Brightbill tilts his head, trying to understand the source of her worry. Before he can ask another question, a squawk interrupts the sky. A figure hurtles toward them from the horizon—a seagull diving at full speed. It’s Gale, who lands clumsily and, panting, cries out: “Help! Help! The poison tide is coming!”

The animals fall silent. Gale rarely ventures far from the coast, and her presence here can mean only one thing: an unknown threat is near. The seagull, her feathers disheveled and her breathing ragged, repeats her desperate plea. “Roz, you have to help me... The poison tide is destroying everything!” she shouts, her dark eyes reflecting a despair they have never seen before.

The animals murmur anxiously among themselves. Roz, who has spent years protecting the island and its inhabitants, understands that this calm, this apparent return to normalcy, is merely the prelude to a storm about to break. She looks at Brightbill, recalling the times when he had been in danger and how they had always found a way to survive. But this time, the threat is larger, more insidious, and seems determined to consume everything in its path.

Brightbill takes a deep breath, his eyes mirroring the fear in his adoptive mother’s gaze. “What do we do, Mom?” he asks quietly, knowing that her answer could determine the fate of everyone on the island.