“Babysitting your new Architect?” he taunts Roshan.

“Don’t be so jealous,” Roshan says. He uncrosses his arms, letting the shield down for an instant, and lunges at Tremaine with his own fist. A smaller blue shield glows around his moving arm. It hits Tremaine hard enough to make him reel backward, dropping his life bar by 15 percent. The three of us maneuver down into a valley of snow-covered stone, then weave up to avoid a sharp outcropping of rock. I veer sharply out of the way as Roshan continues to fight with Tremaine—but Tremaine veers with me, determined to knock me down. My recollection of the landscape flies through my head. I use what I remember in order to avoid crashing against a cliff.

The analyst is talking so fast now that he can barely catch his breath. “And the Demons send their Fighter after Emika! Roshan comes to her aid! If Tremaine catches Emika at this outcropping—she avoids it! Barely! It’s as if she knows this terrain! Roshan shows us why he’s one of the best Shields in the games! He’s not letting their Architect fall, folks, not if he can help it!”

Power-ups zip past us. I eye them until I find what I’m looking for—a Speed Burst. It’s glowing bright yellow and hurtling near me. I take a mighty swerve toward it. My hand reaches out. I barely manage to grab it.

I use it right away. The world around me slows as I dash forward.

The light in this level is changing; the ice monuments are lit with golden rays and dragging long shadows across the glaciers. The cliffs of blue ice lining our path take on a darker, more ominous color, and the frozen beasts inside them start to look alive. From the corner of my vision, they seem to stir. It takes me a moment to realize that the sun is setting. If this keeps up, we are going to need some power-ups that light our way. I look forward, searching for Ren. Asher has handed off our Artifact to Hammie, who zips ahead of us all. Now Asher and Ren team up as they swerve toward Jena, who is sandwiched on both sides by Tremaine and Ziggy.

“It looks like we’re heading for our first showdown between the captains!” the announcer shouts.

Jena sees Asher’s move. She ducks low on her hoverboard and dives. Her teammates dive with her. They tumble until they look like they’re going to crash into the ground—and then suddenly pull up, so that they’re skimming right above the glacier. Asher and Ren dive down, too. Plumes of snow whip up as they zoom by.

I turn my board higher, trying to protect myself from all the flying snow. Ahead of me, Hammie whips her own board up sharply enough to veer herself off to the right. Her movements are so quick that I can barely keep track of her. She snags another power-up, a bright blue one, and then does a dizzying spin on her board to grab a third. She’s inching her way over to Tremaine.

I look back down at the crew skimming along the glacier’s surface. There are enough formations between here and the horizon for me to trap them in, if I can do it right. Tremaine is probably thinking the same thing. I point my hoverboard down and follow them, low against the ground.

“Emi,” Asher says into my secure comms. “Archway ahead. Blow it up.”

“Got it.”

“Ren and I will veer off at the last second, go around behind Jena. When she and her team try to avoid the rubble in front of them, we’ll catch them from the back and take her Artifact.”

I nod, even though I know Asher can’t see me. “I’ll knock it out before they can say—”

My words die as an enormous shape explodes out of the ice cliffs lining our path.

It looks like a prehistoric polar bear, except as tall as a skyscraper—and its jaws are open wide, revealing a row of sharp teeth, each one as long as the nearest towering ice structure. Its eyes glow scarlet. It lets out an earthshaking roar, then lunges toward the closest player.

The closest player is me.

My limbs go into autodrive. I slam my back foot down on the gas. At the same time, I swivel my hoverboard so sharply to my left that I spin 180 degrees. My board shoots me back in the direction I came. The bear’s mouth yawns on either side of me—its jaws start to close. Just a little farther. I shoot out of the beast’s mouth at the same time its jaws close, and the accompanying blast of wind sends me tumbling forward. The bear’s front paws land heavily, shaking the world.

Through the dust, Roshan appears and hurtles toward me—as if he were going to ram right into me. I throw my arms up instinctively. Then I veer sideways in a desperate attempt to save myself.

We narrowly avoid a collision. As he passes me, he grabs my arm and zooms upward as the bear lunges up for us again. Before I can protest, he puts all his strength into flinging me high—and I find myself sailing up toward the arch that still looms ahead. Below me, the bear’s jaws snap shut on Roshan.

Roshan Ahmadi | Team Phoenix Riders

Life: -100% | STRIKE OUT!

Nearby, another enormous beast explodes out of the ice cliffs. A one-eyed white wolf. Players scatter left and right as it swings its head around, jaws chomping. It catches Ziggy. She vanishes in its mouth, regenerating fifty yards away along with Roshan. Ren wobbles on his board and spins out of control as he tries to avoid the wolf’s gaping mouth.

This is my chance to get him. I turn my board in a sharp arc, then hurtle toward Ren. He sees me coming a split second before I ram hard into him, sending both us careening away from the wolf. I grab for his wrist until my hand finally closes around it.

The noose activates. I see it glow gold in my view, then disappear. A blue glow flashes around Ren before vanishing. An instant later, a file from him pops into my view. I grin. Broke through.

“Get off me,” Ren snaps, trying to yank himself free. His move sends us both tumbling off our boards and into the white land below. Everything goes bright in my view—and an instant later, I’ve regenerated a pace behind the others.

“And both Rider wild cards are struck out by a rookie mistake!” the analyst shouts. Ren shoots me a dirty look from where he’s regenerated several yards away from me. Asher scolds me over our line. But I don’t care. I’ve laid Hideo’s trap. My focus turns away from Ren and back to the game.

I hunt madly for a sight of my teammates on my map. Finally, I glimpse Asher and Hammie hovering near the center to the archway, flying in tight circles as they are trapped in by two other beasts. Some Demons are heading their way, too.

I yank out my dynamite and zoom toward the top of the archway. As I reach it, I slap a stick of dynamite to the top of the ice structure. Then I pivot down and dart away right as it goes off. Another earth-shattering explosion—the impact shakes my board violently, and snow flies all around me, making me squint. I’m down to my last dynamite.

Behind me, through the dust, Ren materializes with Asher and Hammie on his tail. Our Artifact still hovers over Hammie’s head. I call to her, then toss her my hammer from my utility belt. Her hand shoots out and she catches it without even turning around, then winks at me in thanks over her shoulder. As she hurtles away from the nearest beast, she throws the hammer at its eye as hard as she can. It hits true, making the beast flinch away with a roar.

The Demons are above us, looking down. They have the advantage now, and they know it—even from here, I can tell that Jena has a grin on her face. She still has their Artifact, and it hovers over her head, silver and shining. Her lips move as she gives instructions to her team.

“Hams,” Asher says through our comms as we all continue to hurtle through the darkening landscape. “Give me the Artifact. Turn off your hoverboard’s lights.” His eyes are locked on Jena. “And get hers.”

Hammie winks at Asher as she transfers our Artifact to him. In the twilight, both our Artifact and our opponent’s glow with a noticeable blue halo. “Yes, sir.”

“Roshan, back her up. Ren, cut them off. And Emi—”

But I never get to hear what Asher wants me to do. An explosion goes off right above a monument near us, rocketing us all apart. Tremaine had thrown a stick of dynamite near us. A blur of light streaks past us and rams right into Ren, sending both of them tumbling. It’s Max. Ren lets out an angry snarl and flings the other Fighter off him. At the same time, Hammie hurtles out of sight, her hoverboard nothing more than her engine’s bright red sparks of fire propelling her forward. I don’t have time to think about where she’s going—because in the next instant, Jena comes rocketing down toward us with Darren and Ziggy at her sides. She’s headed straight for Asher. Asher bares his teeth and laughs, then rushes up to greet her.

My eyes flicker to the glacier’s ice below us. Along the cliffs, a white dragon is stirring to life, its movements cracking the ice that encases it. I narrow my eyes. If I can just gain control of that dragon . . . My hands go to the length of rope dangling at my waist, and as Asher and Ren attack the Demons, I dart toward the surface and slow my board down near the dragon.

As I dive, I notice lights following closely behind me—somebody’s hoverboard is skimming the ground in the darkness. It’s Tremaine. And he’s closing on me fast. I only have time to look up once before he barrels into me. We both tumble straight into the glacier’s surface. The impact knocks us clear off our boards.