The blinding light did not fade slowly. It stopped all at once, like a door slamming shut in a dark room. When Frank opened his eyes, he saw nothing. For a long time, there was only blackness. He blinked hard, trying to clear his vision. His head pounded, beating like a heavy drum inside his skull. His ears were ringing, a high and terrible sound that made his teeth ache. He was lying on his back. He tried to take a deep breath, but the air felt thick and heavy. It did not taste like the air in the city. It tasted like ash from a dead fire, mixed with the sharp, metallic flavor of ozone after a bad lightning storm. It burned the back of his throat. He coughed, a dry, harsh sound that echoed in the dark."Elara?" he whispered. His voice was cracked and weak.There was no answer. Frank tried to sit up. Pain shot through his arms and legs. He felt bruised all over, as if he had been thrown down a mountain of rocks. He pushed his hands against the ground to lift himself. But the ground

Frank did not answer. He remembered the people they had seen in the ruined city above. The people with golden glowing eyes. The people who spoke with the Root's voice. They were echoes. They were eaten, but kept alive as puppets. He squeezed Elara's arm. "We won't let it happen to us. Keep your eyes open."They walked for what felt like hours. There was no way to track time in the Under-Roots. There was no sun, no moon, no wind. There was only the constant, slow heartbeat of the cavern. The floor began to slope upward. "It's getting steeper," Frank said, wiping sweat from his forehead. It was getting hot. The fleshy walls were radiating heat like an oven. "The gravity might help us here," Elara said. "If we get a light step, we can jump further up the hill.""And if we get a heavy step, we will roll all the way back down," Frank warned. "Stay close."They began to climb the steep, fleshy hill. It was a nightmare. The ground was slippery with a clear, sticky fluid that smelled like

The stone statues took their first steps. The sound of grinding rock echoed loudly in the large, round room. Thousands of golden, wet eyes stared at Frank and Elara. "We cannot fight them all," Elara whispered. Her voice shook, but she held her twin daggers up high. The blades caught the angry orange light of the cavern. Frank looked around wildly. The statues were slow, but there were too many. They were blocking the way they came from. But across the room, behind the broken stone altar, he saw a dark opening. It was a hallway. "There!" Frank pointed. "Run for the dark opening! Do not look back!"They moved at the exact same time. The statues reached out with thick, heavy stone hands. One of them swung a stone fist at Frank's head. Frank ducked. The fist smashed into a fleshy part of the wall, spraying black blood everywhere. Elara sliced her dagger across another statue’s arm. The sharp metal made a horrible scraping noise against the stone, throwing bright sparks into the air, b

Elara did not stop. She twisted the blades hard and pulled them outward in a violent scissor motion. She sliced right through the thick, gray flesh and severed the creature's spine completely. Mary’s glowing golden eyes flickered like a dying candle. The bright light inside her iron ribs suddenly went dark. The creature went completely limp. She collapsed to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut, dead once and for all. Elara fell off the creature's back, landing hard on her knees. She was breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling fast. She looked at her daggers, which were covered in thick, black blood. Her hands were shaking violently. She had never killed anything like this before. Frank stared at Mary's lifeless body. Then he looked at Elara. "You saved me," Frank whispered. "You would not fight!" Elara yelled at him. Her voice was full of anger, but also fear. "You just stood there! You were going to let her kill you!""It was Mary," Frank said, his voice breaking

Inside Frank's head, a war was starting. A blinding migraine hit him like a lightning bolt. It was the worst pain he had ever felt. It did not feel like a normal headache. It felt like someone had taken a sharp iron axe and split his brain right down the middle. He bit his own lip so hard that normal, red blood began to drip down his chin, mixing with the golden sludge. Then, his vision exploded. Even though it was completely dark in the alcove, Frank’s eyes were filled with blinding light. The System HUD—the holographic screen that lived inside his eyes—turned on by itself. Normally, the HUD was a calm, cool blue color. It showed him simple numbers, his health, his strength, and his current mission. It was helpful. It was organized. But right now, the HUD was completely out of control. The screen was flashing violently. Bright red and burning gold colors strobed in his eyes, making him dizzy and sick. He closed his eyes tight, but the screen was still there, burned into the back