The furrowed brows and dropped jaws from his teammates confirmed it—Kie had heard right. Tee had just told him she loved him over the telecom. As much as he wanted to believe she’d say something like that so openly, it didn’t make sense. Either that wasn’t Tee… or it was a coded message.

  “Noted,” was all Kie replied before signaling his teammates to shut off communication. Once Tee—and whatever was with her—could no longer hear them, he muttered, “Freck.”

  They stared at the ground, each trying to make sense of what she’d said.

  Zod, remembering Kie had bought condoms during their last shopping trip, frowned and asked, “Dude, are you two together?”

  Kie’s shoulders slumped. “No, we’re not.”

  “Then something’s off,” Zod said. “This feels like one of those movies where the killer lets the victim answer the phone to say they’re okay—but they slip in a hidden message to show they’re not.”

  “You really think so?” Miko asked. “I knew Tee wouldn’t just ignore us!” Then she gasped, clutching her head in panic. “Oh no—how long has she been trapped?”

  Kie glanced toward the spreading darkness in the distance. “She said the Harbingers left her. That means they were here the entire time.”

  “They must have left to search for the fragment,” Saeda said. “But now we have it. Does that mean we’ll run into them? Sade would know how to track it.”

  Kie stared hard at the ground. “Something doesn’t add up. If the Harbingers left her, then she shouldn’t be in danger. So why send a message like that?”

  Zod gasped. “Wait—what if the whole thing was code? Saying she loved you meant she didn’t, and saying the Harbingers left meant they didn’t—”

  Their eyes widened at once.

  “The Harbingers have her,” Kie said.

  “That makes sense,” Saeda agreed. “That’s why we haven’t run into them—they’re with her.”

  Zod grimaced. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. I refuse to believe the Harbingers are using Tee to pull the same stunt we planned for them with the fragment.”

  “What if she’s not even there?” Saeda said. “If the whole message was deception, maybe there isn’t a cavern at all. What if it’s just the Harbingers waiting for us?”

  Zod sighed, resisting the urge to cover his ears. “We can’t teleport without her. And with the fragment in our hands, the elders can’t see what’s happening here. They won’t know when to pick us up.”

  Kie clenched his fists and glared at him. “We’re not leaving without her. Why would you even think that?”

  Zod raised his hands. “That’s not what I meant—I was just—ugh, forget it.” He dropped his shoulders.

  Kie reopened his holo-map. “We need to find that cavern and face the Harbingers head-on. Now that we have the fragment, we can test our plan—lure them in and take at least one down together.”

  “Maybe I can help,” Saeda said, pressing her hands to her temples and closing her eyes. “With the fragment’s energy in me, I can separate its aura from the other pull I’ve been feeling. That one might belong to the Harbingers.”

  “I don’t doubt it,” Kie said. “Lead the way.”

  Saeda opened her eyes, a faint smile flickering on her face.

  “Zod,” Kie added, walking after her, “I hope you’re ready to blast another Harbinger to dust. Either we leave with the fragment—or a Harbinger goes down. We’re not leaving empty-handed.”

  Zod gulped. He hoped his blast still felt like working.

  Miko noticed him frozen in thought and gave his shoulder a reassuring pat, snapping him back to the moment. He nodded and hurried to catch up with the others.

  It took several hours of racing through darkness, dust storms, and whirlpools. Each lightning-triggered calamity transported them to a new location within the endless world—but they used it to their advantage, jumping closer each time to where Tee might be.

  The mountain chain with holes in the distance was easy to spot. Nearly everything else was shrouded in darkness, limiting the range of their jumps. Saeda pinpointed that the pull was coming from that direction. They stopped their location-hopping and sprinted there on foot.

  Oddly, the closer they got, the weaker the pull became. Saeda had hoped to take them straight to the cavern Tee was trapped in, but when she could no longer sense any aura besides that of the fragment, she stopped.

  “What’s wrong?” Kie asked evenly.

  Saeda frowned. “I can’t feel the pull anymore. Maybe the Harbingers left?”

  “Or maybe it’s some sorcery interference,” Zod muttered. He wasn’t about to get his hopes up only to be crushed by another encounter with the Harbingers. He lifted his fist toward the mountain’s large opening, but no energy blast came. With a sigh, he lowered his hand.

  “At least we found the mountain Tee mentioned,” said Kie. “We’re on the right track.” He stepped forward into the wide entrance.

  Miko hesitated. Something about the spreading darkness felt wrong—it stopped at a fixed distance from the mountain. She blinked away her confusion and hurried to catch up.

  The reason the darkness couldn’t reach the mountains was Sade. Lilith channeled her dark energy from the dark lord to fuel Sid’s chant, keeping the shadows at bay. It demanded intense focus and was only one of two chants Sid was maintaining, both of which kept him rooted in place.

  The team pressed through the tunnels, their telecom lights cutting through the gloom as they followed Tee’s holo-map coordinates. Saeda brushed her bare hands along the walls, searching for visions of anything that had passed through recently—but her silence said she found nothing.

  When they reached a cross-section of several tunnels, they paused.

  “Those future visions would be great right now,” Zod said, his voice echoing off the arched walls.

  Saeda knew exactly who he meant. “You wouldn’t want that,” she replied.

  Zod gave a short laugh. “Who wouldn’t? It’d be great if we knew we’d get the fragment—and maybe take out one of the Harbingers while we’re at it.”

  Saeda stepped into the center of the junction, hands falling from the walls. “My visions only show bad things before they happen. People don’t want to hear they’ll crash on the multi-level highway or get eaten by a Xenosapian. Everyone in my sector thinks I’m crazy, so I just keep quiet.” She looked at him. “If I get a vision, it means something really bad is about to happen to one of you.”

  “I hope you don’t get any then,” Zod said softly.

  “Tee, we’re inside the mountain—your exact GPS coordinates,” Kie spoke into his telecom. “You’re not here, which means we’re probably on another level. Give us any descriptions—anything that can help us find you.”

  Tee had long stopped entertaining the depressing thought that her teammates were actually coming for her—with the fragment they’d found without her help. The Harbingers would likely snatch it and wipe them out right after.

  Instead of the one to lead and outperform, she’d become the liability—the Xeno-victim reality itself seemed eager to erase.

  She had never felt so weak or useless. Not even an MG officer standing before her could spark her anger. What would Jack think if he saw her like that?

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  She knew Tetra would just hug her—and right then, that was exactly what she needed.

  When Kie’s voice came through, it cut cleanly through the pounding of Tee’s heartbeat. She hadn’t lifted her gaze from the ground since Legion had turned toward her. She didn’t need her foresight to know he still had his fiery eyes locked on her. Still, she gave no sign that she was aware of his unnerving stare as she answered her teammates.

  “I don’t know where inside the mountain—” She gasped, recalling the light shining from above. “Wait! There’s light coming through the ceiling, so maybe I’m somewhere near the top!”

  “We need more than that,” Zod said.

  “WHAT THE FRECK DO YOU MEAN BY—!” was all they got before Tee’s furious yell exploded into static.

  Their telecoms automatically blocked any sound above a certain decibel, but the brief silence made them catch a faint hum—probably Tee still shouting at full volume. So much for not getting fired up. Zod’s five words had done exactly that.

  With their enhanced hearing, they quickly identified which tunnels led in her direction and rushed off.

  When the three dark statues suddenly bolted from their positions, Tee’s whole body twitched. She almost sprained her neck whipping her head up to confirm what she saw.

  She couldn’t believe it. Lilith, Legion, Sade, and Riven were already halfway to an opening that led straight into her cavern. Her teammates hadn’t even reached that far yet. They were in for the shock of their lives.

  “The Harbingers are here! Watch out!” she screamed before realizing the words had actually left her mouth.

  The blackbird, Riven, broke from its forward flight and began circling. The other Harbingers froze and turned toward the white-haired mortal bound in chains.

  Tee blinked several times, her brows knitting as all their gazes fell on her. Oh no—she was done for.

  Legion turned sharply to Sade, the sorcerer. “How did she see through your chant?” his thundering voices boomed. “She shouldn’t have been able to see us.”

  Tee’s eyes went wide.

  “Huh?”

  After hearing her scream, her teammates slowed instead of charging ahead. They drew their swords, their ears ringing as the echo of her voice faded.

  “Did Tee just yell to watch out for the Harbingers?” Zod gasped.

  Saeda’s stomach twisted. They didn’t need another sign that something terrible was coming. She touched her pouch to reassure herself that the fragment was still there—then immediately regretted it.

  Kie gritted his teeth. That was one of those times he wished their assumptions were wrong. He’d completely forgotten about the Harbingers in his desperation to reach Tee. They’d been about to run right into them—but thank goodness for Tee’s loud mouth.

  “Let’s get this over with.” Kie charged forward at full speed.

  Miko could’ve outrun him easily, but she stayed at his side.

  Even from a distance, Tee heard every word Legion spoke. Sade’s unresponsive stance told her he had no answer. The thought of her teammates running straight into danger filled her with dread. The Harbingers were invisible—but somehow, she could see them. Why?

  Little did Tee know she had another vision ability—the power to see through any optical illusion without needing to activate it. It worked under any circumstance. Stress, fear, or even pain.

  Since she’d never looked directly at Legion, he had no idea she could see him. But it was clear to the Harbingers that their plan was ruined—the Sentinels had somehow seen through Sade’s chant.

  Unbeknownst to the other Harbingers, Sade knew that, for whatever reason, it was the same reason the white-haired mortal had been able to see him during his oversight in the modern world. Though he had told his members she never saw him, that was far from the truth. But it wasn’t his fault she had. All other times, he had made sure to stay hidden behind objects to remain unseen.

  Sade broke both his chants. He was no longer tasked with making his moving members invisible. No longer did he counter the fragment’s defenses to hold back the darkness. He entered full battle mode, and those Sentinels were going to pay for the time and energy he had wasted!

  The Harbingers faced the cavern entrance as the Sentinels rushed through and stopped. What was supposed to be a quick slaughter turned into a tense long-distance stare.

  The Harbingers stood between them and their trapped teammate. Yes, the Sentinels had the fragment, but part of their plan was missing. There were no monsters or chaos to exploit in the spacious cavern. It was going to be a straight fight. Them versus the Harbingers.

  Kie focused past the Harbingers, locking eyes with Tee. Using his mind link, he sent a quick message.

  “Tee, are you alright?”

  That horrible, familiar sensation hit her mind, followed by Kie’s almost deafening voice. She panicked. “The Harbingers are invisible!”

  “Really? But I can see them—”

  A tremor shook the cavern, dislodging small bits of dirt from the ceiling. But it didn’t give them hope. The low hum that followed came from darkness approaching miles away. That wasn’t the kind of chaos they needed, and by the time it arrived, the beatdown might already have ended.

  Zod didn’t see the bandaged one, which meant it must be dead. But he couldn’t figure something out. How were they going to keep the fragment and teleport with Tee, who was benched for the moment? It was four of them against three beasts and a bird, and he couldn’t recreate his blast.

  “I guess this is where we trade off?” Zod muttered, low enough for only his teammates to hear.

  The chains around Tee glowed orange, burning into her skin and tightening. The pain and helplessness brought tears to her eyes. The heat washed away some of the dried blood on her face, but the agony became too much. She screamed.

  “Ah!”

  Her scream made her teammates flinch and forget Zod’s logical question. Their ciliary muscles didn’t relax as they saw Tee in the far distance. Using that brief moment, they leapt away from the sense-triggered danger.

  A red vortex appeared behind them, advancing rapidly. It hadn’t yet expanded enough to engulf all four of them.

  No! Riven almost had them. With their heightened alertness, another attempt at the same attack wouldn’t work. Plus, the four Sentinels were now separated, so Riven had lost the advantage of snatching them all at once.

  Lilith’s voice rang clear over Tee’s scream. “Correction. This is where we destroy all five of you at once, ending your generation of Sentinels...”

  Zod’s mind reeled at Lilith’s perfect hearing. Luckily, he hadn’t mentioned any battle strategies—otherwise, they would have been finished.

  “...Starting with this one.”

  The growing ball of darkness in the corner of Zod’s vision pulled them toward Lilith. His teammates stopped searching for the red vortexes and locked onto the slender figure standing in full backlight.

  The dark energy ball in Lilith’s hand was as tall as she was before it launched toward Tee. Even if Tee could move, the pain from the burns left her mind blank. All her strength went into resisting the squeezing chains.

  Then an explosion of blue and dark energy erupted. A thundering boom reverberated through the cavern walls. Dark matter from Lilith’s destroyed energy ball floated like smoke, blocking all sight of her and her standing members.

  Zod’s teammates turned to him, their only logical explanation for what had happened. Blue sparks still danced around his raised fist.

  That ability had already been unlocked. It wasn’t willpower that had made the blast. It was Zod knowing exactly what he was capable of. He vowed silently that he would not allow a member to be obliterated before his eyes.

  He and his teammates darted their eyes back to the black smoke that was fading. The dark figures peeking through were far apart. The Harbingers had been pushed from their previous positions by the force of the explosion.

  Tee’s mind was fried from the agony. Unknown to her, the chains were being challenged. Dark energy separated her from direct contact with them. The heat still passed through, stinging painfully. She felt herself slipping toward unconsciousness, but then a voice cut through.

  “Don’t give in! Don’t let the dogs win!”

  Black tears rolled from her eyes as they popped open.

  “Jack?”

  Tee’s sclera turned black, her pale pupils shrank to tiny balls of fire. Her lips curled to reveal fangs as one last puff of breath escaped. She poured every ounce of strength into forcing her arms apart. Relief came as the chains snapped. Loose rings flew from her like bullets.

  Only four red eyes soaring above glimpsed her triumph—Riven, scanning for its members through the fading dark haze. But the white-haired mortal lying prone, gasping, consumed its focus. That was until Zod’s war cry split the air.

  Zod rushed into battle with one sword, his free hand ready to blast the Harbingers to dust. His sword was for the unlucky moment if that failed. Miko zipped in behind him, expecting Kie and Saeda close behind.

  Sade, the sorcerer, began drawing symbols in the air before vanishing through a vortex. Lilith and Legion dropped their force shields and charged at the Sentinels.

  Riven predicted Sade would appear near the two standing Sentinels, while Legion and Lilith would deal with the other two. The action was about to begin.

  Snatching any of the fast-moving Sentinels was nearly impossible. With no flying monsters to protect his members from, Riven felt useless again—until the white-haired girl shifted everything.

  She was the vessel for Severin’s Plan—the hybrid capable of forging the MegaSapian. She had freed herself from her chains. It was only a matter of time before she joined the battle. The new plan had always been possible, but the master had commanded patience.

  Yes, Lilith had thrown a ball of darkness at her, the vessel, but Riven dared not intervene. If he forced her mutation, she would die. Humans always weakened when those they cared about were threatened. In that state, the remaining Sentinels would be easy prey. Silva had been killed—vengeance tempted him—but it was not the master’s plan. Mutation was spontaneous. Interfering could ruin everything. Conflicted, Riven circled above Tee.

  The cry of the green-eyed mortal did nothing to fuel Legion. He dashed forward, no longer playing. He was there to kill the rodents and avenge Silva.

  Miko, outrunning Zod, swung her sword at Legion. A long black spike shot from his left shoulder, bending to whip her aside. She lashed at it, but the blade failed to cut through. She was thrown several yards, crashing into the cavern wall.

  “You annoying bug, die!” thundered Legion, his many voices booming from his hood.

  Darkness poured from every inch of him, his fire-lit eyes blazing. Zod froze, trembling at the skin-crawling sight.