Everything happened all at once, faster than I could react.

  The rovers opened fire. Their Taser and Rail Gun shots zipped across the room. One pinged into the Beacon without hurting it at all; the other slammed into the far wall and left a crater in the cinderblock.

  My bombs went off. All of them. Shrapnel and fire filled the room. None of it hit the Fireborn Crusader. None of it hit me, either.

  I didn’t know if anything had hit Zane.

  The second Flamecaller gave in as Zane overwhelmed its resistance and took control of its fire. It surged into the room, taking shrapnel wounds as it did, and pursued its former master, leaving a trail of sticky, molten concrete behind it. I dodged it as it shoved its way past me. My stomach dropped, and I followed the summon in.

  Everything had gone chaotic. The way this fight was supposed to have gone was simple: we’d hold the Fireborn Crusader at the doorway for a minute, Zane would take control of his summons, and he’d come inside, triggering the bombs. That’d weaken him, and from there, he’d be beatable. Then we’d claim the beacon and get it out of here—and back to Museumtown. Easy, at least in theory.

  No plan survives contact with the machinery, though.

  The moment Taven Liu put that helmet on, all my plans had gone completely haywire. There had to be a solution to this problem, but I couldn’t see what it was. So I charged the reforming Fireborn Crusader, hammer crashing down on him as he solidified between the Beacon and me.

  He blocked. I punched the Siege Hammer’s mechanism, and it slammed itself into the greatsword. The blade didn’t bend or break. My opponent did take a single step back, though, bracing his back foot against the Beacon. The Flamecaller joined the fight, jaw and claws ripping at the Fireborn Crusader’s plate mail.

  Taven just laughed. “That’s the best you have, Hal Riley? I expected more from the man who dragged Museumtown through the first phase and beat my first assault back. But if this is the best you’ve got, this beacon does belong to—“

  A wall of fire washed across him from above as Zane entered the fight. There wasn’t a drop of mercy or sympathy in the young man’s eyes. He fired spell after spell into the room, and I pulled the Siege Hammer back, letting Taven Liu get control of his sword again. I needed the distance—and the air, since Zane was rapidly depleting the room’s oxygen.

  I coughed. Then I narrowed my eyes as a massive, dark form rose up in the center of the inferno Zane had created. The Fireborn Crusader stepped out of the flames. He had one armored hand wrapped around the second Flamecaller’s throat, and the other around his greatsword’s hilt. It flashed out, and the Flamecaller died.

  “Really?” he asked. “You’re fighting fire with fire? I was born in flames. And I’ll drag the Crusade through them, kicking and screaming. And in the end—“

  “Let me guess? They’ll thank you?” Zane asked from the catwalk overhead.

  “No. They’ll hate me for it. But they’ll be alive, and you won’t be. The Crusade is the only way forward, don’t you—“

  I didn’t let him finish his sentence. The Siege Hammer swung. His sword flashed. We traded blows and blocks for a moment, his one-handed grip still enough to stop the Siege Hammer but not enough to overpower it. The Flamecaller broke in half at its sword-wound, then disintegrated into a pile of bones on the floor. “You could have given up, Hal Riley! I offered twice!”

  I shook my head. “And I said no. I won’t abandon my people.”

  There had to be a solution. My hammer revved, and the sword was there to block it. If it wasn’t, Taven Liu turned into smoke and reformed. It was like fighting a ghost. There was a solution, but I didn’t know what it was.

  Taven’s sword ripped across my arm. My blood boiled in the superheated Beacon room’s air. Zane cast a spell, and fire danced up all around us, blocking the Crusader from reaching me and letting me take in my shredded arm; the blade had cut through the Autoplate Pauldron and my muscle, then chipped bone.

  It was agony. But it wasn’t as bad as when I’d fought Saul Williams. I forced my arm to work even through the pain, then spun and triggered the Siege Hammer.

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  Plate armor buckled. The breastplate popped inward with a horrific ringing sound, like a gong struck with a mallet. Something a person wore shouldn’t ever have made that sound. I swung a second time and drove Taven Liu to one knee. He glared up at me through the helmet, burning eyes blazing fury at me.

  I matched his fury with my own. The hammer rushed down at the Fireborn Crusader, air parting as I put every bit of strength into the blow.

  It bounced off the concrete floor, cratering it. The cracks ran under the beacon and up the factory’s cinderblock wall. I’d gone for the kill—swung to cave in Taven Liu’s head.

  And he’d turned to smoke.

  But where was he? I whirled, looking for him. He had to be somewhere; he wouldn’t just give up. The beacon sat in front of me, its purple glow reflecting off its off-white casing. It was still inactive, still unclaimed. And the timer wasn’t moving. The Fireborn Crusader was still close. Close enough to contest it.

  Something echoed in the room—the sound of a person in pain, struggling with something heavy.

  He was hurt. I’d definitely hurt him. If I could get to him before he could regroup, I could end this. Calvin’s entire strategy was dependent, in the long term, on Taven Liu’s death. If he died, most of his people wouldn’t keep fighting. They weren’t willing foot soldiers on his crusade, according to what we’d seen. But he had to be removed, at some point. And I’d been trying.

  I was still trying. I looked left, then right. He had to be—

  Pain. Massive, overwhelming pain. My skin was on fire. I whirled, hammer up to block the sword stroke I knew was coming. But the Crusader wasn’t there. Nothing was there. How had he—

  “Hal Riley, I expected so, so much more.” The voice echoed from every corner of the room. I couldn’t find him, but he had to be in here, hiding up high. It was up to Zane.

  Zane.

  He was on the catwalk, the only place I hadn’t looked. He had to be. And Zane was up there, too. I put my head down, ignoring the pain across my back and the agony pouring across me from my open, bleeding arm, and sprinted for the metal stairs. I had to get there and protect Zane.

  The fireball hit me as I reached the top of the stairs. It didn’t come from Taven, either. It came from Zane.

  As the burning faded, I caught a glimpse of the kid. The side of his head had a single, burning handprint in it, and behind him, Taven Liu’s greatsword hung in the air. “You’re beaten, Hal Riley.”

  Options.

  I needed options and solutions. I needed to think. But all that was going through my head was anger. Anger and the overwhelming sense that things were out of control.

  Could I remove the Crusader? Maybe. But I couldn’t do it with a single rail gun shot, or even with a few. His helmet was still intact, so I couldn’t hit him in the head. And anywhere else, he’d have time to bring that sword down on Zane and—

  A fireball formed from Zane’s hand and rocketed toward me. I hit the catwalk. Hard. The heated metal burned my palm and sent a jolt of pain up my arm, but I didn’t care. It was better than the fireball.

  “Still trying to get out of this? You can’t. Your friend is going to help kill you, then help me claim the beacon. Then, I’ll bring it back to Gary, Indiana, and what’s left of your Museumtown will fail Phase Two. Your journey through Integration ends here,” Taven said.

  Okay. What could I do?

  Not remove the Fireborn Crusader. That wasn’t an option. Not really. And I couldn’t remove the beacon. That might be an option, but not a good one. It’d leave Museumtown in the same position as if we lost here.

  Zane.

  Zane needed to be removed. That was the only part that could change. It was the only option.

  The Voltsmith’s Grasp leveled on him, and I fired the rail gun. Three times.

  The shots hit Zane’s arms and leg, knocking him to the ground. He screamed in pain, and his eyes narrowed at me as they filled with tears. My stomach churned. But I hadn’t had any choice.

  “Is this how shallow your loyalties are?” Taven taunted. “Anything to win? Any solution?”

  “There’s always a solution, Taven. It doesn’t always have to be killing each other. I gave you an offer, too,” I said. My throat was tight. Before, I’d needed to kill the Fireborn Crusader. Now, I needed to.

  “And I declined. Come on, then. Let’s end this.”

  He shifted his sword into a two-handed grip and rushed me.

  I brought the hammer up and charged at him.

  The Siege Hammer crashed down. The greatsword flashed.

  I spun as blood poured onto the metal grate. Had I gotten him? The Siege Hammer felt heavy in my hand; I stared at it. Then I stared at the glowing orange glove on the ground—and at my arm, still in it. The Voltsmith’s Grasp was gone.

  I’d lost the fight.

  The metal catwalk rose up to meet me, and I forced myself to roll to the side. Down below me was nothing but concrete, but I needed distance. I needed a few extra seconds to think of…something. Anything. The fight was lost, but the battle was still going on outside—and so was Phase Two. There had to be a solution. If not for me, then for Tori and Calvin, and for Jessica. For the others. But I couldn’t think of anything.

  The best I could do was mutually assured destruction.

  I hit the concrete hard; one arm was too wounded to catch me, and the other wasn’t attached to my body anymore. The air rushed from my lungs, and I pushed myself toward the beacon. My good hand touched it. Taven dropped from the catwalk, armored feet crunching on the cracked cement floor. “What are you trying to do, Hal? The fight’s over. Crawl out of the room and die, or give up. Either way is fine with me. But get out of my way.”

  I didn’t answer. Everything hurt, but I pulled the device out of my inventory and pressed it against the Beacon. Then I rolled over and smiled. “You lose, Crusader. Find your Beacon somewhere else.”

  Waypoint Compromised

  An inactive Waypoint Beacon within this dungeon has been compromised.

  Time Until Overload: 4:29

  4:28

  4:27