"She's dying," he said."No," Elena corrected. "She's changing. The power she used—it wasn't meant for mortal frames. Her body is adapting or failing. Could go either way.""That's comforting.""I wasn't trying to comfort you."They moved through a corridor that looked like it was made of broken mirrors. Each reflection showed a different moment—Akiya burning the constructs, Samson's final light, the Master breaking Miko's spine. Happy memories too. Training together. Laughing over bad food. The time Blaze had tried to juggle fireballs and set his own hair ablaze."Stop," Miko said suddenly."We can't stop. The convergence—""No. Stop walking. Look."Elena paused, following his gaze. In one of the mirror shards, something was wrong. Or maybe right. It showed Akiya standing strong, flames dancing around her like old friends. But it wasn't a memory. The Akiya in the reflection was looking directly at them."That's impossible," Elena said."You keep using that word." Miko reached toward

They made it to a cave. The cave smelled like wet stone and old earth. Water dripped somewhere in the dark, a steady rhythm that echoed off unseen walls. Akiya had found the place by accident—stumbling through a crack in the chamber's geometry that spat them out into normal reality. Or something close to it. She'd collapsed the moment they were through. Just dropped to her knees and stayed there, ribs heaving, vision swimming. Miko had pulled himself along the ground using his arms until he reached the cave's back wall. Then he'd hauled himself into a sitting position and gone still. That was an hour ago. Maybe two. Time felt slippery after the chamber. Akiya watched him from across the cave. His eyes were closed, hands resting palm-up on his thighs. Meditating. Or trying to. His breathing had settled into something deep and measured, but every few minutes his jaw would clench. A muscle would jump in his neck. Whatever he was doing in there, it wasn't peaceful. She should sleep

The world held its breath for exactly fourteen seconds.Then it exhaled.The tremor hit like a fist through stone. The floor bucked, throwing everyone against the bars. Dust rained from above in thick clouds. The torches went out all at once, plunging everything into complete darkness.And for three perfect seconds, the hum stopped."Now!" Garcia's voice cut through the chaos.Anna's hands were already glowing. She grabbed the bars separating her cell from Liam's and golden light flooded through the metal. On the other side, Liam gasped as healing magic rushed into him. Not enough to fix everything. Just enough to move.Blaze slammed his palms against his cell door. Fire erupted, white-hot and furious. The lock melted, metal dripping like wax. He kicked the door and it swung open with a screech.Garcia pressed her hands flat against her own bars. Her eyes closed. When they opened, the metal groaned, bending outward like clay. She squeezed through the gap, ripping her shirt on the jagg

The hour passed too quickly. They started north as the sky continued its slow disintegration. Colors bled through the blue—purples and greens that didn't belong, twisting into patterns that hurt to watch. Stars flickered in and out of existence despite it being afternoon. "It's getting worse," Anna said quietly. She had Liam's arm over her shoulder, practically carrying him. "The convergence is accelerating." "He knows we escaped," Garcia said. She was on point, eyes constantly scanning. "He's pushing faster because he knows we're coming." Miko didn't argue. It made sense. The Master had been playing a long game, but they'd disrupted enough of his plans that he was rushing now. Desperate. That made him more dangerous, not less. The forest started changing about a mile in. The trees grew twisted, bark splitting to reveal something underneath that looked like muscle. Leaves turned colors that didn't exist in nature. The ground beneath their feet felt soft in places, like walking o

Energy lanced across the chamber. Miko threw himself sideways. The blast hit where he'd been standing, vaporizing stone. He rolled, came up running, blade ready. The Master didn't follow up. Just stood there, hand still raised, watching them scatter like pieces on a board. "Garcia, now!" Akiya's voice cut through the chaos. The floor erupted. Stone spikes shot up around the Master, creating a cage meant to limit his movement. But he just waved his hand and they crumbled to dust. "Going to take more than that," he said. Blaze and Akiya struck together. Twin streams of fire converged on the Master's position, aimed directly at his chest where Samson's scars burned. The heat was intense enough that Miko felt it from across the chamber. The Master raised a barrier. The flames split around it, scorching the walls behind him but leaving him untouched. "Predictable," he said. "You saw the weakness and went straight for it. No subtlety. No—" Garcia hit him from the side. She'd used