Every muscle in his back is pulled taut as he uses all of it to shield my softer scales from the coming storm. His body is a map of violence, but every wound, every scar, is now a fortress built for me.
A sharp, ragged breath catches in my throat. Liquid heat coils deep in my belly, a slow, dangerous burn ignited by the sheer, magnetic force of his protectiveness.
This want is a threat, a distraction that could shatter my composure when I need it most.
I lock my jaw, grinding my teeth together, and force a harsh exhale to reclaim my focus.
Kael opens his mouth and roars.
A physical wall of sound hits the open water like a detonating depth charge.
The acoustic force of the vibration knocks the first volley of iron harpoons off course.
The heavy projectiles spin out of control, embedding themselves into the polished marble floor and shattering the coral decorations.
"Now!" Kael bellows, turning his heavy head to the dark water beyond the perimeter. "Scavengers! Forward!"
The marble wall of the High Plaza explodes inward.
The Scavenger Army pours over the broken barricade like a rising tide of rust and shadow.
A waking nightmare descends on the manicured nobility of the Reef.
Spider-Crabs holding rusted stop-sign shields clatter across the mosaic tiles, their heavy claws snapping. Hammerhead exiles smash through delicate coral statues, their scarred bodies impervious to the panicked strikes of the guards. Eel-kin weave through the infantry ranks, shocking soldiers into submission with bright blue bio-electric pulses.
A Royal Guard thrashes in panic, fighting a terrifying menace.
Pip.
The shrimp has buried his scavenged needle into the soldier's tail. The guard spins in frantic circles to dislodge the invader. Pip refuses the retreat. He rides the flailing scales with the posture of a conquering warlord, snapping his limbs in a victorious rhythm.
Terrifying chaos.
The sheer power of the betrayed. Beautiful justice.
"Hold the defensive line!" Taren shouts. He ignores the scavengers. He uses the shaft of his iron spear to block a lethal strike from a zealous Royal Guard. "Do not fire at the Prince!"
The Reef turns on itself. Brother fights brother in the shadow of the crystal spires.
A Royal Guard lunges toward the porch, his harpoon leveled at my chest.
The Hammerhead slams into his flank, tearing the weapon from the guard's hands and tossing the man aside.
The shark shoots me a grim salute with his scarred eye before diving back into the fray.
"They are distracted," Kael growls, his hand grabbing my bare arm and dragging us back toward the Shell's entrance. "The weapon. Soryn goes for the weapon."
My eyes snap to the grand podium.
Soryn abandons the panicked crowd. He leaves his Royal Guard to die in the crossfire.
He inputs a frantic sequence of commands into the glowing console. The crystalline spire towering behind him, the terrifying Tidal Bore, begins to hum with raw energy.
This is no normal mechanical hum. It is a deep, radiating sickness.
A low, grinding vibration starts in the polished floorboards. My teeth ache in my skull. The water surrounding the crystal spire boils with thousands of cavitation bubbles, superheated by sonic friction.
"He's charging it!" I yell over the roar of the battle. "He plans to fire the weapon here in the plaza!"
