Zach watched calmly as a wave of frost unfurled across the cobblestone, seeping across it at an unnatural pace. Ice magic was Sykes’ area of expertise, runes flickering in the air around the arrogant prick's head, each shimmering with glacial Mana. The Elf was brutal with his attacks and Zach knew that he wanted to be out of the way of them when the spells were cast. Throwing himself to the side and snatching another of his throwing daggers from his left boot in the process, Zach launched it in Sykes’ direction.

But the older Elf was ready for it this time. With one deft hand movement, he created a wall of ice that expertly blocked the weapon before the ice shattered into brutal-looking shards that soared through the air towards Zach.

Off-balance as he was, Zach found himself relying on more creative means to dodge. Sinking a hefty portion of his Mana into his own shadow, it froze in place below him, allowing him to drop down and meld with his shadow momentarily and effectively dodge the flying shards of icy death.

Normally he hated such showy uses of his Mana, it was always better to keep his true abilities on the down low, but Sykes wasn't an opponent to take with half-hearted measures.

Canceling the flow of Mana from his Core once the ice was out of the way, Zach thrust himself back into the mortal realm, once more staring at Sykes as the latter chanted another intricate spell. Glowing runes shimmered into existence at a pace that would surely make old Squeakers go green with envy.

“Listen, mate,” Zach entreated as Sykes shot another blast of ice his way. He dodged easily enough and the gust of icy winds crashed into one of the Sykes’ hapless thugs instead, freezing him on the spot and encasing the poor goon completely. “This is all starting to go a bit pear-shaped. How about we give this up now and head back to The Slums? Neither one of us gets owt from this senseless killing.”

Mana swirling around him, Sykes offered little more than a scoff as an answer. Not that Zach was surprised of course. The deaths of his thugs mattered little to the Elf. Now it was about reputation. About not losing face to a rag-tag bunch of rogues and thieves.

Sykes’ wove a set of runes in the air, before stomping forward and summoning a wave of spikes below Zach’s feet, intending to impale him on the spot. The cocky upstart Halfling let out a heartfelt curse as he dove to the side, but Zach was just a hitch too slow.

The icy spears pierced the Halfling’s body, causing him to collapse against them like a puppet with its strings cut. The sheer number of spears left Zach’s body looking more like a pincushion than a corpse, the heat rapidly leaving his cooling body. Yet underneath, his shadow swirled murkily, and no blood fell from the corpse harpooned above. Something that was unnoticed by his attacker, Sykes just focused on having one less pain in the ass to deal with.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for years, you fucking ungrateful pygmy of a man!” Sykes cursed, casting his hands out and causing the shards of ice impaling Zach to explode, rending the Halfling’s frozen remains into little pieces.

The crime boss let out a hearty chuckle. He looked around the graveyard-turned-battlefield, eager to finish up this excursion. A few more of his thugs were dead but much less than he’d expected there to be. Collateral damage was always expected in these kinds of confrontations and Sykes had been around the block far too many times for it to affect him. He casually watched as a massive stone Golem, that seemed to belong to a tiny Goblin, rampaged through his remaining men.

His personal bodyguard was currently going toe to toe with Winifred. Both were beginning to look the worse for wear, massive bruising covering their bloodied faces as they traded blows. She was almost impressive to watch. Not many people had gone against his bodyguard and lived to tell the tale. Threll was a cruel and vicious fighter who thought nothing of taking a life if need be. Despite the fight the pit brawler was putting up, Sykes knew it wouldn’t be long until his faithful guard finished her off.

Threll was a lucky find, the man trained in a wide variety of martial arts. He was gifted in battle… and unlucky in dice. The so-called-monk had quickly wracked up a massive debt, more than he had any chance to repay… without illegal means. Threll got his debt repaid, and Sykes got himself a new shadow. Well worth the few thousand gold coins.

With Winifred occupied, there weren't many threats left in the courtyard. The Goblin was hardly one to worry about. The puny creature was more likely to be stepped on than cause any trouble. Which just left the Ratling.

It would be a shame to have to kill the creature. He’d heard rumors that the vermin had been receiving training from Blazock and was quite well-read. Something that would be an asset to his team amongst the idiotic thugs and untrustworthy thieves. But it was known that the rat refused to work with anyone but Zacharias which meant, like all vermin, it was time to put it down.

Scanning the graveyard, Sykes was quick to notice quite a few newcomers onto the battlefield. Attracted by the noise and chaos, he could spot a few Ghouls munching on one of his men. More importantly, he could make out a couple of Zombies that were shambling over. It was surprising how fast the Undead creatures could move when a decent meal was on the table.

He needed to finish this up quickly before-

Snapping his head upwards, Sykes summoned a barrier of ice as the building nearest to him suddenly exploded. Bits and pieces of rubble shattered against his strengthened shield as he stumbled backward from the onslaught.

As the debris settled around him, Sykes glared through his barrier. There had been a smaller mausoleum beside him which was now nothing but burning rubble flickering with smoke. The Ratling. Scanning for the creature, Sykes had to admit to himself that he’d underestimated him. With that much power at hand, the vermin might actually prove himself to be a challenging foe.

Finally, he spotted the Ratling, careening through the air before landing heavily in front of him. With a quick snap of his wrist, the Elf transformed his icy barrier into a sharp spear, poised to drive it straight through the Rat’s chest…

That was, of course, before he realized that the bloody vermin had collapsed at his feet, unconscious.

Chuckling once more, Sykes couldn’t believe his own luck. This had gone much better than he’d foreseen. He clapped his hands and used his Mana to augment his voice, calling out to his remaining men.

“Time to finish this up, Threll, subdue the pit fighter! Men, leave the Golem. It’s too slow to give us much of a chase,” He pointed to the two nearest thugs. “And you two, pick up what’s left of the Halfling. It’s time we left this place,”

The elven mage turned to help finish the battle, as pain suddenly blossomed in his neck. Protruding from his throat, he could make out the tip of a blade, its edge covered in dark, nebulous energy. Tottering forward, Sykes managed to collapse on his side, and face himself towards a grinning Zacharias, who was standing whole and hale before him.

It only took a moment for Sykes to realize his mistake. The damnable ginger was known for being quick and quiet, but it was clear Zach was also an impressive illusionist. A painful glance behind him showed “Zacharias’ remains” melting into the ground and slipping back into the Halfling's shadow that seemed capable of moving on its own.

“Come on love, it’s not that easy to get rid of me. It’s always a fool’s errand to trust your sight around a master of shadow puppetry such as my humble self. Now let’s finish this up, I have some folks to go save.” The smug little shit crowed, clearly thinking the battle to be over.

To be fair, a knife through the throat would stop most casters, but as Sykes sealed the neck wound off with small shards of ice, the mage began quickly emptying out his Core, channeling his most impressive spell.

The next time he skewered Zacharias, he’d make sure to eviscerate the little shit properly.