Now, with their departure, a collective sigh of relief rippled through the crowd. People gulped in the air greedily, feeling as if they had been underwater and had just broken the surface. The invisible weight lifted, and the dock slowly began to return to its normal bustling state, though the excitement and awe lingered like a heady perfume.
Jaegar, still processing what he had witnessed, was approached by the ship's captain. The older man's weathered face was a mixture of awe and confusion. "I've sailed these waters for nigh on forty years," he said, his voice low and reverent, "but I've never seen the likes of them before. Whoever they are, they're not to be trifled with, that's for certain."
Jaegar nodded in agreement, his mind racing with the implications of what he had just witnessed.
