Ike charged in, fist held high. He punched toward Clarina, currently the weakest of the trio. Her eyes lit up, and the mana flowed into her body. She charged to meet him, raising a fist to meet his.

He slammed his toe down and pivoted, whirling toward the current weakest puppet instead: the father. His punch flashed out. The light left Clarina and entered the thread, travelling toward her father, but too slow. Ike’s punch landed first, shattering a huge crack in the puppet’s carapace. In the next second, the light flowed into her father. He leaped toward Ike, launching a fist at him just as Clarina had.

Ike hopped back, toward Clarina. She finished her punch. It landed on his back, painful, but not deadly. He leaped into the air, hopping her father, and descended toward her mother. A flurry of kicks rained down on her weakened mother, even as the bright light of the thick mana flowed toward her. The second the mana flowed to her completely, he kicked away from her and switched back to the father, who was weak once more.

Llewyn scowled. “Now who’s fighting cheap?”

“You’re the one who started this as a four-on-one. You can’t complain when I get a little cheeky in return,” Ike said. He grinned. He had the pattern down, now. It was just a matter of executing it until he finally destroyed all three puppets.

He felt bad about killing Clarina and her parents, but then, he wasn’t killing them at all. Ike shook his head, calling forth rage instead. Llewyn already killed them. He’s just puppeteering their corpses right now. There’s nothing left of any of them except for their bodies, and I can put those to rest. There’s no reason to hold back or feel bad about this. This only helps them. Puts them back where they belong.

Ike charged in. He flashed left to right, right to left, dashing around the three puppets and chasing down the weakest one. Whenever he caught up, he landed a punishing blow on the weakest one. The black-armored puppets charged in time and time again, trying to interrupt Ike’s battle, but Wisp had his back. She swept them back time and time again, using her size and weight to smash the puppets to the ground.

Llewyn’s face twisted. He snapped his fingers on one hand, releasing his control of Clarina’s parents. They charged at Ike. One was the weakest, and the other was the second- weakest. Ike quickly demolished the weakest one. The second-weakest took a Shockwave Punch to the chest, but went down with a second blow. And then Clarina was there. Burning with power. Surging with all the strength of the puppets, put together into one.

“Ike, please help me!” she cried. Black tears slipped down her face. Her expression contorted in fear and pain. She reached out to him, lost in despair.

Don’t fall for it. Ike hardened his heart internally, but externally, he paused. He stepped toward her. “Clarina?”

Behind his back, he charged Tempest.

Clarina wobbled toward him. She reached out for him. “I broke free. Please. Sever the threads. Free me!”

“Clarina!” Ike leaped in, then immediately jumped backward.

In the second he leaped forward, Clarina’s eyes suddenly burned with murderous intent. She lashed out, slamming both hands down on the space Ike had been moments ago.

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Having predicted the attack and already jumping away, Ike only laughed. He tossed the Tempest behind Clarina’s back. The winds howled, twisting the threads. Ike snapped his fingers, and they raged, sharpening as they whirled. They sliced through all the threads, momentarily freeing Clarina from Llewyn’s control.

“As you wish,” Ike said.

Llewyn screamed in frustration. He gestured, trying to call Clarina back to his control.

Ike flashed in. He grabbed Clarina by the collar and yanked her back, pulling her out of the range of Llewyn’s threads. Sticking his tongue out, he kept fleeing, taking Clarina with him. “Can’t catch me!”

Clarina twisted in his grasp. She began to beat at him. Her attacks hurt, but they lacked the precision and mana that they had when Llewyn controlled her. Without his control, the puppet couldn’t fully utilize her powers and strength.

Interesting. That seems like a serious design flaw, Ike noted silently. He threw Clarina to the ground. Hopping into the air, he pulled out the spider’s fang that had allowed him to pierce through the puppets, all that time ago. He wasn’t able to damage the fully empowered puppet. The mana inside of it reinforced its shell, and made it too hard. All he had was the fang, and he was going to put all his strength and power behind it. “Shawn!”

A tiny form burrowed out of the earth. Shawn hopped up and latched onto Ike’s shoulders. “I’m here, and fully recharged!”

“Un-recharge. Give me your weight!”

“Got it!”

A mountain dropped onto Ike’s shoulders. He put all the weight into the spider’s fang, driving it toward the Clarina-puppet’s heart.

Clarina’s eyes lit up. She went to jump upright.

Ike flinched. He grimaced. “Shit. Lay still!”

Clarity flashed in Clarina’s eyes. Just for a single beat, her eyes met his, and he knew he saw Clarina, not the puppet. She laid back down and closed his eyes. Her lips moved.

Do it.

Ike slammed the fang home. It struck her chest and wobbled, struggling to pierce through. Ike pushed it with all his strength, all his weight, the power of the storm, putting his all into it. Clarina screamed. Or not Clarina, but the puppet. It thrashed, beating Ike with all its limbs. Kicking, punching, howling, it fought with every inch of its being. Blood flowed down Ike’s body. Bruises darkened his skin. He held on, gritting his teeth in determination. It didn’t matter how much it hurt. He wasn’t going to give up now.

The spider fang cracked. It couldn’t hold up to this force. Not for long.

But in the same instant it cracked, a crack appeared in Clarina’s chest.

Ike forced his aether into the fang. He forcibly reinforced it, filling the fang with as much aether as it could take. It pushed again, piercing deeper into Clarina’s chest. Then again. The crack on Clarina’s chest grew wider.

“Go! Pierce!” Ike shouted. He lifted his hand and smashed it into the hand holding the fang.

The fang slammed through Clarina’s chest. Blue mana rushed into it from beneath, pushing it and Ike both into the air. The mana spouted out of Clarina like a geyser. She trembled, eyes rolled back in her head, her whole body shaking, while mana soared into the air. It escaped her body at speed, rushing out into the world.

Clarina’s face appeared in the mana, then her mother’s, then her father’s. Her mother bowed to Ike. Her father inclined his head. Clarina waved, a tear rolling down her face.

Ike waved back. He bit his lip, forcing back the lump in his throat. They’re already dead. There’s no reason to cry. Even so, it was hard. Watching them go. Knowing he’d put them to rest. But they were people he knew. People he’d met. Mages, with lifespans so long he hadn’t even thought of them as mortal.

But they were. Mortal. Killable. And now they were dead. Cut down, long before their time. All because of the hubris of one man. The hatred of someone who would be king, who would cut down anything and everything that stood in his way. Who cared not for the sanctity of life, or family, or friendship.

Ike lifted his head. He stared at Llewyn, his eyes flickering with lightning. Little bolts flew from the corners of his eyes and fizzled on the air around him. Static glittered in his hair and shimmered on his clothes. Lightning flashed between his limbs, between his fingers. The air around him hummed with electricity.

“You barely even knew them,” Llewyn said, laughing.

“But I knew them,” Ike said. And then he vanished.