Page 42 of Frostforge, Passage Six
Thalia stumbled through the entrance, relief washing through her as thick stone walls muted the storm's fury to a distant howl.Inside, Warden crew members moved with practiced efficiency, cranking large metal wheels that caused iron barriers to slide into place over the doorways, sealing them from the chaos outside.
The final barrier clanged into place with ominous finality.Thalia approached it, laying her palm against the cold metal.Through her current-sensing ability, she could feel the completeness of the seal—airtight, watertight, designed to withstand pressures no ordinary door would ever need to resist.
"What's happening?"she demanded, turning to face Cassia.Her voice emerged steadier than she expected, despite the frantic pounding of her heart against her ribs; she already knew the answer to her question, but wanted it confirmed by the captain.
Ashe and Roran flanked her, their expressions mirroring her own mixture of fear and determination as they awaited Cassia's answer.
The captain met their gazes unflinchingly, the lines in her weathered face deepening as she framed her response."She has indicated her need to dive below the surface," she said simply."To escape the Deep Ones."
"You let the WHALE decide?"Ashe's incredulous yelp echoed in the confined space.
A wry, grim smile touched Cassia's lips as she gestured to the fortress around them—the curved walls, the whale-bone supports, the structure that existed solely at the mercy of the behemoth that carried it.
"How would you propose we do otherwise?"she asked."Force creature larger than twenty ships to do our bidding?Impossible."
"I thought you had some way of communicating with it," Ashe protested, though her voice had lost some of its edge in the face of Cassia's logic.
"We do," the captain replied."Whale used voice to tell us she will dive.We built upon her back—we exist at her pleasure, not reverse."Her expression softened marginally."Fortunately, she wishes to protect us.Always has.We trust her instincts; she trusts our presence."
"Trust the instincts of a mere animal?"Ashe muttered, though the objection sounded hollow even to Thalia's ears.
Looking around the chamber, Thalia observed the Warden refugees who had preceded them inside.Parents held children close, soldiers maintained white-knuckled grips on weapons, but none displayed the blind panic she might have expected.There was fear, certainly—fear lived in every tightened muscle, every whispered prayer—but beneath it lay something else.A certainty.A faith in the creature that had carried their people across treacherous waters for generations.
"Beneath water, whale moves faster," Cassia explained, her voice taking on the cadence of a lesson often repeated."Fortress not exposed to winds that reach unnatural speeds, tear apart stone as easily as parchment."She nodded toward the sealed door."Out there now, storm grows.Deep Ones call it, shape it to their will.Inside, we are protected—if our whale can outpace what follows."
As if summoned by her words, a shudder vibrated through the entire fortress.The whale released another call—deeper than before, more resonant, the sound passing through stone and flesh alike until Thalia felt it in the chambers of her heart.Then, with a lurch that sent several refugees staggering against walls, the whale began to dive.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The fortress lurched with the whale's descent, gravity shifting as the leviathan angled itself toward the depths.Thalia's stomach swooped, her knuckles white as she gripped the nearest handhold—a curved protrusion of polished whalebone embedded in the wall.
The entire structure groaned around her, not the familiar creaking of timbers that marked a vessel under strain, but something more alive—like the exhale of a massive beast preparing to plunge into an element it knew far better than air.Which was, she realized with a rush of vertigo, exactly what was happening.
A mournful rumble vibrated through the walls, resonating at a frequency that rattled Thalia's teeth and made her bones ache with sympathetic tremors.The whale was communicating—with them, with itself, with the darkness that pursued them, she couldn't tell.But the sound traveled through stone and flesh alike, unifying the fortress and its living foundation in a harmony of purpose that transcended human understanding.
The floor tilted more sharply, sending civilians sliding across the chamber in panicked clusters.A mother clutched her children to her chest as they skidded toward the opposite wall, her prayers lost beneath screams and shouts as others scrambled for handholds.
An elderly man tumbled past Thalia, his gnarled hands grasping at smooth stone that offered no purchase.She reached for him, missed, then exhaled in relief as a Warden guard intercepted his fall, anchoring them both against a structural support.
"Hold on!"Ashe shouted from somewhere to Thalia's right, her voice tight with the effort of maintaining her own position."It's leveling off!"
She was right.The steep angle gradually lessened as the whale found its equilibrium beneath the waves.The floor still tilted, but now at an inclination that allowed for cautious movement rather than helpless sliding.Thalia released her death grip on the whalebone handhold, flexing fingers stiff from exertion.
The sensation of being aboard a living vessel intensified with each passing second.Unlike the predictable pitch and roll of a ship responding to wave patterns, the fortress-whale moved with intention—muscles contracting, fins adjusting, tail propelling them forward with deliberate power.
The stone beneath Thalia's feet vibrated with the creature's heartbeat, a steady, massive rhythm that seemed to pulse through the air itself.
Water streamed past the few small, thick-glassed portholes visible from her position, confirming their submersion.The interior air changed perceptibly, growing warmer and thicker as the sealed fortress preserved the atmosphere within.Without windows to provide natural light or ventilation, the space felt suddenly claustrophobic—less like a ship's interior and more like being trapped within the belly of some mythical beast from sailors' tales.
Warden guards rushed along corridors that curved with the whale's spine, their movements precise despite the unfamiliar angle of the floor.They checked seals on doorways, secured loose items that had slid during the initial dive, and directed civilians to designated areas with sharp commands in their flowing language.The practiced efficiency of their actions suggested this was not the first time the fortress-whale had submerged—though perhaps it had never done so under such dire circumstances.
A hand closed around Thalia's forearm.She turned to find Roran at her side, his curls wild with static electricity that danced between individual strands.His storm magic responded to his agitation without conscious direction, small sparks leaping from his fingertips to the metal fixtures embedded in the nearest wall.
"We need to find Cassia," he said, his voice low and urgent."If this is what the Wardens have been fleeing all along—"
He didn't finish the thought.He didn't need to.They had both seen the tendril that rose from the depths—darkness given form, hunger made manifest.
"There," Ashe called, pointing across the chamber where Captain Cassia had appeared in a doorway.The Warden captain beckoned to them with a sharp gesture, her white braids swinging with the abruptness of the motion.
