Page 7 of Frostforge, Passage Six
The shoreline gradually grew closer—not the welcoming harbor of Verdant Port, but the jagged cliffs that formed the eastern boundary of the bay.Thalia directed them toward the base of the tallest cliff, where a natural outcropping provided a partial screen from both sea and shore.
They hugged the shadows as they navigated forward, keeping dangerously close to the dark, jagged rocks where the water foamed and crashed in restless surges.One wrong move would dash their small craft against the stone, but remaining in open water risked detection by Warden patrols.
The smell of seaweed and salt thickened as they rounded the outcropping, and Thalia felt a surge of relief as the hidden cove came into view—a narrow slip of sand nestled amidst the rocks, invisible from both sea and shore unless one knew exactly where to look.
"Here," she murmured, pointing toward the beach."My father brought me here once, when I was small."
"How did you know it would still be here?"Kaine asked, his voice hushed despite the isolation of their position."It's been years since you left."
"These coves are formed by the currents and tides," Thalia explained, a bittersweet nostalgia washing over her."They change, but slowly.My father brought me here to gather a rare algae that only grows in such protected waters.My mother needed it for her tinctures."
She pointed to the rocks where emerald-green patches crusted the stone just above the waterline."There it is.My mother claimed it eased pain better than most herbs that grow on land."
The memory of that day—her father's strong hands helping her balance on the slippery rocks, her mother's smile when they returned with their harvest—sent a pang through her chest.Simpler times, before her father’s death, before the Selection, before Frostforge, before the Wardens had come to claim what was not theirs.
They reached the beach, the bow of the rowboat grinding against the coarse sand.Kaine leapt out first, pulling the vessel further ashore while Thalia and Ashe gathered their packs.The tide lapped quietly against the shore, a gentle rhythm that belied the chaos they had left behind.
"We should conceal the boat," Ashe suggested, already scanning the beach for suitable hiding places."Under those outcroppings, perhaps."
While they dragged the rowboat into the shadows of a rocky overhang, Thalia climbed a small rise in the rocks, her breath catching as she crested the top and saw her city spread before her.
Verdant Port lay in a natural bowl, its buildings climbing the gentle slopes that surrounded the harbor in concentric rings.Once, those rings had been a cascade of color—red tile roofs, white-washed walls, blue-painted doors, and the green swathes of gardens and parks that had given the port its name.Now, an eerie, oppressive stillness hung over the scene, as though the city itself were holding its breath.
Thalia fished her spyglass from her pocket, hands trembling slightly as she extended it and brought the lens to her eye.The glass sharpened the devastation, bringing details into cruel focus.
Warden banners flew from towers where once the standards of the Southern Kingdoms had fluttered.Watchtowers dotted the docks, hastily constructed from timber that must have been stripped from local buildings.High wooden barriers blocked streets that had once flowed with merchants and travelers, channeling movement into controlled corridors that could be easily monitored.
Through the spyglass, Thalia saw Warden warships packed tightly in the inner harbor, their hulls painted black, their decks swarming with activity.A steady stream of soldiers patrolled the docks, black-metal weapons ready, moving with the confidence of conquerors rather than the caution of recent invaders.
Her breath hitched as she spied two Wardens dragging a man in chains, dressed in the simple grey clothes of a local fisherman.His hands and feet were bound, his face obscured by a hood that covered his head completely.They led him toward a large tent pitched near the harbormaster's office, pushing him roughly when he stumbled.
Shifting her view, Thalia scanned the area again, her stomach clenching as she noticed more shackled figures—women, men, even children—being moved between guarded tents and hastily built stockades.Some wore the distinctive garb of Verdant Port's merchant class, others the simple clothing of dock workers and artisans.
This wasn't just an occupation.It was imprisonment.The Wardens had transformed Verdant Port into a camp for their captives, sorting them into groups whose purpose Thalia could only guess at.
And somewhere in that maze of suffering, her mother and sister might be waiting, might be watching the harbor for any sign of rescue.
Thalia lowered the spyglass, her eyes hardening as the full weight of their mission settled over her.They were three against an army, behind enemy lines, with no support and no clear path forward.
She exhaled once, steadying the tremor in her chest.
“Hold on,” she whispered into the fog.“I’m coming.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Thalia crept forward through the narrow alley, her shoulders brushing against the weathered stone of buildings she once knew by heart.Verdant Port's familiar scent of salt and spice now mingled with smoke and fear, the air heavy with both.The stolen Warden blade at her hip felt wrong—too light, too eager—its silver-blue glacenite edge humming with a magic that threatened to leak into her thoughts.
Behind her, Kaine and Ashe moved like shadows, their footfalls barely disturbing the broken shells and debris that littered what had once been a thriving marketplace thoroughfare.This was her home, yet in the span of a season, it had become as foreign as the northern wastes of Frostforge had once been.
They moved in tight formation through the crooked passage, past abandoned stalls and barred windows.Thalia led them through shortcuts she'd used as a child—narrow gaps between buildings, hidden paths that traced the city's secret geography.Each familiar landmark now twisted by occupation struck her like a physical blow.The herbalist's shop where she'd traded moonweed for her mother's remedies lay in splinters, its shelves overturned, dried plants crushed underfoot.The tavern where sailors had once sung late into the night stood silent, its windows dark and shuttered.
"Something's wrong," Ashe whispered, her voice barely audible above the distant crash of waves against the harbor wall."Listen."
Thalia paused, tilting her head.Beneath the constant murmur of the sea came muffled cries—human voices raised in fear or pain, then abruptly silenced.Her stomach clenched.She recognized the direction—too close to the square where her mother's shop had stood.
"We need to move faster," she breathed, but Kaine's hand closed around her wrist, restraining her.
"Wait," he murmured, nodding toward the mouth of the alley ahead.
