The head. It was like a huge statue slowly coming to life.​It rose up with a scary weight like a monument settling into place.​CREAK.​The sound of silk and heavy fabric shifting against the silver chairs was really loud in the very cold air. The royal blue light from the iron broadsword cast deep shadows across the black marble courtyard.The shadows washed over the hood of our stalled sedan.The perfect features of the avatar—the hairline, the sharp beard, the high-quality portrait we had seen in the upper-layer layouts—lost their stillness.Those dark pupils focused through our cracked windshield.They locked onto the three of us with a calculated gaze that didn't belong to a simple description.​"Get the car in reverse Mikhail " Maeve whispered.Her hand was shaking as she gripped the back of my seat."That’s not a script file. That’s what he left behind to control the margin."​"The transmission is frozen " I growled.My hands were straining against the stiffening steering whee

My boots hit the ice with a crack breaking the black marble beneath them. It was a physical sound.CRUNCH.The cold wind whipped against my face but I could feel the heat from the scars on my arm. I stepped in front of the avatar blocking his view of the car door. The blue light from his sword shone on my chest. It did not hurt me. The Abusoro Centre made me strong."You are not writing anymore Mani " I said, my voice. Low. "You stopped writing. You gave up your pen name. You cannot come back. Hurt us."The avatar stopped ten feet away from me. He looked perfect like a picture from a studio.. His eyes were empty with no feelings."The book was locked to keep you safe " the avatar said, pointing his sword at my throat. ". If the master file is not controlled it will pull everything into the baseline and crash the server. I am not trying to hurt you Mikhail. I am trying to save the grid."The sword moved fast like a cursor on a screen.POV: ElaraThe pen did not break this time.When I

The sky didn’t fall; it burned away. I felt the heat rising.​CRACK—​The sound was not a snap but a deafening roar. Two realities were violently grinding against each other. Above the silver pine forest the dark starlit sky split wide open. A blinding blood-red sun poured down a wave of heat. It cast the copper-scented air of The Relic of Thieves directly onto our frozen courtyard. I could feel the heat on my skin.The black marble beneath my boots groaned. A massive fissure ripped through the center of the dais. It separated the silver thrones from the frame of our sedan. I looked around. Saw destruction."Mikhail! The perimeter is breaking!" Maeve screamed. Her fingers dug into the hood of the car. The sudden shift in temperature caused the surrounding stone to shatter into thousands of razor- shards. I turned to her. Saw fear in her eyes.The thousands of iron-clad soldiers didn’t attack. As the desert heat collided with the -zero frost their unpolished armor began to warp and buc

​The gold plating was pushing hard hard like a huge wave crashing against the metal.​CLANG—​The big wheel spun backward with a lot of force tearing itself out of my grip. My hands were gray and scarred from holding on. A three-inch gap opened in the gold door and out came a thick black liquid. It didn't behave like water. It moved fast spreading across the melting ice in long oily tendrils. They smelled like iron, stagnant water and forgotten blood.​This black liquid was the material of The Carrion Queen. It was the ink that hadn't been filtered yet.​"Mikhail get back!" Maeve shouted from the sedan. Her arms were wrapped around the engine to keep from being thrown into the growing gap.​But I couldn't move enough. The black liquid swept over my boots. It was freezing and heavy. It made my legs feel dead.. It didn't hurt my skin. The gray template under my sleeves kept me safe.​The real change happened outside.​The iron-clad soldiers, who had been melting in the desert heat sudde

The silence came back. It was like snow falling on a deserted highway.HUMMMMMM—The loud noise of the printing presses and the hissing of the twin-headed iron serpent just stopped. The hot desert canyon was gone too. Instead I heard the purr of a healthy engine. The bright white light faded into a dusk. It smelled like cologne and fresh cotton.I blinked. My eyes got used to the inside of the sedan. The old vinyl, the floor and the broken windshield were all gone. The car was perfect. The dashboard had a white light. It did not show any errors or warnings.Then I saw my own hand. It made me catch my breath.The silver ring that was on my wrist for a time was gone. My skin was smooth. It was under the cuff of a white suit sleeve. I looked down at my lap. My old jeans and jacket were gone. I was wearing a suit that felt like the ones in studio portraits."The margin held " a voice said from the passenger seat.I turned my head. It was not Mikhail or Maeve.A groomed man was sitting in