The waves of magic emanating from the pulsing Core had grown so powerful that they were exerting a physical force on Tara. She braced herself, digging her heels into the ground as she frantically studied the complex mechanisms of the enormous ritual circle. Her time in the Expeditionary Taskforce Academy had prepared her to work under pressure, and years of hard work studying magical theory allowed her to parse many of the functions of the arcane sigil. Dimensional magic had never been her field, though, and many wasn't enough.

  The Core pulsed again, lightning pouring into the center of the circle. Tara could sense the bridge forming, a gateway beginning to open to whatever hellish destination the demons had conjured. Shadowy figures were forming throughout the clearing, growing more real with each passing moment.

  She was out of time.

  "Luis! Take Fenrin and get out of here!"

  "No way, amiga. I'm not leaving you behind!"

  "You can't do anything more to help! What I'm about to do will probably turn this whole jungle into a crater!"

  Tara felt oddly detached as she said those words, speaking as if her death was of little consequence. The tek'kalla mage had no desire to die, far from it. But the Taskforce had instilled a strong sense of duty in her, and she would do hers.

  "All the more reason to stay." Luis called back, hefting Fenrin over his shoulder with his good arm. "Do your thing, and let's get out of here!"

  "Just go!"

  Tara couldn't spare any more time on the infuriating man, although she did feel oddly warm. This was what she'd always wanted, wasn't it? A team that cared about her. A group that would put it all on the line for her. How odd that, having finally found such friends, all she wanted was for them to leave her behind.

  She turned her attention back to the ritual. In the end, she hadn't figured out how to disable it. It was simply too complex, the magic far beyond her ability to fully understand in such a short amount of time. What she could do, however, was redirect the energy accumulating in the sigil, the magic powering the formation of the gateway. It was the same technique she'd used to vaporize the rage demon that had nearly killed all of them, and she'd already made the necessary modifications to the sigil's power regulation runes. The only problem was that she had to channel that power through herself to direct it.

  Tara's left hand still burned with pain from the energy she'd pulled from the ritual and redirected into the demon. Her skin was blackened in places, charred and smoking, like a mana wire that had short circuited. She wasn't sure that her body could take channeling that kind of power through it again, but it was her only option. Nothing else in her arsenal was strong enough to penetrate the Core's defenses. At least, not quickly enough.

  And I called Jade reckless… She thought, a wry smile forming on her lips.

  The decision made, Tara didn't hesitate. She reached her injured hand down to the magic circle and pulled. The power flowed easily through the modified runes, coursing through her veins like a continuous stream of lightning. Searing pain ripped through her body as her magical pathways overloaded, brimming with a level of power they were never meant to channel. Her suit's magical interface did its best to regulate and direct the magic, but it too fell far short of the capacity needed. Screaming, flickering blue light shining through her skin, Tara pointed her free hand up towards the shimmering Core. She held nothing back, unleashing it all in a concentrated beam of light so bright, it rivalled the suns themselves.

  The next thing Tara knew, she was lying on the ground. The humming sound had stopped, as had the constant thunderclaps of lightning bolts striking the sigil. She blinked stars from her vision, stirring weakly. Sharp pain lanced through her body at the motion, and she immediately stopped, groaning. The enormous, building-sized Core crystal was lying embedded in the ground a short distance away, sparking with bolts of magical energy that arced to the ground. A spiderweb of cracks marred the smooth facets of the ancient relic, still glowing orange from the untold levels of magic she had poured into it.

  Huh. Tara thought weakly, staring at the destroyed Core. I thought there'd be an explosion.

  For some strange reason, she found she was mildly disappointed.

  Light began pulsing softly inside the fractured crystal, growing brighter and brighter with each passing moment. The cracks began to widen, blue light spilling out like water breaking through a dam as the ground began to shudder and quake once more.

  Ah. Here it comes.

  Too weak to move, or even think about moving, Tara just lay there, watching the pretty light show. This was okay, she realized. She had done it. Her years of study and training hadn't been for nothing.

  "If only I could've shown them…"

  Something wrapped around her waist and suddenly, Tara was being hoisted into the air. She grunted in pain, annoyed at the distraction. What was-

  "Luis?!"

  "Nice work." He grunted, sounding strained. "Now let's get out of here, yeah?"

  The large man had Fenrin, who was still unconcious, thrown over one shoulder. He scooped up Tara with his other, battered and bloody, arm, letting her dangle in a very undignified manner.

  "I told you to get out of here." She said, semi-delirious.

  "If you pull out the heroic sacrifice it makes the rest of us look bad. Can't have that."

  Luis took off running as the ground continued to shake. The light spilling from the Core had turned from a stream to a flood, and its entire surface was now covered in cracks. It wouldn't be long now. Tara was vaguely aware of Luis calling through the communicator to Jade and Naomi, warning them to get away as he carried them through the jungle. She lost sight of the Core through the trees, but the light shining from it lit up the jungle like it was mid-day.

  "Thanks…" she mumbled, feeling darkness close in on her. "Thanks, Luis."

  The Core exploded just as unconsciousness took Tara, sending a wave of destruction blasting through the jungle. The last thing she was aware of was Luis's bubble shield popping into existence around them, forming just as the wave front of light engulfed them.

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  Jade breathed a sigh of relief as Luis, Tara, and Fenrin stumbled out of the undergrowth, joining her and Naomi in the small clearing near the portal that led back to the Labyrinth proper. Or, more accurately, Luis and Tara stumbled out. Fenrin was slung over Luis's shoulder, unconcious. The powerful eruption of energy following the destruction of the Core had rocked the entire dimensional space, and despite Luis's assurances over the radio, she had feared they wouldn't make it back safely.

  "Is he going to make it?" Jade asked, worried. Fenrin's left arm had been severed almost at the shoulder, and the hastily wrapped bandages covering the wound were soaked through with blood. Was that something magical healing could fix? A couple of months ago the thought of someone regrowing an arm would have been absurd. Now, Jade had no idea what was possible.

  "I healed him as best I could." Naomi said, helping Luis lower him to the ground. "He's not bleeding anymore, but…"

  She paused as Fenrin stirred, the half elf's eyelids fluttering. When his eyes finally remained open, they wouldn't stay still, looking at each of them in turn.

  "Mimi…?" He asked softly, voice strained.

  They all looked at each other. Finally, Luis knelt beside their friend, taking his hand.

  "Sorry, Fenrin." He said, voice tight with emotion. "We couldn't help her."

  A pained sound somewhere between a sob and a growl emanated from somewhere deep in Fenrin's throat. He squeezed his eyes shut, and Jade could see the unshed tears brimming. She joined Luis on the ground beside him, heart heavy in her chest. Naomi and Tara followed suit a moment later, heads bowed in mourning.

  "She died protecting you." Naomi said gently. "And she probably saved all of us, too."

  "And she's given us time to get the word out about this." Jade added.

  Given what she now knew about the Labyrinth's purpose and the demon army waiting to invade, that was more important than ever. Jade tried to assess Fenrin's expression but found she had a hard time focusing. One of Malice's claws had ripped through her eye, and her vision remained blurry even after Naomi had finished healing it. The effect was very distracting and was giving her a headache.

  "We did it, then?" Fenrin asked weakly. "We stopped them?"

  "We did." Tara nodded. "Thank you, for protecting me while I worked. I…" The tek'kalla balled her hands into fists. "I wish I could have done it faster. I should have just blasted the fucking thing as soon as I could."

  "There's a reason you didn't." Luis consoled her, lifting the tattered sleeve of her combat suit to reveal the ugly burns covering her left arm. "That wasn't good for you, Tara."

  "If I was going to do it anyway, it should have been the first thing I did."

  "You couldn't… couldn't have known." Fenrin coughed. He made to sit up, but Jade rested a hand on his shoulder.

  "Take it easy." She said. "We're alone here."

  Jade had thoroughly checked while waiting for the others to arrive. Neither demons nor monsters were anywhere near them. In fact, the entire Core space seemed to have fallen silent. Night had enveloped the land, leaving the world under the jungle foliage obscured with inky darkness. The multicolored hue of the portal was the area's only light.

  They sat in silence for the next few minutes, each of them processing the magnitude of what had just happened. Jade found that she couldn't take her eyes off the missing space where Fenrin's arm should be. He had nearly died, a teammate, and she hadn't even been there. After such a profound revelation on the importance of camaraderie and deep bonds, that thought scared her.

  "So, what now?" Luis finally asked, shaking Jade from her ruminations.

  "We have to tell people about the rituals." Naomi said. "The papers we got from Malice said they were doing this in a couple of places up on the fourth floor too, right? And now we know what they're after. You saw all those figures, right? They were trying to summon more of them."

  "That's not it."

  Everyone turned to look at Jade. She closed her eyes, replaying the conversation she'd had with Malice before their final battle in her mind. The succubus's whip was coiled at her hip, the demon had dropped it right before Naomi had blasted her into the void. Naomi had noticed and given it to her before they returned to the portal.

  "What isn't?" Tara asked. "The ritual was forming a link to somewhere else and was powerful enough to bring hundreds of creatures through."

  "I mean, that's not all they were doing." Jade took a deep breath, wincing as her bruised ribs ached. "The next rituals will be bringing a lot more. Armies of them."

  Jade explained what Malice had told her. That the Labyrinth was a prison, that legions of demons were waiting to escape, and that this had only been the vanguard. The rituals on the fourth floor weren't going to just be about bringing a few hundred demons into the world. It was going to be all of them.

  "Holy shit…" Luis shook his head. "So, this was just the start?"

  Jade didn't have the energy to respond. Battling Malice had been the single most mentally draining event in her life. More than any boss battle or any competition. And that was before considering the toll on her body. She was spent.

  "What do we do now?" Fenrin asked. The half-elf sat up, ignoring other attempts to keep him on the ground. He was pale and weak, but his eyes shone with resolve. "We're not going to let that happen."

  "We have to warn people." Naomi said. "Our people on Earth, and the cities here in the Labyrinth. We only came here because there wasn't time to get anyone else. Now we do have time. At least a little, right?"

  "Yeah." Jade nodded, closing her left eye again. She rubbed at her temple. Her headache was getting worse.

  "Jade, are you-"

  "I'm fine." Jade stood up, not giving anyone time to challenge the obvious lie. "We shouldn't wait. I don't know how long it will be before the other rituals will be ready to start. That other demon said they needed something from Earth first."

  "What is it?" Tara asked, cocking her head. "I thought your home world was low on magic, what would the demons need that could help their ritual?"

  "I don't know. He called it the 'Earth artifact', remember?"

  Naomi shrugged, and Luis shook his head.

  "We can think about it on the move." She said, extending a hand to Fenrin. "Can you walk?"

  "I think so."

  She gently pulled him to his feet, Luis stepping up to help support him. The half-elf took a few tentative steps and then gave them a nod.

  "Let's get out of here first. We should find a safe place to rest and recover." Jade took in their appearance. All of them were covered in dirt and blood, and everyone save Naomi had some form of serious injury.

  "We passed a sanctuary on the way to the Core portal." Naomi offered. "I saw it on my map on the way here. Should we rest there?"

  No one offered any objections, and Naomi led the way out of the portal. The Labyrinth quadrant was nearly as dark as the corespace, the landscape only fainted illuminated by the dim shine of a blue crescent moon. Jade found herself staring up at it, transfixed. After all the bloodshed, rage, and terror of the past few hours, all she wanted was to take in something simple and beautiful.

  "Shit."

  Luis's curse caught her attention.

  "What is it?"

  "That other demon we left asleep. She's gone."

  "Damn it." Jade growled, the tranquility of the previous moment evaporating as quickly as it had appeared. "I knew we should have killed her."

  The vehemence of the sudden anger that bubbled up inside her surprised Jade. Part of her wondered when she had begun thinking so little of killing sapient creatures, even if they were murderous monsters. It was a part of her that was getting quieter with each passing week.

  "Nothing we can do about it now." Fenrin grunted. He was leaning on Tara for support, although the tek'kalla didn't look much more steady than he. "Let's go, before she finds help."

  They set off, Naomi leading them across the rolling hills that covered this section of the quadrant, towards the sanctuary. Though it wasn't a great distance, their group was slowed by exhaustion. At the back of the group, one hand held over her injured eye, all Jade could think about was how narrowly they'd avoided someone dying.

  Another person dying. She corrected herself, thinking of Mirella. Mimi was a part of the team, too.

  That loss hung heavily as they trudged on, the promise of safety and rest all that kept them going.

  "Fenrin, Tara, thank you." Jade said, stepping up beside them. She'd shifted into an elven form to help her see in the darkness and now could walk beside them without worrying about hitting someone with one of her wings. "These demons came to our world-"

  "If you're about to thank us for stepping up and protecting your home from these monsters, don't even think about it." Tara cut her off. "And don't feel guilty about it either."

  "If there's an army as big as Malice said, then this is everyone's problem." Fenrin agreed.

  "We started this together, and we're going to finish this together." Tara nodded her head, her white hair glowing in the moonlight.

  "You finally learned to ask for help, Jade." Naomi said with a soft smile. "You're stuck with us now."

  Despite everything, Jade found herself returning the smile. It felt strange on her face, but not in an unwelcome way.

  "…Thanks."