Airovale · Episode Six · By Jef Gray
Nothing here is free. What the crew took to be hospitality — shelter, food, repair — was in fact a ledger being kept. Thalos, the fae elder, summons the crew to answer for their accumulation. The resources they harvested, the timber they felled, the ore they pried from stone — all of it tallied against them in a currency they never agreed to spend.
The law is simple, brutal, and ancient: for every gift taken, a gift must be returned in kind. But the crew has nothing to give that the island values — no craft, no knowledge, no magic. The fae offer a choice: depart immediately with nothing, or remain and repay through service with no guarantee of departure. Barra, ever hungry for the fire-stone he came to claim, argues to stay. Aden watches the faces of his crewmates and sees the first fractures form.
What the crew doesn't yet understand is that the law isn't just about goods. Every day they remain, the exchange compounds. Time itself is a resource on Canyon Myst — and they've been spending it without realizing. The island doesn't care about their intentions. The ledger cares only about the balance.