Metal Slinger

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and graphic violence.

Brynn and Acker row as long as they can before Acker’s stab wound needs tending. They fear the potential of attracting Alaha’s armada if they use sails. Brynn worries about the fact that they are far from land and lack provisions. They sleep on the deck in a makeshift shelter.

Brynn wakes to the sound of thunder in the distance and sets up a fishing net and water collection system. When Acker wakes, Brynn is pleased to see that his wound is healing. Though Acker is an inexperienced sailor, he follows Brynn’s instructions to get the craft moving. Brynn relishes the unexpected possibility of seeing land again.

Acker confides that he joined Kenta’s army at age 13. He says that Kenta enjoyed centuries of peace after exiling Wren but that the conflict resumed after Brynn’s kidnapping years ago. The leader of a land called Roison admitted to kidnapping Brynn, so Brynn’s mother murdered him, and his successor promptly launched a war against Kenta. Acker explains that he did not try to free himself from the Alaha people because he wanted to get close to Brynn.

Brynn sutures Acker’s wound and tells him about her childhood to distract him while she stitches.