The heat of Mount Gulg felt like a distant fever dream as we descended toward the coast. The air turned salty and sharp, but the "peace" of the seaside was a lie. As the port city of Pravoka came into view, it wasn't the bustling hub of trade I remembered from the game. It was a city under siege.
Columns of black smoke choked the horizon.
The harbor was a graveyard of splintered masts and tattered sails.
"Pirates," Elena spat, her hand hovering over the hilt of her Mythril dagger. "But look at the water. It's not blue. It's the color of a bruised lung."
She was right. The waves lapping against the docks were a sickly, oily purple. The influence of the Water Fiend, Kraken, was already poisoning the coast. But we couldn't swim to the Sunken Shrine; we needed a ship. And currently, the only ships afloat belonged to Captain Bikke.
As we entered the city square, the screams of townsfolk were drowned out by the raucous laughter of men who looked less like sailors and more like drowned corpses. Their skin was grey, their eyes milky and wide.
"They've been 'touched' by the rot," Sarah whispered, her staff glowing with a protective white light. "They aren't just greedy; they're possessed."
A massive man with a beard tangled like seaweed stepped forward, a heavy cutlass resting on his shoulder. This was Bikke, but not the comical rogue from the NES era. This man radiated a cold, damp malice.
"Fresh meat!" Bikke roared, his voice bubbling with phlegm. "The Deep One promised us souls to stoke the tides! Lay down your trinkets, and I'll make your deaths quick."
"We're not here for your treasures, Bikke," I said, stepping forward. I felt Sarah's hand brush against mine—a brief, electric touch that centered my racing heart. "We're taking your ship. And we're taking your head if you stand in our way."
Bikke threw back his head and laughed, a wet, rattling sound. "Kill them! Leave the girls for the lockers!"
Nine pirates lunged at once. This wasn't the turn-based skirmish I expected. It was a street brawl. One pirate swung a rusted flail at my head; I parried, the Mythril blade shearing through the iron chain like it was paper.
Maya was a whirlwind of violence. She caught a pirate's wrist, snapped it with a sickening pop, and used his body as a shield against a volley of crossbow bolts. Elena was a blur of red, her fingers snapping to ignite the black powder in the pirates' pouches. Boom. The square erupted in a series of small, tactical explosions.
In the chaos, I found myself back-to-back with Sarah. A pirate lunged at her with a jagged shiv. Without thinking, I stepped into the strike, the blade grazing my ribs as I drove my sword through the attacker's chest.
"Alex!" Sarah cried, her hand immediately glowing with Cura.
"I'm fine," I grunted, the sting of the wound disappearing under her touch. I looked at her, her hair windblown and her eyes fierce with a protective fire I'd never seen before. In that moment, surrounded by death and salt spray, the world felt incredibly small. Just us.
"Watch out!" she yelled, shoving me aside as Bikke himself charged, his cutlass swinging in a murderous arc.
I rolled, coming up in a low crouch. Bikke was strong, but he was slow, weighed down by the corruption in his veins. I saw the opening—a gap in his leather armor where the purple rot pulsed.
I didn't just strike; I poured everything I had into the blade. Focus. Vorpal Strike. The Mythril blade sang as it carved through Bikke's chest. He didn't bleed red. A foul, dark ink sprayed the cobblestones as he collapsed, his body dissolving into the same oily mist that plagued the harbor.
The remaining pirates fled, their connection to the Fiend severed. Silence returned to Pravoka, broken only by the lapping of the tainted waves.
"We have the ship," Maya said, pointing to the Ship of Light moored at the end of the pier. It was the only vessel untouched by the rot.
I looked at Sarah. She was still holding her staff tight, her chest heaving. I reached out and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Her skin was cold from the sea mist, but her gaze was burning.
"We're going out there," I said softly. "To the middle of the ocean."
"I know," she replied, stepping closer until our shoulders touched. "And I'm staying right beside you."