Captain Grayson blinked as his mind came back to him. The haze of false memories pushed away, and he remembered precisely why he was on Grim Aegis. In front of him, Drake also paused, his yellow eyes whipping back to catch Grayson's gaze.

"You remember," Drake said.

"As do you." Grayson nodded. "What do we do now?"

"The Arbiter might still be in port. We should head back there and see if any of the crew makes it there, assuming they have regained themselves."

Grayson looked down the street, seeing several people embracing and crying. He felt that he and Drake weren't alone in the restoration. He turned back to the lizard man and nodded.

They rushed down into the mist surrounding the lower levels, running down each set of stairs until they reached the bottom. Grayson's lungs burned as they ran, but he wasn't retired yet. He couldn't let Drake show him up as they reached the bottom level and stepped out into the docks.

Mist wrapped around the ships. Grayson couldn't see more than fifty meters out onto the water. Most of the ships were shadows and nothing more. However, despite the limitations on their sight, Drake plowed forward into the mist. Despite their scrambled memories, it was as if he knew precisely where to go.

"Is it confidence or folly?" Grayson spat.

"What?"

"You're going out like you know where the ship is." Grayson hurried a little to catch up with the other captain. "I'm starting to think you have some tricks up your sleeve—scales."

"Maybe I do." Drake snorted out a plume of smoke from his nose. "I can be of two minds on things, which might have reduced the effect of the alterations on my memory."

Grayson raised an eyebrow but wasn't sure what to do with that statement. He still didn't know if Captain Drake was some sort of cursed man or a lizard, given a man's form. While they had worked together for over a month now, Captain Drake remained a mystery, revealing nothing beyond what was necessary for cooperation.

It wasn't a path that built trust, but they got along well enough.

Sure enough, the sharp edges of the Arbiter appeared not long after from the mist. The long sloop design of the ship stretched the length of a portion of the docks. The ship had been tied down to the cleats along the docks, and the boarding blank was deployed up to the ship. It was done well, better than what Grayson would normally expect from Cade.

Which made him think that Cade hadn't done it at all.

"We weren't at the docks when we were captured." Grayson scratched his chin as he looked over the ship.

The front cabin was dark and quiet, and there was no movement on the decks. They hadn't seen anyone down on the lowest level, in fact. Grayson chewed at his lip. It was a graveyard for the ships that showed up to Grim Aegis. The ships would be stowed until they were needed for whatever grand plan the person behind it all had.

"I think we underestimated our opponents," Drake said as he started up the gangplank. "Our only salve is that they must have done the same. They assumed that their memory manipulation was so inescapable that they had no backup for when it failed. The only question was what broke the scheme."

Grayson had a hunch.

"Ortega," he said as he followed Drake up. "I don't know why, and I don't know how, but he is on the island. If there's anyone that can muck up someone else's plans, he would be it."

"Far too true." Smoke plumed out of Drake's maw as he looked over the deck. "Let's see if the communication array is working."

They entered the cabin, and ghosts fled as their footsteps stirred up a thin layer of dust. Grayson tried to place how long ago they had been dragged into their false lives of constant patrol by the spiders, but he couldn't parse out days. They all just blended together in his mind like waters in a whirlpool.

Click. Click. Whir.

Drake flicked a few dials and flipped a switch on the ship's control board, and the panel began to hum to life. The aetheric engines behind them, at the end of the ship, shook as they turned over and started. The light sails that ran across the ship's flat back unfurled and soaked in the ambient aether around the ship.

"She's still awake." Grayson smiled at the first bit of good news since getting his memories back. "Groggy, but awake."

"Now we just need to see if she can call out," Drake said, moving over to a side console on the right side of the room.

Click. Hmm.

Drake pulled a headset from the panel and held it up to the side of his head as he adjusted several switches across the panel. Stack hissed through the headphones, loud enough for even Grayson to hear as Drake cycled through the various channels. There were channels available for civilian communication, as well as those reserved for the Military Police's use. As Drake flipped through the various channels, though, all Grayson heard was static.

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No one was communicating, but the question was if someone could receive a signal from them.

"Arbiter to Base, over," Drake said.

Drake didn't say the name of the dreadnought that was waiting for them out in the nightsea. They didn't need that kind of information leaking out on any channel, secure or otherwise. However, Grayson didn't think anyone was listening. For several minutes, Drake repeated the same basic request, and only static ever came back.

"The way is shut." Drake shook his head as he lowered the receiver back to the console. "I had hoped that it wasn't that bad, but it makes sense. They wouldn't have locked down control of the island before they had the key."

"They have the family under control." Grayson nodded. "So they control the way in and out. Considering how our memories were manipulated, I don't think it's a surprise that they control the gate."

Thud.

Drake slammed his fist down on the panel, and it hissed in response. Smoke plumed out from his mouth. Grayson grimaced. He understood the frustration, but taking it out on the equipment wouldn't solve anything. Until the gates were opened up by the key, nothing would come in or out of Grim Aegis.

"We should see about finding our lieutenants. They may know where our troops are."

"It won't be enough," Drake said. "Our best hope was to get outside help. Without it, we have no hope of taking the keep. The amount of defenses a noble family has access to, in the wrong hands, could hold off a dreadnought for years. Combine it with the gate being closed, and you would need a Scion to break into this island."

Grayson pursed his lips. Drake might have been overstating how long the island could hold off a dreadnought, but the thrust of the statement was right. If the ones manipulating memories were in control of the keep and had access to all the secrets therein, they could hold almost any force at bay. Two captains, two lieutenants, and five reanimated corpses weren't going to change that.

"We've got to try something," Grayson said. "At least find our lieutenants and regroup. Maybe we can figure all this out when we put more heads together."

"Maybe so." More smoke plumed out from Drake's mouth as he leaned on the console. "However, even with all our heads together, I don't think we will find a solution so easily. It is not like we can just march up to the gates and demand them opened on our authority. That would just end with more spiders, I think."

"And us trapped again." Grayson sighed. "I know it seems impossible, but let's just go find the lieutenants. Sulking isn't going to solve anything."

Drake looked up, one yellow eye holding Grayson steady with a predatory gaze. Grayson held it steady. He wasn't going to back down and get drawn into the same rut. He'd had enough of that the last month when they were looking for his ship. It was time to stop sulking and at least try and get stuff done.

"Alright." Drake shrugged, whipping his head back around and starting for the door.

Grayson walked up to the console and shut the engines back down. The hum of the lodestones on both sides of the ship diminished as the ship shook a little. In moments, the ship was back the way it was when they had found it. Only the faint splash of water against the docks gave any interruption to the silence of the docks around them.

Grayson stepped out on the deck, only to find Drake standing stock still, his eyes wide and his claws outstretched as his gaze shifted back and forth along the docks. Grayson narrowed his eyes as he looked out into the mist. He took in a breath and opened himself to the Path of Will. His senses extended out into the surrounding mist, and he located the figures out in the mist easily.

There were two figures, but one Grayson immediately recognized. He relaxed. He could spot that rounded shape anywhere, regardless of the mist surrounding him. It was Cade out in the mist. Grayson stuffed his hands in his pockets as he started for the gangplank.

"It looks like our lieutenants caught up with us." Grayson eyed Drake as he stood on the deck's edge. "Are you going to come with me to greet them, or are you just going to stand there."

"Far too easily," Drake said, his eyes narrowing but still following after Grayson. "But you are right that they are here."

They walked out into the mist, and it gave way for them until they found the two figures standing on the docks. As Grayson's senses had found, it was Cade, the massive round man standing with his hands at his sides in the same tattered uniform he always wore. Beside him was Drake's own lieutenant, Brunhild, carrying her long spear on her shoulder.

"This isn't going to be some fight because the spiders control you, right?" Grayson eyed them both as they stood out in the mist. "I would rather not have to show you the difference between our ranks."

"No." Cade stretched before letting out a large yawn and scratching his side. "Sir."

"What he means to say is that neither of us was ever compromised." Lieutenant Brunhilde saluted her hand over her heart.

Her long blonde hair shook from the quickness of the movement, and she held it as any good soldier should. Cade, on the other hand, kept scratching at his side. Grayson wasn't sure whether he should be disappointed or proud.

"Explain." Drake took a wide stance, holding his arms crossed behind his back.

"When we arrived, and you were captured, we were saved by a third party," Brunhild said, her cold blue eyes staring forward. "Once we were informed of the situation, we were advised to wait until something changed."

"You left your commanding officers under the control of an enemy because some stranger told you to?" Smoke spilled out from Drake's maw.

"I'd like a better explanation as well," Grayson said, holding his hands behind his back like Drake. "Though I won't burn you to a crisp for your answer."

"I'm not going to burn my lieutenant." Drake gave Grayson a side-eye. "I just need an explanation."

"Tell your smoke that."

"Sirs." Brunhild managed to further stand at attention. "I understand your anger, but the order came from someone higher than the command structure."

Grayson frowned. That wouldn't be a good thing. Islands controlled by noble families held authority within their territories. That meant someone with noble blood had given Brunhild and Cade the command. However, there was good news hidden in that bad news. Someone with noble blood was outside the influence of the memory manipulation.

"The big man." Cade nodded. "He told us to stay safe until you were free."

"And he told us to bring you to him if you returned to the ship," Brunhild said. "We've been waiting nearby, and when we noticed that people had regained their memories, we thought you might be on your way."

"Understood," Drake said. "Thank you for the report."

"Sir." Brunhild relaxed, her free hand going to her side. "If you'll come with us, we'll take you to him."

"I think that's for the best." Drake shared a look with Grayson. "Let's go find out who saved our underlings."

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