Anything constructed of mana must return to mana. But was the mana still yours? Or did it fully return to the Ethereal? Sidrick created a chunk of ice and immediately dispersed it. He tried to manipulate the cloud of mana but all his array could do was tug at it slightly.

What did he need to adjust?

Two bells chimed.

Oswin deflected two spears and dodged the third. Right as the spearhead passed him, it suddenly turned, its back whipping toward his face. He clenched his teeth and headbutted it. His horns clanged against the spear as it was knocked away.

“Solutions?” Oswin asked, his tail smacking away a sword aimed at Sidrick.

“Maybe,” Sidrick said as he focused on revising his arrays.

Rielle withdrew five more spears and arranged them in formation. The air around them rippled with rainbow patterns. Several runes lit up on the spearheads as they circled in the air. At the same time, a dozen swords shot toward Oswin and Sidrick.

Oswin snorted. His horns rippled with purple mana, distorting the air around them. He held his sword tight with both hands and glanced at Sidrick. “Block the swords.”

Sidrick streamed mana through Cyrina. A tree of ice grew from her page, its branches extending into curved plates of ice. The plates interlocked into a bubble shield. The swords smashed against it, cracking the ice with every blow.

Shield half shattered, Sidrick dispersed it and tried again to take control of the dissipating mana. A stronger tugging sensation, the beginnings of a transformation… Still not enough.

Threads of light wove through Rielle’s spear formation. A black needle swirled into existence at its center, the array stretching as it pulled back. Lines of swimming mana appeared in the air, swirling around the needle to feed its mass.

Sidrick’s eyes widened. The currents…

Oswin sliced the air as the needle launched.

A thin distortion cut across the sky. The spear formation broke, and the needle dissipated into a rain of black swords. Rielle sneered as Sidrick scrambled to restructure his ice spell.

Oswin tried to raise his sword but couldn’t. He wobbled, almost falling before Sidrick grabbed his tail. He clenched his teeth as the scales cut into his hand.

The world seemed to slow down as he looked up at the approaching swords. His shield wouldn’t make it, Cyrina could only block one or two, and he didn’t have time to draw any new arrays.

He could condense space.

It would take most of his remaining mana.

It would also be giving Olivant exactly what he wanted.

But he’d live.

What did Lineans matter to him? People he didn’t know or care about. Was he supposed to die for them? Just in case his magic was important enough to shift some nebulous power balance?

Sidrick grit his teeth.

Rielle couldn’t push the weapons past certain speeds. She hadn’t yet, at least.

So he needed to move.

He grew ice around Cyrina and stepped atop her. With a burst of mana, they took off, sliding down the pyramid. Oswin trailed behind, still held by the tail. Sidrick grimaced as the lizard smacked into one sharp outcrop as he reeled him in. Still, he seemed durable enough to last the trip down. He heard Oswin shout something but couldn’t make it out over the sound of ice grinding against stone.

Sidrick reeled Oswin close enough to freeze him to the platform. Both his hands were ripped up by the bastard’s scales.

As they neared the bottom of the pyramid, ice branched up and grew into a buckler. The straps coiled around Sidrick’s left arm. He glanced back at the swords chasing them and clenched his teeth.

Sucking in a breath, he poured his focus into the manipulation array. He pushed his ice platform up in small bursts of force, trying to preserve their momentum and swing them airborne. It wasn't working.

Too heavy, Sidrick thought, clenching his fists as the edge got closer and closer. He cursed inwardly and abandoned any designs of efficiency.

A large burst of force got them off the ground. Sidrick’s mana dwindled as the platform climbed, racing past the swords and peaking above Rielle.

The platform dissipated.

Sidrick and Oswin fell.

Rielle aimed her spears and fired.

Sidrick grabbed Cyrina from the air and scribbled a message on the casting page. He held it toward Oswin.

Cover.

Oswin smiled as he shakily gripped his sword.

The first three spears arrived.

Sidrick smacked one away with Cyrina. His buckler shattered as it knocked away the next. A bell chimed and the third spear was struck away.

The remaining spears crossed together into a makeshift shield.

A bell chimed once, twice, three times. The spears were blasted apart, opening the way for Sidrick. Rielle brought out a pitch black dagger and threw it.

Sidrick raised Cyrina. The dagger punctured her cover and stopped a few pages in. Sidrick’s heart jumped as a swirl of guilt poured through his stomach.

Invincible! Cyrina sent.

Sidrick blinked. And smiled as he raised his fist.

Swords materialized and cut into him as he closed in on Rielle.

His fist struck the center of her face. He felt her nose shatter as blood sprayed past his hand. They dropped onto the pyramid below, Sidrick holding on to her as they tumbled.

Rielle shakily raised her hand and summoned a sword. Sidrick snatched it from the air and drove it into the stone, stopping their tumble as he kept a firm grip on Rielle. She swept a clawed hand toward him.

Sidrick let her nails cut through his chest.

In exchange, he got a grip on her head, and slammed her skull against the pyramid’s stone side. She went limp.

“Victory,” Oswin said as he landed, though he didn’t sound very happy. “She’ll still be up in a few minutes.”

“How can we keep her down?” Sidrick asked.

Oswin hesitated a moment before saying, “Damage vital organs. They take longer to heal.”

“I can walk with half my guts torn up, I’m thinking she can too,” SIdrick said. They couldn’t let her escape and build up another swarm of weapons. She needed to be as threatening as a girl in a wheelchair. Ah. “What about her spine?”

“Absolutely not,” Oswin said.

“Eyes?”

He glared.

“She heals,” Sidrick said, angrily gesturing to her visibly mending nose. Unconscious healing. Absurd. “Whatever damage we do doesn’t matter. Shatter her spine, gouge out her eyes, it’s the same as a paper cut.”

Sidrick glanced around the other pyramids. Some fights were still going. A number of participants were looking their way, probably having watched most of the fight. If they chose to attack now, and they were anywhere close to Rielle in power, they were dead.

Part of Sidrick was just waiting for another gunshot.

In the distance, past the leading pyramid, he saw a pit of lava. Was that the finish line for this awful test? He would’ve been in awe under better circumstances.

“Eyes,” Oswin slowly said, but his face wasn’t pretty.

“Knife?”

“Make your own.”

“I’m out of mana.”

Oswin frowned. He was about to say something when the pyramid started clicking. The crabs at the top poked their eyes out as the top of their shells melted, cooled, and melted again, over and over.

“Forget it,” Oswin quickly said. “We don’t want to be in the next round.”

“Of course there are more rounds,” Sidrick muttered as he started to pick Rielle up.

Oswin raised a hand to stop him. “I will hold her.”

“Can you still attack?”

Oswin smirked and tossed his blade back. His tail swiped up and wrapped around its handle.

Sidrick rolled his eyes as Oswin passed by to pick up Rielle. He cradled her in his arms.

Just friends. Sidrick held back a groan.

He once more turned his gaze to the other pyramids. All but one of the fights had stopped. It was between a girl with a rifle—probably the sniper—and one of the tattooed men. He would have found the coincidence amusing if the ink mage wasn’t using a person as a weapon.

Tendrils of ink were wrapped around a girl’s legs, swinging her toward the sniper with reckless abandon. The girl smacked against the pyramid wall again and again, staining it red.

Sidrick clenched his fists. If he had just killed the ink mage...

“We have to go,” Oswin said, his gaze fixed on the same fight.

“Nobody’s going to help her?” Sidrick asked.

“Not their fight.” Oswin narrowed his eyes. “We can’t do anything—“

“I know. But she can,” Sidrick said, pointing at Rielle.

“If—“

“I’m the one that brought her down. You owe me. One attempt, then we leave.”

Oswin made a complicated expression. “What do you need?”

#

Layla stared at the labyrinth entrance.

“It feels… wrong,” Hedwin said, deep in thought.

“Sovereign say it’s safe?” Layla asked.

“He did,” Hedwin said in almost a whisper.

Vivi frowned deeply. With a somewhat pained expression, she withdrew four strips of crystal. “Take them. Put one up here. If something goes wrong, we’ll just teleport back.”

Hedwin frowned. “Vivi, I can’t accept—“

She grabbed his hand and forced two crystals into his palm.

“How do they work?” Layla asked as she took her pair.

“You know how teleport books are just labyrinth shortcuts?” Vivi asked. “This is a one use copy. My hometown specialty.”

“I owe you,” Layla said. “Thank you.”

“Mm-hm.”

Hedwin stared at the crystals. “Vivi—“

“Shut up, Hedwin.”

Layla stifled a laugh before turning serious again. “I’ll lead, if that’s fine.”

Hedwin nodded. Vivi shrugged

After setting down their crystals, they started into the labyrinth. Hedwin set his eyes forward, holding himself back from looking behind. The labyrinth pressed on his mind like never before. For some reason, it reminded him of a wounded predator, baring its teeth even as it bled out.

Hedwin donned his ashen armor as they descended

#

Rielle blinked awake. She was still on the pyramid, near the end of stage one. Her eyes widened as she realized someone’s arm was around her neck. She was about to draw from her armory when a knife pressed against her upper spine.

“If I press down, I sever your brainstem,” a young man said behind her. The one working with Oswin. “You’ll be paralyzed. Your heart won’t know to pump, your lungs won’t know to breathe. Your awareness and thoughts will slip away. With so much failing, what would your healing prioritize?”

Rielle grit her teeth.

“Without direction, maybe your magic would spread itself too thin, tending to every vital organ. Maybe you’d be kept just aware enough to feel your organs flickering on and off. How long would you stay like that? Hours? Days?

“We could find the answer to all those questions. Or you could do as I say.”

Rielle’s breath quaked. “Oswin…”

“As long as you’re alive, he doesn’t care.”

Rielle grit her teeth.

“See the ink mage and the sniper?”

She nodded.

“Stop the ink mage. Save the one he’s holding if you can.”

“They’re out of range,” Rielle hissed.

“Your affinities?”

Rielle’s expression twisted.

Sidrick pressed the knife down slightly, drawing a trickle of blood.

“Illusion. Metal. Healing. Arcane.”

“Translate arcane into force.”

Rielle made an ugly expression. Change her arrays with no testing? Was he brain damaged? A possible backlash would be catastrophic.

“Don’t know how?” Sidrick asked, the disdain in his voice biting at her. “Then just set weapons along a zigzagging path. Oswin, cast your spell and bounce it across.”

“Fine,” Oswin growled behind them.

“It still won’t reach,” Rielle said.

“Arrange them in the pattern, then throw them,” Sidrick said as if explaining to a child. Rielle would skewer him the first chance she got.

She withdrew and arranged her weapons. The Chosen on the other pyramids stared. Her target hadn’t noticed, at least. He was too enthralled with chasing the sniper. The girl had a broken arm, and her rifle was battered beyond use. As for the hostage… There was no coming back from that.

She considered sabotaging the throw. But this… Even her lord would frown on such brutality.

“Throw, then cast,” Sidrick said, “in 3… 2… 1… Now!”

Rielle sent her weapons forward. A bell chimed as Oswin sent a slash. Rielle watched the currents—sound carried them like ripples on a pond. As they grew farther, they thinned and sharpened. Then they struck her blade, resonated with the metal and the sharpness, and started the spell anew. More currents were drawn to bolster the spell’s starting mana.

Phantom images flitted through her mind.

Footsteps atop the water.

Spears dancing along the wind.

The images were pushed away as soon as they came. The kindness of her lord replaced them, a gravy of fondness poured over stills of a woman in red.

Rielle blinked as she felt her magic waver. She was still holding her weapons. She hadn’t reached the end of her range. She…

Before she could react, her head crashed against stone. Her vision swam as her head was lifted, then slammed again. She cried out as her skull cracked. The last thing she heard was a bell chime.

#

Sidrick blocked Oswin’s sword with his knife, having used Cyrina to block the chimed slash. “I did as you asked!”

“You almost shattered her skull!” Oswin growled.

“She heals!"

“That doesn’t mean—“

Sidrick pushed forward, managing to deflect Oswin’s sword to the side. He quickly threw his knife. Oswin’s tail whipped around, knocking the knife away, and lunged toward Sidrick in a smooth motion.

Sidrick leaned to the side and caught the tail. He winced as the scales cut deep into his hand. With a roar, he swung Oswin through the air and slammed him into the side of the pyramid.

Sidrick took the chance to glance at the sniper. Oswin’s slash hadn’t reached, but it had distracted the ink mage. The sniper had drawn a pistol.

A bell chimed.

Sidrick’s attention snapped back to Oswin. He thought about picking up Rielle as a shield. A better part of him dodged sideways.

He waited for the slash to strike stone…

Nothing.

What? Sidrick watched Oswin.

The lizard spat out a bit of blood. “You can’t see currents.”

He chimed his sword three times. Sidrick clenched his teeth and dashed forward. No slashes came. It didn’t matter—he had already arrived before Oswin. His fist whipped around.

Oswin ducked and replied with an uppercut.

Sidrick moved Cyrina to block.

Oswin’s tail chimed against his sword, cutting open Sidrick's chest before he could dodge. Oswin kicked him back, knocking him up a few rows of the pyramid.

Sidrick got up and felt his chest. A relatively shallow cut. He would scar but that hardly mattered.

A thunderous boom suddenly ripped through the air. Sidrick and Oswin both looked toward the sniper as a white and red cone of light engulfed the top of her pyramid.

Sidrick stood frozen. His mind spun into overdrive as he tried to understand what was going on. This was almost on the scale of a Yenorihan war cannon. How was it contained in a pistol?

There wasn’t a trace of the ink mage as the light faded. The entire top of the pyramid was practically gone. Vaporized.

The sniper dropped her pistol and scrambled down the side of the pyramid.

Oswin rushed to Rielle as he sheathed his sword. Sidrick blinked out of his thoughts and watched him. The desperation on his face made him push aside his anger. What made him so scared?

Oswin picked up Rielle and rushed down. Sidrick followed, taking one last glance at the destroyed pyramid before starting down. He hopped more than ran as he quickly descended.

All along the pyramid, the crabs poked their eyes out and looked at the destruction. The pyramid rattled beneath Sidrick’s feet as crabs dislodged themselves and clambered to new positions.

A section of stone ahead of him suddenly glowed red. He hopped to the side, narrowly avoiding a plume of lava. More plumes shot out to curl around the first. A massive claw slowly formed, a collection of tight tendons of lava. The other pyramids formed similarly massive claws.

The other participants raced down as they did. As soon as they jumped off the pyramid and touched the ground, they were teleported away.

The pyramid suddenly swerved, throwing Sidrick off balance. He tumbled down a few layers before catching a small ledge. Seconds later, there was a massive crash from one of the pyramids further ahead.

Sidrick’s eyes widened.

They had rammed each other.

Tendrils of lava bore down on each pyramid. Their claws locked together, their edges constantly cooling and melting. The three mages still on it screamed as they were drowned in a torrent of lava.

Sidrick took off down the pyramid. He was close to the bottom.

He saw Oswin hit the ground and disappear with Rielle in his arms.

BOOM!!

Sidrick was thrown into the air as his pyramid collided with another. Lava tendrils bloomed behind him, the heat licking his back. Some stone shards landed below, turning his landing zone into a bed of nails.

Sidrick held Cyrina up to shield himself.

He hit the ground with a crunch as several rocks were crushed. His arms screamed as they took the impact. Still, he held Cyrina tight as he tumbled, taking a few cuts before he smacked into a larger shell piece.

He groaned and waited for the space mage to take him.

Nothing happened.