A bright light shot up into the air and hovered near the ceiling. It allowed everyone to see as the dragon righted itself in the air and came to a somewhat graceful landing on the cavern floor. The beast appeared even more massive now that it was up close, with most of its attention on the Integrated who'd been attacking it. In the distance, up on the cavern wall, the Deep Dweller paused its attacks, almost like it was watching to see how the scene before it would play out.

  Having finished healing the patient with the severed arm, Luke continued his work, doing his best to ignore the dragon as it took a halting, labored step forward. A woman clutching her shoulder, where a tentacle must have grazed her, bled profusely. Her face was pale and covered with a sheen of sweat. Rather than say hello and explain, Luke used one thread of mana to block the nerve bundle around the wound, and the woman's pained expression turned relieved, confused, but relieved.

  Lorelai. Seer. Level 7.

  She was a caster, and her mana was almost at capacity, so Luke didn't hesitate in brute force healing the wound, stealing mana from his patient to make up what he'd lost before continuing on to another wounded. People around him were screaming and milling about, their eyes wide with fright as they watched the dragon approach. A large guy in a black leather vest covered in metal studs took a step back and bumped into Luke, who almost stumbled, then pushed past to reach a young guy on the floor.

  “Luke!” Liza shouted, but he ignored her.

  Rather than get down, he extended a thread of mana into the wounded patient's leg. Again, he dampened the pain, more for the practice of it than any need. As long as he stole or borrowed mana from his patients, he could use the more costly method, which didn't involve pain. That said, this person's maximum mana was minuscule, and healing him cost way more than what Luke extracted.

  With that patient dealt with, just a minor wound, Luke stood and felt a tugging on his shirt.

  "Luke!" Liza shouted, pulling with enough force to spin him around.

  There it was. The dragon.

  "Whoa!" Luke shouted, taking a half-step back.

  It was close now, having lumbered forward while ignoring the onslaught of attacks from Integrated. Many, if not most, people were turning to run, and Luke half-turned as if to join them when he saw Liza nodding in the opposite direction.

  "It's almost dead!" she shouted. "We have to help!"

  "Are you crazy?" he shouted back, not taking his eyes off the monster. Sure, its health was low, with about a fifth of its maximum left, but a fifth of a dragon's health was still a large chunk, no matter how injured it was.

  Liza pointed to the dragon's back. "I'm not, but he might be!"

  A flash of metal up there drew Luke's eyes to a small shape moving about and plunging a spear into the dragon's back again and again.

  "Mateo?"

  She nodded. "Who else?"

  "This is turning to shit way too fast!" Nate shouted.

  A glowing circle appeared over the dragon's head. Lines popped up everywhere inside it, forming runes and symbols that took on a yellow, then reddish glow.

  Luke groaned and looked around. "That spell is going to be bad news!"

  Nate raised his shield. "Get behind me!"

  Barriers sprang up around several parties spread out in the cavern, including Luke's own. Shadows then spread out around the small group as well, following the wall of Liza's bubble barrier and even Nate's now huge shield. Before the darkness shut away everything outside, Luke peered up and caught a glimpse of the Deep Dweller retreating into the stone of the cavern wall, far up above them. Not a good sign.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  All light disappeared. With it, the sound went as well. In that quiet darkness, they waited.

  "Tell everyone to stay away from the tunnels," Hannah whispered. "Don't let them get into the tunnels."

  Liza's breathing slowed a little. "I've told everyone several times. That's all I can do."

  "Thank you."

  Liza was about to speak again, but the word caught in her throat. Instead, she let out a small whimper. The relative coldness of the somewhat damp cavern turned into an oven in a flash of warmth that, rather than dissipate, only grew.

  "Too much," Liza grunted, her jaw now clamped shut and teeth gritted. "My mana."

  Threads of Mana revealed that her mana was plummeting at an alarming rate. The barrier ward she'd used to shield them consumed mana to withstand attacks, he guessed.

  "Here," he said, channeling mana through the thread to her meta-heart. "Take some of mine."

  "You can do that?" Nate asked.

  Luke grinned. "I can take mana too, if I want."

  Even with the added support of his rather large stores of mana, the ever-increasing warmth was putting a strain on her barrier.

  "You have to drop it," Luke said, his voice sounding calmer than he felt.

  The sound of her hair rustling told him she was shaking her head. "They'll die."

  "Who?"

  "All of them," she whispered.

  "You put barrier wards on every single person out there?" Luke asked.

  With her mana flowing faster than a faucet at full blast, he poured more of his own into her meta-heart to keep it from stopping, but it was a losing battle to keep up with the amount she was using.

  When she answered, her voice was low and lifeless. "Yes."

  "Nate," Luke said. "C'mere!"

  "I can't. The shield."

  "Take mine," Hannah said.

  "Don't you need it for your shadows?"

  "No, not really. They don't work like that."

  Luke extended another thread of mana and snaked his way to her meta-heart, pulling mana while easing the amount he pulled from his own. She didn't have much left either, so she must've been casting some sort of spells other than just using her shadows.

  "Here," he said, handing mana potions to both her and Liza while taking one himself as well. That gave them some breathing room, but not much. "Those were my last mana potions."

  "Great," Nate grumbled.

  "It's still going," Liza croaked.

  Even with using himself and Hannah as mana batteries, it wasn't enough. Extending a third thread toward Nate, he muttered. "I've got to take some of yours, too, Nate."

  "Fine."

  Hannah shifted position and bumped into Luke in the dark. "I have to see."

  "What?" Luke asked.

  The shield of darkness enveloping them pulled back at the top, providing a small circular opening the size of a dinner plate. Red-hot fire roared beyond, raging against the barrier protecting them. Opening the shadows made the already oppressive heat even worse, and Hannah hurried to reform the barrier.

  In the renewed silence, Luke couldn't help himself. "Is everyone else getting cooked in their barriers?"

  "No," Liza panted. "I'm helping with that."

  "How many barriers do you have up?"

  "I don't know."

  "You don't know?" Nate asked.

  "Many."

  "What about Mateo?" Luke asked. "And Penny?"

  It took Liza a moment to gather herself enough to reply. The mana situation was getting dire. "Penny is with another group. I warded them. Mateo, I don't know. Couldn't place a ward on the dragon itself."

  They were silent for a while. Mana flowed from Nate and Hannah into Luke, who sent it on, joined with his own, pumping it into Liza, but they were all running out, and they'd need mana once the attack dissipated.

  "Reaching the end of the line here," Luke said, his head spinning.

  Liza didn't answer.

  "Liza?"

  "I'm not stopping," she said after another long bout of silence.

  Luke removed the threads from Nate and Hannah. "Not even if it kills you?"

  "Not even if it kills me."

  "Stupid," Luke muttered.

  Her voice was weak and sounded dry when she gave a snort. "You're stupid."

  "Guys," Hannah said, with some energy in her voice. "I think it's stopping!"

  "Thank God," Nate said.

  Luke got to his feet. "Finally."

  The shadow barrier keeping the worst of the warmth away fell in on itself, disappearing and revealing the bubble of Liza's barrier ward. Just as the Vesper had said, the flames were pulling away. Through the translucent but somewhat distorted barrier, Luke saw more bubbles, hundreds of them. Not far from their shelter, the dragon let out a roar that sounded like a mix of anger and confusion, mixed with a little pain. Several people were still fighting it. Those closest hadn't been touched by the fire spell. Rather than flee, everyone should have crowded in. Still, Liza's impressive display had saved them.

  "How are you managing so many barriers?" he asked her.

  When Luke didn't get a reply, he turned back to the others and saw Liza sitting on the ground. She looked up at him, blood pouring from her eyes, nose, and ears. So much blood.

  "I can't stop," she said, raising her hands toward him. "Can't let go of the barriers."

  Blood spewed from her open mouth, and she collapsed to the ground. Through the still active thread between her and Luke, he sensed just how low on mana she was. Still, it wasn’t so low that it should affect her like that. When he healed Alan, Luke had been even closer to zero, and nothing like this had happened then.

  He threw himself down to her. "Nate, Hannah, make sure the dragon doesn't kill us!"