Storm clouds still hung heavy over the Surgebreaker's sails when shards of ice rode the waves and struck the hull with a sharp crunch.

Matthias held onto the rail, chilled by the sea wind, and stared ahead. The outline of an island had suddenly appeared on the horizon, and joy flickered in his eyes.

After they had survived the Brineclaw's attack and struggled through the mist-shrouded depths, they had finally found Elysium Isle. But as their ship drew closer to shore, everyone was shocked.

The island before them was nothing like the ancient manuscripts had described, with their promises of endless spring and white blossoms that never withered.

Instead, it lay buried beneath a heavy sheet of ice. The land and sky blurred together in a single field of white. Even the wind carried a biting chill that stung like blades against the skin.

Jagged rocks along the shore had turned into dark, bluish-black ice spires. Each wave that crashed against them froze solid on impact, leaving behind