I stared at the massive snake, my brain helpfully converting its size to something I could understand. Forty feet long. About the length of a school bus. Body as thick as a sedan. So basically, we were dealing with a giant murderous Camry that had eaten a school bus and found a way to digest the metal.

"That’s a big fucking snake," I whispered.

Misato’s head turned just enough for me to catch the death glare.

"Thank you for that astute tactical observation," she said, her tone dripping with enough venom to match the serpent we were hunting.

Belle was already doing math, her lips moving silently as numbers added up in her head. The gleam in her eyes said she was tallying credits, not monsters. "Silver-tier core that size is worth at least fifteen thousand. Maybe more."

"Split five ways, that’s three thousand each." Jordan’s voice was so flat he might have been reading a grocery list. "Almost makes dying worth it."

I kept my eyes on the platform, on the rhythmic rise and fall of that coiled body. "Nobody’s dying. Not when I’m finally starting to like you people."

Naomi made a quiet sound that was almost a laugh. "Highest praise Jace has ever given anyone."

We crouched behind a massive fallen tree trunk, the bark slick and covered in moss. The platform rose about ten feet from the dark water, old and weathered stone with crumbling steps that led up from the swamp. Ancient carvings covered the sides in patterns I didn’t recognize from any human language. Whoever built this place, they weren’t from around here. Or they were from a very, very long time ago.

Misato was already laying out the plan, her voice low and clipped. "Belle stays back. Detection only. Jordan, I need shadow restraints the moment it wakes up. Don’t care how many. Just lock it down fast."

He nodded once. No argument. No jokes.

"Naomi." Misato’s eyes shifted to the tall girl, who was biting her lower lip hard enough to leave marks. "Charge your strongest blast. But hold it until we confirm the scales aren’t beam-resistant. Last thing we need is your best shot bouncing off and hitting one of us."

Naomi’s face went pale but she nodded. "I can do that."

"Jace." Misato looked at me, and there was something almost dangerous in her expression. Not hostile. Just... intense. "You’re with me on direct assault. Close range. We get in, we hit hard, we don’t let it recover."

"You planning to just walk up and stab it?" I asked.

"You got a better idea?"

I didn’t.

The approach was tediously slow. The water around the platform was deep enough that we had to actually swim for short stretches, moving with agonizing care to avoid creating ripples. The massive snake continued its rhythmic breathing, unaware of the five idiots sneaking up to stab it in the face.

We made it to the stone steps without incident. Misato created a second clone, bringing her total to three. The original plus three copies now stood on the bottom step, water lapping at their ankles. She gestured for me to follow, her eyes never leaving the snake.

I’ll never know what woke it. Maybe a change in the air. Maybe some sixth sense that warned of approaching hunters. Or maybe we just had shit luck.

Its eyes snapped open.

Yellow. Pupils slitted like a cat’s. Intelligent.

"Fuck," Misato said, summing up the situation perfectly.

The snake uncoiled in an explosion of movement that shouldn’t have been possible for something that size. Its head rose twenty feet above the platform, swaying side to side as those yellow eyes locked onto us.

"Now!" Misato shouted.

Jordan’s shadows shot forward, black tendrils wrapping around the snake’s massive body. For a moment, it worked. The creature froze, caught in the dark web of Jordan’s power. Then it flexed.

The shadows shattered like glass.

"That’s not supposed to happen!" Jordan stumbled backward, his sneakers splashing in the shallow water. "Shadows don’t break!"

The snake’s mouth opened, and those fangs were the size of my forearm. Longer. Its head shot forward faster than something that big had any right to move.

I fired Wave Motion straight into its open mouth. The golden spiral detonated against the back of its throat. The snake recoiled, hissing like a burst steam pipe.

"Scales are vulnerable on the inside!" I shouted. "It can be hurt!"

Misato’s three clones charged up the stone steps. Each one carried different weapons—spear, sword, combat axe. They moved together, striking in perfect synchronization. The snake recovered from my blast and its head weaved between their attacks, dodging with lazy, contemptuous precision.

Then it struck.

One clone disappeared in a spray of mist as the jaws snapped shut. The other two kept fighting, carving shallow lines along the creature’s neck. Blood welled up, dark and thick, but the wounds looked superficial at best.

Naomi’s energy blast crashed into the side of the snake’s head. Blue-white force, concentrated and brutal. The impact knocked its head sideways. Scales blackened and cracked where the beam hit, but the flesh underneath remained intact. Tough. Too tough.

"Aim for the eyes or mouth!" Belle shouted from her safe distance thirty meters back, her voice high and strained.

The snake turned its attention to Naomi, recognizing the source of the energy attack. It surged forward, body coiling and uncoiling in rapid succession, propelling itself with frightening speed.

"Naomi, move!" I sprinted up the steps, heart hammering against my ribs.

She tried to dodge, but her boot caught on a root. She stumbled. The snake closed in.

I didn’t think. Just acted.

Wave Motion erupted from my feet, propelling me forward like a missile. I slammed into Naomi, wrapping my arms around her waist and carrying us both out of the snake’s path. We crashed into the shallow water, Naomi beneath me, my body shielding hers as the snake’s massive head passed inches above us.

"You okay?" I gasped, pushing myself up on my elbows.

Her eyes were wide. "Behind you!"

I rolled, pulling Naomi with me as the snake’s head crashed down where we’d been a second earlier. Water exploded upward in a ten-foot spray.

Misato’s remaining clones leapt onto the snake’s neck, driving their blades into the softer scales there. The creature thrashed, trying to dislodge them. One clone lost its grip and disappeared into the water. The other clung on, repeatedly stabbing the same spot with mechanical precision.

"We need a new plan!" I shouted to Misato, who stood on the platform, analyzing the battle with clinical detachment.

"Working on it," she called back.

The snake finally dislodged the last clone, sending it flying into a tree with bone-breaking force. The copy vanished in a splash of energy.

Now the creature’s full attention turned to Misato.

It struck.