"Navarro!" Marcus yelled, his face sweating profusely. "I can't hold this forever! Find a way across the hole!"Navarro looked wildly around the burning hallway. He saw a heavy, solid oak wooden desk sitting in a ruined office."Help me push this!" Navarro yelled at three young men in the crowd.They ran into the office and pushed the heavy wooden desk out into the hallway. With a loud grunt, they shoved the desk halfway across the gaping hole in the floor. It created a shaky, temporary wooden bridge."Walk across the desk! Only one person at a time! Hurry!" Navarro ordered.The terrified civilians began to quickly crawl across the wooden desk, moving safely to the other side of the hole.Marcus groaned loudly. The heavy steel beam was crushing his shoulders. His boots were slowly sliding backward on the carpet."Almost done, Marcus! Hold on!" Navarro encouraged him, helping a crying child across the desk.Suddenly, the heavy metal doors at the far end of the hallway burst open.Ten I

The cold winter wind screamed around Landon Hale. He was hanging by one single arm over a terrifying, dark abyss. His heavy black boots dangled in the empty air. His large right hand was gripping tightly onto a broken steel beam. With his left hand, Landon was holding Claire Arden's wrist. Below Claire, dangling like a human chain, Jin held tightly onto Claire’s legs. And below Jin, Sera clung desperately to Jin’s heavy winter jacket.All four of them were hanging over an eighty-story drop inside the ruined Aether Dominion skyscraper in Milwaukee.Landon’s muscles burned with absolute, screaming agony. His broken rib felt like a hot knife stabbing into his chest. His right fingers were slowly slipping on the icy, freezing steel beam. He did not have enough strength to pull three grown women up."Landon! You have to let us go!" Claire cried out. Her beautiful face was pale with fear. "You cannot hold all of us! You will fall!""I will never let you go!" Landon roared. His deep voice

Landon felt Claire's rapid heartbeat slowly begin to calm down against his chest. Her violent shaking slowly stopped.She took a deep, shaky breath and slowly pushed herself up. She wiped her tears away with the back of her dirty sleeve. She tried to look tough and professional again."I am sorry," Claire whispered, looking slightly embarrassed. "I shouldn't cry. Leaders don't cry."Landon smiled gently. He slowly sat up, groaning as his broken rib protested."Leaders are human, Claire," Landon said softly. "If you didn't cry after falling fifty stories out of the sky, I would think you were a robot built by General Rauth."Claire let out a small, wet laugh. It was a beautiful sound. "Thank you, Landon," Claire said, looking deeply into his eyes. "You saved my life again. I owe you everything."Landon shook his head. "We save each other. That is what we do."Landon slowly stood up. He offered his large hand to her.Claire took it, but when she tried to stand, she hissed loudly in pain

"The Aether Dominion does not care about human lives," Claire said coldly. Her face hardened into a mask of pure steel. "They are a greedy corporation. They only care about protecting their expensive buildings and their ancient secrets. They will kill every single innocent person in this city if it helps them beat General Rauth."Landon gripped his heavy black rifle so tightly that his knuckles popped. "I am not going to let them kill my city," Landon declared. His voice was a low, terrifying rumble that promised absolute violence."What do we do, Landon?" Jin asked nervously. "We cannot fight both armies at the same time! The Iron Order has magic, and the Aether Dominion has giant robots!"Landon looked at Jin and Sera."Jin. Sera," Landon ordered firmly. "I need you to find a computer terminal up here on the roof. I need you to hack into the Aether Dominion's network. Find a way to take control of those yellow anti-magic energy shields."Jin swallowed hard. "Hack a multi-billion dol

Landon gritted his teeth. He focused all his willpower. He built a massive, thick mental wall of steel inside his brain. He tried desperately to block out the monster's hungry voice.He opened the invisible, magical doorway in his mind. He pushed a tiny, thin thread of bright white Kinetic Echo magic out into the city.He successfully connected his mind to Claire on the roof. Then, he gently reached out and connected to Kade, who was currently hiding on a bridge two miles away. Finally, he connected to Navarro, who was fighting in an elegant corporate lobby.The Vanguard team was synced. They were one mind again.Landon could feel the terrible emotional strain on all of them. They were all exhausted, freezing, and terrified. But they were also filled with an unbreakable, stubborn hope. They trusted Landon completely.Kade, Navarro, Landon spoke silently through the beautiful, glowing white mental web. “The Aether Dominion is fighting the Iron Order in the streets. Do not engage eithe