…What the hell? Something groaned.
Not a cute little ship settling groan. Not a wood complaining politely groan.
No—this was the sound of something ancient, massive, and deeply annoyed rolling over beneath the world like, ugh, five more centuries, please.
The temperature dropped so fast my breath fogged instantly.
One second: wet, miserable, cold.
Next second: congratulations, you're now an unpaid extra in a horror movie.
The wind stopped. Not slowed. Not shifted. Stopped. Like some cosmic director slammed a giant PAUSE button and said, Everyone freeze. This is the scary part.
Even the boat—our loud, dramatic, creaky menace of a vessel—went quiet. It only let out the softest creak, the way a brave object does when it knows it's about to die but wants to be polite about it.
The world held its breath.
So did I.
Jin swallowed hard. I heard it. Loud. Criminally loud in the silence.
