Floor Forty-Eight opened into open sky.
Or at least, something that looked like it.
Jax stopped at the edge of the staircase.
Massive branches stretched outward in every direction, some wider than roads, others narrowing until they were barely large enough to walk across. Wooden bridges connected the gaps between them, their planks suspended over an endless expanse of clouds.
There were no railings.
No ropes.
Nothing to grab if someone slipped.
And then the wind hit them.
Pixelle disappeared.
Jax blinked.
"Pixelle?"
"I'M HERE!"
He looked down.
Two tiny hands were wrapped around the edge of his collar.
A pair of pink wings flapped helplessly behind his neck.
Jax reached up and carefully pulled her free.
Pixelle immediately grabbed his finger with both arms.
"I don't like this floor."
"You can fly."
"Not when the entire sky is trying to throw me somewhere!"
Another gust slammed into them.
Llandra's blonde hair whipped across her face.
Zee's green hair escaped her hood and covered one eye.
Bunny grabbed a fistful of blue hair before it could slap her across the face again.
Nyxian was having even less success.
Her crimson hair blew directly into her mouth.
"Pfft—"
She spat it out.
"This floor can go screw itself."
Bunny laughed.
Then the wind changed direction.
Her own hair covered her face.
"Mmph!"
Nyxian smiled.
"Beautiful."
Jax looked at all of them.
"Anything I can do to help?"
Llandra pulled another strand of blonde hair from her face.
"No."
She reached toward her wrist.
A moment later, she gathered her hair behind her head and secured it into a ponytail.
Another gust struck them.
Her hair stayed mostly behind her.
Llandra smiled.
"We've got this."
Zee looked at her.
Then reached beneath her robe.
She produced a small tie and pulled her green hair back.
Nyxian sighed.
"Fine."
She gathered her crimson hair into a ponytail.
Bunny continued standing there.
Her blue hair blew across her face again.
Nyxian stared at her.
"Well?"
Bunny pulled the hair away.
"What?"
"Your hair."
"I know."
"Tie it back."
Bunny hesitated.
"I don't have one."
Nyxian blinked.
"You don't have a hair tie?"
"No."
"You have dimensional storage."
"I know."
"You have your own private dimensional space where you can carry practically anything you might ever need, and you don't have a hair tie?"
Bunny shrugged.
"I think my shoe collection took up most of the space."
Nyxian stared at her.
"It's a hair tie!"
Another gust hit them.
Bunny's hair covered her entire face.
Nyxian reached over and pulled it away.
"How many shoes do you have in there?"
Bunny hesitated.
"…I'm not sure if numbers go that high."
Nyxian's mouth opened.
Then closed.
"That answer made it worse."
Llandra laughed.
She pulled another tie from her wrist and held it out.
"Here."
Bunny took it.
"Thank you."
A few moments later, her blue hair was secured behind her.
Jax looked at the five women.
Something had changed.
It was small.
Almost ridiculous.
Hair tied back.
Weapons in hand.
But there was something almost defiant about it.
The World Tree had given them wind.
Fine.
They'd adapt.
They'd fought armies.
Monsters.
Dungeon bosses.
They'd crossed rivers of time-altering sap and walked through a living labyrinth.
They were stronger than this floor.
And they were going to clear it.
Llandra drew Starpiercer.
Bunny rested World Breaker against her shoulder.
Nyxian rolled her neck and reached for Lilith's Kiss.
Zee planted Sanctaris against the wooden floor.
A soft barrier spread around them.
The wind weakened.
Not completely.
But enough.
Jax smiled.
"Let's go."
Warden stepped forward.
The General studied the bridges.
Then the open sky.
Then the bridges again.
His gaze shifted toward the Shadows gathered behind them.
Most were useless here.
Sap Behemoths.
Root Colossi.
Cavern Trolls.
Heavy infantry.
Excellent soldiers.
Terrible tightrope walkers.
Jax watched him.
"You just got all those new soldiers."
Warden nodded.
"And now you can't use most of them."
Another nod.
Jax smiled.
"That's bothering you, isn't it?"
Warden slowly turned toward him.
Jax laughed.
"We'll find you something that flies."
A screech echoed through the storm.
Warden looked toward the sound.
Jax followed his gaze.
Dark shapes moved between the clouds.
Another screech.
Then another.
Jax looked at Warden.
Warden looked at Jax.
"If they're good, you can keep them."
Warden continued staring at him.
Jax sighed.
"Let the recruitment process begin."
Warden turned back toward the storm.
Jax could almost swear the General looked happier.
Almost.
The first bridge swayed beneath their feet.
Zee's barrier absorbed the worst of the wind, but every few seconds a stronger gust pushed against it.
Sanctaris glowed.
Zee tightened her grip.
"Stay close."
They moved.
Pixelle remained on Jax's shoulder.
"You know, I think I'll walk this floor."
Jax glanced at her.
"You don't walk."
"I do now."
She grew to her 5'6" frame and added herself amongst the big people.
The bridge shifted beneath them.
Nyxian immediately grabbed Jax's arm.
"Oh, no."
Jax looked at her.
"What?"
"I think I'm going to hurl."
Bunny froze.
"If she hurls, I'm going to hurl."
Pixelle looked thoughtfully toward the storm.
"Depending on the direction of the wind, it could come back."
Bunny gagged.
"Why would you say that?"
"I was helping."
"You weren't!"
Nyxian closed her eyes.
"Everyone stop talking about it."
Another gust hit Zee's barrier.
The entire bridge swung.
Nyxian's grip tightened.
"I hate this floor."
They reached the first massive branch.
Stable ground.
Mostly.
Jax looked toward Warden.
The General was staring upward.
Jax followed his gaze.
The shapes in the clouds were closer now.
Huge birds rode the storm.
Their wings were easily fifteen feet across.
Blue-white electricity crackled through dark feathers.
Jax inspected the nearest.
THUNDER HAWK — A RANK
"Oh."
Pixelle peeked upward.
"That doesn't sound like a good oh."
Jax smiled.
"Depends who you ask."
Warden looked at him.
"Yeah, yeah."
Jax raised a hand.
"Come Forth."
Darkness erupted overhead.
Gryph burst from the shadows.
His massive wings spread as he caught the storm.
Several smaller flying Shadows followed him.
Warden immediately began directing them.
Not toward the Thunder Hawks.
Around them.
A screen.
The General was already thinking about the next bridge.
Jax looked at the approaching flock.
"Let's see what they've got."
The Thunder Hawks attacked.
Lightning flashed.
A bolt struck Zee's barrier.
The entire shield rippled.
Zee grunted.
"Definitely A-Rank!"
Gryph met the first Thunder Hawk head-on.
The collision sounded like thunder.
Talons locked.
Wings beat violently.
The Thunder Hawk discharged electricity directly into Gryph.
His Shadow body flickered.
Then Gryph's beak closed around the creature's neck.
He twisted.
The Thunder Hawk fell.
Jax's hand rose immediately.
"Come Forth."
The corpse vanished into darkness before it could disappear beneath the clouds.
A moment later, purple eyes opened.
The first Shadow Thunder Hawk spread its wings.
Warden pointed.
It turned.
And attacked its own flock.
Pixelle stared.
"Oh."
Jax smiled.
"That's a good oh."
Another Thunder Hawk dove.
Llandra drew Starpiercer.
The wind howled.
The bridge swayed.
She released.
The arrow curved through the storm and buried itself beneath the creature's wing.
It tumbled.
Gryph caught it in midair.
Talons tore through its chest.
"Come Forth."
Two.
Another fell to Jax's Infernal Requiem.
"Come Forth."
Three.
A fourth slammed into Zee's barrier and rebounded.
Nyxian's whip cracked.
Lilith's Kiss wrapped around its leg.
Nyxian planted both feet.
"Bunny!"
Bunny grinned.
She stepped from the bridge.
Her foot landed on empty air.
Then another.
Air Walk.
She launched herself forward.
World Breaker swung.
The Thunder Hawk disappeared beneath the hammer.
"Come Forth."
Four.
Warden didn't hesitate.
Every new Shadow Thunder Hawk immediately received an assignment.
Two moved ahead.
One climbed above the group.
Another flew beneath the bridge.
Gryph remained at the center of the formation.
The enemy had arrived with an advantage.
They knew the storm.
They knew how to ride the currents.
They knew where the dangerous gusts formed.
And every time one died, Jax stole that advantage.
The next bridge was easier.
Not safe.
Easier.
Thunder Hawks circled overhead.
Some alive.
Some Shadows.
And the number of Shadows kept growing.
Five.
Seven.
Nine.
The farther they crossed, the more the balance shifted.
The World Tree kept sending enemies.
Jax kept recruiting them.
By the time they reached the third major branch, Warden had an aerial unit.
A real one.
Jax looked up.
Shadow Thunder Hawks moved in formation around Gryph.
"Happy?"
Warden nodded.
"I knew it."
A burst of lightning crossed the sky.
Small glowing figures appeared within it.
Pixelle leaned forward.
"What are those?"
The creatures moved so quickly they almost seemed to teleport between flashes.
LIGHTNING SPRITE — B RANK
Nyxian smiled.
"Finally."
Lilith's Kiss separated into two whips.
The first Lightning Sprite darted toward them.
Nyxian struck.
One whip missed.
The second didn't.
It wrapped around the creature and slammed it into the bridge.
A Shadow Hawk descended immediately and tore through it.
More came.
Llandra fired.
Zee shifted her barrier.
Jax drew Infernal Requiem.
Magic and gunfire crossed the storm.
Pixelle finally left Jax's side.
She flew within Zee's barrier, darting from side to side.
The protected air gave her enough control to maneuver.
A Lightning Sprite slipped through.
Pixelle twisted aside.
The creature followed.
Pixelle smiled.
"Too slow."
She dropped.
The Sprite followed.
Straight into Bunny's hammer.
World Breaker connected.
The creature vanished.
Bunny looked at Pixelle.
"Nice."
Pixelle shrank again and landed on her shoulder.
"I planned that."
"Sure."
"I did!"
Another gust hammered the barrier.
Zee stumbled.
Jax caught her.
"You good?"
"Yes."
She straightened.
"But the wind is getting stronger."
Jax looked ahead.
The bridges were narrower now.
The gaps larger.
And the storm was growing darker.
Warden signaled.
The Shadow Thunder Hawks changed formation.
Half moved to the windward side of the group.
The others spread overhead.
Jax understood.
They weren't just fighting anymore.
They were shielding the party.
The next gust struck.
The Thunder Hawks adjusted their wings.
The formation broke part of the wind before it ever reached Zee's barrier.
Zee looked up.
Then toward Warden.
"Thank you."
The General inclined his head.
They continued.
The floor became a rhythm.
Move.
Brace.
Fight.
Recruit.
Move again.
Whenever Thunder Hawks attacked, the Shadow flock met them.
Whenever one fell, Jax claimed it.
Ten became twelve.
Twelve became fifteen.
Fifteen became eighteen.
Gryph flew at their center.
Warden directed everything from the bridge.
Jax barely had to say anything.
Then Pixelle looked up.
Her eyes widened.
"Uh...Jax?"
"What?"
She pointed.
Twenty Thunder Hawks emerged from the clouds.
Lightning crawled across their wings.
They spread into a massive formation.
Bunny looked up.
"Oh."
Nyxian swallowed.
"That's a lot."
Pixelle stared at the incoming flock.
Then something caught her attention.
Movement above them.
She slowly turned.
Shadow Thunder Hawks filled the sky.
Some flew above the bridge.
Others below.
More circled ahead.
Purple eyes burned through the storm.
Pixelle started counting.
Then stopped.
She smiled.
"Never mind."
Jax looked at her.
"What?"
Pixelle pointed upward.
"There are twenty of them."
"Yeah."
"We have more."
"I think the sky belongs to us now," Pixelle stated calmly.
Jax looked toward Warden.
The General raised his sword.
The Shadow flock moved.
Gryph screeched.
The sky erupted.
Thunder Hawks collided above them.
Lightning flashed across the clouds.
Shadow talons tore into living feathers.
Enemy Hawks dove toward the bridge only to find Shadow Hawks beneath them.
Others tried to climb.
Gryph intercepted them.
The storm became a battlefield.
And the World Tree had lost control of its own sky.
A dead Thunder Hawk fell toward the bridge.
Jax caught sight of it.
"Come Forth."
Purple eyes opened before it finished falling.
The new Shadow spread its wings.
Caught the wind.
Turned.
And attacked the flock it had belonged to seconds earlier.
Pixelle watched it happen.
"That is really unfair."
Jax smiled.
"I know."
Warden's sword shifted.
The Shadow Hawks converged.
The remaining living Thunder Hawks tried to retreat.
They didn't make it.
Within minutes, the sky belonged to Jax.
Warden lowered his sword.
The Shadow Thunder Hawks returned to formation.
Pixelle looked around at them.
"How many do you have now?"
Jax glanced upward.
"A lot."
Warden looked at him.
"Don't start."
The General said nothing.
"You're already thinking about how many more you want, aren't you?"
Warden looked toward the storm.
Jax sighed.
"Of course you are."
They continued.
Nearly an hour had passed since they'd entered the floor.
The bridges grew worse.
Some were barely more than ropes and planks stretched between branches.
Others had missing sections.
Once, an entire bridge snapped beneath them.
Bunny and Jax immediately Air Walked.
Pixelle flew.
Gryph and the Shadow hawks dove to catch Llandra, Zee and Nyxian.
Jax ended his Air Walk, and dove down.
Llandra and Zee were caught by the shadows, but Nyxian was falling too fast. Her arms flayed and her screams were echoing in the canyon.
Her body was outstretched, causing air resistance, while Jax nose bombed down, speed increasing with the gravity of the world.
He reached her. Arms tucked around her. And then he maneuvered himself to Wind Walk. The acceleration downward stopped.
He bounced up one step after another. Nyxian in a Princess hold.
Nyxian looked into his eyes. Thankful for the save. His light blue eyes looking upward were like artwork that had never seen the light of day. She was discovering something in him for the first time.
"You have definitely earned my special spot tonight."
Jax was bouncing up the canyon, wind walking one giant leap at a time. He looked down confused.
"I had your special spot last night."
"Yes. That was on me. Tonight you will have earned it."
Jax returned back to the bridge and let her down. Nyxian, though on the solid footing of the bridge lingered longer with her arms around Jax.
She gave him a quick kiss. Grabbing his arm, she forced him to move his hands to her butt, grabbing it as she moved to join the others.
"You earned it tonight!"
Eventually, they reached the final span.
The largest bridge yet stretched before them.
Beyond it stood the staircase.
Nyxian stared at it.
"No."
Bunny looked at her.
"We're almost there."
"No."
"It's the last one."
"That's what the bridge wants you to think."
Jax laughed.
Then the bridge moved.
Not from the wind.
Something enormous coiled beneath it.
Llandra raised Starpiercer.
"Movement below."
A scaled head rose beside the bridge.
Lightning crackled between its fangs.
Then another appeared.
And another.
STORM SERPENT — A RANK
The first serpent was longer than the entire section of bridge beneath them.
Its body wrapped around the wooden supports.
Another climbed onto the bridge ahead.
A third emerged behind them.
Nyxian stared.
"You have got to be kidding me."
Warden moved immediately.
His sword pointed upward.
The Shadow Thunder Hawks separated.
Half climbed.
Half dove.
Gryph led the attack.
The first Storm Serpent lunged toward the bridge.
Shadow Hawks struck from three directions.
Talons ripped across its scales.
The serpent twisted and discharged lightning.
Two Shadows vanished.
Jax raised a hand.
They returned moments later.
Warden changed the formation.
Zee planted Sanctaris.
Her barrier expanded.
"Stay inside!"
Lightning slammed into it.
Llandra fired through the shield.
One arrow.
Then another.
Each struck the serpent's eyes.
It recoiled.
Nyxian's whips snapped around its lower jaw.
She pulled its head sideways.
"Jax!"
Jax was already moving.
He stepped from the bridge.
Air Walk caught him.
Peacemaker appeared in his hands.
The Storm Serpent turned.
Too late.
Jax swung.
Peacemaker passed through scales, flesh and bone without slowing.
The serpent's head separated from its body.
It fell.
"Come Forth."
Purple eyes opened beneath the bridge.
The Shadow Storm Serpent coiled around the structure.
Warden looked down.
Then at Jax.
Jax stared at him.
"No."
Warden continued staring.
"We are not starting a collection of everything on this floor."
Warden looked toward the Shadow Thunder Hawks.
Jax sighed.
"Fine."
Bunny laughed.
Another Storm Serpent lunged.
She jumped.
Air Walk.
World Breaker came around.
The hammer struck the serpent's skull.
The impact drove its head through the bridge.
Wood exploded.
The serpent collapsed.
Jax raised his hand.
"Come Forth."
Another Shadow joined them.
The remaining serpents attacked together.
That was their mistake.
Warden raised his sword.
The sky descended.
Shadow Thunder Hawks attacked from above.
Gryph tore into one serpent's back.
The two newly raised Shadow Serpents wrapped around another.
Zee's barrier protected the bridge from the worst of the lightning.
Llandra's arrows struck exposed eyes and mouths.
Nyxian's whips dragged heads out of position.
Pixelle flew within the protected space, calling out attacks from angles the others couldn't see.
"Left!"
Bunny turned.
World Breaker met the serpent.
"Above!"
Llandra fired.
The arrow struck.
"Jax!"
He looked.
One serpent broke through the Shadow Hawks and lunged directly toward Zee.
Jax disappeared from the bridge.
He reappeared in front of it.
Peacemaker moved once.
The serpent became two pieces.
Silence followed.
Not true silence.
The storm still howled.
Lightning still flashed.
The bridge still swayed.
But nothing else attacked.
Jax looked around.
Shadow Thunder Hawks filled the air around them.
Gryph circled overhead.
Two Shadow Storm Serpents coiled beneath the bridge.
Warden stood in the center of it all.
Jax looked at him.
"You had a good day."
Warden nodded.
They crossed the final bridge.
The moment Nyxian's boots touched the solid landing before the staircase, she dropped to her knees.
"I am not moving."
Jax stepped onto the platform behind her.
"You were just fighting fine."
"That was adrenaline."
Nyxian lowered herself onto her back.
"This is reality."
Bunny sat beside her.
"My stomach still feels weird."
Pixelle fluttered comfortably onto Jax's shoulder.
Bunny looked at her.
"You're fine now?"
"We stopped moving."
"You were flying."
"Inside Zee's barrier."
Bunny narrowed her eyes.
"You were making fun of us."
Pixelle smiled.
"A little."
Nyxian raised one finger from the floor.
"If anyone says the word bridge again, I will personally end them."
Jax looked at the staircase.
Then at the exhausted group.
They'd been on the floor for roughly an hour and a half.
And it was lunchtime.
"Food?"
Nyxian's eyes opened.
"I will move for food."
Jax smiled.
"Thought so."
He summoned the dimensional tent.
The entrance appeared safely on the landing.
Nyxian was suddenly capable of standing again.
They filed inside.
The instant the door closed, the howling wind disappeared.
Silence.
Beautiful silence.
Nyxian leaned against the wall.
"I love this tent."
Jax headed toward the kitchen.
Behind him, Llandra reached up and pulled the tie from her hair.
Blonde waves fell around her shoulders.
Zee did the same.
Nyxian released her crimson hair.
Bunny reached for hers.
Llandra looked at her.
"I'll need that back."
Bunny froze.
Her hand slowly lowered.
"…Right now?"
"Yes."
Bunny looked genuinely disappointed.
"I liked this one."
Llandra held out her hand.
"You have a dimensional storage full of shoes."
"My closet was full, and I needed space!"
Nyxian dropped into a chair.
"We're buying her hair ties."
Jax began pulling ingredients from storage.
"How many?"
Nyxian looked at Bunny.
"Apparently enough to compete with the shoes."
Bunny crossed her arms.
"Plan on the number of hair ties to grow then."
Everyone looked at her.
Bunny hesitated.
Jax stopped preparing lunch.
Even Warden looked toward her.
Bunny's ears slowly lowered.
"…Can we just eat?"
Nyxian smiled.
"Oh, absolutely not."
Bunny groaned.
Outside, the storm continued to rage.
Inside, the Vixens had found something considerably more dangerous to investigate.
Bunny's shoe collection.