The 'Marrow-Bridges' were a vertical nightmare; archways of fused bone spanning vast, fog-filled chasms.
Below lay the 'Great Void,' where gravity was an unstable suggestion and the violet fog turned into a corrosive acid that dissolved everything in its path.
Corvin and Kael moved along the narrow ledges, their silhouettes dwarfed by the gargantuan scale of the bone architecture.
The wind here carried the scent of ozone and the rhythmic thumping of the Synod's engines—massive, steam-powered harpoon stations mining the Titan's remaining marrow.
"There!" Kael pointed toward a flickering amber light in the distance.
Emerging from the fog was the Carrion Vulture, a Nomad scavenger ship.
It was a grotesque, beautiful thing; its hull made of the toughest, strongest unknown steel that no one had ever laid eyes on before—a strange metal that shimmered with a dark luster, refusing to reflect light.
The ship hung in the air via magnetic tethers, its propellers churning the violet mist into swirling eddies.
"They're scavengers," Corvin whispered, his hand on his blade.
"Nomads can never be trusted; they'll sell anything, even their own families, for a gallon of high-grade marrow."
"They're our only way across the Gap," Kael noted. "The Justiciars have blocked the lower vents."
As they neared the docking tether, a figure emerged on the ship's prow. It was a woman named Maren, her skin covered in intricate, glowing tattoos that hummed with a low resonance.
She had heard stories of 'Seeds' and forbidden energies, but she had never met one until now. She held a long-barreled steam-rifle, its sight fixed squarely on Corvin's chest.
"State your vibration, travelers!" she shouted, her voice amplified by a brass funnel.
"This is the Carrion Vulture, and we don't take kindly to ghosts or Synod-dogs."
Corvin stepped into the light, raising his hands but keeping his fingers near his hilt.
"I'm no friend of the Synod. I have a passenger. We need passage to the Iron Citadel."
Maren laughed, a sharp, metallic sound.
"The Citadel? You're either brave or suicidal, Silencer. I can smell the 'Crimson Leak' on you from here. You're a dying man carrying a curse."
She looked at Kael, and her laughter died instantly.
Her tattoos flared with a sudden, violent amber light as she sensed the echo of his raw power.
"The boy... his resonance... it isn't human. It's completely empty."
"His name is Kael," Corvin said in a firm tone, stepping forward to shield the boy with his body.
"And I have a mission to bring him to safety. If you don't lower that rifle now, I'll show you exactly how 'empty' he can make this ship."
The tension was a physical cord stretched between them, ready to snap. Then, Maren lowered her rifle.
"You want passage? The price won't be marrow, but information. Tell me why Valerius has turned the entire Gap upside down for a child with black hair?"
Corvin replied coldly, his voice deep: "Because Valerius fears what he cannot control. Are we moving, or would you rather wait for the Synod ships to arrive?"
Maren's face went pale. She signaled for the magnetic tether to be lowered.
"Get on. But if this boy's energy starts to destabilize my ship, I'll throw you both into the Void myself."
As they boarded the Carrion Vulture, Corvin felt a shiver that had nothing to do with the wind.
He looked back at the Rib-Walkers district, now a distant shadow.
He knew Maren was right about one thing; he was a dying man, and the boy he was protecting was the 'Seed' that might either tear this world apart or rebuild it.
"Corvin," Kael whispered as the ship's engines roared to life.
"That woman... she's hiding something in the cargo hold. Something that smells like the Citadel."
Corvin gripped the hilt of his blade. The journey had only just begun, and the 'Vultures' were already circling.