Anton’s news made Zoe’s heart race: mantises were nearby. Enemies to fight. Bugs to squish.

“How many?” she asked with a grin.

“Looks like a dozen.”

“Can you guess their level?”

“I’m scanning them now, but it’s hard to tell. Their wings are hidden. I’ll guess they’re all above 20. Some are above 30.”

Once upon a time, those words would have frightened her.

Zoe flexed her chains as she crept forward. The hill dropped off steeply and down the slope on the other side a trail wound between tree-lined gorges. Through the snow-covered treetops, she spied the mantises moving in single file. The color of their exoskeletons revealed their elemental affinity: grey and reflective Metal, dun Earth, crimson Fire — they looked like biological warriors. A flame mantis spread thirteen wings as it chattered something. The metal leader spread seventeen in response.

That metal mantis was at a greater level than Zoe had been before she left for Hell, but now her power dwarfed anything it could muster.

No dread in her mind, only anticipation. Should she wait for her friends? It sounded like a good idea, but…

“How far behind are you?”

“A minute.”

Zoe grinned.

“Better hurry,” she said. “I can’t promise I’ll save you any.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?”

But Zoe had already leaped through the air, Mirrored skin reflecting the pulsing yellow sky as her chains formed a fist of furious momentum.

###

“I’m worried about her,” Anton said as he ran beside Bella. “She’s…”

“Herself?” Bella said glibly.

“More herself, sure,” Anton said. “But every time she incorporates metal it’s like she becomes a robot playing the part of Zoe.”

“I thought you would like another unfeeling machine.”

“I have feelings.”

“Right.”

“For example, I don’t enjoy watching a train hurtle down tracks so fast that it will derail when it hits a sharp corner.”

“You suggest we slow her down?”

“There’s no way we can stop her.”

“She’s not so unmovable,” Bella said. “But I know what you mean…”

They ran ahead of Oriz and Skidmark, the crunch of their footsteps in the wake of Zoe’s snow clearing offering some illusion of privacy. They followed the deep gouges in the snow Zoe left behind like miniature craters.

“Is there anything we can do?” Anton asked.

“She trusts us. If we speak to her…”

“And tell her not to charge toward danger?”

“…”

“Toward power? Toward conflict?”

“Yeah, mate, I get it. But why bring it up if there’s nothing we can do?”

“Was hoping you had a solution.”

Anton leaped a log, and Bella sprang off it. Her steps were heavier than his, the log cracking beneath her foot. His eyes flitted like silver wisps.

“She’s fighting them now — destroying them. And she’s not even trying, just using brute force.”

Behind them, Oriz snorted.

“Why bother training her at all?”

In the distance, through the thinning trees, a gout of flame spat up into the air followed by a sickening crunch and an insectile shriek.

“We knew what we were signing up for,” Bella said. “At least, I always thought you knew.”

“Yeah, we’re going to kill a god. We’re going to save Earth. I just…”

“What?” Bella smirked. “Don’t tell me the unflappable Anton is losing his composure.”

Anton’s features tightened.

“I didn’t think we’d lose ourselves doing it.”

Bella laughed as they raced through the trees and reached the top of the hill. It was clear from the lack of footprints in the snow that Zoe had leaped. The sound of conflict filled the air.

“What’s so funny?” Anton asked as his eyes whizzed overhead.

“You think we can still save the Earth? Save ourselves?” Bella shook her head. “You just came back from Hell, Anton.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Give me a better definition of salvation.”

Bella stopped.

“Does Zoe need our help fighting?”

His eyes drifted to the side as he looked through his eyes.

“We should help.”

Bella nodded.

“We’ll monitor her, and we’ll do our best to keep her human. Keep all of us human, otherwise, who are we saving the world for, yeah?”

“That’s all I ask.”

Bella placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I know, mate. I know.”

Oriz and Skidmark ran up and together the four of them charged down the slope toward the frenzied battle with Zoe at its center.

###

With the levels of Zoe’s party, they made swift work of the group of mantises. While her friends took care of the stragglers, Zoe faced off against the seventeen-winged metal beast.

It proved no challenge at all.

Claws as long as she was tall — barbs whirring like chainsaws — swept through the air. She laughed as she ducked and dodged. The chains on her feet dug into the ground and moved her with unnatural flexibility. The mantis slashed faster and faster, its blades screaming through the air, but it couldn’t touch her.

She felt like she was playing a game.

While Bella and Oriz parried and riposted with their blades, and Anton and Skidmark ducked and dodged, Zoe reached out with her chains.

She grabbed a hold of the whirring barbs and held them fast. The metal mantis jerked to a halt. It screeched, mandibles peeling apart to reveal human teeth.

“We will devour you!”

Zoe grinned as she pulled its arms wide. Seventeen wings buzzed and snow leaped up in flurries around her. It pinged off her Mirrored skin and did nothing to obscure her vision. She tapped into [I Will Carry You] and the increased weight crashed the bug to the ground. Its knees buckled and Zoe forced it down until she stood above its insectile head. Its size made the mantis’s features alien. Disgust rose in Zoe.

With a scarred grin, she brought her forehead down. Mirror slammed into metal with a sound like a car crash.

Metal dinged, and the reflected force echoed her attack. Reverberations traveled through the metallic body of the monster, and Zoe struck again. Its head caved in. Thick juices like motor oil streamed and spattered the snow. She released the bug, and it crumpled.

After a moment, light glowed amidst the cracked carapace, and a spectral mantis rose from its corpse and started wailing.

Zoe’s breathing settled as Bella moved between the dead bugs and sliced away their souls as they rose to scream their warnings.

Zoe clapped her hands together, the metallic sound gathering her friend’s attention.

“That was easier than I thought,” she said.

Bella and Oriz nodded. Of all of them, the only ones who had any challenge were Skidmark and Anton. Their levels were closest to the bugs they killed, and they lacked any true armaments.

Zoe gestured at the arrangement of crumpled, elementally infused corpses. She had taken out half of them and wasn’t even close to gaining a level. It felt frustrating, but amazing at the same time. She could hardly contain her excitement at her growth.

“I know that I’ve already incorporated…” embarrassment tinged her voice as she recalled the gas station. “But does anyone else want to take the time to do so now?”

Anton, predictably, shook his head.

“I need different elements.”

“Of course.”

He would probably wait until he was sufficiently exposed to Sky. Zoe didn’t blame him, though she found that following her title had led to some problems, everyone was free to make their own decisions in this respect. There was nothing more personal than Skein. However, she found it amusing that it was so hard to find Sky essence on a floating island.

Bella poked at a turquoise mantis. It had attacked with a frothing, surging energy like whips of water splashing against rocks.

“I’ll incorporate a couple here,” she said after a moment of study. “But I’ll save some levels until we find better elements.”

“None of these are a match for me, either,” Skidmark said. “I’ll wait.”

“Must be nice,” Zoe scoffed.

Bella rolled her eyes as she sat cross-legged beside the water-aligned mantis.

“This shouldn’t take long,” she said.

The others spread out to give her some privacy. Zoe and Oriz followed the tracks down the gorge.

“When we were first making our way to the town,” Zoe said. “We never saw them moving in large parties like this. It was always one at a time or in small groups. Before Hell, a group like this would have destroyed us.”

“I have my Skein back,” Oriz said with faint pride. “Not to mention the phenomenal leaps you have made. I feel I shouldn’t need to point out how rare it is for someone to reach your level so quickly.”

Zoe caught the note of concern.

“Is that a problem?”

“It can be. You don’t want current growth to stagnate future growth. I would be a fool to imagine you won’t hit level 50 soon. Yes, the amount of energy you will require getting there is vast, but it is possible. However, once you hit level 50, you will require experience rather than death energy. If you have bad habits, such as charging into conflicts, it may hamper such endeavors. Experience is all about learning new things and honing yourself, hard to do that if you only do the same thing over and over.”

Zoe huffed at the thinly veiled admonishment. She felt like pointing out that Oriz wasn’t her teacher anymore — that relationship was long severed — but she supposed she shouldn’t turn her nose up at free advice.

They followed the tracks toward a narrow space in the gorge until the ground rose into sheer cliffs. The rock came close together. A crack ran down the length. Wide enough for them to slip through if they turned to the side, but still narrow. A wind blew through and cleared snow from gouges in the rock. From the scrapings, it was clear the mantis had pushed their way out through this thin passage.

Zoe held up a hand.

“What do you mean by experience?”

“Exactly that. Understanding, knowledge, wisdom.”

“What about Mountains?”

“That is the other path to power, and they can help gain levels, but they are not levels in and of themselves.”

“What are they?”

Oriz smiled. She did that more and more since regaining her Skein.

“You understand I have no Mountains of my own?”

“Yes, but…”

“Mountains are both places and events. They are a trial that links the physical and the spiritual, much like Skein. Before you ask how to get to one, I do not know. My master would have taught me, but I lost him to a memory beast.”

“What’s a memory beast?”

“Something which feeds upon the traces you have left in the world.”

“That sounds…”

“It is horrific.”

They stood quietly for a moment as a wind whistled through the crack in the cliff.

“I have a Title that promises to lead me to the Mountain of Faith. I haven’t explored that, but I think I will.”

“You can only have five Mountains. Very few people achieve one, and fewer more than that, but I should issue caution all the same. Each one will change you.”

She recalled the way Rue wielded his Mountains to dissect her. It was like he untied hands from behind his back, becoming more himself as his power skyrocketed. Her hunger almost salivated at the thought of gaining such power.

“Careful is my middle name,” Zoe said.

Oriz merely looked at her. Either the joke didn’t translate, or it merely fell flat. Zoe coughed to cover her embarrassment.

“What do you think the mantis were doing?” Zoe asked.

“My guess would be a war party,” Oriz said. “The variety of abilities suggested they supported each other. They carried nothing with them, nor protected any target.”

“Do you think they were going toward the town?”

“You know this location better than I do.”

Zoe nodded.

“I want to see what’s through here.” She cupped her hands together and yelled. “Anton!”

A silver orb flew over and hovered before them.

“You, rang?” he asked drily.

“Can you tell us what’s through this crack?”

The eye slipped through the crack and soon vanished from view.

“I kind of expected a joke,” Zoe said.

“What joke?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Anton’s eye zipped back out.

“You need to see this.”

Zoe raised her eyebrows. She pushed her way through the rock, scraping along between the walls of the gorge until she reached the other side. Her eyes adjusted to the sunlight.

“Oh.”

“What is it?” Bella called out from behind.

“I think we underestimated the bugs.”