Claire leaped forward. She thrust the glowing golden shield directly into the invisible gray aura. The magical clash was absolutely blinding. A massive, screaming sound of burning magic echoed through the cavern. The pure, golden life energy of the shield fought violently against the gray, rotting death magic of the aura. Bright golden sparks and black ash exploded everywhere. Claire groaned loudly in terrible pain. The golden shield was protecting her body, but the incredible magical pressure was pushing her backward. The gray death magic crept slowly around the edges of the shield. It touched the sleeve of her winter coat. The fabric instantly turned to gray dust and blew away. The cold magic touched her skin. Claire gasped as her left arm went completely numb. But she refused to drop the shield. She stood firmly over Landon's fallen body, protecting him from Rauth. "Landon, get up," Claire gritted her teeth, pushing all her human strength against the shield. "You have to ge

The massive, underground cavern deep beneath the frozen city of Chicago was a place of absolute terror. Landon Hale floated three feet in the cold air. His eyes were solid, pitch-black pools of darkness. He was possessed by the ancient, evil sea monster known as the Deep One. In his dark, floating hand, Landon held a swirling, screaming black hole. It was a sphere of pure anti-magic. He pointed it directly at General Kade Rauth. General Rauth stumbled backward. The evil dictator of the Iron Order was terrified. He was wearing the thick, dark red Armor of the Fallen God, but even he knew he could not survive a black hole. "You cannot kill me!" General Rauth screamed in pure panic. "I am a god!" Landon did not answer with human words. The ancient, grinding voice of the sea monster echoed out of his mouth. "You are dust," the monster hissed. Landon threw the massive black hole forward. General Rauth realized he was about to die. He had exactly one millisecond to save his own life

Landon grabbed the hammer. He raised it high above his head. He brought it down with all his massive human strength. The hammer hit the iron. The heavy shockwave stung Landon's hands. But the piece of cold iron did not break. It did not even bend. It was completely solid. "I cannot break it," Landon said. "It is too thick." "Exactly," Arthur smiled. "Now, look closely at the metal." Landon leaned closer. "Everything in the entire universe has a song, Landon," Arthur explained softly. "Every rock, every piece of metal, and every human soul has a tiny, invisible vibration. It hums. It sings a specific frequency." Arthur took the hammer from Landon. Arthur did not swing the hammer wildly. He closed his eyes and listened very carefully. Then, Arthur tapped the hammer gently against the side of the cold iron. The iron made a soft, high-pitched ringing noise. Arthur waited. He tapped it again in a different spot. "There," Arthur smiled. "Do you hear that, Landon? That is the resona

The pitch-black darkness inside the deep, underground cavern was absolutely terrifying. General Kade Rauth lay on the cold stone floor, screaming in pure, horrible agony. The glowing red armor of the Fallen God had been completely shattered by Landon Hale. Rauth was supposed to be defeated. But a new, unimaginable evil was waking up. A terrible, alien sound echoed from the dark hole in General Rauth's chest. It sounded like thousands of giant, clicking insects. It was the sound of the Star Eaters. The cosmic monsters from the deepest, darkest edges of the universe had found the Earth. And they were using General Rauth as their doorway. "Landon, what is happening?!" Claire Arden screamed in the dark. She grabbed Landon’s arm tightly. "Get back!" Landon roared. Landon pushed Claire and the rest of the Vanguard team behind a large, broken stone pillar. Kade, Marcus, Navarro, Jin, Sera, Juno, and Silas all huddled together in the freezing cold. A thick, liquid black smoke began to

Landon did not raise his arms to block. He did not brace for impact. He simply stepped forward and slightly to the left. His movement was incredibly minimal. He moved exactly one inch out of the way. The massive black sword sailed harmlessly past his ear, missing him by a fraction of a millimeter. The cold wind of the blade ruffled Landon's dark hair. The monster stumbled forward, surprised that it had missed. “The right elbow joint!” Claire’s voice called out perfectly in Landon's mind. Landon did not pull his fist back for a heavy punch. Instead, Landon extended his right hand. He held out just his index and middle fingers. He focused a tiny, microscopic spark of bright white Kinetic Echo magic completely into the tips of his two fingers. He didn't want an explosion. He wanted a vibration. Landon reached out and gently tapped his two glowing fingers directly against the inside of the monster's right elbow joint. The sound was incredibly soft. It sounded like a tiny silver bel