By nightfall, Duskport was a city of rumors.
The sinking of Grayrift had every tavern, dockside trader, and skyship crew whispering about the same thing — the Sleeper was stirring.
Kaelen kept to the shadowed backstreets, his hood low. The Rune Sovereignty would be hunting for him, and the Ash Wraith… she could be anywhere. But it wasn't fear that made his steps quicken. It was the words of the bonecarver in the market, echoing in his head:
> "The Sleeper's waking."
He needed answers.
That's how he found himself at the edge of the Skybarrow Docks, staring at a battered skyship with patched sails and the name Hollow Fortune scrawled in peeling paint along its hull.
Its captain — a woman with short storm-blue hair and a mechanical brace on her left leg — was leaning on the railing, watching him with narrowed eyes.
"You're either desperate," she said, "or you're stupid."
Kaelen stepped closer. "You fly to the Isle of Ash?"
Her brow arched. "Nobody flies there. Not unless they've got a death wish."
"I'll pay," Kaelen said, though his coin pouch was embarrassingly light.
"I don't want your money." She limped down the gangplank, her gaze sharp. "What's on that island worth dying for?"
"Answers," he said simply.
She studied him for a long moment. "Name's Sera Duskryn. And if I take you there, you follow my rules. No wandering. No touching anything. And if the ash starts to move, you run."
Kaelen gave a short nod.
By dawn, they were in the air. The Hollow Fortune's patched sails caught the high winds, carrying them across the yawning gaps between the islands. Below, the Veil curled lazily, hiding whatever titanic shapes stirred beneath.
When the Isle of Ash came into view, Kaelen's throat went dry.
The island was nothing but blackened ruins, the skeletal remains of towers jutting from scorched ground. Great fissures split the land, glowing faintly with rune-fire that had never gone out.
"This is what happens when a titan ritual fails," Sera said quietly. "The Sovereignty tried to bind one here, centuries ago. They burned the island to stop it."
Kaelen's rune pulsed in his palm — but this time, it wasn't pain.
It was recognition.