USHUAIA – NAVAL BLOCKADE COMMAND – JAMIE LANCASTER’S POV

Jamie stood over the sprawling holographic map table, her palms pressed flat against its edge. The South Atlantic glimmered in shades of blue, with red icons marking the growing web of Elven naval activity creeping outward from Antarctica. Around her, the command room buzzed with a tense rhythm—operators updating radar tracks, radio chatter weaving in and out, officers leaning over displays with clenched jaws.

The blockade had held for weeks, but it was fraying. Reports of skirmishes were increasing—supply convoys harassed, scout ships ambushed by cloaked Elven frigates, even a fishing trawler found burned to the waterline. The elves weren’t simply testing the blockade anymore. They were pushing.

Jamie’s gaze hardened on the southern vector. A faint pulse indicated unusual magical energy readings—Mary’s Royal Knight Corps mobilizing again. She remembered the last time those crimson-banners appeared: a research base had been wiped from existence.

“Admiral Kessler,” she said, her voice sharper than she intended. “If the elves launch a concentrated strike, the blockade will not hold. We need reinforcement from the Pacific side. Now.”

Kessler, a stern-faced veteran with deep-lined eyes, shook his head. “Every navy is stretched thin. India’s Green Guardians are tied down in the Indian Ocean, the U.S. is juggling two carrier groups already, and the Chinese aren’t exactly sharing their toys. You know the politics as well as I do.”

Jamie’s frustration boiled, but she kept her composure. Politics—that word always meant waiting until it was too late. She forced her voice steady. “If we wait, Antarctica will bleed outward. And then no navy in the world will be enough.”

Kessler studied her for a long moment, then nodded slightly. “You’re not wrong. But we can’t fight this storm blind. Give us something more concrete than instinct.”

Jamie turned away, fists tight at her sides. Instinct was all she had—but she knew she wasn’t wrong. The elves were preparing something vast, and the blockade would be its first victim.

SOUTH ATLANTIC – USS AEGIS DAWN – REINA MORALES’ POV

The carrier deck roared with activity—jets screeched as they launched into the winds, helicopters thudded overhead, and sailors shouted over the storm building on the horizon. Reina Morales moved through it all, her coat whipping in the gusts, headset pressed tight to her ear.

Resistance cells across the globe were crackling with urgent messages. A Brazilian cell had spotted Elven silhouettes slipping through the night sky over the rainforest. A South African contact swore he saw glowing sails at sea. And one chilling message from Tierra del Fuego whispered of strange figures walking out of the snow, leaving no footprints behind.

Reina exhaled, forcing calm. Information and fear traveled together; it was her job to separate them. But deep in her gut, she felt the pattern aligning. These weren’t isolated sightings. They were ripples ahead of a tidal wave.

She tapped her headset. “Command, patch me to Lancaster in Ushuaia. Now.”

Static, then Jamie’s voice cut through, taut with fatigue. “Reina. You sound like you’ve seen the same writing on the wall I have.”

“I’m seeing more than writing,” Reina said. “The elves are infiltrating. Softening targets. By the time their fleets move, half our forward observers will already be dead. We can’t just react—we need to strike first.”

Jamie hesitated, then replied: “If we move preemptively, the politicians will scream escalation. If we don’t, we lose the blockade.”

Reina’s eyes swept the storm-tossed horizon. Dark waves crashed against the hull, and for a moment she thought she saw lights far out at sea—green flares vanishing into mist. She spoke firmly: “Jamie, escalation is already here. The only choice we have is whether we fight on their terms, or ours.”

FORTRESS OF ETERNAL FROST – MARY’S POV

Mary knelt before the crystalline war table, her gauntlets pressed against the runes glowing faintly beneath the ice. Around her stood her Royal Knight Corps, their armor gleaming with faint solar radiance even in the shadowed frost-hall. Beyond the fortress walls, the wind howled like a beast straining at its chains.

Queen Elara’s command had been clear: break the blockade, sever Earth’s naval cordon, and open the seas for the Empire’s second wave.

Mary rose, her red cloak swirling, and her voice carried across the chamber: “Sisters and brothers of the Corps, tonight we carve a path through their iron ships. The humans believe their steel can cage us. We will show them the futility of walls against the tide.”

A cheer rose—fiery, eager, loyal. But Mary’s heart was not untouched by doubt. She remembered Dyug’s earnest eyes, the vows whispered between them before fate tore him away. Would he see this as glory—or folly? She banished the thought with iron will.

One of her captains, a sun-haired knight, stepped forward. “Commander, the priestesses report the cloaking veils are ready. The enemy will not see us until their hulls split.”

Mary nodded. “Good. Then tonight the sea will remember the name of Forestia.”

But as she turned toward the window, gazing out at the storm over the dark waters, unease gnawed at her. There was power gathering in the world—something beyond even Elara’s decree. The storm itself felt alive, as if watching.

HIDDEN SANCTUM – MYRREN’S POV

Deep beneath the fortress, Myrren knelt before the pool of lunar light. The waters shimmered unnaturally, reflecting not her face but broken fragments of possible futures—naval battles raging under storm skies, ships cracking apart in fire and lightning, bodies floating among the wreckage.

Her hands trembled. She had tried to look further, but the Goddess gave only fractured warnings. Each glimpse ended in shadow.

“Myrren…” a voice whispered—whether her own mind or Luna’s will, she could not tell. “The vow binds. The storm breaks. Nothing will remain untouched.”

Tears stung her eyes. She had seen Dyug’s vow ignite threads that stretched across worlds, binding fates together like chains. Now she saw those chains pulling taut, dragging mortals and immortals alike toward catastrophe.

She rose, gripping her staff, breath unsteady. “Then I must speak. Even if no one listens.”

For in her visions, she had seen Mary’s banner burning crimson against a black sea—and behind it, a darkness no elf commanded.

USHUAIA – SOLOMON KANE’S POV

The apartment was dim, lit only by the glow of a single lamp. Solomon Kane sat hunched in the chair, a glass untouched in his hand. Outside, the wind battered the windows, carrying the taste of salt and storm.

He hadn’t wanted this. He had buried the weapons, tried to bury the part of himself that lived for battle. But Jamie had come, eyes blazing with the same fire her grandfather once carried, and the world had dragged him back.

A knock rattled the door. He didn’t move at first, then forced himself to rise. Jamie entered without waiting, rain streaking her coat.

“Kane,” she said bluntly. “It’s starting. I need you on the blockade line tonight.”

He studied her, jaw tight. “You don’t need me. You’ve got fleets, mechs, missiles. What difference does one old killer make?”

Jamie stepped closer, voice hard. “Because you’ve fought them before. You’ve walked into their fortress and come back out alive. My crews haven’t. When the elves strike, I need someone who won’t break.”

For a long moment, Kane said nothing. Then he set the glass down and pulled open the chest by the wall. Metal gleamed—his rifle, his blades, his armor patched and worn. He looked back at Jamie, eyes cold but resolute.

“Fine. But don’t mistake me for a hero. I’m just here to kill.”

Jamie exhaled, relief flickering briefly across her face. “That’s enough.”

CLOSING POV – THE STORM

Far above, clouds rolled and split with unnatural fury. Lightning danced in spirals that no meteorologist could explain, carving runes of war across the sky. The blockade fleets rode the waves in tight formation, their radars pinging, their crews restless.

And from the south, unseen beneath veils of magic, Mary’s fleet advanced—silent, cloaked, and hungry for blood.

The storm was no longer waiting. It had chosen its battlefield.