"Kael'shiva, status report. When will the heroes return to Third Line?"
Kael'shiva looked at her sixty-eight remaining companions—all burning their life force, all aging rapidly, all dying slowly to maintain the defensive network just a few seconds longer.
She looked at the four heroes preparing attacks that would annihilate them all in one overwhelming strike.
She understood with absolute clarity that they had seconds remaining. The battle was over. They'd bought all the time they possibly could.
Through Seraphina's connection, she felt her master's presence—the demon lord who'd trained them, taught them, trusted them with knowledge and power and purpose.
And she knew what she had to do.
The network connected all sixty-nine specialists' minds. Kael'shiva broadcasted to all of them simultaneously:
"Pattern Seven. Final protocol. We deny them the victory. We die on our terms. We take them with us if possible. We make our deaths matter."
