Frank Williams limped toward the narrow opening of the glowing alcove. Every single step was a massive battle against his own broken body. The acidic, blue-green moss Elara had packed into his shattered chest was still freezing his nerves, but the numbness was not perfect. Deep beneath the cold sensation, his lungs ached. His dislocated right shoulder throbbed. His left leg trembled with terrible exhaustion. He leaned his human right shoulder heavily against the jagged, dark stone wall. The rough rock scraped against his dirty, bloody shirt. He dragged his heavy leather boots across the floor, moving quietly in the shadows. He had just woken up from a nightmare. He had fought the corrupted System inside his own mind. He had saved his memories, his love, and his humanity. When he heard the violent clanging and the screaming outside the alcove, his heart had hammered with pure panic. He thought the blind crawlers had dropped from the ceiling. He thought the scavengers of the Under-R

Garrick sneered. He walked past his two thugs. He stepped right up to Elara. He looked past her, toward the heavy steel stretcher resting in the shadows at the back of the cave. He could not see clearly, but he assumed Frank was still lying there, unconscious and dying. "We are not going to touch him, Princess," Garrick said coldly. "We are just going to leave him here. The crawlers on the ceiling can have him."Garrick raised the heavy iron pipe. He prepared to strike Elara in the head to knock her out so they could steal the glowing moss from the walls. "Do it quickly," Borr whispered nervously, looking back toward the dark tunnel. Garrick tightened his grip. He swung the pipe down. Frank Williams was leaning against the wall, perfectly hidden in the deep shadows just a few feet to Garrick’s right. Frank did not yell. He did not jump out. He simply reached into his mind. Just minutes ago, the System had tried to delete his emotions. It had tried to turn him into a cold, unfee

Frank Williams stared at his legs. He sat on the cold, hard floor of the glowing blue-green alcove. He raised his human right hand and balled it into a tight fist. He brought his fist down hard, punching his own left thigh. He hit himself again, harder this time. There was no pain. There was no pressure. There was absolutely nothing. It was exactly like hitting a thick piece of dead wood. Elara was kneeling right next to him. Her face was pale and covered in dried blood. Her hands trembled violently. She grabbed Frank’s heavy leather boots. She squeezed his ankles. She ran her hands up his calves, pressing her fingers deep into his muscles. "Can you feel this?" Elara asked, her voice cracking with pure, desperate panic. "Frank, can you feel my hands?"Frank watched her fingers pressing into his skin. He slowly shook his head. "No," Frank whispered. His voice was incredibly small and hollow. "I can't feel anything below my waist. It is just... empty."Kael stood at the narrow entr

The Phase-Shift was not perfectly stable. Because Frank was so incredibly tired, and because his biological body was failing, the magic was leaking. Tiny, bright sparks of blue and gold energy were constantly flaking off his legs. The sparks drifted into the air and faded away into the dark, like dying fireflies. With every single spark that drifted away, Frank’s face twitched slightly. A tiny muscle in his jaw jumped. Elara knew he was in terrible pain. She knew the magic was hurting him. "Frank," Elara whispered softly, so the refugees behind them could not hear. Frank did not turn his head. He kept his glowing eyes fixed on the dark path ahead. "I am fine," Frank replied. His voice was flat and mechanical. "You are not fine," Elara insisted. She grabbed his human right arm. His skin was freezing cold. "You are leaking magic. The energy is drifting off you like smoke. What is this doing to you?"Frank stopped hovering. The entire line of refugees behind him stopped walking.

The refugees of Lyrendale marched slowly through the dark, jagged tunnel. They moved like ghosts. They dragged their heavy, bleeding feet over the rough stone floor. They were starving, exhausted, and completely broken. At the front of the line, Frank Williams led the way. He did not walk. He hovered. The bottom half of his body was no longer made of human flesh and bone. His legs were completely gone, replaced entirely by pure, compressed magical energy. The Phase-Shift glowed with a blinding, crackling mixture of neon blue and fierce gold light. He hovered exactly two inches above the jagged rocks, gliding forward like a silent spirit. Behind him, Elara walked closely. Her pale eyes were fixed on his back. She watched the tiny sparks of magical energy flake off his glowing legs and drift away into the dark. With every spark that floated away, she felt a heavy, terrible dread in her stomach. She knew he was hiding something from her. They walked for another thirty minutes towar