Maeson dropped her bright blue magic sword on the clear glass floor. The sharp blade hit the transparent deck with a loud ring. The sword faded away into thin air. Her heart pounded against her ribs like a trapped bird. The giant black hole in the sky expanded fast. Thick dark clouds swirled around the edges of the vast tear. A huge shadow far bigger than the shadow king reached out of the void. The huge hand had long fingers made of cold stone and black fire. A deep voice boomed from the sky. The loud voice spoke her true name with a harsh dry echo that shook her soul.The young boy grabbed the dark coat of his sister. He buried his small face in her side and trembled in fear. Ava stepped in front of the small child and raised her heavy iron fists. Kael stood close beside Maeson with a firm grip on his heavy metal rod. The strange woman with silver marks on her cheeks held her black box tight. Her hands shook as the small device beeped with a fast frantic noise. Red warning lights fl

Maeson fell through the cold dark air of the void. Wind whistled in her ears like a sad cry. She looked down into the pitch black space below her heavy boots. Two giant red mechanical jaws opened wide in the dark. The metal teeth glowed with hot fire. Sharp iron spikes lined the inside of the huge mouth. She reached out her right hand and caught the sleeve of her young brother. The boy held onto her coat with a tight grip. He did not scream or cry. He trusted his brave sister to find a way out of the terrible drop.Ava and Kael fell right beside them in the dark wind. Kael held his heavy metal rod tight in his left hand. Ava reached out her iron gloves and grabbed the shoulder of the strange woman with glowing marks on her face. They were falling fast toward the open red jaws. The heat coming from the mechanical mouth burned their faces. Maeson called upon her pure blue magic inside her human chest. She pushed a bright wave of energy down toward the falling rocks below.The blue magic

Maeson opened her heavy eyes in a cold room. The bright green light faded from her view. She lay on a hard metal table in a dark space. Thin silver wires stuck to her pale skin. Her mind felt foggy and blank like a clean slate. She could not remember the green forest or the warm sun. She could not remember the dark void or the golden door. She sat up slowly and pulled the thin wires off her arms. The cold air made her shiver under her thin shirt. She looked around the square chamber with deep fear.The room had four walls made of smooth white plastic. No windows or doors stood in plain sight. A large clear glass screen floated in the middle of the quiet room. Bright red letters flashed on the screen with a low hum. The words read that Phase One was complete. Maeson rubbed her sore head with her bare hand. She tried to remember her own name. The name Maeson came back to her mind like a soft whisper. But everything else was missing from her thoughts. She felt a deep ache in her chest.S

Maeson fell down through the dark gap in the broken steel floor. Cold air rushed past her face in a fierce wind. She held her bright blue magic sword tight in her right hand. She plunged her glowing blade into the side of a tall iron pipe to slow her fast descent. Bright sparks of light flew into the dark shadows around her. Her boots slammed onto a flat metal platform deep beneath the arena floor. The heavy impact made her knees bend and her chest ache with pain. She gasped for fresh air and looked up at the hole in the ceiling.Red fire and thick black smoke poured from the broken steel ground above. High up in the dome, the giant human hand carried her small brother through the shattered glass sky. The desperate screams of the young boy echoed in her ears. Maeson felt a sharp wave of deep sorrow and wild fury hit her heart. She refused to lose her sweet brother to the giant monster in the sky. She stood up on her heavy boots and raised her glowing blade. She needed to find a way to

The heavy mechanical claw clamped around the waist of Maeson with a tight iron grip. Cold metal pressed hard against her real human ribs. She gasped for air as the sharp metal arm pulled her downward toward the boiling liquid metal. Hot red light filled the dark pod room. Extreme heat washed over her face like a wall of fire. She held onto the small hand of her young brother with all her physical strength. The boy cried out in terror as his small feet slid on the tilted metal floor.Kael reacted with fast speed in the real world. He grabbed the other hand of the brave boy and planted his heavy boots against the frame of his open pod. Ava dropped to her knees on the slippery steel floor. She reached out her heavy iron gloves and grabbed Maeson by her shirt collar. Sweat dripped down the pale faces of her loyal friends. The heavy claw jerked again with a loud mechanical sound, trying to pull Maeson into the fiery abyss below."Hold on tight," Ava yelled over the deafening roar of the al