"Stop."Jorik's voice cut through his apology like a blade."Just stop."He reined his horse closer to Kaine's, close enough that their knees nearly touched."You did what had to be done.What no one else had the courage to do.I never blamed you for it, Kaine.Not once."
Kaine stared at him, disbelieving."But I left you alone.With the aftermath—"
"You saved me," Jorik interrupted, his voice fierce with conviction."Kaine.I wasn't sad that Father was dead.I was relieved.We all were.The only grief I felt was when they took you away."He reached across the space between them, his gloved hand gripping Kaine's shoulder with startling strength."I was grateful to you.And then they punished you for being brave enough to end his tyranny over our family.That's what broke me.Not what you did—what they did to you for it."
Something hot and unexpected slipped down Kaine's cheek—a tear, quickly brushed away, but not before Jorik saw it.His brother's grip on his shoulder tightened, the gesture conveying more than words ever could.
"I've wanted to tell you that for eight years," Jorik said, his own voice rough with emotion."You're not the villain in our story, Kaine.You never were."
They rode in silence after that, each processing the weight of what had passed between them.Eventually, Jorik cleared his throat, his tone deliberately lighter."So.Thalia Greenspire."
Kaine shot him a startled glance.
"What?I have eyes," Jorik said with a hint of his old mischief."And I'm your brother.I can see how you look at her."He tilted his head, genuine curiosity in his expression."Though I'm surprised.I did think you and Senna were a match to last."
Kaine's jaw tightened."Senna and I..."he began, then shook his head."She knows too much about my past.About who I was, what I did."The admission came reluctantly.
Jorik shortened his horse’s reins, slowing it slightly to keep pace with his brother.“And she didn’t want you anymore?”
Kaine shook his head.“No.That wasn’t it.”Certainly, Senna’s interest had never waned.And if he was being honest with himself, neither had the pull between them.
"Then what happened?”
“She… she knew,” he said.“She knew too much about me.The real me, the one I wanted to leave behind.”
Jorik sighed.“You're not what they made you believe, Kaine.You're not a murderer.You're not broken beyond repair.You're the brother who protected me when no one else would.The man who did what needed doing, and paid a price no one should have asked of you."His voice dropped, but the intensity remained."You're a hero.And it's time you started believing it."
The word hung between them, foreign and uncomfortable against Kaine's sense of himself, but also strangely right.A truth he'd never allowed himself to consider, spoken with his brother's unwavering conviction.
He didn't reply—couldn't find words equal to what Jorik had given him.But as they continued toward the fjord, toward the darkness waiting at its edges, he felt something shift within him.Not healing, exactly, but the possibility of it.A door long closed, cracked open just enough to let in light.
***
They crested the final ridge before the fjord, and Kaine felt his breath catch in his throat.The narrow inlet that had once gleamed blue beneath winter sunlight now lay bifurcated—half clear water reflecting the muted sky, half absolute blackness that absorbed light rather than returning it.
The demarcation was unnaturally precise, a perfect line dividing what remained of their world from what had been consumed by the Deep Tide.Kaine estimated the distance with a soldier's practiced eye.One mile.Perhaps less.The darkness had drawn closer to Frostforge's walls than any of them had dared believe.
"It’s terrible," Jorik murmured beside him, his voice barely audible above the soft snorting of their horses.The mountain ponies shifted uneasily beneath them, nostrils flaring as they caught some scent imperceptible to human senses."It's advanced further than the scouts reported."
"By at least half a league," Kaine agreed, his gaze fixed on the boundary where normal waters met the unnatural black.Even from this distance, he could see the way ordinary waves seemed to shatter against the darkness, as though striking something solid despite its liquid appearance."We need to check the coastal encroachment.The reports suggested it's moving faster on land than in the fjord."
Lyra nudged her horse forward, her tattooed arms bare despite the chill, her eyes narrowed as she studied the distant boundary.She shivered, though whether from cold or something else, Kaine couldn't tell."It's looking back at us."
Erek scoffed, though Kaine noticed the former soldier's hand had moved to the hilt of his ice-steel blade."Water doesn't look at anything."
"That's not water," Jorik said quietly."Not anymore."
They rode along the ridge, following its curved descent toward the shore, keeping a cautious distance from the fjord itself.Kaine took careful mental notes of landmarks, comparing what he saw against the maps tucked securely in his saddlebags.Where the ridge flattened out, they found themselves facing the Northern coastline—a vista that should have included rocky beaches stretching at least two leagues before meeting the sea.
Instead, they found the Deep Tide lapping against unfamiliar shores, the landscape transformed beyond recognition.Where fishing villages had once dotted the coast, nothing remained—not ruins, not debris, simply absence, as though centuries of human habitation had been erased without trace.
"The boundary markers," Kaine said, dismounting from his horse and pulling a rolled map from his saddlebag.He spread it across a flat boulder, weighing its corners with stones."Here, here, and here," he indicated points on the carefully annotated parchment."According to the last reconnaissance, the tide had reached this line."His finger traced a curve marked in red ink."But look where we're standing now."
Jorik compared the map to their surroundings, his expression grim."We're at least a mile behind that line.The tide's claimed all of this," he swept his arm to encompass the transformed coastline, "in less than a week."
"The rate of advance is accelerating," Kaine muttered, pulling a stick of charcoal from his pocket and marking the map with swift, precise strokes."At this speed...we have days.Maybe a week before it reaches Frostforge's walls."
He was so absorbed in his calculations that he almost missed the subtle shift in the air—a pressure change that made his ears pop, a sudden absence of sound as birds fell silent and even the wind seemed to hold its breath.Lyra noticed first, her sharp intake of breath drawing Kaine's attention away from the map.
