Jeremy Thomas Fuller
The Metalwood Saga / Reference Guide

Full-series spoilers

The Edge

The Edge

The Edge is the exposed outer boundary of the floating city of New San Francisco (also known as Newfris). Hovering three thousand feet above the surface of Earth (Mar), it is a perilous, desolate, and breathtaking place. While many citizens actively avoid it, viewing it as a place where people go when they are finally ready to die, it serves as a dramatic backdrop for moments of quiet contemplation, deadly chases, and world-altering decisions.

Geography and Environment

The Edge is characterized by jagged shards of metal, rebar, and cement that jut out into thin air like the spines of an ancient pufferfish. The city's boundary is abrupt and dangerous; roads like the New Great Highway simply disintegrate into the sky, and massive sewer pipes dump waste freely into the three thousand feet of air below.

From the Edge, the towering glass and chrome skyscrapers of topside Newfris reach for the stars behind you, while clouds and the distant green forests of Earth are visible far beneath your feet. There is no "oversun" or "undersun" here, just the true sun shining unimpeded across the sky.

Crucially, the Edge is where the city's magical Shield is visible. This massive, shimmering forcefield protects the city from the deadly nanovirus that ravaged the planet during the Sundering; beyond this barrier, it is believed that life ends. Because of its extreme isolation and danger, the areas nearest the Edge are often home to shantytowns—such as Ferry Plaza and the Old Marina District—populated by the most desperate and destitute topsiders.

Key Events

Phoenix's Contemplation

After accidentally destroying the whiproom and nearly causing Beam's death, Phoenix (Megan) flees to the Edge to be alone. Sitting on a thin metal shard dangling over the abyss, she takes in the unobstructed view of the ocean and the sun, contemplating her brutal life in the Under and wondering what it would feel like to fly.

The Undercar Skid

During a run with the Gearheads, Phoenix steals an undercar and drives it straight down a massive sewer pipe leading toward the western Edge. Approaching the drop-off at breakneck speed, she nearly drives right off the city. Tapping into her forcefinding magic, she creates a buffer at the last possible second, stopping the car as it teeters on the brink, though a box of precious metalwood plummets to the Earth.

The Homeless Man's Leap

Trey chases a fast-running homeless man out to the Edge near 48th Street and La Playa. The vagrant dances precariously on a steel girder near the shimmering Shield before intentionally falling to his death. Overcome by intense vertigo, Trey nearly falls into the abyss himself, but is saved from the drop by the DCS Agent Mark Waverly (Orym).

Keya's Fall

During the events surrounding the Ascension in The Fatal Cure, the sky city temporarily tilts off its axis due to a system malfunction in Gate Control. Keya confronts her biological father, Thalanil, on a highly exposed exterior platform three thousand feet above the Earth. When the city severely tilts, Keya loses her footing and slips off the precipice. Although Thalanil manages to catch her hand, Keya—overwhelmed by the revelations of her past and her distaste for violence—tells him she is not afraid of falling and willingly lets go. She plummets toward the ruins of San Francisco. However, the young human forcefinder Jason witnesses her descent from the ground and envelops her in a magical forcefield. The magic breaks her fall, leaving her completely unharmed, while simultaneously unlocking ancient memories in her mind that lead her to adopt her true identity as Kythaela.

The Stage Collapse

Dill hosts a meeting for underkids in a large, foul-smelling room near the very bottom of the Edge. The meeting is ambushed, and the floor is intentionally shot with a mergegun, causing a massive section of concrete and the wooden stage to break off and slide out of the city. Trey, Callan, and Rylan fall thousands of feet toward Earth. Mere seconds before impact, Rylan grips the darkprime wood of the stage and unleashes a massive shockwave of magic that stops their fall mid-air, saving himself and Trey.

The End of Magic

At the conclusion of the saga, following the defeat of Orym and the Twins, the surviving heroes—including Trey, Arra, Phoenix, Imra, Rylan, Elanil, Dill, Erodar, and Lashel—gather on the Edge. Looking out past the floating cities, they collectively agree to use the Xyclami device to permanently deactivate magic, putting an end to its destructive cycle.

See Also