Page 14 of Frostforge, Passage Six
"They’re fleeing," Ashe breathed, lowering her weapon as the targets disappeared into the gathering dusk.“They know they can’t win the fight on the docks—their only hope is out on the water.”
Thalia had no time to ponder this new information.A shout from the mainmast drew her attention upward, where a teenage boy clung to the rigging.
"The sails are clear!"he called down."No sabotage!"
Below decks, others reported similar findings—the Wardens had abandoned the ship intact, taking only their personal weapons and whatever could be carried in haste.The vessel was theirs.
A grizzled woman who had introduced herself as a former first mate took command, bellowing orders with the ease of long practice.Under her direction, the sails unfurled, catching what little wind remained as the sun vanished below the horizon.The ship creaked and groaned as it pulled away from the dock, wooden beams adjusting to movement after days of stillness.Behind them, two more captured ships pulled away from their moorings, their decks crowded with freedom fighters armed with whatever weapons they had managed to scavenge.She could see two more vessels still at the docks, their masts swarming with people preparing them for battle.
Out in the deeper water, Roran had spotted their approach.He guided the schooner in a wide arc that brought it alongside their larger vessel, close enough that Thalia could see his face clearly for the first time.Exhaustion lined his features, and blood matted his hair on one side, but his eyes burned with fierce, almost manic determination as he raised a hand in greeting.
"Took you long enough," he called, his voice carrying across the narrowing gap between ships.
Thalia felt a laugh bubble up from her chest, surprising in its suddenness."We had to dress for the occasion," she shouted back, gesturing to the ship beneath her feet.
Roran grinned, then turned his attention to the approaching enemy."They're not expecting resistance from the harbor," he said, his voice shifting to the tone of command he had developed at Frostforge."We hit them from both sides, trap them between us and the docks."
The first mate nodded sharply."Port cannons loaded and ready," she confirmed."These Warden weapons are strange, but they'll fire true enough."
The battle was joined as sunset bled into full darkness.Their captured battleship, flanked by the schooner and two smaller vessels, sailed directly toward the Warden formation.Lightning crackled overhead, called by Roran's will, illuminating the scene in stark flashes of blue-white light.
The Wardens seemed momentarily confounded by the sight of their own ships bearing down on them, hesitating just long enough for the first volley of cannon fire to strike home.Conventional shot mixed with splinters of the Wardens’ black metal, ripping through black sails.
Thalia braced herself against the rail as their ship shuddered with the recoil of its own guns.The acrid smell of powder smoke filled her nostrils, stinging her eyes as she peered through the darkness for signs of their attack's effectiveness.
A horn blast echoed across the water—not the aggressive call to battle she had heard before, but three short, desperate notes that spoke of retreat.The Warden ships began to turn, their formation breaking as each captain made the individual decision to flee rather than fight.
"They're running," Ashe said, incredulous, coming to stand beside Thalia at the rail."They're actually running."
It seemed impossible, yet the evidence was before them.One by one, the black-sailed ships turned away from Verdant Port, their retreat marked by the frantic flashing of signal lamps.Those damaged by Roran's initial attack limped after their companions, listing badly but still moving under their own power.
The freed prisoners aboard their captured vessel began to cheer, the sound quickly taken up by those on the other ships and back at the docks.Victory cries echoed across the water, followed by impromptu songs in a dozen different dialects.Some climbed the rigging to wave improvised banners made from torn Warden uniforms, while others collapsed to their knees, overcome by the sudden release of tension.
Their ship slowed as it reached the harbor's mouth, turning to watch the enemy fleet disappear into the mist.Thalia felt strangely hollow as the adrenaline drained from her system, leaving fatigue in its wake.They had won—improbably, impossibly—yet the cost lay all around them in broken bodies and shattered buildings.
The former first mate ordered their vessel back toward the docks, where hundreds of people now gathered, torches and lamps creating pools of warmth in the gathering darkness.As they neared the harbor once more, Thalia saw the schooner already tied up, Roran speaking urgently with a group of locals.Kaine stood beside them, his glacenite hammer resting over one shoulder.
Their ship bumped gently against the dock, and Thalia was one of the first across the gangplank, her boots hitting the familiar planking with a reassuring solidity.She pushed through the crowd toward Roran and Kaine, who turned at her approach, relief flooding his pale features.
He seized her arms, his grip tight enough to bruise."Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," she said, but the words felt distant, disconnected from her thoughts.Something had caught her eye beyond his shoulder—a slender figure in the drab garb of a prisoner, standing apart from the celebrating crowd.
The world narrowed to a single point as recognition crashed through her.Thalia barely heard Kaine's continued questions as she pushed past him, her glacenite blade slipping from nerveless fingers to clatter on the dock.
Mari.
Her sister stood motionless, disbelief etched across features that had matured in Thalia's absence.No longer the child she had left behind, Mari had grown taller, her face thinner, cheekbones more pronounced.But her eyes—their mother's eyes—remained the same, widening now as she recognized Thalia in turn.
"Mari," Thalia whispered, the name half prayer, half desperate question.
Then she was running, closing the distance between them in a few frantic strides.She dropped to her knees before her sister, pulling Mari into a fierce embrace that contained every fear, every hope, every moment of separation since she had left for Frostforge.
Mari's arms wrapped around her, thin but surprisingly strong, her face pressed into Thalia's shoulder.She smelled of smoke and fear and something indefinably familiar—home, family, the memories of a life before everything changed.
"You came back," Mari whispered, her voice muffled against Thalia's shoulder."You actually came back."
Tears streaked Thalia's face, hot against her skin in the cool evening air."Of course I did," she managed, her voice breaking on the words."I promised, didn't I?"
