The rusty yacht was silently wrestling with the waves off the coast of Gümbet at midnight, in a radar blind spot. The rain had increased its intensity, and lightning tearing through the sky created eerie shadows on the yacht’s steel hull. Inside, the first fruits of a new and tense alliance were being gathered. Sina was sitting cross legged in the middle of the table, his eyes tightly shut, trying to “read” the air with his trembling hands. The static sounds coming from Efsun’s radio had been synchronized with Sina’s mental frequencies. “A wave is coming from the castle,” groaned Sina. Sweat seeping from his forehead dripped from his chin. “Green, rotten, and heavy... Not bones, he’s sending something alive this time. Mortals laden with dark magic. Another Port is about to awaken.” “Where are they going?” asked Barlas, placing his hand on Sina’s shoulder as if to support him. “Wind... salt... and windmills,” said Sina, swallowing hard. “The hill. The windmills overlooking Bardakçı Bay.” Darius drew his wand. “The Sixth Port.” “That is a very open target,” said Okan, nervously bouncing his wand against his leg. “There’s nowhere to hide on the hill. The moment they see us, they’ll spew death upon us with those green lights.” Meltem smiled dangerously at Okan as she sheathed her curved combat knives in her belt. “Then we will strike unseen. This is guerrilla warfare, golden boy. Strike the blow, blend into the darkness, and attack from behind again before they realize what happened.” “Lidya, Vera,” said Darius, turning to the team. “The area around the windmills on the hill might be open, but the night is ours. Synchronize your illusion shields. You are going to bury us in a cloud of fog.” Playing with pitch-black shadows at her fingertips, Lidya cast an ice-cold look at Vera. “Just don’t get in my way.” Vera didn’t answer, but she gripped her wand tightly. Half an hour later, the Zodiac boat dropped them off at the dark rocks of Bardakçı. The eight person mixed squad of CORE and Inquisition members silently began to climb the hill, which was being battered by rain and wind. The historical windmills on the hill were surrounded by about twenty mortals whom Nazir had poisoned with Sanguis Vinculum. The tips of the mortals’ wands glowed with a sickly crimson, and the Sixth Port stone in their center was slowly turning the color of blood. At their head was a massive skeleton guard whose green eyes glowed, bearing rusted Carian armor on his shoulders; a commander Nazir was directing from the castle. “The attack plan is simple,” whispered Darius beneath the howl of the wind. “Kuzey, you and Okan stay back and catch that skeleton commander in a crossfire. Meltem, you’re clearing the mortals on the right flank directly. Barlas, come with me. We’re going to stop that ritual before breaking the stone.” Darius raised his hand. “Now. Lidya!” “Tenebris Illusio: Caligo Maxima!” (Blinding Fog) A cloud of pure, black and gray fog bursting from Lidya and Vera’s wands (and rings) swallowed the peak of the hill in seconds. The windmills, the mortals, and the skeleton guard were suddenly enveloped in a blind whiteness. Inside the fog cloud, it turned into a slaughterhouse within seconds. Meltem shot out from the fog like a panther. Without using her shock discs, she dove straight into the mortals with her curved knives. The mortals were throwing random fireballs, but Meltem used her speed to dance around them. Her blades didn’t cut flesh, but sliced the nerves in the arms holding the mortals’ wands, neutralizing them without causing permanent damage. A massive roar broke out from amidst the fog. While Okan rained explosive curses (Reducto) on the skeleton commander with his short wand, Kuzey put an end to it with his massive, ancient wand shouldered. “Bombarda Maxima!” That golden spell, with the weight of a cannonball, shooting from Kuzey’s wand struck the skeleton commander in the waist, folding him in two. The bones shattered, and the green light faded, blending into the soil. Meanwhile, Darius and Barlas had cleaved through the mortals around the Port stone and descended to the center. “We can’t stop the ritual, we have to break the stone!” shouted Barlas, aiming his wand at the stone. But right at that moment, a voice rose from within the Sixth Port stone. It wasn’t the scream of the mortals. This was the voice of Abu Nazir, calling out to them from miles away, from his throne in Bodrum Castle. The stone broadcast Nazir’s dark frequency almost like a megaphone. “The hounds have joined forces,” echoed Nazir’s voice, drowning out the howl of the wind and the noise of battle. “The windmills on the hill... A clever guerrilla attack, Widdershins. You can take that stone from me. But whose blood will you pay the price with?” A flash of lightning struck in Darius’s mind. Yes, Nazir was watching this place from the castle, but his true goal wasn’t the ritual on the hill. This was a decoy. That massive magic wave Sina caught on the radio was far too large to be for the mortals that came here. Darius quickly raised his wand, shouting into his earpiece. “Alaz! Is there anything on the yacht’s radar?! Efsun, answer!” Only a heavy static came from the earpiece, followed by Alaz’s muffled, agonized scream. “The sensors... Darius, underneath us! They are coming from the sea! The yacht—” The voice was cut off by a terrifying sound of tearing metal and a water explosion. Darius’s blood ran cold. Nazir had used the Sixth Port ritual merely as a distraction. His true target was the yacht off the coast of İçmeler, their mobile headquarters, safe house, and support line. Nazir had launched his skeletons at the yacht, not from the land this time, but directly from the bottom of the sea. Without lowering his wand aimed at the Port stone, Barlas looked at Darius. “We must break the stone!” “No!” shouted Darius, with a feral desperation in his eyes. “The yacht is under attack! Efsun and Alaz are there! We are going back!” Barlas gritted his teeth. “If we leave now, the Port will awaken!” “I don’t care about the Port!” roared Darius. He aimed his wand at the stone. “Protego Maxima!” He temporarily cut the stone off from the mortals’ reach with a blue shield he hastily wove around it. “This will stall them for ten minutes. Lidya! We are falling back! Everyone grab onto each other!” Inside the fog, the team that was about to achieve victory was suddenly recalled. Meltem and Okan laid out the last mortals and gathered around Darius. Kuzey slung his wand over his back and grabbed Darius’s shoulder. Darius raised his wand to the sky. His eyes searched for that rusty boat over the dark sea. Even the lawless hunter inside him was shaken by an ice-cold fear when his family was in danger. “Portus!” As the team vanished from the hill in seconds, all that was left behind them was the Sixth Port waiting to awaken behind the shield, and Nazir’s cold laughter, saturated with victory, echoing from the castle. 40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ939gB7Tba8
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