Tidehall's northern gate opened under alarm bells.The city beyond was a maze of white stone bridges, salt-stained banners, and civilians being herded away from the cliffs. Mages in sea-blue robes rushed through the streets with shields already lit. Healers dragged crates. Artificers shouted over the sound of waves hitting barriers below.Nia entered at the head of Wintervale's contingent and immediately began giving orders to people who technically did not answer to her.'You, seal the lower bridge. You, move those children behind the second ward. You with the ridiculous feathered helmet, stop waving and reinforce the eastern lens.'The soldier in the helmet saluted before realizing he had obeyed a stranger.Elias walked behind her carrying three bags, two maps, and Nia's hat, which had finally surrendered to the wind and been rescued from a crab.Tiny tyrant becomes more efficient under pressure, he thought. Terrifying.Nia's ear twitched. 'Elias.''Yes, Master?''Are you calling me

Once the first ancient pillar stabilized, the others followed like soldiers remembering formation.Blue light ran from cliff to cliff. It climbed lighthouse glass, crossed bridge arches, and sank into the sea. The green aurora recoiled. The water outside the harbor boiled as the Aurora Church's magic struck the resurrected grid and found itself unwelcome.The defenders of Tidehall cheered again.This time the cheer held.Andrel stood on the war chamber balcony with both hands gripping the stone rail. The old mage's face had gone pale beneath the salt wind.'I saw drawings of this,' he said. 'When I was young. I thought they were religious fantasies.'Elias joined him with the tool box still in his arms. 'People make myths out of anything old enough.''Not anything.' Andrel looked at him. 'Only things that refuse to die.'Elias smiled politely and pretended not to understand.Below, Nia arrived on a broom moving far too fast.'Master!' Elias shouted. 'Brakes!''I know!' she shouted bac

Nia did not like being protected from information.She especially did not like being protected from information by the very person causing most of the information. Elias had secrets stacked so high they required their own architecture, and every time one cracked open, another older, worse secret stared out from behind it.Now an enemy priest had looked across the sea and recognized that something hidden stood inside Tidehall.Nia decided subtlety had become overrated.She grabbed Elias by the sleeve and dragged him behind a cracked tower buttress.'Talk.''About what?''The city. The legion. The grid. The sea dragon. The masked priest. Pick one and start.'Elias looked toward the battlefield, where blue oathfire and green divine rot tore holes through the mist. 'Master, this is not an ideal time for personal history.''It is the only time you ever almost tell the truth.'He smiled faintly.That was unfairly accurate.A speaking crystal at Nia's belt flared. Andrew's voice blasted thro

By sunset, Tidehall had become a city of repairs.Mages patched cracked wards. Sailors dragged broken coral armor from the harbor. Healers moved from bridge to bridge under lamps hung in storm glass. The First Legion stood silent along the old walls, their blue flames dim but steady, like candles left for the dead.Elias found Nia on a lower balcony overlooking the sea.She had removed her hat, which meant either exhaustion or war. Her blue hair moved in the wind, and for once she looked as small as people foolishly assumed she was.'Master.''If you came to say you are leaving alone, save your breath.'He leaned on the railing beside her. 'You are getting better at predicting me.''You are predictable when someone you care about is in danger.'He had no easy answer to that.Below, tidewater struck the cliff in slow, patient blows.Nia looked at him. 'Who is Avielle to you?'Elias watched the darkening sea.Wife? Friend? Ally? Disaster with wings? The first person stubborn enough to c

The call for ice mages went through Tidehall like a bell struck under water. Every Wintervale robe that could still stand turned toward the broken sea wall, and every wounded knight who could still hold steel threw himself between those robes and the naga rushing through the streets.Nia Frostvale ran with her hat pulled low and her staff blazing white. The war had stripped all comedy from the night. The sea was rising in towers. Andrel was holding it by will alone, his old hands trembling around a spell far too large for one mage to carry."Ice!" Andrew roared from the wall. "Give him ice, or the city drowns!"Nia lifted her staff. Frost answered. So did every mage behind her. A river of winter poured up the broken stones and wrapped itself around Andrel's wave, trying to turn a living ocean into a shield.Then the assassin arrived from the shadows.Nia felt the blade before she saw it. One second she was casting. The next, darkness opened at her throat.Something inside her chest cl