"Hold your breath and brace for impact!" Silas roared, his hand slamming down onto the heavy wooden rail.A heavy iron harpoon whistled through the quiet air, punching clean through the top steel plate of the Shadow Crest. The fast catamarans swarmed around the flagship like water bugs, their twin wooden hulls skimming over the pitch-black waves with terrifying agility. Long iron paddles dipped into the sea in perfect unison, letting the swift vessels circle the heavy ironclad with effortless speed."They are closing the circle!" Lyra yelled, crouching behind the padded bulwark as a second barbed spear skipped off the brass deck plating. "Silas, they are targeting our side paddle wheels!""Not while I am breathing!" Silas bellowed, lunging across the slippery deck planks toward the main deck swivel gun. "Load the heavy grapeshot into the port cannons!""The lead vessel is turning back around!" Clara screamed from the upper wheelhouse window, pointing her small brass telescope down at

"Step back, Marcus, that blade will take your head clean off!" Silas screamed, his heavy broadsword ringing as he hit the wet sand.The massive eight-foot Chitin warlord did not wait for an answer. He lunged forward across the wet black beach, sweeping his giant razor-hound bone trident in a wide, vicious arc. The three crimson-glowing tines sliced through the cool air, sending a sharp wave of pressure that kicked up a wall of dark sand and shattered a thick blue coral pillar into fine dust.Marcus leaped backward, his heavy boots skidding three feet across the damp shore as his localized gravity pull held him upright. "Keep the guards in a tight line near the rocks, Silas! Do not let his warriors surround our flank!""He is too fast for a creature that size!" Lyra shouted, holding her guardian staff high to illuminate the dark archway behind the beast. "Watch his hands, Marcus!"The warlord grinned, revealing rows of jagged, shark-like teeth. He spun the heavy bone trident above his

"If that red eye does not close right now, the flagship splits in two!" Marcus yelled, his voice carrying over the sound of rushing water.High above the black sand beach, the massive red iris of the first cosmic eye pulsed with a blinding crimson light. The localized gravity well was lifting the heavy stern higher into the air every second, while the growing coral held the bow pinned down like a vise. Marcus used his localized gravity pull to leap off the tilting deck, landing on the slick side of the highest coral spire overlooking the cove."Marcus, watch the top of the ridge!" Lyra screamed from the main deck, pointing her guardian staff toward the high iron altar built into the peak of the coral tower. "The energy flow is coming directly from that central pedestal!""Silas, keep those bilge pumps moving!" Marcus called down, his dark ironwood arm digging into the sharp stone as he climbed upward with terrifying speed. "I am shutting it down from the source!""I am crank-turning u

"Breathing is optional when you have work to do!" Marcus rasped, slamming his glowing ironwood fist against his helmet release valve.The heavy brass seal cracked open with a sharp hiss. Marcus yanked the diving helmet off his head, letting out a ragged cough as cold, dry air filled his burning lungs. He was not drowning in the abyssal trench. The massive mechanical floor he had fallen onto was actually the top hull of a giant, watertight dome that had automatically drained the ocean water through massive iron grates.He stood up on the metal walkway, his heavy canvas diving suit dripping wet as he looked around the colossal cavern."Where in the world am I?" Marcus whispered, his solid black left eye adjusting to the bright amber light reflecting off the steel walls.Below the high walkway stretched a massive, automated alchemical forge. Giant mechanical arms moved with terrifying precision, lifting heavy plates of palace iron and welding them onto sleek, terrifying vessel frames. Do

"We are not leaving him down in that metal grave!" Silas roared, his hand slamming the heavy iron clutch lever forward with enough force to bend the copper bracket.High above the dark trench, the Shadow Crest rocked violently in the churning sea. Deep below the waves, inside the self-destructing subterranean forge, the main reactor let out a high-pitched, terrifying screech. The boiling orange oil was rising to Marcus's chest, hot steam blistering his skin as he pressed his back against the fused iron blast doors of the control tower."Silas, the winch cable is stretched past its limit!" Clara screamed from the upper wheelhouse window, pointing her brass glass toward the taut steel line dropping into the ocean abyss. "If the cable snaps under this load, the recoil will tear the main deck off!""Then let it tear!" Silas bellowed, his face covered in dark grease and sweat as he planted his heavy boots against the winch frame. "Lyra, line up the heavy hook directly over that trench ceil