I barely had time to register that he was activating his blood infusion second level by the time he was fully transformed. Marcus’s body had grown several feet taller, and his eyes glowed teal before a solid white mask, like a slab of chalk, grew over his face. Painted on it in black ink was a crab. His arms bulged, thickening as if molded over by some demonic force. Shell-like growths spread across his body, and he snarled. I caught sight of white steaming ichor spewing from his mouth, which fell onto the ground with a tss sound.

  Sora screamed, and several of the House Enlil students gasped, stepping back into the forest.

  “Hey, jackass,” I shouted, pointing my staff at Marcus’s monstrous form. “Why exactly are we fighting? There are six scrollguards, yeah? Just go find your own!”

  Marcus twitched, his demonic face contorting into a sneer. “Dddddon’t get involved, recruit.” His voice was low, like an alien creature.

  But I wasn’t having it. “No, I’m serious,” I said, furrowing my brows. “Are you just trying to be an asshole? There’s no point in doing all this; just play fair, and the first one with the scrolls wins.”

  “The point is to wwwwwin,” Marcus chittered.

  Before the tension could boil over, Galina’s voice cut through the chaos. “Don’t get distracted, Erik,” she ordered, her tone firm yet edged with concern. I glanced toward her as she put herself between Marcus and me, keeping me from escalating the verbal sparring.

  Even as I exchanged words with Marcus, I felt a swell of conflicted determination. I knew we all were trained for violence, to fight wars we didn’t choose to. But it felt wrong to fight other kids, teenagers at that.

  I took a deep breath. I could feel the tension grow, and I knew this would only end one way. We had to protect ourselves, no matter how hard it would be to hurt our classmates. Fern’s internal urgings echoed in my mind: ‘Beat them down, show our strength!’

  No—I’ll do what is necessary, but I’m not going to go wild; they are just kids like us. We aren’t killers.

  Marcus’s voice rumbled through the clearing. “It seems your entire house is filled with weaklings,” he taunted as he looked around the seven of us. His demonic crab form was more disgusting than disturbing, but still, I didn’t doubt that he had serious power behind his huge new claws. He turned his head toward his own house and sneered, causing the first-years of House Enlil to cower away. He flashed his head toward us, and at that moment, Galina stepped forward, eyes blazing with authority as she bellowed an order: “Aim for his joints and knock them out of place! Don’t worry, we won’t kill you Marcus—we are just here for some seafood!” She ran forward, charging Marcus, with Mel and Luna quickly behind.

  I closed my eyes and tapped into my synergy with Fern, feeling the familiar electricity run through me. I bent my legs and pushed off. My body moved with lightning speed, and the wind whipped around me; my bo staff whirled in my hands like a propellor, and I skated across the ground. I flew in close to Marcus before he could react and struck him with precision at his newly transformed leg.

  CRACK.

  His shelled hide shattered under the weight of my staff, and he roared as he recoiled. I felt a foot step off my shoulder and shot my head up in time to see Mel fly through the air; she had copied Galina’s attack from earlier and had shot her grappling hook into Marcus leg.

  THUNK.

  The grapple held, and Mel hung in the air for a moment. Her eyes were wide with the thrill of the fight. She clicked the retraction button and was whiplashed toward Marcus.

  “Take this!” Mel shouted, slamming her stick into the wound I had opened.

  “Rrrrrraahhhh!” Marcus bellowed in pain as one of his transformed legs snapped in half.

  “Nice going, recruits!” Galina yelled.

  I looked up toward her voice and saw she was standing in a tree nearby. She looked down at Luna and shouted, “Now, girl!”

  In a flash, Luna appeared at my side.

  She had two new sticks in her hand, both about a foot long. Luna tilted her head toward me and give a small smirk before she moved like a shadow. In a fluid, almost supernatural way, like when I used synergy, she darted forward and struck at Marcus’s other leg.

  KNACK KNACK.

  The two blows were precise, hitting his supporting leg. Marcus swiped at Luna but missed. His claw crashed into the ground, and rocks the size of dogs flew toward his housemates. They screamed and dodged out of the way from the falling stones.

  Seizing the moment, Galina surged in next; her staff whirled in a savage arc as she struck hard at Marcus’s neck, which had been grown over by a shell-like covering. I scrambled to find a proper stick to use to replace the one I had shattered, but there was nothing close-by. I watched, heart pounding, as Silas, Sora, and Tevin quickly followed up. Their coordinated attacks were relentless: Silas had ditched the stick altogether and chopped his mechanical arm into the shell, cracking it further. Tevin’s ferocious swing and Sora’s desperate follow-up all combined to crack Marcus’s shelled neck.

  Mel shot her grappling hook up at the tree to get airborne, and with a final resounding crack, Mel knocked the hulking crab-beast down to a groaning torso.

  “Ah, we did it! That wasn’t too hard!” Mel said, wiping sweat from her forehead. I laughed and stood back up.

  “You sure got used to these grapple gauntlet things, Mel.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  “What can I say, mosshead, I pick up anything involving violence quickly.”

  Then a gurgling sound came from Marcus’s moaning torso.

  “Shit, watch out!” I yelled.

  To our horror, Marcus began to spurt acidic ichor from his mouth that sizzled on contact with the earth.

  “Dodge it!” I shouted, watching as Galina narrowly evaded a jet of searing liquid. Sora tried, but in a frantic bid to protect me from an incoming glob of acid, she got caught on a protruding root hidden in the underbrush. The acid thankfully flew over her head and began to dissolve the nearby boulder.

  Why is she always doing that?

  A cry tore from her throat as the root pinned her. Marcus gurgled again.

  “Sora!” I sprinted to her side and bent down to try to free her foot.

  A louder moan came from Marcus. It sounded like he was about to explode.

  “Sora!” Luna dove over and helped with the root.

  “Idiot!” Mel said, grappling toward her.

  “No—don’t worry, I’m all right!” she insisted. “You guys watch out! He’s going to spit again!”

  Let’s go all out, Fern.

  ‘Yes!’ he cheered.

  Then I stood up and turned toward Marcus.

  “What are you doing? Help us!” Mel shouted.

  I ignored her and felt the surge of power through me. The synergy tapped in like locking into place, and my blood flowed. I grabbed Sora’s wooden staff and channeled the river of synergy to my arms. Every muscle from my palm to my shoulder was tense and swirling with the synergy. I twisted, locked my hips, and breathed. Then Marcus spit, and I swung. I aimed for the ground in front of me, and before his acidic ichor could reach us, the ground erupted like an earthquake. Dust exploded around the rainforest, blacking out all visibility.

  “Now hit his head!” Galina commanded. I obeyed without hesitation. I ran up, delivering one final, thunderous blow that shattered his white mask and sent his monstrous form crashing to the ground with a bone-rattling thud. Marcus let out a last, guttural groan before his eyes rolled back, and he slumped into unconsciousness. His form vanished and his normal body returned, limbs included.

  The clearing fell silent except for our ragged breathing and the low hum of the jungle that slowly came back to life. I stood for a moment, surveying the aftermath: Our wooden staffs were shattered, stained with ichor and blood, and our bodies bore fresh wounds from the ferocity of the fight. The House Enlil students stared at me with awe at what I just did. Soon I would have to explain my feats. But I hoped I could put that off a little longer.

  Galina knelt beside Marcus’s prone form, checking him quickly. “He’s out,” she said, her tone both clinical and triumphant.

  Sora managed a weak laugh. “Wow, so many of you came to save me.”

  “Of course we would, Sora!” Luna said, rushing over to the girl and giving her a hug.

  “I was just making sure you wouldn’t ruin our fight.” Mel pouted.

  As we began to gather our gear and retreat, Rinka rushed down the hill, her eyes wide with concern. “Wait, Sora, what happened? What’s that bandage?”

  Sora brushed a stray lock of silver hair from her face and smiled bravely at her sister. “I’m okay, Rinka. I’m doing fine—I’ve got great friends, after all!”

  Rinka’s eyes softened as she offered a heartfelt nod, and even Lucius, standing a little farther away, gave a friendly, supportive grin.

  “Hey, pay attention and help our coleader,” Lucius called out, though his tone was gentle.

  We exchanged brief, determined looks before slipping away from the chaotic battlefield. Our focus was now on regrouping with Waelid and finding the last scroll. I hoped that Waelid and his group had an easier time and we could just get the scroll and go. Knowing that we stopped House Enlil, or at least half of them, felt like a victory to me.

  I tightened my grip on my staff and looked to Galina. I noticed she had no injuries. “How come you didn’t activate your blood infusion?” I asked.

  Galina didn’t look at me. “That power is cursed. I would have ended up killing you. I won’t use my form until I have mastered myself and reached level three.” Then she stopped, waited for the others to walk by, and looked at me. “You, on the other hand, have grown quite . . . adept at using your power. You revealed it to onlookers, you know?”

  “I do.”

  “And?”

  “And . . . I have no regrets. I had to help my friends.”

  Galina looked at me for a moment and then closed her eyes and walked ahead. “I will still be keeping an eye on you. The moment your growth turns corrupt, I will end you.”

  As we trekked eastward toward the looming mountains that poked out of the edge of the rainforest, the dense trees thinned. The air grew cooler, and the sounds of wildlife faded into an eerie silence. It was nighttime, and through the opaque walls of the pillar, I could see the two moons outside. Galina led the way, her steps more deliberate as fatigue weighed on her. We scanned the trees for signs of Waelid’s camp.

  “Over here,” Silas called softly, pointing to a small notch carved into a tree trunk—a subtle arrow pointing northeast.

  “Waelid’s markers,” Galina acknowledged. “We’re close.”

  We followed the trail of notches, each one guiding higher up the rugged terrain. After another ten minutes, we emerged into a clearing nestled against the base of a cliff. It overlooked the entire first floor. I could see the Mouth, where we entered in the center of the forest. It was like looking at a giant hole in the earth. Above, on the ceiling, the hanging trees swayed softly in the wind.

  When I turned around a corner, we ran into Waelid’s camp, and my blood ran cold.

  The camp was in disarray. Tents lay torn, supplies scattered.

  A boy I hadn’t had time to get to know lay on a bedroll, passed out and bandaged from head to toe. Nearby, another first-year—a girl with short, messy blond hair—sat against a torn tent, clutching her arm. Their bodies bore fresh wounds and deep gashes. Marrin, one of the other first-years, stepped forward. She had cropped orange hair and, usually, an easygoing demeanor. But she looked distressed.

  “Friends, you’re alive!” She coughed as she stumbled forward. “I am so glad. We . . . were all . . . worried.” Marrin faltered, nearly collapsing, but Luna rushed forward and caught her.

  Waelid walked up to us. His usually vibrant eyes were dulled with exhaustion. A makeshift splint held his right arm against his body.

  “Waelid,” Galina whispered, her voice barely audible.

  A weary smile tugged at his lips. “You made it,” he said. His eyes flicked down to some scratches on Galina’s arms, widening in concern. “What happened? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Sora’s more hurt. Lost an eye. But it seems like you all experienced worse. What the hell happened here?” Galina demanded.

  Waelid exhaled slowly. “A Guardian,” he replied. “The summer one, from a few months ago? It’s here. On this floor. Took us by surprise.”

  A chill settled over me. Memories of the Guardian near Ash flooded back—the overwhelming terror, the sheer power that radiated from it.

  If a Guardian was here, and we didn’t have backup, what chance did we have? We had to run. To get back down the Mouth and back into the academy.

  Silas voiced what we were all thinking. “A Guardian? Here?”

  Waelid nodded grimly. “We fended it off, thanks to the other two houses. But it won’t stay away for long. It’s killing anything that tries to go back down.”

  “Killing?!” I blurted out.

  “Yes, killed two of House Nin already . . . poor kids.”

  My gaze drifted to the forest down the hill from the camp, and my thoughts flashed toward Zenobia and Ruriel. Tevin must have thought the same. He pushed past me and grabbed Waelid.

  “Is Zenobia okay? Short girl, dark skin, blond hair? She’s okay, right? Right?” Tevin shook the house leader violently.

  Waelid grunted before putting his hands on Tevin’s arms.

  “Calm down, big one, She was not killed. But we need to come up with a plan. We have no weapons, no professors, and one stalking killer. If we don’t come up with something, it’s all over.”

  Shit.

  ‘A Guardian here? I thought we weren’t supposed to see those for a while.’

  Still want to go “all out”?

  Fern didn’t answer.