Danny gripped the plasma-emitter he’d built. The ray gun. Raised it and aimed.

And fired, sending coherent light blazing into the dark, trying his best to bring down the monster.

Alana shook herself awake. She looked up and saw broken branches in the forest canopy over her head. She was half-buried in the mud, her body aching.

She realized she’d made the hole in the tree line above, batted like a fastball out of the air by the dragon.

A dragon. Colchester did not screw around.

It took her a moment to stand up. She shook her head, got her bearings, and looked back to where she’d been thrown from. She saw flashes of Colchester’s dark energy filling the night, a kind of anti-lightning. Occasionally — but not often enough — Eric sent bolts of his own magic in return.

They were losing. This was unacceptable. She took a deep breath. Felt something grate in her right leg. She took a step. Nearly fell as the leg refused to take her weight. She staggered forward anyway.

Who does the harsh things? her mother always asked her.

The answer was always: She who can.

She stumbled, then walked, then ran back toward Snake Hill.

Eric was out of tricks. He’d thrown everything he had, everything he’d ever learned, anything he could ever invent, at Colchester. He’d repeated his cheat code so many times it was echoing in his head, over and over. Most of Colchester’s skin was burnt away, his body had been reduced to a skeletal frame, and still he moved like he was out for an evening stroll.

He lifted his hands, ready to cast another spell. The final spell, the one that would kill Eric.

Eric knew this was the moment. He could fly at Colchester and push him down into the Well of Stars. With one last burst of magic, he could force Colchester through, stranding him there in the darkness forever.

All it would cost was his own life. Everything.

It would be the last thing he ever did.

He hesitated. He didn’t want to die.

Then Alana came charging up the hill. She moved so fast the rainwater parted behind her, like the wake of a speedboat. She was the most beautiful thing Eric had ever seen. She raised her sword and leaped for Colchester.

At that moment, Eric was completely in love with her and terrified by her at the same time. She seemed to hang there, in the air, for a long moment.

Colchester roared, his skull opening at the mouth and jawline, showing teeth that looked like fangs. He sent out a blast of pure hatred that was powerful enough to knock both Eric and Alana to the ground.

Colchester stood at the edge of the Well and lifted his hands again.