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The crown had barely touched her head when her skin began to turn gray. / Chapter 13 / 20

Chapter 13 - Journey to the East

The salt spray whipped fiercely against the mahogany railing of the royal flagship as Captain Vane scanned the horizon through his brass spyglass. The eastern sea was a vast, ink-blue expanse under a bruised evening sky, the wind howling a warning of an approaching tempest.

"Captain! Look off the port bow!" shouted a lookout from the crow's nest.

Vane lowered his glass and strained his eyes. Cutting through the churning waves were three sleek, low-profile galleys draped in pitch-black canvas, their decks swarming with heavily armed figures who did not bear the banners of any recognized kingdom.

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"Drums of war, ready the ballistas!" Vane ordered, his voice cutting cleanly through the howling gale.

Before the royal ship could maneuver for an intercept, a sudden burst of luminescent green light erupted from the lead black-sailed vessel. A shockwave of magical energy swept across the water, deadening the wind and wrapping the royal flagship in an unnatural, suffocating fog that swallowed the stars and plunged the sea into absolute darkness.

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Chapter 14 - The Voice in the Fog
Chapter 15 - The Secret Beneath the Waves
Chapter 16 - The Gathering Storm at Court
Chapter 17 - The Prodigal’s Return
Chapter 18 - The March to the Sunken Shore
Chapter 19 - The Final Convergence

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