Chương 46: Chapter 45: Dregs and Deluge

The rain did not let up. If anything, it came harder, sheets of water pounding the harbor hard enough to flatten flame and drown smoke. The crew aboard the burning ship managed to contain the fire, the deluge doing what buckets and panic could not. Jack stood at the edge of the guild hall steps, watching the chaos spread across the waterfront.

"Secure the city," the crone said beside him. Her voice barely rose above the rain.

"Save its people." She reached out and patted his shoulder, a light touch that carried more weight than comfort.

"We will need to talk after," she added. Jack turned, but she was already walking away, her hunched form slipping back into the guild hall as if the storm itself had swallowed her. He exhaled once. Then he stepped forward to address the growing crowd. Nearly half the guild stood outside now, clustered beneath awnings and overhangs, faces turned toward him. Men and women soaked through, anxious, waiting. Some already whispered. Jack didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to.

"We need runners," he said.

"Now. The city needs warning that this storm isn't normal." A few murmurs rippled through the crowd.

"It's just a storm."

"Let it pass." A few nodded, the dissent spreading among them, eyes already drifting toward thoughts of family, hearths, and dry shelter. Jack didn't flinch.

"No, it isn't. This storm will be worse than the last, and it will break us and the city if we let it, but we must not give up hope. Together we can overcome this crisis." That drew attention.

"How does he know?"

"He spoke to the sea witch." Jack ignored the whispers once more, not having time for explanations. Only actions would do. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Anyone with family in or near the Dock Ward," he continued, "you get them here. This hall is high ground. It will hold." Movement began. Hesitant at first, then faster as they took in his words and worry over loved ones took root. Jack's gaze cut through the crowd.

"Warren." The injured man raised a hand, still favoring his side.

"You have family near the ward?" Jack asked. Warren hesitated, then nodded.

"Just my sister and her two kids." Jack didn't miss a beat.

"I'll get them," he said.

"You're not running in this state." Warren opened his mouth to protest, but Jack cut him off before he could object.

"You were injured on my watch. That makes them my responsibility." He stepped forward and rested a hand on Warren's shoulder.

"You are not useless. Stay inside and help the team. Coordinate couriers. Spread the message. High ground. No delays." Warren swallowed and nodded. Jack turned back to the others, to relay one final directive.

"Once your families are secure, you tell your neighbors. Then you come back for new assignments. We evacuate the sick and the elderly first." He pivoted to his team.

"Kael. You're logistics. Couriers bring you requests, locations, bottlenecks. Whatever it is, you make it move." Kael nodded, already pulling a slate from his coat.

"Aldric," Jack said.

"Split your guards in thirds. One group stays with Kael. One with you. One with Seraphine. You and Seraphine each take a spillway. Get the people out." Seraphine frowned.

"The second spillway still stands. Shouldn't we focus elsewhere?"

"After today," Jack said, "it might not." Aldric grimaced.

"Where do we send them all? They can't all come here."

"Inland," Jack said.

"Family. Friends. Anywhere but the Dock Ward."

"The Temple Ward," Kael said, his confidence had grown after given such responsibility.

"Plenty of space. Strong stone. The brothers won't turn anyone away." Jack nodded.

"Do it." Seraphine studied him for a moment.

"Where will you be?"

"I have something important to attend to. And Sera," Jack met her gaze and lowered his voice.

"I need every coin we have." She didn't argue. She just nodded. For the first time, the city moved at the behest of Breakwater Holdings. Aldric took his group hard and fast, boots splashing through flooded streets. He found an elderly family still trying to bar shutters against the rain, stubborn and shaking. He didn't waste words. He just lifted the grandfather himself when the man objected, all the while barking orders until neighbors followed suit. Seraphine ran into resistance.

An old dockworker planted himself in his doorway, arms crossed.

"I've ridden out worse," he said, posturing. She didn't threaten. She didn't plead. She didn't even use magic. She simply told the truth, and this time it was enough.

"No, you haven't," she said.

"You know what Breakwater has done for the Dock Ward and for the city. Trust us. This is no time for obstinance." He had no retort. He simply grabbed his coat and followed the others flowing deeper into the city. Kael stood in the middle of it all, runners arriving soaked and breathless, messages overlapping. He redirected, reassigned, adapted. And slowly, impossibly, it began to work. People moved uphill. Lights appeared where there had been none. Order emerged from panic.

Jack returned to the steps with Warren's family in tow, just as the weather worsened once more, sheets of rain blurring the harbor into a single gray mass. Now it was time to go to work.