Trapper awoke to adrenaline-soaked voices sounding the alarm and frantic footsteps echoing off the stone walls. For a bewildering moment, she was stuck in the borderlands between dreams and the waking world, stepping from one nightmare straight into another.

  “They’re coming!” one of the lookouts yelled. “The Claws’ strike force is beginning its assault!” The warriors went running to man the wall while the support teams moved into position—ready to pull the wounded out of the line of fire and resupply the ranged units as needed.

  Trapper climbed a short staircase, crossed the ramparts on top of the wall, and came to a stop beside Able and the deputies, who were staring into the distance. The final stretch of tunnel leading to the expedition’s base was a straight shot, and they had lined it with magelights until the passage was as bright as day.

  Thus, she didn’t need Riller’s drone to watch as the Claws made their final approach. This close to the base, there were still plenty of traps set along the floor and walls, but the jailbirds had come up with a way to remove the devices without incurring further casualties. A team carrying heavy wooden shields carved from massive trunks went first, followed by Ripper himself.

  The black-haired, ritually scarred jailbird was a Disruption specialist. He wasn’t as dangerous as a pure warrior in hand-to-hand combat, but his skills were lethal in an engagement like this. Every so often, he sent out a massive Disruption Pulse, erasing her control over every device in the area—along with a collection of proximity-triggered skills the other hunters had placed within the tunnel.

  “Shit,” Trapper said. “They figured out how my core works. They’re reverting my traps to dumb devices, and they have a perfect way to trip them.”

  Sure enough, Roth gestured, and a horde of centipedes skittered forth. They dispersed to form a staggered pattern that offered superior coverage while keeping the bugs far enough apart that only a few got caught by each trap, minimizing the mana it cost to maintain the screen.

  Once their path was clear, the shield-bearers advanced, and their crews repeated the process. The expedition let loose some long-range attacks, but they were either neutralized by Ripper’s powers or blocked by the shields, so Trapper ordered the defenders to conserve their mana and ammunition until the jailbirds were closer to their position.

  “It won’t be long now.” Able ran his fingertips across his massive stone hammer. “The moment those shields aren’t sufficient to protect them, they’ll charge across the last stretch of ground, and we’ll be fighting at the wall.”

  Sure enough, less than five minutes later, Ripper withdrew, and the main body of Claws advanced. When Roth gave the signal, the entire warband let loose a bloodcurdling battle cry and charged the expedition, with her army of insects leading the way.

  There were still some active devices this close to the base, and a trio of convicts perished before the last one was triggered. By now, both sides were in range of each other and as the jailbirds’ melee fighters advanced, projectiles and spells in all shapes and sizes filled the air to form a chaotic maelstrom of death and dismemberment.

  Trapper fired a bolt into a prisoner’s throat and another that sank into the meat of a warrior’s thigh, prioritizing anyone with an aura or long-range attack. In the time-warped heat of battle, it felt like the fighting had been going on for hours, even though it had only been a few minutes since the prisoners appeared.

  The moment the Claws began their final approach, the dynamics of the battle changed. The ranged units unleashed their strongest skills, hoping to take some enemies out before the units engaged each other and they risked hitting their own people from behind.

  Most of them were absorbed by defensive powers, since both forces were prepared to battle other skill-wielders, but a few found their mark. Curses and screams echoed across the cavern, along with the thud of bodies hitting the floor—dead or wounded, Trapper didn’t know.

  A few seconds later, the first wave of jailbirds came into range of the hunters’ consumables. Thanks to the handheld launchers Ander had crafted from random materials, even the expedition’s stage-one support staff could contribute to the barrage.

  Flashbangs, stink bombs, and poison-gas grenades filled the air, landing behind the convicts’ frontline and slowing the next wave down. Most of the devices were merely distracting or unpleasant to deal with, but the poisons Melchior’s team had whipped up were far more deadly.

  A half dozen prisoners fell to their knees, clawing at their throats while foaming at the mouth. The Claws used skills to treat their people and clear the air, but Trapper was certain that several of them wouldn’t recover in time. The crafters had also created a range of substances that covered the floor—most notably sticky glue and slippery oil. Their bombs spread the liquids across the tunnel, making the footing unpredictable and reducing the prisoners’ mobility.

  By now, Roth’s summons had entered the base. The melee warriors went to work killing as many as they could, thinning the horde before they were needed at the wall. Meanwhile, the alchemists distributed healing items to the wounded and afflicted. Beside them, the support crews rushed to restock supplies and ammunition, keeping everyone operating at peak performance as the battle dragged on.

  Large-scale conflicts are different from fighting as a crew, Trapper mused as she fired bolt after bolt from her oversized crossbow. Even non-combat personnel can make major contributions and rack up the kills.

  The ensuing chaos bought the defenders a few precious minutes to whittle away at the strike force, but all too soon, the battle’s blood-drenched prelude would end, and a symphony of destruction would ensue.

  ***

  In a nearby tunnel, a monster was waking up from its brief stint in cold stasis. As fresh blood flowed into its brain, its senses came back online—although it would be a few minutes before its tissue thawed enough to restore mobility to its limbs.

  The goatlike creature had been trapped in the void for years, dreaming of freedom. Then, when it was finally released from the pocket dimension, it had been tortured, and its inner world was invaded. A prime skill had been stolen from its collection, then its body was frozen in ice.

  By this point, the monster was beyond furious and ready to devour the first creature it saw.

  Unfortunately, it hadn’t gotten a good look at its tormenter. It had been assailed by blinding lights and horrible scents the instant it emerged. But that was all right. It was more than happy to vent its frustration on anything unfortunate enough to cross its path.

  On that note, it could hear voices coming from ahead. Smell the blood flowing in their veins—spiced with adrenaline and just a hint of fear. A sumptuous feast for its first meal in ages.

  The black goat took one stiff step, then another, fighting to move as Regeneration restored its frostbitten tissue. The motion helped to hasten the process, and by the time the monster reached the end of the alcove, it was ready to bring the pain to the softskins ahead.

  Its Wind Ward had been stolen, but it still had Acid Breath, and it was eager to use it.

  The furious creature bounded toward its first victim, tearing out the man’s throat before he knew it was there. Then the goat turned to face a trio of convicts, Breathing right in their face. A thick cloud of acid engulfed them in the blink of an eye, leaving them screaming as their skin bubbled and oozed before running like wax.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  The half-melted corpses looked delicious, but the monster would have to wait a little longer to enjoy its meal. Before it was time to dine, it had a lot more killing to do.

  ***

  Trapper ducked beneath a flaming javelin, then turned and fired her crossbow at the man who had thrown it.

  It was the last lightning round she had, and when the aether-infused missile sank into the warrior’s stomach, a tremendous discharge of electrical energy ensued. The stricken jailbird screamed as her magic took its toll, spasming and smoking as the life faded from his eyes.

  She fired the rest of her quiver back-to-back, using her final elemental bolts in the process, occasionally letting out a blast of Manipulate Air to blow incoming missiles away from the defenders, along with some weaker skills.

  When the first wave of centipedes crested the wall, Trapper drew her silver sword, cutting the bugs down almost as fast as they appeared. She wouldn’t be able to hold them back for long, but she was determined to protect this position for as long as possible, maximizing the impact of the final surprise the expedition had in store for the Crimson Claws.

  By now, the convicts’ melee specialists had almost arrived at the base of the wall. She watched as they entered the forest of granite spikes twenty feet ahead, which the earth shapers had formed using the tunnel’s floor. They were long, sharp, and angled so that it was impossible to charge through without impaling yourself in the process.

  The prisoners were forced to slow down and weave their way around, making it easier for the defenders to land their shots. Several warriors were injured after being flung into the spikes by the hunters’ skills, and one unlucky woman was impaled when the man behind her slipped on a pool of blood and shoved her straight into a stone spine. She looked down in utter astonishment and then collapsed like marionette whose strings had been severed.

  It would be another minute or two before the Claws made it through, but Roth’s summons faced no such impediment. The rest of her creations came skittering forward in a clattering horde, climbing the wall, working their way between the joints, and scaling the stone surfaces of the passageway itself.

  It was the last thing the defenders needed, but after fighting the bugs for over 20 hours straight, they were intimately familiar with the creatures’ capabilities and had devised a range of techniques for slaughtering them without getting bit or stung in the process. The support staff and stage-one fighters moved to deal with the swarm, taking some wounds in exchange but keeping the bugs from distracting the warriors fighting atop the wall.

  That was when a group of claws Came running out of the tunnel, screaming that a monster had attacked their fallback point and was slaughtering everyone it came across. Ripper swore and turned to deal with it, removing him from the battlefield for at least a few minutes.

  In that moment, Trapper thought her luck had finally changed—that she just might be able to win this fight and make it home in one piece after all.

  Matters took a dramatic turn for the worse when three events occurred within a short span of time.

  The first was that the melee Claws reached the base of the wall. Some of them began attacking the barrier directly, attempting to create a breach. Others used short-range skills to strike the defenders above or Leapt onto the walkway, and the clanging chime of blade against blade echoed across the battlefield.

  The second event was Trapper’s forces began losing their minds. A group of hunters started screaming that spiders were crawling beneath their skin, abandoning their position while beating at their bodies. Another set insisted flying serpents were attacking from above. She didn’t see anything of the sort, but several crews were panicking while firing weapons and skills into the air.

  “Shit. It’s Ella’s mind magic,” Able reported. “Someone get over there and Disruption-surge our people to stop her skills! If that doesn’t work, knock them out or do whatever you must to restrain them.”

  That was when a pair of Claws jumped from below, landing between Trapper and Able. She reached behind her back and detached her last bladewire net from her pack, flinging it at the closest enemy. The razored mesh of wires and cables spread out and sliced into the woman’s flesh, biting deeper with every move she made.

  Trapper shoved the bound warrior off the wall, then drove her sword into a convict’s thigh, distracting him long enough for Able to crush the man’s head like a melon with his heavy war hammer.

  All of this took place in less than a minute, at which point the third and most worrisome development ensued. It seemed Roth had grown bored of letting her summons do her dirty work and decided to join the battle herself.

  Summon skills were Rare powers, and most summoners preferred to fight from behind the front line, directing their minions to defeat their enemies without having to lift a finger.

  Roth was not most summoners.

  The elite strike leader gestured and ignited her core. A dense tide of mana came streaming out of her reactor, then the shadows beneath her robes grew legs. A gigantic centipede rose from below, with Roth riding upon its chitinous back. The armored beast charged straight through the forest of stone spikes, shattering the spines like they were made of spun sugar.

  The hideous creature reared up, reaching out with its barbed mandibles to cut a deputy in half. Meanwhile, Roth used a lance one of her crew members handed her to impale another defender and severely wound a third. There wasn’t enough room between the walkway and the ceiling for the gigantic summon to squeeze through, but at this rate, everyone defending the wall was going to die during the next handful of heartbeats.

  While the summoner drove the defenders back, a tremendous crack rang out as the Claws continued demolishing the wall. “They’re breaking through!” Trapper cried out. “Retreat to the interior bulwark!”

  She flared Manipulate Air and shoved the big bug back, flinging a mixed group of summons and convicts off the walkway in the process. Able brought his hammer crashing down, releasing a flurry of stone knives that forced the summoner to pull back.

  The other deputies burned through their remaining reserves, using their most powerful skills to cover their retreat as they abandoned the wall and ran toward a lesser barrier positioned between two of the buildings of their base. The hail of magic kept the convicts off the wall for now, convincing them to focus their efforts on breaking through instead of climbing over.

  The Claws converged in front of the gate while tearing into the wood. Killing intent shone through in their voices, anticipating the slaughter to come once they bypassed the expedition’s only significant defense.

  But they were about to learn the hunters had one last card to play. The earth shapers had put long hours into stabilizing a patch of stone above the gate, creating a deadfall where it wouldn’t bring the ceiling down over the rest of the base.

  As the gate shuttered and then collapsed, Trapper pulled the trigger.

  A rumbling began and dust flew into the air… right before a ton of rocks came crashing down. A few of the jailbirds had noticed what was happening and pulled back in time, but a full crew of stage-two warriors had been standing at ground zero and were ground to paste or buried in rubble.

  “That won’t slow them down for long.” Able fought to catch his breath as blood ran down his body. “Roth’s mount will clear the breach within a matter of minutes. But we have enough time to get into formation, and every jailbird we’ve killed boosts our odds of making it out alive.”

  They were brave words, but when Trapper looked at the faces around her, it was clear that everyone knew the truth. Until the Claws’ strike leaders were dead, the expedition was doomed no matter how many prisoners they slaughtered. The fight had gone well up to this point, but when both sides met in hand-to-hand combat, the defenders’ casualties were going to skyrocket.

  This was their final stand. If they couldn’t hold their enemy back and kill Ripper, Roth, and Ella, none of her people would ever see the sky and stars again.

  “Get ready,” she yelled, “the wall is coming down!” Before the last word faded from the air, a large swath of stone erupted. Armored bodies poured through the breach, heading for the expedition with bloodthirst so thick she could taste it in the air.

  Fifty hardened killers came pouring through the gap—more arriving with every beat of her heart. Most of the defenders were still alive, but they were out of mana, utterly exhausted, and only moments away from being consumed by panic.

  Ripper still hadn’t returned, and for some inexplicable reason, Ella’s magic had cut off a few seconds earlier. Trapper tried to hold onto hope, but she knew deep in her bones it was too little too late.

  That grim premonition only grew more certain when the next wave of enemies made their appearance. Through the rubble of the shattered wall swarmed hundreds of venomous centipedes, along with Roth and the colossal nightmare she was riding. The robed woman smiled wide when she met Trapper’s eyes—the promise of carnage clear in her gaze.

  When Trapper saw how many enemies were still on the field, she knew her people had lost. She took her stance and raised her blade—determined to die while battling for every breath. We fought well, but not well enough. It was a good life, if a little short for my taste. Now all that’s left is to get the ending right.

  The convicts let out a cheer and then came charging forward as one, barreling toward the defender’s position. Her final thoughts were of Dialla as she watched her death approach.

  Mere seconds before the killing began, something strange occurred. Trapper felt wind stir the hair on her brow, which rose to form a raging Maelstrom as four hunters climbed over the rubble of the wall and fell upon the Claws from behind—four friends she had never expected to see again, including one man who just might be enough to turn the tide.

  In that moment, the light of hope was rekindled with the dark hearth of her heart. A whispered promise that her certain death wasn’t quite so certain after all.

  “Rally. Rally!” Able cried. “It’s not over yet. Edge Vasher has joined the fray!”