Sebastian wasted no time. With a twirl of his hands, the floor surrounding the invading knight turned soft and a dozen stone arms stretched to grapple the knight and their winged beast. The knight slashed at three arms, cutting them clean in half. Three other blades of golden fire appeared and sliced through the other arms immediately after, just like the knight's attack.

“I’ve come for the king’s head,” The knight announced, “Stay your magic, Abjurer, or I’ll destroy you.”

“Destroy me?” Sebastian replied, “Why the finality? We could have so much fun first.”

Sebastian put his hands together and pushed them forward, conjuring a spear of stone that shot towards the knight with blinding speed. The knight’s beast reared back, but the knight stabbed at the approaching spear, splitting it apart. This time, a bolt of golden fire appeared behind Sebastian.

“Look out!” Stephen called out.

Sebastian fell to the ground as the bolt soared over his head, towards the knight. Raising their arm, the bolt was deflected off the knight’s armor. The beast roared again, then charged towards Sebastian, jaws wide and dripping with black fog.

“Shadow beast,” Sebastian almost spat the words as he slapped the ground with his hands, sending a ripple across the ground that tripped the beast. Two thick arms sprouted from the ground and moved to grab the knight as they tumbled to the ground. The knight recovered quickly and swung their halberd around, holding the weapon close.

A circle of fire surrounded the knight, then a second appeared above the first. The wheels of fire cut the approaching arms to ribbons. Sebastian growled as he pushed himself up. The beast clambered to its feet, then strafed to the right, eyeing Sebastian with suspicion. The knight stood up as well and approached slowly.

“We have come for the king, step aside now!” The knight gripped their weapon tight.

“Your powers are peculiar,” Sebastian mused, “I’ve only seen them once before. Mirroring magic, yes?”

The knight hesitated, then continued their approach, “You’re mistaken.”

“Am I? Perhaps,” Sebastian’s body became very still, every fiber of his being was suddenly under his absolute control as he raised his hands, “I wonder, how many times can you duplicate your spells?”

Every bit of loose stone, even the glass, rose in the air. The knight stopped their approach and the beast turned around in circles, growling at the commotion. The debris stopped in midair, then all at once they stretched into tiny blades and launched themselves towards their targets.

The beast howled as countless blades of stone and glass pierced its hide. The knight shouted, “Stop it!” Their voice was shrill, feminine, even. But their armor was struck over and over. The missiles were deflected harmlessly, but tiny dents and scratches appeared across the polished silver metal.

Finally, the knight swung their weapon. Hundreds of bright golden lights appeared and enveloped the missiles. In one great flash, the missiles were destroyed. Sebastian raised a wall of stone in front of himself and Stephen covered his eyes. When Stephen opened his eyes, he saw the knight had only made it halfway to Sebastian.

A short figure had come up behind the knight holding a dagger to the intruder's throat, its point tucked neatly under the helmet. A bead of blood ran down the dagger's edge.

“Kate?” Stephen breathed out, shocked to see the young maid wrapping one arm around the knight’s chest as she held them still. She could just barely reach without standing on her toes, but a cold and murderous intent shined in her eyes.

The knight relaxed and dropped her weapon.

“Of course, it’d be you,” The voice was so quiet Stephen didn’t quite make it out, but Sebastian smiled.

“I was hoping you’d be around, I appreciate the help, Kate.”

“It’s my job,” Kate said defensively.

“You’re a traitor,” The knight said defeatedly, their voice tinged with sadness.

Stephen took a tentative step forward, eyeing the beast to the side. Its breathing was shallow. Tiny flecks of what looked like black ash peeled away from the beast’s scales. As Stephen approached Sebastian, the beast’s form disintegrated and blew away.

“Shadows beasts are made of magic,” Sebastian explained as Stephen stood by his side, “This one here is a talented magician herself, after all.”

“Herself?” Stephen asked as Kate reached up and pull the knight’s helmet off.

Golden hair spilled out from the helmet. It swept around the knight’s shoulders, covering Kate’s face. The young maid blew it out of her face, annoyed. The knight was a girl, a year or two older than Kate, from the looks of it. Her face was flushed with exhaustion. Her forehead glistened with sweat and her blazing blue eyes revealed a rebellious, agitated intent.

“What are you still doing here, Sebastian?” The girl asked, “You should know better.”

“I do know better, that is why I stayed,” Sebastian replied, nonplused, “The better question is why did you even come back?”

“Come back?” Stephen asked, his head swirling, “What’s going on? You two know each other?”

“We three,” Sebastian corrected, “This knight is Princess Augustina, daughter of King Elbrick and heiress to the throne. Seems you just completed your mission, Stephen Cray.”