The sea was not calm that morning.
Nor was it raging.
It breathed.
Its waves rose in slow, measured rhythms before sinking once again, while the thick mist drifting across the surface moved as though it were following the breath of some colossal creature asleep beneath the endless waters.
At the edge of an old stone pier sat a young man, his legs hanging carelessly over the sea.
The wind toyed with his black hair as he turned a strange stone compass between his fingers.
It looked nothing like the compasses every sailor knew.
There was no needle.
No cardinal directions.
Only a weathered stone circle engraved with an ancient symbol, from which seven thin cracks stretched outward, as though waiting for something that had been missing for centuries.
He quietly observed it before letting out a faint smile.
"You still refuse to tell me where you want to go..."
Silence answered him.
He slowly stood, slipped the compass into his worn leather satchel, then pulled out a thick notebook filled with hand-drawn maps, sketches, and countless notes.
Opening the last page, he drew a small line across one of the maps.
Beneath it, he wrote:
"Third day after the full tide... I heard the sound beneath the eastern pier again."
He closed the notebook and fastened it to his belt.
His name was...
Cael.
Oerthos Port was slowly awakening.
Seagulls cried overhead.
Merchants lifted the wooden shutters of their stalls.
The smell of fresh fish mixed with wet ropes and black tar.
Sailors shouted across the docks while children ran through the narrow streets carrying buckets of seawater.
Yet despite all the noise...
Cael wasn't watching the people.
Nor the ships.
He was watching the ground.
His eyes followed the footprints left across the damp wooden planks.
Every few steps, he stopped.
Knelt.
Placed his fingertips against the wood.
Then closed his eyes.
...
For a brief moment...
A distant laugh echoed inside his mind.
The thud of a wooden crate.
A woman desperately calling someone's name.
Then...
Nothing.
Cael opened his eyes and quietly exhaled.
"Two days ago..." he whispered.
An old fisherman passing nearby stopped and looked at him.
"You're doing it again, aren't you, Cael?"
Without lifting his head, Cael smiled.
"The earth remembers far more than people ever do."
The old man laughed.
"I swear I'll never understand half the things that come out of your mouth."
"Neither do I."
Cael chuckled softly.
"But someday... I will."
Leaving the pier behind, he walked through the narrow streets until he arrived before an abandoned stone building almost swallowed by the morning mist.
Its faded wooden sign still read:
Marine Cartography Office
The door groaned loudly as he pushed it open.
Dust covered every corner.
Broken shelves leaned against cracked walls.
Ancient maps lay scattered across the floor.
An old rusted compass rested beneath a shattered window where silver sunlight poured inside.
Without hesitation, Cael crossed the room.
He pushed aside a heavy wooden cabinet.
Hidden beneath it...
A stone passage descended into darkness.
A small smile crossed his face.
"Morning..."
Then he stepped inside.
The deeper he descended, the colder the air became.
Strange symbols covered the walls.
Ancient circles.
Forgotten writings unlike anything spoken in Oerthos.
Eventually he reached a flooded chamber where water rose to his ankles.
At its center stood a broken stone pillar.
Cael approached it.
Placed his palm upon its surface.
Closed his eyes.
Silence.
Then...
The world vanished.
Shadows moved through the chamber.
Men dressed in unfamiliar garments spoke a language long erased from history.
One of them carried...
A compass.
Not the one Cael possessed.
This one was larger.
Older.
As the figure reached toward it—
The vision violently shattered.
Cael's eyes snapped open.
His breathing had grown uneven.
A single drop of blood slid from his nose.
He wiped it away.
Then stared at the pillar.
"Who... were you?"
No answer came.
Yet...
For the very first time in years...
The stone compass inside his satchel made a quiet sound.
...Click.
Cael froze.
He immediately pulled it out.
One of the seven cracks carved across its surface emitted a faint silver glow...
Only for a heartbeat.
Then everything became silent once more.
His pulse quickened.
He couldn't tear his eyes away.
He had no idea...
That miles away from Oerthos Port...
A massive black ship silently cut through the mist.
Standing upon its bow was a tall man wearing a long dark coat.
His right arm...
Was no longer human.
It was made of ancient bone, engraved with mysterious symbols.
He slowly lifted his gaze toward the horizon.
A calm smile appeared on his face.
"So..."
"You've finally awakened."
End of Chapter 1
"Some journeys do not begin when you leave the harbor... they begin when something long asleep awakens within you."