As the city convulses around a molten epicenter, a colossal clawDrill erupts, tearing streets and factories apart. Darrow, Victra, and Holiday plummet toward the roofs below, moments from impact, when a chorus of sonic booms announces armored figures blasting up from the tunnel: the Howlers and allied Sons of Ares.

Sevro, wearing his father’s spiked helmet and the mantle of Ares, snatches Victra from the air. Ragnar Volarus seizes Darrow and Holiday, telling Darrow, “Hold fast, little brother,” before banking into the tunnel. The formation plunges into darkness, enemy fire raking the walls as they flee.

Inside the tunnel, the chase is chaos—wind screaming, rock rupturing, and blue-hot pulsefire slicing past. Darrow is singed and bloodied as near-misses boil his sleeve. A Son ahead takes a hit that fuses his legs, slamming him into the ceiling where he crumples, a stark reminder of the cost as the Howlers force their escape.

Time shifts. Red emergency light throbs as Darrow wakes aboard a ship choked with smoke and the smell of burned flesh. Medics saw through fused armor to reach the wounded. A young armored boy beside Darrow grips his hand, mouths Darrow’s name, and dies, leaving Darrow conscious of both his rescue and its devastating price.