The shore returned silent, but not as it was before.
"Bring the prisoner."
The command was quiet and absolute, and the raven man inclined his head once. "As you wish."
He turned without another word, his form dissolving before he even took a second step, collapsing into shadow, folding inward until nothing remained.
The silence stretched after his absence, but not for long when he returned almost immediately, though this time, he wasn't alone.
The prisoner was dragged forward with little ceremony, his steps unsteady as he was forced across the sand. Shackles bound his wrists, iron biting into skin that had already been worn raw. A dark cloth had been tied harshly across his mouth, though it did little to hide the sharp lines of his face.
