When my foot connected with the floor it sank in, a move that caused the executive’s eyes to widen. What came next only surprised him even more, as a long chunk of metal shot out of the ground and flew at his chest.

Before Toma could respond the short pillar had already smashed into him, forcing the Architect down the hallway and away from the cell door. “Get in there, get out, call when you’re done!” I shouted over my shoulder at Rosalind, and then chased after the executive.

Toma had come to a stop some twenty feet further down the hall. I knew that there was no way that the impact could have thrown him that far, which meant he’d leapt back. Was it to lessen the impact, or out of some form of amusement?

“Come on now, there’s no way you couldn’t dodge that attack,” I said, in an attempt to probe for information.

The Architect smirked at me, but made no move to attack. I clenched my hands into fists, and then punched the wall next to me.

A ripple spread from the point of impact, as though the metal itself had turned into a liquid. As the ripple moved further down the hall it grew larger, and by the time it reached the Architect it looked almost ready to crash into him.

Instead the ripple stretched across the entire hall and solidified. In a matter of seconds I’d created a wall of titanium between the Architect and myself.

As if that would last long against an executive. I pulled forth my rifle, and my hand gripped the grip under the barrel. Like earlier I pumped it, and then a second time.

The rifle started to grow warm as energy gathered, and then a far larger orb from the regular grenade of before was produced. It flew at an absurdly slow speed at the titanium wall that I’d created.

Two hands pierced through the wall, and then as though the titanium was naught but paper the hands tore it open. Toma slowly started to step through the awkward hole he’d created, the metal bending as he shoved through.

Whether he hadn’t noticed, or chosen not to, but by the time the energy sphere reached him there’d been no reaction. The ball made contact with his left shoulder and exploded, casting a searing light down the entire hall.

It was bright enough that I had to shield my eyes. When the light finally subsided I was able to finally look at what damage my attack had wrought.

The walls and even the floor near Toma had been erased, but the executive himself was still there. Now no longer hindered by the metal wall I’d created he was in the midst of brushing his vest, as though it had been sullied.

The only injury that I could see on him was a bit of a dark mark on his shoulder, but aside from that he seemed altogether untouched. Once he seemed to find his vest properly cleaned he looked at me, his eyes narrowing.

From behind me I suddenly heard Rosalind’s voice, as she called out, “Samara acquired!”

Those were the words I’d been waiting for, and after hearing them I began to put a charge into the rifle. My previous use of the hyper grenade, as Alexia had called it, had spent all of its charge.

Yet if I could blow the shell up, I could do the same with something else that I held. I lifted my right foot up and lightly tapped it against the ground in front of me.

Toma had started to walk at me. When flecks of titanium shot up from the ground in between us, and even around him, the Architect paused with a confused look.

I could almost hear the crystals in the rifle cracking, from the excess energy that I’d put into the already strained gems. I casually tossed it onto the ground next to the cloud of metal.

“Explain intentions,” Toma demanded of me with an uplifted eyebrow.

“What, you’ve never heard of a dust cloud before?” I asked, and then immediately jumped back.

Perhaps I’d cut it a bit too close with my cocky attitude, as the explosion went off before I’d reached a safe distance. I was thrown backward, even as I lifted my arms in an attempt to guard my head and chest.

From the momentum of the explosion I rolled even further down the hall, and only when I came to a stop did I retract my arms and look at where Toma had been. All I could see was a wall of smoke.

I didn’t waste any more time, as I stood up and took off running down the hall. I might’ve hurt the executive, but there was no way something as minor as that would kill him.

Once I reached the central chamber I paused for one second, turning back to check if Toma had chased after me. All I could see was an empty length of hall, and at the far end the cloud of smoke.

I slapped the wall next to the entryway into the hall, discharging more of the magical energy. The titanium slid across like a door and created a new blockage, one that I hoped could delay Toma the necessary time for our escape.

A second later I’d already jumped over the railing of the second floor walkway, and so I was able to catch a glimpse of Rosalind as she carried someone into the first floor hall. I ran after her, pausing only for a few moments to create another wall of metal.

When we reached the cell we’d used to get into the prison, Arim had already gone outside. “Time to go!” I shouted to my daughters.

Neither of them argued, and instead followed Rosalind and Arim as they both ran off to the north. I slipped out of the prison, casting one last glance behind me, and then headed for the portal as well.

It didn’t take us long to reach the base of the metal mountain, though we skirted around the town in order to avoid attracting any attention. Whether they were drones or not, any Architects working on this floor were probably slaved to Toma.

A single drone seemed to serve as a guard at the portal, but Lisa made quick work of it. Her sword didn’t even seem to have a hint of blood on it after she sliced the drone’s head off.

As we hurriedly gathered around the portal, Rosalind managed to wake up Samara. The woman was groggy, but she seemed to catch on to what we were doing as Rosalind put her hand against the portal.

Mika and I were the last ones to go through the portal. I paused to look out at the flat plains between us and the prison. Off in the distance a single figure could be seen, one that was slowly heading in our direction.

Floor 63

Heads In The Clouds

When Mika and I appeared on the next floor I hurriedly waved at everyone else. “He’s still coming, get to the next portal!”

“What? We can just ambush him and kill him here,” Lisa argued.

I resisted the urge to sigh. “And if you or your sister get hurt? We can get away nice and clean now.”

Before Lisa said anything else Mika walked over and started to drag her away, shooting an apologetic look to me. “Do not mind my sister, she is merely excited,” Mika told Rosalind.

I could only thank her in my mind, as she’d caught on to the fact that I didn’t want their halos demonstrated yet. If Samara proved to be an enemy we would want the surprise of that on our side.

“We don’t have any more time, we need to go now,” I said.

Rosalind nodded in response, and turned to follow after Mika. She walked into what could only be called a forest of excessively thick trees, with Arim shadowing her.

The glade we’d appeared in was encircled by the giant forest. The trees stretched up high, far higher than any tree normally reached.

I manipulated the controls of the shell and activated one of the magic crystals embedded in the forearm. I opted for the energy crystal, and created a sphere of energy that sat in the palm of my hand.

I threw it as hard as I could up into the air, and then I chased after the others. Behind me when the sphere reached a good distance, it exploded harmlessly but instead created a massive burst of light.

That was my cue to hasten my pace even more. Off in the distance I heard the sound of wood as it snapped, and the ground began to tremble with a consistent pattern.

The forest ahead of me began to thin out, and as I caught up to Rosalind and the others we’d arrived at the edge of a desert. The dark red sand stretched out in all directions, with dips and rises that’d happened due to the wind that blew over it.

Far off in the distance the portal was visible, suspended in the air near some fallen monuments. Aside from a few cacti nothing else seemed to be between us and the next floor.

From behind came a sudden crack, and then a giant shadow fell over us momentarily. An object flew over our small group and crashed into the desert, a cloud of sand thrown up.

Long limbs stretched out from the cloud of sand, and then a creature as tall as one of the trees behind us stood up. A central sphere, one that had a mouth with jagged teeth on the bottom, sucked in the air as the six legs lifted it up high.

For a moment I expected a fight, but then the giant staggered off to the side. Once it’d gone a bit of a distance it merged back into the forest, the long legs blending in flawlessly with the tree trunks.

“Why didn’t it attack us?” Lisa asked.

As if to answer her question there came another crack from far behind us, and the ground rumbled as though something massive had slammed into it. It was those noises that caused the others to run into the desert, and nobody looked behind.

By the time we’d reached the portal all of the sounds of fighting had stopped. It was a silence that, in the past, would’ve filled me with dread. Now it only hinted at a future annoyance.

We gathered near the portal and started to progress to the next floor. There were no conversations, instead everyone understood the urgency of moving further away from where Toma was.

Floor 64

The Endless Sands

Our luck was a bit on the foul side, as when we appeared on the next floor the sun was at its apex. Through the sensors of the shell I could tell that the heat was unbearable, and that there was no moisture in the air.

We’d appeared in the middle of a desert, and that was the extent of all we could see. Dunes rose and fell at random, but there were no plants or animals.

It was a bleakness that could drive a man mad, but it was one that I’d endured before. I felt that my daughters could handle it, though I couldn’t resist looking at Mika with a bit of concern.

“Are we running for the portal again?” Lisa asked.

I shook my head. “There’s no way we can get through this desert in the daytime. We need to find shelter first.”

Rosalind gazed at the horizon, and then turned to me. “Wherever can we find refuge?”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her. The fact that she didn’t know was either a lie, or proof the Architects hadn’t properly scouted the desert.

I used the built in systems of the shell in order to orient myself, and then gestured off to the west. All one could see in that direction was sand, but I knew better.

“Let’s move, and keep an eye out for any steel jaws.”

Lisa bounded over to me, with one hand lifted up to shield her eyes from the sun. “What’s a steel jaw?”

“A giant lizard,” I told her, “that burrows into the ground and leaves its tail exposed. The tail looks like a cactus.”

Lisa laughed a little as she said, “And when someone pokes it out comes the steel jaw?”

“Exactly.”

We started out trek to the west, with my daughters hovering close to me. Arim and Rosalind kept a good distance, one that I found preferable, and neither of our groups interacted.

The reason I’d called for a retreat to shelter became obvious half an hour into our walk. Mika stumbled a bit, as her foot dug deeper into the sand than she might’ve expected.

When I caught her arm to help support her I got a good glimpse of her face, and it was as pale as snow. There was a sort of glazed over look to her eyes, and it was that which prompted me to scoop her up and carry her in my arms.

“What? I can walk,” she said in protest, though she didn’t struggle.

I sighed at that. “You’re poisoned,” I told her, “so no you can’t.”

My words caused Rosalind to look at me with wide eyes. “Poisoned?”

I jerked my head off to the south, where what looked to be a few rocks could be seen amongst the sand. “Puffball poisoning. It blooms in the sunlight.”

Arim lifted one hand up to his mouth, as though to try and shield himself from the poison powder on the winds. “Antidote required?”

“No, your bodies should be able to fight it off,” I said, though I looked at Lisa to make sure she was alright.

My daughter didn’t seem to show any of the symptoms yet, which I could only hope was due to her not having breathed in enough of the powder. If she was suffering, but was attempting to act strong, it could cause a problem.

“Shelter location?” Rosalind asked as she adjusted her hold on Samara.

“Straight ahead, we should be there soon.”

She didn’t speak again, though the look on her face showed how unhappy she was. The fact that the western horizon was for the most part flat, with only sand present, probably disenchanted her.

With every step I had sent out a thrum of magic, though one that was weak. When I finally felt what I had sought I called for a stop, and then handed Mika over to her sister.

I walked a few yards away from them, and then I dropped to my knees and put my hands into the sand. I sent out another pulse of magic, and then I tried my best to grip onto what I found.

The sand began to part in front of me like water, as a rocky formation rose up out of the ground. Once it had fully revealed itself, all of the others could see that I had revealed a dark cave.

It was for this reason I’d brought the earth crystal in the shell. Only through magic could one access the hidden labyrinth beneath the desert, a fact that I’d never been able to capitalize on in the past.

“We need to get in before it closes,” I told the others, and then I promptly walked into the unknown.