Landon opened his eyes. He could suddenly feel exactly what his friends were feeling.He could feel Claire’s calm, brilliant, tactical mind. He could feel Kade’s hot, burning anger. He could feel Sera’s sharp, mathematical focus. He could feel Juno’s desperate, protective love for the civilians.They were no longer five different people fighting alone.Through the magic of War Resonance, they became one single, perfect fighting machine.Landon did not have to shout orders. He just thought the command in his mind, and his friends instantly knew exactly what to do.Move left, Landon thought.Instantly, all five of them stepped perfectly to the left in exact unison, dodging a deadly volley of laser fire from the enemy. ZAP! ZAP! The lasers missed them by an inch.The Iron Order soldiers stopped marching. They looked confused behind their black diving masks.Attack, Landon commanded through the magic link.The Vanguard team exploded into action. They moved flawlessly through the waist-dee

The magical blue ice was freezing. It felt like sharp teeth biting deeply into his legs. Landon Hale could not move. The solid ice was wrapped tightly around his waist, holding him completely still in the dark subway tunnel. The air was so terribly cold that it burned his lungs every single time he tried to take a breath.Right next to him, Claire Arden was also trapped. The blue ice covered her legs, pinning her against the rusty metal ladder. Her beautiful face was as pale as a ghost. Her lips were turning a dark, sickly purple. She was shivering so violently that her teeth clicked loudly together."Landon," Claire whispered. Her voice was incredibly weak. "I can't... I can't feel my legs anymore."High above them, looking down through the open manhole cover, Kade was screaming in panic."Landon! Claire! Hold on!" Kade roared down into the dark hole. "I am coming down to chop you out!""No, Kade!" Landon shouted back. His deep voice echoed off the frozen walls. "The cold magic in

KA-BOOM!The tank exploded into a massive ball of orange fire. The explosion violently threw the two flying drones out of the sky. They crashed down onto the bridge in a shower of sparks.The entire Iron Order column slammed on their brakes. The massive black trucks screeched to a halt right in the middle of the bridge.The ambush had begun."We are under attack!" an Iron Order commander screamed over a loud speaker. "Kill them all!"Hundreds of black-armored soldiers poured out of the back of the transport trucks. They raised their laser rifles and began firing wildly into the snowy trees.ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!Bright blue laser beams melted the snow and burned the tree branches. But Landon Hale was already three steps ahead of them.Through the War Resonance, he predicted exactly where the soldiers would aim before they even pulled their triggers.“Duck down!” Landon commanded his team mentally.Claire, Juno, and the militia fighters all dropped flat into the snow at the exact same split-s

The freezing winter wind howled off the dark, icy waters of Lake Michigan. The massive city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was completely frozen. Thick white snow covered the broken streets and the empty, ruined buildings. The sky above was a heavy, dark gray. It looked like it was going to snow forever.Landon Hale stood in the deep, freezing shadows of the Industrial Ring.The Industrial Ring was a massive, endless maze of abandoned factories on the very edge of Milwaukee. It was filled with giant steel shipping containers, empty brick warehouses, and rusted metal smoke stacks. It looked like a giant graveyard for old machines. Tall, frozen metal pipes twisted wildly through the snowy air like giant gray snakes. The ground was covered in slippery black ice and sharp pieces of broken glass.Landon pulled his thick winter coat tightly around his broad shoulders. He wiped a drop of freezing water from his cheek. He held his heavy black rifle tightly in his large hands. He was shivering, bu

The War Resonance felt different this time. It felt much deeper, much wider, and much stronger than it had back in the dark, flooded subway tunnel.Landon could literally feel the unique shape and color of his friends' minds.Claire’s beautiful mind felt like a perfectly carved block of clear, sharp ice. It was cold, calculating, and brilliantly tactical. She was already scanning the rusted factory maze with her eyes, looking for environmental traps they could use.Kade’s mind felt like a roaring, hot bonfire. It was filled with burning courage, fierce loyalty, and a wild, angry desire to protect his friends at all costs. He wanted to break the enemy.Sera’s mind felt like a million buzzing electrical wires. It was moving incredibly fast, calculating complex math, hacking invisible radio signals, and desperately searching for the tiny weak points in the enemy's robotic suits.Juno’s mind felt like a deep, warm, rushing river. It was filled with powerful, stubborn healing energy and a