"He will destroy the foundation!" Bolt crackles from his cage inside the shell. "He will drop the city into the trench!"
"He cares nothing for the city," Mira rasps. Dragging her gray body to the doorway, her fins tremble with exhaustion. She holds a loaded harpoon gun in her shaking hands, fixing her milky eyes on the podium. "If Soryn cannot rule the Reef, he will break it into pieces."
The sickening hum builds.
It penetrates bone.
Terrified citizens in the crowd sink to the marble, curling their tails tight and clutching their bleeding ears. The delicate glass windows of the surrounding residential spires shatter under the acoustic pressure, raining a storm of sharp shards down on the panic below.
"Stop him!" I scream, pressing my hands over my ears.
Kael studies the vibrating spire, then shifts his attention to the madman at the console.
"I can't reach him," Kael says, his voice tight with frustration. "The sonic field around the podium acts as a solid barrier. It will crush anything attempting to cross."
The water surrounding the podium ripples with destructive force. A Vanguard guard tries to rush Soryn from the side. The moment the guard crosses the invisible threshold, he is thrown backward into the crowd, struck by an invisible iron hammer.
"We need to shut it down!" I cry, gripping his arm.
Kael closes his dark eyes. Tilting his heavy head, he listens to the water.
He ignores the screams of the dying guards. He ignores the crunch of crab claws on marble. He listens to the core of the weapon.
"It possesses a frequency," he murmurs.
His new voice vibrates in my chest, a steady anchor in the chaos.
"Everything emits a frequency in the water, Vaelis. Everything."
He opens his eyes. Black, bottomless, and calm. He possesses his target.
"Bolt," he says. "Amplify me."
"Amplify what?" Bolt asks, sparking blue inside his cage.
"The shell," Kael commands. "The copper coils. Turn the structure into an acoustic receiver. Loop your engine output to the iron hull."
"You will shatter the entire structure!" Bolt warns, the water around his cage boiling. "You will tear yourself apart from the inside!"
"Do it!" Kael roars.
Bolt flares his brightest blue. The rusted House of Drift hums with terrifying new energy. The copper cage glows white in thegloom, channeling raw electrical power into the hull beneath our fins.
Kael swims to the edge of the rusted porch.
He grips the iron railing with both hands. His knuckles turn white under the strain. He anchors his tail against the floorboards, bracing his body for the physical recoil.
"Watch my back," Kael says, keeping his focus forward. "Do not let them break my concentration."
"I have you," I swear.
Drawing my ceremonial dagger, the ray-skin grip seats flush against my palm. Turning my back to Kael, I face the chaotic plaza.
I shed the role of bait. I abandon the burden of a signal.
I forge my body into his shield, mirroring the same defense he provides me.
Kael stares down the pulsing Tidal Bore. The crystal spire screams, emitting a high-pitched, agonizing whine. Soryn grins, eyes wide.
