In the vast crystalline deserts of Earth's last continent life is violent and short. Those who survive do so by preying on one another in a brutal cycle that yields only diminishing returns. Kryl, a wanderer and mercenary, is no exception. The only thing that separates him from a thousand others--the insatiable eukaryotic armor that has bound its life to his. When a vicious band of marauders steal a child from the caravan Kryl has been hired to protect...