The Fire Spreads :

THE WATCHER IN THE DEPTHS

Far beneath the waves, in the aftermath of the shattered Elven fortress, humanity’s sonar buoys and underwater drones tracked movement unlike anything ever recorded. The Ice Worms, now unbound and instinct-driven, surged through the ocean. Colossal, ancient beings of magic and frost, they churned the sea, dragging entire icebergs in their wake, and occasionally breaching the surface like ghostly leviathans. Naval ships kept their distance—after witnessing one such creature wrap around and crush a cruiser during the collapse, no one dared provoke them yet.

Onboard the INS Vikramaditya, Admiral Ravi Prakash stood at the bridge, scanning the horizon through binoculars. “Any contact from the Australian station?”

“Negative, sir. The worms have destroyed the relay towers in quadrant 7.”

“Send recon drones. I want eyes in the Coral Sea. If those things reach populated waters, we’ll be facing a crisis worse than the Elves.”

And yet, despite the panic, Antarctica was free. Its skies belonged to Earth. The Steel Tide had retreated battered, but victorious. Now, the world turned its gaze outward—to the seas, to the skies, and to other Elven strongholds not yet broken.

MARY’S POV – ELVEN RETREAT BASE, CORAL TRENCH CHAIN(AUSTRALIA)

Mary limped into the sanctum beneath the Coral Chain archipelago, her silver armor cracked, her shoulder bleeding freely. Behind her, Elven knights dragged crates of glowing blue crystals and the artifact itself—a chunk of the Moonlight Core, still pulsing with divine energy.

Tirien approached, half-panicked.

“The worms—”

“I know,” Mary rasped. “They’ve broken free.”

“Then we must destroy the artifact!”

Mary turned sharply, grabbing his throat with ice-cold fingers. “This is our last key to the goddess. I will not destroy her gift.”

She released him, stepping back toward the altar.

“We’ll harness it. Redirect the magic. The worms serve Luna—they were bound before, and they will be bound again.”

Tirien’s eyes widened. “You’re going to command them?”

Mary gave a savage smile. “I’m going to finish what the Queen began.”

Outside, the seas boiled as one of the Ice Worms surfaced briefly near the island—its massive fins cleaving the waves before vanishing into the abyss.

AFRICA FRONT – DYANA’S FIRE

In Mozambique, the war still burned.

Elven hover-ships passed over scorched earth and collapsed resistance bunkers. The aristocrats of the Fire Houses continued their scorched-earth march—but new data flowed into Dyana’s hands, lighting up her battle screen.

Multiple Ice Worm signatures.

Some heading toward Madagascar. Others curling around the Horn of Africa.

Dyana frowned. “Those are supposed to be dead relics.”

Velthira spoke gravely. “They are not dead. And they are moving toward us.”

Dyana hissed through her teeth. “Elara’s pet priestess woke them. She’s playing with fire.”

Velthira nodded. “And we are now sitting on the oil fields.”

Dyana looked out across the savannah.

“Begin contingency evacuations. If the worms make landfall, we fall back to the Rift Mountains.”

SOUTH AMERICA FRONT – THE JUNGLE TREMBLES

Deep in the Amazon, Vaelin Thorne stood on a vine-carved dais, watching her dominion through arcane scryers. Cities had fallen. Rivers were under Elven control. But her peace was shattered by an urgent call.

“My lady, the humans have deployed naval drones off the eastern coast.”

“I expected that,” Vaelin replied lazily.

“No,” the Neutralist mage said. “They’re not hunting us. They’re tracking… something else.”

She waved her hand, revealing sonar footage of a colossal serpentine shadow, swimming north toward the Atlantic coast of Brazil.

“An Ice Worm?”

Vaelin turned pale. “Not just one. Three. And they’re accelerating.”

Even the trees around her shivered.

FORESTIA – QUEEN ELARA’S SILENCE

In the Moonlight Citadel, Queen Elara sat in a silent throne room, watching the stars flicker out.

“The worms have risen,” she whispered.

The lunar pool beside her pulsed once—dimly. The goddess no longer responded.

“You’ve taken your silence too far,” Elara murmured. “They do not fear you anymore. They fear her.”

She rose slowly, fingers dragging across a map of Earth—Antarctica gone, Asia rising, the oceans trembling.

“Then let them fear Mary.”

EPILOGUE – GLOBAL ALERT STATUS: RED

Antarctica: Fortress lost, artifact stolen. Humans regroup and fortify. No active Elven presence.

Coral Islands: Mary escapes with the divine artifact. Royal Knights severely weakened but protected by sea magic and worm proximity.

Indian Ocean & Pacific: Ice Worms migrating toward warmer coasts. Estimated impact within days to weeks.

Africa (Mozambique): Dyana holds territory but prepares fallback options due to worm threat.

South America: Vaelin tightens grip but senses something unnatural stirring in the deep jungle and the coasts.

Forestia: Elara watches silently. War is no longer in her control.

ARRIVAL:

The wind howled across the refugee camp pitched on the cliffs overlooking the stormy waters of southern Mozambique.

Aluna used to live in Beira, a bustling port city that once sang with the rhythm of trade, music, and the scent of spices from distant lands. She had been studying to become a marine biologist, her days filled with lectures, shoreline surveys, and laughter with her friends by the water. But that life had shattered the moment the Elven portals opened over Africa. Beira had burned—swept by fire magic and shattered by enchanted beasts. Her parents were gone, lost in the first wave of chaos, and now she cared for her younger brother, scavenging what little aid made it past the broken supply lines. Each day in the refugee camp was a test of endurance: securing food, dodging sickness, avoiding the attention of desperate or dangerous souls.

That morning had started like any other—gray skies, ration lines, whispered rumors of more skirmishes in the north. But then the sea changed. Aluna had paused on a cliffside overlook, just to steal a breath of air beyond the smoke and sweat. That’s when she saw it—the ocean surface buckling unnaturally, as if something ancient stirred below.

Out in the churning sea, the surface began to boil and rise—not with waves, but with movement.

From the depths, a monstrous form breached the water: a glistening, translucent creature longer than a city block, its body crowned with jagged icicle-like spines.

It let out a low, rumbling cry that vibrated through the earth itself.

Then another emerged, then another. Dozens of them—Ice Worms, their massive bodies glittering with frost under the African sun—were writhing toward the coastline.

Aluna could feel the sudden drop in temperature, the saltwater in the air turning to mist as frost curled along the edges of the camp.

Ice Worms—beasts whispered about in horror broadcasts—were migrating north, drawn from the polar ruins by the warming waters and human activity. The air grew cold, unnaturally so, as frost kissed the rocks around her feet. She pulled her brother close, trembling as the creatures loomed like leviathans of another world.

The Ice Worms had arrived—and this time, no army followed. Just nature twisted by magic, answering the call of a war that had torn the world apart.