The Giant Thrall charged across the broken wooden floor of the Great Hall. The monster was a nightmare. It was fifteen feet tall, made of dozens of gray human bodies melted together. Every time its massive feet hit the ground, the whole room shook. Adam stood in the monster's path. He held his rusty iron knife tightly. His heart hammered in his chest. He looked at Lyra’s broken, bloody wand in the giant’s massive hand. "You will not touch them," Adam whispered. The Giant Thrall swung its giant fist. The fist was as big as a boulder. Adam used his incredible, evolved speed to duck under the massive punch. The wind from the giant’s fist was so strong it blew Adam’s dark hair back. Adam stepped in close and stabbed the giant’s leg with his rusty knife. SQUELCH. The dull iron blade cut deep into the gray meat. Black blood poured out. But the giant monster did not even feel the pain. It was too big. The iron knife was just a tiny pinprick to it. The Giant Thrall kicked its heavy leg

The giant stone hand outside the Academy ripped the earth wide open. The sound was louder than a hundred thunderstorms. The ground shook so hard that the students inside Adam’s dark, protective dome fell over. Adam stayed on one knee. He was breathing very fast. Bright, glowing violet tears of pure magic leaked from his dark eyes. The pain inside his human body was terrible. He was holding the Dead Zone open to keep the children safe, but it was melting his soul. He looked up through the broken ceiling of the Great Hall. He expected to see more falling rocks. He expected to see the giant stone monster from outside. But the sky above the Great Hall did not fall into debris. It changed into something much worse. The heavy red clouds began to spin. They spun faster and faster, moving in a massive, terrifying circle. It was a giant whirlpool in the sky. But it was not made of wind or water. It was a swirling vortex of thick, dark blood. The blood vortex blocked out the sick red light

The giant stone hand released its tight grip. Adam fell. He dropped through the cold, dark air. He hit a solid surface with a heavy THUD. Adam groaned and opened his eyes. He was not inside the giant mouth of the Master. Not yet. He was lying on a massive, flat stone platform floating high up in the red sky. The platform looked like an old, broken bridge. Directly behind the platform was the Master’s giant, dark mouth. The mouth was a terrible cave filled with jagged rock teeth. Hot wind blew out of it, smelling like burnt bones and old dirt. Adam tried to stand, but his muscles were completely stiff. The sick yellow magic that Headmaster Sterling, the Marquis Valerius, had put in his chest was still paralyzing him. A bright red light flashed. A swirling vortex of blood appeared on the floating stone platform. The Marquis stepped out of the red smoke. His expensive gray suit was still completely clean. He walked slowly toward Adam. "The Master likes his food properly prepared,

Adam’s broken, bloody hand gripped the clean gray sleeve of the Marquis tightly. The bright blue System screen glowed warmly inside Adam’s mind. “You forgot that a machine can be reprogrammed,” Adam whispered. For a single second, Marquis Valerius looked completely shocked. He looked at Adam’s hand. He saw the bright blue fire burning in Adam’s human eyes. This was not the cold, dark Void. This was something completely new. But then, the Marquis’s shock faded away. He let out a loud, cruel laugh. "A tiny spark before the fire goes out," the Marquis mocked. The Marquis did not use magic to break Adam’s grip. He just used his foot. He kicked Adam directly in the chest. Because Adam’s ribs were already broken, the pain was blinding. Adam lost his grip. He fell backward, sliding across the rough stone of the floating platform. He slid closer and closer to the giant, burning mouth of the Master. The giant mouth was not just a hole made of stone teeth. Inside the mouth was a massive,

Adam opened his eyes. There was no blinding white light. There was no terrifying pitch-black dark. There was only a gray, dusty ceiling. He was lying on a small, hard bed. The sheets were clean and white, but they smelled like bitter herbs, old dirt, and rubbing alcohol. He slowly turned his head. He was in a small room made of rough stone walls. It was not the medical wing of the beautiful Bourbon Academy. It looked like an old, forgotten ruin hidden deep underground. Adam sat up. He did not feel any pain. He looked down at his chest. His torn black coat was gone. He was wearing a simple white shirt. He lifted the shirt. The skin over his ribs was perfectly smooth. The bones that the Marquis had broken were completely healed. The bright, glowing violet cracks that used to cover his neck and chest were gone. His skin was just pale, flawless marble. But something was incredibly wrong. Adam closed his eyes and listened to his own body. For his entire life, since he found the Moon-