The wasteland stretched in every direction, gray and dead and endless. Caleb Lane dragged himself forward on his knees, his wrists bound behind his back with rusted wire that cut deeper every time he moved. Blood dripped from the stumps where two of his fingers used to be. The pain was blinding, but it was nothing compared to what he was watching.Ava Cross stood alone in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by three zombies. She had already killed the Level Five. Its massive body lay crumpled behind her, skull caved in from the final blow of her ice blade. But the fight had drained everything she had. Her Level Four reserves were completely empty. Her legs were shaking so badly she could barely stand."Ava, run!" Caleb screamed until his throat tore. "Get out of here! Leave me!"She turned to look at him, and even through the blood and dirt covering her face, she smiled. That soft, quiet smile that always made his chest ache."You know I'm not going to do that." Her voice was calm,

The paramedics wheeled Caleb through the hotel lobby on a stretcher with Ryan walking right beside him. Caleb kept his eyes shut and his body limp, selling the performance like his life depended on it. In a way, it did.Behind them, through the banquet hall doors, the show was just getting started.Brielle Slade stood on the stage in her white gown, staring at the empty doorway where her groom was supposed to walk through. Sweat glistened on her forehead as two hundred pairs of eyes watched her slowly realize that Caleb was not coming."Where is he?" Brielle's mother hissed at one of the hotel staff. "Go upstairs and drag him down right now.""Ma'am, the paramedics already took him out." The young man's voice was polite but firm. "He was unconscious."A murmur rippled through the crowd. Guests leaned toward each other, whispering behind champagne glasses and cloth napkins.At one of the front tables, a man in a gray suit shook his head and turned to his colleague."This whole engageme

The white light swallowed everything.For a moment, Caleb couldn't see, breathe, or feel the ground beneath his feet. Then the brightness slowly faded, and the world returned in pieces.He found himself standing in an open field that stretched endlessly in every direction. A thin layer of white mist covered the ground, slowly fading into the air like morning fog. The sky was pale, almost silver, and there was no wind, no sound, and no movement."077?" Caleb called out.His voice echoed across the empty space before returning to him, flat and hollow."System, can you hear me?"There was no response. No mechanical voice. No blue screens. Nothing.Whatever this place was, it had completely cut him off from the system.Caleb took a deep breath and looked down at himself. The pendant still hung around his neck, warm against his skin.He was inside the mustard seed space, the hidden dimension sealed within the Celestial Chess Piece."If this works like the novels, I just need to think about

Little White sat cross-legged on Caleb's shoulder, swinging her tiny legs and humming a tune that sounded like wind chimes.Her green eyes darted around the portable space with the restless energy of a child who had just woken up from the longest nap in history."Tell me everything!" She tugged on his collar and leaned forward. "Who has the black piece? Is it a girl? Is she nice?""Her name is Ava." Caleb kept his voice steady, but a hint of warmth crept into it. "She's wearing the black pendant right now, although she doesn't know what it is yet.""Ava." Little White repeated the name slowly, as if tasting each syllable. "That's a pretty name! And Little Black is sleeping inside her piece, waiting to wake up."A massive grin spread across her tiny face, scrunching up her nose."That means I woke up first! I finally beat him! He always bragged about being faster and smarter than me, but look who woke up first this time!"She jumped off Caleb's shoulder and flew around his head three t