While they spoke, the stage changed once more. Beautiful golden lines traced up its sides and the quartz turned to thick sand. Kingsfront flags unfurled themselves along the edges of the arena.

“That’s got to be a bit embarrassing,” Nolan observed. “They’re flying their flags without a single representative in the semifinals.”

“It’s not like the semifinals will be very long,” Damien replied. “Since Bartholomew and Mark knocked each other out, it’ll only be one fight. The other person just goes on to the finals.”

Sylph made a face. “I’m going to rely on Kingsfront being petty, then. They probably don’t want Mountain Hall to win, and it would be pretty interesting to see two students from the same college fight each other for the finals.”

“You’re talking as if you know that either you or Damien will beat Drew,” Viv said. “Don’t you think you’re getting ahead of yourself?”

“I saw scarier things than Drew when I was twelve,” Sylph said with a laugh. “And both Damien and I have been through some pretty unique training. Drew doesn’t have anything on our teachers.”

It was Damien’s turn to make a face. Compared to the Corruption and the Void, Drew really wasn’t all that dangerous. Still, his strange spear and Dark magic were far from pushovers.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer started, clearing his throat to get their attention. “The semifinals will be starting momentarily. We know you’re all eager to get started. The arena’s transformation will be rather quick this time, so there’s no reason to leave your seats. Due to one of the previous fights, there will only be a single round in the semifinals.”

Murmurs rose from the crowd. The announcer let people talk amongst themselves for a few minutes before he spoke again.

“Keep in mind that the tournament is far from over! This is simply the first half. While there is great glory to be earned in this half’s victory, redemption may be found in the second part and the loser’s bracket.”

The stage finally stopped changing. Damien leaned over the dashboard, his eyes firmly fixed on his and Sylph’s gems. After a few more words from the announcer, red light finally showed itself within the crystal. Damien’s name lit up.

“We got lucky,” Sylph said. “Again. I’ll see you in the finals, Damien. If you ever want to figure out what my companion is, you better not lose.”

“With motivation like that, I don’t think I can,” Damien replied. He leaped over the railing and floated to the arena.

Drew landed on the other side and rolled his shoulders. “And so we meet once more, Damien. I’ve been looking forward to this.”

“There was an equal chance Sylph could be here in my place,” Damien said.

“Unlikely. Her fights were impressive, but her magic isn’t flashy enough,” Drew said. “A fight between me and her wouldn’t be fun for the spectators. They want to see magic, not swordplay.”

“Well, in that case, I can say that I’ve been looking forward to this as well,” Damien said. “Your prediction was wrong, by the way. Bartholomew didn’t beat Mark.”

“Mark was slightly more capable than I had imagined,” Drew said, a small frown flickering across his face. “He hid his strength well, but he was lucky to avoid any powerful opponents in the tournament before Bartholomew. You lack such an advantage.”

“So, between us, who do you think will win?”

“It will be a hard fought battle with serious injuries to both parties,” Drew said. “But you will succumb to your wounds. You have a lot of Ether, but your destructive power isn’t on par with my Time magic.”

“It’s not yours,” Damien said, his eyes narrow. “It’s an artifact. That’s borrowed power.”

“We’ll see,” Drew said with a laugh. “I’m looking forward to seeing the look in your eyes, Damien.”

“The combatants have taken the stage!” the announcer roared. “It’s time for the one and only match of the semifinals. Combatants, you may begin channeling your Ether!”

I think we should start slow and test his defenses. It’s possible that Drew was able to hold back in his fight with Agon.

“Wise,” Henry said. “I’ll be waiting to step up whenever the time calls for it. I’m getting bored of just sitting around and doing nothing. I want to be cool too, you know.”

Damien snorted and formed two gravity spheres in his hands, starting conservatively. Drew showed no intentions of doing the same. Dark Ether wrapped around him and, with a flash, his spear was in his hands once more.

“Begin!” the announcer yelled.

Damien threw both of the gravity spheres. Drew’s spear whipped, slicing both spells when they grew close. The orbs fizzled and vanished without a trace.

“You can’t hope to stand against me in my combat manifestation without your own,” Drew said, pacing towards him. “I know you’ve got one, if not a full manifestation. You should bring it out now, while you still can.”

“Is taking out an artifact really a combat manifestation?” Damien asked, creating a gravity lance and sending it hurtling at Drew. He detonated the spell before it got in range of the other boy’s spear, using the distraction to create a gravity sphere at the tip of his right foot and kick it at Drew.

The black spear flashed and Drew vaulted over the gravity sphere, narrowly avoiding the explosion and flinging himself at Damien in the same motion.

Damien teleported to safety as Drew’s spear carved through the air where he’d been standing.

“Make this interesting, Damien!” Drew yelled, thrusting his palm out. A beam of dark energy erupted from it and Damien Warp Stepped again, appearing on the other side of the arena. The beam hit the protective shield around the arena noiselessly and sent powerful ripples through it.

Drew spun, snarling, and slammed the butt of his spear into the ground. The faint lines of Ether in the air around him warped and a shudder ran through the ground. Damien teleported high into the air.

A second later, a ring of dark energy washed across the arena. The sand that touched it hissed and popped, turning to powdery white ash and blowing away in a faint breeze.

What in the Eight Planes is that spell?

“That’s strange,” Henry said. “It was Time magic mixed with Dark magic, but Drew doesn’t seem to have Time magic of his own. It should just be his spear. You can’t just combine magic you’re borrowing with the stuff you’ve got naturally.”

Well, he’s doing it. I think I’m going to have to kick things up. I don’t want to get hit by that magic.

Damien threw a barrage of gravity spheres down at Drew, then teleported back to the ground as he fell. He grabbed a handful of sand grains and cast enlarge on them, binding it in place with his mental energy.

When Drew charged at him, Damien threw the handful of sand in the other boy’s direction. The particles expanded into dozens of thick pillars, shooting out in all directions and slamming into the sand with loud explosions.

Three arcs of dark energy carved through the pillars, dismissing the magic. Drew shot past them, laughing as he thrust his spear. The weapon was inhumanely fast and Damien barely managed to Warp Step to safety before the weapon hit him.

“I know your Ether storage is rather large,” Drew said, spinning the spear and dropping into a fighting stance, “but you’re using a lot more than I am. If you try for a battle of attrition, this is going to be pretty boring. You’ll lose without hitting me once.”

Damien pulled his lips back in a grimace. Devour was borderline useless against Drew, since he mostly used his spear and had already seen how the spell worked. That only left two things the other boy didn’t know about yet.

Alright. You’re up, Henry. Can you stop his spear without getting injured?

“It’s Time magic,” Henry said with an eager laugh. “What is time to an immortal?”

Shadows stretched out along Damien’s mage armor, enveloping it and turning it black. A cape unfurled from his neck, dark tendrils emerging from its base and brushing across the floor.

“Ah, you’ve finally brought it out,” Drew said with a savage grin. “Now we can enjoy ourselves!”

Damien flashed forward. A tendril expanded, reaching out as Drew thrust the spear at Damien. It batted the spear to the side and Damien threw a gravity sphere into the other boy’s stomach.

Drew’s eyes widened and black energy erupted around him moments before the spell went off. Instead of a sharp crack there was a muted thud. A powerful gust of wind forced Damien back as Drew flapped the two huge wings that had emerged from his back.

“Is this your full manifestation? I would have thought your companion would be more than just wings,” Damien said.

“I am my companion,” Drew snarled. The wings snapped and Drew rocketed forward, moving far faster than he had been before.

Henry intercepted the other boy with two tendrils. Drew’s spear flashed, carving the tendrils apart. Damien rolled to the side as the tendrils regrew.

“All you do is run!” Drew taunted. He raised his spear to the sky and then pointed it at Damien. An orb of rippling gray energy gathered at its tip. Damien drew a rune in the air, casting Devour just before a beam shot out of the spear.

It vanished into the dark circle and Damien reversed it, using Expunge to send the spell flying back at Drew. With a flick of his spear, Drew redirected his own spell. It slammed into the shielding around them.

The clear barrier wilted, growing opaque where the spell had struck and flickering before snapping back to its normal appearance.

Drew shot at Damien, who Warp Stepped to the other side of the Arena. The huge wings whooshed as Drew redirected himself, hurtling for Damien once more. The two of them played a cat and mouse game for nearly a minute.

Whenever Drew got close enough to attack Damien, Henry would entangle him with dark tentacles while Damien teleported to safety. Every passing second made Drew angrier and angrier until he was practically frothing at the mouth.

“How much blasted Ether do you have?” he roared. “You were almost exhausted after your fight with Yui, but you must have used more energy now than you did then!”

Damien burst into laughter. “I wasn’t out of Ether. I used too much mental energy. I’ve still got easily half of my magic, Drew. How are things looking for you?”

The dark expression that crossed the boy’s face told Damien everything that he needed to know.

“It doesn’t matter,” Drew snarled. The crazed, savage look in his eyes seemed familiar to Damien, but he couldn’t quite place it. “I was going to keep this under wraps, but if you’re going to play like a coward, then I’ll just have to overwhelm you through sheer strength.”

Drew tightened his grip around the spear. He let out a roar, his wings snapping out. The lines of Ether around him warped and shot to him. Power flooded into Drew and motes of sickly green energy started to emit from his hands.

He slammed the butt of the spear into the ground. The green energy shot out, passing through the barrier and washing over the crowd. All noise vanished as the arena went completely still. Damien’s limbs stiffened and he suddenly realized where he’d seen this power.

Shit, this is Second’s power. He’s Corrupted!

“What do you think, Damien?” Drew asked, a crooked grin crossing his lips. “This is my real strength. Complete control over time. We’ve got all the time in the world, now. I’ve left you your sensations and awareness, but you can’t move. That way, I can make sure to leave you some lasting memories. Can you even comprehend power like this? Does it feel unfair? This is what I’ve been waiting for. That look in your eyes. It’s delicious.”

The stiffness permeating Damien’s limbs faded away.

“I’ve neutralized his hold over you,” Henry said with a smug note in his voice. “I told you that Second wouldn’t get the jump on me again, and his low quality rip off certainly isn’t going to either.”

“Is this it?” Damien asked, glancing around. The crowd seemed well and truly frozen.

Drew’s eyes bugged out of his head. “How can you move? T-that’s impossible! He said that this magic was greater than any other. You’re cheating!”

“You know, this is pretty convenient,” Damien said. “If nobody can see what we do right now because time is frozen, I don’t have to hold back either.”

He reached out to the cloudy circle of runes in his mind and firmly established the connection, clearing all other thoughts from his mind.

“Kneel,” Damien commanded. His words thrummed through the Ether around them, impressing his will into it.

Drew slammed to his knees. The spear clattered to the ground beside him. He roared, trying to stand, but he was slowly forced lower until he was laid out flat. The magic surged, grabbing Damien and nearly slamming him to the ground as well. He was only saved because he'd managed to center it on Drew instead of himself. His control over it was still far from what he needed.

“What is this magic?” Drew asked, his words strained. “This is impossible.”

“Gravity,” Damien replied, choosing not to tell Drew that he was equally as surprised that it had worked. One of Henry’s tendrils reached out and picked up the spear, flipping it around so that the point was facing down. “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me where Second is?”

“No need. Second will find you. He’ll rip you limb from limb,” Drew snarled. “And then he’ll do your friends. This world is cursed. Your fate has already been sealed.”

“He’s more likely to try to recruit me,” Damien replied, sending Henry a mental approval. The tendril shot down and drove the spear into Drew’s back. The boy screamed, arching his back. His skin wrinkled and his cry turned to a wracking cough as the spear ravaged him.

The magic holding them in time vanished and the world snapped back into motion. Henry retreated, leaving the spear lodged in Drew’s back and returning Damien’s mage armor to normal to avoid giving away too much information.

“And the two are locked in a game of – wait, Drew is down!” the announcer exclaimed. “When did that happen?”

Healers teleported onto the stage, huddling around Drew’s fallen form.

“It looks like Drew is down,” the announcer said reluctantly. The crowd muttered in bafflement, but cheers started to rise from them. “I don’t know what happened either, folks. Judging by the weapon, it looks like Drew tried to use some form of Time magic against Damien but got beat at his own game. What a baffling victory! Perhaps Damien would be willing to give us an interview explaining what happened once the tournament is over.”

Absolutely not.

“Absolutely not,” Henry agreed. “And we’ve got a big problem on our hands. Second must have given Drew that artifact. We need to get it away from him somehow, not to mention that the evil bugger is probably watching us from somewhere.”