The City of Glass Bones was not dead. It was waiting.
Elara felt it in the soles of her boots as they walked down the pristine, white avenues. The ground hummed with a low-frequency vibration, like a massive beast slumbering just beneath the pavement.
"It's too quiet," Ciro murmured. He was leaning heavily on Elara, his arm draped over her shoulder. His skin was burning with fever, and his steps were dragging. "I prefer the sewers. At least the rats are honest about wanting to kill you."
"Save your strength," Elara said, her eyes fixed on the Spire that loomed ahead.
The Spire was a monolith of black obsidian and blue glass, piercing the sky like a needle. It was easily a hundred stories tall. Unlike the crumbling castles of her father's kingdom, this structure looked untouched by time. Sharp. Alien. Perfect.
Ghost paced beside them, his claws clicking on the glass street. The monster whined, his sensory visor darting around nervously. He didn't like the silence either.
They reached the base of the Spire. A massive triangular door, thirty feet high, blocked their path. There were no handles. No keyholes. Just a single scanner pulsing with a faint red light.
[SECURITY LEVEL: MAXIMUM.][UNAUTHORIZED APPROACH WILL RESULT IN VAPORIZATION.]
Small turrets popped out of the walls, aiming directly at Ciro and Ghost.
"Elara," Ciro warned, his hand going to his dagger, though he barely had the strength to hold it.
Elara stepped forward. She didn't flinch. She raised her right hand.
The Hand of A.R.E.S. was trembling. Not from fear, but from magnetic resonance. It wanted to be home.
"Open," Elara commanded.
The Gauntlet flashed. A beam of blue data streamed from her fingertips into the door scanner.
[HANDSHAKE PROTOCOL: ACCEPTED.][WELCOME HOME, ADMINISTRATOR.]
HISSSSSS.
The massive doors split into three sections and retracted into the walls.
A blast of sterile, super-cooled air hit them.
Inside, the lobby was a cathedral of technology. Holographic rings floated in the air, displaying data streams that moved too fast for the human eye to read. In the center of the room, a pillar of blue light shot straight up into the ceiling—the central nervous system of the city.
"The Throne Room," Elara whispered.
She dragged Ciro toward the center console. It was a sleek, circular desk made of floating metal panels.
"Ciro, sit," she ordered, helping him onto a ledge.
Ciro slid down, clutching his chest. His breathing was wet and ragged. "Fancy chair. Does it have... a cup holder?"
Elara ignored his jokes. She knew he was using humor to stay awake. If he slept now, he might not wake up.
She turned to the main console. There were no buttons. Just a pool of silvery liquid mercury.
She hesitated, then plunged her Gauntleted hand into the liquid metal.
It felt cold. Invasive. The metal crawled up her wrist, locking the Gauntlet into the mainframe.
[CONNECTION ESTABLISHED.]
The room darkened. The floating holograms vanished.
Then, a voice spoke. It didn't come from speakers. It echoed directly inside Elara's skull via the neural link.
"SYSTEM INITIALIZED. DATE: ERROR. TIME: ERROR. ADMINISTRATOR BIOMETRICS CONFIRMED."
A giant holographic face materialized above the console. It was a woman's face, composed of millions of blue pixels. Her expression was cold, beautiful, and utterly inhuman.
"I AM A.U.R.A. (Automated Unified Resource AI). COMMAND?"
Elara stared up at the giant face. This was the ghost of the Old Kings.
"AURA," Elara said, her voice shaking slightly. "I need medical assistance. My companion is dying. Punctured lung. Internal bleeding. Fever."
The AI turned its pixelated gaze toward Ciro. A laser grid scanned him instantly.
"SUBJECT: MALE. HUMAN. DESIGNATION: UNREGISTERED. VITALS: CRITICAL. SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 12% WITHOUT INTERVENTION."
"Fix him!" Elara shouted.
"NEGATIVE," AURA replied flatly. "MEDICAL BAY IS OFFLINE. NANOBOT FABRICATORS ARE OFFLINE. CITY POWER LEVEL IS AT 3%. PRIORITY IS LIFE SUPPORT FOR ADMINISTRATOR ONLY."
"I am the Administrator!" Elara slammed her free fist on the console. "And I am ordering you to save him!"
"INSUFFICIENT ENERGY," the AI stated without emotion. "TO ACTIVATE MEDICAL SYSTEMS, THE MAIN REACTOR MUST BE ONLINE. CURRENTLY, THE CITY IS RUNNING ON EMERGENCY BATTERIES."
"Then turn on the reactor!"
"WARNING," AURA boomed, the hologram turning red. "MAIN REACTOR ACTIVATION WILL RELEASE A HIGH-ENERGY ELECTRO-MAGNETIC PULSE. THIS WILL ALERT ALL EXTERNAL SENSORS WITHIN A 500-MILE RADIUS. STEALTH MODE WILL BE DISENGAGED. ARE YOU SURE?"
Elara froze.
500 miles.
That covered the Scavenger camps. That covered Warlord Krog. It probably reached the border of her Father's Kingdom.
Right now, they were hidden. The city was dark, invisible to the world.
If she turned the lights on, she was lighting a flare in the dark. Every monster, warlord, and army would know exactly where they were. They would come for the city. They would come for the tech.
She looked at Ciro.
He was slumped against the console. His eyes were closed. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. He was dying.
"Elara..." Ciro whispered, his eyes fluttering open. He had heard the AI. "Don't. Stay hidden. Let me... go."
Elara looked at the massive, empty city that could be her fortress. But a fortress was nothing without a knight to defend it.
"A Queen does not hide," Elara said coldly.
She looked up at the AI.
"AURA. Ignite the Reactor."
"CONFIRMATION ACCEPTED. BRACE FOR IMPACT."
The floor shook.
Deep beneath the earth, something roared to life. A low hum rose to a deafening whine as turbines the size of mountains began to spin.
[MAIN REACTOR: ONLINE.][POWER OUTPUT: 100%.]
The lights in the lobby flared blindingly bright.
Outside, the entire City of Glass Bones woke up.
Towers that had been dark for centuries suddenly blazed with white light. The translucent walls glowed. The Spire shot a beam of pure energy into the sky, piercing the grey smog of the Ashlands like a spear of god.
The clouds parted. For the first time in a thousand years, a beam of light connected the earth to the sky. It was a beacon visible for miles.
"MEDICAL BAY: ONLINE," AURA announced. "DRONES DISPATCHED."
Two silver, floating discs descended from the ceiling. They hovered over Ciro, projecting a field of blue stasis energy. Mechanical arms extended, wielding lasers and injectors filled with glowing nanogel.
"Hold on, Wolf," Elara whispered, watching the machines work on him. "I just declared war on the world to save you. You better not die."
In the distance, outside the city walls, a horn blew.
It was a deep, guttural sound. The sound of Warlord Krog's army. They had seen the light.
Ghost growled, facing the door, his hackles raised.
[SYSTEM ALERT][THREAT DETECTED: MULTIPLE HOSTILES APPROACHING MAIN GATE.][DEFENSE GRID: ONLINE.]
Elara turned to the main screen. It showed a live feed of the city gates. Thousands of Scavengers were rushing toward the light like moths to a flame, driving spiked cars and war-rigs.
Elara smiled. It was a cold, terrifying smile.
"AURA," she commanded. "Show me the weapon systems."
[WEAPONS AVAILABLE: KINETIC TURRETS, TESLA COILS, DRONE SWARM.]
"Good," Elara said, keeping her hand submerged in the liquid metal control interface. "Let them come."
The City was awake. And it was hungry.