The Storm

RUMBLE!

The sky trembled.

A deep, resonant growl rolled through the heavens, shaking the very air itself. The overcast sky darkened in an instant, clouds surging forth like ink bleeding into water. The golden light of the sun, already weak behind the gloom, vanished.

The sea, once eerily silent, began to roar.

Waves that had remained unsettlingly calm swelled in an instant, rolling higher, crashing harder against the hull of the ship. The deck beneath their feet groaned as the winds picked up, sharp and biting, carrying with them the electric charge of an oncoming storm.

And at the center of it all—

Duke Thaddeus.

His breath hitched, his body tensing as something shifted within him.

Something deep.

Something ancient.

Something forgotten.