"I didn't betray you," I shouted. "I couldn't go through with it, Ivy. Please believe that I love you, and would never hurt you."

Her lower lip trembled. "You lied to me, Justin. Bigdaddy was right about you."

"No, he's not," I said, praying Shelton's spell breaker finished in time.

The hellhound burst from its position, hackles raised, lips peeled back in a snarl. Jeremiah gave an almost contemptuous wave of his staff, and sent the beast slamming hard against the wall with a yelp. Another wave, and the Cyrinthian Rune floated to him and landed neatly his outstretched palm. He clenched it. "It's too early, but it'll have to do." He regarded me for a moment. Sighed. "You have done more to muddle my plans than a rabid coon hound, boy. I told you to stay out of my business, but you won't listen."

"Guess you would have gotten away with it if not for us meddling kids," I said, my voice low and angry.

"Oh, but I have, boy. I have."

"You've twisted my little sister," I shouted, anger pouring from me. "You've warped her into your little child soldier." I looked at Ivy. "Don't listen to his lies. He's just using you. You're more powerful than he could ever hope to be."

"I listened to your lies, Justin," she said, tears welling. "You hurt me." She shook her head, wiping at her eyes.

"Let's go, child," Jeremiah said, patting her on the shoulder. "We have a mission to finish."

"Like killing the Arcane Council?" I said. "You're insane! Daelissa will use you and enslave everyone." I banged futilely on the shield. "She'll kill you!"

Jeremiah grunted. "Forget us, boy. Forget Foreseeance four, three, one, one. It's over. I promise you, I have only good intentions"—he revealed the rune in his hand—"for this."

I pounded on the shield. "You're going to doom us all!"

He chuckled, and it sounded downright evil. "You don't know the whole story, but someday you will." Jeremiah turned and walked away. Ivy gave me one last glance, and left with him.

Shelton's arcphone chimed. The shield peeled away in the middle, leaving a hole. I rushed through without any plan but to tackle Jeremiah and take the rune back. He flicked his staff, and the shield on the other side closed. I rammed it with my shoulder, over and over, as if brute force might break through. Exhaustion claimed my strength. I slumped against the shield, panting and could only watch as Ivy and Jeremiah disappeared around the corner.

Elyssa knelt by my side. "We have to stop the golems from killing the council," she said.

"How in the hell are we gonna stop a monster golem?" Shelton said.

That was a damned good question. "When do the giants fight?" I asked.

"Any time now," he said.

"Can we take the golem down with magic?" I asked. "Or is there a kill switch?"

Everyone exchanged uneasy glances. Shelton answered. "Once those things go in the ring, they're autonomous. But the controllers should have a kill switch."

"Michael told me Zagg was detained by security. That means we'll have to go down there and do it ourselves."

"I don't know if we can break through all those security golems," Shelton said uneasily.

I remembered the size of those golems in the practice field. How could I possibly take something like that down? The answer was obvious.

"MacLean, you go to the operators. Get to them by hook or crook and hit that kill switch."

"Aye," he said and raced back up the stairs.

"I'll go with him," Adam said and left.

"Elyssa, can you do whatever it takes to evacuate the council? I don't care if you have to carry them out over your shoulder."

"I'm coming with you," she said.

I gripped her shoulders. "Please, I need you to do that. Shelton and Bella will have my back."

She opened her mouth to speak.

"We don't have time, Elyssa. Please."

She kissed me hard. Looked at the others. "Don't let anything happen to him." With that, she blurred away.

"Shelton, Bella," I said. "Let's go."

"I will come with you, Justin," Vallaena said.

"Are we going to be running?" Shelton asked. "You know I can't keep up with supes."

"I will carry you," Vallaena said.

Bella arched an eyebrow. "He's my boyfriend. I'll carry him."

"Uh," Shelton said, an instant before Bella slung him over a shoulder.

"Follow me," I said.

"I'm gonna lose my lunch," Shelton shouted.

We blurred through empty hallways, emerged outside, and headed toward the stadium. Cheers erupted as an announcer called out names. The tremor-inducing thud of giant feet pounded the earth from within. It sounded like the fighters were already on the field. I went past the stadium, toward the forest, and stopped at the edge.

"How do the stadium doors open?" I asked Shelton.

"There's a gatekeeper," he replied, face bright red, though definitely not from exertion. He gave Bella a pleading look. "Can you put me down, now?"

Bella looked at me. I nodded, and she set him on his feet.

"Vallaena," I said. "Do whatever it takes, but get the gate open. Can you do that?"

She nodded and flitted back the way we'd come.

"You still know how to open the forest shield?" I asked Shelton, remembering the spider bat pranks he'd told me about.

He gave me an uneasy quirk of an eyebrow. "Yeah. Why?"

I turned to the petite dhampyr. "Bella, I need you to camouflage yourselves from smell and sight."

"Whatever for?" she asked. "I don't like the sound of this, Justin."

"Yeah," Shelton added. "'Cause spider bats don't attack humans." His face went pale. "Whoa, wait a blasted minute."

I put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm going to bring the guest of honor to the fight."

"This is a bad idea, man."

"It's a terrible idea," I agreed. "But we need to bring out the big guns to take down the golem."

"What are you talking about?" Bella asked, her violet eyes wide with concern.

Shelton groaned, and stabbed his thumb at me. "Genius here is about to let loose the mother of all predators."

I needed something huge and powerful to fight the golem. My answer?

The tragon.

Chapter 47

Releasing the tragon from its forest prison might rank near the top of the stupidest things I'd ever done, but since Michael and Zagg had failed their tasks, I had no choice. I sent text messages to them, just in case, before I went through with this insanity.

I waited impatiently for several seconds before Zagg replied.

Security let me go, but I don't know if I can get to the operators.

Michael responded a split second later.

Still no go. Taking alternate approach.

MacLean and Adam didn't reply.

I held back a string of expletives, and clapped my hands together. "This is crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy!"

The looks I received from the others only confirmed that.

"Get ready," I told them. "I'm going in." Without another word, I raced into the forest. Thorns and branches snagged my clothes, making fast progress difficult. "Here traggy, traggy!" I called. "Come and get me you big ugly thing!"

I picked up a large branch, and thwacked a tree, shaking leaves, and upsetting a flock of spider bats. They shrieked and flew away.

"Come get me!" I yelled.

I heard a grunt. A low groan. Loud snuffling. The trees fifty yards away parted, and a scaly, red snout poked through the foliage. It snorted, rustling leaves and sending a thin column of smoke drifting skyward. Two beady eyes appeared seconds later. The tragon glared at me for a moment, tilting its head as if amazed anyone could be so epically stupid as to yell at it. It roared, and flames licked the trees nearby, stopping well short of me, but heating the air enough to make my eyes water.

Limbs crackled and broke, and the beast lunged. I yelped, and raced back the way I'd come. A tree branch slapped me in the face, and I stumbled through a patch of thorns, which tore at my shirt. Somehow, I managed to keep my feet. I saw Shelton and Bella ahead. "Now!" I shouted.

Eyes wide, Bella raised her staff. She and Shelton flickered from sight. I ran toward the invisible shield, hoping Shelton knew what he was doing. I looked behind me as I blasted out of the woods and into the open field, a spray of dead leaves flying in my wake, and a thorny vine at least ten feet long dragging from the tail of my shirt. The tragon skidded to a halt just short of the treeline, angry eyes glaring at me. Apparently, it remembered the shield.

I jumped up and down. "Come on, you idiot. Come and get me!"

It took a slow step forward. Leaned down. Opened its mouth and roared. Flames shot into the clearing. The creature tilted its head. Took another step forward, tiny wings on its back flapping with agitation, and gingerly poked its nose about where the shield usually stopped it.

I picked up a clod of dirt and flung it. It smacked into the center of the tragon's forehead. The monster reared back, opened its massive muzzle, and roared. With blinding speed, it sprang like a reptilian kangaroo, flying through the air and landing only yards away from me. The ground trembled beneath me and earth sprayed in my face with the tremendous aftershock. I stumbled, somehow recovered, shrieked, spun, and ran, all within the space of a split second. The tent city loomed, forcing me to dodge through narrow alleys, jump stakes and ropes, and avoid coolers, beer bottles, and other garbage littering the grounds. The tragon, meanwhile, simply tore through everything in its way, crumpling tents, and crushing anything so unlucky as to sit between its feet and the ground. I prayed nobody was inside any of the tents, but there wasn't much I could do about it.

The moment I passed the final row of tents, I veered left, and ran along the stadium wall. A roar went up from the crowd, and thunderous applause echoed from within. Jubilation abruptly morphed into screams and sounds of panic. I heard the announcer shouting something as the screams grew louder. I looked up, and saw flying carpets streaming from landing zones high up in the back of the stadium, some of them with people clinging desperately to the side. Swarms of spider bats, frightened by the commotion in the forest collided with fleeing super-humanity, resulting in even more hysteria.