Chapter 7: Mordain darkness
The Ember Coast stretched before them, a shadow of its former self. Once a thriving port teeming with merchants and sailors, it now lay in desolation. Broken ships littered the shoreline like skeletons of an ancient age, and the scent of salt mingled with decay. What few villagers remained moved swiftly through the streets, their faces drawn and their eyes flitting nervously to the horizon.
"This place feels wrong," Kael muttered, his hand instinctively gripping the hilt of his dagger.
"It is," Talyra replied, her tone grave. "There's something twisted in the air—old magic, tangled and restless."
As they walked toward the dilapidated docks, the whispers began. Locals spoke in hushed tones of The Abyssal Wraith, a ghostly ship captained by Mordain Blackwater. Once a notorious pirate feared across the seas, Mordain had been cursed for his greed and cruelty, condemned to sail eternally with his undead crew.
"No one dares cross these waters anymore," said an old fisherman, his voice trembling as he sat hunched over a broken net. "Mordain doesn't leave survivors. Those who try vanish beneath the waves, their souls dragged to his depths."
"But surely someone has fought back," Kael said, his frustration mounting.
The fisherman shook his head, his gaze distant. "You can't fight the dead, boy. You can only hope they don't notice you."
---
Undeterred, Talyra and Kael scoured the port in search of passage to the Lost Isles. Every sailor they approached refused outright, their fear palpable. Some didn't even let them finish their question before walking away.
"We're wasting our time," Kael muttered after another fruitless attempt. "No one here has the spine to help us."
"Someone will," Talyra said, clutching the Starfire Pendant. Its faint glow pulsed in rhythm with her heartbeat, as though urging her forward. "There's always someone willing to take a risk—for the right price."
Their persistence led them to Lira, a smuggler leaning casually against a weathered crate. With her fiery red hair, sharp green eyes, and twin daggers strapped to her thighs, she radiated an air of confidence.
"You're looking for passage to the Lost Isles?" she asked, her smirk betraying that she already knew the answer.
"How did you know?" Talyra asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Word travels fast in a place like this. And you two aren't exactly subtle," Lira replied, her tone amused. She crossed her arms. "I'll take you. But it won't be cheap—and if Mordain shows up, you're on your own."
Talyra hesitated, her mind racing with the risk involved. Before she could speak, Kael stepped forward. "We'll pay whatever it takes," he said firmly. "Just get us there."
Lira studied him for a moment before nodding. "Be at the docks by nightfall. And pray the storms hold."
---
The sky was a bruised purple as Talyra and Kael boarded The Sea Hawk. The wind had picked up, carrying with it the tang of an impending storm. Lira's crew moved quickly, preparing the ship for departure.
As the last crate was secured, a bone-chilling cry echoed across the water. Talyra turned sharply toward the sea, her breath catching as a massive, shadowy vessel emerged from the mist. The Abyssal Wraith loomed like a nightmare, its black sails torn yet billowing with an unnatural wind. The faint glow of ghostly green light illuminated skeletal figures moving across the deck.
"Mordain," Lira hissed, her hand already on her daggers. "You brought trouble, didn't you?"
Before Talyra could respond, the Wraith's cannons roared. Fire and iron rained down on the docks, sending villagers scattering in terror. Skeletal pirates leapt from the ship, their hollow eyes glowing as they advanced with eerie precision.
"Kael, get to the ship!" Talyra shouted, raising her hands to summon a protective barrier of shimmering light.
"I'm not leaving you!" Kael yelled, slashing at one of the undead with his dagger.
The battle was chaos. Talyra's magic flared, casting bursts of fire and light that disintegrated the cursed crew. But for every pirate she destroyed, another seemed to take its place. Their weapons were rusted, but their strikes were deadly, and their movements defied human limits.
Lira fought fiercely, her daggers a blur as she carved through the horde. "We won't last long!" she shouted over the cacophony.
Talyra nodded, her mind racing. The Starfire Pendant pulsed wildly against her chest, but she still didn't fully understand how to wield its power. Desperation drove her as she directed a beam of light at the Wraith itself, striking its hull. For a moment, the ship faltered, its ghostly glow dimming.
"Now!" she screamed. "Get to the ship!"
Kael and Lira scrambled aboard The Sea Hawk, Talyra close behind. The crew hoisted the sails, and the ship lurched forward, catching the wind as it fled the shore.
---
From the deck of The Abyssal Wraith, Mordain watched them escape. His skeletal face twisted into a cruel grin, and he raised a bony hand, summoning a storm with a single gesture. "You can run," he growled, his voice like grinding stone. "But you cannot hide."
Lightning illuminated the dark waves as The Sea Hawk raced into the open ocean. The air buzzed with energy, and the storm grew stronger with each passing moment.
Talyra stood at the bow, gripping the pendant tightly. Kael joined her, his face pale but resolute.
"Do you think we'll make it?" he asked, his voice barely audible over the howling wind.
"We have to," Talyra replied, her voice steady despite the fear gnawing at her. "The Lost Isles are our only hope."
As the storm raged around them and the Wraith pursued like a predator in the night, Talyra silently vowed that she would not let Mordain's darkness consume them. Whatever the cost, they would reach the Isles.