I rose up from bed as my head started to ache making me wonder if I drank too much or got shot again… probably the latter. It was hard to ‘drink’ when alcohol didn’t mix well with your system. A minor ‘side effect’ from my stay in Kornea.

I glanced at myself trying to figure out if it was bruises, a gunshot wound, or something else only to find a pair of hands wrapped around my waist… and another pair wrapped around my chest.

My mind struggled to make sense of what was going on as Nadel yawned wearing a very select amount of clothing as a ring rested on her hand… and Averia was the second individual who was also wearing the same amount of clothing while wearing a similar ring on her hand.

Wedding rings.

My brain tried to reboot trying to figure out what was going on as it nearly got working right up until Averia kissed me. It wasn’t a peck on the checks, but a full blown kiss made with a long familiarity despite my lack of prior experience.

My brain struggled to try and reboot as it was caught between ‘There is nothing wrong and this is normal’ to ‘Something is wrong’... though the more primitive parts of my brain boiled down to ‘Shut up and think later!’ as it tried to reroute blood that should have been going to my brain.

Averia more or less sauntered out of the bed while making sure to show a good view of her rear as she started to get dressed. It was a very good view that made voice number three more or less beat the other two voices down.

It certainly didn’t help when Nadel pulled me over to her side and kissed me with an equal amount of skill… only when she got out of bed she didn’t turn her back. No, she made sure to show me a generous amount of her uncovered chest.

Caveman brain used libido club to beat the other two voices down. It not care about right memory or wrong memory. It care about burning nice view into caveman memory

“So what’s the plan for our anniversary?” Averia Lynch spoke with a smile

“Anniversary?” I asked as my mind struggled to catch up “I…”

“Told you we had to prepare for it Ave.” Nadel spoke in a taunting, but loving tone “Though to be fair he had a lot on his plate last week.”

“You will not forget me.” A voice whispered in the background

“Wait… last week?” I muttered as I looked around counting two people in the room.

My own brain tried to beat back the primal caveman portions down with the promise of ‘Angry woman means sleeping on couch’ as even in my dazed state… I needed to remember what exactly I had missed or forgot before things got messy.

A mess of memories smashed together as I started to wonder if I did do something stupid like trying to drink alchocl. It felt like what people claimed a hangover was… light headed, pounding headache, the realization that you did something stupid made even worse due to you inability to remember it.

My fingers brushed up against the rings on my finger which (shouldn’t) have always been there. The three (odd) completely natural wedding rings that rested on my hand… okay it might have been a bit odd outside of Willow’s Hill, but there was a history of this being common here.

Especially when it involved Heirs of the Hill.

“I am a part of your past” Hissed the voice causing me to wince as…

This wasn’t right. There was a dull feeling falling across my aching body as I was forced to look up and notice my wife Averia had finished getting dressed.

The Half-elf adjusted her clothing as the long backless green dress looked like it came from a fantasy movie… mostly to help show a generous amount of chest, backside, arms, and make you wonder how the shoulder straps managed to hold it all in.

Nadel on the other hand wore what resembled one of those chinese dresses with a long slit down the legs to both over them up and show a good amount of leg… especially with how far up the slit went bringing a teasing image to mind.

The cold feeling pressed down harder as it whispered “I exist in your present”

Something pressed up against the windows as the vague shape of something humanoid if twisted to the size of an ogre tried to glance through the windows as I could see multiple eyes staring back at me before the blinds had been closed.

“Who would have thought we’d all end up in the same bed?” Averia spoke breaking me from my nightmares as she continued “Could you imagine telling past selves ten years ago muchless what their reactions would have been?”

Nadel rolled her eyes “Better than the alternative.”

I found myself nodding along as I tried not to imagine three factions trying to duke it out for the hill. Oh sure there were a few complaints, but marriage contracts worked to smooth things over. Averia was in charge of the elves (and married to me) leaving the Forgotten woods under control.

Nadel may have lacked one of the Witch’s Legacy by birth… but marriage allowed her to leverage enough power to silence the fools on the council who wanted to do something far most costly (and stupid) in order to acheive the same results.

Her grandmother wasn’t a fan of the union, but it was to accept the marriage or be left as the only faction not aligned to the current owner of the hill. What little allies that would be behind her wouldn’t last long and so their marriage went unopposed even if there was a lot of grumbling from the stands during the vows.

I checked my dresser trying to sort through my supplies to find something to deal with the bruises and hopefully find something presentable. Already Nadel was picking out my Tux as Averia was calling up morning reservations to that pancake place we had enjoyed as hormonal driven teenagers…

When Averia made the insane suggestion for our current relationship. That simple idle question idiots ask which would have normal people throw something at them, but in this city? Common sense seemed to be lacking in certain areas.

Like the reason why everyone involved should have said no instead of ‘Sure. Why not?’ because when you were raised by Agatha Willow who had gone through double digits for husbands (six at most, two at minimum) it made the suggestion of three… seem reasonable in comparison.

Especially since none of them had tried killing each other to low that number.

Odd to outsiders, but progressive to anyone who knew the history of the Hill. Especially to the envy of many people who saw us together.

I Tried to tie the collar around my neck before looking into the mirror as something inhuman stared back at me. Its reflection showed the creature standing right behind me practically taking up the entire background.

I could feel it’s breath upon my neck as it whispered “And I am in your future. No matter how hard or how far you run… I will always be at the end of that path.”

Rose knocked on the door “Ready for what we have planned for the day?”

The other girls tried to say something as she opened up the door revealing the red haired freckled wife…

My hand grabbed the revolver and pulled the trigger three times.

The illusion broke as Agatha Willow held a red pendant up with a slightly annoyed look on her face. The revolver was in my hand as the gun clicked, but refused to fire. It was the same stupid magical trick that stopped me from shooting her in the first loop.

“Interesting…” The witch spoke as reality reasserted itself “You actually went along with it right up until the door opened.”

A cold sweat broke out over my body as I saw three rings resting on my hand. Each one engraved with a separate gemstone picked for each of the girls I had… that I hadn’t married.

Yet they were sitting there… real.

I placed the revolver down and slipped off the rings as Agatha Willow muttered underneath her breath. The rings felt hard within my grasp as they held a sort of… pull. It wasn’t like the memory curse that haunted me, but a lingering scent… or a memory of a dream.

Except that it had been real… something greater than the fragmentary memories that tried to force their way into my mind, or an illusion that held no substance as it was meant to trick me. The cold solid rings that rested in my hand almost whispering about what I nearly had… and how much I wanted it back.

Clenching my teeth and shoving the rings into my pocket I tried to regain control of my mind. It had to have been an illusion… no it was a dream. This wasn’t the first time I ran into something that could mess with your dreams.

It was the reason why I had set up protection in my bedroom for when I went to sleep. You didn’t need to understand how something was able to harm you to protect yourself from it. A child didn’t need to know how a hot piece of metal could conduct heat when they touch it. They only needed to learn who to protect themselves from it.

My hand reached over to my shoulder to bring a very real and solid pain causing me to wince from Akara’s parting gift. Leave it to him to try and find a way to murder me in my sleep.

Agatha Willow noticed the blood dripping from my shoulder as Ashy the vampire (and crew) stared at my shoulder practically licking their lips like starving wolves being presented a full course steak dinner.

When the witch snapped her fingers the sound didn’t so much ‘echo’ but felt more like a gunshot forcing everyone to pay attention to her lest the next bullet be aimed at them.

A very real possibility considering what happened to the last vampire who had ignored her warning. So when she signaled for the vampires to come and not cause a fuss… they came like beaten dogs trying to avoid getting hit again.

“Okay so you can mess with dreams.” I muttered as the vampire started marching towards me “Doesn’t mean that you are the only…”

Pain cut me off as Ashy the Vampire held my right arm hard enough to feel like it was going to leave bruises as he more or less undressed me that involved a lot more ‘pulling’ instead of ‘helping’ me remove my shirt, kevlar vest, and jacket.

A part of me wondered if he actually remembered dying and was being as rough as possible in ‘undressing me’ as some sort of petty payback.

After a lot more pulling and colorful insults later. I was left half-naked so that everyone could see the bloody red mark with four almost inhuman long marks that almost resembled a human hand… if made by something that had a rough idea on what a human hand was supposed to look like.

It wasn’t bad enough to cause another ‘rest break’ as the vampire forcefully dumped something that stung to prevent any infection from festering before wrapping it up in bandages. Amber seemed to be the only person confused at the continued medical aid I was being given as Agatha Willow looked pissed.

She wasn’t angry at failing to trick or convince me with her… magical dream spell thing.

No she was furious as someone attacked her opponent before a duel and undermined her authority. That it was a direct insult practically being flaunted as the culprit was practically waving it around without facing any retribution for the insult they had given to her.

The rest of the crowd (who weren’t looking at me as their next meal) where lending cries of outrage as they too were angered at the second assault against me as Agatha Willow had once again failed to protect me before the duel.

Never mind that she was planning to kill me. This was one of those cultural pride things… it would be like the ancient roman gladiatorial arenas only instead of watching a one sided slaughter the crowd noticed that the ‘to be slaughtered’ crowd had already died from starvation before the lions got their share.

At best it was embarrassing. At worst it was an insult at how incompatent the management was.

I could feel the almost blinding hatred from Agatha Willow as she treated my injury while shouting “Find that worthless bastard born of a whore named Akara and bring him to me! Corpse or alive! Your choice!”

I winced in pain yet a twisted part of me couldn’t help but make a jab “Upset he wounded your pride?”

Yes it was stupid considering she planned to kill me, but there was one thing that I had started to pin down about her. She had that same self smug attitude that assured her that she could do no wrong… that she needed to make an example instead of finishing off an opponent.

“If you give me control of the hill I can promise you that fate can be written to that fate…” She spoke with the same drive any Para’dax cultist spoke.

I rolled my eyes as if she was right… I already knew how the tale ended. At worst you died as someone else replaced you which made the offer worthless. At best you got it right… only to have the second copy walking about living the life you wanted because they didn’t make the same mistakes you made.

“No thanks.” I spoke much to her shock “Already heard the offer before and saw the end results.”

For the first time I had seen her she looked truly lost… confused as she was offering up everything she thought I would have wanted on a silver platter and yet I shrugged it off without a second thought.

“Why?” She spoke trying to understand “Do you not realize what I am offering you?”

I shrugged “Para’dax makes paradox. You are not the first person to make the ‘time travel’ speech and if you could actually do it then you know why its a stupid idea in the first place.”

I was an idiot for listening to her as it was obvious now. She was probably doing something realistic like implanting her memories into other people. I mean yes it was illegal, but she turned the city into her own puppet show.

Heck her ability to twist ‘fate’ was no more than selective historical editing. Easy to make anyone believe you could manipulate fate when you removed any memories that contradicted that little detail!

Anger crept into her voice “You think I’m lying… you don’t actually believe it?”

“I’ve dealt with Eldritch.” I replied “Strange, creepy, alien, and hard to understand… but even I draw the line at some point. If you really could control fate then why did you die as a single old…”

The words at the tip of my tongue died as Agatha Willow had her hands around my neck as I could see the anger burn in her eyes. It was for a brief moment, but she let go, allowing sweet air to filter back into my lungs.

She marched back to her side of the table as Ashy the Vampire handed me back my clothing as I remembered one of the old rules. Even a con artist could be deadly when you call them out on their bluff.

“Really? I guess they skipped Norse Mythology history lessons when they were teaching necromancy and creative solutions…” She spoke in a way that sent a shiver up my spine “And yes… I looked.”

She held up one hand and then in a twist of fate… she had it slam down revealing the silver orb in her grasp. The orb sat on the table making every hair on my neck raise up as there was literally no possible way she could have simply stolen it from me like that!

The dull pulse left an unpleasant feeling in the air as I could feel her drawing power and more importantly focus from things that would be best avoided. Magic always had a price… and some prices just weren’t worth it.

When she spoke the words skipped my ears and hammered into my mind. There was no lie or falsehood in her voice as she spoke the truth. The honest truth which made it all the more fighting as I could no more deny it than I could not deny anymore than water being wet or fire being hot.

“You can manipulate fate to some degree.” The witch spoke in an almost motherly tone “Odin could see the future and learn to alter it to some degree, but Freya could do so much more.”

There was a hint of reverence or respect. Like talking about a childhood idol that you had outgrown or perhaps a fictional character. Yes they were fake, but you could still respect the ideals that they stood for or the lessons you had learned from them.

“Freya could do what the Æsir could not.” She spoke with a smile that horrified me “Should could alter the weaves of fate to things that had already happened.”

Memories of the old norse gods came to mind as they were a bit fuzzy, but the sinking feeling in my stomach grew. Fae magic, Fae Logic, different rules.

“Yet even her power had limits as she could make minor alterations.” The woman spoke as I thought about video two and the ‘delayed car ride’ coming to mind “She couldn’t restore Odin’s lost eye. There were certain… events that fell out of her domain to alter.”

Was it just me or had the lights started to dim? I know it wasn’t from the orb as only a tiny amount of it was being used. The words, the speech, the atmosphere was pressing down upon me as her smile grew, taking delight in my horrific realization.

The kind you got from super villains who monologues expect they tied the ropes tight as the train was within view. Maybe there might be some plucky hero to rescue you… or maybe you were one of the deaths before the hero noticed what was going wrong.

She spoke in a mocking whisper, fully enjoying every moment of it “Yet with the Hill I could restore Odin’s lost eye.”

It wasn’t a lie, or some false belief. It was true… a haunting truth as the ‘dream’ felt less like the common illusions and tricks I knew, but something far worse as my throat grew dry.

“Yet with the hill and each of the relics…” She spoke in a deliberately slow tone savoring every single moment “With a new fate unbound from the shackles the traitors within my council had bound me with over the years?”

Her hand held my shoulder with a gentle grace while my stomach felt like someone dropped a brick into it. To be able to see fate… twist it… bend the weave to her will? The only reason why she died from old age was because she hadn’t figured out how to stop it.

“I needed just enough power to fix the one issue…” She spoke in a near whisper “One last great weave fueled by a practitioner’s death curse.”

She died… so that she could fuel her final curse… or last alteration of fate to leave five unbound heirs free of any and all restrictions and limitations.

The Council was now burning contracts trying to restore their own power and to remove their own limitations built up over the years failing to realise that some of those contracts were carefully bound with other contracts… a slow build up of loopholes, by laws, and Magical Legal Trickery.

And now they were burning those very contracts. The very thing Agatha Willow couldn’t do.

“So… now that you know that it will be you instead of somebody else...” She spoke with a grin that seemed to make the shadows deepen around her “How about my offer?”

She was telling the truth. The orb made it impossible to disbelieve it and there was that tone in her voice that made me believe it even if the orb wasn’t double checking it. The horrid wretched truth that made crafting a long and ancient death curse built up over generations to kill every single heir just to be safe…

Now it all suddenly made perfect sense in a horrific horrifying way.

If I refused her then things could become very dangerous for me as while her power had limits that I didn’t understand… I still had to figure out how to beat her two more times.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.” I spoke as I pointed at the bandages on my shoulder “Akara seems to hold more leverage then you do.”

The smug smile she wore cracked as her eye twitched. She stared at my wound no longer trying to tempt me or getting ready to vent her anger out at me. No it was… simply redirected as the orb told her I was telling her the truth.

The honest truth much to my unease.

I’ll be honest as her offer was very tempting. Heck a part of me felt like kicking myself in the rear for rejecting it knowing that it could become real for me!

I mean who could deny it without second thoughts? A happy life as you were financially secure? One that lets you fall in love and be happy without too many problems? That I could still study magic and practice the craft without a lack of resources, without having to risk my life and sanity… without any threats trying to kill me?

It was nearly perfect.

Yet I didn’t trust it for two reasons. The first one was that Akara could still harm me within that fantasy as he had recently proven. Heck it might even be worse because I could remember Akara and the threat he posed to me. In that ‘happy future’ I might not realize that I was being hunted by the horror movie monster of the week.

Though it took me a few seconds to realize it… there was a faint whisper in the back of my head. One born from the fragmented memories that even warned me that this was a bad idea from those memories.

Agatha Willow didn’t share power.

The smile grew more stiff as annoyance and vile hatred dripped from her voice “Akara… the idiot who tried to challenge eldritch gods before being cursed by them? You think that blundering idiot holds more leverage over fate itself than me!”

First rule about dealing with threats far more deadly than yourself… find someone else to direct their power against. Just because you can’t beat them doesn’t mean that someone else can’t weaken them enough to make it possible.

I pointed at my shoulder “Hard to argue with the evidence.”

Her smile tried to return, but it became so stiff and fake it was terrifying. I could see the chinks on her armor as she waved her hand to reveal a large stone the size of my head. It had a couple of norse runic carving on it, yet a sort of… presence came off it.

Sort of like a covering over a piano. You couldn’t see it, yet it was so large and obvious that you got a general idea even if you couldn’t get all the details.

It was a Witch’s Legacy and it was nearly as dangerous as the Silver Orb... in the same way a shotgun was less dangerous than a bomb. One killed everything around it… the other killed where the person pointed it.

“You know it would be a lot easier on you if you just gave me the hill.” Agatha Willow spoke trying to sidestep the issue “If that fool thinks he can harm what is mine then I can show him just how fickle and vicious fate can be!”

Her focus was on Akara, but my mistake was forgetting that she wanted the hill to further prove her dominance and power. I was just a mere speedbump standing in the way of her greatness.

I got all the information I could squeeze out of her. Now it was time to deflect, pretend to be a lot less dangerous than I really was, and let her focus on Akara leaving me as a mere afterthought as I bagged the orb cutting off its power.

She didn’t notice the dull hum go away as I just needed to get one good cheap shot. Then I could try figuring out how to survive round three.

I held up my wrists “I was bound to the city and wasn’t allowed to escape The Council as they made me sign a few contracts.”

Technically true. It was leaning on the ‘honesty’ line a little bit, but more importantly I could be dishonest now that the orb was hidden away. The witch on the other hand was too caught up in her rage to notice it.

It looked like she was trying to psychically strangle Mr Hawkings from across the room before she took a sharp almost hissing deep breath in an attempt to calm down “I really was too lax with them.”

She took a long deep sip of her tea as she tried to bring back an air of grace that wasn’t tinged with a psychotic rage. I took another long sip from my own water bottle as the chains on my wrist were still binding, but she wasn’t focused on me.

She was focused on what she was going to do after beating me. The thought she might lose was gone from her mind allowing me an actual shot in beating her.

With a short business like clap. My ears sort of popped as she drew the attention of everyone. I could now hear the slight nervous whispers as everyone knew what was going on… Agatha Willow had made her decision as now it was time for her speech.

She spoke like an actor pretending she was sorry “Alas prior agreements and arrangements have prevented the talks from panning out as our prior obligations have forced us to duel.”

“I’ll take his place to hack your head off!” Averia openly cursed.

Agatha Willow just waved her hand “Oh Amber if you would be a dear and take care of that one.”

The venom in her voice made it clear that even if I had accepted that happy little ‘fate’ and that I could trust her not to kill me… Averia Willow’s presence within that fate wouldn’t have been tolerated as she stood as a testament to her failure.

Agatha Willow wouldn’t directly kill the half-elf… but a random quirk of ‘fate’ would end her life in a rather swift and brutal way… or simply made it so that the half-elf was never born in the first place.

Hard to mourn someone who never existed after all.

She rose out of the chair as the vampire cleaning crew prepared to move everything out of the way before Agatha Willow made a flick of her hand summoning the silver orb and placed it on the table next to her magical object.

How had she managed to whisk it away from my bag while I was still holding it?

The Silver Orb rested beside the Witch’s Legacy as both stood as trophies for her eventual victory. She didn’t fear the magical relic because she didn’t know what it really was. I on the other hand could feel the whispering as the black ink spread across the orb forming an eye.

I tried my best to block out the whispers as they were listening.

The unspoken words “You can always ask for help”

Thankfully one of the vampires placed a sheet over the orb to stop its effect as the pale skinned monster seemed to be just as unnerved as I was.

“Just need to check my equipment.” I muttered to myself as I reloaded my gun while trying not to stare at the orb “Though I’m going to have to ask what the exact rules are for this duel.”

Agatha Willow smiled “Why a challenge of Energy seems fit here. Until the opponent dies, surrenders, or is unable to fight.”

“So what if I shot you in the leg?” I asked, waving my revolver around for all to see “I mean what exactly is the ‘limit here’ as no offense… I am playing to win so unless I keel over or stop moving…”

“My second shall declare as he shall know when an opponent can not fight anymore due to the contract.” Agatha Willow spoke in a calm tone “Do not worry as he shall not throw the match, but shall be ready to ensure that you survive for us to talk bargaining and trading magical information.”

She had tried to make it sound like flirting or some sort of innuendo, but I knew better. She wanted what I knew and thought that there was no way that I could beat her. She had power, leveraged her knowledge, and made sure to let me realize just how far outclassed I really was.

Though the joke was on her.

I was always outclassed.

Averia to my surprise spoke up “Agatha Willow is known for her attempts and failures in securing a husband… trust me when I say you do not want to lose even if your life wasn’t on the line.”

Agatha Willow glared at the half-elf as the scene was being set up. She and Amber are standing at one side of the room with me and Averia on the other. The enemy team was trying to figure out how best to hamper us while we were left waiting to see what they would throw at us.

“Challenge of Strength.” Amber spoke much to the confusion of Agatha Willow and Averia the half-elf.

I glanced at the last player as she had knives… Mr Knight used a sword, but… she tugged at her skin as a sense of unease filled me. The way she held the knife wasn’t an amature despite how impratical the knife she held was.

If she actually knew how to use knives in a fight then why carry the impractical curved ‘ritual knife’ instead of a proper knife for actually fighting someone? She wasn’t even wearing any armor!

Averia on the other hand wore leather armor, held a sword like she knew how to use it, and… well she was a half-elf trained by elves who hadn’t been allowed to play with modern toys. So it was a safe bet to say that she probably knew how to handle a sword better than anyone else in the room besides Ashy.

A flare of fire danced around Agatha Willow’s fingers warning me of my own problems instead of focusing on someone else’s. Questions could be focused on after I managed to survive this fight.

I took a deep breath and adjusted my cloak in preparation for Loony Toon Tactics “One quick question… I’m allowed to use my tools right?”

Agatha chuckled “Magic, elemental, and such is allowed. You may not shoot me with a bullet from the mundane or beat me with your crutch… but unleashing spell fire is legal.”

“Manipulation of fire, water, wind, and so forth… right…” I sent another command before slipping on an earpiece “One last question… I want to make sure this is legal...”

I could hear Futurm chuckling as I tapped the side of my earpiece as a small illusion of light flickered before my eye as I held out my hand pretending I was holding a gun. One of the drones rested on my hand and displayed the illusion of a gun.

Forget focusing on questions and writing everything down… If I survive tonight then there was a good chance that I was going to strangle that little imp as I held a ‘ray gun’... the type of old scifi gun that looked more like an oversized toy than a real weapon.

You could practically hear a pin drop in the room as everyone stared at me in utter disbelief at how utterly ridiculous I looked holding the old scifi age prop in my hand. Fallen Light I swore I could actually hear someone trying not to laugh and failing to do so.

I just had to remind myself that the first rule of being a Magician was hiding what you could do. Let everyone focus on the smoke and mirrors while you keep the real secret of what you were doing hidden from your audience.

“Sorry, but I need to remind everyone again that I tend to do property damage with stray shots.” I spoke as a mild apology

The ‘gun’ was pointed down, but the cue was given causing a red beam of energy to burn a hole into the floor. Their looks of disbelief and mild amusement quickly changed as the now smoking hole was clear for all to see as even part of the floor caught on fire.

The raygun looked silly, but it was hard to ignore the results.

“Yes...”Agatha stared at the gun in my hand before nodding “I shall allow that as it will be fun having you tell me how such a weave was crafted. ”

I shrugged before giving the signal “I am beloved of the Spire. One who thinks the curse is a blessing nonetheless.”

Ashy the vampire to my surprise spoke “Let the challenge commence.”

As soon as he finished those words an orb of fire was flung at me. Not a burst of flames or something adhering to the laws of physics or reality… but a literal floating orb of fire shot towards me as I dogged to the side before unleashing a laser beam of my own.

She had effortlessly dogged the attack as I pulled my cloak to cover my body as the real magic show started. Pulling the cloak over my head I landed on the floor and rolled away a little as I could hear the sound of another attack barely missing me.

After a few seconds I could hear a few voices talking in confusion before Futurm let out a soft sigh “Boss… it's working. The clip show is a go.”

I sighed in relief trying to be as quiet as possible. What everyone else saw was ‘me’ disappearing into a magical portal before suddenly reappearing in a different location. Their focus was on the illusions instead of what I was actually doing.

Some might call it cheating, but if they allowed a concentrated beam of lethal light as legal… Then why not a few holographic illusions?

I pinned myself to the floor as I struggled to pull out my tablet device as Agatha cursed out loud trying to hit the illusion while the drones did their job. My own body was hidden by another similar ‘invisibility’ trick, but it would only work so long as they didn’t know what they should have been looking for.

After getting to what felt like a safe place I set up my tablet device to allow me to take a brief glimpse at what was going outside while I went to work. It was important to know when to move when people didn’t know where you were.

Especially when your opponent had an almost… no she had a supernatural ability to doge as she moved out of the way before the laser beams went off.

Not too fast to adjust the aim, but just close enough to make a show out of it before she unleashes a bolt of magic that should have killed ‘fake me’ if he wasn’t an illusion.

The color bolt of magic had clipped through the illusion’s head, but the look of annoyance informed me that Agatha Willow thought she had just ‘missed’ my head.

She dodged another attack and glanced at Ashy who replied “He has yet to break the rules of the duel.”

Supernatural rule detection or the vampire could smell my blood, but refused to inform her where I was actually hiding… I might actually have time to do this without blatant cheating happening right away?

It nearly made me forget about finishing the spell I had been working on due to the sheer oddity of it.

The peanut gallery was confused as more of the humans started backing out of the room as Agatha Willow’s magical attacks didn’t leave any property damage. Her fireballs didn’t burn the floor and her lighting bolts didn’t even leave a burst of static cling to the metal she struck.

‘My attacks’ on the other hand left their mark upon reality. Each laser beam burned a hole in the floor, melted metal, or got uncomfortably hot when it nearly struck the witch as she started to sweat.

I made a mental note to write this down later as she should have been setting this place of fire. Instead she twisted her hand and somehow prevented any fires from my lasers from working… even if she was stuck trying to dodge them.

Then to my ever growing embarrassment Futurm decided to take it up a notch as Fake Me shouted in a cheesy loud booming voice “Behold the Paradox of Para’dax!”

Another jump, another ‘leap through time’ before Fake Me unleashed a barrage of attacks weaving in and out or ‘reality’ and capturing her own shots to ‘fire’ back at her. I’ll admit it was a bit disconcerting to see her effortlessly slap away bolts of electricity drawn from the building’s electrical grid.

“Try switching it up.” I whispered into the earpiece “Aim for the feet. If the floor gives out then she can’t doge.”

“I got it boss.” Futurm muttered “Just hurry up on that frying pan spell.”

I rolled my eyes as it was just like him to dismiss how hard I had worked on this spell. Sure it was a starter one that everyone practically learned, but it was for a good reason!

Do you have any idea how complicated it is to create a safe method to keep a hamburger floating? To ensure that the concentrated spot of air wouldn’t suddenly burn out or worse… cause a rather nasty explosion?

It was a neat little mundane trick in much the same way that releasing just the right amount of electricity to ensure that your lightbulb didn’t explode… to ensure that the materials inside it didn’t burn out or not provide the needed charge to light your room up.

Yet to everyone else they were cheap objects that held no marvel in its construction… just an annoyance when they died forcing you to dispose of the old one and replace it with a new one.

Simple, mundane, ordinary… and a lot more complicated than you realized.

The circle was made far larger than what would be considered reasonably safe. The inner workings made it cause more of a vacuum effect, sucking all of the air into the room before setting off a spark in a rich oxygen environment.

Anyone standing near this thing would most likely die and as much as I hated it… Averia might not walk out of this thing in one piece. The only grim comfort I had was that Agatha Willow would reset everything so… it wouldn’t matter… would it?

“Boss. Set the timer. I’m going to the finisher show.” Futurm hissed

The ‘Primer Drone’ crawled out of my robes as it sat in the center of the circle before slowly opening up its body to reveal the spark of the Eternal Flame still burning. The small ink stained claws rested against the floor ready to finish the spell and fuel the explosion with it’s life.

The imp still had control over the drones even with the help of my magical assistance… if I didn’t move he would set it off.

“Submit!” Holo-Me shouted

That was my que to start crawling away as quickly as possible.

Two drones underneath my robes came out to carry the tablet in front of me as I tried to quickly crawl away from the fighting without being caught within the crossfire.

It was already being proven that fighting Agatha Willow in a straight up ‘fair fight’ wouldn’t end well for me as she was dogging multiple laser beams in what could only be described as pure supernatural nonsense.

Ten beams shot out at once as she managed to twist her body in just the right way that allowed each shot to miss and allow her to unleash a black bolt of magic from her wand in what should have been a kill shot. Instead a ‘portal’ appeared seemingly blocking the shot.

She was practically dancing through the lasers and swatting any bolts of electricity that tried to hit her. A large part of me wanted to simply pull out my gun and try shooting her… but when she was dogging attacks from almost every angle.

To my shock the Witch who toyed with fate had an almost ecstatic look of ecstasy as she was enjoying the fight even as she struggled to try to kill the illusion. Still the deadly dance caused her to move closer and closer to the circle on the floor.

The little drone prepared to set off the fuse as Futurm readjusted their aim to ensure that the circle wouldn’t be struck, but of course… It was that moment when I realized the key flaw with my plan.

Averia the half-elf tripped over my body as she didn’t see the invisible lump on the floor as she hit the floor. Already people were shifting their focus as Agatha Willow turned to see what was going on.

Plan B was already in effect as the drones unleashed a barrage of attacks trying to fill the air with flak forcing the other two opponents back while Averia Willow to my shock pulled my cloak up and shoved herself underneath it with me.

There was a look of utter panic and terror in her eyes as she hissed “Set it off now!”

Before I could even ask, the Imp took that as his que to hit the button as the spell went off. The screen flared with an eldritch green light as the two of us struggled to keep hold of the ends of the cloak in an effort to prevent any of the flames from slipping in.

I could hear each sudden burst where air sucked into the center of the circle before releasing a horrific explosion painting the room in flames. The song of chaos rang five times before it ran out as I struggled to pull out the breathing masks.

I didn’t plan on having to share as I had no idea how long it would take for the fire department to rescue us from the fallen burning bits of rubble… but hopefully everyone got outside and could dig us out of the rubble before we ran out of air.

The cloak had been treated to deal with damage and heat, but even then there were limits to its strength… especially if a chunk of rubble pinned us to the ground.

“Any moment the fire alarm will ring.” I muttered “We just need to hold out until…”

Then to my shock and horror I heard a golf clap.

Long, slow, drawn out golf clap as if I had just performed a magic trick on the stage as the audience was applauding now. Staring at the tablet in horror the smoke dissipated from the room in a quick gust of wind.

The cloak was practically torn out from underneath us as Agatha Willow wore a self assured smug look without a single burnt hair as if I hadn’t tried incinerating everyone muchless burning all the breathable air in the room!

No. She just stood there shaking her head and smiling as she had been watching a show instead of dying! Even the peanut gallery of vampires had mostly sat there remaining in their seats as they continued the applause as the witch made a mocking bow towards me.

“I should have caught on sooner. All that talk about friendly fire and such!” She chuckled in good humor “And that laser trick. How very Fae like you are Kravos! Asking to pull off an illusion instead of the beams of magic!”

There was only one trick left as I had been careful in picking my words. I was hoping that this would be used for round three, but my fingers inched towards the magical equipment on my side.

A nervous chuckle escaped my lips “To be fair they were the same trick.” She stared at me in disbelief “It was all light. I just figured out how to make images with it and concentrated beams of heat with the right intensity.”

She made the mistake of nodding as she lazily pulled out her own wand thinking that the duel was over. That it was her time to make a speech as I meekly surrendered having been bested by her superior talent.

I pulled out the red baton as she missed the real question I had asked.

Manipulation of water.

“Seventy percent.” I spoke with a twisted smile as I pressed the button.

People wondered why swords weren’t popular in Kornea. Well this weapon was one of the precise reasons why swords weren’t common in Kornea. Why struggle trying to swing a heavy lump of metal to hit something when you could just hit everything in front of you?

There was a pained scream as her skin tore. My own hands stung being so close to the tip of the baton, but Agatha Willow was too close to doge the…

The attack.

Time reset once again as Agatha Willow finished taking a sip from her cup of tea. She stared at me only this time with far less amusement as she stared at my hands.

The wand I had used had cracked as pieces of it simply fell to the ground… It was a one-shot item. She didn’t look like she was having to recover from having all of the water in her body being forcibly ripped out of it.

Still my clothing had changed. There were more ink stains and I was sweating a bit. My heart was still racing at having nearly been caught, but I succeeded in surviving once again.

And then she threw up.

It wasn’t a gentle thing as it caught everyone’s attention as I could feel the raw malice within the air. The vampires moved over to see what was wrong as her body began to shake. There was a look of fear in her eyes as suddenly the memories had hit her.

And so did the wounds.

Tiny burns and scorch marks appeared all over her clothing. Her hands shook from having a near death experience, but most of all… the silver orb hummed as the black ink stuck on it glared at the witch.

Agatha Willow coughed trying to recover, but she saw the orb… and realized that something wrong had happened.

“Are you okay?” I idly asked before taking a long sip of my ‘half empty’ water bottle.

She smiled though it lacked any warmth as she said “How much water is in the human body?”

She knew… she remembered the duel as now there was a hint of edge to her voice and unease. The orb practically hummed letting us know that someone was watching. Maybe she had did her little magic trick to reset everything… but she had broken a Pact… an agreement.

It didn’t matter if ‘technically’ it hadn’t happened… they saw it. They knew she cheated… and that she was trying to cheat a pact even if it was technically one of their Fae Magical contracts/agreements.

Her hand fell upon the Witch’s Legacy as I could feel a dull hum of power from it… sort of like when you could feel the charge of electricity in the air before a thunderstorm or an exposed bit of high voltage cable.

“What was that?” Agatha Willow spoke trying not to sound unnerved

“The audience voicing their opinion.” I replied much to her displeasure “There is a reason why we don’t try to cheat agreements back home.”

Ashy the vampire came over and was trying to say something, but it was as if the world was on mute. The underlings moved to clean up the mess, but there was an obvious sense of panic within the room as they saw both of us looking a lot more raged then when we had started.

With a snap of her fingers Agatha Willow as volume returned to the world. Everyone stared at her waiting for her to explain ‘what exactly had happened’ as there was a look of open vindictive malice in her eyes.

I grabbed my revolver ready for the swarm of vampires to descend upon me.

“Find that worthless whore born basted named Akara and kill him.” Agatha Willow spoke in a cold icy tone “I will not tolerate an outside party trying to interfere with a duel in an attempt to harm either of us.”

Ashy the Vampire hissed in open disgust “To think those outsiders would stoop so low.”

Agatha Willow nodded as…

“Challenge of Strength.”

I felt something sharp piece my stomach as Amber had somehow slipped through the vampires and attacked me. While nobody else seemed to have suffered from the previous fight her clothing had been damaged from what looked like sword wounds. Her flesh had been cut and burned… she had returned damaged.

“Magician of Red…” A voice whispered from the orb “We need to talk.”

Amber held the silver orb before anyone could react as she said something before the world went dark.

Something caught me as lights appeared around me. Endless pink pricks of starlight as it felt like I was floating in space. The pain of my body had faded, but not the fear.

Two supernovas flared as I remembered one of the key differences between the magical groups that operated on Fae rules… and those who operated with the Eldritch Playbook.

Noticeably their lack of subtlety.

“Ah… Magician of Red.” Nyte spoke from all around me “It appears you have… an opening in your… time slot to talk.”

“You mean I died.” I spoke not finding a way out of this mess

“Yes.” Nyte spoke in an almost idle tone “You have caught my interest. There is… an opening after… Akara’s failure in management.”

I gulped feeling a cold sweat break out “And what exactly do you want?”

I closed my eyes as the supernovas flared as the eldritch being spoke three simple horrifying words.

“I want in.”