The iron hook tore through the air, hissing like a venomous snake. The clinking of its chain was like the music of death. For a moment, Aarav's body froze. His mind went blank. This wasn't a practice match; this wasn't a dream. This was real. That sharp, rusted point of death was coming straight for him.
He heard Liora's stifled scream. He remembered Kael's warning. But there was no way to retreat now.
'Balance...'
Suddenly, Kael's calm voice echoed in a corner of his mind.
'Strength isn't in exertion, Aarav. Strength is in balance.'
Just as the hook was inches from his face, Aarav did what he had been taught for the past several weeks. He didn't try to block it. His wooden sword couldn't possibly withstand the blow.
Instead, he ducked. No, he didn't just duck—he flowed to the ground like water. His body was moving faster than his mind. He pivoted on his right foot, exactly as Kael had made him do a hundred times every morning.
The hook whizzed past his head and slammed into a wooden post behind him. THWACK!
The pirate who had thrown the hook was stunned. He had expected the boy to either freeze in fear or foolishly try to block it. But this? This was new.
Aarav was back on his feet with the speed of lightning. His heart was hammering like a drum, but his hands were steady. The wooden sword didn't feel so heavy anymore.
"Well, you move good, kid!" the pirate growled. He gave his chain a powerful jerk, and the hook ripped out of the wooden post, sending splinters flying.
Meanwhile, the second pirate, wielding a heavy axe, lunged at Kael. Kael was ready with his twin swords. The deafening sound of metal clashing rang out. Kael fought like a dancer, his every move precise and deadly.
"Liora, shield!" Captain Mara shouted, aiming her steam-gun at the pirates.
Liora overcame her panic. She looked at Aarav—his face was slick with sweat, his eyes wide, but he was standing his ground. Fighting. A strange sense of pride swelled in Liora's heart, mixed with fear. She thrust her hands forward and began to whisper an incantation. A translucent shield of green light began to form around her.
Aarav's full attention was on the hook-wielding pirate. The pirate swung the chain again. This time, instead of throwing it straight, he was dragging it across the ground, aiming for Aarav's legs.
Aarav jumped back.
'Don't watch the weapon, watch the body,' another of Kael's lessons flashed in his mind.
He noticed that every time the pirate swung the chain, his left shoulder leaned slightly forward. That was his tell. His weakness.
The pirate threw the hook a third time. Aarav dodged again. But this time, instead of dodging backward, he moved forward, closer to the pirate. The pirate was not prepared for this move.
Before he could retract the chain, Aarav was right in front of him.
"You dare..." the pirate snarled, throwing a punch.
Aarav ducked his head to avoid the punch and used his wooden sword not as a weapon, but as a cudgel. He struck the pirate's wrist with all his might—right over the nerves.
CRACK!
A dry, bone-like sound echoed.
The pirate screamed in pain. His grip loosened, and the chain fell from his hand, clattering onto the sand.
It all happened in a split second. But Aarav didn't stop. He spun his body and delivered a powerful kick to the pirate's knee. The pirate's balance shattered, and he collapsed to his knees.
Aarav stood panting, the wooden sword still in his hand. He had just disarmed an armed pirate. He couldn't believe it himself.
Then, he heard a cry from behind him.
Kael was fighting the other pirate, but this one's fighting style was unpredictable. He was swinging his axe like a wild animal. Kael was parrying every blow, but he wasn't getting a single opening to counter-attack.
And now, after his partner had fallen, the axe-wielding pirate had become even more dangerous. He had pushed Kael back.
Aarav saw Kael's foot hit a rock, and for a split second, his balance faltered.
That one moment was enough.
The axe-wielding pirate, sensing his victory, raised his axe high in the air with a triumphant roar, preparing for the final blow on Kael's head.
Liora screamed. Mara fired a shot, but it went wide.
Everything slowed down.
Aarav saw that in Kael's eyes, there was not the fear of death, but disappointment.
"No!" Aarav yelled.
He had no time to think. A flood of adrenaline surged through him. He looked at the chain lying on the ground.
He grabbed one end of the chain and, with all his strength, swung and threw it.
The heavy iron hook spun through the air and snagged itself right into the wooden handle of the pirate's axe.
The pirate's blow stopped mid-swing. He was stunned. Kael was stunned.
Aarav pulled the chain towards him with all his might. The pirate's balance was completely thrown off, and he stumbled and fell to the ground.
Kael found his opening. Before the pirate could recover, the pommel of Kael's sword struck him on the head, and he fell unconscious.
The fight was over.
A silence fell over the area, broken only by the sound of heavy breathing and the waves of the sea.
Aarav's hands were trembling. He dropped the chain. He collapsed to his knees on the sand. All the strength seemed to drain from his body at once.
"Aarav!"
Liora broke through her shield and ran towards him. She knelt in front of him and, in her panic, took his face in her hands. "Are you hurt? Are you okay?" There were tears in her eyes.
Aarav just shook his head. His throat was dry. Liora's touch... was calming his frantic heart. For a moment, they were oblivious to the world. Their fingers intertwined.
"Your stance was still garbage," Kael's voice broke the moment.
Aarav looked up. Kael was standing before him, his swords sheathed. There was no smile on his face, but in his eyes... there was a glint that Aarav had never seen before. "But you used your head. You won with precision, not strength."
For Kael, this was the highest form of praise.
Mara, tying up the unconscious pirates, said, "Kid, you did more than just save your own skin today. You saved all of us."
Suddenly, one of the unconscious pirates began to cough. Mara placed her boot on his mouth. "Now tell me, who sent you? And how did you know the Tideborne was here?"
The pirate laughed, blood trickling from his mouth. "You... you can't protect him. Our master has control over everything... especially... the Tide currents... he will find him..."
With those words, the pirate's eyes closed.
"Master? What master?" Mara asked, but there was no reply.
Just then, another strange event occurred.
The Tide Compass, which had been hanging quietly at Aarav's waist, suddenly began to glow fiercely.
But this time, its light wasn't golden.
It was throbbing with a deep, angry red light, like a wounded heart. Its brass surface was becoming hot. And its needle... the needle that had been pointing steadily northwest, was now spinning wildly, as if it had lost its way entirely.
Liora looked at the compass in fear.
"What... what is happening?" Aarav asked nervously.
Liora's voice trembled as she said, "I don't know. The compass never does this. It's meant to show the way, not lose it. It's like... like something is trying to control it from the outside."
The red pulse of the compass grew faster, and with it, the beating of all their hearts. Their first journey hadn't even begun, and their only map was now becoming their greatest enemy.