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‘Garovel, talk to me,’ said Hector. ‘What am I up against here?’

‘Harper and Darsihm have merged their souls, and now they’re in a kind of battle trance, hardly even conscious. The only reason they didn’t kill us earlier was because they must’ve memorized our souls as belonging to their allies. It’s amazing that they even have enough control to do that much.’

An idea struck him. ‘So Harper won’t attack me because of my soul?’

‘Yeah. But he can’t possibly have memorized the soldiers’ souls, because he’s never met any of them. He’ll definitely attack them, and they stand even less of a chance than you do.’

He brought his bike to a sudden halt. ‘Then, maybe...’ An iron wall rose up in front of him, cutting him off from the armored vehicles ahead. He touched the metal with one hand and made sure to block the entire road, from one giant cluster of trees to the other. And he kept growing the metal higher, curving back over his head while simultaneously empowering it with his soul.

It was a giant cage in the making, one that he couldn’t be sure would work. His soul was the important part. Maybe Harper wouldn’t attack the cage if it also carried Hector’s soul. It seemed like a long shot, but trying to fight Harper didn’t even seem like an option.

Hector built the cage as fast as he could. It had to be gigantic, or Harper would probably just jump over it. He arched it back and raised iron pillars to support the high roof. He added a floor as well, not wanting Harper to dig his way out. And the cage became quite long, encasing a massive section of the road like a tunnel.

If Harper pursued the soldiers, he would have to enter Hector’s cage. This was the only path Harper could take. Unless he could fly now, too. Or just chose to navigate the forest, anyway.

That’d suck.

No other ideas sprung to mind, though, so Hector focused on his task. The cage was nearing completion, only the far wall of it left open while he stood in darkness on his end.

And then Harper appeared.