With Claire's brilliant, tactical mind connected to his, Landon's magic grew a hundred times stronger. The white magic threads shot out faster and brighter. They found Kade’s fiery mind. They found Jin and Sera’s buzzing, fast minds. They found Navarro, Marcus, Juno, and finally, Silas. All eight minds slammed together perfectly. The War Resonance web glowed with an incredible, blinding, impossible white light inside the dark labyrinth. It was brighter than the sun. “We are the Vanguard!” Landon roared inside the magical web. “Break the darkness!” The combined, incredible willpower of the entire team pulsed outward in one massive, unified shockwave of pure mental energy. KABOOOOOOOOOOOM! The magical Labyrinth of Shadows could not handle the immense power of their love and trust. The entire illusion violently shattered like a giant, black glass dome breaking into pieces. The darkness was instantly wiped away. Landon gasped loudly and opened his eyes. He was no longer floating

General Rauth frowned. "What are you talking about?" "The real Landon Hale would never, ever ask me to sacrifice innocent people to save his own life," Claire declared fiercely. Her voice was pure, unbreakable ice. "The real Landon would gladly die a thousand times to protect this city. He is a true hero. And he knows that I would never love a coward." Claire did not have a gun in this dream. She didn't need one. She raised her right hand and pointed her finger like a pistol directly at the fake General Rauth. Suddenly, a warm, beautiful thread of bright white magic touched her brain. It was the real Landon's War Resonance. Claire smiled. She felt his immense, powerful strength flowing into her soul. "My heart belongs to the real Landon," Claire promised. "And we are going to destroy you." Claire pushed all of her love and tactical brilliance outward. The perfectly white room shattered into flying pieces of broken glass. The fake Rauth and the fake Landon dissolved into black s

“We are the Vanguard,” Landon thought powerfully, his voice booming across the connected minds. “Wake up!” The combined, ultimate willpower of eight perfectly united souls exploded outward in a massive, unimaginable shockwave of pure mental energy. Back in the real world, in the elegant, snowy plaza of the Noble Tier in Milwaukee. The Vanguard team was still sinking rapidly into the boiling, magical liquid glass. The hot, thick liquid had reached their necks. They were seconds away from drowning in the hot earth. Lord Corvus stood safely on the snowy sidewalk. He held his glowing purple remote control, laughing an evil, victorious laugh. Suddenly, Landon Hale’s dark eyes snapped wide open. They did not just glow. They burned with absolute, blinding, impossible white fire. A split second later, Claire’s eyes opened. Then Kade's. Then Jin's, Sera's, Juno's, Marcus's, Navarro's, and Silas's. All eight members of the Vanguard woke up at the exact same millisecond. The War Resonanc

"It will not be easy," Silas Hale whispered softly. Landon’s older brother stepped forward. Silas held his sleek metal sword handle. He pressed the button. A brilliant, blinding, emerald-green blade of pure Life Magic shot out with a loud hiss. The warm green light chased away the dark shadows in the snowy plaza. "Corvus is a master tactician," Silas explained, keeping his glowing green eye focused on the glass monster. "Now he has the speed and strength to match his brain. He will try to separate us. He will try to use our own attacks against us." "He cannot separate us," Landon said deeply. His voice was pure, unbreakable steel. "Because we are one mind." Landon closed his dark eyes. He reached deep inside his tired soul. He ignored the freezing winter wind. He ignored the terrible, burning pain in his broken rib. He ignored the giant building falling from the sky. He grabbed the beautiful, glowing white pool of his Kinetic Echo magic. He opened the invisible doorway inside his

Landon did not hesitate. He raised his large, right hand. He pulled every single drop of bright white Kinetic Echo magic from his soul. His fist glowed like a blinding, brilliant star in the dark night. "This is for my city," Landon roared. Landon brought his glowing white fist down with impossible, superhuman force. He punched Lord Corvus directly in the center of the chest, right on top of the glowing purple gravity device. KABOOOOOOOOOOOM! The kinetic explosion was so incredibly powerful that it completely obliterated Lord Corvus. The eight-foot-tall glass monster was instantly pulverized into fine, gray dust. The evil tactician was dead. But Landon was careful. He did not destroy the small, metal gravity device. He grabbed it from the dust with his bare hand. The device was hot and sparked with wild purple magic. "Jin! I have it!" Landon yelled, standing up and holding the device high in the air. "Throw it to me!" Jin screamed. Landon threw the heavy metal device across t