"This barrier, thingy…" As another crab tried to break through, Pizer said, "This is beyond Resonance Technology I have ever seen. Is this a Sword Master ability? How long is it supposed to last?"

  [Tears of Joy! Tears of Pain!]

  What is that noise? Tears… of Joy?

  At first, Kevin thought it was another voice in his head, but this time, it cracked like it came from an old radio. The pendant around his neck pulsed.

  "No, it is not an ability," Carl said. "It's not even tech from this world. I would give it about eight hours, or until the first ray of sun hits the cube. Whichever comes first, that is."

  More screams from the buildings got Kevin's attention. The Spore-Beast crabs kept charging into the invisible barrier, only to be repelled each time. "This is ok and all, but what about the residents? Should we go help them?"

  "The Captain has a point," Bryson said. "Is this thing portable? Can we like pick it up and move it?"

  "No, it would break the circle if we did," Carl said.

  "But they couldn't enter it either without turning it off. Can we leave the circle?"

  "No, it is not designed to be passable by anyone. It is like an invisible turtle shell, at least that was the initial concept.

  "Yeah, like a literal Save Point," Kevin said. "We need to get residents here, or dispatch the threat in front of us. I would prefer both, but we do not need to suffer any casualties right now."

  [Tears of Pain! Tears of Joy!]

  Damn that noise again. Where is it coming from…

  "Get away from my daughter!" Mia exploded out of the tent, charging toward the Caravan. One of her drink bottles was clutched in one hand, and Resonance Stones were in the other. She sloshed alcohol toward the perimeter line, trying to douse the crabs testing the barrier's aura. The Resonance in her palm began to glow as she yelled something incoherent, and the liquid activated, transforming into a quasi-fire wave that engulfed the barrier in flames.

  It would make sense that Mia wouldn't have known about the Save Point as the flames licked the invisible walls. She was in no danger of the crabs from where she was. Carl's Save Point covers that area generously…

  …until it didn't.

  Mia, on her way toward the wagon, kicked over the table on which the cube resided, and when it fell with a thud, it turned over sideways and deactivated. The golden line disappeared, giving the crabs their opportunity to advance.

  "Well, that was unexpected," Carl remarked dryly, blocking a sudden attack with a swift kick. "We should design these better when we get back home."

  "Damn it Mia. Carl, can you turn it back on?" Bryson asked, his voice tense as he swung his baton. One of the pincers missed his face, and he batted it aside.

  "Yeah, it just needs to be set up again," Carl replied, ducking another crab. "Takes a few minutes, though."

  "Fine, wait on my command. Pizer and I will get the residents. Make sure that damn woman doesn't burn our only ride out!"

  Another fire wave scorched the air near the caravan, causing the attackers to retreat safely away.

  Kevin nodded, creating a hole with his fire sword as they bolted past, taking a few of the crabs with them on the way out.

  [Tears of Joy! Tears of Pain!]

  That wasn't in my head this time. Who is talking to me?

  "Mia!" Kevin yelled while pushing a pincer away from him. He had almost forgotten how she could get when she gets drunk and defensive. "Be careful of that fire."

  She rarely used her Resonance skills in such a fashion. She was a competent fighter back then when she wasn't drinking so heavily. Now, it seems her drinking has only gotten worse, yet he couldn't say anything about it because, well, at the time, he didn't care. It wasn't until this soul thing in him was that he realized that he did care, but that was another matter entirely.

  Several wind gusts flew from behind, knocking unsuspecting crabs trying to get the jump on him.

  Paz twirled her staff as she dodged a few more swipes. She made it to where Carl was, who was trying to reset the cube. "Sword Master, do not kill them. They are just confused, not conscripted. Look at their eyes!"

  Indeed, the eyes of the crabs were an azure color, with beady black dots darting randomly in them. If he had known better, he could have sworn he saw tiny zigzags of red on some of them.

  Carl gave her a look of discontent when he kicked another one out of the way. "Fine, what do they want?"

  "They might respond to the Sword Master, but it seems they are drawn to something."

  Kiyo popped out of the caravan, throwing a crab out. She nearly dodged a fire wave from Mia, who continued to haphazardly fling her power around at anything that moved.

  One of the crabs snagged a rucksack. It tore it open to reveal a water flask and pierced it with its pincers, spilling the water out.

  [Tears of Pain! Tears of Joy!]

  Who are you? What are these tears? Tell me!

  Kiyo did her best to recover the belongings, but that was when Kevin also noticed it when she snatched it back. They were not directly attacking her, but looking for something in the rucksack. Paz was right.

  "Kiyo, wait, hold up," Kevin said. "Back away for a minute."

  She gave him a bewildered look but retreated a few steps. The crabs gave up on the bag and refocused on the water from the torn flask. As Kevin thought, the crabs did not attack her but instead moved in a weird pattern around the Caravan.

  "Paz," Kevin said. "That rope chain of yours. Can you grab one of the barrels over there near the Caravan?"

  Paz seemed already on top of it when she directed her staff to shoot out a chain of fire that whiplashed one of the barrels, causing an immediate rupture. The blue-tainted water exploded everywhere, and what Kevin saw next surprised him.

  [Tears of Joy! Tears of Pain]

  I was for sure this time that whatever or whoever was saying those words was not in my head. The noises came from them.

  The crabs pivoted toward the shattered barrel, converging on the spreading puddle. They hunkered down in the spill, their pincers working methodically as they scooped muddy water into their mouths.

  "What are they doing?" Carl asked, finishing up the cube's parameters and setting it down.

  More and more crabs poured onto the broken barrel, pushing and snapping at each other, tearing limbs, trying to get to the water. "Looks like they are drinking it?"

  Seconds later a fire wave course through the barrels causing the crabs to scatter. Mia yelled as they moved closer to her and she readied another wave. "Get away from my daughter!"

  "Mia, stop!" Kiyo yelled, but as she grabbed the drunken woman, a wave of fire rushed out of Mia's attack, hitting Kiyo instead, causing her to fly in the air and slam into the caravan's side, and she slumped over.

  "Kiyo!" Carl said, rushing over.

  Kevin lunged forward and grabbed Mia by the shoulders, pulling her away from the chaos she created. The scent of singed hair and burning cloth filled his nostrils as he dragged the struggling woman back from the wagon.

  "Enough!" His grip tightened as she tried to wrench free. "You're making things worse!"

  Meanwhile, Carl rushed to Kiyo's side, his face frowned as he knelt beside her crumpled form. The caravan section where she'd hit had splintered from the impact, and small wisps of smoke rose from her clothing. Her right arm was severely burned, angry red blisters already forming across her skin, while patches of her shoulder had been charred black. The acrid smell of burned flesh lingered in the air.

  "Stay with me," Carl said, gently examining the extent of her injuries. He carefully shifted her into a more comfortable position, wincing at the sight of her singed hair and the pain of her unconscious face.

  The crabs ignored the chaos around them, refocusing on the shrinking puddle. Paz smashed the remaining water containers with strikes of her staff, sending more liquid splashing across the ground. The Spore-Beasts swarmed to the fresh pools, clicking their pincers in what almost seemed like delight as they pushed each other for position.

  [Tears of Pain. Tears of Joy! The Champion giveth!]

  "How is she?" Kevin asked, ignoring the last voice in his head.

  Carl performed first aid. "I don't know, but she is breathing. Might have gotten the wind knocked out of her."

  "Try to keep her stable until the others come back. Pizer knows healing resonance. It should be enough for her to regain consciousness."

  Mia went into a crazed stupor. "Oh my Creator. Oh no. Why? Why? No…"

  She fell to her knees and wept. Both the bottle and the Resonance marbles fell out of her hands. She mumbled something he couldn't hear correctly, but from the sounds, she was missing something or someone. Kevin knelt beside her and realized that the contents of the bottle and her eyes were tainted blue.

  My God, she was drinking the tainted alcohol.

  A much smaller Spore-Beast crab appeared on the caravan's other side. Kevin squinted, noticing its pincers weren't merely undeveloped; they had been deliberately cut off. Unlike the others, its eyes were white and clear rather than corrupted blue. It looked puzzled at first, but it crept closer to Kevin as he tended to Mia.

  "Kevin, look out, there's another one..." Carl paused, squinting at the diminutive creature. "Wait, it's a bit small, don't you think?"

  At first, Kevin stiffened up, and the crab, like a cat when approaching a human, slowed its movement until it eventually realized it was safe.

  [Sword Master. It is the Sword Master. By the Retsam, you must save them…]

  Save who? You? What has happened?

  The crab poked its clawless hand forward and touched the blue pendant around Kevin's neck. His mind blanked out, and another vision took its place.

  Life in the ocean had a rhythm: tides, hunting, and mating. The Spore-Beast Crabs lived this cycle for generations until the two-legs came. First, the pointed-ears, who mostly left them alone. Then the round-ears, who hunted them relentlessly.

  The northern waters grew too cold, and the southern shores were too dangerous. They retreated inland, following freshwater currents to a secluded lake where they established a new colony.

  Then came the blue water. Luminescent, strange, carrying memories of all they'd lost. The first crab to taste it wept, its eyes turning the same crystalline blue. Soon, they all drank. Soon, they all remembered. Soon, they all wept.

  When the water began flowing backwards, against nature itself, they followed. They abandoned food, shelter, safety. Nothing mattered but finding more of the blue water that let them feel their losses so sweetly. Many died on the journey, but those who tasted the water didn't care.

  Near the round stone structures of the two-legs, they encountered their cousins. The river crocodiles. Their eyes glowed red in the darkness.

  "The blue water comes from the two-legged nest ahead," the crocodiles told them. "They hoard it, drink it, waste it. They drove us from our homes, just as they drove you from yours."

  The crabs felt no hatred, only thirst. The crocodiles promised them endless blue water. All they had to do was clear the way.

  The crabs never noticed how the crocodiles watched them or how their red eyes gleamed not with grief but hunger.

  Rage surged through Kevin's veins, but the pendant against his chest flared with heat, dampening the fury before it could fully ignite. The crab's memories washed over him like a tidal wave… unprocessed memories. Each image carried the weight of their suffering, their desperate addiction to the blue water driving them forward with focused meaning. Something fractured inside him as he experienced their collective pain, a recognition dawning that struck uncomfortably close to home. With their pursuit of temporary relief, these creatures reflected something he understood all too well.

  The California Crack Epidemic of 1980. Images flashed through his mind: streets he once knew transformed, familiar faces hollowed out, family members he couldn't save. The turning point of when…

  when…

  His thoughts scattered like mist. The memory hovered just beyond reach, vital yet fragmentary. His hand trembled as it clutched the pendant, his body remembering what his mind couldn't fully grasp. Something about his family, about addiction and loss and helplessness: the pain of it resonated with the crabs' suffering in ways that made his chest constrict.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Kevin stood up.

  It felt like a reflex. His mind went on autopilot, and instinct took over. Jamming his fist into his palm, he felt a power that could only come from within him. It was then that he decided he would take on this pain, so they would not have to.

  [KALARAQ! HEED MY NAME! SWORD MASTER!]

  Immersed in an aura of red fire, Kevin's body glowed hot as the fire sword itself.

  Something powerful surged through his veins, a presence both foreign and familiar. He felt himself dwindling, his consciousness pushed aside as another entity, older, wiser, and fiercer, emerged from within the sword, using Kevin's body as its vessel.

  "Wha…," Mia said, slinking away, "What is this?"

  Carl looked in awe, but Kevin saw the fear in his eyes. "This is one of the Sword Master's abilities, Kalaraq, the essence of the fire sword. Like all those years ago. Kevin, you can't…"

  He lifted the small crab that had touched them, holding it aloft as his eyes transformed, left eye blazing blue, right eye burning crimson red. Rage and grief swirled around them like twin cyclones, merging and feeding each other when Kevin pressed his forehead against the Spore-Beast's shell, a fiery heat erupted between them, the contact point glowing with an intensity that cast sharp shadows across the ground.

  Kalaraq guided the sword toward the other crabs. They began to glow as cerulean aura poured from their bodies and the remaining water on the ground, flowing into the sword like liquid light drawn into a vortex.

  "It's ok, little one," Kalaraq said. "The Sword Master will carry your burden, so you will not have to."

  "Kevin, STOP!" Carl shouted, panic and fury rising in his voice. "We JUST talked about this! You don't have to take their burden! This ain't your fight!" His eyes flashed with lightning as he stepped forward, hands trembling with helpless rage.

  He'd warned Kevin… explicitly warned him… not to take on more than he could handle, not with his soul still fragmented. But it was his decision nonetheless.

  Carl’s hands flared with runaway lightning, singeing the earth at his feet. "DAMN IT, KEVIN!"

  He knew Carl wanted to tackle and drag him back from the edge..

  Kevin’s eyes warned him it was too late. For the first time in thirty years, Carl was powerless.

  Paz dropped to one knee, her usual sneer faltering as she bowed her head. The movement was stiff… like her body fought itself… before she finally forced the gesture.

  "The Sword Master has made his decision," she muttered, but her fingers dug into her thighs hard enough to bruise. For the first time, her voice lacked its razor edge.

  "Damn it, Kevin," Carl whispered, the fight draining from him as he watched the transformation complete. "You're going to get yourself killed trying to save everyone but yourself."

  The pendant against Kevin's chest pulsed once more… the vibrant crimson of the Fire Sword fading as a deep cerulean blue took its place. The transition happened so smoothly that Kevin barely noticed, but the weight of the pendant increased, as if it had absorbed something substantial from the water and the crabs.

  "The Sword Master lives on!" Kalaraq proclaimed, the voice thundering through the air before dissipating into nothing. Fire Sword retreated into Kevin's palm, and when the aura faded, like a candle suddenly snuffed out, Kevin collapsed to the ground.

  According to Carl, Kevin was only out for a minute, but he was going on about how this wasn't supposed to happen and for him not to take on any more burdens like last time.

  Last time…"Kiyo!" Pizer yelled when he and Bryson ran up with Rivergate's leader. He ran to her side next to Carl and instinctively pulled out green Resonance marbles and activated the healing power onto her.

  "What the hell happened?" Bryson asked. Nobody answered him when he continued, "First, the beast-kin were after their water supply that was tainted, and then later, it was like they stopped caring about it, as the tainted water retreated toward this area."

  "That was the Sword Master's Power, wasn't it?" Pizer said, his voice filled with awe. "I have heard tales of it when I was younger, but that glow. You are the Sword Master, like they said."

  "The Sword Master?" one of the residents said to another. "Is that the old legend that happened years ago?"

  "They said it was a millennium, but my father said it happened during his time."

  "Enough of that," Bryson cut in sharply when he noticed Carl treating Kiyo's wounds. "What happened to Kiyo?"

  "Bryson, listen, it was an accident," Kiyo said, opening her eyes and wincing when she moved her shoulder. Carl did his best to bandage her up.

  "Accident?" Bryson turned toward Paz, his voice hardening. "You, beast-kin, did you do this?"

  Paz turned, paused when he saw him. Shook her head and dismissed him. The Spore-Beast crabs huddled in the corner next to the campfire while Paz treated each one of their wounds.

  Mia started to sob and ran toward Kiyo. "I...I'm sorry, Celia. I was... I was..." Her words dissolved into broken sobs. Carl deflected her before she got close, and Kiyo stiffened visibly, her eyes widening with shock at being called by that name. She turned away, but not before Kevin caught a realization on her face.

  "C-Celia…?" Kiyo asked.

  The name slipped out before she could stop it, hushed and haunted. Her hand flew to her mouth, but not fast enough.

  Pizer’s head snapped toward her, eyes narrowing.

  She turned away, but the damage was done.

  Mia stopped… and the awareness of what she had done must have been overwhelming because she started crying again. Blue residue streamed across her cheek and smeared as she wiped her face.

  "It was an … accident. I was protecting Celia from the crazy beast-kin. I am sorry, my daughter, that your father doesn't care!" she said, turning to Kiyo.

  Bryson stopped and turned his head. "Wait…What… What did you say?"

  Mia sobbed again but didn't respond.

  "Wait, wait, wait," Bryson said. No one noticed it, except Kevin, when a blue tear also ran down his cheek. "How dare you, Mia. How fucking dare you."

  "Hey, Captain?" Pizer said, reading the air. He nudged over his shoulder. "Maybe ya know, now is not a good time for this. We have injured people here that need to be treated."

  "Shut up, Pizer, do you think I do not know that?" Bryson said, his face full of anger. "Why did you say that I did not care, Mia? Is that what you think? Like, did you ever think about anyone other than ourselves? No… no no… look at you, you drunken mess."

  "You forgot, you pompous ass!" Mia yelled back. "I wanted to go back and get her, but you… You said… no… just gave up like you always do! What did you do to protect her? Not yet, I made one little mistake to Celia… Kiyo, and now I am at fault? Fuck you Bryson. I was there!"

  "I was there too! I tried to save her damn it! Why did you think that Kiyo was our daughter? Are you… fuck me… are you out of your Creator lovin mind? Celia is gone… Mia! She is fucking dead! And what… You are obviously drunk again, and now you are so much in your stupor that you, what did you say? It was an accident? No, Mia, let her go! When are you going to realize that she died because of him! She died because we did not protect her from HIM!"

  Mia slapped him. "Quit blaming others for your mistake! It was your job! You were the one who could have stopped it. You were young and stupid, as was I. We started a life! We finally got what we wanted. Yet, one more job. One more mission. And look! Look at where we are now! No, Bryson, enough is enough. You will not take my baby away from me again! You should have drowned with her!"

  Pizer stepped in between them as Bryson was inching closer to Mia. "Captain, stop right now."

  "Move, Corporal," Bryson growled, trying to push Pizer out of the way. "Listen here, you drunk! Do you not see that Kiyo is not a replacement for Celia, no matter how much you want to wish it? Get it into your thick head. Celia died in that lake. Nothing will ever change that. I swear I would not go back to that place! No! But I will fucking fix this Mia. You… Damn it! Do you not think I care! I fucking loved her damn you, and not me, not the Guard, not your fucking alcohol and especially not the so called fucking Sword Master will ever stop me from that!"

  It took Rivergate's leader, Sanders, to finally pull Bryson away. The broad-shouldered man stepped between them with a firm grip that allowed no argument, muscling Bryson backward.

  "Hey, hey," he said, turning Bryson around by the shoulders. Blue tears… the same unnatural color as Mia's… streamed down Bryson's flushed face, catching in the creases of his clenched jaw. His breathing came in short, ragged bursts. "Hey, take a walk, come on. I ain't askin' now, Captain." Sanders' voice dropped lower, steady as bedrock. "Walk with me before you do somethin' you're gonna regret. Everyone here's had enough pain for one night."

  The tension in the caravan hung thick as smoke, the air practically vibrating with Bryson's rage and grief as Sanders guided him back toward the buildings.

  Master! Find me! Bring my parents! Hurry!

  The voice was more unmistakable now. Young, female, familiar. Kevin’s breath caught. Parents. Not ‘parent’. Plural. His gaze snapped to Bryson and Mia, their faces streaked with identical blue tears. The pieces clicked together.

  Pizer jumped into the Caravan and pulled out Kiyo's backpack. He fumbled into it and pulled out a small bag. He handed her several green Resonance balls, and with a small heal command, Kiyo pressed them against her shoulder as the magical energy soothed her wound.

  "Will she be ok?" Kevin asked.

  Pizer nodded, "Yes, Captain, if you were referring to Kiyo. Mia, well, I don't think there is enough Resonance to heal what is happening there."

  "What was that? Kevin, do you know what went on with those two?" Carl asked.

  "I…there was an accident somewhere long ago, I think," Kevin said. He desperately tried to remember, but the details became fuzzy.

  Pizer waited until Mia climbed into the front of the caravan. Sobs and sniffles erupted from her cries as he leaned out of earshot. "Yes, an explosion at Mordecai's dam. Oh wow, I didn't realize it until they argued. The little girl who was lost was their daughter. I think she drowned or something. I didn't know the name. It was tragic, but when Bryson and Mia argued, I thought it was stupid, like they didn't get along. I remember my mother telling me this when I was a kid. She was friends with Mia before it all happened."

  "You have to be kidding me," Carl replied. "What were they thinking sending those two with us on the trip here?"

  "They would have come regardless," Kiyo said. "They owe Captain Kevin a favor, I think. But Bryson. I have never seen him explode like that. I do not think it was anger, though. More like guilt."

  "They were both crying tears of blue. It may have manifested in Mia's alcohol, and Bryson must have had water from somewhere, perhaps in Rivergate. Wait, Captain, is there a way you can do that thing you did with the crabs and take that blue crap away?"

  Before Kevin could respond, Paz turned the corner of the Caravan. "No, it doesn't work that way. What happened to the Spore-Beasts and what they are experiencing are two different forms of grief. They both need to come to terms with their past. Do not rely on the Sword Master's help. Besides, one of them is harboring a dark secret. I dare not use the Sword Master's power on that. We need to leave before they get any worse. I feel something is still out there watching us even now."

  Paz was a lot of things, but she wasn't a talker. Something bothered her about that argument, and even though she did her best to ignore it, he caught her glancing back at them. It was almost like she knew more than what she was telling them.

  But she was right. The answers were not here. They are in Mordecai.

  Morning finally came, and although he figured no one could sleep, he took the remaining watch until the sun rose.

  Carl's Save Point beeped and chirped when the first sun ray hit it, and the area around them deactivated.

  His friend came around, collected the cube, and handed Kevin a small piping hot cup.

  "It is their version of coffee," Carl said. "Although I would prefer it to be a bit less sharp."

  "Thanks," Kevin said. "How are they?"

  "Kiyo's almost back on her feet, but she burned through most of her energy with that healing. Girl needs more rest," Carl said, blowing on his drink. "Pizer's been keeping tabs on Mia. Smashed every bottle he found in the caravan, too." He took a careful sip. "Bryson still hasn't shown his face after that blowup, but can't say I'm surprised."

  Carl paused, his weathered face softening slightly. "And Paz? She's talking to me normally for once. Says those Spore-Beast crabs are heading back to their lake on the other side of the hills. She got through to the Temple Palace too, they're sending relief support, gonna see about setting up some habitat for 'em."

  "What a nightmare," Kevin said.

  "Yeah, no kidding. Too much damn drama," Carl took another sip. "Hey, last night when you had that vision, what happened?"

  "Do you remember the time when Stockton became a hot spot for that crack cocaine epidemic when we were in Middle School? The crabs showed me a similar story of how the blue water made them addicted to grief, and it spread like wildfire."

  "Geez, that was so long ago, and I barely remember what happened back then."

  "Yeah."

  "But hey, promise me you will not take any burdens. I am not kidding, we have way more than we can handle now. And you only have a part of your soul."

  "Yeah, yeah, I got it, but you know it seems weird," Kevin said.

  By now, everyone was getting up around them.

  "What's that?" Carl asked.

  "See how that light hit the tops of those hills?" Kevin said, pointing at the sun's rays. "We are close to where it happened, right? When you went back into the portal."

  "You mean 'us'. We went back into the portal," Carl corrected.

  "Sure," Kevin said. "Sure."

  They packed their belongings, and a low silence fell among the group. Nobody spoke unless it was to request help loading the backup.

  Paz waved off the Spore-Beast Crabs as they lined up and marched east. She came back and boarded the wagon when she stopped next to Kevin. She waved a tiny cartoonish crab tied to a small piece of twine. "The Spore-Beast Crab wanted me to give this to you. As a thank you for saving them."

  "I … did not do anything," Kevin said, taking the small trinket and fumbling it over his hands.

  "No, you did what you were meant to," Paz replied. "You are saving our species."

  Bryson stepped on board last, and it looked like he didn't get any sleep either. His eyes streamed a tint of blue, but it didn't seem to bother him as far as Kevin could tell.

  "Pizer, we are shipping off," he commanded. "Let's get the hell to Mordecai."

  "Hey, you ok?" Kevin asked.

  "With all due respect, Captain," Bryson said, not even looking at him, "But I would rather not want to converse with you right now."

  Kevin didn't know how to take that. "Well, ok man, if you want to talk, I'm here."

  "Yeah, you're always right there, aren't you?" Bryson said, then caught his tongue.

  Carl stood up. "Hey, you got something to say?"

  "No," Kevin said. "Bud, it's fine. Let it go."

  The rest of the trip went exactly as the tension in the caravan. Nobody spoke, and they just left it to themselves. When Pizer announced they were near the valley where Mordecai was, Kevin looked to the sky and noticed they entered a cloud cover, and rain immediately fell over them.

  They scrambled to unfold the tarps, stretching them over the cabin as rain pelted. Lightning cracked across the sky, thunder rolling through the valley like distant artillery fire.

  Once they crossed the final hill, Kevin halted in his tracks, breath catching in his throat. Below them stretched an enormous lake, shimmering like silver in the rainy light. The water filled a natural basin, cradled by steep hills that rose on all sides like protective guardians.

  And there, rising from the center of the vast waters, stood Mordecai. A sprawling island-city of tiered structures, arching broken bridges, and gleaming spires that seemed to float upon the surface.

  Even from this distance, Kevin could make out the contradictions that defined the city. Old stone foundations and weathered columns supported modernist structures of glass and metal.

  Newer construction perched atop these drowned ruins, as if the city had built upward to escape the rising flood.

  Lanterns flickered throughout Mordecai, their golden light reflecting in eerie, elongated patterns across the lake's surface. The rain created ripples in the water, distorting these reflections into ghostly, dancing shapes. Most haunting were the partially submerged spires of what must have once been a grand temple or palace, now serving as silent tombstones to whatever Mordecai had been before the flood.

  The blue luminescence pulsing beneath the lake's surface made the entire scene feel alive yet wrong, beautiful but corrupted, like a dream of a city wanting to die.

  "Whoa," Kevin whispered, squinting through the downpour. The rain made the scene shimmer and distort, giving the distant buildings an almost mirage-like quality. Even from this distance, he could see boats moving across the water's surface, their lanterns creating trails of golden light against the storm-darkened lake. Something about the water itself seemed off. Its unusual bluish luminescence pulsed beneath the surface, visible even through the rain and mist.

  On the far side of the basin was a dried waterfall riverbed, as if water flowed freely at one point in time, but now, rain was the only water that fell from that height.

  "Captain Bryson, are you seeing this?" Pizer said. "This is impossible. There was only a small lake here, and now it looks like it swallowed the whole city."

  Bryson didn't respond, only stared at the site below them.

  "Pizer, what're you talking about?" Carl asked, narrowing his eyes at the flooded landscape.

  "When I was here as a kid, maybe 8 or 9 years ago, the water didn't reach this high in the basin. Look, even the bridges they built are underwater now. Place looks damn near impassable."

  "Look, down the path," Kevin pointed. "A large boat might take us to the city."

  Carl shook his head, his weathered face creasing with suspicion. "Kev, that looks convenient. Patrick would curse us for even thinking about taking that obvious plot device. Might as well hang a sign saying 'trap' on the damn thing."

  "Carl, look at the water," Kiyo said.

  The lake water had lines or blue streaks all over it. It reminded Kevin of seeing a massive oil spill in the ocean, yet the color here is blue and is everywhere.

  The Caravan pulled to a stop near the large boat, and now that Kevin saw it up close, it was nothing but large guardrails.

  When they hopped out into the rain, Kevin's pendant pulsed as the rain hit him.

  From the boat, a humanoid figure stepped out of the main compartment. Nothing walked near the edge next to the pier. His movements were as if his bones weren't quite solid. "Your Caravan feels lost, and yet you still made it here," he called, his voice carrying a hollow quality that rippled across the water's surface.

  Carl was the first to notice the man and whispered to Kevin. "Hey, doesn't that look like the guy we saw at the Commons next to the central well?"

  "Yeah, he does," Kevin said. "Be on your guard."

  Bryson stepped ahead of them. "We are from Rowen Commons, and need to get inside the city. Are you offering us a way in, or is there another bridge inside?"

  "Ey, no more bridges, only passable through the tears. You are welcome to the company as my lowly belongings will encase your Caravan across."

  "What is the charge?"

  "No, no charge. We do not have many to come across today, as it should be. Get out of the teary darkness, and I will open the way in. Come, Come."

  "Thank you," Bryson replied. "You are a generous person."

  The ferryman’s grin stretched too wide, lips peeling back to reveal teeth like damaged brown pearls. When he blinked, his eyelids slid sideways like a reptile’s.

  "Bryson Delacroix," he crooned, savoring the name. "Mia Delacroix. You’ve returned to give your thanks."

  His head tilted 45 degrees, too fluid for a human neck. "Or is it… Apologies rather?"

  "What are you talking about? How do you know our last names?"

  "Why, nobody knows your last names, of course… except,

  The Drowned Child of Mordecai."