The heavy steel elevator cable burned Landon Hale’s thick leather gloves. He was climbing up the dark, empty elevator shaft. His massive arms shook with pure exhaustion. His broken rib screamed with hot, sharp pain every single time he pulled his heavy body upward. Sweat poured down his dirty face and stung his dark eyes. But Landon did not stop. He could not stop.Above him was the roof of the Aether Dominion skyscraper. Above him was General Kade Rauth.Landon finally reached the open doors on the ninetieth floor. He grabbed the slippery metal edge of the floor and pulled himself out of the dark shaft. He rolled onto the cold marble floor, panting heavily.He lay on his back for a moment. He tried to catch his breath. The air was freezing cold.Landon stood up slowly. He gripped his heavy combat knife in his right hand. He walked toward the heavy metal door that led to the roof. He kicked the door open. BANG!The brutal Milwaukee winter storm instantly hit him in the face. The free

Landon closed his dark eyes. He focused on the mental wall inside his brain. He made the wall as thick and strong as he possibly could to block the monster. Then, he opened the floodgates of his Kinetic Echo.Landon roared. A massive, blinding wave of pure, brilliant white magic exploded out of his body.His fists glowed like two white suns. His dark eyes turned completely bright white. The air around him violently rippled and warped with kinetic energy.“Wow,” Sera thought in the magic web, completely amazed by the power.Landon charged forward into the circle of elite guards. He fought like a furious, magical god.A guard swung a red sword at his neck. Landon did not duck. He reached up and caught the glowing red blade with his bare, magical hand.HISS!The white magic and the red magic clashed violently. Sparks flew everywhere. Landon squeezed his huge fist. The powerful red kinetic blade shattered into a dozen harmless pieces.Landon stepped forward and punched the guard squarely

"I am not afraid of dying, Landon," Claire whispered back. "I am afraid of losing you. You are all alone up there. You are fighting a crazy general and a sea monster by yourself."The emotional tension between them was incredibly heavy. It felt thicker than the freezing winter air outside. Landon felt a painful lump form in his throat."I am not alone, Claire," Landon said softly. "I carry you in my heart. Every single time I swing my fists, I am doing it for you. You are the only reason I keep fighting this endless war."Claire let out a small, shaky breath over the radio. "Promise me you will come back down to me.""I promise," Landon swore. He meant every single word. He would fight an army of monsters to see her face again."Guys! Look at this!" Jin suddenly yelled over the radio, breaking the beautiful, quiet moment. Her voice was filled with absolute, pure horror."What did you find, Jin?" Landon asked, snapping his eyes open and grabbing his heavy black rifle."I just broke int

The freezing winter wind howled through the broken windows of the Aether Dominion skyscraper. The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was buried under a brutal, icy snowstorm.Landon Hale stood in the massive, ruined Central Control Hub on the eighty-fifth floor. He was completely exhausted. His body was covered in dirt, sweat, and dried blood. His broken rib burned with a hot, sharp pain every single time he took a breath. But Landon did not lower his heavy black rifle. He stared straight ahead.Standing right in front of him was General Kade Rauth.General Rauth did not look like a normal human anymore. He held the glowing, ancient black stone in his bare right hand. The dark, toxic magic from the stone flowed directly into his skin. Thick, black, pulsing lines crawled up his neck and across his handsome face. His eyes were totally empty and pitch-black."Kill him," General Rauth whispered. His voice was smooth, cold, and terribly evil.The four shadowy water-monsters hissed loudly. The

Rauth slowly lowered his purple sword. He stood perfectly relaxed. "It is a very clever trick," Rauth admitted. "But it has one massive, fatal flaw.""What flaw?" Landon growled, keeping his fists raised."Your friends are incredibly smart," Rauth said, tapping his black helmet. "Claire Arden is a brilliant tactician. Your hacker friends are excellent at math. But they all think logically. They think like computers. They predict the most logical, most efficient attack."Rauth’s completely black eyes stared deeply into Landon's soul."But I do not have to fight logically, Landon," Rauth whispered happily. "I can be completely unpredictable. Let us see if your little computer brains can predict madness."General Rauth suddenly charged forward.“He is going to attack your head! Block high!” Claire warned urgently in the magic web.Landon raised his arms to block his head. But Rauth did not attack his head.At the very last millisecond, Rauth did something completely crazy. He intentional