The boy slept.
But the sea did not.
Darkness pressed thick around his mind, heavy and wet, and somewhere within it the world was breaking again.
Wood screamed.
Iron groaned.
The deck pitched violently beneath his feet.
Rain cut across his face like thrown gravel.
Lanterns swung on snapping chains, casting warped shadows that twisted and stretched along soaked planks.
Men ran past him, shouting — but their voices dragged thin, swallowed by the wind.
He tried to move.
His limbs felt slow. Heavy.
As though he were wading through deep water.
A bell rang once.
Twice.
Then screaming.
The ship shuddered.
Something struck the hull with thunderous force.
A mast split.
Crates tore loose.
A man vanished over the rail in a blur of black water and broken prayer.
Figures surged out of the storm — cloaked shapes, their armor etched with warped sigils that made his vision ache when he tried to focus.
A blade flashed.
Steel rang.
This was no accident.
This was an attack.
"Find him!" someone roared.
"Do not let him reach the boats!"
Fear pierced deep into his chest — not because he understood the words, but because his bones did.
A hand seized his arm.
This one was real.
"You must—"
Thunder swallowed the rest.
The deck split.
The world tore open.
Cold water rushed into his lungs.
He fell, clawing upward toward fading lantern light—
A voice whispered his name inside his blood.
He gasped and bolted upright.
Pain flared at his temple, sharp and bright. His breath came fast, ragged.
Wool blankets slid down his chest as firelight smeared across his vision.
He wasn't on a ship.
He was in a small, low-roofed room.
Smoke. Herbs. Warmth.
"You're awake."
He froze.
A girl sat beside the bed on a low stool.
Dark hair loosely tied back.
Green eyes — alert, steady, unafraid.
"I'm Lila," she said gently.
"You were dreaming."
He swallowed, throat raw.
"Where am I?"
"At my family's home.
By the eastern cliffs."
His gaze dropped to the bandage at his head, the unfamiliar blankets.
"You were found on the shore."
The sea whispered in his memory — black water, screaming wood.
"I don't remember," he whispered.
Lila leaned forward slightly. "Remember what?"
"Anything."
Silence settled between them.
"…Not even your name?"
He searched himself.
There was nothing.
"No."
The fire cracked softly.
Outside, the wind brushed the old wards.
And for the first time since the sea spared him, the boy truly understood —
He was lost.