Day Five. Mid-Morning.

The shaman’s hurried exit was part of the plan, of course.

The fire was real, too, and would give Hyek deniability for what was to come next. Before creeping back into the chamber, I spent a moment further listening to the two mages.

“Damn, I don’t think he bought it,” Ishan said, stating the obvious.

Worca blew out a frustrated breath. “This has not occurred by happenchance. Someone is working against us.”

“Forsyth was right. It must be that damn mindstalker,” Ishan growled. “I told you and Xrex that we should never have let him go. We should track him down and kill him. Repeatedly.”

“I’m beginning to think you’re right,” Worca said softly.

I’d heard enough. Slipping into the shadows, I padded softly into the room through a side door artfully concealed behind a tapestry.

Two hostile entities have failed to detect you! You are hidden.

The two mages had their backs to me. Both stood at one of the chamber’s few window slits, observing the fire that raged in an emptied-out barracks below. They were unaware it was unoccupied, of course.

“That’s no natural fire,” Ishan remarked. “Who do you think started it?”

“I don’t know,” Worca murmured, “but I’m certain we shall be blamed.”

I padded closer, hand on the hilts of my blades. Halfway to my targets, I analyzed both.

The target is Worca, a level 108 dark summoner and elf.

The target is Ishan, a level 96 spellweaver and human.

I knew nothing of either’s Class, but based on both temperament and level, Worca was the bigger threat, and I angled my approach to come up behind the elven mage.

“What do we do next?” Ishan asked finally.

“We investigate that,” Worca replied. She jerked her head downwards towards the still-raging fire. “Then we prove to the shaman that we were not responsible for the killings.”

Two hostile entities have failed to detect you!

I was two yards away and about to enter striking distance. I unsheathed my blades.

“And if we fail to do that?” Ishan asked, sounding more worried than I’d yet heard him. He shivered. “The goddess will not be pleased.”

Three steps away. The mages remained oblivious. Coiling back, I prepared to attack.

“Let Xrex worry about—”

A hostile entity has detected you! You are no longer hidden.

The elven mage’s words broke off as I lunged forward, the tip of both my blades heading straight towards her back. She had sensed my presence too late, though.

Nothing could stop my attack now.

An inch from driving through my target’s heart, my swords found resistance.

Worca’s spell shield has triggered!

Your target’s shield has blocked your attack, absorbing its damage.

No! I cursed as a bubble of shimmering black snapped into existence around Worca. The damnable mage was shielded.

Worca spun around, a pair of wands dropping into her waiting palms. Realizing her intent, I threw myself sideways.

A bar of liquid blackness scorched the air, missing me by inches. It was followed closely by a glistening arc of burning cold.

You have evaded Worca’s wilting ray. You have evaded Worca’s frost bolt.

Contorting wildly, I managed to avoid both attacks, but my evasive maneuvers had forced me farther back, giving my foes some much-needed space.

Three yards away, I rose to my feet.

“It’s him!” Ishan shrieked.

“Shut up and kill him,” his companion snapped.

At the human mage’s outcry, my gaze jerked towards him. No similar shield surrounded his body. That means he is vulnerable. With my gaze fixed squarely on my new target, I raced forward.

Worca cast a second volley of ice and darkness my way. Not slowing my charge, I ducked beneath the first projectile and sidestepped the second.

You have evaded Worca’s magical attacks.

“You missed him! How could you miss?” Ishan screamed. Fumbling for his own wand, the human mage launched his own attack. Dark flames of shimmering black and purple roared out at me.

I one-stepped, leaping over the fire and somersault through the air to land behind my target. In nearly the same motion, I thrust both my blades forward.

Ishan has trigger-cast dark repulsion. You have failed to resist the spell!

An instant before my blades made contact, a shockwave of air detonated outwards from my target. The force of the casting was too immense to resist. Picked up as easily as a leaf in a storm, I was tossed away.

Flying clear across the chamber, I crashed into one of the chamber’s unyielding stone walls and slid to the ground in a heap.

Ishan has injured you! You have failed a physical resistance check! You are dazed.

The wind had been knocked out of me, and my back felt like one bruised mass. But there was no time to acknowledge the pain. Move Michael! I yelled at myself, knowing that a follow-up attack was imminent.

Picking a direction at random, I rolled across the floor. An instant later, a barrage of magical fire scorched the spot I’d just occupied.

I kept rolling until the waves of nausea assaulting me receded. Then I lurched back to my feet and beheld another—larger—magical storm descending upon me.

Damnation.

For a fraction of a heartbeat, I froze. There were too many magical projectiles hurling toward me to count. How am I going to get through all that?

The full length of the room separated me and my targets. To get to them, I would have to wade through the onslaught of magic. It was impossible. The exit from the room beckoned. It was much closer than my targets. Should I flee?

For an instant, I almost did.

By god damn, no, I swore. There was no escape in retreat. If I fled now, I lost. Perhaps forever.

I can do this. I must do this.

Rushing forward, I dived into the hurricane of magic. Letting go of conscious thought entirely, I let instinct guide me. Twisting, leaping, ducking, and sliding, I danced through the onslaught.

You have evaded a wilting ray.

You have evaded a frost bolt.

You have evaded a flame dart.

You have evaded…

“How’s he doing that?” Ishan screamed, his voice reedy with panic. “That’s not possible! That can’t be possible!”

“I don’t know,” Worca replied coolly. “Keep attacking,” he continued, calm and unruffled. “I’m going to try something else.”

I barely heard the two. All my senses and nearly every thought were trained on the maze that was the spell storm and weaving a path through.

An eternity later—or was it only a few seconds?—the hurricane petered out. I increased my pace. Avoiding the few magical projectiles still heading my way was almost trivial now.

My focus slid back to my foes.

Worca had stopped attacking. The elf had dropped her wands and closed her eyes. Her lips were moving, chanting the words to a spell. Whatever she was about, there was nothing I could do to stop her.

My gaze darted to Ishan, mapping a path to him. Weaving deftly through the flames he shot at me, I closed quickly on the human.

You have evaded three magical attacks.

Five yards separated us. I rolled under another pair of spells.

You have evaded two magical attacks.

Two yards away. Springing off my hands, I leaped over the mage’s latest projectile and the largest one he’d yet thrown at me—a fireball.

Ishan’s head whipped upwards, following the arc I cut through the air. I’d timed my move perfectly. If my flight continued uninterrupted, I would land squarely on the mage.

But I didn’t expect that to happen.

Two feet away from my target, I cast one-step and threw myself higher. Then, exactly as I expected, and almost on cue, Ishan activated his spelled defenses.

Ishan has trigger-cast dark repulsion. You have evaded the spell!

A second wave of air exploded outwards from the mage. But this time, I was unaffected. My aerial maneuver had put me out of the spell’s reach.

I fell back to the ground, eyes fixed on my target. In speechless disbelief, Ishan watched me. I landed softly, on the balls of my feet and less than a foot from the mage.

“How did—” he began.

He got no further. Slashing out with both my blades, I ripped out his throat.

You have killed Ishan with a fatal blow. You have slain a sworn servant of Ishita, increasing her ire towards you!

I bared my teeth wolfishly. One down, one to go.

Whipping about, I faced my next foe. Worca had fallen silent, I realized belatedly. Whatever spell she had been about was completed.

A tear appeared in the air.

And from within, something was stepping out.