Natra Phan 2 File

Kaelen smiled. He walked to the pedestal and placed the Heart into the stone hand.

“It stays here,” he said quietly. “Where it belongs.” Natra Phan 2

Through the grates of the old fish refinery, down a rope ladder slick with algae, into the whispering dark where the city’s innards groaned like a dying beast. Lin led the way, her pale fingers tracing symbols on the walls—leftover runes from the builders. Kaelen followed, holding the Heart like a lantern. Captain Vee brought up the rear, her claw scraping sparks off the iron rungs. Kaelen smiled

“He’s right,” Lin said, not looking at Vee, but at the Heart glowing in Kaelen’s hands. “I’ve been charting the keel seams for three moons. The southern pontoons have compressed by two full inches. If we don’t reach the Core by the next high tide, the entire Starboard Bazaar will tip into the Abyss.” “Where it belongs

“No,” insisted a new voice. Soft. Precise.