The sun hung low over Harbor's End, casting long shadows across the Drowned Market. Kael adjusted his frayed hood, the stolen silvers heavy in his pocket. At a Tideweave stall, he tossed a silver leviathan coin at the merchant, a grizzled woman mending a net.
"Rope. Durable," he muttered.
She squinted at the coin, then spat. "Bank'll skin me for takin' foreign silver. Get lost."
Kael's jaw tightened. Thirty percent tax. Essence core deposit. Bullshit. He pocketed the coin and slipped into the crowd, the Five Great Banks' five-pointed star banners flapping mockingly overhead.
A figure emerged from the throng—a woman with a star-shaped brand seared into her cheek. Enforcer Selene, her gray coat pristine, her eyes cold as Dead Zone ice.
"Kael Vorn," she called, her voice cutting through the market's din. "The Banks detest thieves."
Kael bolted, weaving through stalls. Selene flicked her wrist; a Monster-core glowed at her belt, and the air thickened. Kael's legs slowed, as if wading through tar.
Essence magic. Shit.
A familiar shanty echoed. Mara leapt from a fish cart, swinging a net of eels at Selene.
"Run, idiot!" she yelled, her hands sparking faintly.
Kael didn't hesitate. They ducked into a salt-crusted alley, Selene's enforcers close behind. Mara shoved him into a hidden cellar, slamming the door.
"You owe me," she panted, grinning. "Again."
The cellar reeked of brine and rebellion. Faded rebel slogans scarred the walls: "Drown the Banks." Mara lit a smuggler's lantern, revealing crates stamped with a serpent crest—Lord Marrow's stolen goods.
"Why help me?" Kael demanded.
Mara's smile faded. She rolled up her sleeve, revealing a faint, glowing mark—a Beast-core dormant's sigil. "The Banks killed my parents for a half-dead core. Now I take what's theirs."
Kael's stolen core pulsed in his pocket. Same damn war.
The cellar door exploded inward. Veyra stood framed in sunlight, her stone arm crackling. Selene's enforcers lay unconscious behind her.
"Pathetic," Veyra said, eyeing Kael. "You steal coins but lack the spine to wield real power."
She tossed a Beast-core at his feet. "Join me. Learn to carve your fate. Or die here, a rat."
Mara stepped forward. "He's not your pawn."
Veyra's gaze sharpened. "And you're not his shield, little spark."
Kael returned at dusk to find Garrick pacing, his face ashen.
"Bank enforcers came," he growled. "Tore the place apart. Lookin' for you."
Kael reached for his mother's locket. Garrick grabbed his wrist. "Your mother… she fought the Banks too. Died for it. You're walkin' her path."
The words hung like a storm.