Sofia Halaby had been an outcast her entire life. She had always been a little bit of a freak. Others made fun of her when she was young. That only stopped when she got her first shard. After she got her second, people started to take her seriously.

  It all vanished when she fused with a claverstan engineer.

  “What a stupid choice,” people had said.

  Everyone seemed to have an opinion. Even citizens who had never stepped foot in a dungeon.

  But now Sofia was somehow part of a small party that had just killed Isaak Agapov. The Isaak Agapov. She was now not only in debt to the Three Headed Hero Company, but probably wanted by them. Could they hire her as the bounty hunter to kill herself? Was that an option?

  She arrived in Vraxridge with the two giant men blocking her view. She had to step to the side to see the long street heading to Althowin’s compound. The 7 Shard Hero had let Sofia in before. They had talked about her backpack, gun, and familiar. She was kind, if a little weird.

  Sofia slid her goggles over her eyes and adjusted the magnification. Voolyn, Egnatia, Olena, and Nastya stood outside the compound.

  “Four Shard Heroes currently. They’re missing Zevvrin and Kikuno,” Sofia said.

  “Is she there?” Chorsay asked.

  “I don’t see her.” Sofia sent a signal to Slag, who beeped and rolled away, bouncing down the stairs of the portal circle. “Slag will get a better view.”

  “We can’t get close until we know where she is,” Arkasti said. “We’re strong, but that’s not a fight we can handle.”

  “I know,” Chorsay said.

  They continued talking, but Sofia tuned them out. She shared vision with Slag and tried to listen, but Slag’s hearing was poor.

  Egnatia was knocking on the main door to the compound. The line of potential customers had already vanished. Most of the area was clear. Come to think of it, the whole city felt empty. Even the portal guards were gone.

  “Wait,” Chorsay said.

  Sofia’s vision smashed back into her body. It was disorienting, but she shook her head. “Do you hear that?”

  A faint siren rang. It was winding down like it had been significantly louder before.

  “Get in a portal,” Chorsay said. “Any portal.”

  Althowin kicked her own front door open and strode out. Sofia focused through her goggles. The 7 Shard Hero held a metal oval in glowing red hands.

  Chorsay grabbed Sofia roughly and threw her backward. She immediately drew her gun and pointed, but Chorsay was already on her again, picking her up and throwing her with incredible strength. Just before she hit the portal, the world flashed.

  ***

  Minutes Before

  Egnatia Lucan was born from a family of outstanding heroes. The Lucan family was famed for their power and had made Magna Regum the premiere hero company in all of Verdantallis. She was one of the greatest ever, even in her own family.

  The Demon Killer.

  She had earned that title.

  And now, she would go down in history for killing the infamous 7 Shard Hero who kept the world from progressing. Althowin Alegarra had threatened the hero companies enough. She had kept the world at “peace” just because it was more profitable for her, because she knew she would make less money if someone else moved into Brukiya.

  No longer.

  Olena the blue fire-eyed wizard, Nastya the shining mender, and Voolyn the Trueborn Giant were all on her side. The battle was inevitable. Finally, Vraxridge would see how difficult the world was without the 7 Shard Hero protecting them.

  They had been there for thirty minutes, waiting. Assaulting the compound was obviously a death sentence. It was reinforced beyond comprehension. There would be nothing to stop Althowin from using one of her famous bombs while inside. At least outside, she had the rest of the city to worry about. The siren had been going off since they first arrived, as if Althowin had known. It rang constantly, growing quieter and louder again as it rotated.

  Olena had her index open. Her hand gripped her staff firmly, stopping a sudden tremble. “Isaak is dead.”

  “Hm?” Egnatia opened her own index and flipped to the Shard Hero section. There was another notable name missing. “So is Zevvrin.”

  Voolyn was finally armored, especially after nearly dying to a 1 Shard Hero. He had his oversized shield, though Egnatia supposed it was only oversized for regular people. The Trueborn Giant hadn’t spoken much. His judgmental gaze fell on them all at different times. He was a good fit for the Golden Bulls. Arrogance was a key trait among them.

  The door flew open, kicked by Althowin. She stepped out holding a massive metal object in both hands. Her palms were bright red, which was deforming her metal prosthetic.

  “Alright, mother fuckers. You came to party?” Her fox tail swished, swinging the door shut behind her. “Let’s see who lives through this.”

  “You wouldn’t,” Olena said.

  “What did I tell you, little Lucan?” Althowin asked.

  Egnatia’s heart hammered. “You would destroy the entire city if necessary.”

  Althowin was smirking. “You know who built this city?”

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Egnatia’s eyes widened.

  The siren wasn’t just a warning. Althowin had been waiting until everyone got to safety.

  “Reinforce!” Egnatia shouted.

  Resist.

  Endure.

  Reinforce.

  Reflect.

  Resonance.

  Almighty Block.

  Ability after ability flashed over her, strengthening her armor and shield. Every piece of her armor activated, burning through some limited charges. Nearly fifteen different protective abilities flashed in less than a second.

  Voolyn put up a Bulwark, stretching the magical yellow shield as far as possible. Olena used Shield, and Nastya flashed with multiple luminous protections.

  Without shards, no one would have been fast enough to react. With shards, they were still barely fast enough.

  Althowin appeared in the middle of Olena and Nastya as if she had just teleported. Her kitsune powers were impossible to follow. Egnatia turned, barely getting her shield between herself and Althowin when the world went white.

  ***

  Sofia skidded over the ground in Atrevaar. It had been a long time since she had last visited the city. She sat up quickly as nearby people scrambled away. The portal guards all had weapons drawn, but only watched warily as the shards dropped back in Sofia’s shoulder. She had barely realized she activated them.

  Chorsay had seemed like he was about to rip her head off. Where was he?

  Chorsay and Arkasti both fell through the portal, one after the other. Their shards hummed as they both slumped. Arkasti was laughing and patted Chorsay on the back with playful hits that sounded like they would crush Sofia’s bones.

  “Quick thinking, old man.” Arkasti grabbed Chorsay’s shoulders. “Quick thinking.”

  Chorsay took a deep breath and looked at Sofia. “Are you hurt?”

  “No.” She pulled her racoon hat off, scratched her greasy hair, and slapped the hat back on. “Thanks.”

  Chorsay gave an almost imperceptible nod. “We can give it a moment then go back through.”

  “I hate the portals,” Sofia said.

  “The pain is almost nothing,” Arkasti said. He stood, took Chorsay’s hand, and pulled the huge man to his feet. “Does it bother you still? Is it your constitution?”

  “Probably.” Sofia stuck a cigar between her teeth and lit the end with her gun. “A wizard’s not meant to get hit.”

  Arkasti seemed to agree with that. “Could they live through such a blast?”

  “If the legends are to be believed, Althowin killed the champions with that same bomb. If it can destroy a six shard tower champion, it can kill a hero.” Chorsay opened his index and grunted.

  Duh. Sofia hadn’t thought about checking to see if the heroes lived. She opened her own, flipped to the Shard Heroes page, and quickly scanned the numbers. Owin and the Maimed Magus were there. So was the weirdly handsome umbra. No Isaak, obviously. Zevvrin was missing, but she hadn’t seen him at Althowin’s.

  “Oh,” Sofia said.

  Arkasti laughed and slapped Chorsay’s arm. “Tenacious, aren’t they?”

  Chorsay only grunted again.

  ***

  When the blast first hit Engatia’s shield, Resonance spread the blast to the sides. Her comrades immediately vanished in the light, and before Egnatia knew it, she was off her feet, flying through the city. She struck a building, bounced off the sturdy cement, and continued flying. The blast itself propelled her. When she finally hit the ground, she was no longer in Vraxridge.

  Each breath was little more than burnt, painful wheeze. She smoldered, even causing the crops she landed on to wither under the heat of her armor. If she could move, she wouldn’t. Most bones were broken. Unyielding hadn’t activated, meaning she hadn’t died.

  Armor crumbled to ash. It simply fell from her body, leaving only her sword at her waist. Her last resort.

  Egnatia opened her index and checked the Shard Heroes tab. She laughed, wincing with each little movement. “Stupid hag.”

  Althowin hadn’t killed any of them. How the others survived was beyond Egnatia, but wasn’t going to complain. They could regroup, find other Shard Heroes, and rally the companies to truly stop Althowin.

  For a first battle in what would be a long war, their losses were acceptable. Everyone would see how dangerous and careless Althowin was.

  Egnatia would see Vondaire again, and next time, his speed wouldn’t be able to save him. If he couldn’t see she was right, he was an enemy.

  Egnatia didn’t lose. She crushed her enemies.

  A fire started by her foot as the embers of what had been her divine boots fell onto a dried stalk. It was unpleasant, but a little fire wasn’t going to kill her.

  ***

  Owin’s speed had increased. That much was obvious. When he activated a shard while running, he barely stayed on his feet. Zezog’s training had made sense for fighting. Training without the shard helped him learn how to fight better in a more basic sense.

  But Owin hadn’t had a chance to do much of anything with a shard activated. Multiplying his dexterity directly affected the Goblin Cunning racial feat.

  That speed brought Owin head first into a stone wall.

  “Whoa,” someone said.

  Owin bounced off the wall and fell onto his bottom. He looked up at a group of heroes, who were now all staring at him. “Hi. Did I win?”

  “Win what?” someone asked.

  “I was racing friends.” Owin stood, let the hammer drop from his grip, and brushed the dust from his helmet. “I think I won.”

  Instead of a line like there was at other towers, the heroes out front of the Fortress were gathered around fires. A few specific places near the void nexus looked like prebuilt camping spots.

  The Fortress Dungeon looked like a massive building, not unlike others he had seen in Atrevaar. It was made entirely of stone blocks. It appeared there were tiers going up beyond where he could see. The Fortress was shorter than the tree of the Great Forest, but it still climbed so high into the sky that it nearly passed through the clouds.

  There was no ornamentation or decoration on the front. It was only a void nexus gate directly in the center.

  Suta arrived, followed closely by Myrsvai. They stopped short of the wall, waved greetings at the heroes, and quickly approached Owin.

  “I won,” Owin said.

  “You did.” Myrsvai cast another look at the other heroes. “There’s no line because of the isolated first floors.” He forced Owin to turn around, opened his backpack, and dug through it for a moment. “Do you have everything you need?”

  “Yes. You helped me pack it in Vraxridge.”

  Myrsvai latched it and turned him back around. “Bring Shade out.”

  Summon the Withered Shade

  “Ah!” Shade slapped Myrsvai across the face. “Oh, sorry. You scared me.”

  Myrsvai’s worried expression immediately shifted into contempt.

  “Stupid,” Suta said.

  “That’s rude. You shouldn’t say things like that about your master.” Shade leaned his elbow on Owin’s head. “I would never speak poorly of my master.”

  “Uh.”

  Shade shushed Owin.

  “You two take your time. Be smart. Diphinadra is said to be more sinister than Sloswen. Don’t expect any favors or kindness. There are no peaceful options for floors in the Fortress.” Myrsvai crouched and matched Owin’s gaze with his abyssal eyes. “Take the first floors to learn how to fight with the shard.”

  “You too.”

  Myrsvai smiled. “We’re going to manage just fine. Right?”

  Suta nodded and smashed his fists together. “Race.”

  “No, Suta. I just told Owin to take his time.”

  “Race.”

  “I’ll see you back here at one of the camping sites.” Myrsvai put his hand on Owin’s shoulder.

  Owin nodded. He took a deep breath, pushed Shade’s arm off, and grabbed the Thunderstrike Maul. “See you soon.”

  The Chronicles of Arz Kurana.

  It's a progression series focused on alchemy with a blend of sci-fi and fantasy.