Too fragging close! Ryan ignored the pain and brought his Ingram up, triggering it as he raised his arm toward the cyberzombie's torso.

Burnout twisted violently out of Ryan's grasp, dodging the shots. Then he struck at the gun hand, making Ryan jerk it out of aim. The pain in his gut faded slowly as he concentrated with his magic. Ryan jumped for Burnout, a flying kick to the head. He connected, just as the cyber-zombie's hands clasped Ryan's knee.

Pain exploded in Ryan's calf muscles, but the kick knocked Burnout backward. The cyberzombie somersaulted and landed on his feet, then rushed Ryan, who was on the ground.

Ryan rose to one knee, covered in mud and blood, bringing the Ingram up. He knew he wouldn't make it.

He reached out with his magic, trying to touch the Dragon Heart, trying to draw strength from it. He could sense its presence like a small mana sun, but he couldn't tap into the power. His telekinetic strike barely made Burnout flinch.

The cyberzombie crashed into Ryan, monoblades snapping out of his forearms and targeting Ryan's head.

Ryan planted his feet on the man's metal torso and rolled with the impact, then pushed off and sent him flying through the air behind him. One of the blades left a deep cut in his Kevlar. Then the air around him was lit up with muzzle flash, and he became aware of the whine of Dhin's air drone as it peppered Burnout with light rounds.

That seemed to slow him down, but he dodged and grabbed the flying drone in a move so fast Ryan almost didn't catch it. Burnout jammed his hand into the whirling blades and destroyed the drone.

Ryan struggled up, bringing the Ingram up again, this time with the grenade gun in his other hand. He let loose with the armor-piercing clip and caught Burnout full in the shoulder. A clean hit that obviously hurt the cyborg.

Burnout gave Ryan a pained look, then faded from sight. What the frag? Ryan looked into the astral and saw the trail left by the cyberzombie, barely visible as it stretched away into the darkness. How did he pull off that disappearing act?

Ryan knew it wasn't mimetic or camouflage technology. Nothing like that existed. Must be magic, he thought. Which means Lethe. That made sense; he knew Lethe could hide himself in the astral, but Ryan also knew how to see him. It took a little more concentration and attention to detail, but Ryan had seen the spirit before and he could find Burnout now, regardless.

Behind Ryan, Grind stood, his body armor in tattered ruins all the way down to the thin trickles of blood cascading down his chest. It was quickly washed clean by the falling rain.

Ryan went to him. "You look like soggy drek."

"I'm solid. Saved again by Esprit combat armor. It hurts, though."

Ryan put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go."

There was a short scream through the tacticom.

"We're getting battered here," came Axler's panting voice. "Miranda banished two nature spirits before this thing that looked like a bear-man burst past me and mauled her. If we don't get help soon, there's not going to be much left to take home."

Jane's voice cut in. "Miranda's lost her tacticom, and from Axler's visual, I'd say they need help, pronto."

"On it," said Ryan, breaking into a run. "Spell out the situation."

"Axler tried to draw the bear-thing and the nature spirits back to the clearing where she and Miranda would have some open ground to finish them. Looks like she got a bit more than she bargained for. You better hurry, Quicksilver. I'm worried about Miranda."

Ryan ran in disbelief. How bad could it be? Axler was combat supreme. Hand to hand, one of the best fighters he'd ever seen. And what happened to Miranda's confidence?

Ryan hit the grassy knoll that led up to the rocky clearing. Two hundred meters up, the Phoenix II sat like a monstrous bug cowering from the rain. Its running lights glared, but couldn't match the almost continual lightning that danced around them. Thunderclaps split the night sky with searing booms.

As Ryan moved forward, a huge tongue of flame shot from off to his left. In the afterglow, he saw the fire engulf Miranda.

He angled toward her, running.

Ahead, the rigid, flaming form of Miranda was hedged in by two shapes that blocked Ryan's view. Both looked like huge masses of fur and plant material. They were manifesting nature spirits, obviously summoned by the shaman.

Suddenly, Axler flashed into his line of sight, coming around from behind a tree a hundred meters ahead. In front of her were two more spirits-tall, tree-looking spirits, moving faster than should be possible for such large plant-based creatures. Axler backed away from them as Dhin's Steel Lynx drone peppered the spirits with rounds from its minigun.

"Dhin!" Ryan yelled. "The drone will have null effect on the spirits. Find the shaman and concentrate fire there."

Axler broke in, panting her words. "The shaman looks like a bear," she said. "Maybe some sort of shapechange spell."

Something about Axler looked wrong, then Ryan realized she was missing part of her left arm. Chrome glistened, and Ryan could see sparks flash from the hole in her elbow socket. Ryan was still twenty meters away when Axler moved suddenly, striking at a huge form that Ryan had thought was part of the trees.

The bear-man.

In the flashes of lightning, Ryan's infrared vision couldn't keep up, but once the bear-man moved, he could see the faint signature under the heavy cloak. The bear-man bled from many tiny cuts and bullet holes, though he seemed unaffected by them.

He roared, going berserk and striking hard with a huge paw. The attack caught Axler mid-jump and sent her flying.

Axler sailed twelve meters in the air and slammed into the trunk of a huge pine. Her limp body slid down to the ground.

Ryan heard Miranda scream. The two tree spirits who fought her shredded into wood pulp. She staggered then, the flames flickering out on her body, and collapsed from the drain of using so much magic. It was just a momentary pause, but it was enough.

"No!" Ryan screamed.

The bear-man crossed the distance in three steps, insanely fast. One huge paw grabbed Miranda's right thigh, the other clawed her neck.

The thing held her above its head, and a dull whoofing roar sounded in the clearing.

Miranda thrashed in the shaman's grip, struggling, battering the creature with her free arm. To no avail.

Ryan brought his Ingram on target and opened fire. The first few rounds hit home, but then a nature spirit manifested, blocking his line of sight. Ryan adjusted immediately; he drew up and circled to gain a clear shot. He fired another short burst, then moved again as the spirit manifested again.

The bear-man was hit, dropping to one knee. He held Miranda raised over his head.

Struggling.

The creature roared again, and in that second, Ryan knew what it was going to do. He dove for a shot around the spirit. Aimed higher, the burst taking the bear-man's right arm off at the elbow.

It was already too late.

Ryan watched helplessly as the bear-man slammed Miranda down.