The Call of the Horizon snuck into a vast body of water where even the light of day appeared to pause before bursting through. Carrying echoes of old knowledge and hopes of a resurrected future, the chilly, salty air was thick.
The crew now found themselves on the verge of a change after all they had suffered—the storms that had pummeled their bodies and the darkness that had challenged the oneness of their spirits. Today, they would go into a region called the Crucible of Renewal, where the past was supposed to be burnt away so that a new legacy might be created from the ashes.
At the front, Seraphine looked out at the great, black ocean. Once a sharp line where blue met blue, the horizon was now a broken picture of moving shadows and quivering light. Swirling in her head were memories of the tempests and tribulations they had endured: the ancient ruins that had exposed secrets of togetherness and sacrifice, the echoing vows beneath the star-strewn sky, and the violent maelstroms.
