This time, Jacob was ready for the endless fall down the starry tunnel. He used the time to gather himself, flex his magic, make sure he was ready.

He wasn't. He wasn't sure he could ever be ready for something like this.

One moment he was still falling, the next he stumbled out into that same boxy, translucent room they'd entered when they'd first discovered the pocket dimensions a few weeks ago. No killer waited for them, lurked in the corners ready to attack as they entered. Around them the glimmering void of the barrier between worlds rushed at them. Jacob hardly noticed.

Tanaka and Camilla were already feeling along the walls. Camilla found the invisible door, called them over, and wrenched it open.

Flickering candlelight spilled out of the room beyond. The presence of hidden entities tickled the nape of Jacob's neck before he'd reached the doorway. Fear clutched at him, and he was silently thankful for the reassuring presence of Tanaka and Camilla. This was it. It wasn't going to be empty this time.

The three of them piled into the ritual room. The same complex, mind-hurting circle had been etched into the floor. This candles ringing it flickered, wax dripping down the shafts onto the floor.

A figure in a hooded robe belted at the waist with a piece of rope crouched across the room from them, fiddling with something. Their face was lost in the depths of the hood.

The sacrifice was already chained to the circle. It was Blake.

A noise escaped Jacob's throat. His roommate was unconscious. Chains were wrapped around his ankles and wrists and tied to sockets in the floor.

The figure jerked as it saw them, then rose and stood smoothly, looking at them calmly.

Jacob was rooted to the spot. He couldn't think, couldn't speak, couldn't do anything. Tanaka and Camilla had frozen as well.

Despite the circumstances, it was the figure who spoke first.

"What are you doing?" It asked in a perfectly calm, if mildly intrigued voice, as if it were inquiring about an item at a yard sale. It was the question they should have been asking.

Worse, it was a voice Jacob recognized.

"Ishaan?" Jacob blurted.

The figure pulled back its hood. Ishaan's dark face stared back at them.

"Yes?"

Jacob reeled. "What are you doing?" He asked, but the thunder had been stolen from the question. "It's you?"

Ishaan shrugged. "It is. Now, you're interfering with my ritual. Does that mean you're here to stop me?"

Jacob tensed and brought as much magic as he could to bear, getting ready for anything.

"Obviously," Camilla said.

"Oh," Ishaan said. "Why?"

He was insane. Totally off the rails insane. Jacob didn't know why he hadn't seen it earlier. Sure Ishaan had been odd, but this?

"What the hell do you mean: why?" Tanaka barked. "Enough talk. Surrender, and come with us. We're turning you in. No one else has to get injured."

"And if I don't?" Ishaan asked, eyes narrowed.

"We take you down," Tanaka said. Magic flared from him.

Ishaan looked at them as if they were crazy. Then he laughed, long and low and dead. "What makes you think the three of you can take me down? Don't you know what Ritual Magic does? I've bee augmenting my power."

"We know all about Ritual Magic. Four bodies doesn't give you enough power to take us on," Tanaka said. "We'll crush you."

Ishaan looked confused. "Four? Oh, the students this term, you mean. You don't understand, I've been doing this for two years. I've made thirty-three sacrifices so far. You don't stand a chance against me. Not even you two, with all your natural strength."

Jacob's heart froze. Thirty-three? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ.

"You're a monster," Camilla hissed.

Ishaan shook his head. "You misunderstand. I don't want to fight you three. It would be such a waste of your strength. Don't sacrifice yourself for this trash." He nudged Blake with his toe, his face curling in contempt. "The Order is filled with trash like this that can't protect themselves, let alone the population. Every weak Ranger is a cancer, a strain on resources, a false sense of security. All I'm doing is-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Jacob yelled. His hands were shaking with rage and fear. He wasn't going to let this asshole slander Blake, or live to kill a single other person, power or no. "Surrender now, or we're taking you down!"

"You're seriously going through with this?" Ishaan asked.

Jacob engaged his magic in response. Beside him, Camilla and Tanaka engaged theirs too.

Ishaan blinked in surprise. He grunted. "Such a waste. But I suppose I could use the practice."

Power roared out from Ishaan, washing over Jacob, rooting him to the ground. The veins beneath the surface of Ishaan's skin writhed, then started to glow bloody crimson. Spiderwebs of glowing veins covered the backs of his hands, his face.

Jacob could sense a great, glowing sink of burning power behind him. No that wasn't quite right. It was there, in the air around Ishaan, pressing against Jacob's magic like some swollen bladder. Jacob's eyes unfocused, falling into the sink. He shook his head, dragging himself back to the ritual room.

Ishaan grinned, throwing his hands out to the sides. The sleeves of his robe hung loose from his wrists.

The ritual room expanded out into the starry blackness, the translucent walls thinning, then disappearing. Ishaan floated back from them, into the void. The stars diminished and then they were rushing, falling as the barrier vanished. Tanaka and Camilla were both casting, but Jacob was focused on Blake.

A whoosh filled Jacob's ears and suddenly they were back on the clay ground of the arena. Ishaan was near the other end, veins glowing in the darkness. Blake lay on the ground between them, his chains no longer attached to anything. He groaned.

"You two hold him off, I'll get Blake!" Jacob cast strength and perception and bolted forwards, ducking low.

A white flash seared across the arena, leaving a sun-streak across his vision. An explosion shook the ground. He stumbled, but kept his feet and scooped Blake up into his arms.

Magic burst across his sensation as both Camilla and Tanaka cast. Bright, fiery light lit the arena in a hellish glow.

Jacob kept his head down, tensing at every flash and blast and sear of magic. He reached the edge of the arena and vaulted the smooth, high walls in one augmented leap. He landed and lay Blake down on the floor beneath the seats.

Blake looked like he was sleeping. Jacob grimaced. No, come on. He couldn't be dead. He placed his fingers along his roommate's neck.

...ba-dum...ba-dum...

"Thank Christ." He gently slapped Blake's face, but while his roommate stirred, he didn't wake. There didn't appear to be any wounds on his body, and his pulse felt steady, both of which checked out with what Jacob knew of Ritual Magic: You'd want to keep the sacrifice alive and healthy beforehand.

He glanced back at the arena. A long, black scar ran up from the arena floor into the seating area. Smoke curled up from it. The edges of seats were melted into plastic wax. Power rippled out from the other three, stronger than anything he could even fathom. Camilla and Tanaka were both echelons higher than Jacob had ever felt them; than he'd ever thought possible.

And yet Ishaan had been right. He was far above both Camilla and Tanaka. He practically glowed with power.

Jacob grimaced. He wanted to take Blake to the campus clinic, but he couldn't leave Tanaka and Camilla alone to face Ishaan. That old indecision clawed up over him. But he couldn't afford to waste time.

He leapt back into the arena.

Jacob maxed out his Consumption spells, and ran right at Ishaan.

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In the corner of her eye, Camilla saw Jacob scoop Blake up and blur off to one side of the arena. Ishaan spared Jacob a glance, then threw his hand out towards where Tanaka and she stood. A bolt of white lightning leapt from his fingertips. The same spell he'd used in their fight.

Camilla threw herself to the right as Tanaka dove left. The ground exploded in a white flash. She tumbled over herself, bits and chunks of clay spraying her. She rolled up to one knee, a reinforced ward already prepared. It flickered into existence in front of her.

A second bolt of power smashed into it. Camilla grimaced. Evidently, Ishaan considered her more of a threat than Tanaka.

As he should.

She had no time to counterattack. Ishaan pounded her with bolt after white bolt, driving her back across the arena. Each of her wards grew a little weaker, a little more rushed.

Decomposition blossomed somewhere to her left.

Ishaan's barrage relented. Tanaka had sent waves of ground at him. He cut through them with long, lightsaber-like beams, or simply leapt over them.

Camilla breathed in raggedly. How had she let Ishaan get the jump on her, pin her down? It wouldn't happen again. Her fire simmered within her, licking at the gates that held it back. Unconsciously, she forced it down, exerting control.

Ishaan sent a fork of white power at a dark shadow that must have been Tanaka, which he barely dodged. The transfer student tumbled to the ground.

He's going to kill him, and then he's going to kill you.

Camilla blinked. She went to cast a fireball, then paused.

They were in the arena, in this cursed place where she'd lost because of her strength. But there were no rules now. There was no cage. There was nothing pinning her in anymore.

You're not like other students.

She snarled, and opened the gates. It flowed out, quicker and easier than she'd anticipated. Suddenly she could see Ishaan and Tanaka in stark relief, flames reflecting in their glistening eyes and grimacing teeth. She threw her arms out, which were ringed in bright, phantom flames. Fire roared out of her, filling her vision, blinding her. She managed an iota of control on it, narrowing the raw power to a heavenly pillar that arced at Ishaan.

Ishaan leapt up into the air, robes flapping.

Camilla dragged the beam of fire up, chasing Ishaan, destroying a swath of the arena wall. Her flow of fire hit its peak, drowning out all other sensation but a warm cleansing feeling in her body.

Ishaan cast a ward.

The flames engulfed him, spreading around him, searing the arena, melting it.

And then it was gone. The pillar winked out, returning the arena to darkness. Camilla moaned and staggered. She couldn't feel her body at all, just a pulsing numbness throughout her body where the fire had been.

Ishaan floated in the air. His robes were singed, one sleeve ending at the elbow, but that was it. He dropped to the ground.

Camilla blinked in shock, but she couldn't manage to gather her thoughts to cast anything.

A spell built up in Ishaan. Camilla groaned, but it was all she could do to keep her feet.

How... How?

The ground opened up next to her. Someone tackled her. They fell to the ground, which opened up beneath them.

A white flash echoed in the air, followed by a nearby explosion.

Then the ground swallowed them up and darkness engulfed her.

----------------------------------------

Jacob saw Tanaka and Camilla disappear into the arena floor and ground to a halt, heels digging into clay. Ishaan hadn't noticed him. He was focused on the ground where Tanaka and Camilla had disappeared. Decomposition rumbled out from him.

Jacob surged forward, throwing everything he had into his strength and resilience.

Ishaan turned and caught Jacob's punch with his palm. Jacob struggled against him, bucking his entire body behind his fist, but he couldn't budge the other boy one inch. Jesus Christ.

Ishaan grabbed his fist and hurled him away. Jacob flew across the arena and smashed into the wall.

Ishaan turned his attention back on the ground in front of him.

Jacob fell out of the shallow crater his impact had made in the wall and tumbled to the arena floor.

That was when he heard the voice in his head.

Jacob, are you conscious?

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Something hit Camilla in the face. She groaned.

It hit her again. She opened her eyes.

Someone was carrying her, their hands cupped under her back and the crooks of her knees. They were a dark silhouette above her. Around them was a rushing, crushing darkness. She had the sensation that they were moving along quickly but couldn't see anything definite.

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She started to struggle, then a voice appeared in her head.

Stop!

What the fuck?

Ow! It's me, you idiot. Tanaka.

Oh... Wait, what the hell? They must be underground then, moving along using that same spell Tanaka had used to surprise Diego in the semi-finals. But, how could he hear her thoughts?

Are you using fucking Neuromancy on me? Camilla thought aggressively.

"Yes, don't worry about it," Tanaka thought back. "We-"

Fuck off. Get out of my head! Her father had taught her anti-Neuromantic techniques, but they took a second to prepare.

"We don't have time for this!" Tanaka shook her.

The next thought that came at her wasn't words so much as an impression. Jacob in pain.

Jacob's hurt? She hissed.

"I'm reaching out to him now," Tanaka thought.

A vague third impression entered Camilla's perception, which made her realize that she could feel Tanaka's conscience as well.

"Jacob, are you conscious?" Tanaka launched.

"What the hell?" Jacob's return was scattered, faint.

"It's Tanaka. I'm using a light Neuromantic spell to build a telepathic communication link between me, you, and Camilla. Are you alright?"

"Okay," Jacob returned. "I'm okay. A little banged up but I can still fight."

"We need to coordinate. He's too strong for us individually," Tanaka thought.

"Agreed," Jacob thought. "I have an idea."

Already? How? How was he so quick with that stuff?

"Tanaka, you-"

The ground rumbled, rushed, then the night sky above the arena looked down on them. The clay receded until Tanaka and she were at the centre of a crater. Ishaan stood on the rim, hands outstretched, Decomp flowing out of him.

"Like bugs from under a rock!" Ishaan howled with glee. He built a spell.

Camilla struggled out of Tanaka's grasp. Both of them started to cast a ward, but neither was going to be quick enough.

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Jacob pushed himself to his hands and knees.

Tanaka, you-

The connection snapped.

Jacob looked over at Ishaan, eyes wide.

Ishaan stood at the edge of a crater he had created in the arena floor. Tanaka and Camilla had been exposed at the bottom. Ishaan stretched his hand out.

Jacob tried to punch power into his legs, but his magic slipped from his grasp. He scrambled forward with unaugmented limbs.

Rapid, heavy gunfire from a machine gun ripped out from somewhere in the stadium. It was a noise Jacob had only heard in first person shooter games.

Ishaan staggered back, bullets riddling him.

The ground swallowed Tanaka and Camilla once more. Just before they disappeared, Jacob saw them headed for him. But he was fine, and it was... it was over, wasn't it? Surely Ishaan was dead now.

But Ishaan still stood. His face had become a mask of frustration. He wiped his brow as if a fly had landed there.

Jacob's eyes widened. Was his augmentation so strong he could shrug off bullets? Jacob hadn't known it could be that strong.

Another retort of gunfire echoed across the arena. A muzzle flashed high up in the stadium.

A ward blossomed in the air in front of Ishaan. The bullets pattered it like raindrops. Ishaan launched a large, swirling fireball at the stadium seats.

A dark figure broke cover and sprinted across the rows of seats, its large gun held in front of it. The fireball destroyed a block of seating, but the figure leapt away, curled into a ball, rolled to its feet, swung its rifle around and fired at Ishaan. In the hazy orange light from the fireball's explosion Jacob saw it was Brother Bondar.

Who else?

This time Ishaan didn't bother with the ward. The bullets riddled his robe ragged, but did nothing to him. Ishaan laughed crazily. One of his white bolts leapt from his fingertips. Brother Bondar produced a small cross and held it aloft.

The bolt struck the cross as if it were a lightning rod. The cross shone bright, blinding white, lighting up Brother Bondar and the section of seating around him. The cross brightened, until that side of the arena became a brilliant white halo with the cross at its heart. Then the shine dampened to a soft glow.

Tanaka and Camilla emerged from the ground near Jacob and turned to face Ishaan.

"Jacob. The link is back up," a voice spoke in Jacob's head, accompanied by an impression of Tanaka: violet, Necromantic magic, hours of anime, deep-rooted anger.

What about Brother Bondar? Jacob sent back.

"I tried, but there's something blocking my magic from reaching him."

He's on his own, then. Was that the right play? Should they try and get to Brother Bondar? Plan something with him?

"Stop wasting time!" Another voice cried. This one was accompanied by fire, petulance, a warm, sweet scent, and a glimpse of a flowing, crimson dress at a lavish ball. "We need to plan!"

The downside to the telepathy, Jacob was realizing, was that it was somewhat garbled. Words came, but often times they were more like impressions of concepts. The upside? They were speaking at the speed of thought.

Ishaan had just sent a second bolt up towards Brother Bondar. This time there was no holy white flash, but Jacob didn't have time to see what happened.

Tanaka sent a wave of clay at Ishaan, while Camilla lanced a fireball the size of a sofa.

Ishaan turned from Brother Bondar, dodged both attacks, and blurred into the middle of the arena.

"Enough!" Ishaan hissed.

Magic washed out of him. He glowed gold and crimson, radiating a halo much like the cross had. Armour formed around him, gauntlets, pauldrons, a helm, a full suit of glowing translucent plate. A lance appeared in one hand, and a bulky translucent shield in the other.

"He's stealing my spell!" Camilla shriek-thought, as if this, more than anything else that Ishaan had done, aggrieved her.

Jacob winced as her mental shriek seared the top of his brain, making his scalp tingle.

"He's combined it with the spear-shield he used against you," Tanaka thought. "Any ideas?"

Ishaan rolled his shoulders and brandished his glowing spear.

A rolling monologue assaulted Jacob's brain.

He's too strong for us by ourselves go get the faculty run? or maybe bait him into the undercroft head on all out assault need a coordinated plan should have learned your abilities better he's still only human fire might work armour going to be too strong to break through

Armour, that was it! Jacob cupped his hand to his forehead, trying to drown out the monologue.

think of something quickly he's going to cast I can stall him

SHUT UP!

Silence.

Once their voices disappeared, all Jacob could hear was a single line from a nature documentary on lizards.

"Even the toughest, scaliest armour has chinks."

Okay, but how to exploit it?

How had Camilla beaten this technique in the tournament?

A strategy popped into Jacob's head. He started to explain it, then just sent the impression to both Tanaka and Camilla.

An instant later, Ishaan barrelled towards them, spear outstretched.

----------------------------------------

Blake woke to someone shaking him. He blinked.

A man in what looked like a Crusader's uniform stood over him. If he was a Crusader, though, he'd come from some distant future crusade. He wore shining plate armour. His white robe over his torso was cinched around his waist by a utility belt Batman might have worn. A white cross bejewelled with topaz and amber was strapped to his belt, along with smaller items Blake didn't recognize. On his left hip hung the hilt of a sword similarly encrusted with rubies and sapphires. On his right was slung a long assault rifle out of a video game. His head was shaven to a length matching the beard ringing the bottom of his gruff face.

"Who-"

"Shhh," the man said, raising a finger to his lips.

The rest of his surroundings became apparent to Blake then. He lay on cold concrete, nestled in among rows of seats. Above him was the stadium overhang. Something had happened to him, but it was unclear what.

"Your leaders," the man said. "The faculty members. You need to get them and bring them here."

"What?" Blake shrugged the man's gauntleted hand off and sat up. "Why? What's going on?"

Flashes came from within the arena.

Below was Jacob and Camilla and... Tanaka? They fought a knight in glowing armour.

"What's happening?" Blake asked.

"No time for explanations," the man crouched over one of the chairs and peered down. "Go find the faculty and bring them here. Tell them it is the vampire."

"The vampire?" Blake's eyes widened. That glowing knight? Could it be? But why were Jacob and the others fighting it?

"Go, boy!" The man said gruffly, shoving Blake.

Blake stumbled, took one last glance down at the battlefield, then turned and ran down the row towards the entrance to the undercroft.

Behind him came a rasping sound that could only be a sword sliding from its sheath.

----------------------------------------

Jacob's plan failed.

Either Ishaan read their intentions or it just hadn't been potent enough in the first place.

Jacob and Camilla tumbled back through the air. They'd managed to get close while Tanaka distracted Ishaan, closer than Ishaan's casting reaction time. Camilla had lanced a laser thin beam of smoking, white-hot fire along the grooves beneath Ishaan's pauldrons.

It hadn't done anything.

Ishaan's subsequent blast had sent them flying.

Tanaka rushed over to them. He threw up a thick wall of clay between them and Ishaan.

Jacob managed to get to his feet only a moment behind Camilla. He cradled his forearm, which throbbed where the rogue mage had hit him.

"I don't have much left," Tanaka thought. His shirt had been torn open, and a shallow gash ran along his collarbone to his left shoulder.

Me either. Jacob thought. Run?

"He won't give us a chance," Camilla thought.

As if he'd heard their thoughts, Ishaan rounded the left side of the wall, low to the ground, spear held out in front of him. They all reacted at the same time. Jacob crouched and engaged his magic, waiting for Ishaan's movements to give an opening. Tanaka began casting a ward. Camilla, a lance of fire. But they were both going to be too late, and Jacob realized quickly that there were no openings—at least none he could exploit—and he'd just left himself wide open.

A white blur assaulted Ishaan from the side. Ishaan turned, skidding grooves in the clay. Brother Bondar clasped a long sword in both hands. He moved faster than he should have, somehow matching Jacob's perception. Ghostly trails of white light followed his movements, leaving streaks in the air. He raised the sword up and brought it down onto Ishaan in a vicious, practiced arc.

Ishaan raised his shield. The sword cracked through the edge and bit into the shield like an axe in a tree trunk. Ishaan staggered beneath the weight of the blow. Potent wisps of golden magic leaked out of the shield.

Brother Bondar ripped his sword out and stepped forward expertly, swinging the flashing blade around in a tight arc at Ishaan's head. Bondar was clearly a master with the blade.

But Ishaan was faster.

He blurred down, ducking beneath Bondar's horizontal killstroke as if Bondar were a particularly slow video game goon. Bondar had no choice but to follow through. Ishaan stepped through and stabbed Bondar in the stomach with his spear.

A bright flash filled the stadium, blinding Jacob.

Bondar flew back and smashed into the arena wall, cracking it. He fell to the ground, his sword tumbling from his limp fingers.

Ishaan whirled his spear and came at them.

They scattered.

Jacob instinctively dove towards Bondar. Camilla leapt back and up into the air.

Tanaka didn't move. He stayed right in Ishaan's path.

----------------------------------------

Ishaan came at them. Camilla and Jacob scattered.

Tanaka dropped into a slight crouch, a grin slicing across his face.

He didn't think it unlikely that the three of them, plus the Enforcer, were going to die here. They'd die, and he'd die knowing he could have saved them.

The Enforcer had something protecting his mind, some talisman or artifact, no doubt, but Ishaan had no such thing. Tanaka had checked. There was always the chance that he'd trained his mental defences up, but in reality, in a three or four on one, it wouldn't take much. A few seconds incapacitated by Tanaka's Neuromantic assault while Jacob or Camilla dove in and took him out. Game over.

Except Tanaka had stopped delving into Neuromancy after he'd figured out how to establish a multi-path telepathic link, instead focusing his studies on the divination and classes. The divination? Unavoidable. The useless shit they were learning in class? None of it was even remotely going to help them here.

The realization of their impending deaths didn't fill him with a cold despair, like he'd thought it would. It excited him.

Ishaan lunged towards him. Tanaka dropped the ground out from beneath Ishaan's feet.

Ishaan lifted it back up. They locked there, Decomp straining against Decomp, as Ishaan barrelled closer. The ground beneath him lit up as if he were a shooting star.

Tanaka retreated behind wall after wall of clay. Ishaan cut through them like they weren't even there. Tanaka danced back from a gouging lunge of the glowing spear, the tip breathing across his stomach.

Then he was out of tricks, and Ishaan strafed forward, closing in for the kill, dark eyes glimmering within his golden helm.

----------------------------------------

Jacob's desperate leap away from Ishaan's assault rolled into a deliberate dash for Brother Bondar. The Enforcer lay on the ground, unconscious or dead, but his sword glittered where he'd dropped it. It had eaten through Ishaan's spell even when Camilla's strongest magic hadn't.

Camilla! He sent out into the void, unawares if the connection was still up. Amidst the blitz of battle the impressions of the telepathy spell were just one more wave crashing the shores of his conscience.

The only thing on his mind was when they were running from the rogue mage and she'd brought out the two cutlasses. He'd been clumsy with his, but she'd run and handled it as if she'd had lessons.

Jacob reached Brother Bondar, bent, and scooped up the sword. He'd expected it to feel like the cutlass, but it didn't. Its weight was different, more towards the hilt, and it felt odd in his hand.

He turned back to Ishaan.

Camilla was right there. She snatched the sword from him. Their eyes met for a brief moment. Impressions crossed the telepathic threshold, too many to parse through.

Same thing as the plan earlier. Jacob said.

Camilla sent back her acknowledgement.

Jacob moved in front of her to face Ishaan. It had better work this time. He only had enough magic for one more burst, and then not only would he not be able to cast anything new, but his perception would falter as well. Ishaan would become a blur he'd only barely be able to see, let alone stop.

Ishaan chased Tanaka, who scrambled back across the clay, desperately throwing up walls of clay.

Jacob maxed his augmentations and ran at Ishaan. At the same time, he began casting a forceward. He sensed the familiar signature of Camilla's veil spell behind him.

Ishaan noticed Jacob at the last second. He splayed his hand out, not turning from Tanaka. A ward jumped from his hand.

Luckily, Jacob's manifested at the same moment. Ishaan's crashed into it, then into him, sending him flying backwards.

Camilla flickered into view, her veil dropping. Ishaan saw her, tensing and whirling and casting all at the same time. But Camilla had already ducked out from behind Jacob and flanked Ishaan in one quick movement. She brought the sword down with both hands on the chink in the armour at the elbow between Ishaan's couter and vambrace.

White light and white noise exploded out from the contact, blinding and deafening Jacob. He hit the ground, spun, and rolled to a halt. The clay beneath his fingers was cool, soothing.

Someone was screaming.

Jacob blinked his eyes as vision returned to them. The ringing in his ears faded.

Ishaan knelt on the clay, screaming. His right arm ended in a stump just below the elbow that spurted arterial blood in time with the beat of his heart. He clutched it with his offhand, squeezing the ragged clump of forearm muscle, his face curdled in a mask of pain and frustration. His glowing armour flickered in and out of existence around him like a glitchy neon sign.

Tanaka was scrambling to his feet.

Camilla ran over to Jacob, sword in one hand.

"Are you alright?" She asked, holding her hand out to him, her face framed against the starry sky above the stadium.

Jacob clasped her hand and together they hauled him to his feet.

A moment later, Prof Michaelson, Prof Alhammadi, and a woman Jacob had seen around campus but didn't know, entered the arena. They were each casting resilience.

The woman raised her hands and cast. A miniature white sun floated up out of her hands, bathing the arena in a pale noonday light. Alhammadi and Michaelson went back to back, fists half raised, searching the arena.

Prof Michaelson tensed. "Ritual Magic? What..." Evidently, he sensed the source, as he turned to where Ishaan knelt. "Ishaan? What the hell is going on?"

"It's him," Camilla said, gesturing at Ishaan with the point of Brother Bondar's blade. "He's the Ritual Mage. He's been masquerading as a vampire this whole time."

Prof Michaelson's eyes widened. The vein in his forehead throbbed. He whirled on Ishaan. "What?"

Behind him, Prof Alhammadi looked between Ishaan and Camilla. His gaze slid to Jacob, then Tanaka. He made a small noise of acknowledgment. "And I take it you three attacked him and stopped him?"

"With Brother Bondar's help," Jacob said.

Prof Alhammadi nodded.

"I'm going to grab magic-nulling manacles," the woman said. She launched herself out of the arena.

Prof Michaelson whirled on them, furious. "Explain everything. Now."

Prof Alhammadi raised a placating hand, eyeing the trio curiously. "There will be time for that later, Mitchell. Ishaan is clearly the Ritual Mage. You can feel the sink on him, no? You watch him until Theresa returns. I will check on the state of the Enforcer."

Prof Alhammadi blurred over to Brother Bondar's prone body. He knelt down and checked the Enforcer's pulse.

"He's alive. Unconscious."

Jacob blew out a relieved sigh. He ran a hand through his hair and looked over at Tanaka, who was just getting to his feet. "You good?"

Tanaka nodded. "Fine."

Ishaan's forearm had stopped bleeding, little droplets trickling out. Prof Michaelson loomed over him, almost daring him to try and cast something. But Ishaan's eyes were glazed over with pain, and he crouched there, moaning.

Jacob's eyelids drooped with sudden fatigue. He would have let himself pass out then and there, but he still had one thing he had to do.

Theresa landed in the arena, a thick pair of medieval manacles dangling from her hand. President Russell and three grey-cloaked members of campus security came through the undercroft a moment later.

President Russell ran a hand along his scalp. "What a mess..."

Jacob barely heard him. He strode over to Theresa, who was stretching the manacles against the chain that held them together.

"Let me do it," Jacob said, holding his hand out for the manacles.

Theresa looked at him funny. "No. This is our job now."

"Give them to me!" Jacob snapped, gesturing with his hand. He didn't have the energy for bullshit right now. "We caught him. I get to do this."

He snatched the manacles from a stunned Theresa and turned to Ishaan. He grabbed Ishaan's good hand and placed one manacle around the boy's wrist. Ishaan's stump gave him pause, and he stood there, suddenly anxious, wishing maybe he'd just let Theresa do this after all.

"It only needs one point of contact," Prof Alhammadi said.

Jacob let the other manacle drop.

A tingle rippled down his spine, making him jump. He stood and surveyed those around him. President Russell stared at Ishaan, shaking his head. Next to him, Prof Michaelson and Theresa also looked down in disbelief. Prof Alhammadi watched Jacob, Camilla, and Tanaka intermittently. The latter two were dusting themselves off. The three campus security guards were canvasing the arena for some reason. Brother Bondar still lay unconscious against the wall.

He was missing somebody, wasn't he? He could feel someone else in the arena with them, but who?

Jacob turned, and saw the shade standing over by Brother Bondar. He jumped.

Father Emil's shade still wore clean white robes. An amused smile sparkled in his eyes.

"Good work, son," Father Emil's lips moved, but Jacob felt the voice inside his head.

The shade looked down at Brother Bondar, then up at the night sky, blinking its eyes. "It's time for me to move on, I think. Farewell."

Tiny particles drifted off the shade, carried up and away by an invisible gust of wind, as if Father Emil were a sand-statue. In moments he was gone.

"Wait!" Jacob cried out. Had he fulfilled the bargain? What happened if Father Emil vanished.

The subtle, nearly-hidden tension of their pact disappeared. Jacob took a shuddering breath in. A weight lifted from him. He could breathe, he could relax, he could feel his magic there in his mind, open and accessible.

It was over.