COLIN POV

Sage, Rok'gar, and I assembled with our group of volunteer personalities in the center of our camp. Our little outpost hummed with activity as our units went about their patrols. I felt unaccountably nervous. Gambler was right. We were running out of time.

"Are we ready for this?" I asked my team.

Sage and Rok'gar nodded.

"We're only going to have one shot at this," Gambler said. "I won't have the ethereum and willpower to boost you up a second time. This will leave me exposed. Any nearby rivals who sense my weakness will attack while I am weak."

"Don't worry," Sage assured him. "We'll make this work."

"I have located a likely candidate for you and will project you as close to it as possible. Once you have seized control of this larger fragment, I will take it over."

"Then beam us up," I said, trying to keep the mood light.

Sage had her lariat in hand. It was all shiny now. Rok'gar had upgraded it with components stripped from some of the other fragments we had killed. I was holding a spade. My non-combat build wasn't the best for this, but I had excelled at the base building, and I couldn't wait to see what we'd be able to do on the next level up. Rok'gar had his weapon out and was muttering a war chant under his breath.

There was a rushing sound and a feeling in my head of wind blowing past. I didn't move, but I shot upward, my body swelling and growing, inflating larger and larger as I rushed up past the hexagonal outcroppings that protected our base. Sage, Rok'gar, and our minions all grew in size too, but somehow we maintained our same distance from each other.

There was a pop, and I blinked back dizziness and looked around. We were standing on the edge of what felt like a shore. To our left, everything was the same color purple. Tiny versions of the hexagonal outcroppings that had dotted our prior landscape rose about as high as my knee. I didn’t see any larger features.

To our right, the purple gave way to a glowing golden-white swirl. Looking at it made my stomach twist. I couldn't see very far out into it, and I felt nervous looking at it somehow.

I glanced down. My legs were straddling a tiny crack. I blinked, my vision focusing, and I could see down into the crack. There was a perfect tiny replica of our base. The little scurrying ants darting about were our units. It gave me a dizzying sensation.

I straightened up and shook my head. Rok'gar had his hands raised toward the ceiling. He lowered them, looking around, smiling toothily.

"That was a rush," Sage said, putting a hand to her head. "You guys all right?"

“When we leave this place, I shall tell my father I have glimpsed the weight of significance and withstood it.” Rok'gar sounded happy.

"Is that a good thing?" Sage asked.

"It is one of the five great trials an orc warrior may withstand in his life. Yes, it is a good thing.” Rok'gar thumped the ground with the end of his spear. "Where is this enemy of ours?"

I could feel Gambler urging me forward, showing me where to go. I checked my allies. The philosophers and historical personalities had all made it up. I gathered them together as best I could. Personalities had a tendency to wander. Sage never had patience to deal with them. She strode along the edge of our grouping, swinging her lariat and muttering under her breath.

"This way," I said, and we set off along the shore. The boundary between purple and white undulated as we stuck to the purple. All of us seemed to eye the white with concern.

"Anyone know what that is?" Sage asked as we went.

"Not a clue. Maybe Gambler can explain once he gets up here," I said.

We rounded another bend and there was our target. It looked like an enormous pink snail, tall as a house, with a pearlescent pink shell and a fuchsia-colored body lying half in the white. As we approached, it raised its head toward us.

It had four antennae. It raised its head, opened its mouth, and launched a blob of fire toward us. I dodged, and the ball of fire landed on the ground in front of us, searing several of the purple cracks together.

"Spread out," I ordered. "Everyone get in there. Sage, you're going to keep any ads off our back while I deploy the will-boosters."

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Rok'gar had crafted them for me with Gambler's input. They were two-foot-tall metal tripods with a spire of curled copper surrounding a purple crystal on the top. They would project Gambler’s will up here into this level. I needed to plant them in a hexagonal formation around the monster to aid Gambler's attack.

Meanwhile, the philosopher squad would be disrupting the target's own will. They arrayed themselves in a half-circle around the giant snail, staying on the purple side as I darted in and placed the first of the will-boosters. As I set it on the ground, it lit up. The crystal glowed and started to hum.

Rok'gar shouted a challenge at the snail's head. I wasn't sure how intelligent it was, but it did lift its head and track him with its four eyes on stalks. It opened its mouth. I just had time to realize it was spitting out another ball of fire.

I darted aside, as Rok'gar sidestepped easily. A status bar appeared over the snail's head. [Willpower: 98%]

The philosophers were beginning their attack. They chanted things that sounded like boiled-down summaries of their philosophy over and over at the mollusk. None of it sounded much more than bumper-sticker level pithiness. I wondered if the Overmind had gotten hold of some sort of “Earth History for Fifth Graders” book as I listened to Descartes proclaiming, "You do not think, therefore you are not," over and over.

Meanwhile, Sage was ranging outward. "We've got incoming," she warned.

"Let me know if you can't handle it," I said as I placed the second of the will-beacons.

This was going to be a problem. I could get four of them safely in the purple, but to complete my hexagon formation, I was going to have to go out into the white. "Gambler, can you read me?"

"I'm here," he said. I noticed with a start that the will readout in the corner of my vision for Gambler stood at 87%.

"I am under attack from lesser creatures. You must hurry."

"I don't like whatever this white is. Is it going to kill me if I step in it?"

"Not immediately, but it will require a significant amount of my will to keep you from unraveling. Do it as fast as you can," Gambler told me.

Well, that wasn’t exactly encouraging.

Our attack was working. The snail's will had dropped lower than Gambler's. Sage whooped and hollered as she intercepted the attackers, a bunch of knee-high, crablike creatures. I wasn't sure if they were minions of the snail or just opportunistic scavengers, but she had six of them Tamed and turned on the others.

"I want to keep one of these," she shouted. "They've got a really nice pincer attack. We should make more of them. I’m going to name mine Sergeant Snippy!”

I was too busy darting in and setting the beacons to respond, but her levity brightened my day. Honestly, Sage was the only reason I was staying sane here. Her good humor and common sense kept me moving forward despite the circumstances. Now probably wasn’t the time to think about that, though. I got my third beacon planted.

The snail seemed to decide now was a good time to change its strategy. It turned and with surprising speed oozed forward at the nearest couple philosophers. They stood their ground and a second later were squashed under the snail's body. We lost Kant and Derrida. Seeing that, Plato and Maimonides darted aside and avoided the snail's next crushing attack. I was getting worried because it was likely to get out of position. I needed to complete my formation now.

"Get it back inside the markers," I yelled to Rok'gar, who nodded and raced forward, spearing the snail's body with his weapon. The snail turned on him, oozing back behind the beacons I'd already placed. I had four of them down now. I just needed the two in the white stuff. I checked the will counters. The snail was down to 53 and Gambler sat at 73. I took a deep breath.

"I'm going in," I warned Gambler and stepped into the tide. I could immediately feel it tugging at me. The white stuff wanted to unravel me, remake me, turn me into something else. Gambler's Will started dropping immediately. Two points, three points, five points down. I placed the first beacon, then struggled through the white. It came up about to my knees. I took another step and plunged in almost to my chest. Gambler's will dropped precipitously. 57, 56, 55.

I had to get this done. I reached the last location, placed the beacon, and then activated my double jump skill and leapt clear of the white. I mistimed my jump. I realized as it was too late I would be coming down between Rok'gar and the snail's head.

"Look out!" I shouted as I landed. The snail turned on me. I dropped to the sand as the snail shot another ball of fire right at Rok'gar.

He didn't have time to dodge. He raised his energy weapon and split the fireball around the blade of his polearm. It seared past him, engulfing him in flame and smoke.

As the smoke cleared, I hardly dared to look, but he was there, standing, swaying a little, and smoky. I rolled and got to my feet. The snail's will was down to 32%, and Gambler's was holding steady at 44.

"All in!" I shouted. "Everything you've got!"

The philosophers redoubled their chanting. Sage had wiped out the invading crabs. She brought her remaining crab minion army in to aid the attack. I pulled a few bombs out of my inventory and lobbed them at the snail. The sonic grenades stuck to the outside of its shell for an instant before exploding, sending a resonating note through the beast's entire body. Its willpower was at 12, but now Gambler's was dropping again too.

"Are you alright?"

"Under attack here. Concentrating." Gambler's voice sounded tight in my head.

The snail was almost down. I shouted and threw another grenade. Rok'gar roared and rushed in, stabbing. Sage had her crabs buffed up. There were so many philosophers chanting, it sounded like a Philosophy 101 course. Three, two, one.

The snail collapsed. Its body dissolved into pink goo and oozed out into the white, tinging it briefly pink before the glow overwhelmed it. Gambler's voice was at 15%. Had we taken too long?

"Now, Gambler!" I shouted. "Now!"

A bright light blinded me. I blinked and when I opened my eyes again, the pink mollusk shell was mounted on a pedestal. I could feel Gambler's presence in my head again.

"This does feel good. I never knew I could be so big. Quick, build a new town center. Oh, and I think we're going to need a shipyard."