The purple light cleared. I was still there. My gold skin was glowing so bright it hurt to look at. I was floating in the middle of a hole I had punched through the Emperor’s ship."Osric! You’re alive!" Jax’s voice crackled. He sounded like he was crying."I’m alive," I said. "And I’m very, very hot.""The whole fleet is turning on you!" Kael screamed. "They’re ignoring the Spire! Every ship in the sky is locking on!""Good," I said. "Let them look."Thousands of gold ships shifted. Every single cannon pointed at me. The air began to hum from the energy being focused on one spot."He’s still standing!" An alien officer yelled over the open frequency. "How?""I’m the Solar Leviathan, you idiot!" I roared. "Fire everything!" The Emperor’s voice was a mess of panic. "Don't let him breathe!"The sky exploded. Thousands of beams hit me at once. It should have vaporized me. It didn't. I felt the heat hitting my chest and my arms. It felt like fuel. I opened my arms wide. "Is that all yo

I took a step forward. My boots left scorched marks on the white floor. I readied my claws. The obsidian was humming, eager to tear through the hoodie and the jeans. "Don't do that, Osric," Keith said. He didn't look up. He was messing with a small metal device. "You’ll only break your own fingers. We have to talk.""Talk? You think we're talking?" I snarled. I lunged. I was a blur of black glass and heat. My claws were inches from his throat. Then, I froze. The air around me turned into a solid block. I couldn't even blink."Sit," Keith said. The pressure slammed me back. I hit the floor hard. The obsidian cracked against the floor."Who are you?" I croaked. "What kind of trick is this?""I told you. I'm human," Keith said. He reached up and grabbed the air around his neck. A hiss of steam filled the room. The image of the hoodie and jeans flickered. It was a projection. Beneath it was a suit of liquid metal. He tapped a sensor on his collar. A sleek, black helmet retracted into

The white light didn't kill me. I felt the core vibrating between my palms. The obsidian scales on my hands turned to gray smoke.Then the skin went. I stared at my finger bones. They were polished and glowing with a purple hum."Let go, you idiot!" Keith screamed. He scrambled across the tilting floor. "The core is at critical mass! You’re going to delete the sector!""I’m not letting go," I hissed. My jaw felt like hot lead."You’re dying!" Keith lunged, trying to grab my wrists. "Look at your hands! There's nothing left but bone!""I’ve got enough left," I said. "For what? To be a martyr?" Keith barked. "I gave you the choice! Die and save them, or live and burn it all! Pick one!""I pick the third choice," I said."There is no third choice!" Keith yelled. He slammed his fist into my shoulder. I didn't move. I felt like a mountain. "The math is absolute! You're a variable that needs to be zeroed out!""Then your math is wrong," I said. I didn't pull back. I pushed. I opened the fl

I hit the deck of the yacht with a heavy thud. The rain was coming down in thick, freezing sheets. I didn't have my obsidian scales. I didn't have my gold glow. I was back in a human body, and it felt small. It felt cold."Who the hell are you?" A voice barked.I looked up. I wiped the water from my eyes and blinked. Standing ten feet away from me was a man in a white silk suit. He was holding a glass of amber liquid. He had my face. He had my hair. But he was soft. His jaw was weak. He looked like he had never spent a day fighting for his life."Osric?" I croaked. My voice was a mess of salt and grit."That's my name," the man said. He sneered. He looked at my rags and my scarred skin. "How did a beggar like you get on my boat? Security! Get this trash off my deck!""There is no security," I said. I stood up slowly. My knees popped. "Look around you, you idiot. Look at the sky."The man looked up. Above the yacht, the sky was tearing open. Glowing purple cracks were spiderwebbing

I stared down at the floor of the bridge. The gold plates were littered with the broken tech of the Master’s command interface. The silence was absolute. No alarms. No shouting. Just the low, rhythmic hum of the Mothership's core waiting for my command."System," I said. My voice echoed against the high, vaulted ceiling. "Report."[FLEET STATUS: OFFLINE. POWER CORES VENTED. THE GOLD INVASION HAS CEASED, LORD LEVIATHAN.]"And the pilot?" I asked. I looked at the slumped figure of the Emperor’s last proxy near the main viewport. [VITAL SIGNS: TERMINATED. HE IS NO LONGER A VARIABLE.]"Good," I said. I stepped over a pile of glowing cables. "Then it’s done. The invasion is over."Sora crept toward me. She stopped, her boots clicking on the metal. "It’s quiet. Too quiet. Why aren't the other ships firing? Did they lose the signal?""I turned them off," I said. I didn't look at her. I walked to the main viewport. "They don't have a choice anymore. They're dead in the water. I severed the