By the time Ellen and the rest of the Desert Wind Guild pulled up outside of the Mesa section of the 303 Wall, her teeth itched from Angelo Lawrence’s unleashed power, and her skin was starting to burn from the heat pouring off the massive, flaming bird that kept soaring from one besieged side of the city to the next.

  Every S-Ranker was on the battlefield, and none of them was holding back. Explosions rippled in the distance, massive shields rose up to touch the steam cloud, and the ground shook under weapon swings that could cleave through feet of solid steel. The A-Rankers fought hard, too. The elevator was littered with monster corpses as it descended in front of them, and an A-Rank support waved. “Come on, let’s go!”

  Ellen went.

  As the team—every B and C-Ranker they could muster, with the Ds and Es back in reserve—rode the elevator up toward the fighting, the support gave a quick briefing. “There’s something new out there. Upgrades. The monsters we’ve been fighting aren’t showing up—only new stuff. The Wall’s holding for now, but there’s one monster out there that’s a threat to it, and if it gets to the Wall, the whole city’s in trouble. The S-Rankers are fighting to stop it. Your job is to stop the rest of them.”

  “Can we?” Jeff asked. He looked pale and nervous under his C-Rank armor.

  “You’re going to try, dammit,” the A-Rank support responded. “You don’t have to win the whole damn battle, but you have to do your part!”

  “And what about you?”

  “I’m bringing you to the top, then I’m regrouping with my team. Coyotes’ second team. We’ve got our own mission.”

  The elevator stopped before Jeff could keep talking.

  And Ellen stared out at the carnage.

  There had to be thousands of monsters, the lowest at B-Rank and with far too many S-Ranks. Mushroom clouds rose across the glassed desert, but the brass, steam, and silk portal monsters hardly seemed to care. They pressed forward even as metal melted and silk burst into flame, dying to pave the way for the next wave, and the next wave, and the next…

  Behind all of that, though, was a single, massive machine. It was almost centipede-like. Black armor with brass highlights covered its back, and steam poured from every joint and rose to join the cloud overhead. Its front was shaped like a triangle or pyramid, and it shivered and shook as the machine—which must have been a few hundred yards long—plodded forward.

  Citysplitter: S-Rank Monster

  A full-on volley of maximum power Angelo skills slammed into the Citysplitter. It shook. A cloud of dust rose around it, and for a moment, Ellen allowed herself to believe the Light of Dawn had killed it.

  Then the pyramid-shaped wedge broke through the dust.

  And after that, Ellen had no time to watch the S-Rank monster’s progress. There were monsters on the wall, and the team was drowning in them in seconds.

  She was a fresh A-Rank, though—she’d consolidated her Laws in the back of Yasmin’s truck—and she was ready to use her newfound power to keep her friends safe. Or at least, alive.

  Ellen would fight as long as she could.

  The portal felt different without an opponent—and without Sarah Cullman. More empty—and more like it was eager for something.

  I shook hands with the hooded and masked C-Ranker who’d be my tank for the first part of this. “Kade Noelstra.”

  “I know. We’re here to get you to the Vision Gate in one piece. The less you know about us beyond that, the better for all six of us.” The delver’s voice came through a voice-changer, and under their robes and armor, they looked almost like a ghost. So did the others. “You can call us by our roles if you need to address us at all. Tank, Healer, Support, Archer, Fighter. Once we’re inside, I’ll talk, but no one else will. The less we say, the less the portal will react.” They pointed to their comrades, one after the other, as they said the team’s roles. Each nodded, but made no other moves.

  “Thanks,” I said. “Are we ready to get started?”

  I needed to get moving. Ellen, Jeff, and the others were on the Wall. They were fighting. The last thing I needed was to sit around and wait for whatever this portal would give me. The need to fight something rose inside of me, and I could barely swallow it down like bile.

  “Not yet. First, we need to synchronize with you,” Tank said. They reached out and touched my shoulder, and so did the others, surrounding me in white robes and gloved hands. “The Fallen Delvers portal wants to pull memories from the delvers who set foot in it, and build itself to reflect their memories. The worst memories. But we can control that by synchronizing our memories.”

  Support cleared their throat. “I have a skill that allows us to experience a reflection of your worst memory. It will force the Fallen Delvers portal to treat us as one mind with one memory, and that will allow you passage through the Vision Gate.”

  I swallowed. “So, you need…”

  “Your memory, yes,” Support said. “Just think about it, and we will experience it.”

  “And that’ll be what the portal turns into?” I asked.

  Tank nodded. “Yes. At least, beyond the entryway. The entryway works differently, and the area beyond the Vision Gate is a mystery. Now, hurry. We need to synchronize.”

  So I did.

  The locked bathroom door. The sound of Dad fighting monsters. The stinking ichor and metallic-smelling blood seeping under the door. The yellow portal. Dad screaming as he died.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  I was helpless. I couldn’t do anything to change it. Jessie and I were going to die, and the practice foil in my hand couldn’t do it. I’d seen the first monster almost three minutes earlier. It was long—nearly fifteen feet from end to end—and silvery-black. A quartet of scythe-like pincers hung from its mouth, each almost three feet long and wide enough to fill the hall. Something dripped from those blades. It burned the carpet where it splattered.

  I’d made promises, but they didn’t matter. They meant nothing. Dad couldn’t beat the monsters, and neither could I. The centipede-like monsters were ripping through the pressed-board door. Jessie sat in the bathtub. I had to do something—but what? There had to be an option.

  The system awakened. I had a skill. I was a delver, and I could fight back.

  Stormbreak.

  That was the answer. It’d be my path forward, the way I’d keep my promise to Dad. I’d—-

  “That’s enough,” Support said. “We’re ready. You can breathe.”

  My eyes flicked open, and the first breath burned my lungs. I blinked back tears of rage—impotent rage.

  Then Tank stepped through the Fallen Delvers portal, and I followed them, key in hand.

  The portal world shifted quickly as I stepped through the brilliant blue portal.

  One moment, it was a plain cavern that stretched down into the depths and darkness. The next, the walls closed in around us until there was barely enough room to swing a sword, and everyone but Archer had to bend over. The walls dripped with a slime that both slid off my armor and stuck to it at the same time, and the earthy yet rotten stink was almost overwhelming.

  Tank pointed. “Enemies will be C-Rank. We’re E-Rank. Fight smart.”

  Then, without waiting for a response, they pushed forward. The five ghosts moved as one, practiced steps keeping even distances as Tank moved down the tunnel. There was a gap between them and Archer, and I slid into it.

  I’d never seen the portal world the centipedes had come from. Dad had gotten Jessie and me into the bathroom, and when I’d gotten Stormbreak, I hadn’t left the room to use it. Whoever had cleared the broken portal hadn’t given me a debrief either, so I had no idea what to expect. This was close to what I’d imagined in my worst nightmares.

  It felt like a Warren—but not quite. The tunnels were too round and too uniform. There were no skull walls, no wooden barriers, just round bore-holes in the dirt and occasionally, a larger chamber filled with eggs. Fighter took care of those, their hammer smashing them into hissing, burning gore that ripped at their white robe.

  And it wasn’t quite Queen Mother Yalerox’s realm, either. It was insectlike, yes, but her sandstone castle had been built with an intellect behind it. It had purpose-built rooms, a logical structure—if not to a human, then at least to the skeletal insects that called it home—and there was an attempt at beauty. Here, everything was packed dirt and sticky-smooth slime. Everything. “How do you know where—“

  “Delver, essential words only. The portal is listening,” Tank interrupted.

  I nodded.

  This wasn’t my world. It was theirs. All I had to do was follow as Tank weaved his way down through the passages, every step taking us further from the surface.

  We rounded a corner, and a centipede surged toward us down the suddenly wide hall.

  Hive Guardian: C-Rank Monster

  The ghosts reacted instantly. Tank’s shield slammed down into the ground, and they braced themselves. Three arrows sprouted from the centipede’s malevolent multitude of eyes. It screeched. Acidic bile splashed across us as Support and Healer spread out.

  And I stepped to the left side of Tank. Nimbus Edge reached out. It punched into the monster’s carapace. Yellow ichor erupted out—more ichor than should have been possible. I pulled the blade out. The wound didn’t cauterize, and even more ichor spewed out. But it didn’t die.

  It didn’t die.

  The ones that had swarmed Dad under at the top of the stairs hadn’t died, either. They’d just kept coming. I stabbed again. Another hole appeared, and even more burning bile coated the floor. It wouldn’t die. Why wouldn’t it die?

  “Delver, C-Rank. Focus.”

  Tank’s voice cut through the chaos. I shook my head and stepped back. C-Rank. What did they mean, C-Rank? When I was C-Rank, I’d been fighting A-Rank monsters. Almost losing, yeah, but I shouldn’t have had…

  It clicked. The shrouded delver wasn’t talking about me. They were talking about the monster. We were E-Rankers, and we needed to fight like it.

  I stepped back again. When I’d been E-Rank, I hadn’t really been able to solo monsters two ranks higher than me. I could do it, but it burned too many resources. But I had been a Striker.

  To make it through this portal, I’d have to be one again.

  Arrows poured into the centipede as I circled, looking for an opening. Tank’s shield buckled, but they held firm. Fighter’s axe slammed down, and chitin cracked.

  There.

  I lunged. Thunderblade. My attacks—four of them, one after another—crashed into the centipede’s weakened armor, and it shattered. Then I danced back before a wave of gore and ichor could wash over me.

  The monster died slowly. It took another thirty seconds to finish it off, and by the time it died, I was sweating. Tank’s hand fell on my shoulder. “Well done, Delver. You’re figuring it out. The Fallen Delvers portal is a mind game. Think back.”

  Before I could respond, they kept walking, heading deeper into the tunnel.

  Every S-Ranker in Phoenix was either on the walls or fighting just beyond them. Bernard the Wall. The Spark of Life. The Falcon’s Eye. Even the Phoenix Reborn flew above the city, a cloud of steam following Nathan Anders as rain evaporated off his back. The battle raged.

  Every S-Ranker was there.

  Except one.

  Deborah Callahan raged impotently in a cell high in the Governing Council’s tower. It was lined with portal metal, just like a sparring room. And, just like a sparring room, its damage reduction could be set.

  According to the read-only system embedded in the wall, it was currently set to one percent of normal. All of Deborah’s power—both the years of training and build-optimizing to hit A-Rank and the deal she’d made with the Placid King—meant nothing. She was, effectively, as weak as an unawakened human.

  It was that motherfucking Kade’s fault.

  She didn’t know how. She didn’t know what he’d done. But it had to be his fault. She’d beaten everyone else. Everyone! How could she have lost to a worthless piece of shit like him? It wasn’t possible! And yet, here she was.

  Trapped.

  Powerless.

  All she could do was watch from the portal metal-barred Plexiglas window as Phoenix fought for its life.

  “How did you fail so badly?” a voice asked.

  “Get me out of here. I’m not done yet,” Deborah growled. She turned, fists balled, trying to find the tendril of eyes that had to be here. The Placid King had to be here. He’d free her—and when he did, she’d have her revenge on Kade Noelstra, and on Angelo Lawrence, who’d betrayed her and left her here despite their years of fighting together. How could he do this to her? It was unfair.

  No one did this to—

  “Stop.” The Placid King’s voice hit like a slap.

  She froze.

  “Your arrogance has cost me a lot. So far, it has delayed my ascension by at least a decade. If you’d managed to win that tournament, all would have been forgiven, but no. No, you lost. No Paragon of the Stillwave Path should be so stupid.”

  Deborah opened her mouth to object. She wasn’t stupid. Kade had cheated. But before she could say anything, the Placid King continued. “You will wait there. I’m not finished with you yet, Deborah Callahan. But when my servants come for you, there will be no resistance. You will go with them, and you and I will meet. And we will have a reckoning. Do you understand?”

  All Deborah could do was nod. The Placid King was coming for her. She’d be free from this box soon—free to put her plans into motion. Her fists unballed, and she leaned back against the single pillow and thin mattress, closing her eyes.

  Soon. Very soon.

  Shadowswarm Summoner: A Worldhopping Deckbuilder LitRPG