Bʀᴏᴋᴇɴ Hᴀʀᴍᴏɴʏ || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ: Fᴀʟʟ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Bᴇᴀsᴛs Bᴏᴏᴋ Oɴᴇ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ғɪғᴛᴇᴇɴ || ᴏᴠᴇʀʀᴜɴ

Niko

When we arrived in Greenhaven, no Greencloaks came rushing to the docks. There were no smiles, no welcoming calls from the battlements.

Instead, it was eerily silent. Like a blanket had fallen over the entire island, muting everything. No animal sounds could be heard, either.

"Something's wrong." Sabien seemed to have either read my mind, or sensed the same unease. I think it was probably the latter.

I nodded, looking around for Tyler.

The guardian was watching the docks with a cautious frown. Glancing up, he caught my eye.

"Where is everyone?" Skye asked in a hushed voice. I jumped, having nearly forgotten they were there. They crouched on the railing, their spider perched just as precariously on their shoulder. "There's usually people, right?"

"I don't know." Tyler answered slowly. He looked disturbed.

I felt fear spike in my chest, wishing suddenly for a joke to lighten the atmosphere. "Well, maybe they're just all inside."

Tyler shook his head as Promise walked up to join the conversation.

"Loyal smelled danger in the air," she said by way of explanation, "we are not safe here."

Sabien crossed his arms, rubbing his fingers over his bicep. "We can't just assume the worst, right? Maybe Niko's right, maybe they are all inside."

"Somehow I doubt that." The sarcasm had returned to Skye's tone, which anyone with a brain could see was their way of masking fear. Yes, I'm including myself in that.

Promise reached up to adjust her hood. "So, what's the plan, captain?" She asked Tyler.

"We have to know for sure what happened." He murmured after a moment's thought. "But just in case, we can't risk the Eight's safety." He ran a hand through his hair, tucking it back and out of his face. "Loyal and I will scout it out. Promise, I want you and Loving to stay here, keep an eye out for trouble, protect the kids."

I wanted to bristle at that, protest that we weren't kids anymore, but then bit my tongue as Tyler turned to me.

"Don't do anything stupid." He said, a knowing glint in his eye. "We'll be back in a jiffy."

"Got it." I nodded, resisting the urge to salute teasingly.

Tyler called Loyal over and together the two disembarked, hurrying down the docks. I watched them go until they were swallowed by the castle's shadow.

"We should get belowdecks, stay hidden in case someone comes looking," Sabien suggested.

Promise gave him a brisk nod. "Go tell the others. We will remain up here, to keep watch."

"Uh, are you sure that's a great idea?" Skye pointedly looked her up and down. "You kind of stand out."

"All of you do." Sabien piped in then. "I'd be the ideal lookout."

"He's right," I agreed. "He can camouflage so well he's basically invisible."

Sabien seemed to puff out his chest a bit, looking proud at the statement.