The light from the probe was red. It was burning into my skin. I didn't care about the scan. I didn't care that it was taking my data. I just wanted it gone."What did you do?" I roared at the silver sphere."Osric, stop!" Kael yelled in my ear. "The data stream is too fast! If you hit it now, the feedback could fry your brain!""I don't care!" I yelled back. I swung with everything I had. My fist hit the silver metal. The sphere shattered like glass. Pieces of silver flew across the platform. "You broke it?" Jax asked. He sounded shocked. "I broke it," I said. I was breathing hard."Wait," Kael whispered. "Osric, look at the pieces. They're still glowing." The broken shards were vibrating on the bone floor. They were pulsing in a pattern."It’s sending a signal," I said. "A final transmission," Kael said. "It’s calling for help.""Let them come," I spat. Suddenly, a sharp pain hit my left eye. It was the Abyssal Pearl. The thing had been quiet since I got to the top of the Spire. No

"I'm going!" I yelled into the wind.I kicked off the edge of the bone platform. The air was thin and freezing. I was falling toward the clouds at a crazy speed."Osric, you’re going to die!" Jax screamed. "The impact will turn you into a pancake!""Not today!" I shouted back. My heart was pounding against my ribs. The Abyssal Pearl in my eye was still hot. It felt like it was trying to crawl out of my face.[EMERGENCY MEASURES INITIATED,][GRAVITY FIELD UNLOCKED. LOCAL MANIPULATION ACTIVE.]"What does that mean?" I asked. "It means you can fly, man!" Kael yelled. "Look at your speed! You're breaking the sound barrier!"I felt a weird pull in my stomach. It was like I had a giant magnet in my gut. I leaned forward and the wind roared past my ears. I wasn't just falling anymore. I was a missile."The wave is hitting in thirty seconds!" Jax warned. "Can you see it?""I see it!" I said. The wall of water looked like a mountain made of blue glass. It was 500-feet high. It was moving so fa

"The screen just went black," I growled. I slammed my fist against the side of the metal cage. "Jax! Kael! Can you hear me?""The signal is gone, Osric!" Kael’s voice crackled. "The girl on the moon blocked us. We lost the feed!""I don't care about the feed," I said. I looked up through the bars of the cage. "I have to go up there. I’m going to kill her.""You're in a cage!" Jax yelled. "You're being taken! How are you going to kill anyone?""I'm not going alone," I said.I closed my eyes. I reached out with my mind. I could still feel my legion on the ground. They were waiting. The connection was thin, but it was there."System! Access the evolution menu!" I roared.[EVOLUTION MENU OPENED. SELECT TRAITS FOR RE-ENGINEERING.]"I need soldiers for the moon," I said. "They need to breathe without air. They need to fight with no gravity.""Osric, that’s insane!" Kael shouted. "You can't change them in a second!""Watch me," I said.I picked my top fifty elite guards. I felt their souls l

The heat started to leak through the thick walls of the frozen comet. The moon was a giant wall of gray dust coming at us at twenty thousand miles per hour."Osric, the speed is too high!" Kael screamed. "You’re going to hit the rock and shatter!""I know the speed, Kael!" I barked. "How do I survive the hit?""You can't!" Jax yelled. "The friction is melting the ice. You're going to cook!""System! Evolution now!" I roared.[WARNING: RADIATION CRITICAL. INITIATING FORCED ADAPTATION. UPGRADING CHITIN TO OBSIDIAN.]"Agh!" I screamed.It felt like molten lead was pouring over my skin. The gray chitin on my arms turned black. It was hard and heavy. It felt like I was being sealed in a suit of dark glass. My ten soldiers changed too. Their shells turned into polished obsidian."Your vitals are spiking!" Kael shouted. "Can you breathe?""I’m breathing essence!" I gasped. "I don't need air!""The ice is cracking!" Jax warned. "It’s too thin!""That’s the plan!" I said. I saw the orange lig

I stared at that gold ring. My blood felt like it was boiling in my veins. The lion with the sword through its throat.It was the mark of my family. I had seen my father wear it. I had seen it in the fire when I tried to burn the past."Where did you get that?" I hissed. My claws scraped against the white floor. "I told you, Osric," the man said. He didn't look scared. He just looked bored. "It’s mine. It was always mine.""Liar!" I roared. "My father was the only one. He didn't have brothers. He didn't have secrets."The man laughed. It was a sharp, ugly sound. "Your father was the spare. I am the son of the man who built this empire. My name is Mordecai. I’m your cousin, Osric. And I’m the true heir to everything you see.""A cousin?" I asked. "You’ve been hiding on a rock while the world died?""I wasn't hiding," Mordecai said. He stepped closer. "I was ruling. Earth was a playground for the weak. This colony is the real empire. And now that you’ve brought me the Pearl, I can take