LATE STAR OF THE NORTH XV: THE WINTER ARCHIVE

By evening, the islands were covered in white.

The harbor lights reflected across the frozen edges of the Baltic, while the old houses settled beneath a silence that seemed deeper than winter itself.

At the House of Returning Seas, Mira was alone.

Her mother had finally gone to bed.

Jonas had returned to the mainland.

The archive was quiet.

For the first time in months, Mira felt that the strange chain of events surrounding Nordhavn and the Silent Harbor had truly ended.

She was wrong.

At 11:16 p.m., someone knocked on the door.

Three times.

Mira stopped writing.