Novels by Mercy Jane

The new Progenitor was faster than the old one.Its wings cut through the air like blades. Each beat pushed it forward—closer, closer. The water beneath us churned. The boat rocked."Faster!" I shouted.Kai pushed the engine. The motor screamed. Black smoke poured from the back. But we weren't fast enough.Corvin took to the sky. "I'll distract it!""No! Corvin, get back—"He was already gone. Flying straight at the creature's face. His feathers gleamed in the grey light. His hands were claws.The Progenitor snapped at him. Corvin dodged. Spun. Dived. The creature followed."Now!" Leo shouted. "Go now!"Kai turned the boat hard. We shot east, away from the creature, toward the open sea.Behind us, Corvin kept fighting. Kept dodging. Kept buying us time.Then I heard a scream.Not the Progenitor. Corvin.I looked back. The creature had him. In its claws. Corvin's wings were broken. His body was limp."NO!"I shifted. The key burned. The Master Key flared.I jumped.---The water was co

The mountain facility was called Helios.Leo told us that on the boat ride north. He had found the name in Marcus's documents—a single mention buried in a report about energy consumption. Helios used as much power as a small city. All of it underground."What's down there?" Kai asked."Records. Servers. Holding cells. Maybe worse." Leo looked at the map. "The facility is built into the mountain itself. Three levels above ground, ten below.""Ten below?" Wren's voice was small."The Council likes to dig."We sailed through the night. The sea was dark and quiet. Miro swam ahead, his scales providing a faint glow. Corvin flew above, watching for patrols. The rest of us sat in silence, each lost in our own thoughts.Astra was the first to speak."Rose," she said. "What happens if we fail?"I looked at her. Her scarred hands were folded in her lap. Her blue eyes were steady."Then we try again," I said."What if we die?""Then we die trying."She nodded. She didn't look satisfied. But she

Three weeks passed.The island healed slowly. New grass grew over the glass beach. Young trees pushed through the ash. The volcano stopped smoking. The water turned from black to blue.The children healed too. Burns faded. Cuts closed. Nightmares stayed, but they came less often. Astra's hands were still scarred, but she could freeze a cup of water again. Corvin's wings grew new feathers, brighter than before.I sat on the cliff every morning, watching the horizon. The key hung around my neck now, small and warm against my chest. Eli's stone was in my pocket. The Master Key was dark—not dead, but quiet. Resting.Leo found me there on the twenty-first morning."The scouts are back," he said.I stood up. "What did they find?""Council ships. Three of them. Patrolling the outer edges of our territory. They haven't come close yet, but they're looking.""For us?""For something."I looked at the horizon. Nothing but water and sky."How long until they find us?""A week. Maybe less."I nodd

The Progenitor moved.Its body uncurled from the sky, black scales scraping against the clouds. The ground shook. The volcano groaned. Waves crashed against the beach, higher than houses, higher than trees.But the pack did not run.Astra stepped forward, her hands raised. Ice shot from her palms, forming a wall between the beach and the volcano. The Progenitor's tail slammed against it. The ice cracked but held."Corvin!" I shouted.Corvin took to the sky, his wings spread wide. Behind him, a dozen other flyers followed—children with feathers, with leathery wings, with skin that caught the wind. They swarmed the Progenitor's head, diving at its eyes, its mouth, its gills.The beast roared. The sound shattered windows on the island. Children on the ground covered their ears."Miro!" I called.Miro surged from the water, his scales blazing. Behind him, every Variant who could swim—dozens of them—launched into the sea. They attacked the Progenitor's underside, where the scales were thin

The pack gathered at the volcano's base as the sun set.Hundreds of children. Hundreds of Variants. They sat in rows on the black sand, holding hands, whispering prayers. Some cried. Some laughed. Some stared at the horizon where the Progenitor's shadow had begun to darken the sky.I stood at the front, the lock in my hand. It pulsed gently, blue light spilling between my fingers.Leo stood beside me. "How does this work?""I don't know.""You met the King. He didn't tell you?""He told me to let go." I looked at the lock. "That's all.""Let go of what?""Everything."Leo was quiet. Then he put his hand on my shoulder. "Then I'll start."He closed his eyes.The lock pulsed brighter.Leo's body began to glow. Soft gold light, like mine but softer. Kinder. He opened his eyes and smiled."I see it," he said. "The Fold. It's beautiful."Then he was gone.Not dead. Not disappeared. Just... elsewhere. I could still feel him. His resonance. His heartbeat. He was in the Fold.The pack gasped.

The journey back to the island took three days.The sea was rough. The sky was grey. The fragment burned hotter with every passing hour. I kept it in a metal box Leo had given me, but the box glowed red. The wood around it smoked.Miro swam alongside the boat, his black eyes fixed on the horizon. He spoke less now. He was listening. We all were.The Progenitor was coming."He's faster than we thought," Miro said on the second night. We had stopped at a small island to rest. The boat needed repairs. Kai worked on the engine while Wren gathered firewood."How far?" I asked."Three days. Maybe two." Miro's scales flickered. "He's not swimming. He's gliding. Above the water.""Above?""He's grown since you saw him last. The fire from the Nursery. The prisoners. He's been feeding."I thought about the facility we had freed. The cells. The prisoners. The ones we hadn't reached in time."He ate them," I said.Miro nodded. "He ate everything."---We reached the island at dawn on the third da