For a moment, everyone on the Silent Dagger froze.
The sea was calm again—eerily calm—after the Leviathan's death. Steam rose from its cooling corpse, drifting over the deck like ghostly mist. Pirates caught their breath, sharpening weapons, resetting lines, muttering hurried prayers.
Then the warhorn sounded again.
Low. Metallic. Imperial.
Kael's stomach dropped.
A sleek, black-and-gold warship sliced through the fog, its hull smashing the still-glowing remains of the Leviathan's blood. Lanterns swung from its masts, illuminating rows of soldiers armed with rifles and boarding hooks.
The ship's name glinted under the moonlight:
The Oathbreaker.Flagship of the Empire's Third Fleet.
Seraya cursed under her breath."Of all the nights…"
Lioren slid down a rope, goggles glowing faintly from reflected moonlight. "Captain, delightful news! They're aiming their cannons at us!"
"That's not delightful."
"I know. I'm practicing sarcasm. How'd I do?"
"Badly," Seraya said. Then louder: "Battle positions!"
Pirates scrambled. Some manned the ballistae. Others hauled buckets of Leviathan oil toward the flame-throwers mounted on the sides. Rhea loaded her sling with small spheres of black powder and lightning crystals.
Kael stood still, gripping the spear from the earlier fight.
Seraya noticed."Kael."
He snapped to attention.
"You know how to fight?" she asked.
"I know how to survive," he said quietly.
"Good. Then listen carefully." She leaned closer, voice dropping into a calm, deadly whisper."Imperials don't see you as human. They see you as property. Nothing enrages them more than property that runs."
Kael's fists tightened around his spear.
"So tonight," Seraya continued, "you get to choose. Run back to the mines… or stay and fight for the sea."
She stepped back.
"What do you choose?"
Kael didn't hesitate."I'm not going back."
Seraya smirked. "Good answer."
A cannonball slammed into the water next to the Silent Dagger, spraying the deck with cold seawater.
Pirates cursed.
Seraya shouted, "Engines to full! Turn us broadside!"
Lioren dashed toward a massive brass engine in the ship's center. Steam exploded upward as gears roared awake. The Silent Dagger lurched to life, moving faster than a normal ship ever could.
Kael stared. "How is it so fast?"
Rhea appeared beside him. "Because it's not running on wind."
"What then?"
She winked. "Secrets."
Before Kael could ask more, an Imperial officer stepped onto the Oathbreaker's bow. Clad in black armor with gold trim, he lifted a megaphone.
His voice boomed across the ocean.
"Pirates aboard the Silent Dagger! By the decree of the Empire, surrender your vessel and all fugitives—especially the miner child who fled our jurisdiction—and we will spare your lives!"
Kael flinched.They were after him?
Rhea whispered, "Well, you've made quite an impression."
Seraya stepped onto the railing, cupping her hands around her mouth."Hello, Orik!"
A cold chill went through Kael.
Orik? As in… Admiral Orik Thornfall?
The Empire's most feared hunter?
The officer didn't respond, but Kael saw the faintest tightening at his jaw.
"Traitor," Orik called back. "You had your chance to serve the Empire. Instead you became a pirate."
"Wrong," Seraya replied. "I became free."
Orik lifted his hand.
"Fire."
Cannons roared.
Flames lit the fog.
The Silent Dagger jolted violently as two cannonballs smashed into the hull. Wood splintered. Pirates stumbled. Rhea grabbed Kael just before he toppled overboard.
"Kael!" she shouted. "With me! Ballista two!"
His hands shook, but he followed her, dragging the heavy crank of the ballista. The giant bolt was nearly as tall as he was.
"Load it!" Rhea commanded.
Kael pushed, muscles burning. The bolt locked into place. Pirates on nearby decks fired flaming arrows and explosive spheres. The Oathbreaker returned fire relentlessly.
Seraya raised her sword high.
"NOW!"
Every pirate on deck pulled a trigger, threw a bomb, or launched a bolt.
Kael yanked the release.
The ballista fired with a thunderous crack. The bolt sliced through the air, trailing Leviathan flame. It struck the Oathbreaker's side, punching through the gunwale and tearing a line of soldiers off their feet.
Rhea whooped. "Nice shot, kid!"
Kael panted, shocked. "I—I just aimed where the Deep told me."
She froze. "Wait… what?"
But she didn't get an answer.The Oathbreaker lowered a metallic contraption from its upper deck—a cannon barrel with multiple rotating rings crackling with blue electricity.
Lioren screamed, "CAPTAIN! THEY'RE LOADING A VOLT SPEAR!"
Seraya's eyes widened. "Brace!"
The weapon fired.
A bolt of pure lightning streaked across the water, slamming into the Silent Dagger's main mast. The entire ship shook as a column of white fire engulfed the deck.
Kael was thrown backward, slamming into a crate. His ears rang. His eyes blurred.
Smoke. Screams.Pirates scrambling.Rhea dragging someone away from falling debris.
And through the chaos…
Seraya stood tall, coat smoldering, gripping the blasted remains of the mast with one hand.
Her eyes burned with fury.
"Thornfall!" she shouted across the water.
The Imperial flagship reloaded.
"This ends tonight!"
Orik stepped forward, cold and unmoving.
"It does," he said.
Kael pushed himself up, dizzy.
Rhea ran to him, coughing. "We can't take another volt strike! The ship will tear in half!"
Seraya lifted her blade, pointing it toward the Empire's ship.
"Kael!" she called.
He looked up.
The wind died.The sea stilled.The Deep whispered sharply, urgently.
Choose.
Seraya's voice was steady."Your first command, boy. Do we flee… or do we fight?"
Kael's mind raced.He could save them.He could doom them.He could embrace the sea…or fear it.
And the Deep surged in his bones.
Choose.
Kael took a breath.
"I say—"
The words left his mouth like a spark lighting a fuse.
"—we fight."
Seraya grinned.
"Then fight we shall."
She raised her sword.
"ALL HANDS! PREPARE FOR THE BLOODSTORM!"
The Silent Dagger charged.
And the war began.