The massive heartbeat echoed through the stone. Frank and Elara stood at the edge of their small, dark crater. They looked down the twisting tunnel of the petrified labyrinth. The bright golden light washed over the gray stone, making it shine like wet yellow glass. The light pulsed in perfect time with the heavy heartbeat. "Are you ready to move?" Elara asked. She looked at Frank with deep concern. Frank nodded slowly. He looked down at his left arm. The heavy splint of dark oak wood and bloody cloth felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. His shoulder throbbed with a dull, heavy ache, but the blinding, screaming pain was gone. The tourniquet was holding. He was weak, and his legs trembled, but his mind was clear. "I am ready," Frank said. His voice was raspy but steady. He gripped his iron pipe with his good right hand. "The Prime Core is down that tunnel. The Root is waking up."Elara stepped out of the crater first. She held her dagger ready, checking the shadows. "The tunnel is

"It is a death trap," Elara observed carefully. "One wrong step, and you fall forever.""Then we won't take a wrong step," Frank said, his cold fury pushing all fear out of his mind. "Can you climb down to it?"Elara looked at the steep, jagged rock face leading down to the start of the bone bridge. "I can. Can you? With one arm?""I have to," Frank said simply. He didn't wait. Frank sat on the edge of the cliff and carefully swung his legs over. He kept his broken, splinted left arm pulled tight against his chest. He used his good right arm to grip the jagged edges of the stone. He began to climb down. It was agonizing work. His right arm muscles burned as they carried his entire body weight. His boots slipped on the dusty stone. Every time his body jolted, a wave of sickening pain rolled out from his shattered left arm. But Frank did not groan. He did not complain. He just bit his lip and focused on the anger. The anger was a shield. The anger gave him strength. Elara climbed dow

The giant pulled the massive marble hammer up from the bone. The magic reversed. The bridge violently tilted back to a flat, normal position. Frank was thrown flat onto his stomach on the center of the bridge. He gasped for air, his heart pounding in his chest. He quickly scrambled to his feet, picking up his rusty iron pipe. Elara pulled her dagger out of the bone and stood up beside him. "It can control the bridge!" Elara warned. She wiped sweat from her eyes. "It changes the shape of the battlefield!""We have to get close," Frank said, breathing heavily. "We cannot let it keep hitting the floor."Frank charged forward. He ran as fast as his tired, mortal legs could carry him. His right hand gripped the iron pipe tightly. His broken left arm throbbed with a dull, sickening pain with every step he took. The Architect saw him coming. The giant swung the massive marble hammer in a wide, sweeping arc. It aimed straight for Frank's ribs. The weapon was so huge and moved so fast that

The massive marble hammer reached the very top of its arc. It hung in the hot, burning air for a single, terrible second. Time seemed to slow down entirely. The heavy, rhythmic heartbeat of the colossal cavern faded away. The rushing sound of the millions of souls flowing down the giant glass veins became a quiet, distant whisper. Frank lay on the smooth white bone of the bridge, fifteen feet away. His body was completely broken. His ribs burned with a hot, stabbing agony every time his chest moved. His left arm, heavily wrapped in broken wood and bloody cloth, throbbed against his chest. He was just a frail, normal boy in a world ruled by monsters and ancient machines. He watched the giant, twelve-foot-tall Architect of Ruin prepare to swing. Frank looked at Elara. She was pinned flat against the bridge. A massive slab of compressed white marble trapped her legs. She was crying. Her pale eyes were wide with total, absolute terror. She was reaching her small, dirty hand out toward

The giant Architect staggered backward. Its knee was broken. Its magic core was destroyed. Its balance was completely gone. The twelve-foot monster took one final, heavy step backward. But there was no bridge left to step on. The monster's heavy steel boot stepped into the empty, black air. The giant tipped backward. The heavy, dark steel armor pulled the creature down. It did not make a sound. It did not scream. It simply fell backward, tumbling off the narrow bone bridge. Frank and Elara watched as the massive, armored body fell down into the absolute darkness of the abyss below. It fell past the giant, glowing glass pipes of the Soul Veins. It fell deeper and deeper, until the toxic green light of its dying fire disappeared entirely into the endless black pit. There was no sound of an impact. The pit was too deep. The Architect of Ruin was gone. The bridge was completely silent. The only sounds were the rushing of the millions of souls in the giant glass pipes, and the hea