It took a moment for Laryn to tear his eyes away from the young woman who stood before him. He hadn’t expected to see anyone out here in the wilderness. She smiled at him brightly, curly brown hair framing her face like a mane. She gave a small wave, then clasped her hands behind her and blushed.

  She wore round, thin framed spectacles, which highlighted her large, chocolate eyes. Laryn smiled back at her.

  “It, um, looks dangerous,” she said, pointing more emphatically. Laryn forced himself to look where she pointed, telling himself her appearance had merely surprised him.

  Around three tiles away, where the sand of the beach gave way to shrubs and trees, a voidling scraped around in the sand. This one was rounder, spikier than the roach-like voidlings he’d fought that morning. It was probably from a different bloom. How many void blooms could there be out here in the wildlands?

  Standing about the size of a large dog, the massive bug kicked around in the sand, examining remnants of the wagon.

  “How many?” Laryn whispered, scanning the beach around him anxiously. He didn’t see any others.

  “I only spotted one,” the Administrator said. She smiled apologetically. “What is it? It’s all prickly.”

  Laryn eyed the iridescent purple chitin of the creature. Sharp spikes jutted from it, and long, sharp claws hooked from its legs, the same vicious weapons which had cost Keldin his life.

  In his weakened state, Laryn didn’t think he would stand a chance against a group of voidlings. But just this one? It hadn’t noticed him yet. If he could find his sword, then maybe…

  “I need a weapon,” Laryn said.

  “You’re going to kill it?” the Administrator asked. “Just, please be careful. You already used up your time rewind. You only have two seconds left, and I… well, I don’t wanna get locked back in that box!”

  Laryn grunted, ignoring her. He searched the beach for something he could use to bash the voidling’s brains out. “I need my sword. Or a heavy stick or something,” he said. “Do you see anything that might work?”

  He scanned the wreckage on the shore, wondering if his sword had washed up in the debris. A spoke from one of the wheels lay partially submerged in the water nearby. It wouldn’t be as heavy as the cudgel, which had a metal ball on one end, but it might work.

  The voidling stopped its aimless wandering and turned toward them. Mandibles clacked, and it trumped, then charged across the empty beach toward Laryn.

  Laryn ran for the wheel spoke and snatched it out of the water. He scanned the tree line again, to see if the voidling’s cry had attracted any others. The Administrator ran with him, her black robe flapping in the wind behind her, sandaled feet splashing through the water.

  Praying to Ishtoran that this creature was alone, Laryn braced himself. Could he even take one voidling right now? His side burned where he’d been stabbed, and his legs shook.

  He swung the spoke. It was light, and not very long. It wasn’t a good weapon, but it was all he had.

  The creature charging him was small for a voidling. Smaller, but faster. It raced over the sand and clicked its mandibles together as it galloped forward, throwing wet sand into the air. Its body rippled, overlapping segments of armored carapace shimmering in waves along its back. Laryn hoped this one couldn’t fly.

  “You’re going to fight that thing with just a stick?” the Administrator asked, strangely unbothered by the charging Voidling. “You should have brought some better weapons with you—”

  “Better to die fighting,” Laryn said, tightening his grip on the spoke. “And I did bring a better weapon. I lost it in the river. If you see my sword I’m all ears!”

  The voidling closed in, crossing the beach with long, loping strides.

  “If this is where I die,” Laryn muttered, “I guess father was right. I was never destined to be a [Ruler].” He glanced over at Keldin.

  “Please don’t die,” the Administrator said from just over his left shoulder. “I’m serious about that!”

  Laryn jumped, flinching away from her. “Stay back,” he ordered, “Keep me between you and it.”

  “I’ve been cooped up in that thing for so long,” she said. “If you die I have to go back in there.”

  “If I die it’s going to rip you to shreds.”

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  The voidling was upon him.

  Voidlings came in many different shapes and sizes. Some flew, some jumped, some lumbered. Some had thick carapace, rife with chitinous spines, while others were sleek and nimble. But a few things were true of all voidlings. They all had exactly six legs. And they all wanted to murder you.

  Laryn took up stone stance, a strong, defensive posture that allowed him to bat away the voidling’s grasping claws. The spoke of the wheel worked well enough, lighter but slightly longer than the cudgel, and he was able to fend off the voidling’s initial attack. He shifted, trying to keep himself between the Administrator and danger.

  He watched the creature, searching for its next move. These beasts lacked intelligence, and often cycled through predictable patterns. Armed with long, razor sharp claws on its front legs, the voidling would probably use those to lash out at him.

  Then it would sink barbed hooks into his skin and pull his body into its mouth as it wrapped legs around him. Sharp mandibles would tear flesh from his bones and shovel him into its maw.

  The voidling struck out, a probing attack as it sized Laryn up. Laryn struck one of the legs, a sharp crack from his wheel spoke.

  The creature backed off, trumpeted once, then clacked its mandibles ponderously. Laryn stole a quick glance toward the undergrowth, but spotted no new enemies. Again he prayed that this one was alone.

  “Do me a favor,” he said to the Administrator. “Watch for any others?”

  “Can do,” she said. “Though I have to say that you should have been more careful with your sword.”

  Laryn grunted, ignoring her as he fended off another attack. He kept his feet planted firmly; stone stance. The monstrosity snapped at his wooden stick.

  “You’re using sword fighting techniques with a stick,” the Administrator said, sounding impressed.

  Laryn raised an eyebrow, surprised that she would recognize the stances.

  He lashed out with his stick, a series of blows that staggered the voidling. He started a pivot to flame to follow up his advantage, but the sand shifting beneath his feet threw off the movement.

  “I have trained as a soldier and a warrior,” Laryn said, dropping back into stone stance to fend off another attack. Sweat dripped from his brow, and his arms trembled. He wouldn’t be able to keep this up much longer. “I can beat it,” he growled.

  She moved along with him, following his order to stay behind him, but continued chattering.

  “You’re a very good soldier, I can see that,” the Administrator said sardonically. “Throwing your sword in the water, is that part of your training?”

  Laryn rolled his eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “You’re doing great. I’m just going to be really disappointed if you die.”

  The voidling dropped back, but this time Laryn pressed forward, compensating for the terrain and pivoting into flame stance. A series of quick jabs landed, striking one of the creature’s eye sockets and crushing the black globe there. The voidling chittered with anger.

  “Nice hit!” the Administrator said, clapping her hands. “You can win this! Do that again!”

  The voidling attacked more ferociously, forcing Laryn to fall into water stance as he danced back from the creature, deflecting blows from the onslaught. They reached the shallow water, and Laryn stumbled.

  “Stop talking,” he hissed. “You’re distracting me.”

  Pain swelled in Laryn’s side, and he knew he was bleeding from the wound in his side, more heavily. The fight had torn something open inside of him too.

  He wasn’t going to be able to kill the voidling with this stick.

  “Come on, you’re doing great,” the Administrator shouted, jogging beside him. Laryn stumbled backwards into even deeper water. The waves of the river lapped at his calves.

  He was lightheaded. He’d lost a lot of blood already. He had to find a way to kill this creature. The spoke wasn’t heavy enough to crush or crack the chitin of the voidling, and it wasn’t sharp enough to cut and stab through a weak place.

  If he could find a large rock, maybe he could smash the monster’s head.

  The voidling sprang out of the water, claws flashing in the light as droplets of water sparkled in the air around him. Laryn barely brought the stick up between himself and the creature in time.

  He tripped over something behind him in the water, and fell backward with a splash.

  The voidling bit down, snapping its mandibles around Laryn’s stick. Laryn pushed back against the creature, holding the spoke on either end and pushing it into the voidling’s maw. Spiked legs scratched at Laryn’s arms and chest.

  So this was it. The wild ride down the river, surviving the waterfall, activating the kingdom core… It had all changed nothing. He should have let the voidlings kill him hours ago and saved a lot of trouble.

  “Oh no, come on!” the Administrator cried out, real frustration in her voice. “Get up and hit it again, you can do this!”

  “You’re not helping!” Laryn grunted, kicking up into the underside of the voidling.

  “Wait! Magic affinity! I almost forgot. You really should have done the tutorial.” The Administrator’s voice chirped, painfully optimistic despite the tone of urgency.

  Laryn grimaced. The voidling’s sharp claw raked down his side, ripping away the makeshift bandage he’d applied. Bright light flashed in his vision. He turned his head and choked on shallow, sandy water.

  Elena’s face appeared in his vision. Her sad, blue eyes sparkling like diamonds. “Come on, Laryn,” she said. “You’re being childish. I’m actually going to be someone….”

  When she found out he’d died in the wilderness she’d understand how much she’d hurt him. She’d regret it for the rest of her life…

  “You can use magic now!” the Administrator said. “Try a Water [Dart]!”

  Magic?

  “How?” Laryn shouted. The voidling pressed down on him. Something cracked in his chest as he wrestled the voidling back. It tried to stab his torso with its long front legs.

  “Just think it!”

  The voidling latched onto the stick and shook it out of Laryn’s hands, then tossed it aside.

  Laryn crab-walked backward in the water, trying to think about shooting a water dart. He didn’t really know what that meant. He was going to die. The voidling pounced. Laryn raised a hand and the voidling sank its mandibles into his forearm. He screamed.

  “Do something! We’re both going to die!”

  “Use your magic!”

  “How?”

  Then he felt something stirring within him. A spark of power that hadn’t been there before. His senses expanded, and he felt the elemental essences permeating the world around him. Water, in the air, in the sand, flowing through the river. He called to it.

  The water around him stirred and rippled, then rushed in to his aid.

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