Chapter 20 The Ghost of Tide Gate
"There you have it. Tide Gate." Silverfox murmured, pausing in the shade of the trees at the edge of the forest.
We stared in awe at the great walls that loomed in the distance, their gray stones rising in jagged lines and stretching along the glittering coastline as far as the eye could see.
Before us sprawled a port city of breathtaking scale, carved from the very hills themselves.
Each terrace and street descended in broad, sweeping tiers toward the bustling harbor below.
Towering spires and domes crowned the city, their facades etched with intricate patterns that caught and scattered the sunlight.
From the highest parapets, colorful banners snapped and fluttered above the slate rooftops and narrow, winding alleys.
The whole city shimmered in the golden warmth of the early morning.
For weeks, we had wandered beneath the suffocating canopy of tangled branches and dripping moss, but here, the gloomy shadows finally fell away.
I was the first to step out from the treeline, dashing into the open, grinning as I tipped my head back, letting the golden sunlight spill over my face.
Even the child, who had been unusually quiet and withdrawn, could not help but join me, drinking in the endless blue sky and breathing in the salty sea air.
Zephyrah gingerly stepped out, nervous as she took in the immensity of the city, while Gareth trudged after her slowly, seemingly too exhausted to care.
I noticed that Silverfox remained within the shade of the trees, with arms crossed, eyeing the city with calculated unease.
I called to him, still smiling, "Are you not going to join us?"
He cocked an eyebrow and scoffed, "Whatever for? The sun is hardly anything to get excited about, especially considering the task ahead."
My face fell in an instant, and I muttered, "You certainly know how to ruin a good mood."
"I am just being practical, unlike you, fools. You are acting like children." He sneered.
I rolled my eyes at his insult and turned to Gareth. I caught up to him farther down the field, giving him a hopeful smile. But as soon as I began to speak, his gaze slid past me, and he turned away, choosing instead to start a conversation with the Dissolver.
The sting of his rejection twisted like a knife in my stomach.
Still, my worry for him kept me rooted in place as I took in the dark circles under his eyes and the way his shoulders slumped.
Since the day I awoke after the fortress, he had become a ghost of the man I once knew.
He barely spoke, ate very little, and slept even less.
He spent each night, silent and alone, staring into the flames as if the fire might answer some unspoken ache inside him.
I tried to coax out our old banter with an easy joke or a sly remark, but all my attempts were met only with ice. His responses were clipped and distant, and he shut me out before I could even draw near.
I could not help but wonder...
Did I ruin something between us?
Is it my fault he has shut me out?
No matter how I tried, I could not break through his walls.
The distance hurt me more than it should have.
A part of me wanted to let go, to surrender the thread that bound me to him, but my heart would not let me.
Every morning, as soon as my eyes opened, I found myself searching for him.
I missed the warmth of his laughter and his handsome, lopsided grin.
I missed the way he would turn silence into something light and easy with a story or a teasing quip.
No matter how hard I tried to pretend otherwise, I felt empty and broken, as if he was walking away with a piece of me that I never intended to give him.
The loneliness I felt every day nearly consumed me, but I swallowed it down and carried on anyway. I reminded myself it was for the best.
We could never be, no matter how much my heart longed to be closer to him.
Instead of pushing my boundaries with Gareth, I turned my attention to Silverfox, who still lingered in the shadows beneath the trees. As my gaze settled on him, I thought I glimpsed his eyes, catching mine for an instant before darting away to the ocean.
Is he... watching me again?
I studied him uneasily, noting the slight hunch in his posture and the dark circles beneath his eyes. He looked worn down, as if he had not slept or was ill.
What is wrong with the men in this camp?
Zephyrah came up beside me, following my wary gaze. "What is it?" she asked.
Too paranoid to look away from him, I said, "Have you noticed? Silverfox looks... different lately. Almost as if he is in pain, or ill."
Zephyrah's voice wavered. "I think it is because he is."
I looked at her then. Her brow was furrowed as she watched him with suspicion.
"Is something wrong?" I asked.
She hesitated, then whispered, "The other day, he came to me with a cut on his hand. He said he got it while collecting firewood and asked if I would heal it. I agreed, but when I looked closer, it was a clean cut—as if it was from a sharp blade."
"Do you think he cut himself on purpose?" I questioned, leaning in to hear her better.
"It is possible. But that is not even the oddest part. When I touched his hand, I felt... something. I am not sure what it was, but something felt—" She shuddered and froze, her eyes going wide as she stared at the trees.
I followed her gaze. Silverfox's eyes were fixed on us, the sunlight reflecting off his irises like a wolf in the darkness, unblinking and cold. He flashed a sly smile from the shade of the tree, and Zephyrah and I both looked away at once.
A chill crept up my spine.
There was something unsettling in his eyes. He was always watching, always calculating. And worse yet, I feared he watched me most of all.
I drew a sharp breath and tried to brush it off. "It matters little," I told Zephyrah. "Soon, we will find a way to be rid of him when we get inside the city."
"I wonder what he has planned," she murmured.
"There is only one way to find out," I said, starting toward him.
But Zephyrah caught my arm. "Be careful... Gareth is right. He cannot be trusted."
I winced. The mention of his name twisted the knife in my gut.
"I know," I said coldly. "But we need to know how to prepare."
I ignored Gareth's uneasy glare as I walked past and made my way to Silverfox, who stood waiting with a sly smile.
My nerves twisted the closer I got, my heart thudding in my chest, and I found myself fiddling absently with the leather strap of the relic.
Silverfox's eyes followed me the whole way, sharp and unblinking, until I stood beside him in the shade of the tree.
"You see?" he said, his lips curling with a sly smirk as he raised an eyebrow. "What is out there in the sunlight is not half as interesting as what you will find in the shadows."
I crossed my arms and looked away, trying to steady my nerves. "Do not flatter yourself. I am here to talk business."
He leaned in closer, lowering his voice, "If that is true, then why are you so nervous?"
I was briefly at a loss for words as our eyes met. His sharp silver gaze searched my face, and I felt exposed under his scrutiny. A shiver ran through me.
"I am not nervous," I said, though my voice wavered.
Desperate to be freed from his intimidating stare, I turned my attention to his strange pallor and the long ears that protruded from his white hair.
He did not look like the other elves I had seen in Etheria.
Most elves, like most other forest creatures, had darker skin, olive or ebony, and were a bit shorter than human men.
Silverfox was tall, almost colorless, and the only thing he shared with other elves was that otherworldly, stunning perfection.
My eyes lingered on his ears, innocently trying to judge by the length whether he was half-elf or full.
I had not noticed how long I had been quiet.
"You are admiring me," he murmured, soft and sly.
His voice snapped me out of my thoughts and back to the moment.
Heat rushed to my cheeks, and I stepped back. "N-no! I—"
He raised an eyebrow and grinned, "Normally I would not mind, but since we are working together, it is probably best if you keep things professional."
My jaw dropped. "N-no, that is not—I was not—"
He just watched me, clearly finding my embarrassment amusing.
Calm yourself. He is just trying to rattle you.
I forced myself to breathe and said, "I came to ask about your plan for getting us into the city."
He chuckled. "That almost sounded believable."
"Do you even have one?" I asked impatiently, tapping my foot.
"Of course." He smirked, standing straighter and pointing to the rocky outcroppings around the city, "There are several small cave systems that run beneath the city. Some of them connect to the sewers. They are almost impossible to locate, unless you know exactly where to look."
I raised an eyebrow. "Sneak into the sewers through a cave? That sounds suspiciously easy."
"Well, there is a small catch." He said, his smile fading, "Unlike most kingdoms, this city is not run by power-hungry nobles.
Tide Gate is controlled by the Guilds. And the caves happen to be under the control of the Crimson Syndicate, the most powerful Guild in the city.
It is only a small catch, really. All we have to do is avoid their guards, assuming that there are any. "
I threw my hands up, "That is your plan? To sneak into a cave run by a criminal empire? Are you mad?"
"It is not as difficult as it sounds." He assured, "There are some tunnels that are unused, mostly because they are treacherous, but I know how to navigate them."
"Your plan is actually sounding worse by the second," I mumbled.
He just grinned. "I think the danger makes it exciting."
"You really are insane..." I muttered under my breath. Then after a moment of contemplating, I asked, "How do you know of these tunnels in the first place?"
For the first time, his confidence faltered. He stiffened, a trace of pain crossing his face before his expression became unreadable.
His voice went cold. "I grew up here. Nobody knows the city better than I do. There is no other way to get inside, save through the front gate, which is not possible if you still prefer discretion."
I hesitated, standing in silence beside him while weighing the truth in his words. I did not like the sound of it, but we clearly had no choice but to trust him.
At last, I asked, "When do we leave?"
"As soon as that wretched sun goes down," he replied.