The air in the inn room felt heavy, not only from the salt humidity that seemed to devour the wooden walls, but from the electric tension bubbling in the atmosphere following the battle at the cove. Kai sat at the oak table, watching the grayish morning light filter through the frayed curtains. Around him, his team rested, but their eyes reflected the same restlessness as his own. The silence of the city, which had once been a heavy and constant slab, now felt fragile, like glass on the verge of shattering from a note held too high.
"I went down to the kitchen for some water, and people are talking, Kai. The rumor that the sea monsters are dead has spread through the docks very quickly."
Kai nodded.
