The Duel

About This Episode

The Duel arrives with the inevitability of all things long delayed. Barra has known for some time—a man as territorial as he is ambitious does not miss the way Aden looks at Kira, nor the way she looks back. He waited, gathering grievance like kindling. The exposure of their kiss is merely the spark.

Custom on Canyon Myst is clear: the guest who violates a host's trust by pursuing a betrothed daughter answers with steel. Thalos watches without intervening. This is not his law to enforce—it is Barra's honor to reclaim. The duel begins at dawn in the village clearing, the crew forming a silent ring around the two men.

What unfolds is less a fight than a reckoning. Aden is the better swordsman but carries the weight of guilt. Barra fights with the fury of everything he's lost or been denied. The outcome leaves Aden alive but wounded—and by the time the sun fully clears the treeline, the Gilded Star has lifted without him. Loaded with stolen fire-stone. Gone before the ink could dry on any apology.

Aden stands alone in the clearing, watching the airship become a speck, then nothing. The island closes around him like a sentence.