Harmonia Calendar 715, Chelon 15 - Harbor, Toran
I leaned against the railing and watched the waves strike the hull beneath me.
The sea breeze blew through my hair and carried the scent of salt into my nose.
The ship slammed into the waves.
Crash.
Water sprayed across the deck.
I stumbled, but my grip on the railings held me steady.
An ache throbbed through my body.
I rolled my stiff shoulders, joints cracking.
Twenty days of riding in cold winds to Marinthal, then six more confined to this ship.
The bruises on my thighs still burned from the saddle.
I drew a breath, heavier than I meant it to be.
'The journey's over at last.'
I lifted my eyes toward the city before me.
At first, only the harbor.
Stone piers sprawling, brown masts jutting like a forest of spears. Dozens of ships lined the docks, sails rolled up, flags waving in the wind.
Cranes groaned as they lifted crates from ship to pier.
The harbor was alive.
Sailors barking orders, merchants calling prices, travelers streaming down the piers. Voices clashed in half a dozen accents.
Above it all, seabirds wheeled, their cries echoing across the harbor.
But behind the noise, Toran's true shape revealed itself.
Beyond the harbor, behind the white marble walls, surged buildings of every size and shape.
Towers lanced into the sky, some marked with glowing runes, others curling into delicate spirals.
Between them stood the academies.
Vast complexes, each different, yet bound together in purpose.
High above the towers, massive ships of steel drifted through the sky.
Airships.
They floated as if the world's laws bent for this city alone.
Trails of luminous sparks followed after them, scattering like stardust across the daylight.
This was Toran.
A place of brilliance, where mages, scientists, warriors, and inventors lived side by side.
A small smile touched my lips, but it faded as quickly as it came.
I gripped the railing tighter.
'Adonis should have seen this.'
His face resurfaced in my mind.
The tears in his eyes, the despair as he was abandoned.
'I told him I would protect him. Stand beside him.'
'In the end, I couldn't change anything. I was too weak.'
My grip clenched harder, knuckles whitening.
'Hold on, Adonis.'
'Until I come.'
Another memory rose.
From the day I left.
Mother's trembling hands.
Theodora's cries.
A tear slid down my cheek.
'I hope they're safe.'
The thought of them pressed heavily on my chest.
I brushed the tear aside with my sleeve and promised myself.
To them.
To him.
I would return stronger.
I would find Adonis.
I would bring him back.
A month on the road had been enough time to steady myself.
'I can't break. Not now. This is the moment to give everything, to keep my word.'
"Docking in five!"
A shout cut through the air, dragging my mind back to the deck.
Sailors scrambled to their posts, boots clattering against wood.
"Get her ready!"
Men moved at once, pulling ropes, lowering sails, guiding the ship toward the pier.
The wood groaned, water splashing as the ship leaned into the current.
Another voice rang.
"Portside clear!"
The dock came closer.
Thud.
With a final jolt, the hull struck stone.
Ropes flew, tightening fast.
The ship bumped against the pier a few more times before it stilled.
Planks dropped, their ends fixed to the stone.
Around us, the voices of dockworkers rose.
"Unload fast!"
"Careful with that crate!"
"Spices go left, iron to the storehouse!"
I shifted, ready to head down the plank, when a creak behind me made me pause.
I turned toward the sound.
Old Stu's wooden leg scratched the deck as he limped closer.
He patted my shoulder, a gap-toothed smile breaking across his face.
"Go on, boy. Toran's all yours."
I smiled at him.
"Thank you for the help, Old Stu. I'll give it my best."
I lifted my bag and swung it over my shoulder as I stepped down the plank.
My boots hit the pier.
The ground felt unsteady after so many days at sea.
I swayed on my feet before finding my balance again.
The harbor around me teemed with motion.
Sailors unloaded cargo. Horses neighed as carts rolled by, wheels creaking under crates stamped with foreign seals. Children darted between workers, chasing gulls across the pier.
I walked through it all, taking it in.
The noise and the number of people felt nothing like the estate.
My feet carried me toward the eastern stairs.
The stairs connecting the port to the city were big, wide enough for hundreds, tall enough to climb the city walls.
White marble gleamed under the sun.
I halted and slipped a hand into my coat.
My fingers closed around cold metal.
The Whisper.
Mother had given it to me shortly before I left the estate so that we could keep in touch.
I took it out—a polished sphere, small enough to fit in my palm. Plain, without decoration, its surface gleamed silver.
I channeled a bit of mana into the device.
The sphere warmed in my hand as a square of silver-white light shimmered above it, glowing steady in the air.
My finger slid across the surface, navigating through the menu, opening my last messages.
Letters formed.
[Eastern stairs. Tenth bell.]
I raised my eyes.
Ahead, a clock tower rose between the roofs.
Four minutes to ten.
'I'm late..'
I channeled mana into it again.
The glowing square folded shut, leaving only the cool weight of the sphere.
I slipped the Whisper back into my coat and tightened my grip on the strap of my bag.
Then I started the climb.
The stairs were higher than I'd expected.
By the time I reached the top, my legs were burning.
I stopped near the last step to catch my breath.
And then another view hit me.
The market of Toran.
As big as a whole district, the market stood between the port and the city.
It stretched wide, stand after stand, filling the square.
Wooden stalls were draped in bright fabrics, colors flashing against the marble around them.
The smell of grilled meat, fish, and fruit hit me next. Smoke and spice hung in the air.
Crowds packed the square, but they didn't block the view beyond.
Toran.
No comparison to our small estate.
Buildings stretched into the horizon, each large enough to be a mansion on its own.
The towers I had glimpsed from the sea now loomed vast, their runes burning clearer in daylight.
The academies sprawled across entire districts like cities of their own.
And above it all drifted the airships, their shadows sweeping over entire blocks as they passed.
Thud.
A shoulder bumped mine.
"Sorry."
A voice followed before the person vanished.
My eyes shifted back to the crowd and the market around me.
The market roared, a wave of voices so loud the words blurred into noise.
Then, from the side, a voice cut through.
"Lucien?"