Chapter 49

On a rough merchant ship from Wyntertide toward Veneficarys, Kazhimyr battles nausea and distrust while Dravien boasts of a captain-friend who secured their passage. Over ale, Dravien reveals that General Loyce sought the bloodstones not for the septomir but to barter for Zevander, acting at Captain Zivant’s behest. He describes Loyce’s extreme cruelty—recalling Theron’s torture—and admits his own fear as her enslaved operative.

Ravezio heads topside and is suddenly yanked into the sea. Hearing his cries, Kazhimyr dives after him and discovers swift, glowing Syrenians circling. Ravezio says they disliked his blood, but the creatures toy with them, slashing Kazhimyr’s leg. To counter, Kazhimyr freezes the surrounding swells into a slick ice field and hauls Ravezio onto it.

The Syrenians batter the ice from below, tilting their small raft until a strange, pearly spread creeps through the water. A piercing shriek erupts, and Syrenian body parts rain onto the ice as the sea goes eerily calm. Dravien surfaces with retracting spine-spikes, explaining his toxin trapped water in the Syrenians’ bodies until they burst.

With the ship anchored and distant, Dravien proposes walking back if Kazhimyr can extend the ice. Kazhimyr obliges but reels as his vision narrows. Dravien notices the bite, and Kazhimyr blacks out, collapsing on the ice as the rescue plan stalls.