The creature took another step. The forest shook.
My brain did what it always does in situations where I'm definitely about to die. It started cataloging useless information.
The thing stood maybe fifteen feet tall. Its skin looked like volcanic rock that had been stretched over a skeleton built by someone who'd only heard about human anatomy through a game of telephone. Each finger ended in a claw longer than my forearm. The hollow eye sockets weren't empty after all. Something moved in there. Something that pulsed with the same color-shifting light the core had produced before we'd shattered it.
The core hadn't been the boss.
The core had been the cage.
"Fucking fantastic," I said.
"Monroe." Naomi's grip on my arm tightened. "Tell me you have something left."
"I have about three percent mana and a very strong desire to not be here."
"That's not helpful."
"I'm aware."
