The empty city was just that—empty.

We pushed deeper into it, past the half-timbered buildings with stone first floors and through a market. Blood covered the cobbles there, thick enough that it stuck to my shoes as we skirted the stalls and carts. There'd been a massacre there, but I couldn't tell which side had butchered which. There were no corpses—no half-naked orcs, no residents of the city, nothing but sticky blood.

"It's kind of freaky," Jeff said.

"Kind of? More like very," Yasmin said. Kurt nodded in agreement.

There should have been people here. Whatever the portal world had copied, it hadn't brought the people over. Maybe that's why there were no blood orcs in the city. Without anyone to fight or kill, there was no reason to be there.

But still…I couldn't help but shiver.

I'd never felt…wrong…in a portal before. Misplaced, or too weak, yes. But wrong? That was new.

The marketplace gave way to a second wall, taller than the first. Its gate was closed, but a narrow doorway hung open beside it. Jeff rushed through, shield up and ready to counter any defenders. Then he yelled, "Nothing!" back at us.

I followed him through into a wide, round courtyard. Trees—the first living ones I'd seen in the portal—lined the cobblestone, and grass and recently-trimmed bushes marked off sections of the grounds. But the real centerpiece was the massive, stately cathedral at its center. Its stained-glass windows hadn't broken from the catapult fire, and its marble stone shone, untouched by the violence below. Two towers reached for the heavens at its front, but they were both dwarfed by the massive one behind them.

Its wooden doors hung open at the top of a long set of stairs. Behind them was nothing but darkness.

"That'd be the boss room," Alex said. "We ready to shut this thing down?"

Stamina: 242/250, Mana: 317/400

I nodded. "Let's finish this."

One by one, the rest of the team checked in around me. Then Jeff readied his shield and strode up the stairs. We followed behind him and stepped into the cathedral's main room.

I was ready for anything. For a massively powerful blood orc caster. A hellion with full armor. A necromancer more frightening than the Revitalist I'd fought before.

I wasn't ready for all three.

A blade of glowing, purple energy scythed toward us as we stepped into the room. Jeff reacted instantly; his shield sprang out, and he used Split-Second Shield. As the wave of energy broke itself on his barrier and gray-blue hexagonal shields flared and burned out, Cheddar and Pepperoni rocketed upward on their feathered wings until they flew near the domed ceiling overhead.

"Spread out!" Jeff yelled. "Don't let him hit us all!"

I ran toward the left, while Alex ducked right and Jeff rushed straight down the middle of the aisle toward the boss. Ellen and Kurt set up directly behind him, with Yasmin nearby. And only then did I get a good look at the boss.

Lorak the Desecrator: C-Rank

The Blood Orc Hellions had been big. This one was massive. Ten feet tall—at the shoulder. He could have squared off against the Misbegotten Ogre from the trap portal and probably come out on top just on sheer strength. He'd crammed his naked, scarred body into a gigantic set of holy knight's armor, straps and gold-filigreed plate barely holding back bulging muscle. In one hand, he carried a Hellion's axe, in the other, a Revitalist's staff. The floor around him was littered with half-stripped corpses of knights.

He stepped forward and swung, his whole body a muscle-bound spring. The axe ripped through the air.

It slammed down on Jeff's shield hard enough to shake the cathedral's stained glass.

Jeff weathered the blow, though the impact shoved him into a wooden pew. It exploded as he crashed into it. Splinters scattered across the stone floor. Then he was up, his Unique skill activating as he squared up for the next hit.

"Spell incoming!" Ellen shouted. A Shadow Orb hit the boss, but aside from darkening his armor for a moment, it did next to nothing. The boss didn't even look her way as another wave of purple magic blasted toward her, and she Shadestuttered. "Oh, shit! He's tough!"

"Yep!" Jeff said.

I sprinted through the pews, closing in on the boss. Lorak spun to counter me, his staff raised and axe low. I pulled up short in my one-handed defensive stance. I dodged the axe blow; the staff's spiked tip ripped across my shoulder and breastplate, and the storm tore into the iron point.

Rain-Slicked Blade was the best move, and I had the Rainfall Charge, but I couldn't switch to Thunderbolt stance. The axe split the stone in front of me, and I stepped up onto a pew. It shattered below me as the staff crashed through it.

Then Alex launched a long set of stabbing blows. His daggers found weak spots below Lorak's armpits and in the gaps between plates; the boss's oversized body played against him. Blood sprayed across the room in a half-dozen arcs. Then they cut off like someone had turned a hose off. Lorak's Health was hard at work.

"He's covered in weak spots!" Alex yelled. Jeff rushed in, sword flashing. An arrow slammed into the orc's chest, boring through the breastplate's armor.

I was already moving. The battle trance was in full effect, and I was loving every second of this. We were all fighting at our limits. My off-hand wrapped around the Stormsteel rapier's extended grip. Rain-Slicked Blade consumed the Rainfall Charge. My compressed water blade sliced through the back of Lorak's breastplate.

He yelled something as blood poured from the gap. I dragged the blade left as hard as I could, trying to cause as much damage to his armor as possible. Electricity ripped across his armor, and I jerked my rapier free as Lorak's wound seared shut. The smell of burned, stinking flesh filled the cathedral. I used Flashstep as Lorak loomed over me.

The axe hammered down where I'd been standing. I wasn't there anymore, though. I was safely behind Jeff.

Another arrow punched into the boss, and Ellen's spells danced across him. Jeff fired his taunt skill, then his Retaliate. The staff vanished, and Lorak threw himself into the air. He slammed down, axe in a two-handed grip. Jeff braced himself at the base of the dias. The axe hit, and his shield visibly bent from the impact. A chunk of steel catapulted across the room as the hellion's axe cracked.

Then another blow hit, and another. A chunk flew free from Jeff's shield. He stabbed into Lorak's gut. Alex hit the boss from the left, and I fired a trio of Ariette's Zephyrs into his armored face. Shadow Box rippled across his breastplate and pauldrons. A massive arrow sprouted from one arm.

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But he kept on swinging. Jeff faltered. He took a step back. Then the next axe-stroke drove him to the ground and carved a three-inch groove in his shield. "Take it down, quick!" he yelled. Then he gritted his teeth and squared back up. Another blow hit. Then another.

I switched back to Thunderbolt stance and lunged again. This time, the Rain-Slicked Blade cut into Loram's back, just below his breastplate and above his hip armor. It punched through, erupting from his stomach, and he screamed and collapsed.

That bought Jeff a moment. He backed off, re-centering himself and reversing his grip on his chipped, battered shield. "I'm good. Keep fighting!"

"Reapplying Scripts," Yasmin called. We hammered the boss for a few seconds, light flashing as Cheddar slammed into him and I sliced into his arm. Another arrow thudded into his breastplate.

Then Lorak stood up, climbing the raised dias and standing in the wreckage of the pulpit. His axe vanished. The staff came out, and a ripple of dark purple energy shot out from it as its spiked tip touched the stone bricks and maroon rug.

The first ripple crashed into me before I could dodge. It threw me across the cathedral, and I smashed through a pair of pews before slamming into the wall. A rib popped, and pain rushed through my chest and stomach for a moment before I could redirect the Stamina to dull it.

A second ripple surged out from the boss. "Behind me!" Jeff yelled. He activated Split-Second Shield again, and most of the team made it to safety. I couldn't get there in time.

Cheddar shrieked above me. A beam of bright light shot from his mouth. It sliced into the cathedral's floor, melting stone and setting the wrecked pews ablaze. Then it hit the wall of dark purple energy.

It exploded.

Blasts rippled out from the point of contact, one after another like a giant machine gun with the trigger taped down. Every stained glass window that had survived blew out into the courtyard surrounding the cathedral. And the wave of dark magic stopped just short of me.

"Thanks, Cheddar!" I said. I picked myself up and raised the Stormsteel rapier in a casting stance. A pair of Ariette's Zephyrs launched at Lorak. One hit.

But it didn't hit him.

The holy knights that Lorak had half-dismembered all around the dias stood. One took my Zephyr to the chest, spun, collapsed to a knee, and stood again. Six knights, missing arms or heads. Five of them rushed toward the team. The other charged me, mace held high.

I dropped into my one-handed defensive stance as he closed the gap. Flashstep activated. I disappeared and landed in the middle of the five knights attacking my team. Ellen's Shadow Box was already rippling across them as she sweated and gritted her teeth; she'd taken a bad hit from the wave of dark energy, too.

I switched stances again, stabbed into the nearest knight, and used Howling Gale. A half-dozen wind blades sliced across the undead knights' bodies, catching in the weak points where Shadow Box had cut away armor.

Three dropped. The fourth took an arrow to the neck a moment later, and Alex's knives sliced the last one open.

That left just one. "Take out the boss," I said. "I'll deal with this one."

"Wait!" Ellen pointed at the two familiars in the air. Both had targeted the final knight; a hurricane of clouds had formed around Pepperoni, while Cheddar's mouth glowed a brilliant white.

They probably had this.

I focused on the boss.

Lorak was still up after the explosions. He didn't even look phased as the axe appeared in his two hands. He roared something and leaped toward me.

I parried perfectly. The Rainfall Charge appeared around the Stormsteel Rapier. But it didn't matter. Lorak's axe blew through my guard and cut across my leg, slicing it to the bone. Pain slammed into me for a moment before I poured my Stamina into the injury to blunt it. It wasn't enough to ignore it, though. I fell to a knee, but shifted to a defensive stance. The next blow came in high—an attempt to cut me in half. I parried perfectly. The Rainfall Charge appeared around the Stormsteel Rapier. But it didn't matter.

The impact knocked me across the cathedral again. Wooden shards stabbed into my back; I tried to ignore them, but I couldn't move.

The boss stalked after me, ignoring Jeff and Alex. I couldn't stand. The wood in my back was dangerously close to important veins and arteries. But I could take another hit. Maybe two. And I had a Rainfall Charge.

Not for Rain-Slicked Blade, though.

Lorak's stolen, too-small armor was shredded. Between Ellen's Shadow Boxes and the attacks that we'd landed, he looked like any other half-naked, patchwork-armored blood orc. I didn't need more armor penetration right now. I needed to survive. My breath hitched as I brought my sword up to try parrying his next attack.

Lorak's axe crashed down. I steeled myself for impact.

And Jeff threw himself in the way.

I hadn't expected that. It gave me a moment to breathe and push myself to my wobbling feet. "Back off," I tried to say, but all that came out was a coughing groan. Alex jumped in—even worse. I couldn't cast Thunder Wave with them this close.

Lorak swung his axe, knocking everyone away from him, then hovered mid-air as dark magic surged around him. I quickly used Saltspray, hoping the purple energy wave he was almost certainly about to unleash was a spell.

My next Zephyr hit, and he crashed to the ground as his magic failed. He landed hard—right next to me. I couldn't move. If I couldn't move, I couldn't use Flashstep, Gustrunner, or most of Mistwalk Forms' passive power. I readied another Zephyr, this time with Headwind. If I was going to die here, I'd give my team the best chance I could.

Instead, Pepperoni's stormcloud-covered wings wrapped around the boss. Her jaws ripped into the boss's spine, right where I'd landed my Rain-Slicked Blade earlier. Lightning arced through Lorak's body and across his ruined armor.

I fired the Headwind-infused Zephyr. It hit, and the boss slowed. He whirled as Jeff's taunt skill landed. His axe smashed into my friend's shield.

"Casting!" Ellen yelled.

Another Shadow Ball smashed into the boss. An arrow sprouted from his visorless helmet, right in the face. He hit the ground, and Alex's knives ripped across his throat.

Lorak tried to get to his feet, but Jeff rushed him, slamming him into the ground. His sword flashed twice. Then again. Blood spewed across the cathedral. And a moment later, a message appeared.

Portal Collapse in: 59:57

We'd won. I let myself relax as Ellen rushed me. "Kade, are you okay?"

I definitely wasn't okay.

Stamina: 23/250, Mana: 82/400

My Stamina was so low I could barely stave off the exhaustion and pain, and I didn't have the Mana to cast a Thunder Wave. I didn't need to, but it had been my finisher, and I'd been forced into a desperate holding action with Ariette's Zephyrs. If it hadn't been for Cheddar and Pepperoni, I would have died. As it was, the bleeding wouldn't stop from my back and leg. I couldn't heal it with Stamina, either; I didn't have Recovery. I needed time, and I was running out of it.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I whispered. My lips tasted coppery. Ellen rolled me over and stared at the wood I knew was stuck in my lower back. She started trying to pull it out.

Yasmin pushed her aside roughly. "Don't be stupid. We leave it in there until he's healed around it. Jeff, medkit, now!" She got to work, and I unsummoned the Stormsteel rapier and breastplate. It was the only thing I could to do help, besides routing Stamina to both wounds to dull the pain a little. And soon, I wouldn't even be able to do that much.

It wasn't the first time I'd had someone's fingers in my wounds. Yasmin was a rough but efficient medic. She packed gauze and bandages around the wooden stake in my back, then rolled me to my side. I couldn't exactly resist. Then she did the same for my leg, cursing as she went. "Ellen, I need your hands," she said. "Pressure here. As much as you can get on it."

"Am I dying?" I asked.

Yasmin shook her head. "No. You're going to pull through. But you and Ellen need to get your asses out of C-Ranked dungeons. We all do. We got lucky we didn't lose anyone."

"I thought we could handle it," Jeff said.

I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could, a glowing golden light filled the cathedral.

Jeff reacted first. He slid between me and the boss, and I saw how much of a beating he'd taken. It was only his new C-Rank status that was keeping him standing—I was sure of that. Dozens of cuts had broken through his armor, and he'd shed his shield, or what was left of it. "What's going on?" he asked.

"I have no idea," Kurt said. "Is this a trap portal?"

"No. We saw the exit. It's just a C-Rank. But this isn't right. It should be over!" Jeff yelled back as a howling filled the air.

Golden light poured from a point in the middle of the room, light so bright it was like a second sun erupting inside the building. I could only imagine what it looked like from outside, but from inside, it was bright enough that I had to cover my eyes with my arm.

Then the light stopped.

And a portal opened beneath the shattered stained glass.

A golden portal.

Before I could react—before anyone could react—a tendril of lightning reached out. It connected with me, right at my chest, but it didn't hurt. And around me. It pulled me off my feet even as I fought to use Flashstep. I had no Lightning Charges. No Charges at all. I tried to summon the Stormsteel rapier, but before I could, I'd already been dragged into the portal, leaving my friends and teammates behind.

The last thought I had before everything went black was that, if I survived, Jessie was going to kill me for this.

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