The Captain’s old, salt-crusted journal was in Alex’s hands. Its pages were darkened, edges moldy, but the information within was priceless.

  Lily knelt beside a flickering campfire, peeling an apple with a small knife. She glanced at Alex out of the corner of her eye.

  “What does it say?” she asked in a low voice. The wind howled through the shelter’s entrance, making the fire dance.

  I turned my eyes to the aged lines. Strangely, the words were still quite legible:

  “I hid it. For decades, I kept it from hundreds of men. But the curse grew heavy. To protect the treasure, I left behind my soul. The key lies in the heart of the sunken ship... I told no one before I died.”

  Beneath the writing, a crude map had been drawn—marking the wreck of a ship on the island’s western shore.

  “Our next stop is clear,” I said, holding the journal up for Lily to see. “We’ll have to head to a sunken ship.”

  Lily smiled faintly and tucked her hair behind her ear.

  “Great,” she said. “But… a sunken ship? Even if anything’s still intact, it won’t be easy.”

  She stood, adjusting the light leather jacket on her shoulders and slinging a small pack over her back.

  “Let’s go. If we waste time, the ‘night hunters’ here might start tracking us.”

  I nodded. I strapped the Luminous Blade to my belt, slung the Silent Bow over my shoulder, and secured the Poisoned Dagger to my wrist. I had to stay alert. No one on this island could be trusted.

  At sunrise, we made our way west, crossing stony paths and thorny underbrush. The ground was damp and slippery. Lily lost her footing a few times but quickly recovered.

  Eventually, the massive skeleton of the sunken ship appeared on the horizon. Its blackened masts reached toward the sky like crooked fingers. The hull was half-buried in the shore.

  But something felt off. As we drew closer, the air grew thick with a metallic scent. Strange, scorched marks marred the ground.

  And silence… No birds, no waves. Just a heavy, suffocating stillness.

  Lily bit her lip.

  “This place… it feels wrong,” she whispered.

  I felt it too. My hand drifted to the hilt of the Luminous Blade.

  “Stay sharp,” I said.

  We climbed onto the massive main deck of the wreck. What was once a white wooden floor was now covered in black scorch marks. As we walked forward, cold, damp air seeped up through the cracked planks.

  Then…

  Thud!

  Something was approaching with heavy footsteps. The sound echoed rhythmically across the deck.

  Lily held her breath.

  “What is that…?”

  A figure emerged from the darkness.

  A massive creature—like a crusted, fractured skeleton. It wore tattered pirate garments, its arm wrapped in thick ship chains, and it carried a massive, rusted anchor on its shoulder.

  Its eyes… were hollow. But within that emptiness, an eerie blue glow flickered.

  Suddenly, its mouth opened and a metallic, broken voice rang out:

  “MY TREASURE… MINE…!”

  And it attacked!

  It hurled its chain. The heavy links spun through the air and smashed into the ground, shattering the planks.

  I dove to the side, rolled across the floor, and drew the Luminous Blade, stepping between Lily and the monster.

  “Lily! Support with your bow!” I shouted.

  Lily leapt back, drew her bow, and fired one of the Silent Arrows. The arrow struck the creature’s shoulder—it flinched slightly.

  I dashed forward and slashed at its thigh with the glowing blade.

  But… its skin felt like stone!

  I drew the Poisoned Dagger from my wrist and delivered a swift strike to its left arm. This time, there was a slight reaction. The poison had started to work—its movements grew slower.

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  But the creature turned toward me, swinging its massive anchor!

  I ducked at the last second, the force of the swing scorching my face with wind.

  Lily fired two more arrows in quick succession—one struck right into the creature’s eye socket!

  The monster roared in fury, its cry shaking the ground.

  It raised its chain again and hurled it at me, the links spiraling like a deadly net.

  There was nowhere to run!

  In that moment, I used my wits:

  “Power Strike!” I shouted.

  A flash of energy... and the air around me thickened. I felt a faint vibration beneath my feet.

  For just a few seconds, I moved through the gaps between the chains.

  This was my chance.

  I gripped the Luminous Blade with both hands and struck hard at its ankle.

  With a loud crack, its brittle bone shattered.

  The creature fell to one knee!

  “Lily, now!” I yelled.

  Lily pulled her bowstring to its limit, taking aim with a Silent Arrow—right at the glowing eye socket.

  Thwack!

  The arrow pierced through the creature’s skull and emerged out the back, leaving behind a trail of shimmering mist.

  The massive beast let out one last guttural groan… then collapsed to the ground.

  The shipwreck trembled; dust and splinters of wood rose into the air.

  For a while, none of us moved. Our breaths came out in steaming clouds in the cold air.

  Then Lily let out a breathless laugh.

  “We did it… We actually did it!”

  My eyes drifted to the creature’s corpse. A rusty key hung from its shoulder on a chain.

  I bent down and took it.

  Rusty, but gleaming with a strange power.

  “The key from the journal… This will open the next door.”

  We looked at each other. The road ahead was long, but now we had a key.

  And deep inside me, a voice echoed:

  This was just the beginning.

  As we took the key, the sun was setting. On the horizon, it sank like a crimson flame.

  Lily walked beside me, tired but hopeful. We left the shipwreck behind — collapsed planks and the cursed body of the fallen captain.

  We had to head west, in the direction the map showed: the Sunken City.

  A place where the island’s old pirates once hid — now said to be completely collapsed and cursed.

  Our steps grew heavier. With every move forward, the ground became muddier.

  Trees grew shorter, giving way to twisted, thorny bushes.

  And the air… it thickened. The scent of salt, decay, and rotting seaweed filled our lungs.

  Lily lifted an arm and pinched her nose.

  “What kind of place are we heading to...” she grumbled.

  “One that definitely smells terrible,” I replied. Even my voice had dropped to a whisper.

  Just a few kilometers from the Sunken City, we had to cross a swamp. Our legs sank into the sticky, dark water up to our knees.

  The musty stench was like the silent whisper of death.

  Then suddenly…

  Splutch!

  A hand shot out of the mud beside us! Rotten, covered in moss!

  Then another… and another!

  The Drowned — once pirates, now rotting beings caught in an endless nightmare.

  One of them raised a rusted cutlass and lunged at Lily.

  I reacted instantly, drew my Silent Bow, notched an arrow, and shot it straight into its forehead.

  Splutch!

  The creature staggered and sank back into the muck.

  But the others were faster. Five, six of them rushed toward us.

  Lily pressed her back against mine, firing two more arrows in quick succession.

  I drew my Luminous Blade and targeted the closest one.

  The G?lgesim coating on the blade made it shimmer in the dark, like a swift, shooting star.

  I struck low at the first creature’s legs — shattered its knees.

  As another one leaped toward me, I pulled out my Poisoned Dagger and drove it into its chest. The venom spread instantly; the creature convulsed and fell back.

  But there were too many.

  “Back!” I shouted to Lily.

  We retreated to a dry patch jutting out from the swamp. The Drowned slowly followed, but the mud slowed them down.

  I drew one last arrow and loosed it — straight into a creature’s eye socket.

  Its head snapped back as it fell.

  The others groaned and sank back into the swamp.

  We collapsed to the ground, panting. Silence returned. Only the bubbling sounds of the swamp remained.

  We had finally reached the city.

  Before us stretched a half-sunken, decaying town by the sea.

  Collapsed houses, crooked lanterns, moss-covered paths… Everything looked frozen in time.

  Suddenly, I felt Lily’s hand on my shoulder.

  “Look…” she whispered.

  Ahead, at the town’s center, stood a massive stone gate. It was covered in intricate runes.

  And… in the very center, there was a slot — just the right shape for our key.

  This was the place.

  But just then…

  A voice rose from the shadows.

  Whisper-like.

  Guttural.

  Ancient.

  And from the darkness emerged another Boss.

  Its armor was covered in moss and rust, standing over two and a half meters tall.

  It had no face — only a void, from which whispers escaped.

  In its hand, it held a black, twisted spear.

  Dark smoke curled from its tip.

  Each step it took cracked the cobbled stones, sending out small shockwaves.

  I narrowed my eyes. Lily stepped back.

  “Don’t screw up,” I told myself. “A mistake here means death.”