One leaps.
I raise my arm, but I’m too slow—and something slams into the sand between us.
A blast of invisible force ripples outward, hurling Cryptfiends back like ragdolls.
The dust clears.
Oren stands there—dark hair whipping in the wind, palm still raised, that dangerous calm in his eyes.
“Sorry, we’re late.” He says. “Traffic.”
Before the crowd realizes what’s happening, two massive shadows drop from the coliseum walls.
Zeke.
Zane.
The twins hit the sand in perfect sync—ice crackling across Zeke’s skin, fire igniting along Zane’s arms. Blue-white frost races across the ground, freezing Cryptfiend limbs mid-lunge. Zane’s flames explode outward, searing the sand into glass.
The arena screams.
Guards panic.
Archers aim.
The crowd scrambles backward.
The final two appear like two demons straight from hell itself.
Nathan flickers into existence beside me—flames covering his arms. Jet emerges from behind a pillar, knife dripping blood, and eyes burning with fury.
Five men.
My men.
My heart nearly caves in.
Oren reaches me first. His hands cup my face, voice raw and fierce. “We’re here. We arefinallyhere.”
A Cryptfiend lunges forward.
Oren doesn’t look away from me. He flicks two fingers toward it. Shadows spear upward from the sand, ripping the beast off its feet and dragging it into the darkness.
Another leaps for us—Jet raises his hand, and its power dies. It slams into the ground, limp and shocked, unable to regenerate or shift.
I stare at them in awe—their abilities are beyond amazing.
Zane and Zeke join hands—fire and ice colliding in a violent whirl. Flames spiral outward, encasing the beasts in cylinders of heat, while ice locks their limbs in place.
Nathan teleports behind a Cryptfiend mid-pounce, grabs its head, and fire-teleports—reappearing fifteen feet away as the beast turns to ash in the air.
The crowd is in chaos.
I’m in shock because these men… this Faction is ten times more powerful than it was when I was taken.
Selene screams for archers with their own brand of fire abilities. Ubel jumps from the viewing platform, hands thrown out in front of him, planning to use an ability that I can only guess at.
Torren sees him first, draws steel with brutal speed, and then he and Ubel collide amid the chaos.
