Ayo sat on a throne made of lashed-together driftwood, overlooking his kingdom.

  His kingdom was a stretch of muddy shoreline beneath the sprawling docks of the Upper City. It was a place where the tide deposited the city's refuse—broken crates, drowned livestock, and occasionally, something valuable.

  "Line up," Ayo commanded. His voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the chatter of the twenty urchins gathered around him. "Smallest first. If I see anyone shoving, no mangoes for you."

  The kids, a motley crew of runaways and war orphans, fell into line instantly. They looked at Ayo with a reverence usually reserved for priests. To them, he was a god. He found food when there was none. He knew which guards could be bribed with a joke and which ones needed a coin.

  Ayo handed out the spoils of the morning's scavenge: bruised fruit, half a loaf of bread, and a handful of smoked fish.

  "You heard the talk?" asked Kemi, a girl with one eye who served as his second. She bit into a mango, juice running down her chin.

  "Talk is cheap," Ayo said, counting the remaining cowries in his pocket.

  "They say a demon is on the docks. A 'Golden Lion.' Killed a Stage Two boar-man with his bare hands."

  Ayo snorted. "Lions don't come to the mud, Kemi. Lions stay in palaces and eat meat off silver plates. It was probably just a drunk mercenary with a heavy hand."

  "The boar-man was scared," Kemi insisted. "They say the man had eyes like the sun."

  "Eyes like the sun usually mean liver failure," Ayo quipped. "Forget the stories. Focus on the tide. High water is coming, and I want those crates from the River's Luck before the Guild gets them."

  "You want my crates, little rat?"

  The voice boomed from the shadow of the pier.

  Ayo didn't flinch, but his hand went to the rusted knife at his belt.

  Emerging from the gloom was Tolu. Tolu was eighteen, big as a house, and meaner than a cornered snake. He led the "Mud Sharks," a gang of older boys who preyed on the weaker groups.

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  Tolu stepped into the light, flanked by three of his thugs. He held a length of rusty chain.

  "This is my beach today, Ayo," Tolu grinned. "Hand over the fish. And the girl." He pointed at Kemi.

  The younger kids whimpered, backing away.

  Ayo stood up. He was half Tolu’s size. He was thin, all elbows and knees. But he didn't back down. He stepped off his driftwood throne and walked toward the giant.

  "Go away, Tolu," Ayo said. "The water is high. I'm not in the mood for a swim."

  Tolu laughed. "You think you're a king because these babies follow you? You're nothing. You're trash."

  Tolu swung the chain. It was a lazy strike, meant to scare, not kill.

  It hit Ayo’s shoulder. Pain flared, hot and sharp.

  Ayo stumbled, falling to one knee. The Mud Sharks laughed.

  "Look at him," Tolu sneered, looming over him. "On your knees. Beg, and I might leave you a fish head."

  Ayo looked at the mud. He saw his own blood dripping onto a shell.

  Something clicked inside him.

  It wasn't a thought. It wasn't a plan. It was a sound. A deep, resonant thrumming in his chest, like a massive cat purring against a cage.

  Get up, the sound said. He is prey.

  Ayo stood up. The pain in his shoulder vanished, replaced by a cold, electric heat.

  He looked at Tolu.

  Tolu stopped laughing. He frowned. "What are you looking at?"

  "You're in my way," Ayo whispered.

  The air around Ayo seemed to distort. It wasn't visible magic, no glowing lights, no transformation. It was a pressure. A psychic weight that slammed into the beach like a falling anvil.

  The birds on the pier above went silent. The water stopped lapping at the shore.

  Tolu’s eyes widened. He took a step back. He felt it a sudden, primal terror that seized his reptile brain. He looked at the skinny boy in front of him, but his instincts screamed that he was standing in front of an apex predator. A monster that could tear his throat out with a thought.

  Ayo took a step forward.

  THUMP.

  Tolu felt the step in his chest. His heart skipped a beat.

  "I said," Ayo’s voice was distorted, layered with a ghostly growl that vibrated in Tolu’s bones, "GO. AWAY."

  Tolu dropped the chain. His bladder let go, a dark stain spreading on his trousers. He couldn't help it. The fear was absolute.

  "I... I..." Tolu stammered.

  Then, his eyes rolled back in his head. The sheer pressure of Ayo’s unchecked aura overloaded his senses. Tolu collapsed, fainting dead away into the mud.

  The other Mud Sharks stared at their fallen leader, then at Ayo. They screamed and ran, scrambling over the wet rocks like crabs.

  The pressure vanished.

  Ayo blinked. The electric heat faded, leaving him dizzy and nauseous. He swayed.

  Kemi was there, catching his arm. She looked at him with wide, terrified eyes.

  "What... what was that?" she whispered.

  Ayo looked at his hands. They were shaking. He looked at the unconscious giant at his feet.

  "I don't know," Ayo lied. He rubbed his chest, where the phantom sound still echoed. "He must have slipped."

  He looked out at the water. The "Golden Lion" rumor suddenly didn't feel so funny anymore.

  "Grab the chain," Ayo ordered, his voice trembling only slightly. "We have work to do."