CHAPTER 36: ONE LESS

Falling.

Again.

Leo: "WHY IS THIS OUR LIFE NOW?!"

Julien: "I SWEAR, IF WE LAND IN MORE BONES—"

Mira: "Relax. We’re probably falling into something worse."

Felix? Still unconscious. Still flopping around like a lifeless puppet.

And me?

Done. Just done.

The air rushed past us, the darkness swallowing everything below. Then—light. A faint, eerie glow rising up to meet us.

I braced for impact.

CRASH.

We landed hard.

On wood.

Julien groaned, rolling onto his back. "I think I broke something."

Leo, wheezing: "Your dignity?"

Mira sat up, glancing around. "Huh. That’s different."

Felix? Face down. Unmoving. Might as well be dead.

I pushed myself up and took in our surroundings.

A ship.

We had landed on a ship.

Not just any ship—an old, decrepit galleon, its sails torn, its hull cracked. Fog curled along the deck like restless spirits. The air smelled of salt and something rotten.

And in the distance?

Water.

Black, endless water stretching beyond sight.

Julien: "Where... the hell are we now?"

Leo peered over the railing. His face immediately lost all color.

Leo: "NOPE. NOPE. NOT DOING THIS."

Julien: "What?"

Leo, pointing: "LOOK."

We did.

And immediately regretted it.

Something was in the water.

Not just one thing.

Many things.

Shapes. Twisting. Moving. Watching.

Their eyes—too many of them—glowed beneath the surface.

Julien: "I hate this."

Felix, finally stirring, groaned. "Did we die?"

Mira: "No, but you almost did. Again."

Felix: "Neat."

Then—footsteps.

Slow. Heavy. Echoing across the deck.

We turned.

A figure stood at the ship’s wheel. Cloaked in tattered robes. Tall. Unmoving.

And then it spoke.

A voice like creaking wood and crashing waves.

"Passengers... or sacrifices?"

Felix immediately sat up. "I VOTE PASSENGERS."

Julien: "SHUT UP."

Leo: "Sacrifices to what?!"

Mira: "Probably the things in the water."

Felix whimpered. "I change my vote."

The figure tilted its head, empty sockets where eyes should be. "You fell into my domain. Now... you must pay the toll."

Julien: "What kind of toll?"

The figure raised one skeletal hand and pointed.

At me.

Of course.

"Blood."

Felix: "NOPE. I’M OUT."

Leo: "We don’t have a choice, do we?"

Mira: "Probably not."

I sighed, already pulling out my dagger. "Fine. How much?"

The figure grinned. "Enough."

Which was not an answer I liked.

I dragged the blade across my palm, letting a few drops fall onto the deck. The wood absorbed them instantly, dark veins spreading through the planks.

The air shifted.

The figure let out a low hum, then nodded. "Accepted."

Julien: "That’s it?"

The figure’s grin widened. "For now."

The ship groaned. The sails caught an invisible wind. The entire vessel shuddered forward.

Leo: "Uh. Where exactly are we going?"

The figure turned toward the horizon, where an island loomed in the distance. Dark. Jagged. Unwelcoming.

"To the end of the world."

Felix: "Cool. I’m gonna pass out again."

And he did.

Mira just shrugged. "Well. That’s new."

Julien, muttering: "I already hate it."

Leo, gripping the railing: "If something climbs out of the water, I’m jumping off."

Me?

I just clenched my bleeding hand, watching the island grow closer.

Because something told me—

This was only going to get worse.

The fall wasn’t as long this time.

But it was worse.

Because we didn’t land on bones.

We landed in water.

Cold, dark, suffocating water.

I barely had time to take a breath before I was submerged.

The shock hit first. Then the weight. Heavy. Crushing. Dragging me down.

I kicked, fought, reached for the surface—

Only to see shadows moving above me.

No— something was in the water.

I forced myself up, breaking the surface with a gasp.

"Julien?!" I called out. "Mira?! Leo?!"

"Here!" Julien coughed, sputtering. "I think—I think Felix is drowning."

That tracked.

Mira surfaced next, already dragging Felix up by his collar. He was coughing, barely conscious.

Leo thrashed, panicking. "WHERE ARE WE?!"

I scanned the darkness. Stale air. Stagnant water. A ruined cavern.

Then I saw Wallace.

Face down in the water.

Floating.

Motionless.

A cold weight sank in my stomach.

"Wallace!" I swam toward him, grabbed his shoulder—

He didn’t move.

Didn’t react.

I turned him over.

And—

His eyes.

His wide, empty eyes.

Lifeless.

Cold.

Still.

The others swam closer.

Mira froze. Julien sucked in a breath. Leo stopped thrashing. Felix blinked, barely processing.

The silence said it all.

Wallace wasn’t breathing.

I pressed my fingers to his neck. Checked for a pulse.

Nothing.

Not a single beat.

Just cold skin.

Leo whispered, "No way."

Julien shook his head. "No—he—he was just with us—he was just—"

Felix finally came to, coughing up water, wiping his eyes—then he saw.

And went still.

Mira was the first to move. Slowly. Carefully. She closed Wallace’s eyes with trembling fingers.

"He’s gone," she murmured.

No one spoke.

No one moved.

Wallace.

The tinkerer. The schemer. The one always grumbling about rigging the system.

Gone.

Just like that.

I swallowed hard. I should have done something. I should have saved him.

But I didn’t even know when we lost him.

Was it when we fell? When we hit the water? Before that?

Had he been calling for help? Had he been reaching for us?

Had he been alone?

I clenched my fists.

Julien wiped his face, barely holding back his shaking breath.

Leo turned away, fists trembling.

Felix didn’t even speak. Just stared, eyes blank.

Mira? Mira just whispered, "This isn’t fair."

Because it wasn’t.

We were supposed to get out of this together.

We were supposed to fight, survive, laugh in the face of death—

But death didn’t care.

Death took Wallace anyway.

Julien finally broke. He slammed a fist into the water, choking out, "Dammit—DAMMIT!"

Leo gritted his teeth. "What do we do?" His voice was tight, strained, desperate.

Felix barely breathed out, "We... we can’t leave him here."

And he was right.

I took a shaky breath. My voice came out hoarse. "We bring him with us."

Even if the thought hurt—we couldn’t leave him in this godforsaken place.

Julien swallowed, nodding. "Yeah. Yeah, we do."

Mira pressed her lips together. "Okay."

Leo wiped his eyes. Felix just stared.

I gripped Wallace’s shoulders, lifting him from the water.

And we moved forward.

One less than before.