Kain and Serena ducked into the nearest alley they could find, hearts still pounding from the shock. One moment, they were deep underwater facing a Demigod turtle; the next, they were spat onto a crowded dock under a blazing sun. Fishermen shouted, gulls screamed, and the smell of salt, sweat, and freshly caught fish filled the air. It was chaos—and they stood out like sore thumbs.
Kain grabbed Serena's wrist. "This way," he whispered, pulling her toward a narrow gap between two warehouse-like buildings. They slipped past stacked barrels and crates until they found a small storage room near the docks—its door half-hanging, its interior dusty but empty. Only the faint creak of the waves and distant shouts reached them.
Serena leaned against the wall, breathing hard. "That turtle really just threw us here without warning."
"Better than it throwing us into the sky," Kain muttered, scanning outside through a cracked plank. "Still, this isn't ideal. We don't even know where we are."
