Frank stared at his burnt, blackened left stump. The magic was entirely drained. He tried to summon the arm again, but his chest felt completely hollow. The vault door remained perfectly smooth, perfectly black, and completely undamaged. It had not even a single tiny scratch on it. "It ate the magic," Mr. Thorne, the bald shoemaker, whispered in terror. "The metal eats the light."Frank let his head drop. He slumped against the cold stone floor. Tears of pure frustration and defeat filled his eyes. "I can't open it," Frank sobbed quietly. "I am sorry, Luna. I am so sorry. I am not strong enough."Elara did not look at Frank. She walked slowly toward the massive black vault. She ignored the flashing red alarm lights. She ignored the bowl of bloody needles. She walked right up to the smooth black metal wall. "Princess, step away," Kael warned gently. "The machine is angry."Elara did not listen. She raised her right hand. She reached out and touched the smooth, cold, black metal.

Elara looked at the giant glass sphere hanging in the center of the room. She saw the faint, weak, dying blue light of Luna pulsing inside the cage. She remembered what Frank had told her. The Root had captured innocent creatures of light for millions of years. It trapped them in bottles. It drained their magic until they died in the dark, all alone. Elara looked back down at Frank. She remembered the moment the giant marble hammer had fallen. She remembered Frank throwing his own body, his own arm, directly under the crushing stone just to save her life. She remembered his promise. “I will be their shield.”Elara set her jaw. She gritted her teeth so hard they squeaked. She did not pull her hand away from the needles. She pushed her bleeding hand deeper into the bowl, forcing the machine to drink her blood faster. "Elara, please!" Frank begged, sobbing on the floor. He squeezed her leg weakly. "Please, stop. You are dying."Elara swayed violently. Her knees buckled. She was so wea

Frank did not care how tired he was. He did not care about the warnings. He reached deep into his mind and commanded the System. He raised his burnt, blackened left stump. He did not have enough energy to form the massive, full Phantom Limb. But he could force a small burst. A bright, crackling ball of neon blue kinetic energy gathered at the end of his stump. "Fire!" Frank yelled. He released the magic. A fast, powerful bolt of blue kinetic energy shot across the room, flying straight toward the Jailer’s chest. The blue magic hit the iron birdcage full of screaming souls. But there was no explosion. The iron bars did not break. The exact moment the blue magic touched the monster, a giant, perfectly round bubble of light appeared around the Jailer’s entire body. It was a magical shield. The bubble glowed a brilliant, bright blue color, exactly matching the color of Frank’s magic. Frank’s kinetic blast hit the blue bubble. The blast simply melted away. It bounced harmlessly o

The Jailer stopped walking toward Elara. It planted its two heavy iron feet firmly onto the black stone floor. It raised its three remaining long arms high into the air. "What is it doing?" Kael yelled, holding his rock. The monster did not summon a shield. It did not swing a sword. With a loud, mechanical sound, thick, square panels on the monster’s forearms suddenly slid open. Inside the hollow iron arms, there were no hands. There were deep, dark tubes. Suddenly, a loud, whirring sound filled the cavern. It sounded like massive gears spinning at high speed inside the creature's body. From inside the hollow tubes of its three arms, long, heavy, dark iron chains violently shot outward. The chains flew through the air with terrifying, blinding speed. They moved like deadly, striking metal snakes. At the very end of each heavy chain was a wicked, sharp, rusted iron hook. The hooks were the size of a man’s head, curved into brutal, tearing claws. The Jailer had changed its str

"Elara!" Frank gasped, coughing up a small drop of dark red blood. "I told you," Elara panted, her face covered in sweat and dirt. "I am not leaving you."The Jailer pulled its heavy boot out of the cracked stone. The red light on its black glass faceplate flashed aggressively. It was angry. It had missed its target. "[ ANOMALY INTERFERENCE DETECTED. ]" the mechanical voice boomed loudly. The monster raised two of its long, rusted iron arms. It prepared to swing them down and smash both Frank and Elara at the same time. Frank lay on the floor. His legs were completely paralyzed. He could not stand up. He could not run. He remembered the terrifying, endless white room inside his mind. He remembered the faceless blue figures trying to delete his memories of Elara to save magical energy. If he used a full Phase-Shift to turn his whole body into light, the magic would burn his brain cells. He would forg