Barclay was used to Tadg making him feel clueless, but not Viola, too. Maybe he should’ve brought his own book to study. But so far it hadn’t taught him any Lore Keeper basics like this. In the last chapter he’d finished, the author had rambled for thirty pages insisting that the Ickypox Plague hadn’t been caused by Ickies at all, but rather by a solar eclipse.

Leaving Viola to her reading, Barclay scooted closer to Yasha, whose skin was now the shade of sea kelp.

“I hate sailing,” Yasha mumbled. “Even at home.”

“Do people sail there, too?” Barclay didn’t mean to badger Yasha with his questions either, but he was too curious to hold his tongue.

“Some do. The Tundra has a few islands, but most people live on the mainland. It’s also very cold most of the year. And during the Winter, there’s no daylight—it’s always dark.”

Barclay gaped. “But how do you go out? How do you do anything?”

“We use fire and Lore. But during certain times, there are colorful lights that appear in the sky. They make our Lore stronger. And some Beasts can only be found when the lights are out.”

Now that Barclay had reached the Sea, he’d seen far more of the world. But hearing Yasha’s and Viola’s stories made him feel oddly small. The world was bigger and stranger than he’d ever imagined, and he wanted to see all of it.

An hour later, they sighted the Isle of Glannock—not by the shape of it in the distance but by the dark pillar of smoke that billowed into the sky. As they neared, Barclay expected to spot the skyline of another town. But all he could see was rubble.

Tadg sucked in a breath but said nothing.

Suddenly Barclay had the flash of an unhappy memory—the ruins of Dullshire after Gravaldor had attacked. Barclay had been four years old at the time, and even though he no longer blamed Gravaldor for what happened, he still didn’t like to think about it. And for Tadg, that same pain must’ve felt fresh.

“Looks like the pier was destroyed,” Ulick said. “We better take the rowboat out. Barclay, will ya drop the anchor? Just turn the lever there.” Ulick pointed at a handle on the Bewlah’s port side.

Once the anchor was secure, the five of them returned their Beasts to their Marks and clambered into the rowboat. Goath stretched out over their laps, his many vertebrae digging uncomfortably into Barclay’s thighs.