Damien darted into the forest, using Warp Step to slip effortlessly through the trees until he’d put enough distance between himself and their flag. He slowed to a stop and paused for a moment to gather Ether.

Let’s see. I want to make enough noise to bring somebody over, but are they really just going to run at a bunch of crashing around? I mean, that does kind of seem obvious, doesn’t it?

“Maybe a bit,” Henry replied. “Does it matter? We can always train your tracking skills if nobody shows up. Finding a person isn’t all that different from locating an artifact or the Corruption. Just a slightly different application.”

Damien nodded thoughtfully. He formed a purple crescent moon in the air before him, firing it off and cutting a tree just above the bottom of its trunk. It tipped, falling toward the ground. Before it could hit, Damien grabbed it with telekinesis.

“Wouldn’t it have been louder if you let it hit the ground?” Henry asked.

Damien swung the tree into another truck with all the speed he could muster. A loud crash and the trees both shuddered, raining trees and brittle limbs to the ground. Damien swung his makeshift, floating club around, slamming it into trees. Then he raised it into the air, far above the canopy, and brought it hurtling down toward the ground lengthwise.

Wood exploded and the ground shook as the tree shattered. He lifted the remains of the pulverized tree, then tossed it to the side and turned to the next tree beside him. He cut it down as well and lifted it into the air, repeating the entire process.

Damien smashed three more trees to pieces over the course of a minute.

“Need to talk it out?” Henry asked with a snort, chuckling inside his mind. “Looks like you’re really taking out some frustrations on those trees. Better than a pillow, I suppose.”

It’s making noise, is it not? Good enough.

“I suppose, but what idiot would stroll right up to someone slamming trees around? I’d expect a giant ball of fire to come hurtling down toward us any second now. Much smarter to eliminate an opponent from a distance, after all.”

Huh. That’s an idea, actually. Keep an eye out for that. I doubt they can make anything fast or large enough that I can’t avoid with Warp Step, though. If they knew exactly where I was, it would be different. But they just know my general location. Doubt they can blow up a tenth of the forest instantly.

The trees rustled. Damien’s eyes narrowed and he lowered into a fighting stance, pulling Ether from his core and gathering it in his palms.

“I know you’re there,” he called. “Are we going to fight, or do you want me to start slinging things in your direction until something breaks?”

“Ah, good. I just wanted to check if you were completely deaf,” Kat said, emerging from the treeline. “Never know if Delph has gotten lazy, after all.”

“No way. She actually showed up?” Henry asked in Damien’s mind with a snort of laughter. “I take it back, she isn’t just like Delph – she’s dumber.”

“I’m surprised we’re talking,” Damien said, ignoring Henry. “I took you for a woman that attacked first and asked questions later.”

“Oh, I usually am,” Kat replied. “But I am acting as your teacher right now. You wouldn’t learn much if I just showed up and mowed you down, would you?”

“No, I suppose I wouldn’t,” Damien replied. If she wanted to talk, he wouldn’t argue. His only job was to distract her, after all. “So what are we learning?”

“The use of distractions,” Kat replied.

The back of Damien’s neck tingled. He flicked his fingers, casting Devour behind him. The dark circle sprung open just as a wave of heat washed over Damien, vanishing as his magic swallowed it.

He teleported, shifting to get a better vantage point of the attack. Quinlan stepped out of the trees, molten rock dripping from her hands and her lips pressed thin.

“Damn. I didn’t think you heard me.”

“I didn’t,” Damien replied.

“He felt you,” Kat said, clicking her tongue. “People that have been in enough real fights get something akin to a sixth sense for danger. Completely boring, if you ask me. Takes the spice out of life.”

Damien gathered more Ether.

I’m going to need your help if I’m fighting both of them without using the Void. Maybe help me hold on to a lot of simultaneous spells?

“Ready when you are,” Henry drawled. “If we win, I’m making Quinlan get me more goats.”

“Well, you two have fun,” Kat said, wiggling her fingers. “I’m going to go get my hands on that flag.”

“Wait, what?” Damien asked, Warp Stepping as a lance of magma shot past where he’d been standing. “I thought you were fighting me!”

“Oh, that would be too easy,” Kat said with a dark smile. “I’m trying to win, Damien. If we could take care of you quickly, it would have been beneficial for the team. Better deal with Quinlan fast if you want to stop me.”

Then she blurred, darting into the trees and disappearing from view. Damien cursed, a bolt of flame shot past his face, nearly catching him in the nose. He spun, turning to Quinlan.

“You’d better pay attention to your opponent,” she said, baring her teeth in a grin as hazy heatwaves rose off her body. The ground beneath her hissed as molten rock bubbled up beneath Quinlan. “I might not be a professor, but I’ve still got two years on you, Damien.”

“So you do. I hope you’ve been practicing your runes,” Damien replied. Then he teleported, appearing in front of Quinlan and releasing a Gravity Sphere directly above her arm. The rock around her surged like water, shielding her body from the detonation.

Streamers of magma shot for Damien, reaching out and forcing him to Warp Step to safety. Even though Quinlan’s magic hadn’t touched him, the residual heat had singed the hair on his arms.

Damn, she’s got a lot of firepower.

“Ha. Firepower,” Henry said. “That’s funny. My suggestion: don’t get hit.”

Gee, thanks.

Damien flicked a Gravity Lance at Quinlan, but once again the rock surged to protect her. The two spells struck each other with a loud bang, but his magic didn’t penetrate the molten stone.

“How much magical power do you have?” Damien complained, teleporting out of the way as a barrage of flaming rocks rained down on where he’d been standing. They tore the trees apart, leaving flaming furrows in the wood where they struck.

He was forced to teleport again as Quinlan kept the barrage up, tracing hm whenever he reformed. Damien gritted his teeth, testing telekinesis on her. Quinlan’s mental defenses were already erected. There was nothing for him to grab, so he snagged the earth beneath her instead.

With a heave, Damien ripped the clump of ground beneath Quinlan into the air, launching her up into the sky with it. She leapt off and the molten rock rose up, forming a craggy wave for her to land on.

That looked pretty cool.

“You’re fighting her, not admiring her moves,” Henry admonished. Damien dove to the side as lava burst from beneath his feet, nearly clipping him as it sizzled and popped against the dirt and fallen trees.

“Kneel,” Damein commanded, pulling out the stops. Quinlan was still a Year Four. He couldn’t afford to take her lightly.

Quinlan slammed to her knees, cracking the molten rock beneath her. Despite being unable to move, a spike of superheated rock shot out at Damien, forcing him to teleport once more.

Pillars of stone erupted beneath Quinlan, forcing her back upright despite the force bearing down on her. Damien blinked, but he didn’t have time to admire her tenacity. Several more bolts of molten stone were hurtling toward his face.

He teleported, then formed several Gravity Spheres around Quinlan, detonating them in quick succession. She cocooned herself in rock, blocking all of them and rendering the attacks harmless.

Damien considered trying to enlarge something beneath her, but dismissed the idea. Blunt force wouldn’t break through her defenses. He gathered Ether and thrust his hands forward, sending several tears slipping through the air for her.

The neigh-invisible attacks shimmered with faint purple energy as they cut into Quinlan’s defenses. She cursed in pain and the stone surged, hurling her to the side.

Quinlan hit the ground and rolled, rising back to her feet. Blood dripped from a bad cut along her shoulder, but her defenses had managed to stop the majority of his attack.

“Damn it,” Quinlan said, pressing her lips together. She stomped a foot on the ground, which rippled and surged outward as a wave of molten rock rose up and bore down on Damien. He Warp Stepped into the air, looking down on their makeshift arena as the magma tore trees apart, smashing them like toys.

It cleared a fifty foot wide path through the forest before fading away, leaving smoldering ruin in its wake. Damien teleported back down, setting himself in a tree and swinging to safety before a flaming rock caught him in the stomach.

“You’re good,” Quinlan said, turning to track him. Molten rock shifted around her feet, rising up in preparation for whatever attack he was about to throw.

“So are you,” Damien said. “But we’re going to have to wrap this up before Kat takes my team out.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Quinlan said with a tight smile. “Sorry, Damien. I really don’t want to lose this.”

She threw her arms back, crying out as flame engulphed her body. Whatever runes had been shielding her clothes from her magic failed as everything covering Quinlan evaporated instantly from the heat.

Fire engulphed her body, burning so brightly that Damien was forced squint. Molten rock twisted up Quinlan’s bare legs, glowing cherry red as it covered her entire body. Damien detonated a Gravity Sphere on top of her, but the magic surrounding Quinlan was so dense that it canceled his own magic out.

Never thought of using spells like that. If you use enough Ether in one area, I guess that means that everyone else’s spells just won’t go off, huh?

“It’s certainly one way to go about defense,” Henry allowed. “Not one she can sustain for long, though. Get ready.”

Quinlan’s cry deepened, turning into a roar. Damien stepped back as the rock surging to cover her continued to grow in size. Her humanoid shape was consumed as a reptilian monster took her place.

She stood on all fours, nearly as tall as the lower canopy of the forest. Two craggy wings sprouted from her back with a spray of magma, sizzling and burning through what few trees remained in the area.

“Holy shit. Magma Drake?” Damien asked. “That is an awesome Full Manifestation.”

The dragon’s mouth quirked in what could have been either a smile or a snarl. Then it belched a beam of lava at him. Damien Warp Stepped, reappearing in the air above Quinlan. Her attack flashed through the forest, decimating a dozen trees with a single sweep.

Eight Planes. Henry, why can’t you do something like that? I want a Full Manifestation like that.

“Me too,” Henry muttered, not a trace of his usual sarcasm on his voice. “I’ll get on that later. Just kick the dragon’s ass.”

Drake. It’s a drake, not a dragon.

“Does it matter? Dodge!”

Damien Warp Stepped as a beam of lava screamed through the air, nearly catching him before he could dodge. He reformed on the ground and immediately regretted it. Damien wasn’t even close to Quinlan, but the residual heat in the area was so high that his hair was singing.

Quinlan’s reptilian head snapped toward him and another wave of lava washed forth. He teleported once more and the magma obliterated the forest floor.

“Shatter.”

Black lines erupted from Damien’s hands like lightning, tracing through the air and crisscrossing over Quinlan’s drake form. Then the air shattered. It split along the lines as if reality had been rent.

Quinlan’s armor shattered and split, magma pouring from her like blood as she staggered. A line sheared one of her wings clean off, while the other took several deep cuts. Rock flowed to fix the damage, but Damien didn’t give her a chance to recover. She was too dangerous to play it safe.

He needed something fast and precise, but none of his spells really fit that category. An idea struck him, and he latched onto it without an instant of hesitation. Instead of using the Space Ether within his core, he used the Dark.

Quinlan’s shadow twisted. A spike formed within it and shot up, piercing through a crack in the bottom of the drake’s stomach. The monster shuddered and crashed to the ground, lava flowing off it as the magma cracked and fell away, leaving Quinlan lying on the ground.

The air popped and a man wearing Mountain Hall colors appeared beside Quinlan, healing magic already covering his hands.

“She’s out,” the man said, watching Damien warily as if he would continue attacking.

“Understood,” Damien said, letting an explosive breath. “Will she be okay?”

“No serious injuries. Just Ether over usage and some nasty cuts that I’ll have handled shortly,” the man replied with a shrug. “Go finish your training. Kat will have my head if she finds you standing around here talking.”

Damien nodded. He turned and Warp Stepped into the forest. He’d used a sizeable amount of Ether against Quinlan, and he would have preferred to conserve his remaining reserves. Unfortunately, he doubted Kat would be willing to wait around for him to show up before she took their flag.