Tor's terra magic cracked the ice beneath the attackers' feet. Knives and Jask moved in perfect sync, their blades flashing in the pale light.
I found myself backed against the mast with Kora, surrounded by chaos. A man with a jagged scar across his jaw lunged toward us. Kora parried his first thrust, but his second caught her off guard, slicing across her arm. She cried out, stumbling back.
The scar-faced man lunged again as I pulled Kora behind me. I parried with my own blade, the clash of metal ringing in my ears. My arms trembled with the force of the impact, but Knives' training held. I pushed back, creating just enough space to spin away from his next attack.
But there were too many. They swarmed the deck like insects, overwhelming us with sheer numbers. I lost sight of Kora in the chaos, desperately slashing at anyone who came too close.
"Juno, down!" Tor's voice boomed across the deck.
I dropped instantly as a blast of terra magic carrying shards of wooden projectiles flew over my head, catching one of Gideon's men square in the chest. He flew backward, crashing into the railing with a sickening crack.
When I regained my footing, my blood turned to ice. The terra elemental woman—the same one who'd first approachedus in the Hollow Market months ago—had Kora pinned against the mainmast, a blade pressed to her throat.
"Nobody moves!" she shouted, her voice carrying over the battle.
Jask's anguished cry tore through the air. "Kora!" He fought desperately to reach her, but three of Gideon's men had him cornered against the rail, driving him further from her with each thrust.
"Let her go!" I screamed, starting toward them.
A hand grabbed my arm, yanking me backward as a blade whistled past my face, close enough that I felt the air displacement. I spun to find myself facing another of Gideon's men, his teeth bared in a feral grin.
I glimpsed Cypher cutting his way toward me, his movements a blur of deadly accuracy that could only stem from a lifetime of fighting just to live another day. Gideon intercepted him, their blades meeting with a sound like thunder.
"You should have stayed dead, Nytherian," Gideon snarled, pressing his attack.
I barely had time to watch before my own attacker lunged again. I dodged, but not quickly enough. White-hot pain lanced across my cheek as his blade caught me. Warm blood trickled down my face and I screamed.
I heard Cypher's rage from across the deck. "JUNO!"
Darkness gathered around Cypher, coalescing along his blade like living ink. Black tendrils writhed and undulated, extending the reach of his weapon. His once copper eyes blackened as he cut down four men in rapid succession, each falling with expressions of shock frozen on their faces.
I couldn't process what I was seeing. Cypher had never demonstrated such magic before. What were those shadows? What was happening?
Cypher's roar echoed across the deck, a sound of pure anguish and rage that I’d never once heard from the stoic captain. I watched in horror as he abandoned all pretense of control, delivering a savage kick that sent Gideon sprawling across the deck.
He stalked towards the smuggler, eyes black as the void, without a speck of copper to be seen. Shadows writhed around him as he loomed over Pike. "Touch her, and I will unravel your soul until the void itself forgets your name."
Dread slithered through me at the promise. Not for Pike, but for Cypher. He was consumed. Lost to the rage.
Kora screamed as the terra elemental pressed her blade harder against her throat, drawing a thin line of crimson that trickled down her pale skin.
Something inside me shattered.
The First Anchor burned white-hot against my chest, and the whispers that had haunted the edges of my consciousness suddenly roared into a deafening chorus. I felt my control slipping—no, not slipping. Being deliberately, consciously released.
"Come to me," I whispered, though no one could possibly hear me.
The darkness responded. Not the absence of light, but something tangible, ancient, alive. It poured from me in waves, rolling across the deck like black fog. I saw Cypher's eyes widen in recognition, in warning, but it was too late.
My magic—if that's what this was—exploded outward, engulfing everything. The ship, the ice, Gideon's men, the crew—all of it consumed by the First Dark as it answered my call.
The solid world dissolved around us. The sounds of battle ceased, replaced by an absolute silence so thick all I wanted to do was scream just to break it. Then we were falling, or perhaps floating, through endless darkness.
I caught fleeting glimpses of the others—Kora's red hair like a flame in the void, Tor's massive silhouette tumbling away from me, Cypher reaching desperately in my direction before the darkness separated us completely.
Then I was alone. Truly, terrifyingly alone.
The First Dark surrounded me. Not empty, but filled with whispers and half-formed shapes that drifted at the edge of perception. I stumbled forward, though "forward" had no meaning in this lightless realm. There was no up or down, no direction at all. Just the sensation of movement through something thicker than air but less substantial than water.