Page 35 of Frostforge, Passage Six
"First wave?"Ashe interrupted, her voice sharp with disbelief."You mean the raids that slaughtered coastal villages?The burnings and kidnappings?"
Cassia's eyes hardened."Your people attacked ours upon landing," she countered."No words shared, no understanding sought.Only blood and fire greeting those who fled certain death."
"That's not true," Ashe snapped, half-rising from her stool before Thalia placed a restraining hand on her arm."The Isle Wardens came with weapons drawn, burning our homes, stealing our children—"
"Stop," Thalia interjected, the pieces suddenly aligning in her mind."The truth is likely somewhere between these accounts."She glanced between Ashe and Cassia, seeing the same certainty in both their eyes—the absolute conviction of history as they had learned it."Think about it—two peoples with no common language, different magics, different customs.Fear on both sides.Misunderstandings escalating to violence."She shook her head slowly."The true beginning of this conflict might be lost to time, buried beneath generations of retaliatory violence."
"What matters is what's happening now," Roran said, his voice hard with suppressed emotion."What matters is that your people imprisoned everyone in Verdant Port and sorted them like cattle.That your raiders routinely massacre coastal villages, including my own.Those aren't misunderstandings, Captain.Those are atrocities."
Anger flared in Thalia's chest at the reminder of what the Wardens had done to her city, to her family.The image of Mari's too-thin frame and haunted eyes rose unbidden in her mind.Yet she forced the fury down, burying it beneath the more immediate need for information.They needed Cassia's knowledge if they were to understand the threat that loomed over both their peoples.
"Why the increase in attacks on the mainland recently?"Thalia asked, steering the conversation back to its original course."If this ‘Deep Tide’ has threatened your islands before, what's changed?"
Cassia's fingers drummed once against the stone, a gesture that seemed to express frustration."Before, islands vanished rarely.Terrible, yes, but many years might pass between losses."Her expression darkened further."Now, in three moons' time, we have lost four major isles, and many smaller ones.The pattern accelerates.The Deep Ones grow bolder, hungrier."
"And that justifies the barbarity we've witnessed?"Roran challenged, sparks flying more visibly between his fingers now."Enslaving entire cities?Abducting children?"
Cassia's gaze fixed on Roran, something like pity flickering across her weathered features."Your hatred for your own people is remarkable," she observed quietly.
"My people are those from the Southern Kingdoms," Roran shot back, his voice rising."My family—my true family—were merchants from a village called Shearwater.They were murdered by Warden raiders when I was a child."
"Your blood family were Wardens," Cassia countered, her certainty unwavering."This is written in your face, in your magic, in the very way you move."
"Shut up!"The words exploded from Roran with such force that lightning crackled visibly around his clenched fists.The air in the chamber grew suddenly charged, the pressure dropping as storm energy gathered around him in coils of potential destruction.
"Roran," Thalia warned, gripping his forearm."Remember where we are."She could feel the power humming through him, barely contained.If he lost control here, surrounded by Wardens aboard a fortress-whale in hostile waters, they might not survive the consequences.
Cassia seemed unperturbed by the display.If anything, a hint of satisfaction showed in her slight smile as she observed Roran's struggle for control.
"Strong," she commented, nodding as if confirming a theory."Among the strongest I have seen.But untrained.Undisciplined."She tilted her head, studying him with professional interest."The storm called without mastery is like knife with no handle—dangerous to wielder first."
Roran's jaw clenched, tendons standing out in his neck as he fought to suppress the magic roiling within him.Thalia maintained her grip on his arm, her voice low and steady as she continued to murmur calming words.Gradually, the crackling energy subsided, though the scent of ozone lingered in the close air of the captain's chamber.
"Where is the fortress-whale headed now?"Thalia asked, deliberately changing the subject as Roran's breathing slowly returned to normal.
Cassia's expression shifted, uncertainty replacing confidence for the first time since their meeting began."I am...not certain," she admitted."We cannot approach mainland—your military would attack without question.But these waters..."She gestured toward the chamber walls, as if indicating the vast ocean beyond."These waters grow more dangerous with each passing day."
She leaned forward, her voice dropping as if sharing a confidence."Fortress-whales survive deep waters better than ships, better than islands.More bulk than vessels, and unlike islands, she moves.But she is not infallible."Her gaze drifted to the mother-of-pearl mosaic on the far wall, something like nostalgia softening her stern features momentarily.
"This far into archipelago, none are truly safe," she continued."The Old Ones reach farther with each passing moon.Islands that stood for countless generations now exist only in memory."
Thalia followed Cassia's gaze to the mosaic, noticing details she had missed in her initial observation.Around the central image of the fortress-whale, darker shapes lurked in the swirling currents—tentacled forms, monstrous silhouettes hovering at the edges of perception.
The Deep Tide.The Old Ones.The mysterious, ravenous threat that could apparently devour islands in their entirey—and drive the entire world to war.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Luna turned to another pile of documents, her fingers already pulling at the frayed edges of what appeared to be the oldest scroll in their collection.Kaine blinked hard against the gritty sensation that had taken residence behind his eyelids, a persistent reminder of nights without proper sleep.
The archives' enchanted lights cast long shadows across their workspace, illuminating dust motes that danced between towering shelves—silent witnesses to their desperate search for answers.Three days since his return to Frostforge, and still the documents from Verdant Port yielded their secrets with reluctance, as though the knowledge itself resisted discovery.
Their workspace had transformed into a scholar's battlefield—stacks of parchment arranged in concentric circles around them, some weighted with stones, others rolled and tied with colored thread to indicate their level of translation.Inkwells and quills stood at attention beside notebooks filled with Kaine's cramped handwriting and Luna's more elegant script.Empty mugs testified to countless cups of strong tea, brought by a rotation of initiates whom Wolfe had assigned to assist them—or perhaps to monitor their progress.
Kaine rubbed his eyes, trying to focus on the page before him.The Warden script blurred, the angular characters seeming to shift and rearrange themselves.He blinked hard, forcing them back into place through sheer will.
"I need to check on Celeste and Mari soon," he said, as much to himself as to Luna."Make sure they're settling in."
Luna nodded absently, already absorbed in her new discovery."This section is interesting," she said after a moment."It's not tactical information or invasion plans like the others.It's..."She frowned, tracing the characters with her fingertip."It's genealogies.Family records.Extensive ones."
