"They are following the light," Mr. Thorne whispered to Elara. "They are following the boy.""Quiet," Elara hissed back. Suddenly, a terrifying shape dropped from the black ceiling directly in front of the group. It was a blind crawler. It was a creature about the size of a large dog, covered in slick, gray, hairless skin. It had no eyes, but its mouth was a massive, open hole filled with razor-sharp, circular teeth. It let out a high, clicking shriek and lunged at Silas. "Ahhhh!" Silas screamed, dropping his yellow crystal. Kael did not hesitate. He let go of the stretcher with his right hand, balancing the heavy weight on his left arm. He swung his broken metal pipe with brutal force. CRACK!The heavy pipe smashed the blind crawler perfectly in the side of its head. The creature screeched and was thrown against the jagged stone wall, completely crushed. But as Kael let go with one hand, the heavy steel stretcher tilted violently. Garrick, holding the back, lost his grip. "I

Frank Williams was drowning on dry land. He lay flat on the heavy steel stretcher. His chest heaved up and down in rapid, violent, terrifying jerks. But no air was going into his lungs. The deep, jagged puncture wound on his right side was completely filled with fluid. Thick, hot, dark red blood mixed with glowing golden poison boiled up his throat. It spilled out of his pale lips. His face was turning a horrifying, dark shade of purple. The veins on his neck bulged like thick blue ropes. He was suffocating. "Stop!" Elara screamed at the top of her lungs. Her voice tore through the dark, jagged tunnel. "Stop the stretcher! Put him down!"Kael, the broad-shouldered man at the front of the stretcher, froze. "Princess, we cannot stop! The monsters are on the ceiling!""If we do not stop right now, he is dead in one minute!" Elara shrieked. She pointed her bloody hand toward the side of the tunnel. "There! In that opening! Move him!"Kael and Garrick turned. Just a few feet away, there

With the massive amount of liquid draining out of his chest, the terrible, crushing pressure inside Frank’s body instantly dropped. His crushed lung finally had room to expand. "Breathe!" Elara ordered him. "Push it out and breathe!"Frank gasped. Air rushed past his bloody lips and traveled down his throat. His right lung, free from the crushing ocean of blood, inflated sharply. Frank coughed violently, spitting a huge clot of dark blood out of his mouth. Then, he took his first real, deep, successful breath in hours. The sound of the air filling his lungs was the most beautiful sound Elara had ever heard. Frank’s chest heaved up and down. The dark, terrifying purple color of his face slowly began to fade, replaced by his normal, pale, sick gray. The blood continued to drain out of the hollow bone tube, flowing slower and slower as the chest cavity emptied. Frank lay flat on the steel plate, panting heavily. Sweat poured down his face. His eyes were open, staring at Elara with

In the real world, inside the small, glowing mossy cave, Frank Williams sat straight up on the heavy steel stretcher. His eyes were wide open. They were solid, burning, sickly gold. He stared at the terrified refugees, but he did not see them. His physical body was moving, but his mind was not there. Inside Frank’s brain, the golden poison of the Root and the clean blue magic of his System had violently collided. The extreme trauma, the massive blood loss, and the horrific pain had pushed his magical core past its breaking point. Frank’s consciousness was violently ripped away from the real world. He fell through a long, spinning tunnel of bright, flashing lights. He felt no wind. He felt no heat. There was no sound at all. Suddenly, the falling stopped. Frank opened his eyes. He was not in the dark, dirty Under-Roots anymore. He was not in a ruined city. He was not in a glowing cave. He was sitting in a room that was perfectly, endlessly white. There were no walls. There was no

Frank gasped for air. He felt so empty. He felt so cold. The fire in his heart was being put out, piece by piece. [ DELETION SUCCESSFUL. ] the System chimed. [ ISOLATING PRIMARY VULNERABILITY. ]The three faceless figures stepped closer. All three of them raised their glowing hands. A massive, bright, beautiful memory floated into the empty white space. It was Elara. It was not just one memory. It was a dozen memories blending together. It was Elara smiling at him in the ruined city. It was Elara reading her mother’s journal in the upside-down library, crying but standing strong. It was Elara placing herself between him and the angry mob, holding her dagger up to protect him. It was Elara sitting in the dark crater, gently wiping the blood from his cheek. Frank looked at the floating images of her pale eyes and her dirty, brave face. His heart swelled. He loved her. She was his only family. She was the only reason he was still fighting. The three faceless figures raised their