The shadow in the sky stopped moving. It sat there, blocking the stars like a dead tooth. Then, the blackness peeled away. The thing wasn't a rock. It was a ship made of dark, sharp glass. It caught the red light of the moon and glowed like a coal."Kael, tell me you’re seeing this," I said. My voice was low."I’m seeing it, Osric," Kael whispered. "The sensors are screaming. It’s huge. It’s a crystalline hull. I’ve never seen tech like this.""It’s beautiful in a scary way," Jax added. "It’s a target," I snapped. "Try to talk to them. Use every channel we have. System, can you send a telepathic link?"[INITIATING CONTACT][HAILING CRYSTALLINE VESSEL... NO RESPONSE. SIGNAL REFLECTED.]"They’re ignoring us," I said. I tightened my grip on the ring I took from Mordecai. "Try the digital codes. Use the Aethelgard emergency band. Tell them we are the owners of this sector.""I’m sending it now!" Jax yelled. "I’m blasting them with every greeting in the book. Still nothing, Osric. They a

"Osric, get back!" Jax screamed through the comms. "You're going too fast, you're going to burn up!""I'm not getting back, Jax!" I snapped.I was a streak of black and blue energy cutting through the dark void. The moon was behind me. The massive glass ship was right in front of me.The friction of the thin atmosphere began to cook my skin. I didn't care. I felt the Pearl in my eye pulsing with pure hate. "System! Bring them up!" I ordered. "All of them!"[COMMAND RECEIVED. SUMMONING THE ABYSSAL LEGION TO ORBITAL COORDINATES.]"What are you doing?" Kael yelled. "You can't bring the Drowned into space! They’ll freeze!""They have the vacuum adaptation!" I barked. "Look at the horizon, Kael!"Below me, thousands of black dots shot up from the surface of the Earth. They looked like a swarm of locusts. My Drowned legion didn't need ships. They moved on pillars of dark water and gravity energy. They were coming for blood."They're actually doing it!" Jax gasped. "They’re entering low or

The metal rod of light burned through my shoulder like a hot poker. I grabbed the glowing stake with my right hand. The heat melted my glove, but I didn't care. I needed to get loose."Don't do it!" Jax yelled. "You'll rip your arm off!""I'm already stuck!" I screamed.I planted my boots against the glass and shoved. My teeth ground together. The skin around the wound snapped. I fell back, away from the hull. A piece of my shoulder stayed pinned to the ship. I didn't look at it. I just clutched the hole in my chest and gasped."You're bleeding out, man!" Kael shouted. "Get back to the moon!""No," I said. "I found something.""You found a way to get killed!" Jax barked. I ignored him. I looked at the lead alien on the ledge. He raised his spear again. I watched the tip. The glass around the spear tip hummed a very specific note."Did you see that?" I asked. "See what?" Jax asked. "The gun aimed at your head?""The shaking," I said. "Right before they fire, they hit a high note. T

I hit the gold wall of energy and felt my ribs crack. I went flying back into the dark. The moon looked like a small gray marble as I spun. "Osric, stay with me!" Kael’s voice yelled in my head. "The sensors... they're everywhere!""How many?" I croaked. I stopped my spin with a gravity pulse."A thousand," Jax whispered. "Maybe more. They just came around the dark side. They’re blotting out the sun, Osric. We’re done. We’re dead.""Shut up, Jax!" I barked. "Kael, get the queens on the line. Now!""I have Queen Sora and the Abyssal Lords," Kael said. "They’re looking at the sky. They’re terrified.""Don't look at the sky!" I roared into the mental link. "Sora, listen to me! Get every human into the deep trenches. Move the civilians to the hydrothermal vents. I want them three miles down!""Three miles?" Sora’s voice was shaking. "The pressure will kill half of them!""Then the other half will live!" I snapped. "The surface is a kill zone. If you stay on the islands, you die. Move!"

The gold ship slammed into the bio-shield. The sky turned into a sheet of fire. The air screamed. It sounded like metal grinding against metal, but a thousand times louder."Osric! The shield is buckling!" Jax screamed. He was gripping the edge of a console, his knuckles white."I can see that!" I yelled back. I braced my feet against the floor. The ground was shaking. "Keep the power steady!""Steady? The whole sky is on fire!" Kael shouted. He pointed through the glass. The light from the enemy fleet hit our dark water shield. It exploded. Huge clouds of steam rushed out, turning into storms that circled the world. Lightning ripped through the clouds."The Drowned are moving!" Sora called out. I looked down. Thousands of black shapes were leaping out of the ocean. They looked like bullets against the gold ships. "Wait! It’s too early!" I barked."They aren't waiting for orders!" Sora yelled. "They’re fueled by the System now. They want blood!"One of the Drowned slammed into a