The Drowning Tide

A condemned surgeon discovers he can breathe beneath the waves that devour an empire every seventy-one days. Jonas Creel, enslaved in the salt-galleys and separated from his young daughter, survives a shipwreck only to learn he carries outlawed magic tied to a chained god whose agony drives the catastrophic tides. With the ancient cycle collapsing and the sea threatening to swallow everything forever, Jonas must infiltrate the imperial capital, confront a chancellor willing to sacrifice thousands, and choose between two impossible endings—one honest and devastating, the other monstrous and eternal.