open. "Of course I want to do something, but that something doesn't include losing everyone else on this ship, which is exactly what will happen if we waltz up to that drowning cloud island!" He thrust a hand through his hair and stared off to the side. Water blurred his eyes as the anger drained out of him. "Just sod off and let me mourn in peace already."

He collapsed more than leaned back against the desk and dropped his face into his hand. Mourning accurately encapsulated the emotion rolling off him.

This was safety. Not freedom from pain, but dwelling within it and not risking anything getting worse. It called to Ash, and she couldn't deny how horribly she wanted to fall into its embrace. To accept that the world had ripped something precious from her and hope it would grace her with good if she just kept living in that pain.

Her ring scorched her skin as she became all too aware of it. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. A few tears slid free, and she didn't fight them.

This would be a death wish, but hadn't everything she'd done so far? She couldn't stop now because it was so much scarier.

She would do this, she would, she would. Odella needed her. Callum needed her. And now, so did her friends. A strange tingling bubbled from her and spread through her like a calm, soothing wave.

She opened her eyes. "I'm going."

Caspian's head jerked up. "What?"

"Whether you or anyone else on this ship helps, I'm going. I refuse to sit around doing nothing while the ones I love need me."

"You can't be serious." He placed both palms against the desk and pushed off. "You don't know who Lorica's source was, you have no way of knowing the layout, and you can't defeat a whole crew of magical pirates."

With each damning piece of evidence against a rescue, he stepped closer, and in the small space, it only took him three steps to put him inches from her. He searched her face. Confusion quickly joined his disbelief.

She forced herself to meet his gaze, even if his stare tried to dredge up every doubt within her. "I may die, but I can't live with myself if I let fear rule me. I did that once already, and I may never be able to make up for it." Her throat closed as the memory of a desperate, pleading Odella flickered through her thoughts. "Not again, Caspian. I refuse."

He gulped as he continued to stare at her. She didn't waver. An ember of hope burned, growing hotter with each second that passed where he didn't dismiss her. But then he closed his eyes, and the flame went out.

"Fine." Resisting her urge to argue with him, she turned away. She'd expected so much more, but if she had let fear keep her from helping her twin, should this surprise her?

She'd only taken two steps when a hand grasped her wrist. "Wait," Caspian said.

"You're not stopping me—"

"I said wait, not stop." He tugged her back, and she let him turn her. She found a different version of him standing there. Not despondent, not hopeful.

But a budding resolve filled the cracks that had so fully fractured him mere moments ago.

"Only us," he said. "You and I will do this, so you can't expect more help than that."

She scoffed. "I was willing to go alone."

"Because part of you didn't hope that Linden would join you to save his sister?" he challenged, raising his brows in doubt.

Maybe she had, but she refused to acknowledge it aloud. "You say just us. Do you think you can stop Linden?"

A new energy overtook him. Now that he'd accepted that they were going to act, he'd shifted into the dual-first-mate that Lorica must have seen in him. "I don't believe I could ever stop him, but I can at least delay him."

"And why exactly can't he come along?" she asked. "His magic sounds very strong."

"That's why. Most of those still on the ship are either injured or have very minor magical abilities. They'll need someone here to keep them safe. So, as I said, only me and you, Cinders."

They gazed at each other, the reality of their need to rely on the other settling between them. Ash became suddenly aware that he'd yet to let her go. He seemed to realize as well, because he released her at the same time she pulled back.

In all her bravado when marching in here, she hadn't thought ahead to what she'd do if she convinced Caspian to act. What would she have done if he hadn't? Marched off the ship and roam the town fruitlessly?

She shifted her weight awkwardly. "So, uh, what now?"

"I'd love to say we put our heads together and plan, but before we do that..." Sighing, Caspian pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes. "I want to have Linden here to help, so I'm going to have to go break the news to him that he's staying behind and hope he doesn't burn down the ship."

***

The first thing Linden did when he saw Caspian drop down to the lower deck was throw a boot at him. Now, facing the news of the plan, Linden looked ready to pick up an entire trunk and lob it at him, too. Ash took solace in knowing Caspian was the target of Linden's rage and not her.

"She's my sister!" Linden snapped.

"As you've said a dozen times already," Caspian muttered, earning a deserved scowl from his friend. "Look, all I mean is that I get it. I wouldn't ask this of you if you weren't the only viable option to leave over the ship."

"And you need a viable option to go with you! No offense, Ash," Linden added with a wince.

Ash couldn't take offense, not when Linden pointed out a very obvious peculiarity. She'd been the one determined to rescue the others, but that wouldn't be enough of a justification for Caspian to allow her to come along.

Thankfully, she received an answer to her unspoken question. "I have the start of an idea, and it requires her magic," he explained. "I thought of it when she was using her glamour earlier."

Ash felt like she'd swallowed a hunk of rotten cheese. "Caspian, I struggle to use my magic."

Of all the people she'd ever met, Caspian was the last person she expected to have faith in her abilities, which was why his disbelief at her statement confused her. "You did it just... never mind. We'll make it work."

She wasn't sure, but she chose to embrace his optimism. They'd probably need it.

"Regardless, I don't have many options for support, and no, I can't take you. No, shut up," Caspian said when Linden started to argue. "Between you, Letha, and Dirk, I have no doubt you can get back to the Haven, because that's what will have to happen. If we can't do this, we have to get everyone else there. It's what Lorica would order, and Sybil may be able to do something beyond what we can."

Linden's jaw twitched with how strongly he clamped his jaws together. He blinked back tears. The fight was petering out, but not yet fully gone. "My sister..." He choked on a sob.

Ash brushed past Caspian and pulled Linden into a hug. It took him a moment to react, but then he wrapped his arms around her and crushed her into him. He seemed to sense the unique understanding between the two of them. Ash, too, charged down this threat with the intent of getting her sister back.

"We'll save them. We'll save her," she swore.

He didn't say anything, but he squeezed her tighter. He lifted his head, and when she followed his gaze, she found him staring at Caspian, their own silent exchange passing between them.

"If a single one of you doesn't return, I will burn that cloud to the ground, do you understand?" Although he still looked at Caspian, he squeezed Ash again, making it clear that she was included in that.

She felt like crying again.

"Let's get up top," Caspian said when they separated. "We have a lot of planning to do."

*****

Caspian needed a bit of a shake, and I'm sure he never would have expected Ash to be the one to give it xD Hope her drive felt realistic here!  Now the two of them get to go on a big bad rescue mission on their own 😬 Hopefully they can survive it, and, well, each other xD

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!