Bryan Wigmore Knihy

Grappling with the aftermath of the Skalith crisis, Orc and Cass Strandborn are shocked to discover its true instigators, and those behind their tormenting amnesia – a shadowy cabal of occultists who mean to provoke a global war. Only the Watchers of Highcloud have the power to challenge these ‘Kings Behind the World’. But to reach the monastery, Orc and Cass must navigate the Empyreal metropolis of Bismark, a tangle of oppression and intrigue where advanced machines mask ancient magic. And at the heart of this labyrinth lies the severed head that rules the Empyreum, concealing a deadly link to the Strandborns’ stolen pasts. The Shroud veiling their memories is beginning to tear. But with Orc’s grip on reality fracturing, and Cass caught in a desperate struggle against the occultists’ agents, finding out who they are might come too late.

'Ancient terror, modern error, future era.' Otter shook himself. 'Mean much to you?' Two years after being washed up on a remote beach, freedivers Orc and Cass still have no idea who they are or where they came from. Worst of all, they feel like lovers but look like brother and sister, and must repress their instincts for fear of committing a terrible mistake. Now at last they've tracked down a psychic artefact powerful enough to restore their memories. But others also seek its forbidden magic. To reach it, deep within a sunken ruin, they must flirt with a ruthless occult conspiracy, one intent on summoning an ancient goddess to destroy the dreadnoughts of the Empyreal fleet. The depths of the sea, of the past, of the world's collective mind: down there are truths, but also madness and despair. And a power that will plunge the world back to a new dark age, if it can't be stopped.