Chapter 36 - Wrath of Iron and Fire

The Pendralis fleet, a procession of steel leviathans, glided through the strait like a force of nature, their iron hulls gleaming under the dull, smoke-choked sky. The sea churned in their wake, the rhythmic pulse of their steam engines filling the air with an eerie mechanical growl. Coal-fed furnaces burned ceaselessly within the bowels of each warship, vomiting thick plumes of black smoke into the sky, darkening the horizon like an approaching storm. The fortress at The Neck stood defiant ahead, its ancient walls rising like jagged cliffs, a silent guardian of Aragonese dominance over the passage. For centuries, it had withstood every siege, every assault, and every invader that dared approach. But this was different. This was not a battle of men and stone. This was a war between ages—wood and iron, past and future.