The fog lifted slowly, peeling away from the water like wet wool. It left the sea glassy, reflecting the grey sky so perfectly that the horizon vanished. There was no line between water and air. Just an endless expanse of silver.
Ezra walked the perimeter of the wall. His boots crunched on the frost that had formed on the stone overnight. The warmth from below kept the mortar soft, but the surface froze. It was a paradox. Warm earth, cold air. Steam rose from the ground in thin wisps, curling around the legs of the guards stationed at the corners.
"Visibility is clearing," Varen said. He stood at the north gate, checking the mechanism. It was a heavy beam of driftwood, reinforced with iron straps scavenged from the wrecked boats Hales had left behind. "If they send planes, we'll see them
