The water in the Sea of Tears was really deep and blue. Now it is getting shallower. It looks kind of yellow and sickly. This is not because of the sand. Because of all the Solar Sediment that the Imperial refineries have been dumping into the water. When Lyra and Malachi got past the part of the Dead Zone they saw something amazing. The horizon was not just meeting the sky, the Sea of Tears was actually on fire. The Solar Sediment, in the Sea of Tears is what is making this happen. Lyra and Malachi saw the whole horizon of the Sea of Tears ignite.
The Aegis Line went all the way along the coastline. It was made up of brass towers that looked like big fancy flames. These towers were not ordinary lighthouses. They were actually the Aegis Line, which people called the "Ears of the Emperor". Each one of the Aegis Line towers had a group of Blind Monks living inside. The Blind Monks spent their lives sitting and listening to the sounds of the sea. They did this by feeling the vibrations of the water, through harps that had gold strings on them. The Aegis Line was really something because of the way the Blind Monks used these harps to listen to the sea.
The moment we cross the tide they will hear your heartbeat Malachi whispered. His voice was trembling as he looked at the shimmering towers. In the Capital they do not just see the Capital they resonate with the Capital. When we are in the Capital the Capital will hear your heartbeat and the Capital will see you because in the Capital the Capital is where they feel everything, about you.
Lyra stood at the edge of her salt-bridge. She looked at the spire. Her eyes were fixed on it. "Then I will give the people of the spire a song that the people of the tallest spire will not forget."
She put her hand into the Shroud of Shadows. Pulled the old fabric tight around her shoulders. This time she did not use the Shroud of Shadows to hide. She started to feed the Shroud of Shadows. She sent the ocean essence she took from the Salt-Kraken into the Shroud of Shadows. The black fabric of the Shroud of Shadows started to leak a mist that looked like ink. This mist poured onto the water. It made a Shadow Wake that went on for miles, behind the Shroud of Shadows and her. The Shadow Wake was really long. She was still feeding the Shroud of Shadows.
"What are you doing?" Malachi said in a tone. "You are leaving a path that a blind person can easily see and follow it is that obvious the trail you are making is something a blind man could follow.
Lyra said "I am creating a distraction" her violet eyes glowing. They think a ghost is coming. Lyra is going to give them a storm. Lyra wants to give them a storm. The people are waiting for a ghost. Lyra is going to give them a storm, a big storm.
Eclipse Art: The Phantom Tide.
As they went past the Aegis Line the harps with gold strings in the towers started to make a loud and scary noise. The Blind Monks were hurting from the sound. They were trying to cover their ears. The Shadow Wake that Lyra had left behind was shaking. It sounded like a thousand people were screaming at the same time. The towers had defensive systems that could make the sea boil and these systems started moving around and shooting beams of light into the empty mist that was miles, behind them.
The Imperial defenses were busy attacking her shadow. Meanwhile Lyra and Malachi made their move. They slipped onto the mainland. Landed on a beach. The sand on this beach was black and really oily. Lyra and Malachi were now, on the mainland standing on this beach with Lyra and Malachi taking in their new surroundings.
The outskirts of Aurelion, the Imperial Capital were right in front of them. This city was made of light. A lot of pride. From the beach Lyra could feel the Solar Pulse of the city. The Solar Pulse was, like a heartbeat of energy. It felt like a hand pushing against her chest. The Solar Pulse of Aurelion was really powerful.
"We are here " Lyra said, her voice going down to a whisper that sounded really scary.
She looked at her hand. The purple veins, in her hand were beating at the time as the citys bright and shiny heart. She was not someone who was visiting the city she was the citys problem, a sickness that the city had caught the citys infection the infection that was changing the city.
Malachi said that the second Library is located under the Temple of the Unconquered Sun. He pointed to a spire that looked like it was touching the sun. The Library is beneath the Temple of the Unconquered Sun. To get to the Library, which's, beneath the Temple of the Unconquered Sun we have to go through the District of Ash.
Lyra held onto her claymore tightly. The blade of her claymore felt like it was hungry for something. The little bits of starlight, in the steel of her claymore were spinning around like they were galaxies. Her claymore seemed to be waiting for something to happen.
"Then let's move," Lyra said. "The sun is high, but the shadow is longer."