I focused on the glowing Open icon floating at the edge of my vision. The moment I accepted the command, the massive door began to pull away. Its movement was silent, as though an unseen force guided it rather than gears or hinges. The stone parted with a hollow, resounding thud, revealing a corridor swallowed in darkness. It looked like a wound carved straight through the world.

  No one moved. The air felt stretched thin. For several seconds we heard nothing at all. Then a faint thump began its slow approach. Another followed. Then another. Each impact carried a deliberate rhythm that grew louder as something approached from beyond the ninety-degree bend ahead.

  My heart picked up its pace as turquoise light seeped across the floor and walls. The glow announced the creature before its shape came into view. Judging by the sound, it did not travel with others. The heavy cadence belonged to a single monster.

  The footsteps drew nearer until a massive, plated form rounded the corner.

  Thick armor plates layered across its back like interlocked shields. Its low build gave it the profile of a living tank. A bony club of a tail swung behind it with the weight of a wrecking ball. My brain scrambled for the name of the dinosaur it resembled, but the exact term slipped away.

  Ryker filled the silence. “Is that an Ankylosaurus” He stared with wide eyes, equal parts disbelief and fascination.

  We all stared at him instead of the monster. His cheeks lifted in mild embarrassment. “My daughter is three. Dinosaurs are our entire world right now.”

  The thought of him reading bedtime stories and making dino noises at home cut deeper than I expected. The faces of buried officers and civilians flickered through my mind. The weight of their families joined the pressure already squeezing the inside of my skull.

  A roar shattered the moment and ripped through my chest. The monster charged.

  Every instinct screamed a warning. Each wave so far had been harder than the last, yet this creature arrived alone. A wrongness crawled across my skin.

  “Fall back. Archers first,” I ordered.

  Logan rolled his shoulders. “It is just one. Smaller than the Elites.”

  “Logan,” I said, my voice cold and final. “Move back. Now.”

  Something in my tone cut through his eagerness. He retreated, though he kept his axe lifted as if ready to leap in the second I gave him permission.

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  I signaled Shanira. She nodded and drew her bowstring. Mana thickened along the line, gathering until the arrow shone with a blinding clarity. The moment she released it, the projectile sliced through the air and struck the charging creature.

  Mana detonated against its armor. A wave of force rolled through the doorway, carrying dust and fragments of stone with it. The blast rattled my teeth.

  The thunder of footsteps never changed.

  The dust cleared. A deep blue glow pulsed along the monster’s hide. It was untouched. The mana had been absorbed completely, leaving no visible wound.

  Logan leapt skyward. “Gravity Hammer”

  “Logan, stop”

  The warning tore from my throat too late. He came down with all the force his skill could provide, aiming to smash the creature’s head into the floor. His boots struck its armored skull, and for one terrible moment the world held its breath.

  There was no echo of impact. No jolt of transferred force.

  Only the sickening, heavy crack of bone shattering.

  Logan’s body went limp. He slid off the monster’s head and hit the floor in a broken heap. His legs folded at impossible angles. His scream tore through the cavern with a raw, animal agony that tightened every muscle in my chest.

  Shanira’s arrows rained down again, but each shaft dissolved against an invisible barrier before touching the monster’s scales. The beast advanced slowly toward Logan, its gaze fixed on his crumpled body. The cold precision in those eyes hollowed out my pulse.

  I used Wind Step without thought. The gray blur of accelerated motion swallowed my vision. I reached Logan as the creature raised its massive foot. I hauled him into my arms and retreated in another burst of speed. The ground where we had stood collapsed under the weight of its stomp.

  My heart hammered as I placed him near Kira. She moved instantly, her staff glowing as she crouched over him.

  The monster’s eyes shifted, searching. It scanned past the other players with a focused intent that chilled the air around me. It settled on Kira with an eerie intelligence.

  It was hunting the healer.

  I moved fast. My gladius cut through the air as I reappeared at the creature’s flank, aiming for its eye. A glimmering shield of blue energy flared into existence and deflected the blade before it could land. The vibration shot through my arm. I slid across the stone, repositioned, and struck again with my Jian. The blade bounced away as if it had met polished steel.

  The creature retaliated. Its tail swept across the floor with terrifying speed. I lunged aside as the impact shattered the stone, sending fragments slicing into my cheek.

  My mind worked furiously. We could not penetrate the shield around its body. Every strike failed. Every attempt to break through fell short.

  Jamie and Ryker charged. The beast swatted them away with its tail and sent them skidding across the ground like dolls tossed by a careless child. It reared back, preparing to crush Jamie beneath its foot.

  Chief intercepted the attack. His shield rose just in time. The force of the blow carved grooves into the stone beneath his boots. A pained grunt tore from his throat as he shoved back with raw determination.

  He struck the creature’s face with his sword. “To me”

  Energy rippled outward from him in a pulse of gold. The sound of his command filled the cavern, threading through every breath of air.

  The monster focused on him instantly. It slammed its foot down again and again, each strike testing the limits of Chief’s strength. His shield cracked beneath the strain. The tail whipped toward him. His shield surged with his own mana and intercepted it, but the collision shook the cavern. Fractures branched across the shield’s surface.