"How do we reach it?" Luke asked.

Possibilities multiplied around them. Luke recovered the spearhead and attacked from close range, only to be bitten in half. He threw the broken shaft, but it bounced from the boss’s hide. In another future, Arcane Thrust struck the closed stomach after the mouth sealed itself.

Yvonne swayed, and Luke caught her elbow.

"What’s wrong?"

"There are hundreds of futures now."

The visions became so dense that ghostly versions of Luke and the monster covered most of the arena. In nearly all of them, the Dread Devourer managed to stand. Once it regained its footing, the wounded leg no longer slowed it, and the creature became larger and stronger.

"We don’t have much time," Yvonne said.

The blade remained buried in the boss’s foot. Luke needed it if he wanted to use Arcane Thrust.

"We have to get the spearhead back."

Yvonne searched through the futures.

"In every one where you approach its foot, it grabs you."

"Then we make it look somewhere else."

The stomach-mouth fed on fear, and the monster always chose the more frightened target.

Luke turned toward Yvonne.

She understood before he spoke.

"No."

"You haven’t heard the plan yet."

"You want to use me as bait."

"I was going to call you a distraction."

"That’s a nicer way of saying the same terrible thing."

The Dread Devourer pushed itself onto one elbow, and its red core flickered through the partially open stomach.

As Luke looked from the core to the spearhead, Yvonne followed his attention and saw another future.

She stood in front of the monster while its stomach opened to consume her fear. Luke tore the spearhead free, but the shaft was gone, leaving him with the blade and a short length of broken wood.

He threw it.

The weapon struck the core.

The vision ended before she could see the result.

Yvonne drew in a sharp breath.

"You found something," Luke said.

"One future."

"Does it work?"

"I don’t know. The vision ends when the spear hits the core."

"That’s still farther than we got in the others."

Yvonne shook her head. "You have to stand almost beneath the monster to pull the blade free, and I have to keep its attention."

The boss continued struggling to rise.

Luke extended his hand.

"I won’t force you to do this, but I can’t do it without you. You’re the only one who can find the path."

She hesitated for several seconds before placing her hand in his. The violet thread wrapped around their joined fingers.

"I hate this plan," Yvonne said.

"So do I."

"I’m terrified."

"So am I."

Her grip tightened.

"But I trust you, Luke."

[A truthful statement has been detected.]

[Partner resonance has reached its maximum value.]

Violet light flared between them as the Dread Devourer rose to its full height.

Luke and Yvonne faced it together without stepping back.

Black blood dripped from the creature’s injured foot. Its stomach-mouth had closed again, leaving a thin red line between the folds of gray flesh, but the hidden core continued pulsing beneath them.

Luke studied the arena.

The spearhead remained buried in the monster’s left foot. To reach it, he would have to pass beneath one of its arms and get close enough to touch its leg, while Yvonne kept the boss from looking at him.

Neither part of the plan gave Luke much confidence.

"Show me the future again," he said.

Yvonne lifted their joined hands, and the violet thread connecting them spread over Luke’s wrist and climbed his arm as the vision formed.

Several yards in front of the boss, Yvonne stood surrounded by gray mist. The Dread Devourer leaned down and opened the mouth in its stomach while Luke moved beneath its left side and tore the spearhead free.

The creature noticed him.

In most futures, a claw caught Luke before he escaped. He survived a few by using Quickstep, but the spearhead missed the core when he threw it.

Only one path remained.

After pulling the blade free, Luke used Quickstep to retreat and threw the broken weapon while Yvonne stood directly beneath the open stomach. The spearhead entered the core, but the future ended before revealing what happened next.

"Can you hold that path?" Luke asked.

"I can watch it."

"That isn’t what I asked."

Yvonne pressed her lips together while the symbols across her blindfold moved faster.

"I don’t know."

Luke examined every detail of the vision. His future self always threw from the same place, with his right foot on a circular symbol carved into the arena and a thin crack running beside his left.

The spearhead followed the same path each time.

"What changes when I miss?"

"Your footing, your arm, and the exact moment you release it."

"And when I hit?"

"Everything follows the future we chose."

Luke nodded.

"Then tell me every step."

Focusing on the vision, Yvonne carefully described what she saw.

"You wait until its stomach opens, then take three steps beneath its left arm. Grab the broken shaft with your right hand and pull downward."

"Which direction do I use Quickstep?"

"Backward and slightly to the right. Seven yards."

Luke searched the arena and found the circular symbol from the vision.

"That’s where I throw from?"

"Yes."

"What keeps the stomach open?"

Yvonne did not answer.

Luke already knew. The Dread Devourer had opened its second mouth when their fear grew strongest because it wanted to feed directly from the source.

Yvonne’s body started trembling again.

Luke turned toward her.

"You don’t need to pretend."

"I’m not pretending."

"I meant you don’t need to create fear for it. You already have plenty."

"That is a terrible attempt at comforting me."

"I’m still learning."

A weak laugh escaped her.

The monster lowered its head, moving its burning eyes between them before settling on Yvonne.

Luke raised a hand and touched her cheek. The violet symbols beneath her blindfold reflected across his fingers.

"Keep watching the future we want," he said.

"What if another future replaces it?"

"Bring me back to the right one."

"What if you miss?"

"I might," Luke admitted. "But I’ll still make the throw."

[A truthful statement has been detected.]

[Focus increased.]

Yvonne leaned into his palm.

"Then that’s the future I’ll watch."

The boss raised one claw.

Luke released her.

Every step toward the center of the arena carried Yvonne farther away from him. Luke moved in the opposite direction and stayed outside the monster’s immediate attention.

The Dread Devourer followed her with its eyes.

Gray mist gathered around Yvonne as she stopped several yards in front of it. Her hands trembled at her sides, but she held her position.

The monster inhaled deeply and pulled the mist toward itself.

"Come closer," she whispered.

Lowering its face, the Dread Devourer grinned. More mist surrounded her, though the violet thread between her and Luke remained visible through it.

Oracle’s Glimpse activated.

Futures spread across the arena. Yvonne watched the monster crush her. She saw Luke caught beneath its claws, the spear miss the core, and the stomach close before the weapon reached it.

Every failure fed her fear, thickening the gray mist around her. The Dread Devourer leaned closer as the red line across its stomach widened.

Yvonne forced herself to search beyond the visions of their deaths. She looked for the future where Luke stood on the circular symbol and followed the path where the spearhead left his hand at the exact moment the core pulsed.

At last, she found it.

A thin violet trail appeared through the chaos, and Yvonne held on to it.

"Luke."

He crouched near the boss’s left side.

"I see it."

The stomach split open, and rows of wet teeth unfolded from the flesh to expose the red core.

"Now!" Yvonne shouted.

Luke ran.

The Dread Devourer remained focused on her while its stomach-mouth opened wider to consume the fear surrounding her.

Passing beneath its left arm, Luke counted three steps before reaching the injured foot. The broken spearhead remained lodged between two thick toes, surrounded by dried black blood.

He grabbed the short piece of shaft with his right hand.

The monster noticed him and turned its burning eyes in his direction.

"Pull!" Yvonne cried.

Luke planted one foot against the creature’s toe and ripped the weapon free. Black blood sprayed across his arms as the Dread Devourer roared and dropped one claw toward him.

"Right!" Yvonne shouted.

Luke activated Quickstep.

The world shifted around him.

He reappeared seven yards backward and slightly to the right. The circular symbol rested beneath his right boot, while the thin crack ran beside his left.

He had reached the exact position from Yvonne’s vision.

Only a short piece of wood remained behind the blade in his hand. It was no longer much of a spear, but it could serve as a crude javelin.

The Dread Devourer twisted toward him as its stomach-mouth started closing.

"Throw!" Yvonne shouted.

Luke raised his arm and activated Arcane Thrust.

Nothing happened.

The skill required a thrusting attack, and Luke was preparing to throw the weapon.

"No."

The boss’s stomach closed farther, and Yvonne watched the future they had chosen fall apart.

"Luke!"

Blue light flickered around the spearhead, then vanished.

[Arcane Thrust cannot be activated through the selected motion.]