Erik’s breath faltered. For a heartbeat he doubted everything, the notes, the patterns, his certainty. Maybe it was a creature. Maybe they had all been right, and he had only led them to their doom. Then the truth rose.
Steel, not scales. Edges too clean, too perfect. A black hull broke the surface, water streaming off in sheets. A tower pushed upward, squared and sharp, antennae glinting. Lights flickered faintly along its side. The villagers froze, caught between terror and disbelief.