I stood there, lost in the moment. The crowd weaved to and fro around me, a living current of bodies and noise, and for a breath my vision swam — like the world and everything in it might collapse inward, swallowed whole by my own eyes.

What was I supposed to do? How was I supposed to go about any of this? It wasn't as if I'd ever been to Faeren Heights before.

'Maybe I should just find…'

Someone suddenly brushed past me. But the strange thing was they didn't just brush past — the person grabbed my hand and ran, dragging me along.

"Hurry! We have no time!"

'Eh?'

My legs moved after him automatically, stumbling into a sprint before my brain caught up. As I got a proper look at him, my brows rose in confusion.

'Wasn't that the guy from outside just now?'

It was baffling. He'd been putting on quite the show about wanting to get in, all desperate pleading and theatrical despair.

'How did he get in?'

I noticed the metal collar on his neck was gone too. Vanished, like it had never existed.

He ran, holding my hand in a grip that left no room for argument. Together, we wove through the clouds, smartly passing people, dodging incoming carts that rattled across the sky-stone paths. The cold wind of altitude whipped past us, carrying the scent of sea salt and something metallic.

Eventually we reached the edge of the port city — the edge of the cliff itself, which dropped away to the ship harbor far below.

Here, people were fewer. There was a railing along the cliff's edge, and the place had been built up like a small park where visitors could stand around and gaze over the sea. Benches sat empty. A few merchants lingered, smoking pipes and watching the horizon.

Looking at the sea from this close, my eyes began to see double. My head felt strange, light and heavy at once, like the water was rising up to meet me, closing in.

The feralis glanced back at me with slight concern.

"Are you okay?"

My attention managed to wrench itself away from the sickening expanse of ocean. I furrowed my brows at him.

"You! Who—"

The boy grabbed my hand with both of his and shook it energetically, beaming like we were old friends reuniting after years apart.

"Nice to meet you! My name is Po!"

'Hell no… don't bring the panda into this!'

He cocked his head slightly, studying my face.

"What a strange expression you have on you."

I slowly withdrew my hand from Po's grip and shook it out.

'What a strong grip.' My fingers tingled.

I gave him a long look.

"Po… were you not just…"

"Oh! Yes, that was me." He smiled, utterly unbothered.

It was tough to deny — despite the rough hair and dirty face, the guy was somewhat good looking. Not bad at all, really, with thick ashen brows and striking yellow eyes that had vertical pupils, like a cat's. Or something less domestic. Something with claws.

"Boss instructed that I make sure you get in at all cost. And to escort you to the ship."

"Boss… Levi?" My eyes widened slightly.

Po nodded energetically, his whole body bouncing with the motion.

"Once we cross over there," he pointed downhill toward the harbor, "it'll be extraction successful!"

I gave him an intense look.

"But we still have to wait for Levi, Tristan, and Nisha… right?"

He scoffed, waving a dismissive hand.

"Are you worried about Boss? Worry about yourself, Mr. Heretic. By the way, what's your name? I really don't like the way 'Mr. Heretic' sounds."

I scratched my sideburns.

"Uhm, I'm Cade."

"Okay, Mr. Cade. Down we go!"

He was already marching forward. Literally marching, arms swinging with military precision.

"Uhm, Cade is fine," I whispered to him from behind.

"Okay, Mr. Cade." He continued marching downward without breaking stride.

I let out a sigh. He was never going to listen.

'Where in the world is Levi finding these people? Who are they?'

We walked downhill, the path switching back and forth along the cliff face, and eventually arrived at the harbor. It was a vast space dominated by gargantuan ships, their masts reaching toward the sky like the bones of dead giants. Massive beasts stood beside them, patient as mountains. Workers swarmed everywhere — offloading bundles of cargo and strapping loads to the backs of the beasts of burden, filling carts that the creatures would pull through the maze of docks.

The beasts were a spectacle all their own. There was a creature that looked like a crocodile, except it was ten times the size of any crocodile I'd ever seen, with a greenish-black hide and a mouth wide enough to swallow a man whole. Its golden eyes were strangely docile, half-lidded with boredom. The beast had been saddled around the jaw, and workers were busy loading cargo onto a platform behind its massive head.

There was another like a horse, but much thicker, much fatter — it had to be the grandfather of all horses, retired from pulling chariots of the gods and now reduced to hauling fish barrels.

"Mr. Cade… this way."

Po noticed me staring too much and called me back to attention, leading me away with a gentle tug on my sleeve. We walked past rows of ships, some fearsome in size, some meager. Salt-crusted ropes hung everywhere, and the wooden planks beneath our feet were slick with spray.

It made me wonder what kind of ship would be taking us away from this Kingdom.

'Probably something worse than meager. It's always like this in the movies.'

Po finally stopped between two massive vessels, their hulls rising on either side like indestructible castle walls. They blotted out the sky.

We walked between the walls of the ships, into the shadowed canyon between them, and eventually began to climb a rope ladder up one of them. The rungs were rough with salt, the hemp fraying in places.

Throughout the climb, I was frozen in shock — my hands moving, my feet finding purchase, but my mind somewhere else entirely. The trope had been broken. I was not going to be rescued by some broke peasant thieves who barely made a living for themselves but were always happy and scrappy and somehow pulled through anyway.

'These people have ships. Plural.'

We finally climbed onto the deck, and it was another world up here.

People were moving to and fro, carrying wooden boxes of cargo with practiced efficiency. Commands were shouted. Ropes were coiled. The air smelled of tar and timber and the promise of open water.

And there was a man in a simple white shirt and black trousers with knee-high boots commanding the chaos like a conductor. He was a large man, brown-skinned like Nisha but darker, with a mustache that curved upward at the ends and a goatee that came to an odd point.

As we climbed aboard, he fixed his gaze on us and was already walking over, boots thudding against the planks.

He reached us and looked at me with a smirk I would define as annoying if given the chance. The kind of smirk that suggested he knew something you didn't and found that hilarious.

"Extraction complete?"

Po stood at attention beside me, practically vibrating with pride.

"All that's left is Mr. Tristan, Lady Nisha, and the Boss."

The man laughed, a big sound that came from deep in his chest.

"What did those three do to get themselves hooked behind?" He looked at me properly now, taking my measure. "Goodness, it took you so long. We almost thought we were going to fail this one."

He sighed, his shoulders dropping with genuine relief.

'Are they… all here for… me?'

It couldn't be. There had to be something I was missing. For one, they were loading cargo — crates and barrels and wrapped bundles. This was a proper business operation, not some charity rescue.

'So what's my role in all this?'

"By the way, my name is Derry. You can call me the Fixer."

"Mr. Derry loves fixing things!" Po interrupted, bouncing on his heels.

"Let me introduce my own self, you fox!"

"Mr. Derry, that's an unwise thing to say to a Fox-kin, given your age and size I thought you'd know that?"

"Looks like you want your tongue cut."

"This is bullying."

"Come here, you vulpine—"

Their noise faded into the background as they chased each other across the deck, weaving between startled workers. And I… I just stood there, staring at everything around me.

Ships. Beasts. Crew. An entire company of individuals, I knew nothing about but seemed like all the things right about this world at the same time wrong about it.

My eyes stayed frozen open, trying to take it all in.

'Just who exactly are these people?'

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