The harbor wasn't water anymore. It was a pressurized cauldron of white steam and dying fish. I stood on the edge of the Thorne pier, the soles of my boots beginning to smoke against the blistering wood. The horizon didn't look like the ocean; it looked like a shimmering, distorted desert of liquid lead."Osric, the sensors are melting!" Marcus’s voice screamed through the neural link, distorted by a wall of thermal static. "The temperature at the harbor mouth just hit 100°F. It’s climbing five degrees every minute! Aethelgard has gone insane!""They aren't insane, Marcus. They’re terraforming," I rasped, my throat feeling like I’d swallowed hot sand. "They want to drown the world. If the ice caps go, there is no surface left to fight for. Just one giant Aethelgard pond.""I’ve tracked the source," Marcus shouted over the sound of his own cooling fans hitting max speed. "It’s a massive thermal-generator on the seafloor, right in the center of the Oakhaven trench. They are pumping raw

The air in the abandoned shipyard warehouse was thick with the smell of salt and rust. I was perched on a high steel beam, my silver scales pulled tight to blend with the shadows. Below me, the Ironbound mercenaries were losing their minds. They had finally figured out the truth. The Vane family was broke."Where is our money, Cuthbert?" Jax roared.He was the leader. He had a cybernetic arm that hissed as he slammed it into a metal crate. The sound echoed like a gunshot."I told you! The accounts are just frozen! It is a temporary glitch!" Cuthbert shrieked from his chair.He was tied down with thick industrial cables. His expensive suit was torn. His face was a mess of sweat and blood."Glitch? My contact says the Thorne kid wiped your servers," Jax said. "He says Elowen is already packing her bags to flee the city.""She would not do that! She needs me!" Cuthbert cried."She does not need a coward who gets caught," Jax sneered. "We had a deal. Five million credits. We held the harb

The salt spray stung my face as I stood at the edge of the Thorne Pier. The horizon was a jagged line of red lights. Aethelgard was not sending negotiators. They were sending a funeral."Osric, the fleet is within five miles," Marcus shouted through the link. "Fifty drone-ships. They are equipped with sonic cannons and depth charges. They are coming to sanitize the pier.""Let them come, Marcus," I said. "They think they are fighting humans.""They are not humans anymore, Osric!" Marcus yelled. "Look at them! They are staring at the water like they want to eat it!"I looked back at my legion. The Drowned stood in the shadows. Their new gills fluttered with a wet, rhythmic sound."Are you afraid, Kael?" I asked the woman beside me."I am hungry, My King," Kael rasped. "The metal smells like prey.""The ships are automated," I said. "The pilots are sitting in bunkers five miles away. They think they are safe.""They are wrong," Kael said.The first drone-ship broke the fog. It was a sle

The Grand Hall of the Vane Estate was a sea of gold and silk. Cameras flashed every second. Elowen stood on the central stage, her new black spine hidden under a designer gown. She looked like a savior. I watched it all from the digital shadows."Osric, the hack is complete," Marcus whispered. "Your projection is ready. You have the floor.""Put me on center stage, Marcus," I said.A flicker of blue light erupted in the middle of the ballroom. I appeared as a towering, silver holographic ghost. The music stopped. The elite of Oakhaven gasped."Who invited the dead man?" I asked, my voice booming through the speakers.Elowen froze. She gripped her microphone until the metal groaned. "Osric? This is a private event. Guards, shut down the projector!""They cannot stop me, Elowen," I laughed. "I am in the walls. I am in your servers. I am the truth you buried in the salt.""You are a terrorist!" Elowen shouted at the cameras. "Look at him! This is the monster that destroyed the harbor!""

The water inside the flooded cathedral vibrated with a low, mechanical hum. It was a sound that didn't belong to the ocean. I stood before the black coral throne as the stained glass shattered from the pressure wave."Osric, the radar is lighting up!" Marcus shouted through the link. "Aethelgard just bypassed the harbor sensors. They are here!""What did they send, Marcus?" I asked."Mecha-Leviathans," Marcus gasped. "Three of them. They are three hundred feet long. Titanium hulls. Nuclear cores. They are designed to crush everything in the Abyss.""Three hundred feet?" I rasped. "Elowen is desperate."A massive shadow blotted out the light from the surface. I looked up through the ruined roof of the cathedral. A gargantuan metal whale cruised through the water. Its eyes were glowing red searchlights."They are targeting the structural pillars of the district!" Marcus yelled. "If those things ram the foundation, your kingdom collapses!"I dove out of the cathedral. I pushed my silver