The opponent isn’t beaten once he’s down. He’s beaten once can’t get back up.

-Grandmaster Shin

Mask peered into the room, being careful not to move over the actual threshold. Raziel and the others were frozen with no idea of what to do. Mask looked at each in turn, and though the painted smile on his mask didn’t actually widen, the confidence in his posture conveyed the same attitude of a cat eyeing caged birds.

“So, what sort of trap is this?”

Everyone looked at everyone else but no one said anything.

“Then there is a trap. Good to know. Well, who wants to tell me how it works?”

“Come on in and find out,” Keira growled.

“Oh, feisty. Why would I do something foolish like that?”

“Because you’re running out of time, and we aren’t going to talk.”

Mask let out a low chuckle. “Do you really think that I only have one shot at this? Time is on my side, not yours. And you’re going to tell me exactly what I want to know, one way or another.”

“We’re the ones who are safe. You can’t come in here.”

“You’re half right,” Mask said, and he stepped to the side, disappearing to one side of the tower. Again, a ripple of uncertainty passed around the room.

“What do you think he’s going to—” Miles started.

There was a sharp cracking sound as Mask’s fist smashed through the wall. Shattered stone showered Raziel. They all stared through the hole in the side of the tower and saw Mask looking back at them for just a moment. He darted from sight; a moment later there was another crack, this time showering Miles from much closer. He screamed and staggered back away from the hole. Three more hits came at different points all around the tower, and the pieces of three more chunks rained into the room. Then uncomfortable silence. They all saw as Mask passed by the holes he’d made, heading back towards the doorway.

“How many more do you think I’ll have to knock in before the tower falls?” His tone was jovial and he even pretended to wait for an answer. When none came he gave his own. “I can’t imagine it’ll be more than ten. Probably not even that if I stick to one side.”

“You won’t do it,” Raziel said with as much conviction as he could muster. He didn’t know if it was true but if he stalled Mask long enough Kusa might be able to come help them. Mask laughed as he answered.

“Why on earth do you think that?”

“You don’t want to kill us,”

Mask’s laughter died. Tension crept into his frame. When he spoke again, his tone was empty. “You’re right. I don’t. I don’t want to kill anyone.”

“So don’t. Go back to wherever you came from.”

“I don’t want to kill you. But do not, even for one moment, think that I will not. There is too much at stake to let your lives stop me. I’ve stepped over bodies before, and I’ll climb a mountain of dead children if I must.”

The conviction in Mask’s voice was absolute. If there was a lie there, Raziel could not find it. He had no idea of what to do. He didn't have much fight left in him. He didn’t think Hoeru did either. The trap was the only thing Miles had to contribute. Roland probably had the best chance, but Raziel knew he wouldn’t be fast enough to keep up with Mask in a fight….

Keira stood. She walked towards Mask with calm, centered purpose. Raziel couldn’t see her eyes, but the set of her jaw told him that she was resolved.

“What are you doing?” Miles hissed.

Keira didn’t answer, didn’t even seem to hear him. She came to stand in front of Mask. Raziel was surprised to see that they were of a height. Mask might have been taller, but his clothes made it difficult to be sure. They stared at each other with less than a foot between them.

“You want us to make a choice?” she said, her voice low.

“I want you to live. I’m allowing you to make the choice,” Mask said.

“Alright,” Keira said. Her hand shot out, grabbed Mask, and jerked him into the room.

Raziel felt the hair all over his body stand on end, even the hair on his head. A tingle that quickly turned hot and stinging followed as energy filled the air. Keira flung herself away from Mask. Raziel noticed Miles had his eyes squeezed shut and his hands over his ears just in time to do the same.

The boom wasn’t a sound; it was a physical object that slammed into Raziel. The light was so bright that his vision went from black to red-white through his eyelids. The temperature in the room soared for a moment, and then the light, the sound, the heat, they were all gone.

Raziel opened his eyes and saw that the others were all similarly curled up and stunned by what had happened. Keira lay on the ground by the door and for a moment Raziel thought that she’d been hit by the trap as well. He was moving toward her when she stirred and sat up. She shook her head to clear it and caught his look, smiling fiercely.

He looked through the door and saw a blackened, still smoking figure on the ground, not moving. It looked odd to Raziel, too small to be someone as scary as Mask had been.

“That was awesome,” he said, the ringing in his ears making his words sound strange.

“I made my choice.”

“You certainly did,” Mask said stepping into view from outside the door. Everyone’s eyes snapped to him. He looked from them and back to the smoking figure. “That was rather rude.”

“How?” Raziel heard himself ask. Mask tilted his head and then put out a hand and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, in the place of his friends there were four copies of Mask. All four of them looked around the room, every bit as confused as Raziel. Raziel looked down at his hands and saw that he was wearing Mask’s clothes now. He heard another snap from the doorway and in an instant they were all back to normal.

“Magic,” Mask said in the matter of fact tone of someone answering a very dumb question. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have things to do,” Mask said strolling into the room.

In an instant Roland stood in his way. Raziel and Hoeru flanked him. Keira stood by Raziel. Miles, crouched and trembling, did not join them. Raziel was glad. Miles couldn't help with this. Mask came up short and just looked at them.

“I do not have time for this,” he said, the first signs of real frustration beginning to come through in his voice.

“I’m not moving,” Raziel said.

“Me neither,” said Hoeru.

“I think I made my decision clear,” Keira said.

Roland simply stood, tall and impassive.

“Fine,” Mask said, more exasperation in his voice than anything else, and started walking forward again. Roland threw a punch at Mask’s face. Mask didn’t block the punch. He just shifted his weight and slid out of its way. Before Roland could change his momentum, Mask grabbed his arm and flung Roland back through the open door.

Hoeru stepped in and if his leg was still hurt it didn’t show. He threw a flurry of punches so swift that they blurred together. Mask couldn’t block or dodge all of them but the few that connected didn’t bother him. He hooked a leg behind one of Hoeru’s and, with an almost gentle motion, pushed him off balance. Hoeru fell to the ground, confusion clear on his face. Mask stepped past him and spun. He smashed Hoeru with a leisurely kick that flung the changeling out the door.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Raziel had stepped back and begun trying to gather magic moments before when Roland had gotten in Mask’s way. He could feel Keira behind him doing the same and having more success. He wasn’t able to gather much; the energy just kept slipping out of his control. But he was able to gather enough that his hand had begun to glow and tingle. As soon as Hoeru fell out of the way, he threw the magic at Mask with a shout.

Mask put up a hand, and Raziel felt it as much as he saw the ball of magic diffuse. It didn’t hit a wall or stop. Mask just broke it apart. Raziel fell to his knees, the drain of the magic more than he could handle. Mask stepped up to him and as he walked past he put a hand on Raziel’s shoulder. He gave Raziel a pat, almost as if to say, “Good try.”

Keira was the last line of defense. Raziel expected her to try a blast like she’d used on the wolf but something that big would probably kill all of them. But she had also figured out magic’s ability to make her faster and stronger. She moved, faster than Hoeru had, and the her steps sent small tremors through the tower’s foundation.

For the first time, Mask seemed to really take notice. As she came forward, his hands came up in a tight guard around his head. Keira swung her fist like a comet and connected. Mask’s guard held, though he was pushed back and off balance. Keira kept coming, showering Mask with meteoric punches. Raziel felt hope swell in his chest as she forced Mask back one step at a time.

Raziel’s excitement was short lived. Keira threw punch after punishing punch, and Mask kept his guard up through them all, waiting. Even Raziel could see that she was slowing, the magic draining away with each blocked punch. Keira put everything she had into one more rush, harder and faster than ever. It was a mistake.

Mask stepped suddenly back, and Keira’s balance faltered. She stumbled, and Mask struck her in the gut and took all the fight out of her in one blow. She fell coughing and choking as Mask stepped past her.

“That was impressive. For a child,” he said. Raziel saw the anger that sparked in Keira’s eyes, but try as she might, she couldn’t get her breath back in time to do anything.

Raziel tried to rise, but he was at the end of his rope. He looked around, desperate to find something he could do to stop Mask. There was nothing in the room but himself and Keira. Where was Miles?

The answer was simple as soon as Raziel put any thought into it. What was Miles most likely to do in the event of a fight? Go find an authority figure.

Which explained why Kusa came rocketing through the door and grabbed Mask by the back of his shirt and flung him back outside. The little spirit didn’t look good. Green blood was smeared on its face from a cut above its eyes, and Raziel could see bruises and other cuts on its arms. Kusa glanced swiftly around with wild eyes and saw the state that they were all in. It locked eyes with Raziel and pointed at the teleportation circle.

“Kusa!” it said with a tone of absolute command. Raziel nodded and Kusa was gone again, charging after Mask. Roland and Miles carried Hoeru between them.

“Come on. We need to use the circle,” Raziel said.

“What?” Miles asked.

“The teleporting thing. Kusa said to use it.”

“You’re sure?”

Raziel wasn’t.

“I’m sure. How do we use it?”

“Just step on it,” Miles said.

“That’s it?”

“I think so.”

“Okay, come on. Let’s go.”

“Wait wait wait. We need to go one at a time.”

“What? Why?” Raziel asked.

“Because I don’t know exactly how that thing works and we might all leave here as five separate beings and get mashed into one on the way.”

“That can happen?” Raziel asked horrified.

“Raziel. Don’t be stupid. It’s magic. Anything can happen.”

Raziel paused. That made sense. “Okay. So who’s going first?”

“I am,” Hoeru said pushing Miles and Roland away from him. Before anyone could say or do anything he was standing in the circle and blue-white light was filling the room. Blood dripped from his mouth and he wiped it away. “If something goes wrong I’m the most likely to survive.”

Only a moment later he began to flake apart, pieces of his skin first, then the muscle and bone leaving his body and spinning around the circle like leaves in a cyclone. Hoeru screamed which was only made more horrifying when the scream continued even though there wasn’t enough of him in one piece to physically be able to do that. The pieces of Hoeru began to glow with the same blue-white light and spin faster and faster until suddenly, with a popping noise, the light and Hoeru were gone.

“I really, really hope I’m right about that being a teleporter,” Raziel heard Miles mutter. Raziel turned to him, incredulous. “I— uh… I mean…. I’m really, really sure that’s a teleporter?” Miles said. Raziel swallowed hard and tried not to think about the possibility that he’d just seen his friend die.

“There’s no time for this. Someone else go,” Keira said, her voice still a bit rough from her gut punch. “Raz. You or Miles. Roland and I will go last. We have a better chance against Mask if he gets past Kusa.”

Raziel nodded and looked to Miles. Miles’ eyes widened, and he started to stutter. Raziel rolled his eyes and stepped to the circle. He remembered that Kusa had brought back his book and that probably meant that he’d come out in one piece on the other side. On the other hand, the book was an inanimate object. Maybe this was only meant for things. Maybe this killed people.

“I’m not going to die. I’m not going to die. I’m not going to die,” Raziel repeated to himself as he closed his eyes and stepped onto the circle. His feet began to tingle first. The feeling moved up his legs, the sensation beginning to grow uncomfortably sharp by the time it reached his groin. When it was above his chest, Raziel felt like someone was plunging white hot knives into every inch of his body. He tried to hold in a scream of his own, but when he opened his eyes and saw pieces of his clothes and body ripping free of him, he couldn’t help it.

The magic moved to his head. Raziel’s whole body jerked apart in a horrible dizzying flurry of separate motions that he could feel all at once. The pain began to subside as Raziel’s vision was filled with a cloudy mist and lightning. Raziel tried to force himself to relax, but the sense of spiraling motion and the inability to control his body were too much. He wanted to vomit, to cry, to curl up in a ball and could do none of them. Above everything else he just wanted to stop.

He slammed into something smooth, solid, and wonderfully stationary. His whole body felt sore. He was still nauseous, but the horrible ride was over. Raziel’s stomach seized, and he tried to keep from vomiting.

“Pretty awful, huh?” Hoeru’s voice croaked at him. Raziel looked up to see the changeling curled up a little outside the circle. He’d thrown up, and the smell sent Raziel over the edge. He barely held it in until he was also out of the circle.

“Yeah. Pretty awful,” Raziel said, wiping his mouth once he was done. He rolled over and looked around, already beginning to feel better. The room was oddly spherical. The teleportation circle was the flattest part of the room. Other than a doorway the room was formed from oddly lumpy stone like melted candle wax. Most of the light came from the glowing lines and runes of the teleportation circle. Raziel couldn’t tell if the stone was black or if that was just the dim light.

“So what do we—” Raziel started just as the circle flashed and pieces of Miles began to swirl. His wailing scream filled the room. Miles hit the ground much like Raziel had and immediately began trembling on the ground, retching. He put his hand over his mouth and looked up. Raziel pointed him to another side of the room, and he scrambled over, trying to hold it in.

“You’ll feel better in a minute,” Raziel said to him before turning back to Hoeru. “So what do we do now?”

“Well, I suppose we wait for everyone to get here, and then we go in there.” He pointed to the open door.

A few moments later it was Keira’s turn to pop screaming into the room and find a place to puke. Raziel reflected that it was a good thing that the room was large.

“I don’t think we’re using that circle correctly,” Miles said, his voice still shaky.

“It’s a bit late now,” Keira said.

“True.”

“Think Roland will throw up, too?” Hoeru asked.

“No way,” Raziel said.

“A silver says he does,” Hoeru said.

“Done.”

They didn’t have to wait long. The circle flashed and pieces of Roland began to fill the circle. He came together looking pained but not screaming and managed to fall in a crouch rather than smash to the ground like the rest of them had. Slowly, steadily he stood and looked around at them, his usual placid look firmly in place.

“Ha! Told you—”

Roland’s cheeks bulged and he staggered out of the circle. Hoeru just grinned at Raziel.

“Shut up,” Raziel said. “Let’s go take a look in there.”