The dark, empty air rushed past Landon Hale’s face. He was falling. He was dropping straight down through the center of the broken Aether Dominion skyscraper in Milwaukee. Thick, white snowflakes mixed with thousands of pieces of shattered, sparkling glass. The broken glass looked like deadly diamonds falling in the dark.The freezing winter wind roared violently in his ears. It was deafening. Right next to Landon, General Kade Rauth was falling too.But General Rauth did not look scared. The evil general simply smiled behind his black metal mask. The toxic, dark purple magic glowed brightly inside the relic core on his chest.Rauth raised his hand and pressed a button on his belt.Instantly, bright purple flames shot out of the boots of Rauth’s magical armor. The anti-gravity magic stopped his fall completely. Rauth floated safely in the snowy air. He looked down at Landon with cold, dead eyes."Enjoy the long drop to hell, Landon," Rauth whispered. His voice echoed through the fal

Landon leaned against the wall of the stairwell. His heart broke into pieces.The emotional stakes of this battle were unimaginably high. This was not a video game. This was not a movie. Real, innocent people were bleeding and dying to protect his city.Landon felt a crushing wave of guilt. He was the leader. He had brought these people into this impossible war. He had asked them to fight General Rauth. And now, they were dying because of him.“Landon,” Claire’s soft, loving voice whispered in his mind. She felt his terrible guilt. She felt his heart breaking. “Do not blame yourself. They chose to fight. They are fighting for freedom. We have to make their sacrifice mean something. You have to keep moving forward.”Landon squeezed his eyes tightly shut. A single, hot tear rolled down his dirty cheek, mixing with the sweat and blood.He took a deep, shaky breath. Claire was right. He could not stop now. If he stopped, everyone would die.“Juno,” Landon thought firmly into the web. “Sen

Landon pulled back slightly just to look at her beautiful face. He looked at the blood on her forehead. He looked at her shaking, dirty hands. He looked at the way she could barely stand on her injured leg.For the very first time, Landon was struck by a powerful, terrifying realization.He was a magical giant. He could take bullets to the chest. He could fall from the sky. He could punch through solid steel walls. But Claire was completely, entirely human.She did not have a magical Kinetic Echo. She did not have superhuman strength. One stray bullet, one falling rock, or one bad explosion could easily take her away from him forever. She was so incredibly fragile. And yet, despite being so fragile, she was the bravest person he had ever met.She had stood on a broken leg, with an empty gun, ready to fight armored monsters just to protect a group of frightened strangers in business suits. She was a true hero.Landon felt a powerful, overwhelming wave of love and fear crash into his s

The terrifying monster made of freezing black water and sharp ice stood blocking the giant, broken front doors of the Aether Dominion skyscraper.The ancient beast stared down at Landon Hale and the fifty terrified civilians. The monster did not have real eyes, but Landon could feel its absolute, pure hatred. It let out a horrifying, deafening roar that shook the shiny marble floor of the ruined Grand Glass Lobby. UUUUUURRRRRRRRGGGGGHHH!Landon fell heavily onto his hands and knees. He was gasping loudly for air. His broad chest heaved up and down. Sweat and dark red blood dripped from his chin and splashed onto the cold marble floor.He had just used every single ounce of his Kinetic Echo magic to create a massive explosion. He had completely wiped out a hundred Iron Order soldiers in a single second. But now, his magical tank was completely empty. He was just a normal, exhausted, broken man. He had nothing left to fight a giant sea monster."Landon! Get up!" Claire Arden screamed

They were standing on the eighty-ninth floor. It was completely dark and freezing cold. The wind howled through the broken windows.Right in front of them stood a massive, impossibly thick circular steel vault door. It looked like the door to a billionaire's bank vault."This is the Relic Armory," Navarro whispered. He limped forward, favoring his burned leg.Navarro walked up to a glowing red electronic keypad next to the vault door."General Rauth changes the passwords every single day," Navarro explained, wiping blood from his face. "But he uses an ancient mathematical formula based on the dead gods to create the codes. I memorized the formula when I worked for him."Navarro typed a long, complex series of numbers into the keypad.The keypad beeped happily and turned bright green.CLACK. CLUNG. HISSSS. Massive, heavy steel locking bolts slid backward inside the thick door. Pressurized cold air hissed loudly into the hallway. The giant vault door slowly, heavily swung open.Landon a