Janaxia was awoken sometime later by a dull, heavy knocking on her door. When she opened it, she had to take a sharp step back, otherwise the skeleton would have punched her in the face. It was one of Trakatha’s customised creations, the body reinforced with wires and armour plating, scrimshaw runes picked out against the neatly whitened bones. Inside the ribcage was a glowing stone, causing eerie shadows to flicker on the wall. Well, it was nice to see Trakatha showing a bit more passion in her craft and attention to detail, rather than simply churning out boringly identical creatures. This one even had gemstones installed inside the skull, and the jaw wired to give it a permanent grin. It would do her better to display more care for her personal appearance rather than that of her creations, but it was progress, of a sort.

It spoke, or rather relayed a pre-recorded message, Mother’s voice coming from between bronze-coated teeth. ‘Your next trial begins. Enter the portal. Any failure shall be your last.’

Well, she had been expecting some drama, but maybe better lighting would help with the ambience; this seemed almost dull. She took a moment to dress herself with material clothes again, just in case her magic should be dispelled. A swirling nexus of energy appeared, through which she stepped.

There was a brief sensation of falling in every direction, her body without any sensation, before there was stone beneath her feet again. It was the colosseum, again, although the area had been filled with obstacles – clouds of green, sulphurous air hung about the place, vague shadows barely visible within, probably more attackers.

Semari and Vrintar were both laid out on the floor, albeit unconscious, spell-seals upon their brows, bound into unconscious. That must have taken potent magic to achieve! Trakatha looked down from above and gave her an apologetic shrug but didn’t say anything, as Ophexia appeared next to her, fading in as an invisibility spell dropped from around her. Her expression was chill but not actively hostile, a black gem on her forehead glinting in the low light.

‘I hope you have prepared yourself, sister. Or you and your companions shall be meat for Trakatha’s workings. Choose one as an ally, the other shall be a hostage.’

‘That one.’ She gestured at Semari.

‘Please tell me you are not engaging in congress with such a thing? The other at least seems stronger, and armed as well.’

‘Just rouse her. And no, that has never occurred.’ She shuddered at the thought. With Semari? She would have to be truly desperate for such a coupling!

Ophexia twisted her fingers, making the seal on Semari’s brow burn away in a flare of energy. A sphere of energy formed around Trakatha, Vrintar and Ophexia, lifting them up and away to the viewing platform, leaving the arena clear for the battle. Ophexia’s voice was louder now, magically amplified as it echoed around the cave. ‘Mother has decided to cull the surplus.’ A gateway clanked open and Kivata stepped through, accompanied by a hulking, amorphous mass of slime, hard to see except by the marks of its passage. She was clad for combat, her robe emblazoned with protective magic, a wand of power in her hand. Semari stirred groggily, shaking off the enchantment that had bound her. ‘Only the strongest shall be deemed worthy of acceptance into the family. Begin.’

She spoke a word of power, the shapes inside the mist starting to move, released from whatever binding had kept them in place. Janaxia crouched over Semari, trying to shake her awake, thankful her eyes quickly snapped open and she hopped to her feet. Janaxia took a breath, the gas already starting to spread, burning and prickling her lungs – If Hakara were here, she could use a wind spell to shift them, but there was nothing Janaxia could do.

‘Hey, it’s like blobby! But all mouldy and shitty.’

Through the low light, Janaxia tried to see the thing that accompanied Kivata – some kind of oversized jelly, a gelatinous blob oozing forward, covered with some kind of growth. Inside it were several skeletal shapes, their arms outside, grabbing at things to try and drag them closer. Janaxia glanced upwards – Trakatha was looking at the thing, an expression of satisfaction on her face. Her dedication to her craft really could be irksome sometimes!

‘Semari, if you could kindly deal with my sister, I will attempt to do something about that.’ She pointed at the blob.

‘Sure. When you say “deal with”, then…?’

‘If you could incapacitate her, then we can deal with the aftermath. I doubt she will be much of a contest for you, although I would advise against inhaling the gas, or getting too close to whatever is shrouded within.’

The stuff was thick and green – vaguely humanoid shapes flitted around inside it, but no details could be seen. Some form of ghost, most likely, and unlikely to be friendly. And the gaseous clouds were expanding, steadily extending the reach of whatever was inside.

A wet phut sounded, the blob shooting part of itself out, a tendril attaching itself to Janaxia as Semari jumped backwards. Janaxia brushed it off, the grip only weak, although it was starting to dissolve her clothing. She gestured, calling up darkness around it – maybe the cold would freeze it solid or somesuch? Semari raced off, darting between steadily-shrinking patch of safe air, a shape reaching for her and rending at her clothing, tattering the fabric even more.

A burst of magical darts shot through the air, screaming skulls hurtling towards Janaxia. They were too fast to dodge, slamming into her as a series of forceful cascades. She ducked to the side – the mist was thicker now, making it hard to see what was happening, everyone else visible only as paranoia-inducing shadows in the haze, her eyes starting to water from the gas.

The blob was able to plough through the darkness and the mist, probably specially made for this – it seemed Mother truly did intend to eliminate herself or Kivata, if not both of them! She stepped backwards, scrabbling amongst the garbage and snapping off another chair leg – she really should find a better permanent weapon, if she were to be forced to close range this often. It was heavy enough that her bolts couldn’t knock it back, only slow it down slightly. The skeletal arms waved and grabbed, ready to pull her into the acidic core of the thing.

More bolts knocked a few bits off, doing little to reduce the overall size of the thing. She darted close, knocking through an arm, stabbing her makeshift blade into the creature in a quick thrust, just as Stathis had shown her. It had little effect, the creature steadily bearing down on her. An arm grabbed her, forcing her to smash it away, a shard of her clothing getting yanked into the body, swiftly dissolving into nothing more than a wisp of dye.

She glanced backwards – she was rapidly running out of space, and, from the spell-chants she could hear, Semari hadn’t yet managed to deal with Kivata. She let darkness well up inside her, powerful and cool. Her vision shifted slightly, a slight shadow tinting the world, as she felt a power manifest itself in her eyes, some new arcanum coursing through her. She glared at the beast, putting all her will into a glare, sure to make any troublemaker quail in fear.

The blob hesitated, advance slowing, although the skeletons continued to grasp and flail. ‘Begone!’ She didn’t know if it could even hear her, but it shook slightly, hesitating, before starting to retreat, leaving a sticky trail behind itself. Janaxia sighed in relief, then coughed and spluttered as she breathed in a gulp of the burning gas. She spun and lashed out just as a ghostly shape tried to grab her, barely warding the thing off. Something of Ophexia’s doing, no doubt; she always had been fond of binding her enemies into weapons, although the gas was an unwanted novelty.

Janaxia began herding the thing, savouring the maybe-terror of it, slowing reducing its bulk with more bolts. She covered her mouth with her sleeve, glad that she had cleaned the robe, otherwise the stink would probably be just as bad as the gas!

She took as deep a breath as she dared, dashing through a patch of gas while swinging with her weapon, hitting the lump of goo. It splashed apart, some of its fluid falling onto Janaxia’s robe, burning it away, powerful enough to make her skin sting beneath. The stench from it only made the area more noxious.

Janaxia could hear Semari and Kivata fighting, Semari’s grunts of effort met with the clatter of her limbs against bone, Kivata smoothly incanting an attack spell somewhere close by. She must have been forewarned or given equipment to let her breath easily – she seemed entirely unaffected by the haze! Of course, the scales would be stacked in such a way – the family truly meant to eliminate one of them, and Kivata, odious though she was, had proven herself more than Janaxia had done. An eddy within the green haze was all the warning she had as some phantom lunged at her, bony fingers grasping at her arm. A skeletal form was visible within the mist, the stuff thickest around its chest. Janaxia wheezed, trying to strike the arm to dislodge it.

It clung on, although she was able to sever it from the body. The fingers were bony enough to hurt as they clung tightly, the rest of the limb flapping around until Janaxia smashed it with another strike, leaving only the hand in place.

From the sounds, Semari was close by, bone shattering. She seemed unaffected by the poison – probably a sign of her rude good health, or simply having devoured so much dubious food and alcohol as to render her immune.

The blob continued to retreat, Janaxia moving to keep it in view, not wanting it to lose its fear, and return to strike again. It seemed truly cowed, desperate to keep away from her, as she plunged through the noxious clouds, swinging her club to ward off the creatures within them, her shoulder pushing against a skeleton, a sickly-green gem inside its chest emitting the cloud of gas.

A stinging cold bit into her chest, the vague shape of Kivata appearing ahead of her, hands raised to attack. Janaxia retaliated with bolts of her own, punching holes into the mist, missing entirely.

‘Semari! Over here!’

There was the sound of bones shattering, followed by metal, then an explosion of more gas, the green haze thickening.

‘Don’t break the cores!’ Janaxia spluttered, eyes stinging from the noxious gas. She moved forward, trying to advance towards Kivata, hoping to corner her. She could probably defeat Kivata close up, and Semari definitely could, if they could find each other.

The gas was now so thick that she had lost all orientation, no idea of which way to turn, until she suddenly found she was against a wall. She was glad of the support, swinging her sword and managing to get a momentary breath of air, hurriedly pacing around the edge.

A shape approached, and she swung for them. Her club was stopped in mid-strike, a fist swinging back, stopping bare inches from her face, strong enough to make ripples in the surrounding gas.

‘Hey, found you! Not sure where blobby is. Or your sister.’

Semari seemed entirely unaffected – even for one of low upbringing, raised in insalubrious slums, this seemed a bit much! Perhaps she had been imbued with a spark of divine resistance? Although in this context, such a thing was invaluable.

‘We need to find…’ She had to pause, trying to breath through her sleeve, the material doing little to ward away the stinging gas. ‘…to find Kivata.’

Something moved, to their left, Semari springing forward, Janaxia close behind. More screaming skulls burst outwards, battering into Janaxia, but without enough force to knock her backwards despite the pain of the impacts. As Kivata started to twist her fingers for another spell, Semari grabbed her arm, twisting and pinning it behind her back.

Kivata wriggled and twisted but lacked the strength to break free – Janaxia knew from personal experience how annoyingly strong Semari was, despite her slight frame.

Janaxia smiled. ‘I think this is meant to be to the death, but I find myself strangely inclined towards mercy. Tempered with a certain practicality, though. Semari, if you would cripple her sinister hand.’ There was a loud crack, as Semari wrenched one of Kivata’s fingers, making her gasp in pain, as Janaxia sighed. ‘Her sinister hand. The left one!’

‘Well, you should have said that!’ Semari twisted around, shifting her grip and grabbing Kivata’s other hand, wrenching the fingers apart and dislocating the joints and breaking the bones.

‘I believe, traditionally, I should remove your tongue as well, to prevent you casting ever again.’ It was satisfying to deliver a victory speech, although it would be better if tears weren’t streaming down her face and her lungs weren’t burning. ‘But I think crippling you, until you can convince Mother to send for a healer, should suffice.’

There was another loud crack, as Kivata’s little finger was broken, now sticking out at a grotesque angle from her hand. She looked at Janaxia with hatred and fear, managing to slip her other hand free, fingers curling into an arcane gesture. Janaxia glared at her, feeling the darkness coat her eyes again and lash out. The effect was immediate, Kivata shrinking back in fear and panic, trying to break free, Semari easily keeping her under control.

Janaxia smiled, revelling in her power as she approached. When she reached out to touch Kivata, the girl whimpered, although that might have been the pain from her mangled and twisted fingers as much as fear of Janaxia. ‘Now remember, dear sister, that you live by my mercy. Be good, or that mercy may be rescinded.’

Kivata gibbered and shook, eyes rolling madly before she fell into a swoon, falling against Semari for a moment, before being allowed to crash to the floor. Janaxia tried to raise her voice, wanting to declare her victory, but the deep breath simply made her cough and hack and splutter, Semari looking at her unsympathetically.

‘Want me to go say you’ve won?’

Janaxia could only nod, resting her hands on her knees to try and get her breath back, feeling herself not far from passing out. Semari jumped up the wall, disappearing from view.

Shortly afterwards, the mists started to fade, Janaxia trying to wipe the tears from her face, wanting to face her victory looking good. The mist-wreathed skeletons, at least those that Semari hadn’t smashed, shambled off, the air immediately starting to clear. Janaxia called up her magic, wiping the tears from her face, trying to rearrange her makeup. From up above, Trakatha gave a polite clap, Ophexia showing only a dispassionate expression.

‘It is to the death, sister. Or are you so weak you cannot even kill?’

Kivata groaned, trying to rise, screaming as she pushed her shattered hand against the floor. Janaxia stepped onto it, pinning it in place. ‘I claim her life for myself, to deal with as I wish. There is much she can learn from me, I’m sure.’ She pressed down, feeling already-broken bones shift beneath her foot, Kivata’s screams getting louder.

Do please be silent, or at least quieter! You brought this upon yourself, after all.

Her message had no effect, Kivata too self-absorbed in her own suffering, having to disrupt Janaxia’s moment of triumph. Ophexia looked down on them both, before nodding.

‘Very well, she is yours. Should she succeed, all glory to you. Should she fail, then you shall share her fate.’ She raised her hand and slashed through the air, stepping through a dimensional portal, apparently done with the matter. Probably reporting to Mother – hopefully, news of Janaxia’s obvious power and superiority!

Janaxia stamped down again, wanting to quell any thoughts of rebellion. ‘I do hope you will behave!’ Kivata didn’t respond, eyes glassy, either unconscious again, or close to it, from the shock of losing and the pain of her hands.

Trakatha approached, a hidden passageway from the viewing platform rumbling open, Janaxia relaxing slightly. Trakatha might be unnerving, and with a rather unpleasant tang of chemicals, blood and rot often in the air around her, but she wasn’t prone to treachery or violence.

She bent down next to Kivata, looking at her maimed hand, twisting the fractures bones and ignoring the judders her examination sent through Kivata.

‘Effective.’

She let the hand drop as she stood, slightly shorter than Janaxia, her eyes downcast. She always had a slightly mournful air around her, as though seeking to escape from social contact as swiftly as possible.

‘Interesting spells. I’ve not seen the like before. Maybe you could show me later?’

Semari jumped back down. ‘Yeah, that’s ‘cos she’s, like all weird and stuff. Does all kinds of freaky magic.’ She waggled her fingers in what seemed an overly insulting way, Trakatha regarding her with uncertainty.

‘Please stop destroying my creations. I put a lot of work into them.’ Even as she spoke, Trakatha winced and hunched away from Semari, clearly expecting retaliation.

‘Eh, sorry, but that fog stuff made it really hard to see!’

Still hunched protectively over, Trakatha looked at Semari, mouth moving for long moments before she managed to formulate a question. ‘You should have found it hard to breath as well. The mixture is quite toxic.’

Semari shrugged. ‘It’s not that bad. Like, I’ve smelt worse, down in dungeons and tombs and stuff. Janaxia didn’t like it, but she’s a bit of a wuss.’

‘Yes, that substance was quite vile and noxious. Some warning would have been appreciated, but I suppose you were warned otherwise?’ It was unlikely the thought had even crossed Trakatha’s mind, and there was a long pause before she answered.

‘Of course, that was it. Mother was very strict about such things. Um, do you want me to bind her fingers? She may lose them otherwise.’

Janaxia considered. A permanently crippled Kivata would mean less opportunity for her to pursue any type of vengeance, but her sole virtue lay in her spellcasting ability, minor though it was. If she were to be of any use, then she would need some measure of healing, even if only natural.

‘Yes, please.’

There followed a mildly horrific amount of screaming, as Kivata’s bones were forcibly pulled back into some semblance of normality, the pain such that is jerked Kivata back into consciounsness. Trakatha wrapped Kivata’s hands in thick bandages (which, apparently, she carried on herself all the time, just in case of such an eventuality) and used a spell to bind and harden them. The screaming was far too loud, and entirely unnecessary, but Kivata was quite insensible to Janaxia’s requests for a little decorum, before falling into her stupor again once everything was in place.

‘I will take this one away and begin her lessons. She really is quite a mess. May I come and visit you, Trakatha?’ Trakatha didn’t like surprises, and the wards on her laboratory were sufficiently potent to make casual visits painful. But she could be a useful ally, or at least not an enemy. ‘I can bring some treats along.’

That bought a shadow of a smile to Trakatha’s face. ‘Yes. Please.’ The she frowned. ‘But be careful. Mother has plans.’ A trace of darkness appeared in one of her eyes, a runic shape starting to form, and she winced. ‘She knows how stupid I can be, so has forbidden me from speaking of them. I’m sure she will welcome you though, you’re far more useful than I am.’

Considering Traktha’s obvious strengths in the fields of applied necromancy, that was clearly not true, but it was a pleasing piece of flattery. ‘I am sure she knows best. Now, I will take this one and start acclimatising her to her new position.’ She reached down and pulled on Kivata, trying to shift her. Stathis always made this look so easy, but Kivata was like a rock, barely moving, and whimpering every time Janaxia pulled on her arm. Stop that, or we’ll never get anywhere!

‘Semari, could you kindly help? This is rather me your forte than mine. Or Vrintar, if she is recovered.’

‘Your large friend? Oh yes, she should be quite alright by now. Although I was rather hoping she would die, I could make her into a magnificent creature.’ Thoughts of how to use a body as strong and tough as Vrintar’s set Trakatha off, as she began describing the alchemical treatments she would apply to the bones, and what extra features she could fit into Vrintar’s ribcage. As she drifted off into happy speculation and theorising, Janaxia managed to haul Kivata upwards, before slumping towards Semari, who simply walked away. Blood was seeping from Kivata’s fingers, through her bandages, Janaxia simultaneously trying to support her and keep the crippled, bleeding hands away from herself, slowly making her way to the exit.