98 South

Nzene is aflame as Dedalugun circles above, too vast for siege engines to meaningfully harm. Tunuva defends the temple quarter amid chaos, searching for threats while Gashan coordinates engines. Dedalugun lands on Mount Dinduru and calls for Kediko, drawing the city’s fire. Esbar spots Mulsub lodged in its breast and proposes using it to pry a scale free, recalling how the Mother once broke a wyrm’s armor.

Tunuva, Esbar, and Siyu push to the city’s thickest wall, where Siyu slays a chimera and they witness the defenses buckle. When wyverns collapse the gate, they vault the breastworks, mount their ichneumons Jeda and Ninuru, and race for Lake Jodigo to leverage Tunuva’s white stone and water magic.

At the lake, Esbar unleashes unprecedented earthly fire, a blazing beacon that forces Dedalugun to descend. Tunuva tries to draw up the lake but is overmatched—then a brilliant, split-tailed comet appears. The stone turns searing-cold, chilling her magic and stalling her warding. Dedalugun attacks; Esbar wounds its eye, and Siyu wrenches Mulsub free, opening a gap in its scales before being struck down.

Galvanized by Siyu’s fall and the comet’s pull, Tunuva channels the stone to raise Lake Jodigo. She drives the salt water through Dedalugun’s mouth and entrails, icing its furnace from within and grounding it. As the torrent snaps a scale free, Esbar seizes Mulsub and drives it into the exposed flesh, piercing the wyrm’s heart.

Tunuva lowers the waters clear of Esbar and Siyu and lets the lake crash back into its bed. Dedalugun lies dead and steaming. Esbar cradles an unconscious, soaked Siyu, and she and Tunuva weep under the bearded star, holding each other and the child they share.