‘Tatiana!’ I shriek. ‘That’s a dinosaur!’

“What is that?” Tatiana yells, all but throwing herself out the window.

The rex swings its head into the castle wall and collapses through it. A cloud of dust gathers as the tower rumbles around us.

Bells ring far below, and lights bloom throughout the dark city.

A plume of smoke erupts from the wall, consuming the rex’s head.

I can barely make out the people gathering. The smoke comes from one of their extended hands.

“Povenna!” Brevard calls, joining Tatiana at the window. “Can you kill it?”

The rex emerges from the smoke, its head blackened. It whirls, stomping through the wall.

“Get Tatiana somewhere safe!” Povenna shouts over her shoulder. “I don’t know how many there are!”

The woman raises a hand, and golden streaks cut the night apart.

“And stay out of her room!” She explodes into golden light.

The light tears down at the rex, exploding into massive balls of fire.

The rex roars again, disappearing into a plume of golden flames.

“I’m not going anywhere!” Tatiana charges forward. “Mother!”

A curtain of black falls before her eyes, and the world is whisked away.

When the black falls, Tatiana is facing dark water.

The sky opens up, starry and cold. Trees move slowly around her.

Brevard is beside her, sinking to his knees. Does teleporting weaken him? Is it because he’s done it twice in one night, now?

Tatiana doesn’t seem surprised by Brevard’s teleportation. She likely expected it.

‘What the hell was that?’ I yell. ‘Tatiana?’

“I don’t know,” she breathes. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

‘It’s a dinosaur!’

“You know this creature?” Tatiana gasps.

“It has magic,” Brevard said. “It has to have some magical way of moving. There’s no way it walked up to the castle.”

A pane forms in the air before Tatiana.

‘Nowhere is safe. You will have to survive.’

What?

‘You knew this would happen,’ I hiss. ‘What’s going on?’

“What?” Tatiana shakes her head. “No—”

Sure enough, there are heavy thuds behind them.

Tatiana’s head whips around. There are a few shacks gathered along the lakeside. Between some of them are clotheslines and firepits.

The thing is standing between two of the shacks. It’s nowhere near as tall as the rex, only standing about ten feet tall.

Parasaurolophus.

The name clicks in my head. The vaguely duck bill face. The horn jutting from the back of its head. The bottom-heavy body with massive hind legs and sweeping tail.

The spear is where the comparison wanes. That and the thick arms the dinosaur holds said spear with.

Why is a dinosaur holding a spear? What the hell is going on?

The wall of one shack collapses, and another parasaur stumbles through. It’s wielding an axe. In its other hand is a headless body.

“No!” Brevard breaks into a run.

“Alyssa!” My name rips through Tatiana’s dry throat. “More magic, now!”

The closest parasaur levels the spear and charges.

A spike of solid black bursts from the ground. It twists like a spear into the Parasaur’s chest, halting its charge and pushing it back before dissolving.

Brevard jumps and steps onto the parasaur’s spear, slamming its end into the ground.

The monster rears back as the spear snaps.

In one smooth motion, Brevard spins, catching the end of the spear and driving into the monster’s chest.

A roar erupts from the monster’s mouth.

The monster spins. Its massive tail connects with Brevard. With a heavy thud, Brevard is put through a shack. Wood cracks and crumples as he disappears into the rubble.

Tatiana hasn’t moved.

I can hardly wrap my head around what I’m seeing.

The parasaur pulls the broken spear out of its chest and sets golden eyes on her.

I pull up the stat screen and start pumping points into magic.

“Brevard,” Tatiana mumbles. “What do I do?”

‘Run!’ I snap.

Magic hits twenty when a pane appears.

‘New spell unlocked: Thunder Road.’

The parasaur steps forward, the heavy tail dragging behind it.

Then, from further up the brush, another one appears with two more behind it.

‘You have a spell!’ I call, even though I have no idea what it could do. ‘Tatiana, thunder road!

She doesn’t take her eyes off the parasaur looming over her. It lowers its head, golden eyes drawing closer.

Another one circles around a shack, three horses held by the reins.

I realize then. As if the spear hadn’t made it clear. This isn’t some kind of mindless attack. This is a mobilized military.

Tatiana turns and plants her foot in the closet parasaur’s face.

The monster hardly budges.

Tatiana pushes herself away from it, rolling towards the edge of the lake. In seconds she’s up. Just as fast, two parasaurs bear down on her.

One of them wields a sword, the other a spear.

The sword bearing one reaches first and strikes like a blur.

Tatiana throws herself to the ground. She lands hard on her shoulder and rolls.

She starts to get up, and something heavy crashes into her side.

For a moment, we’re airborne. She lands in shallow water. Something sharp juts into her back, and she inhales water on a scream.

‘You have to run!’ I shriek. ‘Tatiana, can you hear me?’

Tatiana bursts from the water, her clothes clinging to her body. She coughs violently and grabs at a rock digging into her back.

Three parasaurs rush up the bank, their heavy steps seemingly shaking the ground.

“Magic!” Tatiana sputters. “I have to…”

‘Thunder road!’

A blur rockets from the rubble of the shack. It arcs through the air and lands on the first Parasaur.

It’s Brevard, armed with a thick plank of wood. He smashes it across the Parasaur’s face.

The wood shatters instantly, but Brevard isn’t done. He catches the Parasaur’s horn and slams both feet against the back of its head, driving it to the ground.

“Run!” Brevard hisses. His face is bloodied, and pieces of wood jut from his arm.

The other two parasaurs charge. Two more hand back. One levels a crossbow.

Brevard snatches up the sword of the one he knocked down and lunges, taking the head cleanly off one of them.

The blade glows and the monster’s blood sizzles.

Tatiana stumbles away.

“Gratifica!”

Tatiana glances back as Brevard impales another Parasaur. A streak of black fire rips through its body, tearing it apart.

But further up the lakefront, more of them rise from the lake water.

The mountainside on the other side of the lake is littered with them. Hundreds of parasaurs charging into the lake.

Tatiana doesn’t look back again. She runs hard, breaths coming like knives in her lungs. She bumps off a tree and nearly topples over.

But she keeps going.

‘Try basic guard,’ I say. ‘Maybe it could—’

Something whizzes by Tatiana’s face, and fire cuts across her skin. She spins, clutching the side of her head, and lands hard.

Blood oozes through her fingers. She traces a gash across the side of her head with a trembling hand.

A small gasp escapes her lips.

She turns, finding a parasaur reloading a crossbow nearby.

“It shot an arrow,” she says under her breath.

‘Don’t stop!’ I yell. ‘Keep going!’

Then, a hammer lands on her back. She hits the ground face first, and pain blooms in her nose.

Something is on her. Something heavy.

The stat screen is still there, imprinted on the dark of Tatiana’s closed eyes.

‘No. No. No. You have to get up!’

Tatiana squirms, but the weight is immovable.

Something growls above her and it presses down harder.

Tatiana yells into the dirt, digging her fingers into the ground. Something is cracking in her back.

‘Tatiana, use the spell! It’s called thunder road!’

I feel immediately stupid because what do I expect her to do? Just yell it out? She’s currently face down in the dirt.

As if in response to that thought, the weight lifts off of her.

Tatiana breathes out ragged breaths. Something pushes against her side, rolling her onto her back.

Above is another Parasaur. It aims a crossbow at her. It’s obscured by Tatiana’s bloody bangs and the blur in her vision.

‘Thunder Road,’ I say quickly. ‘Cast. Please!’

Nothing happens.

‘What do I do?’

Tatiana is gone.

I can feel her absence like a massive hole in my chest.

I’m in control.

The Parasaur grumbles, a low hiss in its throat.

I swallow a mouthful of blood. The words come out through a cough.

“Thunder road.”

There’s a flash.

It happens in the blink of an eye. The light stretches like a jagged spear, twisting across the air. It touches the Parasaur and rips clean through its chest.

The bolt doesn’t stop. It shoots out into the sky.

I’m pulled. My body is ripped from the ground. I pass through the lightning and come out on the other end.

I’m spinning in open air. I can see the city in the distance and the villages surrounding it. Trees clutter around them, like a crowd gathered together.

The city is cast in golden fire and a massive shadow moves through buildings like they’re made of dirt.

The lightning vanishes, and thunder rumbles in the air around me.

Below, the Parasaur is still coming apart. Its body explodes into two pieces.

I fall.

My dad’s always been a Bruce Springsteen fan. I could always give or take his music.

When I saw the spell name, I was taken back to my dad’s Jeep.

Him singing along. Me sticking my head out the window like a dog, watching the frozen lake slide by.

What does it mean?

I don’t have time to question it. Tatiana isn’t here. Did she lose consciousness, and that forced me into control?

The world is spinning around me. My limbs feel light. My legs flail slowly. I can almost pretend I’m skating on ice.

But everything feels like it’s moving so slowly.

When the lightning struck, I watched it move. But it happened in a second.

Did the spell somehow affect my perception?

I’m going to hit the ground. I have to do something. I should be panicking.

But everything feels so clear. So simple. Maybe I’m too comfortable here. On the edge of death.

I right myself, watching the stars spin.

A lightning bolt that transported me to wherever it struck.

Just cast it again.

I wonder if I can aim the lightning. I try to focus on the trees and direct it to go there.

I don’t know if I’ll survive. Will it cancel out the momentum of my fall? Or will I arrive with an unfortunate lesson in impact physics?

Either way, there’s no other option. We’re in this together, Tatiana and I. I won’t let her down.

“Thunder road.”

The light flashes again. It arcs out towards the trees, just like I wanted.

Why did it have to be Bruce Springsteen? Why is the stat screen so Americanized?

It feels like this system is tailor made for me, even though it lists Tatiana’s name. Like this is my power. My magic.

The bolt hits a tree and, all at once, I’m out of the sky and flying through tight-knit branches and leaves.

I thrust out my arms and catch a thick branch. I nearly slip off but wrap both arms around the rough bark.

Something pops in my shoulder, but I don’t let go. Thunder rumbles in the leaves around me and they rustle violently.

Broken branches and leaves fall below.

I did it.

But everything hurts. My skin is hot with blood. It feels like I’m sweating it out.

“Tatiana,” I breathe. “Are you there?”

The only response is a growl far below.

I twist my head and find a Parasaur staring up at me, spear in hand.

“Come on.” I struggle to pull myself up onto the branch. I’m going to fall, I can feel my grip giving.

Cast it again. Why not?

I let loose one arm and dangle for a moment before my grip breaks. Then, I’m falling towards the Parasaur.

“Thunder Road!” I yell it this time, focusing on the monster below me.

The light flashes and streaks straight down, cutting through the Parasaur.

I land, stumbling forward.

Behind me, the Parasaur explodes into a shower of body parts and black blood.

Burnt foliage falls around as thunder rumbles again.

My legs are like jelly. My head is swimming. I don’t know how many times I can cast this spell.

I blink and I’m sitting in that passenger seat again, bundled in two jackets and chewing on both of their sleeves at once.

The air is cold. My dad’s thin hair whips around his head as he laughs.

“You’ve got to listen to it again,” he says, restarting the song. “Born to run is a story.”

“A story?” I ask, planting an elbow on the window. “How?”

“You gotta listen to what he’s actually saying,” dad insists as the forest returns to my vision.

I blink, struggling to reconcile what has happened. It had been completely real to me. Like a leak through the seams of time.

Another parasaur, stomping in from the left.

This time it’s almost instinctual. I don’t hesitate or even consider anything else.

“Thunder road.”

But the Parasaur moves. The moment the words leave my mouth, it crouches on those massive hind legs and leaps to the side.

The same flash. The lightning cuts through a tree, and I come through as the tree collapses.

The Parasaur dodged. It must’ve watched me kill the other one. And it figured out the timing of my spell just like that.

How smart are these things?

I stumble into a run, narrowly escaping the range of the tree’s branches as they crash down.

But the Parasaur is gone.

Just as I process that, a loud trumpeting noise comes from above.

I find the Parasaur balanced on two branches, mouth aimed high as it let loose another loud trumpet.

That doesn’t make sense. How heavy are they?

I think about Brevard grappling the parasaurs at the lake. Either he was insanely strong, or these things don’t weigh tonnes like proper parasaurs should. That and the fact that one was crushing Tatiana with its foot.

Little good that knowledge does me. Even worse, that noise probably means it’s calling more of them.

The Parasaur moves, and I force myself to focus.

Hit it as it lands. It sounds like a brilliant idea.

But the Parasaur lands, and I haven’t budged. I’m swaying in place, vision a blur.

Move!

The Parasaur jumps, flying straight for me, spear cocked.

“Thunder Road!”

The Parasaur slams its tail against a tree, knocking itself off track. It spins downward to the side.

The lightning rips through the branches above, and I’m pulled through.

I come out into open air. Leaves and burnt branches scatter around me. A hole is torn open in the canopy beneath me as thunder rumbles.

I can’t see it. It could—

The Parasaur bursts from the canopy below.

I aim a finger at it.

“Thunder road!”

Nothing happens. Pain explodes in the back of my head.

Wait.

I glimpse the spear for a moment before it hits me. The pain is astonishing. I can’t even scream. Everything just goes blank for a moment.

Then, the Parasaur rips the spear out of me.

Blood dances in the air.

I’m falling. Branches cut at me as I crash through them. I grab at the wound in my stomach weakly, finding nothing but blood.

I can sense the ground rushing up at me.

I don’t feel the impact. It feels like I close my eyes and wake up lying on the ground, staring up at the canopy.

Burning branches fall around me.

There’s that coldness again. Filling my body. But this isn’t my body. This is Tatiana dying.

The Tatiana who wanted so badly to be seen. Who spoke of her impending death with that painful certainty. Who bathed alone, protected only by a stack of buckets. Who clung to Brevard, believing herself so easily replaced.

Nearby, the Parasaur appears. It lands and slams the spear into the ground.

I have to run. I can hardly feel my body.

The Parasaur draws closer. Its golden eyes loom like suns over me. Its breath is hot and smells of rot.

“Angel.” The voice is small and hoarse. It can talk?

Then, an arrow sinks into its eye.

The Parasaur lets loose a deafening wail and rears back.

Horses charge from the brush. The faces of their riders are blurred.

“Get Tatiana!” A familiar voice yells. “We’re going ahead!”

I cough violently.

Hands come down on me, gentle and strong.

“You’ll be okay. We’ll find someone to heal you. I swear it.”

It’s Gideon.

“Tatiana,” I mumble. “Please, help Tatiana…”

Then it all drains away.