It is of the utmost importance that a blade be wet in the proper manner. No matter the skill of the smith who forged it, a weapon that isn’t used for war will grow weak. Steel forged in the heat of battle will never break against that nurtured within four walls.

-Excerpt from ‘Armoury of the Deep: An Introduction to Blades’ by Xen Diamondeye

The journey from Eastfel Bay to Clissolt was far greater a distance than their first voyage. Rose settled into the routine of life at sea once more, though this time aboard a far less lively ship.

Compared with the bustling Unrequited Love, with its enormous crew of merchants and sailors, their little gang of pirates was tiny. That wasn’t to say that it wasn’t fun—if anything she was truly happy for the first time in her life—but there were only so many knots a girl could tie before she started to want some excitement.

There was one way she could find it, though she was hesitant to prod Trent for the information. He had promised her an explanation about the strange crystal from the convergence. They’d just not had the time to have the talk. Perhaps he’d been avoiding it.

Later that night, as they were enjoying a fantastic dinner of salt cured fish and roast potatoes cut in the shape of roses—Nasar was truly a master of his craft—Rose broke the satisfied silence with her question.

“So, Captain. You owe me an explanation and this time you’re not worming your weaselly way out of it,” she announced.

Nasar grinned. “I’m curious to know what you promised young Rose and failed to deliver, old friend.”

“As am I,” Trent replied with a straight face. “Care to explain?”

Mouth wide in shock, she practically yelled her answer at him. “You smarmy bastard, how could you forget? Tell me what you wanted that damn crystal egg for so badly. You made me risk my life to help you get it!”

“That’s true,” said Felix with a mouth full of fish. “I remember you saying that when we were crossing the strait. You promised in exchange for seeing her treasures.”

Despite her disgust of the boy’s bad manners—bits of fish had spilled from his mouth as he spoke—Rose appreciated his support. And Nasar chipped in too, glaring at their captain until he relented.

“Fine, fine. I’ll tell you,” he muttered, throwing his arms up in surrender. “The only reason I hid it from you is because you wouldn’t be able to do anything with the information. And it might put you in danger.”

“I think I can make that decision myself. I’m a pirate now, after all,” she replied fiercely.

“That you are, little Rose. I suppose I’ll tell you, but don’t get ideas in your head. We were lucky that convergence wasn’t so strong. We wouldn’t be alive to tell the tale otherwise,” he cautioned.

Felix had slid down the rigging from the crow’s nest where he’d been keeping watch, eager to listen in on the conversation. Nasar seemed to know what was coming, but stayed anyway—they weren’t close to a mealtime and the seas were calm, leaving him with little to do.

“You have most probably guessed that the crystal was the core of the convergence. That is why all the beasts were drawn to it. Do you know why convergences form?” he asked.

“No,” she answered. She’d only discovered they existed when the pair of them had been thrown into one together and forced to escape.

“Beneath the surface of reality, underlying all things, there is an enigmatic and endless source of energy. Most know it as the Tide,” he said, pausing to let the revelation sink in. “However, what you see—whorls, skills, and occupations—is just the surface. Perhaps you’ve felt it. That tug on your soul, a thread of reality beyond what our eyes can see.”

He’d described to the word a feeling she’d experienced many times before. Occasionally when using a skill, when they passed through those strange webs in the convergence, and when she’d entered Zut Rubysoul’s cathedral.

“I have a skill,” she said, hesitating when the look on Trent’s face became far more serious. “Arcane Attunement. It… gives me tugs sometimes. Faint, but exactly how you described.”

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“That… is incredible. And you’re fifteen?” he asked.

“You know I am.”

“You’re right, I do. It’s just amazing. It truly is a grand stroke of fate that we met, Rose. Anyway, about the core.”

Felix nudged her arm with a smile. “Want to share some of that talent with me, friend?”

“Maybe if you work hard enough,” she quipped.

“Convergence cores are the Tide, crystallised into solid form—the energy of the world at the zenith of purity,” he explained.

“Can you absorb them? Take their energy for yourself?” she gasped.

He held up a hand to stop her in her tracks and shook his head with a forlorn half-smile. “If only it was that simple. If you tried, you’d explode,” he said, waving his hands theatrically.

She swallowed the saliva and the gulp caught in the back of her throat, making her cough. That was terrifying. She was only trying to become a pirate, not blow herself up. Rose decided to steer clear of the cores until she knew more about them.

“If you can’t use them yourself, then what’s the point of taking them? They must have some use other than being sparkly and beautiful?” she asked.

“Indeed, smart girl. Tidestones have extraordinary value. You saw the moving platforms at Eastfel Bay. They are powered by a few. It’s mostly complex machinery—the better ships use them instead of sails, or alongside them.”

“And they have one terrifying function. One that drives the real demand to explore and harvest convergences,” added Nasar. He paused. “Devastating weaponry.”

Trent’s expression turned grim. “Nasar is right. That’s where the real market is, but you don’t need to think about such things for now. Only in the more advanced oceans will you find the artificers capable of forging weapons of that calibre. Out here in the boonies cannons do just fine.”

Felix let out a sigh of relief, one that Rose matched internally. The moment he’d mentioned weapons her mind had conjured images of terrifying energy weapons that could blast dozens of ships to smithereens in a single blast.

The fact that such weapons might exist was horror enough. That they might have to contend with them one day was equally fearful, but ever since witnessing the clash between Trent and the Commodore she knew just how much of an ant she was compared to the true powers of the seas.

Seeing the kid’s grim expressions, Trent chuckled and slapped the mast loud enough to make them jump. “I told you it was too much. Then again, sometimes it’s beneficial to know what awaits you in the future, so you don’t start slacking off. I know how lazy you can get,” he joked while staring pointedly at Felix, who shrivelled under his gaze.

“You’re right. I appreciate the honesty. There’s no future for a crew who can’t trust each other,” Rose answered. “I’ll keep working hard to achieve my goals.”

The atmosphere had grown heavy. To take everyone’s minds off whatever was looming over them, Nasar piped up with a new topic of conversation. “So, who wants to hear about Zoria?”

***

Thick droplets of rain pelted her face as Rose fought with the fluttering sails. Gale force winds threatened to tear through the sturdy fabric and it took the combined strength of her and Felix to finally roll it up and lash it to the boom.

He yelled something at her, but his voice was drowned out by the roaring storm. They’d been caught off guard as the fierce rain and winds ambushed them from the west. Seeing that she hadn’t heard him, Felix simply pointed back to the deck and started to slide down the rigging.

Trent was battling the wheel, doing his best to keep them on course. They had precious little time to prepare the ship for the storm—the rudder would snap off if he continued to force it for much longer.

“Unusual for a storm this fierce to come through the pass. This doesn’t bode well for the journey ahead,” Nasar remarked once they’d clambered back down to the deck.

“Will we be able to make it through in one piece?” asked Rose, a little nervous. This would be her first time sailing through a storm.

Her clothes were soaked through and she occasionally had to fight the powerful winds to keep herself rooted to the deck. A stark reminder that no matter how powerful a pirate—or admiral—became, the most fearsome power at sea was always the deep blue itself and the skies above.

Trent joined them in tying down all the loose crates and rigging once he’d set the wheel. There was precious little they could do except brave it out and hope they weren’t blown too far off course once the skies cleared.

“Shame the storm hit on the way there. She would’ve been able to get us through a squall like this with her eyes shut,” he said to Nasar with a smile.

“Aye, that she would,” he replied impassively. “Perhaps this is the world’s way of warning you that she’s best left alone. Then again, you’ve never been one to listen to the world—especially when your heart is set.”

One moment everything was fine. Liberty was braving the storm and carrying them through. The eye was barely visible in the distance, a spot of calm in the raging seas. Then she felt the world shift. The tug on her soul made her fall to the deck as an almost solid wall of shimmering energy washed past them.

“Well. Looks like it's my lucky day,” cackled Trent with a glint in his eye. “Maybe I can use this one as a bribe. She’s always loved shiny trinkets.”

“Fool,” muttered Nasar, though the slight curl at the corners of his mouth betrayed his true thoughts.