Time until next Challenge: 10 days, 12 hours, 22 minutes

  The blinding flash had almost certainly been the result of an attack by one of the electric tower-Titans, but I didn’t feel so much as a prickle of pain: Micah must have absorbed the electrical energy in our immediate area. The wide-area attack had hit elsewhere, and the light from that had been eye-searing, but we’d avoided instant death. That was less comfort than it might be, since I could hear crashes, screams, and ominous crunching noises, and I couldn’t see a damn thing.

  I could feel the yellow speedster nearing us, but my blindness limited my options. Telekinesis was my primary offense and defense these days, and I had to be able to perceive objects to target and manipulate them. Life Sense only let me sense living things, and Telekinesis didn’t work on anything alive. Without sight, I could only “grab” objects I was touching, and flailing around with them was more likely to hurt my allies than the monsters.

  It was unfortunate, but at least I had other abilities. Gavin had slung himself onto the monster’s back, out of reach of its teeth and claws, but in striking range of its barbed tail. A fierce burst of Paralyze halted the whip of the offending appendage for a full second, tiring me but giving another adult - was that Priya? - time to dash forward and cut it free from the monster’s body.

  With Gavin out of immediate peril, my job was to keep myself safe until my sight returned, and that went double with Cassie still in my arms. I dodged backward, turning to put my torso in between Cassie’s Summoned Shell and the monster. Another step made me almost lose my balance as my shin banged painfully into something hard. A piece of debris that had come loose from the car’s frame? I didn’t remember anything like that, but I might not have been the only one to damage the vehicle during our hasty exodus.

  Another adult moved toward me and I felt warm pressure against my wrist. My vision cleared, letting me view the battlefield.

  Immediately, I activated Analyze.

  I expected this to be a long fight, but I’d just passed my 16th ability threshold earlier the previous day - there was some advantage to the constant onslaught we’d been under - and Compatibility’s excellent synergy had pushed Analyze to 800%. I thought, if I was judicious about my other ability use, I could keep it active for the full fight.

  While I was terrified of what the next fifteen minutes would bring, I couldn’t deny that this was what I’d built for. I was specialized to be on-scene in massive battlefields, recognizing the dangers and reacting - or guiding others to react - in the most effective way.

  Panoramic Vision gave me awareness of the entire battlefield, while Life Sense gave me enhanced detail on my immediate surroundings, if “immediate” meant an 80-foot radius. It was late enough at night that the sky was dim, but someone with a potent Light ability had already illuminated the area: visibility was fine, almost as good as it had been around noon.

  Field to our north, rolling hills. Forested hillside to our south, with a sheer rock drop-off ten feet from the road. Seven known Titans currently engaged with my allies or within ten seconds of engaging: one speedster, one six-legged electric rock beast, one ground-manipulating snake… don’t see the acid hippo. Four twotwos?

  One more speedster visible in the distance, at least 26 seconds from engaging. Snake’s road destruction may delay speedster further. Four more flagged twotwos visible that will arrive between 18 seconds and 1 minute from now.

  Possibly other Titans. May be blocked from sight by nearby car, or unflagged twotwos. Nothing unseen within Life Sense.

  Nearest threat: speedster.

  Nearby, Vince, Gavin, and several of my bodyguards were still battling the speedster, but with its paralytic tailspike removed, it was only a matter of time before they took it down. It already had a oozing gash along its side, and I could see Gavin had his sword plunged deep into its back.

  I assessed all this in a moment, then turned my attention away, trusting Vince, Gavin, and the others to handle it. Status? Controlled. Next closest threat? #13, ground snake.

  The serpentine monster had thrashed its way through the highway, creating a ten-foot drop. Huge chunks of cement and pavement had been torn clear, including a slab the size of a refrigerator that landed only feet from my group.

  The Titan itself had surfaced and wrapped its front half around an SUV, lifting it fifteen feet up. The vehicle crumpled like a crushed soda can, but the monster was at the edge of my Life Sense range and I could feel people still alive inside.

  Status? Dangerous, not immediate threat to family. Continue monitoring for way to assist. Road damage may hamper other monsters approaching from the ground.

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  The Titans didn’t attack each other, and their area attacks never seemed to harm each other directly, but whatever programming they’d been given seemed to assume that each was operating alone. They never paused to coordinate attacks. Any given Titan was as likely to get in the way of its fellow monsters as to drive its prey toward them.

  First speed Titan handled! Terrain damage caused by snake may slow next speedster or provide shelter.

  Information communicated. Next threat: electric beast.

  The grey crags of the six-legged electroTitan were visible beyond the pile of debris from the destroyed road, but it was just beyond my Life Sense range… which still put us well within the area of its area electric attack. A daring flyer streaked overhead, dropping what seemed to be a collection of metal chains atop the monster: probably snow chains, given their criss-crossing netlike nature. They weren’t nearly large enough to encircle the Titan’s bulk, but the flyer’s aim had been good, and two sets stuck, draped around the mountainous spikes on the Titan’s back. The constant cloud of static sparks that flashed around the monster seemed disrupted near the chains, drawn in rather than flashing away.

  Will those block or redirect the big electrical blast? I asked Ariel.

  So, stay close to Micah.

  

  One more announcement, then.

  Metal on electric Titan should hamper attack, but not eliminate danger. Maintain electric defenses and focus fire! More metal on Titan if possible!

  My oldest son was only a few feet away, and the woman who’d returned my vision must have just done the same for him. Analyze helped me process information quickly, so she’d barely had time to let go of me and lay her hands on him. Micah shook his head slightly, then focused on the electrical Titan. His attack didn’t look like much, just a bare flash of light rather than the slow-moving blast sci-fi movies had conditioned us all to expect from laser fire, but I’d had enough experience with his Specialty by this point to know what he’d converted the electrical energy he’d absorbed into. I approved: for big targets like these, focused damage was the way to go. And, even if his attack was hard to spot, I could see the damage it left behind: a half-inch circular break that cut deeply into the Titan’s rocky skin.

  An opportunity!

  I dropped my sword into a Telekinetic grip and pulled out my revolver. It was a tiny target, especially left-handed, but my beloved Assisted Strike didn’t give a shit. One-two-three-four-five-six! I emptied every chamber into the gap my son had made, widening it ever-so-slightly and creating a line of lead to carry the lightning to the Titan’s less-protected internals.

  Even as I pumped out the bullets, I let my attention roam, taking in more of the battlefield.

  The twotwos themselves weren’t visible, but the holograms they’d been tagged with were easy to spot. Two were in the air, circling for height and readying themselves for another attack. I kept an eye on those. One had just completed its dive against another member of our fleet, raking its claws against an SUV’s roof and sending the vehicle rolling to the side - the same thing that had happened to our own. Another had risen high into the sky, a struggling, bleeding person clutched in its claws. As it reached the peak of its ascent, it dropped the man. I Telekinetically grabbed his belt as he fell, using my mental strength to fight the pull of gravity and slow his fall. The twotwo took exception to this, immediately wheeling for another dive, this time targeting the airborne target with its piercing beak. I growled and reversed my pull, yanking the soldier downward instead of resisting gravity, and the Titan narrowly missed its dive.

  One more thing to monitor. Even with Gravity Null to make landing far less dangerous, the drop itself was still dangerous. Few of us could dodge in mid-air. Still…

  We’re doing… okay so far? Where’s the acid hippo, Ariel?

  

  So Hamlet hadn’t been able to drop three precisely on top of us. That was fortunate, and I couldn’t help but think that either Hamlet or his handlers had made a mistake. If he had held back and dropped the electric monster in while we were fighting the main wave of enemies, it would have been much harder to deal with.

  I blasted out a warning to that half of the battlefield, letting them know where to expect the new Titan’s arrival, and was gratified to see several people react immediately, taking shelter behind vehicles.

  Most of the Titans hadn’t reached us yet. Our sudden direction change and halt had done its job, and we were fighting “only” a handful at the moment, although distant holograms marking the hard-to-spot two-twos suggested that number would rise shortly.

  We were also lucky that Hamlet couldn’t micromanage the Titans. If he’d been able to tell some to halt or slow, or if he’d been able to make them target me personally…

  One of the twotwos in the air turned, ready to dive again, and I focused on it. I threw myself and Cassie to the ground. We’d be just barely out of reach of the outstretched claws… even as I had the thought, I felt a wash of terror.

  It had been heading for me initially - maybe poor luck, maybe having Cassie’s Summoned Shell in one arm made me look like a less-mobile target - but as I dodged, it adjusted. Analyze pointed out the slight change in the tilt of its wings as it headed for another nearby, standing target.

  I dropping everything else I had in my Telekinetic hands to drag the new target aside. Unfortunately, a bodyguard had recognized the twotwo’s goal as well, and had stepped in to help… blocking my effort.

  I tried to pull in another direction, but I was too slow.

  Micah screamed as the twotwo’s claws latched around him.

  As I said on Tuesday: I don't know if any of my Royal Road readers are in north Alabama, but I plan to have a booth at this year's

  Feel free to come out and say hi! Even if you don't want to buy a hardcopy, I'll sign whatever and give you a free bookmark.

  (Up to Bk. 5, Ch. 24) * * * * * * *