The morning tide at Saltbreeze Cove brought a chilling fog instead of the usual fishing bounty. Jasmine stood at the end of the primary wooden pier and watched the horizon swallow the rising sun. A solid wall of black iron and dark canvas blotted out the dawn. Fifty colossal warships broke through the morning mist and sailed directly toward the shallow waters of Pearlstrand.
The invasion had arrived.
Warning bells rang out across the harbor. The frantic clanging echoed down Dockside Lane and sent hundreds of dockworkers scrambling for cover. They abandoned their wooden crates of silica sand and dropped their heavy fishing nets onto the wet planks.
Jasmine gripped her runic javelin and assessed the approaching threat. She recognized the glowing azure crest of the Azure Archipelago painte
