Editing ToP Chapter 44

= <span style="color: #FFFFFF !important;">Chapter Forty-Four: Splashing Faces</span> =

Ivin Choerkin and Meliu, aboard the Soaring Gull, prepare to seize the ship from its Hidreng captors as it sails within a Five Nation fleet blockading Inster. After days of intimacy and planning, Meliu orchestrates a nighttime mutiny, using a staged distraction to draw Silone sailors to the deck, where Segur impersonates Captain Mulopo. Meliu unleashes Kibole’s Dark below deck, driving the Hidreng crew to madness and death, securing the ship but leaving her guilt-ridden and questioning her morality. The Silone crew, led by the freed Captain Swolis, executes surviving Teks and pursues the Tek fleet toward New Fost, only to find it too far ahead. Days later, smoke signals New Fost’s attack, and Swolis opts to sail through the Tek fleet under the Hidreng flag, rescuing a longboat of Silone civilians. Meliu, enraged by Tek executions, unleashes Dark on a pursuing ship, but collapses, her eyes blackened, overwhelmed by the power. Ivin, using a Wyvern Fire arrow, sets an enemy ship ablaze, grounding it, as the Gull beaches at New Fost, joining Silone warriors. The chapter intertwines strategic mutiny, divine horror, and desperate combat, highlighting Meliu’s moral struggle and Ivin’s leadership amidst a climactic battle for survival.


* [[ToP Chapter 43]] — A Guarded Life
* [[ToP Chapter 45]] — Sailing to Fire
* [[Trail of Pyres]] - Main Chapter Listing

[[Category:Meliu]]
[[Category:Ivin]]
[[Category:Swolis]]
[[Category:Kemin]]
[[Category:Remic]]
[[Category:Bolun]]
[[Category:New Fost]]
[[Category:Blooded Plain]]
[[Category:Inster Mention]]
[[Category:Gomjon Mention]]
[[Category:ToP Chapters]]