The Majors, Cold Fury (Book 2)

Chapter 78: The Great Catastrophe

"Um, you sure this is safe?" Fwhip questioned, raising his voice over the fierce winds.

"Perfectly safe! Right this way." I called back, guiding him towards the wall that bordered one of the edges of the city, the edge that didn't border Mythland. An arc had been constructed, arching high above our heads with a grate that could be lifted at will with a lever. The rough outline of the path led straight out of Ora, down and around one of the small mountains that surrounded the capital.

The ground was relatively level, the pathway hugging close to the cliffside of the mountain which sloped up only a few hundred feet or so.

I glanced back at Fwhip who was still following along, one hand around the rim of the Emperor's crown to stop it from getting knocked off from the breeze. "Nice, nice..." he muttered, gazing out over the ocean. "I presume this is to Lizzie?"

"Yup. It leads to a dock a few miles away. There we're planning to set up a string of buoys to hopefully guide the way to Oceania." A/N Oceania is the capital of the Ocean Empire. I said rather proudly, resting my hands on my hips as I glanced over my work.

Fwhip nodded. "Looks good so far to me!" He said, before yelping as a wave smashing against the cliffside, spraying salty seawater up towards us. He jumped backwards, away from the edge. "Maybe we should head back before that gets worse—"

"Probably a good idea." I laughed, actually not minding the light drizzle that had begun. It was quite refreshing, actually. But a crack of thunder that sounded overhead definitely enticed the idea of heading back towards the city for shelter.

So we began our tread back, my boots squelching against the mud as the rain mixed with the dirt trail.

"You know," Fwhip began, probably around halfway back to Ora, a slight frown on his face. "I thought something was off...where's your Codfather hat or whatever it was? Afraid to lose it in the storm?"

I instantly paused, a lump forming in my throat at the thought. My nose burned the slightest, my face twitching to get rid of the feeling that had snuck up so quickly on me. "Not important." I replied, keeping my tone void of emotion as I passed Fwhip, walking ahead of him now down the narrow path.

"Well, 'not important' must mean very important cause that reaction was pretty concerning—" Fwhip said, catching his breath in between words as he jogged to catch up with me.

"Since when have you cared?" I asked, keeping the rudeness that attempt to poison my tone at bay, masking it with curiosity.

Fwhip raised an eyebrow. "We're allies now, Jim. It's about time we start to mend what we've broken with the war. Also, you seem pretty upset, I want to make sure it's nothing serious."

"Well- it's not, serious per say it's just...I don't have it anymore." I said, my voice unintentionally becoming quieter the farther I got into speaking. I rubbed the back of my neck, eyes on the path, picking nervously at one of the scales lining my neck.

"Like...you lost it?" Fwhip questioned, his frown deepening.

I gave him a bit of a look. "No. It was taken."

Fwhip's nose instantly scrunched at the information. "Who the hell took it? Stealing your stuff is my thing, who's coming for my brand??"

This time, I glared at him. "I appreciate the sentiment." I replied wryly. "The council did. Apparently, I'm not responsible enough...not like I built this damn place from the ground up..." I muttered, kicking at a particularly large pebble on the ground with my boot.