Chapter 5 — Oro

Oro reels from Isla’s disappearance but insists she must be found, arguing her light and worldmaking power are vital to rebuild their shattered realm. Enya, Zed, and Calder question the risk of Isla’s return, with Zed suggesting the world might be safer without her. Oro, driven by love and duty, vows to pursue Isla to the ends of the universe.

Grim arrives battered from calming Lynx and warns Isla was near death, leaving only days to reach her. Concluding Isla had aid, Oro leads the group to Cleo’s ship. Cleo, unruffled, admits she helped Isla in exchange for a chance to get her dead son back, aligning her interests with theirs.

Pressed by Oro and Grim, Cleo divulges an oracle’s expanded prophecy: five hundred years after the curses, someone born of life and death, marked by halves, must choose a side and decide their world’s fate. She adds a greater threat—a war between worlds called Crowntide—that could determine the universe’s destiny, compelling former enemies to cooperate.

When Oro asks how to reach Isla, Cleo reveals his father spent his reign secretly searching the seas not for a thing but for a person. This final hint suggests a key figure exists who could amplify Grim’s portaling or otherwise enable a path to the otherworld, setting their next objective.