The golem's hand plunged into the soil with force that cracked the ground. For one heartbeat, nothing happened. Then Kelvin's senses picked up a warning. Something was moving underground, spreading, building toward something catastrophic.
"SCATTER!" Kelvin bellowed, already activating the case on his chest.
The recruits moved, but not fast enough. Roots erupted from the earth like spears, dozens of them, bursting upward with enough force to punch through a wall. One caught Marcus across the shoulder, spinning him sideways. Another missed Reyna by inches, close enough that she felt the displacement.
The third went straight through the youngest recruit's leg.
The kid—Daniel, Kelvin remembered suddenly—screamed. The root had speared him mid-thigh, pinning him to the ground as blood poured from the wound. The golem began pulling the root back, dragging Daniel with it.
