LOGINThe explosion was a wall of orange heat that tossed our boat into the air like a toy. I didn't think; I just grabbed Leo and threw myself over the side into the freezing harbor. The water hit me like a slap, pulling me down into the dark. I kicked with everything I had, my lungs screaming, until I broke the surface.
The boat was gone. Only burning pieces of wood floated where our friends had been.
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The ground beneath my feet screamed as it ripped apart. The metal tower groaned, leaning toward the glowing mouth of the volcano. My mother’s fingers were like iron claws in my hair, pulling me toward the edge. The heat from the lava below was melting the soles of my boots, and the air smelled like burning sulfur."Let go of me!" I screamed, elbowing her in the ribs.Selene didn't flinch. Her face was a mask of pure madness. "We started in the dark, Lyra! We end in the fire! No more Kings! No more Sovereigns!"I looked over the ledge. My heart stopped. Rowan was still pinned against the rock by that massive mechanical hand. Tessa and Isaac were clinging to his fur, their faces pale with terror. The ledge they were on was crumbling. In seconds, they would fall into the white-hot lake of lava.
The silver child stood on the deck, its metal skin gleaming under the moon. It looked exactly like a five-year-old version of Leo. It had his soft curls and my jawline, but its eyes were not silver. They were flat, glowing screens filled with scrolling green code."What are you?" I whispered, stepping in front of the real Leo. My golden wings were gone, and my body felt heavy and weak."I am the Echo," the child said. Its voice didn't come from its throat; it came from the air around us. "I am the result of five hundred years of data. The Council thought they were in charge, Lyra. They thought they were building a kingdom. But they were just workers in my garden."Rowan growled, his golden fur bristling. He stepped up beside me, his eyes locked on the silver boy. "A garden? We aren't plants, you piece of junk."
The sight of Tessa and Isaac tied to those hissing pipes turned my blood to ice. The lava was rising, a thick river of orange fire that licked at the bottom of their boots. My mother, Selene, stood on a metal platform above them, her eyes empty and cold. She wasn’t a mother anymore. She was a ghost of the past, trying to kill the future."Five minutes, Lyra!" Malakor’s voice boomed through the ship’s speakers. The half-metal man laughed, a sound like grinding stones. "Five minutes before the Silver Vale becomes a grave. Bring the boy to the peak, or watch your friends melt."I gripped the edge of the control panel, my knuckles turning white. My chest felt like it was being crushed. Tessa had been my sister when I had no one. Isaac had bled to keep me safe. Now, they were the price for my son’s life.
The ship groaned as the metal tentacle squeezed the hull. Metal snapped like dry twigs, and the floor tilted so sharply I had to grab a bolted table to keep from sliding. Leo’s cries filled the room, cutting through the sound of the screeching steel."Take the boy to the safe room!" Alaric barked at a soldier. "Lyra, stay back! This isn't your fight yet!""It became my fight the moment she touched my son!" I yelled back.I looked out the porthole. Seraphina stood on the back of a giant mechanical serpent, her violet scales shimmering in the dark water. She looked like a nightmare from the deep. Every time she swung her trident, a bolt of black lightning hit our ship, making the lights flicker and die.Suddenly, a low vibration started in the room. I turned to the m
The gunshot was a sharp crack that cut through the thunder of the crashing waves. I felt Rowan’s body jerk in my arms. A spray of red hit my cheek, hot and terrifying. Time seemed to slow down as we swung mid-air, dangling from the harpoon rope."Rowan!" I screamed, but he didn't answer. His head fell back, and his golden eyes drifted shut.The man on the ship, the one who called himself my grandfather, didn't hesitate. He hauled on the rope with a strength that didn't seem human. "Pull them in! Now!" he roared to his crew.Hands grabbed us, pulling us over the metal railing and onto the hard deck. I collapsed next to Rowan, ignoring the soldiers in silver armor who surrounded us. I pressed my hands against the wound in his shoulder. Dark blood was soaking through his shirt, bubbling around a jagged piece of s
The man in the bone armor stepped into the cave, his red eyes glowing like hot coals. Every step he took left a scorched footprint on the stone. I backed away, clutching Leo so tight I could feel his little heart racing against my own. I didn't know who this demon was, but my soul screamed that he was death itself."Who are you?" I demanded. My voice was steady, even if my mind was a blank slate."I am the Bone King," he hissed. The sword in his hand dripped a dark, thick liquid that smoked when it hit the ground. "And you, Lyra, have something that belongs to the deep. Give me the boy, and I will let the wolf die quickly."I looked at the man on the floor, the one who called himself Rowan. He was covered in blood, his golden eyes wide with a pain that had nothing to do with his wounds. He looked at me like I was hi
"Get that needle away from her, or I’ll feed you your own heart," Rowan roared. He tried to lunge from the bed, but his legs folded beneath him like wet paper. The detox had saved his life, but it had left him hollow, a warrior without a sword.
"Mother? No she died in the Pit. Julian, what have you done to her?" I choked out, the words feeling like shards of glass in my throat.The woman didn't answer with words. She lunged, her movements a blur of terrifying,
"Leo? That’s impossible. You told me the first prototype was recycled, Rowan!" I screamed, the wind whipping my hair across my face. I stood frozen in the mountain pass, staring at the teenage boy who looked like a ghost carved out of obsidian and silver.
"Drop him, Father! Or I swear to the moon, I’ll tear the blue out of your veins myself," I roared. The silver hum in my blood was no longer a flicker; it was a furnace.My father, Everett Vale, tilted his head wit







