Salt wind cuts through the harbor lanes as Talon slips from shadow to shadow, skirting stacked crates and puddles of black water. The docks thrum with late cargo, rope creaks, bootsteps, and low shouted orders.
Ahead, a gangplank sways beside a waiting coaster. On the warehouse edge, The Stranger stands cloaked and still, watching the route to open water as if they have marked Talon’s path from the start.
Two dockhands haul a cask aside, blocking the nearest board. Another crew starts to unlash a netted load. Every way to the ship is suddenly busy, narrow, and watched.
The Stranger
You run well, Talon Vekadrin. Not well enough.
Talon Vekadrin
Find me a berth, and keep your eyes off my back.
Maddie Potholder
Talon? Gods, what have you dragged to my door?
Maddie’s voice carries from the alley mouth behind him, plain fear sharpened by anger. She has followed, and now the harbor has her in its noise as well.
The Stranger
Leave the city, or I name where you sleep, and who hides you.
The threat lands hard. Talon is not at a safe passage yet, only at the edge of a net closing around him, with the docks, the stranger, and Maddie all pulling the night tighter.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure passage on a departing vessel