A Chalice for a Kraken

She loved me too much for anyone's good.

On an artificial island deep in enemy territory, machinists develop unprecedented new magical weapons. Then the research base goes rogue, cutting off contact with the outside world. Every elite squad sent to reclaim it stops responding, too.

Wist, the most powerful mage in generations, gets called in as emergency backup. But the whole scenario stinks of a trap. Clematis won't let her go alone-and so they embark on a covert mission to a hostile state where even one-time allies are hard to trust.

Clematis and Wist are completely on their own except for their guide and interpreter: Lear, a foreign agent who previously masqueraded as an innocent artist. Lear is great at putting on a friendly face, but not so great at revealing her own dark motivations.

As they explore the base, they encounter vulnerable civilian workers, and locals who stare into space like lost ghosts... and giant carnivorous birds, and parasitic magic, and competing layers of twisted reality.

In this horror-influenced continuation of the Clem & Wist series, Clematis grapples with a growing hunger that she can't afford to feed. Wist glimpses indescribable cosmic terror. And they're all running out of time to leave the island without giving anyone an excuse to start a war.

Each novel in the Clem & Wist series revolves around the same couple. The prequel can be read at any point prior to Book 4. (The prequel and Book 1 also work as satisfying standalone stories.)