The Skin

'You cannot fix this world alone, Selkie.'

'I know. But, when we die, all that is left are shadows of our lives preserved in the memories of those who remain. I plan on leaving an exceptionally long shadow, filled with ripples of moonlight for those I helped, and darker than the worst of nightmares for those who wronged us.'

I'm a selkie, trapped above the waves until I can recover my skin. Humans used to call us seal-wives many years ago - before they broke the planet. I thought that less humans, after the warming, would mean less danger. My kind believed our world was finally recovering.

We were wrong.

Up here, the magic is fading and Old Ones like me are being traded as trophies for rich and powerful humans to display in collections.

Without the Old Ones, the magic fades, without magic, the planet dies.

Humankind has gone too far and someone has to put a stop to it. I just wasn't expecting it to be me.

Far to the south on his enormous pleasure ship, Barge, Lord Sal hunts for missing Old Ones - with a grand plan to leave his own mark on the world. But, Icidro and Prince Ulises are searching for them too, and this is a world where money talks louder than morals.