Landon leaned his broad back against the heavy iron doors. He slid slowly down to the cold concrete floor. He was completely, utterly exhausted. His lungs burned. His muscles shook violently. He felt like he had been awake for a hundred years. He closed his eyes and let out a long, shaky breath. Claire walked over and sat down on the cold floor right next to him. She did not say a word. She just gently rested her head against his broad shoulder. She wrapped her small hand around his thick, bruised fingers. Landon opened his eyes and looked at her. Her face was dirty, and she had a cut on her cheek, but she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. "You did amazing today, Landon," Claire whispered softly. "You saved them." Landon sighed heavily. He looked at the scared children crying in the dark. "I saved twenty people, Claire," Landon said. His deep voice was filled with a terrible, crushing sadness. "But I could not save the world. General Rauth is dead, but the ancient G

The giant, dark chasm split the factory floor completely in half. On one side of the deep, black hole stood Landon Hale. He was completely alone. His body was covered in dirt, sweat, and his own blood. His chest heaved up and down. He breathed heavily. Standing right in front of Landon was General Kade Rauth. But Rauth was no longer a human being. The ancient sea monster, the Deep One, was using Rauth’s body like a broken toy puppet. Rauth’s beautiful black armor was melted into his pale flesh. His eyes were solid, inky black. His head twitched and jerked in a sickening, unnatural way. In Rauth’s twisted hand was a massive, jagged scythe. The deadly weapon was made entirely of freezing black water and the screaming souls of dead gods. On the other side of the twenty-foot chasm stood Claire Arden. Claire was trapped with Kade, Marcus, Navarro, Jin, Sera, Juno, and the fifty terrified civilians. And marching slowly toward Claire’s group was an army of dead Iron Order soldiers. Th

Landon stared at the monsters in absolute horror. They were the size of large bears. Their bodies were covered entirely in thick, heavy black iron armor plates. Their massive jaws were filled with sharp, spinning metal saw-blades instead of teeth. Thick, black oily smoke poured out of their metal noses with every breath. The red magic relic cores burning inside their chests glowed brightly, casting a bloody red light on the snowy street. The lead Iron Hound opened its metal jaws. A thick string of glowing green, toxic acid dripped from its mouth. The acid hit the icy pavement and burned a deep, smoking hole into the concrete. "They found us," Marcus rumbled deeply, raising his heavy automatic shotgun. The five Iron Hounds let out a terrifying, mechanical, screeching howl. The sound shattered the freezing windows of the cars parked on the street. "Run!" Landon roared at the top of his lungs. The terrified civilians screamed and began to sprint down the snowy street. They pushed

The four giant metal beasts chased right behind him. Their heavy metal claws clicked loudly on the icy pavement. Landon ran as fast as his tired, bruised legs could carry him. He ran past abandoned brick warehouses. He dodged broken, rusted dumpsters. He splashed through freezing black puddles. The thick, toxic black smog filled his lungs. He coughed violently, tasting blood. His broken rib burned with absolute, blinding agony. He was completely alone. He had no radio. He had no magical connection to his friends. He had no gun. He was just a man running for his life in the dark. The hounds were faster than he was. They were getting closer. He could feel the terrible, burning heat of their red magic cores on his back. He could smell the toxic green acid dripping from their spinning metal jaws. Landon turned a sharp corner in the dark alley. He suddenly stopped running. He hit a solid, towering brick wall. It was a dead end. There were no doors. There were no fire escapes. The br

Navarro limped over to Marcus. The scarred veteran sniper rested his hand on Marcus’s thick shoulder. "Marcus," Navarro said quietly. His voice was filled with deep, heavy sadness. "We all saw those four metal monsters. They were unstoppable. And Landon had no magic left. We have to face the truth. We have to prepare to fight without him." Juno was busy wrapping bandages around the shivering, terrified civilians. The fifty innocent people they had rescued were huddled in the center of the dark factory. They listened to the Vanguard team talking. The civilians began to cry loudly. They had lost their giant, glowing protector. All hope seemed totally lost. Claire slowly wiped the tears from her eyes. She remembered Landon’s smiling face. She remembered his warm kiss on the snowy roof. She remembered his promise. “I will always protect you.”Claire took a deep, shaky breath. She forced her broken heart to turn into solid steel. "Navarro is right," Claire announced. She slowly pushed