Chapter 19 · Fight for a Patch of Green

"Rowan Vale!" The voice boomed across the sky before I saw the ship. "By authority of the Meridian Guild and the Crown, surrender the First Architect's inheritance. Release the leyline controls and submit to judgment. Resistance will be classified as sabotage."

The first airship punched through the clouds like a black knife. Brass ribs flashed along its hull. Meridian sigils burned across the plates. Five more ships followed, dropping into formation around the island.

Pip pressed against my leg and growled. His bandaged foreleg shook. Blue sparks crawled beneath his wet fur. Below us, the farm tilted three degrees, and the western field started sliding toward the clouds.

"Easy," I said, gripping his shoulder. Heat pulsed under my palm. "Don't spend what you don't have."

The irrigation channels spilled over their banks. Water rushed between the bean rows and vanished over the island's edge. One by one, the leyline pylons flashed red, pulling us toward the buried shape beneath the capital.

The Undercrown Engine.

Lyra stepped out of the root workshop with a crossbow in one hand and the torn halves of her arrest warrant in the other. Her gaze locked on the ships.

"How many?"

"Six."

"That's too many."